A city with an ocean view.
That was what the tourism brochures adopted as a slogan for Vale. Ruby can't say it wasn't inaccurate, the city was built on the foundation of a historical port, countless kingdoms before the Valean dynasty was founded. She guessed it was similar to a city in the southern Iris, its architecture matched it quite closely. The weather was fair, not too sunny nor cloudy, not too windy nor entirely void of it, Ruby could call it idyllic, but such things were concepts she had rejected. Such concepts had no place in reality, as far more were hidden underneath such a splendid sight.
"What kinda emo things are you brooding about now?"
Ruby went for a swing at Yang's head, but the brawler expertly dodged it before rounding back to face her.
"See? I was right!"
Throwing Yang's spare helmet back at her, no matter how much Ruby scowled at her older sister her grin would not fade away. The two had braved the waves of the Sea of Patch, crossing all the way to a mostly secluded area in the docks Ruby was familiar with. From there, they boarded Bumblebee and made their way into the city, though because it was a weekend…
"Can you believe that? Damn parking meter wants me to pay ten lien an hour…assholes are preying on gullible tourists to pay that amount."
The regular parking spaces were full, and street parking was their only option. Downtown Vale wasn't a place for locals to go during holidays or weekends, like most touristy places these days. She could have had Schwarz come out and store it, but they would have gone against any notion of secrecy as she was quite visible.
"You're the one who wanted to come out today, we're not splitting that."
"Boo, you suck. Wait, aren't you loaded from all that smuggling?! Gimme some of that!"
Ruby gave an incredulous look at Yang. Sure, just let her grab some money from her wallet then, as if that was how it worked. No, money like that had to be handled meticulously, Junior may have been a dick at certain times but he was very respectable regarding his word on contracts. "Sure, let me just pull it out of my wallet. No, Yang, why would I be carrying that amount of Lien with me? Did you think I just stuffed thousands of unmarked Lien underneath my mattress?"
"Nah, I checked your mattress this morning already."
You did?! Lien is plastic, how would I have even slept on it?!
"Not even two days have passed and you're already demanding a cut of my operations, you'd make a great loan shark."
As she was paying for the parking meter, Yang replied. "Yeah well, finding out you were a smuggler on the side weirded me out at first, but then I realized last night you were probably richer than me by a long shot. So, as your sister I claim tax-"
"That's not how taxes work."
"Think of it as Lai See to your close family, Dad gives me a hundred and fifty every year."
"You know we don't give those out until we're married or are adults, right?" Despite pointing that out, Yang pretended to ignore that little tidbit about Mistralian culture.
"Oh they're not really rules, just like guidelines…so are you rich or not?"
Who even asks a question like that? Usually in terms of smuggling the 'fee' that she charged, or rather Junior charged went a 30/70 split, with Junior taking the smaller portion. Was it high? Depends, some charged even more so her getting 70% of those fees was already a good thing. If she was a regular ship, there would have been crew pay, fuel, port fees, repairs and the like to think about, but because those didn't apply, all of her profits went directly into a Vacuoan bank account under a fake name of 'Ruben Red'. The fact that an account with that name was even created said some very interesting things about Vacuo, no questions were ever asked according to Junior.
Wait a minute, shouldn't he have seen the video of the docks online by now? Why did he not say anything?
"I'm…comfortable." Comfortable enough to have bought any floating bullhead that is.
"That's what rich people say, Rubes." Ruby ignored Yang's accusatory look as they walked down the street, avoiding bustling crowds of tourists whenever possible.
"More tourists than usual, what gives?" Yang pondered aloud, causing Ruby to remember what bi-annual event was happening in their city this year.
"Vytal festival. Vale's hosting it this time. Aren't you able to fight in it this year?" With Yang being a first-year student at Beacon, she and her team would be able to apply for this year's event, not that she particularly gave attention to it, but was still curious about what her sister may be doing in the near future.
"Yep, Dad talked about it in our sparring classes at Signal, and said something about taking a class there for an exhibition match sometime." With her attending the non-combat side of Signal Academy, Ruby was hearing that for the first time. Though she did not exactly display a lot of enthusiasm for Huntsman/Huntress-related things all too often anyway, the only thing she had any remote interest in were their mecha-shift weapons. Being a Kansen, and thus intimately familiar with machinery and complex technology, she could appreciate its creativity, even if she often objected to the more outlandish and complex designs. Another quirk of Remnant's individualistic look on life, a stark contrast to Iron Blood's more conformist and militarized society.
