Black Sun
Chapter 21
"Jaune."
At the sound of Pyrrha's voice, Jaune cracked both eyes open. "Pyrrha?" he asked, a bleary yawn escaping from him as his thoughts came rushing back all at once. It took him a moment, but when he finally realized she was there, his eyes widened and he sat bolt upright. "Is Ruby back? How is she?!"
"She's in surgery right now," Pyrrha said. Jaune's face darkened, and she held up a hand to calm him. "Her leg got torn up pretty bad, but Sakharov is working on her now. She'll be fine."
Jaune let out a slow breath. "Good… that's good."
Next to him, Cinder finally woke up, sitting up in bed and blinking to clear the sleep out of her vision. She paused when she found Jaune sitting upright next to her, the covers still thrown over him.
"Jaune?" she asked.
Jaune gave her a sheepish grin. "Uh, hi. You kind of, uh… fell asleep in my arms. I didn't want to wake you, so…"
Again, Cinder blinked, but ultimately nodded in understanding before turning back to Pyrrha. "Since you're here, I assume Ruby made it back?"
"She did," Pyrrha confirmed. "Sakharov is working on her and the Marked One now."
At that, Cinder gave another nod. "Good."
Pyrrha's brow furrowed at her words, but she said nothing, instead shaking her head. "Anyway, we have a problem. Whatever Ruby and the Marked One did in that lab, it's gotten Monolith all riled up. They're mounting an assault on Freedom's border."
"What does that have to do with us?" Cinder asked.
"You mean aside from some of my friends being in Freedom?" Pyrrha replied. "If Monolith manage to establish a foothold on the Zone, particularly the Army Warehouses, we're going to have a much tougher time getting through to the power plant. This affects the entire Zone, not just Freedom. Anybody with any sense is probably heading over there now to try and provide support."
Jaune thought for a moment. "Not to mention that anyone who manages to break through would be able to make it to the power plant and get first dibs on the Wish Granter…" he mused.
Pyrrha nodded. "Correct. Assuming the Wish Granter actually exists, we have no way of knowing if it's only good for one wish or not. If it is…"
"Then suddenly, this is a race to the finish," Jaune surmised. He bit his lip in thought. "...Okay. Ruby is still in surgery, and I suppose she won't be out for at least a little while longer. So as much as it pains me to say it, I think we're going to have to just wait for her, because I don't think any of us want to do this without her. Am I right?"
Pyrrha nodded, while Cinder offered no arguments. Jaune finally threw the covers off himself and stood up, stretching as he did so.
"Alright," he said. "While we wait for Ruby, I think you should get some rest, Pyrrha. Cinder and I are good to go, but you were waiting for Ruby this whole time and haven't had an opportunity to get some sleep yet."
"I suppose so," Pyrrha said with a nod, though her voice was a bit gruff. This didn't go unnoticed by Jaune, who turned back towards her, a look of concern on his face.
"Pyrrha, is something-"
"No," she said. "Nothing is wrong. I am fine."
Jaune knew that was a lie. Judging from how she was looking at Pyrrha, Cinder knew it was a lie, too, but didn't say anything. Jaune bit his lip once more before turning back to her.
"Look, if this is about Cinder and I getting close-"
"Frankly, Jaune, I don't care what you do at this point," Pyrrha said. "I already told you that there's nothing between the two of us, and I meant it."
"Oh. But then why-"
"Anyway, I think I'll take you up on your offer to get some rest. So if you two wouldn't mind?"
Jaune blinked, but ultimately nodded. "Sure," he said. "Cinder?"
Cinder said nothing, instead rising up out of the cot her and Jaune had been occupying together. They both stepped aside, offering it to Pyrrha; she took one look at it before moving over to the other cot on the opposite side of the room. Jaune let out a short breath, then turned to Cinder.
"Come on," he said. "Let's let her get some rest."
Cinder nodded, and the two of them gathered their weapons and gear, then left the room. As they did so, Jaune looked over his shoulder, letting out a sigh when he saw Pyrrha lie down in the cot and immediately turned towards the wall, looking away from them.
He wasn't sure what was going on with her, but he knew that at this point, he needed some fresh air more than anything.
