Let's get straight to it.

Adam's first night in Orostachys wasn't anything like he'd expected. Jakob and the rest of the crew had come back to the bunkhouse covered in sweat and filth but smiling brightly at having the workday behind them. They didn't even bother to shower, simply washing their faces before heading right back out with Adam in tow. Dinner was a noisy, rushed affair as most of the camp wedged themselves into the limited seating, tearing through their meals as fast as possible before even more workers showed up. Laughter and insults echoed around the room between - and sometimes during - mouthfuls.

When Jakob hollered that they were heading for the Watering Hole, Adam's new bunkmates cheered and abandoned their table. Scarcely had they risen before another group took their place. Maurice peeled off outside with a repeated warning to behave tonight before heading back to their bunkhouse alone, leaving Adam alone in the midst of eight complete strangers.

They didn't act like strangers, though. Jakob pulled him along, chattering on and on about a million different things. Maurice might've been the leader of their crew, but Jakob seemed to be a prominent figure in his own right. The rest of the crew followed his lead as the group marched their way to the local bar.

"The Watering Hole?" Adam asked as he read the sloppily drawn sign above the door.

"Officially, it's called the Miner's Rest, but the guards always called it the Watering Hole. You know, on account of all the animals." It didn't take a genius to understand what they meant. Far from being offended, though, Jakob seemed proud of the name. "So we embraced their stupid moniker and made it our own."

"Isn't that a little insulting?"

"That's the beauty of it!" Jakob cheered. "Can't make fun of us with it if we embrace it, now can they?" They could, but Adam would trust them on this one. "Ruined their fun a little. Just another way for us to thumb our nose at the suits."

"You mean the guards?"

"Not just the guards," Jakob insisted as he pushed through the double doors of the bar. "All the suits. The normies." Adam tilted his head in confusion. "The non-faunus." Ah. That made more sense. "From the lowliest dock worker to old Jacques Schnee himself. And especially our illustrious overseer." Jakob sidled up to the bar and raised a hand before calling, "Gimme a round for 3C on my tab!"

Cheers rang out, both from their crew and a few random patrons nearby. The bartender was already moving, filling glasses with ease as he asked, "What's the occasion?"

"New blood," Jakob answered, shaking Adam's shoulder. "Gotta give him a proper Orostachys welcome." With a simple nod and a grin, the bartender began sliding drinks across to them. Jakob passed them out, saving the last two for himself and Adam. "To 3C, the finest crew of worthless good-for-nothin's Orostachys has ever seen!"

"3C!" came the answer. Adam followed the lead of his new friends and upended his glass.

He regretted that decision immediately.

"Ack!" Adam expected watered down beer or some cheap swill, as Jean called it. Whatever the Watering Hole served, it hit like an Ursa. "What was that!"

"A little strong?" Jakob asked innocently, though his mocking smile sort of ruined the perception.

"A little?" Adam didn't drink that much, but he wasn't a stranger to alcohol either. Not with the amount of time he's spent around Jean. He had a feeling even Jean would balk at the poison swirling in his glass. "That was ridiculous!"

"Only the finest here in Orostachys." For whatever reason, that had Bane and a few others laughing. Speaking of Bane, he'd already polished off a second without flinching.

"Isn't that expensive?" Alcohol with that high of a proof was usually reserved for better drinks. It probably didn't come anywhere close to the whiskey at Kuchinashi, but he hadn't exactly enjoyed that experience either. Plus, the price tag had been absurd compared to his normal fare. Add on the cost of flying it out to somewhere so remote, and he dreaded to see what it cost in the end.

Jakob shrugged. "Probably, but it's better for ol' Esau if we're too drunk every night to complain."

"Esau?"

"My bad. The esteemed Overseer Ferric," Jakob clarified. "May his days be as short as his belt is wide."

"Careful, Jakob," the bartender warned. "Talk like that'll get you back in the hole."

"I already work in a hole," Jakob shot back. "Besides, who's gonna squeal on me? Not like any of his men would dare set foot in Faunus Alley." Jakob turned his attention back to Adam. "Just remember, kid, at the end of the day, there's two sides of the camp. One does all the work while the other gets all the reward. And guess which side we're on?"

