"Hey." Calling her sister over, Miltia slid the cup she'd been cleaning across the counter. "You mind taking my shift for a bit?"
"Why?"
"I'm worried about Josh. He's been in his room all day." Melanie curled a brow, but just sighed and hopped on over the counter, prompting a short giggle from Miltia. "You know," Melanie made a little show by walking out from around the counter the normal way, getting a head shake from her sister. "You don't need to hop the counter every time."
"It's faster this way," Melanie met her stare with a dismissive look. "Now go and do your thing. He's probably pissy about the slow progress though, so don't be too shocked if he wants to be left alone."
"I know... but still..."
"Just go." It sounded a little harsh, but it wasn't, really. Miltia offered a small thankful smile, getting an eye roll from her sister, before taking off.
Three days; it had been three days since Jay had been whisked away. Junior was off on regular business today, but he'd been keeping them updated with news regarding Blanco. But to call it progress would be disingenuous; so far, they'd gotten a whole lot of nothing. RWBY, as in the whole team, had eventually updated them on their own scattered search... which was equally full of dead ends.
Relax... just relax. We'll find him.
It felt so strange around the place with Jay gone, especially so for Miltia herself. She didn't normally see herself as a total softy, but she liked to think she was friendly. With any ordinary bozo, they'd need to up and earn her respect, or at the very least her appreciation - much like Josh had with his cheerful and friendly demeanor. Jay had saved her, but he wasn't... he wasn't all that approachable. He shied away from most things, went along with people only when ordered - very clearly not liking it. And worst of all, he was an alcoholic.
Spending most of her time around drunks did not help her appreciate that facet of him.
But she could overlook all that, because Jay was familiar.
"Yo." Mildly startled by the face suddenly in front of her, Miltia jerked back with a defensive flare, getting the blond woman to back up with her hands raised. "Easy, easy! I'm not here for a fight."
"It's you." Realistically, she should have been furious at the sight of the troublemaker back in the bar again, but her inner chaos kind of nullified that a bit. Her face fell into a slightly negative contortion. Perplexed, she asked, "Hold on, why are you here?"
Yang Xaio Long: the woman who'd trashed the bar and cost them quite a pretty lien in damages, pointed back towards the counter, or more specifically, right at Melanie.
"I tried talking with her first, but she wanted me gone, and suggested I speak to you."
Yeah, that sounded about right; at least she was honest.
"What do you want?" Miltia, thankfully, found no trouble in keeping her tone neutral and free of any lingering ire. Yang, in response, seemed stuck on something, but nevertheless got down to the point.
"I want to know what's going on with Jay."
"Didn't your sister tell you?"
"Yeah, but I want to hear it from someone else." Yang mumbled, peaking Miltia's interest. "Look, I'm not exactly on great terms with the guy, " she knew that, but said nothing as Yang went on, "but I'm not a full blown bitch either. If he's been snatched away, I want to help."
Scrutiny began to settle in, and Miltia crossed her arms. At the edge of the dance floor really wasn't the place to be having this conversation, and so she nodded for Yang to follow her into the hall, which the girl obliged. Away from any lingering ears, they could speak freely.
"Why the sudden change of heart?" Yang made to open her mouth, but Miltia put a stop to that by cutting her off. "You could have stuck with the rest of your team and helped them in the search, but you didn't. You came here, so why?"
"It's personal." More intrigue sprouted up in Miltia, but Yang made it clear she wouldn't be delving into her reasons anytime soon. "And on another note, I like to make sure my debts are paid."
"In that case, the bar's still recovering from your last tantrum."
"And your boss should learn how to talk to women." Yang bit back, but not all that hard. Miltia snorted, recalling overhearing bits and pieces at the time, before getting her ass handed to her.
"Fair enough. Junior tends to underestimate people sometimes; on rare occasions." Casually, Miltia slipped into a smooth stride, prompting Yang to not only follow, but question their direction.
"Where are you headed; is it related to finding Jay?"
"A little bit of yes, and a little bit of no." Stopping just beyond a door, she paused and turned before reaching for the knob. "I'm checking on his friend."
"His friend? You mean, one of Jay's buddies?"
"Yep." Her tone dropped, but Miltia kept eye contact with the girl. "We've made no progress over the past three days. And to say it did a number on the guy... That would be an understatement." Letting her eyes settle beyond the door, she swallowed. "I think he's blaming himself for not being there, even though he knows it's not his fault."