Jaune stepped outside the dome, sucking in a big breath of fresh air as he did so. It was night, which would normally be cause for concern, but he didn't plan on venturing too far away from the dome. Especially not when he could already hear far-off gunfire echoing through Yantar.
The noise caused him to grimace. Whatever was going on with Monolith, it was obviously cause for concern, but there was nothing they could do about it until Ruby woke up from her surgery. For now, they were just going to have to focus on other things.
Such as Pyrrha's sudden hostility, for one.
Jaune wasn't sure why she had suddenly lashed out at him in particular. He'd figured that the friction between them had ended when they'd both realized they didn't have feelings for each other, but apparently not. Now, there was something else entirely going on with her, and he had no idea what it was.
Shaking his head, Jaune reached into his pocket for a cigarette. He placed it into his mouth and began to look for his lighter, only to scowl when he couldn't find it.
"Allow me."
Jaune turned around, and saw Cinder standing there. As he watched, she raised her hand, conjuring a small flame at the end of her finger. He blinked in surprise, but did as she was requesting, and leaned in enough for her to light his cigarette. Jaune took a long drag from it, then exhaled slowly.
"Those things will kill you," Cinder reminded him.
"Somehow, the cancer is the last thing on my mind," Jaune replied. "Thanks, by the way."
"Don't mention it. So, what are you doing out here, anyway? Something on your mind?"
"That easy to tell?"
"You didn't exactly try to hide it."
"Yeah." Jaune took another drag from his cigarette. "I don't know what's going on with Pyrrha."
Cinder's expression narrowed. "Clearly, she doesn't like us getting close. It's not hard to see why – I did try to kill her, after all. Plus I brought us here."
"That's in the past. You're a different person now than you were even just a few weeks ago. If she can't see that, then I don't know what to tell her."
"Perhaps we should all have a talk together about this at some point," Cinder offered. She bit her lip. "I… do owe her an apology, I suppose. At the very least. I can't bring back the people I've killed, or take back the evil things I've done, but I can at least do that much."
"Hey," Jaune said, interrupting her. Cinder turned towards him, and he gave her a firm stare. "That isn't you anymore. Okay? All of that is in the past. Now is the time for you to make amends for it all."
Cinder drew in a shuddering breath as she shook her head. "It's just… does someone like me deserve redemption? After everything-"
"Yes." She turned to him in surprise, and he shrugged. "You've done awful things in the past, I won't deny that, but you're a changed person now, and that accounts for a lot. And as for your question… what does it matter if you deserve redemption or not? Are you going to stop trying to redeem yourself even if you think you don't deserve it at all?"
"No," Cinder answered without a second thought.
"Then I suppose that's your answer."
Jaune took another drag from his cigarette as the two of them stared off into the darkened swamps. After a moment, Jaune exhaled, blowing a small cloud of smoke out in front of himself, just as Cinder turned towards him again.
"Jaune," she said quietly. "What are we?"
Jaune paused, his cigarette midway to his lips. "What do you mean?"
"What are we to each other?" she asked. "I mean… are we friends, or…"
She trailed off. Jaune stared down at his cigarette, and after a moment to think about it, took what was left of it, threw it on the ground, and stepped on it before looking back to her.
"I've been wondering that, myself," he said.
"You have?" she asked, surprised.
He nodded. "Yeah. And truthfully… I don't know, Cinder."
She trailed off, again facing out towards the swamp for a moment before turning back to him again.
"...I meant what I said, all those weeks ago," she offered. "Back at Beacon… I did dream about you. I just didn't realize why until now."
"Cinder?" he asked.
"There was always something about you," she continued. "Always something that drew me to you, like a moth to flame. I was dismissive at first – I couldn't see any reason why someone like me would be so obsessed with someone like you. I mean, compare the two of us back at Beacon and you'll see what I'm talking about. And yet… I dreamed about you still. Why is that?"
"I don't know," Jaune replied.
"I do," Cinder said, taking him by surprise. "At long last, I finally see why. It's because, deep down, I think I knew… you could save me, somehow. I don't know what it was – maybe it was the way you interacted with your friends, or the fact that you were just so innocent. Something about you drew me in, and now we're here, stuck together, along with Ruby and Pyrrha. But out of all three of you, you're the only one I know can help me – the only one I know who's already helped me."
