Outcast
Taiyang Xiao-Long was too old for this.
The scent of salt and sand filled his nose as he stared out over the ocean, keeping an eye out for any other large sea-grimm doubtless looking to kill them all.
The coast of Salus was a desolate, difficult to navigate area of ocean even without an army of refugees to direct, protect, and otherwise listen to the incessant bitching of.
With the Grimm on their tail, it had proven nearly impossible.
The sea had proven their best ally, initially. Civilians and refugees would never survive travelling on foot across Sanus and into Vacuo, the journey was taxing even for the adequately trained and prepared. People cast from their homes in the middle of the night mid Grimm attack were far from either.
A flotilla of ships from Vale's isles had answered the call, ferrying people from burning Vale even as Huntsman after Huntsman fell buying them time.
As the flotilla fled Vale, they'd stopped at the inhabited islands, including Patch, along the way. He had given the key to his home to a widowed lady with two children that had reminded him of Summer, her husband having died fighting during the fall of Vale.
If there was one thing Tai was sure of, it was that this would be his last fight. If his daughters were even still alive, they would be on the front line themselves. It was in their nature, neither of them could walk away from a fight that needed fought. They, embarrassingly, took after him that way. When the fight was done, they could build a new home, together. Probably one with a little less empty space for him to stare at when he missed them, but close enough to them that he could wander over easily and pun his way into their bad graces again, and enough empty space for them to come home to whenever they needed to.
If… If they weren't there, if Ruby's doomed broadcast had been any indication of what they were in the middle of, what they were fighting…
Taiyang refused to acknowledge the chance, however niggling and ever-present, that his girls had fallen fighting Salem. They'd have found a way. They always did. They found a way to sneak a peak at their birthday presents despite his many security traps and set-ups, they found a way to sneak Ruby out for scythe training with her Uncle during a time when he and Qrow had been on the outs, they'd found a way to get Zwei to take his medicine, for goodness sake.
All of that paled to the scope of Salem. But Tai ignored that. They were his girls. They would have found a way to keep fighting.
On the slim, low, impossible chance that they hadn't, Tai would find Salem, and unkillable or not, the bitch would suffer.
"Want some company?"
Tai was snapped out of his Qrow-like brooding. An older man had crested the peak of the ladder behind him, smiling widely up into the crow's nest next to Tai.
Flavian Arc. A name that once had garnered a lot of attention. Sadly, that name had faded over the last few decades, as the man himself had retreated into a life of something outside of the Hunt. Flavian was a warrior that was almost as legendary as Qrow's revered Grimm Reaper, though whose exploits seemed much more realistic. Once-blonde hair had given way to a very fine silvery grey, tied up into a wolf-tail, and the man did not fill out his armour quite as much as he once might have. His weapons, a sword and shield, were clearly not his own, and stood in a bizarre mish-mash of an orange sword with a trigger he did not use and a large brown shield that had long depleted whatever Dust had been within, both of which were in stark contrast to the once-white armour that had lost some of its sheen over the years.
The Arc family home was been located far from Vale, further west toward Anima. However, Flavian himself had been in the kingdom with two of his older daughters when the attack hit. Initially there only to give aid in stabilising the city, which still struggled with the fall of Beacon, they had been caught up in a fight for their lives as the city fell around them. Flavian had taken up the arms of Huntsmen that fell around him, and led a group of survivors to the docks. It seemed some of the old legends about the Arc family held true, that they never truly forgot how to wield a sword.
The man had been invaluable in maintaining morale and defending the flotilla on its way to Vacuo, and his sailing experience had saved them time and lives. Avoiding Grimm-rich waters, teaching people how to fish so supplies did not run out as swiftly as they may have, and more. Though, even with his help, things were bleak.
Limited space and food were taking their toll. Not everyone could be left at what remained of the isles of Vale. As they had moved further west, shedding refugees where they could to islands that would take them, it had become painfully obvious that getting to Vacuo would be the only real chance most of them would have.
Bartholomew and Peter had taken what bullheads remained, along with whatever people those airships would carry, on ahead to warn Vacuo of their arrival. So far Tai hadn't heard back. Which was expected, if not exactly the best case scenario.
Reaching out, Tai grabbed the wrist of the older man and helped him over the lip of the trap door in the bottom of the crow's nest, handing Flavian the binoculars he'd been using.
"How're things below?" He queried, eyeing Flavian's brow as it furrowed.
"Not good. People are starting to get sick, been on the sea too long without proper food. I've seen it before." The Arc replied, still scanning the horizon.
"Had to drill it into my son's head over and over. Never go on a long voyage without proper provisions. Course', he thought I meant fruit, and I did. I didn't mention the rum though." Pulling the binoculars from his eyes, he grinned at Tai.
"Some things a lad needs to figure out on his own. What booze, which women, and how mixing the two in a boat can be the best month of your life."
Tai exhaled through his nose sharply in amusement, not expecting the comment.
Flavian noticed the reaction and winked at him.
"Don't tell my daughters, but that's how my Saffy was conceived."
Tai snorted and started laughing at the older man in disbelief.
"There you go. Haven't seen you crack a smile the whole time we've been on the water."
Sighing, Tai brought one hand up to massage the back of his neck.
"I'm worried about my daughters."
The grin on Flavian's face dropped into a worried frown.