One look around the room answered that question. "Is it really that bad?"

Jakob's sad smile didn't fill him with hope. "You'll see."

"Enough of that," Sully interrupted, cutting between them. Well, his drink did. Adam could see over the man's head pretty easily, orange hair nearly tickling his nose as Sully bridged the small gap. "We're here to celebrate, not commiserate. You wanna cry, do it on your own time." Jakob backed off in surrender, leaving Adam to whatever Sully had planned. "C'mon, new blood. Let's see what you're made of."

Downing the rest of his acrid drink, Adam let himself be tugged along to a table in the middle of the room. A ring of people formed around them before someone stepped through the crowd and claimed the other side of the table, elbow resting on the table as he stared Adam down.

Arm wrestling? It seemed silly, but as far as initiations went, Adam could get behind this one. His first challenger wasn't anything special. Lean and lanky, Adam felt confident as he claimed his spot. His first win didn't take long. Nor his second. Either they'd started him out easy or grossly underestimated him. Either way, as long as he held his own, he kept his spot. As his challengers grew in size, Adam found himself struggling to hold on until someone finally ended his streak. By that point, though, he'd already started gathering a bit of a following as he fought well past where anyone would've guessed.

Aura and training had its benefits.

Still, he couldn't last forever. The brute that claimed his title looked as solid as iron. Adam wanted to wipe the sneer off his face so badly, but he'd strained uselessly without much progress before the mammoth smiled and smashed his hand to the table. Half the room cheered at the downfall of the newbie, even as others patted Adam on the back and ushered him away from the table. Call him petty, but Adam wanted to see the new champion knocked down a few pegs.

He didn't have to wait long as Bane claimed his spot. Something told Adam this wasn't Bane's first rodeo. Maybe it was the way his muscles rippled in anticipation. Or the way the massive man cracked a smile as he stared down his opponent. But mostly, it was how the other guy seemed to shrink as he took his spot and waited for defeat.

Bane took his time, letting the man struggle as Adam had only moments ago. Adam wished Bane would smash his hand down to complete the mimicry, but Bane had other plans. Slowly, he began to push his opponent down, edging closer and closer to victory as the guy fought to stop the creeping momentum. They hovered just above the table for a moment, giving him a final chance to stave off the inevitable, before Bane closed the last few inches in a flash, holding them there longer than necessary. A cry of "3C!' echoed in the room as Colton and Kieran hoisted Adam to their shoulders, despite his loss. Then again, picking up Bane probably would've taken the entire crew. Either way, no one else dared to challenge their domination. Not with Bane guarding the title.

The rest of the night was a blur. They drank. They joked. They chatted about life before the mine and plans after it. The hours ticked by until the bartender chased them out to close up for the night. They sauntered back to the bunkhouses alongside a mixture of other workers, likely waking all of Orostachys with their noise, but none of them cared. For now, they were kings of the mountain, and no one could take that from them.

Until morning, when the blare of the bell echoed in all of their heads.

"Rise and shine!" Maurice shouted. Adam winced in his bed as his head roared its disapproval. Judging by the chorus of groans around the room, they were all a little hung over. "Did you all have fun last night?"

An "ugh" and a thumbs up was the best Adam could manage.

"Good, because the real fun begins today."

Breakfast was a hurried affair of eggs and sausage. And by that, he meant a mountain of eggs with a couple skinny sausage links on the side. He'd scarcely finished shoveling it all down before Maurice called for them to roll out and all of 3C began the march to the mine. The mountain loomed above them as they neared the massive cavern carved into its base, metal doors easily two stories tall slid open like the maw of some great beast.

Adam prepared for the long walk into the dark innards of the mountain when Jakob pulled him away toward where a few other crews were gathering. "Truck should be here shortly."

"We aren't walking?"

"You can if you want," Jakob shrugged. "I'll stick to riding."

As if on cue, a pair of flatbed trucks emerged from the mine and pulled up to where the faunus crews waited. The moment they stopped, Jakob scrambled up the side and tumbled into the back while Maurice popped the back open so the rest of them could file in. A second crew followed, filling the truck until Maurice closed the gate behind them and the engine roared against the increased load as they set off. With a metal framework surrounding them, it almost felt like a topless cattle truck with the two crews jostling against each other. Adam apologized as the truck turned sharply and threw him into someone, practically knocking them over with a muttered curse aimed in his direction. Before he could even steady himself, the truck evened out and he stumbled backwards into Bane. A firm hand caught his shoulder, rooting him in place as they neared the mines.