"Cinder…"
"Let me finish," she requested. "Please." He nodded, and she took a breath. "...You had every right to hate me, or to take my life in exchange for what I've done. But you didn't. Even after you reunited with your friends, you didn't. Instead, you kept looking out for me. And I think I know the reason for that, too – it's because you wanted to save me." She cracked a small smile at that. "So I was right, after all. Even if I didn't know it at the time."
Jaune shook his head. "You're giving me way too much credit."
"Am I? Because I don't see anyone else trying to do what you did for me. You're the only one, Jaune – the only one I've ever been able to actually rely on. Do you know how much that means to me?"
Jaune fell silent. Cinder sucked in another shuddering breath, even as tears stung at her eyes for the second time in just a few short hours.
"...I spoke with Kruglov earlier," she said. "He told me that if there's something I want here in the Zone, that I shouldn't try to dodge the issue, because I might die with regrets if I don't confront it. But… there's something else, too. I know our time together grows short, and I want it to last. So, tell me, Jaune… how do you feel about me?"
Jaune froze at that. For a moment, he considered what to say, but for some reason, nothing felt appropriate. Finally, he let out a small sigh, then turned towards her.
"...I didn't realize it until earlier," he told her. "But… I enjoy being with you, Cinder. Really, I do."
He trailed off, and she stared at him for a moment. "That's it?"
"...No," he admitted. "But… I don't know. Maybe it's not appropriate-"
"Jaune," she said, interrupting him. "Respectfully, now is no time to be a gentleman. Our time together grows short, after all. If there is something you want from me, then put it into words."
"I just… don't know how to phrase it," he offered.
Cinder rolled her eyes, exasperated with him. "Then perhaps you'd prefer if I took the lead, hm?"
"What do you-"
"I like you, Jaune," she specified. "As more than a friend. And as awkward as that may be for both of us to admit, it does us no good to deny the obvious any further. Now, do you feel the same way about me, or not?"
Jaune just stared at her, unsure of what to say. He bit the inside of his cheek in thought before finally letting out a sigh.
"...If I say this, what changes between us?" he asked.
"Nothing. We'll still be the same two people we were, but… more intense, I suppose."
"You don't know, do you?"
"How would I? I've never…" she hesitated before letting out a sigh. "...I've never been in love before."
Jaune's heart skipped a beat. "...Is that what this is, then? Love?"
"Like I said, I don't know," Cinder said quietly. "But what I do know is that my feelings for you are stronger than they would be if we were mere friends. Does that make sense?"
"It makes perfect sense, just… I don't know. Love feels like a strong word at this point-"
"Then what word would you use, if not that?"
"I have no idea," he confessed.
A heavy silence fell over the two of them. Finally, Cinder turned away, looking back out into the swamp. She shifted, adjusting her AK to sit a bit more comfortably across her front.
"...You know how I feel about you," she ventured. "The question is… do you feel the same?"
Jaune said nothing at first, instead thinking through not only the conversation they were having, but also all the time they'd spent together in the Zone. Given all they'd experienced alongside each other, he wasn't afraid to call her a friend in the slightest, but something more than that was worrisome, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that he wasn't sure how Ruby and Pyrrha would react when they found out. Ruby would likely be a bit more forgiving of it, Pyrrha was already angry at him for the way he interacted with Cinder; it wouldn't be a stretch at all to imagine her being downright livid about it.
And yet, at the same time, he couldn't deny that there was something there for Cinder. And it made sense, at least to him – they'd fought together, bled together, and killed together for weeks now. They were bonded by blood in ways that he still wasn't with anyone else, even with his friends from Beacon.
But even despite his admission of all of that, there were still plenty of insecurities about the whole thing, too.
"...It wouldn't last," Jaune finally said tentatively. "We'll be splitting apart in a short time."
"All the more reason to make the most of the time we have now," Cinder offered.
"I've never been in a relationship before."
"Neither have I. You, at least, have had loving relationships of a different sort; I have not. That makes you the more experienced of the two of us."
"Pyrrha and Ruby-"
"This will last a few weeks at most," Cinder urged. "If they cannot cope with it for such a short amount of time, then that is their problem, not ours."
Jaune stared at her for a moment before saying, "Why do you seem to want this so badly?"