"Were they in Vale? Have you not seen them?"
Tai shook his head.
"No, I… you remember the broadcast? From Atlas? Amity? That was my daughter. My youngest. Her sister should be with her."
Recognition registered behind Flavian's eyes, before remembrance of the ending of that video darkened his features.
"Ah. Yes."
A moment of uncomfortable silence passed before the older man spoke again.
"For what it's worth, you should be proud of them. Out there, fighting, taking care of each other, trying to do right by the world. They honour you as their father."
Tai exhaled softly, a soft smile spreading across his features, before he turned back to the man next to him.
"I'm sure yours 'honour' you too."
Arc cast a his eyes out over the ocean.
"My daughters do."
Tai watched the dark look on the man's face for a moment, before the crinkling in his eyes as he gazed at something far off.
"My eyes aren't so good at my age, but what's that, in the distance?" he said, passing the binoculars back to Tai.
Approaching the closest shore to the kingdom, Tai saw a white sheet being waved high in the air by a very large man in green, using an immense copper-coloured blade as a flagpole. Standing outside of a bullhead-turned-tent, the man seemed to be signalling, even as his teammates formed up around him. Tai's shoulders released some of the strain they'd been holding.
They were expected. Bart & Pete had made it. Thank the gods.
Maybe, just maybe, these Huntsmen they'd sent out to meet them had news from further afield. From Atlas. From his daughters.
Pyrrha awoke to the feeling of something incredibly smooth but weighty on her face.
Blearily, eyes fluttering, emerald iris' blinked sleep out of their eyes and narrowed in on the object on her face.
Two small, beady eyes stared back at her. A tiny, tube-like pink tongue that ended in a black spot flickered in her direction.
A silent cry had her fall out of the bed, landing with a loud thump. The thing on her face fell off and hit the floor with a light slap, but did not bother to move, lazing in the sunlight pouring in through the netting on the window above.
Hyperventilating, Pyrrha realised it was just a lizard. A fat, lazy lizard.
A door in the corner of the room opened.
"Everything oka- Oh gosh are you alright?"
Fiona was at her side in a second, but Pyrrha was fine. The aura had already healed the slight bruise on her arm from the fall.
Waving her off, Pyrrha stood up, looking questioningly at the fat lizard sunbathing on the floor.
"Oh! Sorry! That's just Barry. He was here when we moved in, and he's good for getting rid of the flies, so we just leave him be. Why?"
Pyrrha gestured at the lizard and then flattened her hand on her face as an explanation, then opened her eyes in shock.
Fiona laughed.
"Oh! Ha! What a way to wake up huh?"
Squatting down and stroking the bearded dragon under the chin, Fi turned to Pyrrha as the lizard opened its mouth and closed its eyes in glee.
"We wrapped up your ankle for you, but it looks like your aura took care of the rest of it in your sleep." She said, nodding at the fact that the red-head was standing without support today. Pyrrha nodded happily and clasped her hands together in thanks.
"You ready to get back to Shade then?"
Pyrrha quirked her had in askance, leaving Fiona confused.
"You're a student at Shade surely? With the weapon and your age and all. You must be?"
Shaking her head, Pyrrha reached for her scroll, and found the academy sigil for Beacon, displaying it for the sheep girl.
Fiona's eyes narrowed in further confusion.
"Beacon? Did you hit your head falling out of bed? You can't be a Beacon student." She muttered, finally standing to look the much taller girl in the eye.
Pyrrha just furrowed her brow and nodded slowly and deliberately. Fiona sighed.
"You must be confused, did you get hit by a Grimm yesterday? Something poisonous in the desert get you?" She asked, looking up and down Pyrrha for any wound her aura hadn't yet taken care of.
The taller girl just shook her head avidly, folding her arms.
Fi sighed again.
"You can't be a Beacon student, sweetheart. Beacon fell. Years ago. There's nothing left."
Beacon fell?
Pyrrha's eyes widened in fear. She knew it had been a long time since… since she'd been around, but going into that tower, into that fight with Cinder…
A life had been given that night, her life. She'd known she might not win, but still, she'd thought she could buy time. For Glenda, the professors, or the authorities, for anyone to do something.
Had she really… died, for nothing?
Yet, somehow, she wasn't surprised. Like, something in her already knew the school was gone.
Pyrrha's mind wrestled with the rest of her, wanting to be angry about the fall of Beacon but finding it hard. Like it was already long done, long behind her.
But for her, it had been less than twelve hours ago. So how was she already over it?
The emotions of anger and utter apathy battled in an insane way within her. She cared immensely, yet very little. Was furious that she had died for nothing, when she held the thought, focussed on it, maintained it in her focus-
But then was easily distracted by the cute lizard and Fi's cooing over it. The emotions over Beacon vanished nearly without a trace, buried under a blanket of relative unimportance.
One thought did stick in her mind, however. Of her friends.
If Beacon was gone where even were Jaune, Ren, and Nora? Ruby and the others? Were they scattered throughout Remnant? Ren and Nora travelling alone in the middle of nowhere again? Had Jaune gone back to his family?
Family?
The memory of her mother saying goodbye to her at the Bullhead station in Mistral hit her like a fright-train.
The gasp from Pyrrha was, for the first time in what felt like forever, audible, but she didn't notice. So fixated was she on the fact that her mother thought she was dead. That her sister thought it.
