Early upload with a slightly shorter chapter as today is my anniversary! 11 years ago today, my wife and I got married. At the risk of sounding too mushy, she is by far the best thing in my life. Uploading early so I can spend the whole day with her. Gonna grill up some steaks for dinner and probably goof off most of the day beforehand. Hoping to do a mini-vacation next month or something as a proper celebration and go to the beach, but we've got to get someone to watch the animals while we're gone, so it's on hold for the moment.
Also finally watched Volume 9. Completed my full rewatch of 1-8 first, as is tradition for me. Came home from work the next day and MrsTheGoose immediately asked if we could finally watch the new episodes. We sat down and binged the entire Volume in one sitting. Enjoyed the new content overall, but the best part was seeing that Jaune clearly knows who the real threat is. Only one thing on his list was in all caps and circled..."STOP. THE. GOOSE." It's official, everyone. I've made it into the RWBYverse! Tremble in fear before the greatest threat the Ever After has ever known!
It was amazing how quickly life at Camp Orostachys turned into a routine. A routine governed by the sound of that horrible bell.
Ring. Wake up and eat. Ring. Go to work. Ring. Lunch. Ring. Back to work. Ring. Dinner. Ring. Bed. Rinse and repeat, day after day, bell after blasted bell.
At least until Jakob stole a screwdriver, took down the bell in their room, and clipped the wires. For three full weeks they had some peace and quiet. As it turned out, they didn't really need the bells that much. Not to wake up, anyways. A room full of internal clocks, plus the noise of other bunkhouses waking up, meant they never had an issue.
Well, not until a random inspection caught it. Having them look over the bunkhouse when the bell should've gone off was just bad luck. The guards found their little sabotage during lunch and knew exactly who to go after. Didn't even have to ask. They grabbed Jakob right outside the dining hall on their way back to the mine. Whenever something happened in 3C, they always came for Jakob.
Nine times out of ten, they were right.
Jakob really did spend a lot of time in the hole. As a result, they wound up shorthanded from time to time. Bane could tear through a vein of dust like no one else, but with only one person actually mining, things slowed down a bit. After Jakob's bell incident, Adam volunteered to fill his spot rather than having four people sorting. He couldn't keep up with Bane, but he definitely exceeded the crew's expectations. With a little practice, he could even keep up with and sometimes outpace Jakob. Suddenly, they had three miners and had to switch Seb to sorting for Jakob while Maurice officially joined Team Adam. The old man would often marvel at how well Adam did, never taking a break despite the grueling work he undertook all day.
It sure was nice having aura.
Not that anyone knew. Adam kept his aura secret, even from his crewmates. He trusted them, but all it took was someone mentioning it to the wrong person for the guards to find out. He didn't know what they'd do, but he had a feeling they wouldn't appreciate someone with his training in their midst. Sure, it made him a better worker, but it would also make him a better fighter. That kind of risk wouldn't sit well with Overseer Ferric.
Unfortunately, that sometimes meant concealing his aura and taking a hit. Gideon was awfully fond of using his baton to enforce his orders. That normally only happened on Saturdays when they worked outside the mine on whatever terrible task Gideon chose for them. Anyone who didn't work fast enough or just upset Gideon for whatever reason tasted the end of his baton. Adam usually didn't have trouble, but every now and then Gideon would decide he looked at him wrong or might've muttered something. Adam made sure to resist the urge to bring his aura to the fore, ignoring his instincts as the cruel metal cracked against him. A bruise here or there was a fair trade to keep his secret.
Besides, Gideon was normally right. Adam couldn't help it. He wasn't exactly a huge fan of Gideon, especially when he spent half his time insulting them. Adam couldn't take that lying down, and Gideon knew it. He'd wait for Adam to react, using it as an excuse to remind them all who held all the power.
Or who they thought held all the power. The urge to tank the hit with aura, wrench that baton away, and turn the tables grew every time, but Adam knew it wouldn't end well. Sure, he could take down a single guard. Even when he had his partner, Dakota, Adam knew he could prevail. Not that he wanted to hurt Dakota. He was pretty much the opposite of Gideon in every way. He even stepped in from time to time, balancing out Gideon's harshness with fairer treatment when he could.
The problem was, even if Adam took them both out, there was still the rest of the guards to deal with. In terms of numbers, the workers had the advantage. But numbers only got you so far. Most of the guards carried batons and tasers, but the armory near the main buildings held much more lethal options. And then there were the guards on the walls. And the handful of turrets. Even if they took down all of that, a single call to the mainland would have airships on their way, scouring the island and the surrounding waters before anyone could hope to escape.
Jakob had told him as much. Not that he'd tried yet, of course. Something that large-scale was doomed to failure. Plus, they'd need every worker in camp to have even a slim chance at winning. Problem was, there were too many like Maurice who had no interest in making waves. They'd sit back and watch as their brothers were gunned down, tut tutting the entire way back to the mines. Easier to just suffer quietly and pretend everything was alright than to risk everything with almost no hope of success.
And so they all endured the cruelty of Orostachys together, the few willing to fight held back by the complacency of others. Their only real hope rested in sneaking one or two out and not being noticed. Adam didn't want to believe it, no matter how convincing Jakob had been, so he'd gone digging for more information.
And who better to ask than someone completely opposed to Jakob's ideas?