Cinder grit her teeth. "Damn it, Jaune, would you stop trying to dodge the question, already?! Of course I want this, you've given me everything I never had! Now, tell me – do you feel the same, or-"
She didn't get to finish as Jaune suddenly surged forwards and pulled her into a big hug. She froze in his touch, even as he leaned in to speak directly in her ear.
"...I'm sorry," he offered. "You're right; I shouldn't be dodging the question like this."
Cinder stiffened in his grasp. Pressed together like this, he could feel her heartbeat pulsing through her neck, and that was how he knew just how nervous she was.
This was her being vulnerable in a way she'd never been with anyone else before.
And who was he to deny her this, when she was so willing to bare her soul to him in a way she never had before.
"Truthfully, Cinder?" Jaune said. "I think you're an amazing woman. I'm honored to be your friend, and your first crush."
She flushed red at that, and went to say something else, but she didn't get the chance, because Jaune cut her off then and there.
"And… I don't know if I feel exactly the same way about you, but I won't deny that there's something there – a lot of something, in fact. Enough that I feel comfortable saying… I want more out of our relationship."
She stiffened in his grasp again, letting out a choked sob as she did so. Jaune brought a hand up and began to gently rub it up and down her back, doing his best to comfort her as she softly cried.
"...It's a shame," she said, even through her tears. "That we won't be together for long."
Slowly, Janue nodded. "It is. I'm sorry, Cinder – not only for that, but also because maybe if I had known back at Beacon, I could have done something about it. Maybe this whole thing could have been avoided if only I had thought to reach out to you earlier."
"...In another time, in another life," she mused. "No sense in dwelling on that now; what's done is done."
"I suppose so," Jaune conceded. "But… does that answer your question?"
"It does," she confirmed with a nod, even as she wiped away her tears. "And… I hope you'll forgive me, but I am still not satisfied."
"You aren't?" he asked, concerned.
She shook her head. "No. It seems as though you wish to take things slow."
"I mean, I am an old-fashioned guy-"
"Unfortunately, that won't work, not with as little time as we have. So, please forgive me, but I wish to try something."
"And what would that-"
He was suddenly interrupted by her moving forwards and gently pressing her lips against his. Jaune froze, unsure of what to do at first, before he finally decided to trust her. He closed his eyes and leaned in, enjoying the kiss as much as he could. It wasn't quite chaste, but it also wasn't full of lust, either – the sensation was almost indescribable; the best description he could even think of was that it was almost comforting, in a way.
There was relief there, too; he supposed that his subconscious mind's way of telling him that he'd finally done it. Either way, Jaune didn't pay much attention to it, so focused as he was on the kiss itself.
It didn't last for very long, only just a few seconds before they finally separated. Jaune stood there for a moment, then brought a hand up to rub his lips in shock, all while Cinder continued to stand across from him, her face flushed red yet again.
"Wow…" Jaune couldn't help but say. "Is that what kissing someone feels like?"
"I wouldn't know," Cinder replied softly. "Until now, that is."
Jaune wasn't sure how to respond to that. So instead, he merely reached for Cinder's hand and gently took hold of it. She moved up to stand alongside him, then to his surprise, she leaned over, resting her head against his shoulder while she closed her eyes, a gentle, content sigh escaping her.
Jaune wasn't sure what the future held for them, but he knew one thing to be true about it – whatever happened, he wanted to make the most out of what little time left he still had with Cinder.
Despite what Ruby or Pyrrha may have thought about it.
Ruby let out a low groan as she stirred awake from her position on the operating table. She let out a low moan as feeling came flooding back to her body, and waves of aches and pains began to radiate out through her. Slowly, her recent memories started to return, and she was able to recall what had happened to her.
"Damn underground…" she muttered as she sat up and patted herself down. Her gear was missing, and she was dressed in just her underclothes, but a quick look around the room showed her that it was all set up on a nearby table, her weapons included. After a moment's hesitation, she swung her legs over the side of the operating table, prematurely wincing as she set her injured leg on the floor and tried to put some weight on it.
Surprisingly, it held. Ruby blinked, then tested it once again, but to her amazement, there was nothing there except a very brief ache. Gingerly, she stood up off the operating table and began to walk around the room, grinning when she realized she could move without limping, and with barely any pain at all.