The idea that her mother's grief had not registered as a worry for her was insane, they had always been close. Pyrrha's father had taught her everything about being a warrior, a combatant, a Huntress, but her mother had raised her, taught her how to be a human being. Yet…
It felt weird. Pyrrha Nikos loved her mother dearly, but the idea of… caring about a mother, of having one…
The emotion was so worryingly unfamiliar…
As a war of emotion versus the lack thereof battled inside of the flame-haired girl, Fiona looked at her concernedly, before Robyn also entered the room at a pace.
"Fi, what's taking so long? You've gotta get moving, we need you to help prep for the arrival."
Fiona stepped away from a Pyrrha that was too lost in her own thoughts, staring blankly at the wall, to notice.
Her mum. How had she not even thought about contacting her mum?
Fingers hammered away at her scroll, sending a text to her mother. She might not believe it but she had to try-
Error. Recipient Outside Tower Range.
Pyrrha caught herself. Beacon had fallen. She'd seen the devastation of Ozpin's tower. Part of it had been her fault. With that gone then-
She had no way of contacting her family. No way of reaching Vale, of reaching her friends.
Only, that wasn't true. The call to Nora had connected. Ren had replied to her texts.
Which meant they were here, in Vacuo, or at least within the communications tower & Amity's range…
Which could be anywhere in this half-continent sized desert.
The conversation between Robyn and Fiona had been largely tuned out with her thought process, until Robyn's hand on her arm brought her back to reality.
"Hey. Fi tells me you're from Beacon? Well, Vale? Is that what you were doing here last night? Did they send you ahead of the rest of the refugees to clear a path?"
Refugees?
From Vale?
Vale was gone?
Horrifyingly, this all made perfect sense. Whatever had happened, people from Vale were coming here. Which meant Ren, and Nora were probably, hopefully, among them, explaining why they were in tower range. The lack of dial tone from Jaune meant that his phone had probably died on the trip-
Or it was out of range. Destroyed. Back in Vale.
The thought caused her blood to run cold.
"We're setting up a welcoming area, if you want to help. Down by the gate. We're a couple hands short today, had to let the new girl take some time off, and this way you'll get to see some people you know come in?"
Pyrrha nodded with a desperate enthusiasm that caused Robyn to lean back slightly, smiling at the girls desperation to help, even if it was a tad unnerving.
"Ho there! Whoa, okay, shower's that way, and we've grabbed you some better clothes for the heat, I'll leave them on the chair for you." The older blonde woman smiled kindly,
The red-head nodded heartily in response. Fi and Robyn left, chatting, leaving Pyrrha alone.
Taking a breath, she steadied herself. They were fine. She would be seeing them soon.
A scroll message to Ren would smooth things over, surely?
"I'll see you when you get to Vacuo. Look for me, please?"
Error: This number has blocked your account.
Pyrrha's smiled faded slightly. If Ren had blocked her, he had doubtless told Nora to as well. Tears threatened to start welling in her eyes.
A gloved arm wiped them away. No, it was going to be okay. All she had to do was find them, and the fact that she was here would be enough, right?
Right?
Nora slapped at her scroll, trying to get the damn alarm to stop blaring loudly in this morning heat.
Eventually she just grabbed the thing, stopped the alarm and blearily deleted all the random notifications that popped up from all her video games and everything while she was asleep.
Pulling the covers over her, Nora snuggled back into bed, desperately trying to ignore the sunlight setting her shoulders on fire.
Mornings had been so much easier when Ren was around. Coffee, pancakes, he used to do everything. Quiet as a mouse, not just because he was a ninja, but because he knew Nora was a nightmare in the morning. Years on the street had given her trouble sleeping, and she rarely got enough unless he let her sleep in. That, and because Jaune always needed the sleep. The boy had had bags under his eyes for months in Anima.
Mornings with Ren were easier because he cared.
Nora sighed and threw off the covers. The sullen moods weren't like her, and she wouldn't get any more sleep thinking about her idiot boy.
Her idiot boy.
Not that he wanted to be, anymore.
Telling him she loved him was supposed to be the greatest moment of her, their, lives. Instead, she had left it too long. Put it off and off and off because she was scared he wouldn't feel the same, that it would ruin what they already had.
Sighing loudly, Nora spied the deep, angry, lightning-shaped scars that ran down her body in the mirror, and snorted derisively.
"Practice what you preach, Pyrrha."
The memory roared to forefront of her mind, coaxed unbidden by her mounting anxieties.
Gods, she was so angry at herself for saying it. The Nora of three years ago had thought she'd known. It had to have been easier to just say something, surely? Rather than sitting there losing the guy you loved to someone else?
The word hypocrite reverberated around Nora's skull like an annoying cave echo.
It was accurate. Nora had done the exact same thing as Pyrrha. Kept it all in, avoided talking about it. She'd preferred to argue with Ren as a subtext instead of just telling him outright, even as they feel further and further away from each-other over the fence that was Ironwood's 'plan'.
Being right about him hadn't made her feel better, and the looming 'I told you so' between the two of them afterword hadn't helped. Nor had the ever-present scars that refused to fade. A constant reminder of how at the crux of it all, Ren hadn't been there.
"I need time."
Nora had said it. Now it was on her to talk to him. To try and salvage something there.