"Thanks," Adam grunted, grateful for the helping hand.

"You'll get used to it," Bane assured him, eyes fixed somewhere deep in the mine. Adam had the distinct impression it was more a statement than a conversation.

The mountain rose up above them, engulfing them in darkness as it swallowed the very sun and thrust them all into the abyss. For a few seconds, Adam could see nothing but dim spots of light. They began to grow, like fireflies fighting through the black miasma until they began to light the wide pathway through the underground. Adam blinked as the lanterns lining the stone walls spread out. No, not the lanterns. The walls were spreading. Wider and wider they went, split here and there by new hallways that seemed to go on forever.

The corridor went from a casual widening to an explosive expansion as they reached a massive room carved into the rock. The light strained to reach the ceiling so far above, while the walls curved around like an arena with them as the main attraction. Their truck curved off to the left and screeched to a halt, letting the workers spill out as the other crew split off in another direction, leaving 3C gathered around the entrance of one of several openings branching out from the main chasm.

"You all know the drill," Maurice shouted as they reached a cluster of lockers. "I'll be showing Adam the ropes today, but I'd best not catch any of you slacking off. We'll need to hustle if we want to make quota this month."

Jakob raised his hand as he donned a reflective vest. Maurice's shoulders dropped with a sigh as he called on the younger worker. "Shouldn't you be lookin' at that skip today? Not sure how well that latch'll hold."

Maurice pursed his lips in thought. "Alright. I'll get that fixed while you lot get started. I can talk Adam through some of the basics while we check it out."

"I thought he was here for mining, not maintenance."

"Fine," Maurice agreed before calling out, "Bane! Take Adam with you and show him the ropes!"

Jakob wasted no time stepping in again. "Really going for a show don't tell approach." Colton and Kieran's smiles could've lit up the tunnel, especially when Bane didn't say anything. Whatever was going on between Jakob and Maurice, the twins certainly enjoyed it. Seb lurked nearby, elbowing Duncan and whispering something that had them both laughing. "Big guy's our best bet at getting back on track. Why don't I teach him instead? You can pick up once the skip is working again."

Maurice didn't seem too fond of the idea for some reason, but Adam didn't see the problem. Surely Jakob knew the basics and he seemed friendly enough. In fact, he'd pretty much taken Adam under his wing last night. With a defeated sigh, Maurice finally relented. "I guess so. But don't have him running any equipment today. Just focus on safety and-"

"Basic procedures. Yeah, yeah. I got this, old timer." Jakob waved him off dismissively before yanking open a locker. "All your equipment's kept here. Start of the day, we suit up and head down as a group. When we're done, everything gets put back here. Got it?"

Seemed simple enough. "Got it."

"Your locker's at the end." Jakob pointed as he began rummaging through his own locker. "Pull everything out while I get suited up. We'll go over each piece before we head down."

And what a pile of equipment he found. Some of it he'd expected, like the reflective vest, hardhat, and pickaxe. But there was so much more. Jakob and Sully helped him secure everything. It felt a little odd being dressed by two strangers, but Adam bore it patiently, doing his best to absorb every piece of information thrown his way.

"Radio is for reaching others on the crew." Jakob clipped the handheld device to Adam's vest. "Can't penetrate to the surface."

"But what if we need to call up top?" Adam questioned.

Jakob pointed to a red box mounted against a wooden beam nearby. "There's a phone like that in every shaft. Rings straight to the guys up top. Anything happens, we let them know."

Jakob kept going, testing the light on Adam's helmet and explaining how to properly secure his respirator before handing that, a pair of safety glasses, and a small pack of earplugs over, trusting that Adam could handle that on his own. Burdened down by the bevy of tools and equipment strapped all over him, Adam mentally ran through a checklist of where everything was.