"Damn..." Yang joined her in the sour mood too. "And here I was all worried about my own stupid feelings."
"Your feelings aren't stupid," Miltia corrected calmly. "Everyone's entitled to their reasons and emotions. There's no shame in feeling one way or another for whatever reasons you have; the fact that you feel something at all is proof, at least, that you care."
Slowly, the two pushed beyond the door and into the small little bedroom. Having given Jay one of the only real ones - before he'd been taken - they were left with only the spare storage room when it came to Josh. Luckily, within said room were all their old mattresses, meaning it was just a quick ten minutes to make up a suitable living space. Within these makeshift quarters the pair came to witness Josh, down on his knees and bowing a little before the bed. Strangely, his hands were clasped in front of him, but the noise looked to have finally caught his attention, and he jolted a little before swinging back.
"Oh! Oh boy." Breathing heavy for a moment and spitting out a sigh of relief, Josh stood and turned around fully, heaving a little. "You scared me there. I thought for a second one of the jerks who grabbed Jay had finally come for me."
"It's just us," Miltia confirmed, spying the twinkle of light reflecting off of something swaying from the center of his chest. "Not that it's any of my business, but why were you down on the floor?"
"Huh, that?" Josh looked back at the bed, before returning his sights and scratching at the back of his neck. "Eh, don't mind that. I was just giving a little prayer; you know, wishing for my bro to stay safe and all that."
"Oh... alright." Miltia found that oddly intriguing. "I didn't know you were religious."
"Yeah. I was kind of raised into it, like most others usually are."
"And that thing around your neck, is that a part of it?" She was probably pushing it here. Her question got a bit of light behind his eyes, more so the kind usually lit up when someone realizes something.
"Oh yeah, that's right." He appeared to take it by the thin chain holding it together. "It is, although I don't think anyone's seen it yet. It was a gift from my family, when I was little."
"What is it, if you don't mind me asking?" Miltia swiftly moved a little closer to see, joined by Yang. Josh, thankfully, didn't seem all that adverse to showing off the small little t on the end of the necklace.
"Just a little symbol of my faith, although most who recognise it just call it a cross; you know, because that's basically what it is. This particular version is known as the latin cross; usually the main one you see people wearing." Josh looked a little hesitant speaking, and Miltia couldn't exactly say why.
"I've seen this before." Yang came in, getting wide eyes from Josh - wider than they really should have been.
"You have?"
"Yeah." A little grin pressed into the corners of her lips. "My uncle wears one of these, although his is slanted over."
"St Gilbert's cross?"
"What?" Yang tilted her head askew, and Josh quickly rolled it back.
"I-I mean. That's just what we call it." And his voice mellowed out again. "It does look the same as this one, right? Except a little bit tilted. Or are all of the ends the same length?"
"No, it's just like yours, with the long piece. Is that really what it's called? I remember my uncle calling it something else, and saying it was an older symbol for a pair of twin gods."
"Right. R-right, yeah." Josh grimaced after that. "I guess it's just coincidence; both faiths might just use similar symbols. It probably has a different name in that religion."
"Josh," Miltia eyed him, noting the apprehension. "Did you hide this symbol on purpose?"
He stalled for a bit, before relenting and breathing out. Letting the cross drop to sit above his shirt, he offered his piece.
"To tell you the truth, I don't even know." Falling back lazily, he wore a... less uneasy expression. "I used to, but that was back in my old home town. Most people there had some, let's call 'em "bad experiences" with people who followed my faith, so I usually kept my necklace hidden; you know, that way I wouldn't upset anybody by accident."
"I see." Miltia honestly felt a little sorry for him. "That must have been tough."
"Heh." He caught her off guard with that one, further relaxing. "Crazy as it sounds: not really. Despite believing and being raised in it, I'm not super all that wild about the idea like most people. I guess the best way to put it is: I have my own ideas for how things work. But hey, I'll just have to wait and see, right?"
He seemed so carefree about such a morbid topic, but Miltia could see he was holding back something. That happiness of his looked at least partially forced, however that alone meant pushing for more would yield them nothing in return. Jay was missing, and while he'd kept up his spirits over these past few days, she was finally able to see the cracks in Josh's armor. The big goofball was holding back his own feelings too.