But, as she stared at her body in the mirror, she was left to wonder how much was left to save, or if it what was left of their relationship was instead just as much of a cracked, angry, irreparable mess as her own flesh.
Ren's patience was wearing unbelievably thin.
Baking pancakes for breakfast was killing the time as he stared at the texts he'd received the night before. Living in Shade's student housing meant that there was always a kitchen to use, and cooking was one of his favourite past times, but it was proving a poor distraction from his rage at the person pretending to be his long-dead friend, whoever the fuck they were. Maybe blocking them had been the wrong thing to do…. Maybe he should've tracked-
A loud thump and a gasp from another room interrupted his thoughts.
The issue with Shade was that the living quarters were wholly unlike Beacon or Atlas. Whether in dorms or military barracks, the walls and doors between rooms were thick and uncompromising, and let out relatively little sound.
Shade's facilities for students (not that their little adventuring party were students anymore) were more akin to small mud-houses made from wood and piled mud-brick, with piping and wiring sticking out in the most awkward places. The doors were thin and sometimes did not even reach floor to ceiling. The ability for noise to travel as far and as clearly as it did in this place had lead to a swift exodus of certain other members of his friendship group from their quarters. Headmaster Theodore had no other accommodation left, it all being used by Shade students and Atlesian Specialist recruits, so they had split up all over the city.
Weiss had gone to live in one of the properties the Schnee Family owned worldwide, along with her brother and mother. Despite it being much smaller than the Schnee Manor in Atlas, it was still a relatively large building with ample room, A/C, and various creature comforts. Weiss had even invited Ruby to live with her, which the red-head had gratefully accepted. Jaune spent most, if not all, of his nights in the combatant quarters in Amity Coliseum since his work began with Polendina, and Nora had gone to continue working with the Happy Huntresses in the refugee quarter for two reasons. One of them was him, he knew. The other…
"OH! FUCK! YAAAAAAAAANGGGGG! YES! RIGHT- OH! OH GODS! OHHHHH FUUUUUUUUUUUCK I'M CU-"
Was the constant noise from the only two residents left other than himself.
The sound that followed from the room down the corridor could only be described as the bizarre, high-pitched screech-mewling of a strangled cat that seemed to be enjoying its predicament.
The Bees being together was… nice, Ren supposed. It was either a long time coming (Since the Beacon days, said some, often pointing out how close the two had gotten so quickly after initiation.) Or weirdly out of the blue given Blake's prior, consistent, rather close and definitely romantic attachment to Sun, depending on who you asked.
What was not up for debate was the fact that they were loud. The generally demure Blake turned into someone else entirely lately within these walls, usually as a result of Yang literally pressing buttons only she knew about. Xiao-Long herself, on the other hand…
A doorway creaked loudly, heavy footsteps thudding down the hall toward the kitchen he occupied. A loud buzzing increased in volume as the thudding came closer, giving way to the long, golden locks that could only belong to Yang.
The woman turned, saw Ren, winked obviously and slowly as she raised her right arm and, using her left, hit a button that turned the vibration function off.
"Sorry, Ren, forgot you were here." She said in a tone that actually clearly meant she hadn't cared whether he was here or not. Clad in just a pair of lacy panties and a tank top that had likely been too small for her years ago, she sauntered over to the fridge with an impossible level post-coital confidence. Yang made no attempt to avoid the sunlight streaming in from the sun roof. In fact, she seemed to relish the opportunity as the light danced off of the feminine juices that covered her mechanical hand and face.
Blushing furiously, Ren looked away, and tried to think of literally anything else, though the exaggerated sound of Yang swallowing something liquid filling his ears made it difficult. A mouthful of pancakes and swilling his own water around in its glass helped a little, even as he felt Yang's shit-eating grin from across the room.
If Yang had been 'confident' before, now she was downright arrogant. Her relationship with Blake had made the already cocky girl insufferable, particularly behind closed doors. A bizarre fixation on audibly marking Blake as hers had emerged, and driven all of their friends away as a result.
Why was Ren still there? Well, frankly, he had nowhere else to go. Nora didn't want him, not since he'd utterly failed her in Atlas. Jaune was working through… a lot, and not any of it something he could help with. Even if he could, Ren did not feel right about forcing his prescience on Dr. Polendina. He, after all, had been one of Ironwood's vocal supporters at the beginning, and for too long. The same Ironwood whose virus had infected and attempted to control Polendina's daughter. The same virus that had forced them to make her human. All of it leading to her death.
Living with Weiss' family would've just been weird. They were friends, sure, family at a push, but the Schnee holiday home in Vacuo was far from the size of their Mansion in Atlas, and Weiss had a lot of ground to cover regaining her link to her own family. Ruby was an exception, she was her partner, but the fact was that anyone else being there would've just been a distraction.
"Unless it was Jaune."
It was an ugly thought, brought about by jealousy. Ren dismissed it as quickly as he thought it. Jaune was his brother, in every way but blood. While Weiss showing an interest by popping up whenever she got word he was about for once was… oddly sweet while also being slightly annoying, the only reason Ren didn't like it was because it reminded him of when Nora used to do the same thing. Always there, at his side.
He missed her. With everything he had he missed her. He just didn't know how to fix it.
So, here he was stuck, living with the eternal game of cat-and-dragon. In this rendition, it was all about who could make the other go the loudest.