"Hm. I'll be sure to go with him then, may even see you get beaten in the first round."
"Aren't you supposed to cheer for me?!" Oh, she wished her sister the best, though moments like these were what she lived for. Allowing herself to smirk at Yang, Ruby noticed her expression morph from her usual happy-go-lucky expressions to a more sheepish one. She wanted to ask something awkward, Ruby could feel it in her Wisdom Cube.
"I've done some research-I know, not just for essays this time…" Yang pre-emptively blocked Ruby's quip before she could even go for it.
"I read online that warships often come in classes, like, there are multiple ships that are basically identical to one another. D-did you have any uh… 'Sister Ships' or anything like that? Did Ulrich have a sister as well?"
Ruby took in a large breath, of all the things she asked, she had to ask about that particular subject?
"I thought we were through this, Ulrich was Ulrich, and despite my inheritance of her memories and abilities, I am still Ruby Rose, your little sister."
"I know! Not doubting that, just…curious, y'know?" Yang looked away to the side when she asked, not quite the adult she claimed to be in that instance. Ruby had two choices there. Lie, and hope her sister bought it. Or, tell the truth, and thus reveal a bit more about herself and the old world she once knew. It wasn't too hard of a choice, she knew it was going to be asked sooner or later, just not this soon.
"I did." Ruby said, quieter than usual.
"Oh." Yang picked up on the use of past tense, and asked another question, this time with even more caution. "C-can you tell me a bit about her?"
Ruby nodded, to Yang's relief. "You are correct, Kansen are not born like humans are. Most, including me, were built. In shipyards first, with the labour of thousands involved, some human, mostly in the design stage. But the actual building part was given to an animal we call the Manjuu."
"Manjuu? I've never heard-"
Ruby cut her off, the tangent threatening to derail the entire conversation. "They don't exist on Remnant. Anyway, I did have one sister ship, similar to many in Iron Blood. We were not as numerous as other factions, but we did make up the difference in individual strength and technology."
Some of the first priority research ships for example, such as the infamous Roon came from Iron Blood R&D teams and their expertise. They were not a weak faction by any means, but compared to the industrial output of other factions, such as the Eagle Union, Iron Blood simply was not big enough to match them.
"For Kansen, our only family, if you can call it that, were our sister ships. Kansen of the same class were very similar, most often in appearance, though there were significant variations between each one, in a way, they were as unique as Huntsmen and Huntresses." There were similarities of course, but no Kansen was an exact copy of their sister vessels, each were unique existences that could not be replicated, though that begged the question why. What made a mass-produced H-39 hull different from Ulrich when given a Wisdom Cube? What exactly made 'Ulrich' who she was?
"I suppose Iron Blood were famous for twin sister ships, such as Bismarck and Tirpitz , Gneisenau and Scharnhorst…" Those names meant nothing to Yang, but to Ruby, they were ghosts of a bygone world, the first time she probably said those names out loud.
"I was no different, I only had one sister ship. Though at first glance you would not have guessed we were related…" Not all Kansen in the same class had similar appearances, it was just a general rule of thumb, not a law. Admiral Hipper came to mind, compared to her other sisters who…were more well-endowed.
"Her name was Friedrich der Große, the first of the H-39 class battleships. Thus, making me her 'little' sister. However, judging by what you saw yesterday, 'little' may not be accurate."
She was probably one of the largest ships afloat on Remnant right now, so 'little' was a very misleading title. Yang thought for a second, presumably back to the sudden battleship that appeared out of nowhere yesterday, and simply nodded a few times.
"Yeah…so, Friedrich-sorry, isn't that a dude's name?"
"Yes, so is Ulrich. Kansen were warships, so the naming conventions of vessels apply to us as well, it can sometimes result in some awkward names, we were named after Historical figures in Iron Blood." Ulrich didn't care what she was called, the most common being Ulrich and Hutten, Friedrich just stuck with being Friedrich despite her appearance. It wasn't all too important for Kansen, who was primarily concerned with fighting a war rather than over trivial things like names. That didn't stop many Kansen from having nicknames of their own choosing.
"So was she like me? I'd like to think we were pretty alike-"
"You two are probably the polar opposite." One was blonde, long hair but with curls, the other had dark hair, straight and-no, going into the details wasn't useful right now. But it was safe to say that Ruby could not see any similarity between them other than both being her older sisters, with one particularly being more maternal than the other. She distinctly remembered Iron Blood civilians mistaking Friedrich for being her mother one time, not helped at all by Friedrich all but confirming it to them. Ruby was not going to experience something like that if she could help it, not in this world, ever.