Jakob didn't wait for him to finish silently quizzing himself as he let everyone know they were ready. As one, the crew began the descent into the long hallway, minus Maurice who had broken off to inspect some large, metal box further back.. The gentle slope of their path led them deeper underground, following a pair of rails set in the middle of the hall. Jakob pointed to the wooden pillars framing their passageway as they went. "We put these up as we go. Anytime we dig deeper, we've gotta reinforce everything."

"We do that?" Adam had assumed they just knocked dust loose and sent it back up. Surely someone else would expand the mine itself and tell them where to dig next.

"We do everything," Jakob said. "Beams. Lights. Mining. This shaft is all ours. But don't worry. We're on a rich vein right now. Won't need to expand much until we clear out the current room."

"Then what?"

"Then, we follow the vein and keep going." Jakob pointed to a fork in the path, though one side only ran a few dozen feet before ending in a pile of rubble. "If it doesn't work, we cut our losses and close the place up, then try a different direction. Usually, we're right on the money."

That was a relief. Adam had seen the closed-off path and immediately assumed the worst. He'd heard the reports of cave-ins at dust mines. Those inside didn't always make it out alive. Death was a terrifying thing, but wasting away in some dark cave sounded like one of the worst ways to go. "What do we do if there's a cave-in?"

"Pray," Jakob laughed. Adam failed to see the humor there. "It happens, but they're pretty rare. If something does happen, though, we've got refuge chambers in each shaft. Just hop in there and wait for rescue." Jakob must've sensed his confusion. "Big, metal box with everything you need to survive inside. Anytime we expand the shaft, we bring it with us. Should be able to house us for a few days if something goes wrong?"

Adam relaxed slightly knowing they had plans in place. They weren't just on their own if something went wrong. However callous everyone claimed the SDC might be, dead miners didn't do much for the company.

They continued in silence as the passageway curved through the face of Remnant itself. Here and there, it opened into larger spaces that had been mined dry already, then continued on until the next room. Adam wondered just how much deeper they might go when a final turn dumped them into a smaller room and a dead end.

"Here we are," Jakob proudly announced as the rest of the crew wasted no time getting to work. "Home sweet home." He rapped his fist against the side of what looked like a white shipping container with a door on the end. "Alright. Out with it. What's eatin' you?"

Adam jumped as Bane stepped past him. He had no idea how someone so large could sneak up on them like that. He should've heard…Adam reached up to feel the earplugs he'd shoved in earlier. He'd already forgotten during their descent. Their conversation must've looked ridiculous on the way down with Jakob shouting everything from only a few feet away.

"You shouldn't've argued with Maurice like that," Bane stated. Adam instinctively ducked his head, as if he was to blame.

Jakob didn't seem as concerned. "What of it? We need that skip fixed and Maurice is the best we've got. We also need to get the kid trained, but he'll learn more down here than up there. You know I'm right."

"Maybe," Bane admitted. "Just make sure he learns everything." And with that, Bane stormed away, turning his attention to the glittering wall as he drove his pickaxe deep into the rock. It cracked ominously around the impact as he wrenched it free and struck again.

"What was that all about?" Adam hadn't thought Jakob's conversation with Maurice was anything serious. Jakob had an idea. Maurice agreed. That was that. "Is he angry?"

"Don't mind him. Man's just loyal to Maurice is all." Jakob opened the door to the refuge chamber. "They've worked together ever since Bane was old enough to lift a pick. When Maurice offered to transfer here, Bane followed without a question. He'd probably move the whole mountain if Maurice wanted him to."

"Still, he seemed…upset."

"He's always like that," Jakob promised. "All business, all the time, but he gets stuff done. You should see him on the clearing squad. Heard he pretty much does all the work up there, too."

The clearing squad? It took Adam a moment to remember what Maurice had mentioned about Bane. "You mean the forest?"

"Tree clearing," Jakob confirmed. "Gotta get all these beams somewhere. Anyways, figure we'd start with the box and work our way out from there."

What followed was a crash course in general safety procedures. The basics were obvious. If risks start falling loose, it's time to go. Don't hit the dust crystals directly. Always wear your protective equipment. Stay within sight of your crew at all times. Not that you could go far in the small room they were in, but he trusted there was a reason for each rule.