"Yang? What're you doing…? come back to-" Blake rounded the corner in nothing but the thin blanket that covered the beds usually, and with the sunlight pouring in it was almost completely see-through.
Ren snapped his head away after a fraction of a glimpse, Blake's soft 'Ah!' vanishing as she retreated back to the shadows, ears low and a roaring, beetroot-blush adorning her cheeks.
"Isn't she cute when she's flustered?" Yang commented, grinning at the corner where Blake had just been, crushing the energy juice bottle she'd just downed in her mechanical hand. Tossing it in the general direction of the over-flowing bin.
"I'd put some headphones in if you've got them, buddy. It's my turn now, and I'm gonna make her work for it."
Ren's blush turned to a nauseated green as Yang's footsteps thudded away again, the door of their room slamming as close to shut as it managed behind her.
Eyeing the bin no-one else bothered to empty and the remnants of his pancakes, clean-freak Ren seriously debated just burning the place down to destroy the stuffy fester-hole of days-old food, discarded clothes and trash it had become. His team had always helped with the chores. Always, but Yang and Blake's minds were singularly fixated on each-other's bodies unless they were on-mission, and even them, according to Weiss, it was 50/50. They only ate and drank enough to keep the bedroom antics going, never cleaned up after, as that would delay bedroom time, and they never tidied up the clothes they scattered about everywhere doing it while he was out.
Yang was famously a slob, but he honestly expected better from his fellow student of the Mistralian shadow-arts.
Sighing, Ren just opened the window and dropped into the crowded street below, barely noticed as shoulders brushed and bumped against him. The streets and alleyways of Vacuo were built mostly for foot traffic, an endless stream of people wandering about a maze of dirt-tracks, bazaars and other thorough-fares. Carts and wagons were rare but whenever they appeared, drawn by camels and large desert lizards, they pressed the rest of the populace up against the walls, shimmying along where the could until the thing taking up most of the street passed. Then it was back to the bustle of the crowd.
Vacuo was a maze that even after months of scouting, Ren had not yet managed to get a complete map of in his head. The best he could figure was that the place functioned like a bizarre, trade-focussed circulatory system; the Great Ziggurats of Vacuo each seemed to serve as some sort of organ. The Shaded Oasis, otherwise known as Shade Academy, seemed to serve as the brain. Rarely 'busy' but seeing a constant influx and efflux of messengers, students, militia liaisons and Huntsmen; the rest of the city seemed to ebb and flow in energy and business depending on just how many messages and huntsman ranged from it day to day.
The other two, smaller ziggurats had their own roles. The second largest of the three was the Blackened Hall, so named from its permanent black sheen from the fires it had seen after its collapse. Originally the largest and the seat of the Vacuoan King several centuries ago, its raising still left it several stories high and extremely wide, functioning like an immense commerce hall. The flattened, expansive roof was actually one of its previous middle floors, the top half having collapsed in on itself after the former palace was burned. It was constantly heaving with people, tents and trade, each changing in colour, personage and what was sold each day depending on who staked their claim first. The priciest, most expensive stools spread out in the sun, some tents even offering food or refreshments. Below, the sound of shouting and haggling over livestock, foodstuffs and weaponry in the stuffy, sweaty annals of the place carried for a mile in every direction, and the lower in the building you traded, the blacker the nature of the market. Tradesmen spilled out into the streets, not all being able to fit in the place despite its size. Small bridges of tacked-together wood and reeds lead from many of the middle floors and cracks in the walls to nearby rooftops and buildings in an effort to alleviate some of the strain from foot-traffic on the streets below. Heatstroke, or 'Misery's Kiss', as the locals liked to call it, happened frequently in the crowded, stuffy halls, and the surrounding streets and lower levels suffered from gangs of thieves and pick-pockets. It was one of the main places younger Shade students started patrolling, both to install some form of order in the rampant chaos of the markets, and in an effort to teach that uncontrolled crowds, poor planning and parasitic people were just as much of a threat as the Grimm.
The last, less a ziggurat and more of a pyramid, changed in shape at its zenith. Instead of a normal tip, the top extended skyward into an immense, four-sided needle, ending in both a lighthouse and Vacuo's communications tower. The lighthouse burned every night to serve as a beacon for any lost in the dunes, while the pyramid itself was actually an immense and ancient library, carrying texts dating from ancient to modern times from all over Remnant, and extended deep underground. Surprisingly, it was the centre of the recreational area of Vacuo. A quiet district full of restaurants, shisha bars, tea rooms, bookshops, art galleries, amphitheatres and ice-cream parlours. The kind of noise that the Blackened Hall emitted was not permitted around the Great Library of Alyx. Despite having been built by an author of some renown less than a century prior, and being the newest central structure in the city, the Library commanded just as much respect as the other two. Vacuo's history of art, literature, oral tradition and personal expression (One that they had waged war in defence of against Mantle and Mistral during the Great War) meant that introspection and artistic appreciation were strongly encouraged. Many who sought out the pleasures of the area around the library did so alone, seeking quiet and contemplation with the aid of whatever form of art they pursued or cultivated. Those that came with friends or family were expected to speak in lowered tones or whispers, but were still very much welcome.