"However…we were still very close, fighting together side by side in our world's toughest battles. If I had gone down the path of a Huntress, I suppose we would have been similar…" It was the closest analogy she could give, one that Yang hopefully understood. Evidently, however, judging by her furrowed eyes she wasn't quite satisfied by that answer alone, so Ruby changed the topic as they neared the main square of old Vale.
"We're in the old district near the palace. Where exactly are we going? You still haven't told me what we're doing here."
"Oh, y'know, just seeing Vale n'all…didn't get the chance before with my end-of-year exams and the Beacon prep. Hey, isn't that the…the…old warship museum in Vale we went to when we were young?"
She was referring to Valèan just down the street, not far from the old royal palace. "So, I figured since you're a…"
"Kansen. Half-Kansen." There were no cases of half-Kansen in her old world, but this was all she had to go off on for now.
"Right, that. I figured we should go to a place you might like? I also remembered you being weird when we were there as kids so I thought…"
While done with good intentions, Ruby felt it was somewhat stereotypical, just because she was a Kansen it didn't mean she was obsessed with Kansen-related things. However, it was probably more because she didn't want to deal with Valèan right now, who would be dying for another chat if she had the chance.
"Let's not."
"What? Why?!"
"It'll be crowded with tourists, you should have picked another day to come here." That was probably true, but she just really didn't want to run into her right now. Turning her heels around to a smaller side street, Vale's old town being famous for them, Ruby walked ahead of Yang at a brisk pace.
"I don't mind waiting! Hey, where are you going?!"
Somewhere, anywhere but there. In the corner of her eye, she noticed what appeared to be a bald eagle flying just above a small side street, usually those birds were native to Solitas, not Sanus. So, using that as an excuse to move forward, Ruby briskly walked towards it to get a better look-
"Oof!"
"Ugh!"
Only to crash into someone at a moderate speed when turning the corner, this wasn't the first time Ruby crashed into someone or something, a splattered Boartusk in Patch was evidence of that. Therefore in those incidents, she was usually concerned about the well-being of the thing/person she crashed into. The sensation was similar to crashing into a brick wall walking briskly towards you, not something particularly welcoming for regular people. However, she let out a minor cry of pain this time, Ruby felt the impact of crashing into someone, thus sending her tumbling down to the ground as well. This was an entirely new feeling, and it took a few seconds to get her bearings correct. Though, whoever she crashed into, probably a huntress judging by how she felt the impact, responded first.
"Oh dear, are you alright? I've been told that I walk a bit too fast for my own good at times…"
"I'm fine, are you alrig-"
Silver eyes locked onto azure blue ones, Ruby stared at the person she crashed into, and the other person, also a girl, probably a year or two older than herself, did the same thing. She instantly felt a gut feeling swell within her as she had a good look at the girl, like a significant pang of Deja Vu. But, like all sensations of Deja Vu, Ruby couldn't quite place where it came from, only that there was a sense of familiarity. Her thoughts were quickly dispelled, as she saw two familiar people approach her, one very familiar, and the other one not so much.
"Weiss! I told you not to skip ahead, look what happened!"
"I told ya, these streets have sharp corners, always give a wide berth-Ruby?! Yang?! The hell are you two doing here?"
She could hear Yang choke and stutter, clearly remembering what Dad said last night. Uncle Qrow was definitely going to be snitching on them though, good thing Yang verbally agreed to take any of the lecturing coming their way. Ruby was the innocent fifteen-year-old, led astray by her older sister, as if any fifteen-year-old on Remnant had access to artillery measured in inches.
"Uncle Qrow…" Ruby waved at him while getting up, the look on his face was anything but impressed.
"You know these two, Qrow?"
"Yeah, they're my nieces. The blonde one is Yang, the squirt over there is-"
"H-Hutten!"
Ruby, Yang and Qrow tensed, Winter was looking directly at Ruby while she shouted those words. Thankfully the street they were on was relatively quiet, not too many people aside from a few looking their way. Ruby saw her reach for something on her sides, only to find nothing there. Immediately, she leapt right in front of who Ruby now knew as Weiss Schnee, the young heiress studying in Vale who was on the tabloids and news every so often. The sense of Deja Vu from before distracted Ruby long enough that she didn't realize Winter Schnee had seen her face on the docks until it was too late.
In all honesty, Ruby did not expect to ever see her again, especially in a city as big as Vale, what were the odds of running into her again? No matter, Qrow said he was going to smooth it out with his superiors-wait, why was he shaking his head at her?