"Anyway," He quickly got them back on track. "Is there something you need?"
"I..." Miltia took a moment to recompose herself, before shaking her head. "Not exactly. You've just been spending so much time here that I got a little worried."
"Bah," spitting a raspberry, Josh brushed away her doubts. "It's all whatever for me. Trust me, I'm not as hopeless as I've probably been coming off as. But thanks; I appreciate the effort. Actually..." Standing back up, he slumped over on one side and into a more carefree posture. "Is there anything I can help you with? Since you guys began searching, I've only really gotten the chance to see a little bit of the city. And I know it's probably safer that I stay here, but I really want to help however I can; it beats sitting around and doing nothing. I'm tired of being useless."
Truth be told, that was mostly accidental. Josh had joined them during the first day of searching, but after turning up nothing, team RWBY - minus the Y - had to go back to Beacon. The second day had Josh relegated to helping out behind the bar, alongside herself, and while Miltia found his quickness to adapt neat, they hadn't gotten much done in the search for Jay. Melanie usually liked handling bar duty on her own, so offloading Josh on her wasn't an option, and seeing his willingness provided ample excuse in her eyes to take him for a drive. Who knows? Maybe they'd turn up some progress for once; perhaps Jay might have dropped something that Josh would recognise, assuming he wasn't being held entirely in one place.
"Sure, why not." Eyeing Yang at her side, Miltia added, "We've got one who's volunteered herself just a few minutes ago, so it shouldn't be a problem."
"Yeah." Yang put on a confident look, slamming her fists together. "A trio ain't so bad; nothing can get past us this way."
"Nice!" Revving himself up, Josh asked, "So where do we start?"
Miltia could have sworn someone must have been watching them, because at that moment her scroll went off. Huffing a bit and annoyed over being interrupted, she reached to open and check who was calling, only to find herself intrigued when Coco's name popped up. Not expecting the girl's attention when she was usually in the midst of work hours - assuming Coco was working today - Miltia picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, uh... this isn't a bad time is it, doll?"
"No... Why?"
"So, you know how your buddy went missing and all?" Miltia's attention immediately roared to life.
"Yes."
"Check the local news. Right now."
Something was wrong; Coco's odd behavior and vagueness proved it. Rushing out, startling the others but nevertheless drawing them along, Miltia whipped out and around to the bar. Most patrons here were more or less just early goers, but they were already drinking and hadn't given her much more than a few curious glances. Melanie looked to catch her though, but before her sister could say a word, Miltia pulled the remote away from under the counter - kept hidden there because the more brazen drunks kept swapping channels to the naughty after-dark programs when the remote was left out for their use.
Low and behold, Lisa Lavender was delivering the news this evening, but that wasn't what their eyes were drawn to. Regardless of the swelling confusion, the news anchor broke down the visuals with... honestly, bog standard levels of detail.
"The perpetrator of this attack down near the eastern wing of Vale's own shopping district seems to be, according to the available footage on screen now from nearby security feed, a young woman."
While the footage wasn't all that clear, there was no mistaking the figure walking quickly between shops along the main walkway of the mall; almost ping-ponging in a sense. With white hood up and an almost hurried stature, Jay's small appearance disappeared from one shop to another. Although, for some reason, nobody else was outside with him; you'd figure there'd be plenty of other shoppers and teens hanging out.
"Police state there were no injuries sustained from the attack. According to official reports, a blend of Gravity Dust was used to immobilize shoppers within certain stores, expelled into the air and causing shoppers to float up a few feet off of the ground. Experts on dust state that while the mix being circulated through the bloodstream wouldn't leave any lasting consequences, they implore victims to use common over-the-counter painkillers to deal with the minor headaches ingesting Dust in any form is bound to cause."
"No way..." Josh being flabbergasted only made Miltia want answers all the more viciously, but she stalled her immediate instincts to rush out and find the boy, and kept focused on the news - this was earlier today, meaning Jay was no longer at the mall.
"Eyewitnesses say that the attacker did nothing more than walk into stores and burst open small plastic baggies carrying the dust mixture with a small pocket knife. Some say she was wearing a mask, but a few students of Beacon Academy who were present during some of the attacks have identified the perpetrator as none other than the youngest student who was recently inducted into the school by none other than Headmaster Ozpin himself: Ruby Rose."