Despite his nature, Ren avoided the library, and instead made his was toward the Blackened Hall. Silence was what he was best at, but he needed noise to feel comfortable. Nora's incessant, nonsensical rambling, mostly. Jaune's snoring, or ability to stumble over his own words. Ruby's ability to speak at a thousand miles a second, Yang's brash explosions of energy, quips and puns. Weiss' well-meaning lecturing. The only quiet friend he had was Blake, the Bee's bedroom antics aside. Even Pyrrha had a habit of making some noise. The girl had never been able to keep her hands still. Years of drilling had taught the woman that not moving meant death to her, so she was always doing weapon maintenance, homework, texting her Sister, talking to Jaune, maintenance again, training Jaune, training herself, sparring with Nora, calling her mother, helping Ren clean up after people before they even had a chance to clean up themselves, simply because it was something to do.
He was thinking about her again. Those damned texts. It was a scam, of course it was. Someone had hacked an old database on Amity or something and gotten the scroll-links of long-unused accounts to try and steal a few lien. Vultures. The thought of it pissed him off.
Not enough to distract him from the feeling of a hand reaching into his pocket, however.
Wrapping his hand around the offending wrist, he turned to the empty air of a small cubby in the wall beside him as people knocked into him on the way past.
"Emerald." Ren spoke, slightly amused.
The air turning green with her hair, Emerald's illusion dropped as she pulled him into what now revealed itself to him as the door of a coffee parlour, grinning.
"Hey Green." Returned the 'former' thief, handing him back his wallet, sans some of the cash within.
"On you today, right?"
Friendship with Emerald Sustrai had been the last thing on Ren's mind after Atlas, but after weeks of wandering the streets alone, RWBY & Jaune being MIA and Nora not talking to him, he had been at breaking point.
Then, he'd happened upon a rabbit-haired girl who was in the exact same boat, doing the exact same thing. Alone, the person she thought loved her having turned their back on her. Her team gone.
Kindred spirits could be found in the most bizarre of places, and in the most strange of people.
It wasn't long before the usual polite chatter ran out. They saw each other frequently now, and not an awful lot was happening in Ren's life to talk about. Still, the silence they shared as they sipped dark coffee was far from uncomfortable. With his eyes closed, Ren focussed on the sound of the hustle and bustle outside combined with the loud chatter and screaming coffee machinery within the shop. It was more than enough to sate his need for background noise. Emerald, after all her years of thieving, had developed an interest in people watching, usually looking for easy marks, and was perfectly content observing the midday crowds heave in and out of the Blackened Hall quietly.
The movement of his scroll on the table went unnoticed, until Emerald spoke.
"You know you've got unread messages, right?"
Ren opened one eye and raised his eyebrow at the girl.
"Why are you messing with my scroll?"
Emerald merely rolled her eyes and kept hitting buttons.
"Because I thought after three months of randomly hanging out I'd finally give you my number, rather than just hope I bump into you at some point in the week. Here."
She tossed it back at him, and Ren eyed the screen.
Indeed, Emerald now showed up as a new contact. Another little red nodule let him know he had something in an alternate inbox-
1 Message Request from Blocked Number. Read?
A flick of the thumb dismissed it. What was the point of blocking someone if you could still see shit they sent you? Messaging apps were daft.
"What's that about? Someone piss you off?" Queried the girl beside him, eyes darting between his screen and the more intriguing characters in the crowd outside.
If there was one thing Ren had learned about Emerald, it was that the woman was both observant, and very nosy. Curious was probably the polite way to put it. Mercifully, however, she was far from judgemental. Not that she really had a platform to be, being partially responsible for their old school, home, kingdom and world as they all knew it going up in flames, after all.
Ren sighed.
"No, some hacker's got a hold of an old friends contact info and it trying to get me to 'send help'."
A loud slurp from the coffee cup on the other side of the table ended.
"Ah, that old chestnut. Always an easy way to get some lien. Not as fun as my way though."
The disapproving gaze from Ren said it all.
"What?" She continued, "All I'm saying is it kills it a bit when you can't see their faces when they realise they've been had. Not as fun."
Rolling his eyes, Ren put the scroll back on the table.
"Not as fun as it used to be, you mean." Ren put weight on the 'used to be' because Emerald was supposed to have stopped scamming, stealing, lying to and otherwise shafting people as part of her immunity deal with Winter back in Atlas, and as a larger promise to the rest of them.
Problem was, they weren't in Atlas, and the 'rules' in Vacuo were far, far more fast and loose than the military-centric state they'd previously been residents of.
Emerald just waved him off as though he were an annoying fly, shifting her position to sit on her leg on top of the chair.
"Yeah yeah. One of your goody-two-shoes friends got their scroll stolen then huh?"
Ren eyeballed her again.
"You know you're one of the 'goody-two-shoes' friends now you've 'switched sides' right?"
Emerald wretched.
"Never say that again. Just answer the damn question, nerd."
Shaking his head with a slight smile, Ren replied.
"No, the scroll's long gone. I think someone's hacked into an old server, probably one in Amity, and cloned the number."
Emerald frowned.
"I mean, I doubt it. That's kind of, well, impossible."
Ren looked at her quizzically, and Emerald sighed, shuffling uncomfortably in her seat as she explained.
"When we were… organising… well, Beacon…"
Ren's eyes narrowed.