"A city with a seaside view indeed…"
Recalling Vale's tourism logo, Weiss could see why that was their chosen motto. With Atlas suspended in mid-air, they weren't exactly known for much natural beauty in the first place, aside from some spots where you could see the arctic lights. Those were monopolized by resorts, reserved for the wealthy and the aristocracy, the best someone living in Mantle would ever see were the television shows recording them. There was too much light pollution to see it from where they were anyway.
The warm weather, fair winds and such reminded her of the West Coast in the Eagle Union mainland. The port cities of Frisco, where she was stationed for a long time before to Port Honolulu in the pacific was similar to Vale, though the architecture and culture were much closer to Europa. She never really went there for operations, those were left to the East Coast fleets most of the time, she was caught up fighting against Sirens and the Sakura Empire all across Asia. Or rather, Yorktown was, in both incarnations.
"How strange, I should be feeling a sense of… Deja Vu talking with you, but this has already been familiar ground to me."
Weiss turned around, making sure that no one else was with her on the observation deck on the museum ship Valèan. A soft smile graced her lips, this was the second warship she had met within three days, and with any luck, they would have many more meetings in the near future.
"Because of our mutual friend?"
Valèan, the Kansen, only seen by her, nodded. Weiss insisted on visiting the museum ship when they reached the old palace, and to Winter's credit she had no qualms with it, even if she absolutely despised their impromptu 'tour guide'. Anyone with a pair of eyes could see they got along as well as the Royal Navy and Iron Blood did after Hood was sunk, in other words meaning not at all.
"I've seen this view for decades upon decades, watching as the city changes with mine own eyes. I am quite sick of it, the only chance I have for a different view is when I get towed for repairs, and those only happen once every couple of decades. I was built as a ship, I should be sailing, not stuck here to act as an overpriced tourist trap!"
Weiss talked with the old battleship for quite some time, sneaking in a conversation whenever possible without making Winter think she was insane. "There, there, I am sure your successors don't really mean that-"
"Hah, you never know with those brats now…speaking of, you're much more respectful than that one you're finding. Do visit every so often now that you're studying in Vale, I can guarantee you will find more freedom here than in Mantle's oppressive society."
…it was Atlas now, Great War Era propaganda aside, Weiss nodded, it was better to have someone who was similar to her rather than be alone. An Ivory tower she may have been born in, but that didn't mean she had everything she wanted in life. Status was as much of a deterrence as it was a magnet, and it was safe to say she knew no real friends.
"I…will keep that in mind. Though are you sure you cannot give me any clues? Vale is bigger than Mantle or Atlas combined…"
Ever since hearing about Vale experiencing a loud explosion out from sea, Weiss suspected it was not just a regular underwater Dust explosion as it was claimed. A little digging revealed rumours of a 'Ghost ship' prowling the waters of Vale by numerous sailors online, seeking to find if others also had a similar experience. Perhaps it was desperation, to find another kindred, or hoping to find one at least.
And yet, travelling on her Aunt's flagship revealed that her suspicions were correct, how else would her radar ping another battleship in the middle of Forever Fall?
"I'm not making it that easy, the fact that I confirmed another such Kansen exists in Vale should be enough for you. Besides, it would be a breach of privacy if I did so. Though I am sure as someone of your abilities, finding her won't be too difficult."
Weiss's expression was strained, that was easy for her to say! Already, she was drawing up plans to have regular aerial patrols, radar searches and everything else in between she could reasonably get away with. It was going to be a long-term search, especially now that 'Hutten' was a famously wanted terrorist, or hero, depending on where you swung on issues relating to the Fang.
"Yes, hopefully."
Looking down from the observation deck, Weiss could see Winter and Mister Branwen about to get into another argument with the way Winter was pacing back and forth near him. She didn't know what they were talking about, but Valèan had noted they were exchanging some very important info, especially about Hutten and whatever the White Fang was planning in Vale. Though the latter was especially bare on details, you would think with how much Atlas spends on Anti-Fang operations, they would know more about their international dealings.
"I believe you should get back down there, young Weiss. Their next round of arguing is bound to make the visitors go away."
"I thought you didn't want to be a 'tourist trap', why the sudden care for them?" Weiss quipped back, causing Valèan to sigh.
"Because more tourists, mean more revenue, and more revenue means I do not get pulled to the scrapyard, such is my way of life now…" Weiss winced, it was a sore enough topic for Valèan, if only they had a spare Wisdom Cube, but alas, Remnant was annoyingly void of anything like that. She couldn't even bring back Enterprise or Hornet if she wished to.