Jakob led him from worker to worker, pointing out what they were doing along the way. Bane seemed pretty straightforward, breaking away large chunks of the wall at a time before catching it against his shoulder and lowering it slowly. He'd drag it back several feet, then go right back to claim another chunk of the mountain. Meanwhile, Colton and Kieran descended on the small boulder with hammers and chisels, carefully breaking it into smaller pieces before separating the blue dust crystals from the rock stubbornly clinging to it.

"That'll be your job soon," Jakob told him. "Goal is to clear off as much rock as you can and leave the crystal intact. Once the skip gets fixed, we'll load the crystals in there and haul it all up to the main room for shipment and processing."

Jakob went on to explain the basics of the processing part, though Adam could tell he wasn't as confident in that area. Why would he be? The processing was handled somewhere else. Some sort of chemical would dissolve the rock while leaving the crustal intact, then the raw dust would be cleaned and filed down into uniform crystals for distribution. Any deformed or impure crystals would be ground into the more common powdered dust. After that, it would be shipped out all over Remnant for use in everything from power to weaponry.

"In a way, we're what keeps Remnant running," Jakob boasted.

But they didn't just use pickaxes and chisels. Monti was busy with a narrow saw, the thing humming as it powered through the rock wall and carved out small chunks of rock and dust in more precarious spots. Sully bounced around with a jackhammer, clawing his way through the inert wall further down to lengthen the room further. Seb darted between him and the twins, removing and piling up the loose rocks to keep the area clear. Little by little, the collection of crystals began to grow.

"What about you?" Adam asked. "What do you do?"

"Moral support." Jakob laughed alone once more. "Pretty much the same as Bane, just not as fast." Adam believed that, given the force behind each powerful swing that echoed in their small space. "You'll start breaking down what I clear like the twins are doing. Good way to get a feel for the mine. Maurice will help at first, but he ends up spending as much time fixing our crappy equipment as he does actually mining."

They went back to watching Colton and Kieran tear through Bane's leftovers, keeping just ahead of the monstrous man's efforts as they surgically dissected every rock, extracting the precious crystals within. It was both terrifying and reassuring to watch. After all, if they could do it, then so could he. It would take focus and precision, but he didn't have to know some complex procedure or exact process. Get the shiny. Discard the refuse. About as straightforward as you could get.

Their demonstration cut short as a squealing sound came from the tunnel behind them. The skip from up top rode the rails down to the edge of their room and came to a sudden, jolting stop. With a cheer, Maurice hopped around from the back.

"How's she lookin'?" Jakob asked, peeling off from the rest to inspect the newly arrived transport.

"She'll hold for now," Maurice promised, patting the skip as he stood up. "Managed to tighten the latch a bit, but had to bend it back into shape so it catches better. It'll get the job done, at least until the replacement part I ordered gets in."

"So six months from now?"

"It won't take that long," Maurice answered with a note of irritation. "Should be here on the next delivery. You know they don't waste time on repairs."

"Not when it might cost them a little lien," Jakob shot back. "Anyways, kid's all yours. Figure he can start cleaning on my end today."

"After lunch," Maurice said. "I want him to show me everything he learned first." Jakob rolled his eyes but decided it wasn't worth the fight. "So, let's see what you learned."

/- - - - - - - - - -/

By the time lunch rolled around, Adam was bored out of his skull. Maurice had made him recite almost everything Jakob had shown him, then had him run through some basic drills a half dozen times. Even then, he insisted on making Adam wait until after lunch to do any real work, leaving him to watch others do the job he was meant to be helping with. He just hoped he could actually help after they ate.

Walking back to the top sounded miserable, but the arrival of the skip came with an unexpected benefit. They loaded it with all of the crystals they had so far, readying it for transport to the top. A small rail ran along the lower edge of both sides, just far enough out for them to stand on while clinging to the top of the skip. Maurice claimed a seat on the front with a small control panel and started her up, giving them a free ride back up the passageway. It wasn't the fastest ride, but it sure beat walking. When they reached the main cavern once more, they ditched the skip and hurried for a familiar truck, cramming in as they had hours before.

"They have a special lift for transporting the crystals," Maurice explained, pointing to one of the other skips as they pulled away. A strange vehicle that looked like the offspring of a tractor and a forklift edged alongside, lifting the skip off its rails before taking it across the cavern to be unloaded. The last thing Adam saw before they left was the skip being lifted up on one end to dump its contents onto a conveyor belt.