"We… tried to hack into the system, Torchwick had the best guy in the kingdom on it, but it was impossible. In the end we had to upload a virus on a scroll manually…"
Eyes opening in recognition, Ren replied.
"The break in, the night of the dance."
Emerald nodded, casting her eyes back to the crowd outside.
"It was Cinder, the night of the break in."
It was whispered, a dim attempt at a level of self-absolution in her own head for what had happened. It didn't work. Every moment she spent with Ren and his friends reminded her of all the horror she'd caused in the name of pleasing Cinder.
Shaking her head in an attempt to shake the feeling off, she turned back to him.
"What makes you so sure your friend's scroll hasn't just been picked up or powered back on, sold off in a second hand store maybe?" She asked, trying to change the subject back.
"Because she fell at Beacon." Ren replied, trying very hard to keep his voice level. It didn't work, but it also didn't carry as much bite as he wanted to express.
Emerald visibly flinched, and retreated into herself. Her heels came up to balance on the edge of the chair as she hugged her knees.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
She meant it. Ren really believed she meant it.
"I know." Was the reply that came, matter of factly.
"I'll never be able to make it okay, you know?" The green-haired girl continued.
"I know." Another reply, in the same tone.
"Is it… really okay for us to even…be friends, like...?" She trailed off, fearing the answer.
"Nothing will ever make it okay, Emerald. Nothing."
Hugging her knees tighter, she buried her head in the crook between her knees.
"But you're trying, which is worth far more than you realise."
A hand gripped her shoulder, giving it a patient, supporting squeeze.
Looking up, slight tears in the corners of her eyes, she whispered a soft
"Thank-you."
Ren smiled at her in that soft but meaningful way that was very him. The girl shook her head, slapped her cheeks, and cleared her throat. Resetting herself back into her usual tough-girl persona.
"Right, so, anyway. There's no way anyone's managed to hack into Amity without breaking in through Atlas security, which you would've heard about, and there's no way anyone's got your friends scroll, because it's surrounded by a massive horde of Grimm, and even if it wasn't, it's back in Vale, which means there wouldn't be a connection. So whatever's sending these messages is literally impossible."
That thought was… troubling.
"But you've blocked it now, so it's done. Anything new with your girl?"
Ren sighed at the teasing look Emerald sent him and ignored her, choosing not to rise to her teasing and instead enjoy his coffee; even as she started poking him in the side, grin spreading across her face.
"I'm sorry, we're out of range. We've been out of contact with Shade since we left to rendezvous with you. It's only a couple days journey but frequent sandstorms mess with the signal, and with the Feldspar amplifier down even the nomadic settlements are without a signal booster to communicate. We've been camped here for months, waiting. We had no idea when you were going to arrive."
The "Or if you were even going to make it here." Remained unsaid, though both Huntsman understood the subtext.
Upon landing on the sovereign shores of Vacuo, Tai had been greeted with four young Huntsmen/women, each barely older than his Yang. A quiet rabbit-faunus, a mute, blind boy (How in the fuck that kid had managed to become a Huntsman Tai had no idea, but clearly the kid had worked his arse off and had to be able to kick some serious ass to be able to go to toe with other Huntsman.) A very, very, very large man with a very, very, very large sword, and the girl who he was currently talking to.
Coco Adel was the very picture of a fashionista, and how the hell she'd managed that after three months in the desert fighting Grimm was well beyond Tai's capability to process, especially as tired as he was. Refugees were being organised and moved off of the ships behind them, one of the younger lads, Carwen? Cardum? Was that his name? Organising it.
Flavian and himself were getting as much information as they could out of the younger Huntsmen.
"Any news about Atlas? The message that came through?"
Tai didn't like the note of desperation in his voice, but it was not in a father's ability to hide concern for their child.
Coco sighed, crossing her arms.
"The refugees from Atlas landed months ago. They've been set up in a make-shift refugee quarter in the city of Vacuo. That's where we'll lead you. As for the message, we're well aware. Huntmaster Theodore has been very clear on the threat Salem poses. Hey! Fox! Hustle a little will ya!? We'd better get underway while it's still light out!" The girl called past Tai to the kid with the copper gauntlets, who was currently packing up the bullhead. His return of a middle finger just made the girl grin.
"How are they already here? Atlas is far farther away than Vale, and the waters are much riskier, especially near the Dragonlands. They shouldn't be making landfall for weeks." Commented Flavian, chin in hand thoughtfully.
Coco turned back to them.
"Atlesian airships are faster than you think, what's left of them anyway. As for the civilians, they got here first. Little trick an old schoolmate of ours worked out. Real magic, who'd have figured? Apparently they built an interdimensional tunnel from there to here."
Coco shrugged at the look on both Tai and Flavians' faces.
"Fucked if I know guys, this is all new to me as well. It all happened and then we immediately got sent out to wait for you, haven't exactly had time to ask questions. Amity landed soon after, from what I understand. Signal got boosted from Vacuo tower, So I figure it's Amity. Sadly not enough to reach here. Wandering tribes let us know what they do when they pass by but beyond that not a lot's happened."
Tai grabbed the girl by the shoulders, and both Coco and the bunny girl immediately raised their hackles, looking for a fight.
"Hey, the hell are you-"
"The Atlas guys, did they have anyone from Vale with them? A couple of girls maybe? Tall blonde and a short redhead?"