"Yes!" she said, pumping her fist into the air. It was a small victory, but in the Zone, she was willing to take what she could get.
The door to the operating room finally opened, and Sakharov stepped in. Ruby turned towards him, giving him a grateful nod.
"Thanks for patching me up, doc."
He waved her off. "It was the least we could do, considering what you've done for the entire Zone. Turning off the Brain Scorcher was quite the feat."
"Ah… well, I couldn't have done it on my own," she explained. "Speaking of which, how is he?"
"He's fine," Sakharov told her. "We didn't even need to put him under to fix him up. You, however, we didn't want to take any chances with. I don't know how good of a look you got at your injured leg, but it was substantial."
Ruby paled at that. "How bad?"
"Well, the mutant nearly cut you down to the bone. Frankly, I'm surprised you were still able to clear through the rest of the laboratory; most people would have been comply incapacitated by that one. Not you, though."
Ruby offered him a shrug. "I guess it was my will to live more than anything. I had to clear the lab, otherwise I'd have had my brain fried, or worse."
"I suppose so. Anyway, Strelok is waiting just outside."
Ruby couldn't help but pale. "He told you?"
Sakharov nodded. "He did. He was quite forthcoming with that information, in fact. Of course, I suppose it helps that we have no reason to dislike him, true identity or not. Others may not be as welcoming as we were, I don't know, but we have no quarrel with him at this point."
"I guess…." Ruby let out a brief exhale. "I'm gonna go pull my gear on. If you don't mind me askinng, would it be possible to buy supplies and ammunition from you guys? I used up most of my rifle ammo in the lab and could really use a top-off."
"Of course," Sakharov offered with a nod. "Come see me when you're ready, I'll give you full access to our inventory."
"Thanks, doc."
"Don't mention it. Like I said, it's the least we can do."
With that, he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. Ruby waited for him to leave before stepping over to where her gear was sitting and pulling it on, then slipping her weapons into their appropriate places. Once she was fully geared up, she moved out of the room, only for her gaze to immediately land on Strelok, who was sitting on the ground nearby, the guts of his Kalashnikov splayed out across the floor as he went through it all with a cleaning kit.
"Hey," Ruby offered, getting his attention.
"You're awake," he observed.
"I am. So, what's going on? I don't see the rest of my friends around."
Strelok wiped his face with the back of his hand, leaving a small smear of grease across his forehead as he did so. He motioned with his other hand, which still held the Kalashnikov's bolt carrier.
"The redhead is asleep in the other room, I think. The blonde and his girl are outside, and have been for some time."
"Thanks, that's-" Ruby paused, her eyes going wide. "What do you mean when you say, 'his girl?'"
Strelok blinked in surprise. "...I thought it was obvious to you all."
"No, it wasn't. You're telling me they're together?"
"If they weren't before, I suspect they are now. I've never heard of a man and a woman who weren't in a relationship holding hands with each other like that. Then again, what do I know?"
Ruby shook her head. "No, no, I think you're right…" She furrowed her brow, unsure of what to think. She was definitely going to need to talk with Jaune and Cinder later, and probably Pyrrha as well, even if only just to see how she was holding up.
Pushing those thoughts from her mind, Ruby turned back to Strelok. "So, what are you going to do now? I suspect that you won't be sticking around with the four of us."
"You would be correct," Strelok said, as he began to wipe his rifle's bolt carrier down with a nearby carbon-covered rag. "I went through the things I got from Ghost's corpse. They pointed me in the direction of someone else I should talk with."
"So you're going to go looking for them?" Strelok nodded. Ruby pursed her lips. "Do you even know what it's for?"
"No, but I suppose it won't hurt to find out," he answered. "And I know where to go, at least."
"Well, wherever it takes you, good luck," Ruby said. "You've been a big help to us. I know we got off on the wrong foot, but really, I hope you find what you're looking for."
She stepped over to where Strelok was sitting and offered him a hand. He stared at it for a moment in surprise before accepting the handshake.
"For what it's worth, I'm glad I had you by my side, going through those underground labs," he offered. "I can't imagine I would have made it on my own, or with anyone else besides you."
Ruby flushed red at his compliment. "Thanks."