"You should get going, but before you do, a word of warning." Valèan dropped her sage expression in favour of a more serious one, a face similar to the ones she saw on Enterprise countless times.
"I may be old, and not up to date with the politics of today, but I know when a conflict is brewing when I see one. Who will be fighting who I do not know, but these…things happening not just in Vale, but all over Remnant cannot bode well for the future. You can call it cyclical, but that is no favour to those living in this era now. Do believe my words, as someone who has fought through two of Remnant's bloodiest conflicts."
And I was fighting in my world's bloodiest conflict.
"The calm before the storm?" Weiss asked, just before she stepped downstairs.
"Precisely, and the calm may not be there for much longer. Peace is not always guaranteed, the Faunus Wars proved it before, I fear another conflict will prove it again."
With a final nod, she went down the metal staircase, back into the ship's superstructure. Valèan did not follow her, and yet the things she said gave her mental pause, was it truly correct? Or just rampant speculation? This was the issue with predicting the future, you could not say with any certainty over what could happen, and just like humans, Kansen were also prone to being just as irrational at times. But then again, that irrationality was what made them more than just simple war machines.
Slipping her way through the narrow corridors, she was careful to not have her sundress caught up on the bits and pieces of metal before emerging out back on the deck. Just in time too, because Winter was seemingly about to lunge for Mister Branwen's throat.
"Winter! I think we've been here long enough, how about we go visit the palace next?"
Like a pictogram, Winter paused with one foot off the ground before going back to her normal pose. "Weiss, me and Mister Branwen were just having a conversation, no need to worry."
"You call lunging for my friggin' neck normal? I just said it was above your paygrade, and that's all you need to-"
Ugh, both of them were like petulant children, in some ways, Weiss really missed the 'elder' part of being a sister, because then Winter would more likely listen to her over whatever she learned in the army. An Enterprise she was not, but they were similarly stubborn, both in their own negative ways.
Quickly changing the topic before any actual punches could be thrown, Weiss literally stepped in between them. "Ah! How about we go and get lunch first? I'll be paying for all of us, Mister Branwen, so is there anywhere you recommend?"
"Well, if you're offerin'…there is a damn good pub from back in my Beacon days-"
"Ahem." Winter glared at Qrow.
"You know she's going to RVU, right? She's bound to know of those things even if I didn't say anything."
"That's not the point! You can't just be telling those things to her, she's still seventeen!"
Weiss, somewhat annoyed, innocently asked aloud: "Weren't you only seventeen when you joined Atlas Academy? How is that any different?"
"I was trained-"
"And I'm just going to a regular university, I feel like we've had this conversation already." If she was going to somewhere like Beacon that would be another matter. But even if the headmaster literally invited her to Beacon, like what happened this morning, she still would not be going.
"Come on, let's not waste this beautiful sunlight, who knows what we might find in those little streets?"
Atlas was built on a grid pattern, just like most Eagle Union cities. While familiar to her, something about other cities that didn't have that kind of building was better for walking and exploring. Every little small corner could reveal an entire market, and that was something she really wanted to see while here. Atlas was too...corporatized, every shop
Who knows? She might even find that 'Hutten' here.
As if, there's no such thing as coincidences here.
Whistling once, Weiss watched as Grim came into view, she had let him fly around by himself freely, and despite Winter's concerns that he might just 'fly away' Grim did nothing like that. Holding her arm out, Grim perched back on Weiss's bare arm, Mister Branwen behind her bewildered at where the eagle came from all of a sudden.
"Lead the way, little eagle! Find us something interesting!"
And something interesting Grim found.
AN:
Growing up with an older sister had a lot of moments where my shit was just gone one day. And I didn't even realize until it was too late…
Kansen can't seem to detect other Kansen right off the bat judging by how Sheffield was able to evade the Sakura Empire Kansen in the Anime. There was another part originally to this chapter but it was cut out after it got a bit too bloated, it'll be used as the beginning for the next chapter instead.
Addressing Reviews:
Something to note about Cinder's power is that because her semblance is so close to a Maiden's powers, it is hard to tell when she's using those maiden powers and using just her semblance. Scorching Caress is the name of it, and it honestly seems like it was put in because the writers forgot Cinder needed a power, there is no reason to make it as close to her maiden powers. Anyway, I haven't ignored that part of the lore, and I do have something planned for the maidens, who will be playing a bigger role in the story than in canon RWBY.
Be civil in the comments below.