Coco's shoulders slackened at the question, clearly not getting the fight she expected.
"I- You- What was your name again?" She asked, eyeing him up and down.
"Tai. Taiyang Xiao-Long." The older man whispered, letting the much younger girl go.
A look shot between Coco and the other girl, the latter's ears drooping sadly as her leader's brow furrowed in thought and worry.
No. No. No. Not that look. Anything but that look. That was the same look Qrow had had when he'd told him about…
Coco breathed in hard, exhaled, and changed her pose from the girl with the hand on her hip to a straight-backed Hunstman, looking him in the eye as she pulled off her sunglasses.
She paused for a moment, as if struggling to find the words, before her lips pursed and she plunged in, sadness in her eyes.
"Mr. Xiao-Long, it is my deepest regret to inform you-"
No.
"That Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao-Long, alongside the rest their team-"
No No No No.
"Perished fighting the enemies of Humanity, honouring their oaths as Huntresses, us as their comrades, and you as their family-"
No No NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO-
Velvet stepped in, but Tai didn't hear anything she said.
"I am so, so sorry for your loss. We knew them at Beacon, we fought with them at Beacon, they were wonderful people, and good friends. They really were-"
Tai collapsed, knees hitting the sand as the world fell away, the only thing he could hear, strangely muted and far away, was the sound of his own agonised roar of grief.
A/N: Hello again! I know it's been nearly two weeks since the last update; I do apologise. Sadly, if I'm gonna make chapters this long it takes a lot more time. Initially chapters were only like 1,500 words if that. I might have to change it so that I update every two weeks as I just don't have the time in the day to write 7,000 – 8,000 words a week. Apologies if this is a problem, but it's the best I can do.
So anyway, I've started having to take some artistic licence now. The picture of Vacuo on the Wiki only shows one walled-off ziggurat, which honestly doesn't make any sense. How does the one static settlement in the entire kingdom survive without walls and a fortress on only one of its four sides? It wouldn't, Grimm attacks would fuck it completely. There's the argument that Grimm might not do so well with the heat, but the cold didn't stop them in Atlas so I doubt it. Introducing three fortress-structures that serve as corner-stones of both being tall enough to see large attacks coming, serve a defensive purpose and serving the kingdom in other ways helps me to write a convincing defence of Vacuo at some point (Which will happen because where the hell else is Salem gonna go now? Everything else is already wrecked.) While also building Vacuo into a place that has its own level of character. Doesn't hurt that it also gives me places to set scenes in later. Yes, I also called the continent to the north of Vacuo and west of Atlas the Dragonlands because it looks like a damn dragon. No, it wasn't very original. Sue me, I'm tryna get 8k words out a week here, I have to cut a few corners.
The natural character-bloat of RWBY is a problem in that getting all of JNPR & RWBY's characters alongside side characters word-count-time is difficult without making chapters 'obscenely' long, so I'm trying to make it work for me by getting them to draw together. The idea of the Emerald/Ren friendship literally only hit me as I was writing it and honestly I think it works pretty/oddly damn well. As for Team CVFY being unaware that RWBY are alive, yeah I did it for the gut-punch but also because it makes sense. They were at the memorial for them, they signed their names on their gravestone. In this continuity they immediately left to help the Vale refugees, it would make sense that they wouldn't know they're actually alive. Tai is mentioned as having 'his own mission' in the RWBY: Beyond series, which means he doesn't know they're alive in the show either, and I reckon it's a hint that he's escorting the refugees.
Flavian Arc is an OC, and while I'm not entirely comfortable adding 'yet more' characters to an already bloated cast, a lot of Jaune's insecurity issues come from the idea that he's let his family down by not being a good warrior, and also stealing Crocea Mors and running off into the night. While he's seen Saffron, with the towers down she can't tell the rest of the family that. Addressing Jaune's issue with family will be necessary for character growth down the line, so I kinda 'have' to include them in some way. I figure this way is as good as any.
Can we discuss for a second just how fucked everything is in the show though? They've got a kingdom and two half-kingdom's worth of refugees in the middle of a desert waste that gets most of its food and water through trade with the same kingdoms that are now gone. The recourse shortage will be, I'm sure, largely ignored in the show, but honestly it's a massive writing hole that needs sorted the hell out, so I've gotta figure a way around it. Somehow pull something out of my arse that explains managing to get three kingdoms worth of food out of a desert wasteland… That's gonna be an interesting one…
As you can see, the stars are aligning for a reunion. Nora and Pyrrha are both involved with the happy Huntresses now, Tai's gonna see his not-actually-dead girls, Flavian and his daughters will see their son/brother again, and it's all gonna happen real soon. Like, either next chapter or the one after soon, so hang in there.
Please do review, I appreciate feedback and knowing people are reading gives me fuel to write. Follows and Favourites are flattering and appreciated, but numbers on a screen don't drive me to write quite like positive interaction with the people reading does. That said, thank-you to anyone taking their time reading my work, just knowing that over 100 people follow this is mind-boggling. I hope to post again as soon as I can, hope you're enjoying your weekend!
PS: It took literally everything I had in me NOT to name it the Great Library of Alyx-andria. It is a pun so good Yang herself would be proud, but I can't find the strength to do that to myself or you. May god have mercy on my soul for even thinking of it.