Adam had never appreciated sunlight as much as when they burst from the mouth of the mine. His eyes shut against the sudden light, but the feel of warmth on his cheeks after being confined in the cold depths of the mine felt marvelous. He wished he could just stay there, soaking up the sunlight, but the ride ended far too soon and everyone shuffled off to head for the dining hall.

Lunch didn't last long. The stir fried meat and vegetables were pretty good, though the pile of rice it sat on sort of dominated the plate. Not that it mattered much. Adam doubted most of his coworkers even tasted the food with how fast they shoved it down. Before he knew it, their brief break came to an end and they were back in the mines once more.

On the bright side, the afternoon went by faster now that he was actually allowed to help. Maurice showed him how to carefully separate the rock and crystals that Jakob exhumed. Maurice didn't work nearly as fast as Colton and Kieran, but his finished product had far less waste clinging to the crystals. Jakob kept up a good pace, but he couldn't hope to match the power of his counterpart as Bane led the charge. As the end of Adam's first shift snuck ever closer, Jakob suddenly stopped and helped them finish up their latest pile. As soon as that was done, the three of them loaded the skip with all the loose rubble Seb had been gathering in the corner before sending it topside with Maurice. He returned almost exactly as the bell rang, releasing them for the evening.

Adam pushed his way off the truck the moment it slowed down, desperate to get to dinner. He hadn't done as much as the rest of the crew, but the newness of the effort had him starving. The rest of 3C made sure to hustle along, keeping up with his charge toward food.

Dinner wasn't quite what he expected, but only because there wasn't any red meat for once. In hindsight, he should've assumed as much. "Hope you like fish. Couple of villages on the coast keep us stocked, so you'll see a lot of it," Jakob said between mouthfuls. "Little bit of farmland, too, but not enough to keep us fed. The further we get from a delivery, the more fish will be on the menu."

Adam didn't mind. Fish had always been a rare treat when the caravan visited the coast. He'd rather have a steak than a filet, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Having been a beggar only days ago, he'd eat whatever they put in front of him.

"You ever seen one of the villages?" Adam asked. Small talk was a great way to get to know people, and Jakob seemed like the type of person he should cozy up to. Maurice was the obvious first choice, but Jakob came in a close second, given how he seemed to stand out from most of the others.

"Not yet," Jakob said, leaning a little closer for the next part, "but I intend to someday. Grab one of their boats and get off this blasted island."

Adam didn't know why they were whispering, but he instinctively followed suit. "Why? Can't you just get a ride on an airship?" They'd just gone over the whole quitting process with him yesterday. Three weeks' notice and then they'd be flown back to Mistral.

Jakob glanced around the room for a moment. "No one leaves like that. Only way off this island is in a boat or a bag."

"What?"

"What nonsense are you filling his head with now?" Maurice interrupted before Adam could delve any deeper.

"Just telling him about the fishing villages," Jakob answered easily, shifting gears without missing a beat. "Wish they'd let us go out on the water with them. Sea air could be good for us."

"Plenty of air around here," Maurice said, apparently unaware of the change. "Besides, I don't know the first thing about sailing."

"I'm sure you'd do fine," Jakob promised, gathering his dishes and rising to leave. "Anyways, welcome to the team, Adam. Make sure you think about what I told you today."

He would. That he was certain of.

As you can probably guess, the last two weeks have been a crash course for me on mining. Of course, some things will be different than mining in our world. Given how volatile dust can be in RWBY, using explosives, even in a controlled manner, seems a little too risky, so I've had to combine modern mining with a healthy dose of explosives fear to make a more labor-intensive version. Didn't want to spend forever on the process, of course, but it would be a little weird for Adam to not go through a learning phase. Don't worry. We won't be diving much deeper into the mechanics moving forward. A full chapter focused on how dust is mined is more than enough.

And, of course, we have a little ominous foreshadowing snuck in at the very end. Had planned to hold off on it for a few chapters, but no real reason to wait. Adam only has a tiny bit of information from a single claim, though. Naturally, he'll want to learn more, which means we get to learn more too!

Next chapter: Adam tries to dig for more info.