They two of them released the handshake, and Strelok motioned to the room where Pyrrha was resting.
"You may want to go talk to her," he said. "I heard some radio chatter regarding Freedom earlier, it seemed to affect her a bit."
"I will," Ruby said, even though she suspected whatever was going on with Freedom wasn't the only thing affecting Pyrrha at the moment. "Thanks again."
Strelok waved her off, and Ruby gave him a final wave before stepping over to where Pyrrha was resting.
Time to address the elephant in the room.
"Pyrrha? Pyrrha, are you awake?"
At the sound of Ruby's voice, Pyrrha cracked both eyes open and sat up in bed, stretching as she did so. Her sleep hadn't been dreamless – at least in her experience, sleep in the Zone was almost never actually dreamless – but at this point, she was beyond caring.
It was difficult to bring herself to spare too much attention towards her nightmares when her best friend was steadily getting closer to the woman who'd nearly murdered her.
"Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha blinked, then turned towards Ruby. She gave her a small nod. "Glad you're okay, Ruby."
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ruby said. "Sakharov fixed me right up."
"That's good."
"How are you?"
"What do you mean?"
Ruby bit her lip. "Well, I know you've been through a lot… I mean, between what's going on with Freedom, not to mention Jaune and Cinder being in a relationship-"
"What?" Pyrrha sharply asked.
Ruby jumped a bit, taken aback at Pyrrha's sudden change in tone. She cleared her throat, then nodded. "Strelok told me he saw them holding hands and getting close."
Pyrrha stared at Ruby in disbelief for a moment before her face darkened. "I'm not surprised."
"Pyrrha?"
"I'm really not, Ruby. I've seen the way those two have been looking at each other."
"And… you're okay with it?"
"There's nothing I can do about it," Pyrrha snapped. "But sure. If Jaune wants to get close to the person who nearly killed me, who has killed countless people already whether directly or indirectly, and who brought us here in the first place, that's his prerogative. I can at least take solace in the fact that it will be short-lived."
Ruby shifted a bit, suddenly uncomfortable. "...Yeah," she offered.
Pyrrha took a breath. "...Sorry, Ruby; didn't mean to go off on you."
"No, it's fine. I understand you're not feeling your best right now. I'm here for you if you need me."
Pyrrha gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, that means a lot."
"Mhm. And that stuff with Freedom… you're okay with what's happening there, too?"
Pyrrha's grin faded at that. She looked up at the ceiling. "I spoke with Jaune about that. We both think that the best thing to do right now is head for the Army Warehouses and help out Freedom. Worst case scenario, we do some good for the whole Zone. Best case, we manage to break through to the power plant, which gets us one step closer to the Wish Granter."
"And our ticket home," Ruby surmised. Slowly, she nodded. "Okay. Let's go."
Pyrrha blinked, then peered past her, focusing her gaze on Strelok, who was still seated on the ground, cleaning his rifle. "He's not coming with us?"
Ruby shook her head. "He has some other personal things to take care of, unfortunately."
Slowly, Pyrrha nodded. "I see."
"Yeah."
Ruby offered Pyrrha a hand, then helped her out of bed. Pyrrha reached for where her FN FAL was leaned up against a nearby wall, then slung it across her chest and began to pat herself down, making sure everything was in place. Once it was, she turned back to Ruby.
"Let's get this over with," she said quietly.
When they stepped outside the dome, Pyrrha was not surprised to see Jaune and Cinder holding hands, and Cinder leaning against him. Her expression darkened as she took it all in,
So it was true, then – the two of them really were in a relationship together. It was difficult to accept, of course, but at the same time, there was nothing she could do about it, aside from deal with it until the time came for Jaune and Cinder to part ways.
"Jaune," Ruby called out, causing him and Cinder to separate from each other and turn back to the two of them.
"Hey, Ruby," Jaune greeted, a small smile crossing his face. "How do you feel?"
"A few aches and pains, but nothing major."
Jaune nodded, then looked over towards Pyrrha. "How about you, Pyrrha? Rest well?"
"As well as could be expected," Pyrrha answered. Cinder shifted next to Jaune, but Pyrrha didn't even acknowledge the movement. "I take it we're all in agreement, then – our next stop is the Army Warehouses?"