"Bullshit!" Yang spat, slamming her fist down on the counter to her side. "That isn't her!"
"Shut it." Melanie snapped, getting a grumble from the blonde, all the while Lisa Lavender continued delivering the news.
"We have since tried reaching out to Beacon for answers, however all of our inquiries have gone unanswered. Police are in the midst of attaining a warrant to collect and question Miss Rose herself. Due to these shocking and frightening events, all affected stores along the west wing have since closed down for the next couple of days, and our attempts to reach out for comments from them have proven futile so far. We'll keep you updated as information rolls in. And now, the local forecast, brought to you buy-"
The screen shut off with a thin hum, and Melanie tossed the remote back into its rightful place under the counter. Miltia normally didn't like when her sister snatched away the remote, but this time she felt it was justified.
"That's enough news for today." To say her sister was fuming would be an understatement; Melanie was absolutely livid. "Of all the things..."
"We gotta go look!" Josh stated, adamant and with no hint of doubt in his voice. "If Jay-"
"He's not there, you idiot." Melanie shot him down harshly; although considering her rage, this was probably her taking it easy. "That was earlier today, and from the sounds of it, we missed the fucking time." With a snarl, she whipped away from them. "Knowing that asshole, he's probably back with his new posse."
"No way! Jay's not like that!" Josh sounded so sure, and even a little mad himself. "He's a little easily spooked, sure, but he's not evil!"
"I never said he was." Miltia stabbed back, twisting the knife with her glare as it pierced through his previously displayed courage. "But seeing him walk between shops all willy-nilly means they've got him doing something against his will. Think, for at least one second before you speak! We saw him; all of us. Or are you gonna try telling me that was some trick, and that there's another fool wandering around in hooker wraps a skirt?"
"They think he's Ruby." Yang fell into a low growl. "Crap."
"It's just a mistake. Beacon will clear that up for us." Miltia wasn't happy either, but there was no point in making things worse.
"I know that, but still... I'm not liking how he's caused trouble for her twice now."
"Maybe he left something behind," Josh began, unwilling to let go of his previous plan. "He may be gone now, but he might have dropped something for us; like a clue, or something he knows I'll recognise."
"Of course, a clue," narrowing her eyes, Melanie batted him with a plain look. "It's not like the cops already swept the place." It made him flinch, but after shaking her head, she strangely let up. "But it's not like we have any other leads."
"So, we're going?" The hope in his eyes, apparently, found a way to break down some of Melanie's irritation.
"Yeah. Just let me call over one of the better bodyguards to cover for me."
"Before you go, can you turn the telly back on? Game's supposed to start in a few minutes." A slurred request, befitting of its owner. Pretty much all of them had forgotten they weren't exactly in a private place, but turning to see the few already sloshed patrons eagerly awaiting something to sober up too, Melanie fumbled around and not only heeded said request, but returned the screen to its original channel.
"Aww yeah, now we got 'er going!" Another, less audible cheer came to life, and Melanie shook her head with a huff.
Disregarding everyone watching whatever sport was shown tonight, Melanie left the bar to one of the bouncers before joining them out on the street. It hadn't begun getting dark yet, but by the time they arrived, dusk had finally settled. The real issue came when police tape cut off that lane of the mall and so they would need to find another way inside and out of immediate view.
Out of everyone present in their little gaggle, Josh was the most focused, and Miltia could even hear him as he whispered something under his breath.
"I'll never give up on you."
It pushed her on further, dashing away her negative thoughts and forcing her to focus. If Josh, the man most beaten by the news, could push onwards, then so could she.
Author's note
...
Alright, we're able to start rolling again.
With Yang in the party, things are bound to get a little more interesting. We also get a bit more into Josh this time; not a lot, but enough for him to start becoming a real player. I'm not at all religious myself, but Josh's character kind of relies on his faith a bit - you'll get it soon enough. Apparently, Jay is being put to decent use, and from the sounds of it both Beacon and Ozpin are in for some trouble.
Sadly, we'll have to wait and see how Ruby feels about it, and what about Qrow? Having his niece accused of something she didn't do must sting, especially when you're already on questionable terms with the guilty.
Anyway, I'm cutting it here. Until next time.