"That's what makes the most sense," Jaune replied. "Do we need any supplies before we head out? We may not get a chance to pick anything else up before we get there."
"Sakharov has offered us his full inventory," Ruby specified. "If you need anything, whether it's ammo, medical, or gear, I'd get it now."
"If I may make a suggestion?" Pyrrha asked. "We're all still running iron sights. It might be worth investing in some optics for the time being."
"We have that Elcan Specter," Ruby reminded her. "I'll have to take another look at it, but it seemed like it'd fit well on your gun, Pyrrha. Cinder and I will need something else. Jaune, your shotgun is probably fine without an optic on it. I can zero everyone else's weapons once we've attached the optics to them, that won't be an issue."
Jaune nodded. "Okay. Let's get everything we'll need, then head out."
With that, they all stepped back inside the dome, intent on getting outfitted for what was to come.
Because something told them that it was going to be a hard fight ahead.
Special thanks to Ickbard for the help with this story.
Bit of a shorter chapter this week, though hopefully not that much shorter compared to the rest. Really, this is more of a cooling-down chapter after the one taking place in the underground lab. Speaking of which, I think we're unfortunately about done with the underground labs at this point, as anyone who's played SoC is already aware of, which is a shame because writing those scenes was some of the most fun I've ever had writing anything. I often say this story is a joy to work with, because it really is - I mean, it's got everything I like in a story; STALKER, gunfights, creepy settings, mutants, hurt/comfort, hero-and-villain romance with built-in redemption, trauma... what's not to like?
In all seriousness, it probably sounds like I'm giving a eulogy to the story right now, but I assure you, I am not lol. Ickbard and I still have plenty of plans for what to do with this story. We'll need to get together and flesh them out a bit more for the future, of course, but at the moment, we know exactly where we want to take the next few chapters. It's gonna be a good time.
Speaking of good times, I'm gonna take a moment to shill our original stuff once again, because one of them (Ballistic Coefficient) has its first book available in its entirety over on our "P" "Atr eon" and the other one (The Vampire's Apprentice) will have its first book available in its entirety over there as well by the end of this upcoming week (which is to say, it's mostly complete over there, and it will be complete by the end of this week).
If you still want to read those without giving us money - which is entirely understandable, by the way - then links will be below for the free versions. Patrons get to read 12 chapters ahead for each, so the free version is a few weeks behind, but those are still steadily being updated as well.
In addition, Ickbard and I currently have another sci-fi/comedy shitpost story that's actively updating over on r/HFY and on the "P" "Atr eon". We'll be moving that to Royal Road at some point as well, too. But for now, you can it over on r/HFY under my name, Obsequium Minaris; the title of the story is "The Problems With Humanity". I will try to link the first chapter below, check it out if you're interested in reading a shitpost about a Marine causing a bit of a diplomatic incident by drunkenly fucking an alien. As always, remove the spaces in order to bypass FFN's retarded wordfilter, or otherwise search it in a browser or something.
ww w . red dit r/HFY/ comments / 1c89y0c / the_problems_with_humanity_chapter_1_the/
And, as you'd expect, this story is also on the donation site, too. Patrons get to read 5 chapters ahead on this one, in addition to 12 chapters ahead on Ballistic Coefficient and also 12 chapters ahead on The Vampire's Apprentice.
Past that, we've got nothing else. Hope you're all doing well out there, and we'll talk to you next time. Peace!
I have recently launched two new original web serials, Ballistic Coefficient and The Vampire's Apprentice. Both can be read at the following links; if you're a fan of mine, I'd really appreciate it if you would check them out. Both are on r/HFY, Spacebattles, and Royal Road under the same name I use for FFN, or if you'd prefer a direct link to them, that can be found here (remove the spaces):
ww w . royalroad fiction / 84568 / ballistic-coefficient
ww w . royalroad fiction / 84566 / the-vampires-apprentice
In addition, I have also launched a "P" "Atr eon" for these stories, which can be found at the link below. If you want to support me and also get a little something in exchange for your money, ten bucks a month will get you twelve additional chapters for both of these original stories - that's 24 chapters total, or 6 weeks of additional content each for these stories. That link can be found here (again, remove the spaces):
ww w. p atr eon user / posts?u=112496374
Thanks so much, and I hope you enjoy the stories!