"Hm…the last time someone left?" Maurice pondered the question for a moment. He'd been here pretty much since the camp opened. If anyone would remember, he would. "Had a couple leave for injury a while back. Nasty cave-in. Killed most of the crew. One guy lost an arm to the rubble. Another couldn't walk. Wouldn't make much sense to keep them around."
"No, I mean…" Adam didn't want to be too obvious. Maurice would start asking questions if he just up and asked whether they were trapped. That would lead to Jakob in a heartbeat. Knowing Maurice, that would be the end of question time. "Has anyone left on the airship by choice?" Maurice still didn't quite get it. "Has anyone quit?"
"Oh!" Maurice finally understood. "Let me think a minute. It's been, what, a year?"
"A year?" Only that long? That was great news!
Or so Adam thought. "Yep. Just over a year ago. Young Midori saved up all his earnings and decided to move on. Shame what happened to him."
A pit formed in Adam's stomach. He knew the answer, but he still had to ask. "What happened to him?"
"Poor fool went out drinking the night before. Went to fill out his final forms and must've gotten lost in the dark. Stumbled out the gate and was never seen again. Guards said they found him out in the woods. Well, part of him, I guess." Adam didn't know which point should've been more unbelievable. A faunus getting lost in the dark? Walking through the gate without being noticed? Not to mention the timing of it all. Or how someone that drunk could even stay standing, let alone make it all the way to the treeline.
No, he knew the unbelievable part - that Maurice would believe any of that crap.
"Haven't been many leave over the years. What with the economy being so bad and all, not to mention the Grimm. Hardly a safe place left in Anima."
Adam wanted to argue, but he knew a lost cause when he heard one. Maurice had spent too much time in the camps, cut off from the rest of the world and fed a steady stream of gloom and doom on the various screens around camp. You couldn't go far without hearing the latest news from the SDC network. It mostly consisted of reports on the company's latest initiatives, rising dust prices, and press conferences from the occasional executive, but there was always a healthy mix of local news sprinkled in.
An unhealthy mix, more like it. Failing businesses. Natural disasters. Grimm attacks. Bandit activity. The SDC made it sound like life outside the major cities was unbearable. Not that the cities were any better. Rising housing costs. Unemployment. Homelessness. It all painted a horrible picture of a miserable existence waiting outside the loving embrace of the SDC.
So why would anyone want to leave? The SDC provided food, housing, and safety for all their employees - all things they'd struggle to find beyond the walls of the camp. It was pure propaganda, but it was effective on some of the workers. They might join in on booing the breaks in movie screenings for the latest ad from their overlords, but they still believed it.
Not everyone did, of course. The television set in the Watering Hole never seemed to work. Somehow, it always broke within days of being fixed. The bartenders had no idea how. At least, that's what they told the guards anytime they came to inspect the place. The screens in each corner of the dining hall would've been a little too risky to sabotage, but they could hardly hear it over the chatter of the place during every meal. There was no avoiding the broadcasts in the staging area of the mine, but they just hurried to get down in the tunnels and escape the incessant droning for the freedom of mining.
And wasn't that ironic?
Still, if Maurice couldn't remember anyone leaving, then Adam had a sneaking suspicion it hadn't happened. Worse, the story of Midori sounded an awful lot like a setup. Maybe Jakob's stories had him on edge, but he couldn't ignore all the obvious questions surrounding the man's demise. To those who honestly believed in the SDC's intentions, it must've sounded like a horrible tragedy. To people like Jakob, it served as a warning - a warning that none of them would be allowed to leave so easily.
Which meant they'd just have to try harder.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
As the months ticked by, Adam continued to cement his place in 3C. Jakob had all but adopted him at this point, especially after Adam had his first visit to the hole. By the third trip, most of the crew basically saw him as Jakob's protégé. Pretty much everyone in the crew saw Jakob as second only to Maurice. With both of the men favoring Adam, he soon found himself earning more respect from his crewmates. No longer did they refer to him as the new blood. Now, he was just another part of the crew. An important part, too. Outside of 3C, Adam was still just some new kid, but that didn't matter.
All that mattered were the nine other men he shared a bunkhouse with.
Not that he avoided the others in camp. A few guys from 2D would go drinking with them from time to time. He had a bit of a rival in 4A as well - some young guy named Onyx with far more confidence than control. Theirs wasn't some heated, bitter rivalry, though. More of a friendly challenge where Onyx tried his best to keep up with Adam, being the previous new blood and all. Adam almost felt sorry for him, though, given the unfair advantage of his aura. Still, it made for some fun nights here and there whenever Onyx would challenge him to anything from outrunning to outdrinking him. He took the repeat losses well.
His biggest exposure to other crews came from his new assignment. After several weeks of getting settled in, Adam finally took everyone's advice and talked to Bane about his other job. As ever with Bane, the conversation had been incredibly short.
"So…Maurice told me you work out in the forest clearing trees." Mentioning Maurice was always a good way to start with Bane. Not that he wasn't friendly. If anything, Bane had taken a liking to Adam early on, though whether that was because of Maurice's interest or just being bunkmates, Adam wasn't sure. Not to mention that Bane liking you just meant he spoke to you more than once a week.
"I do." Nothing more. If Adam didn't know better, he'd think Bane was rude, but the big guy never seemed to speak much. His actions spoke for him instead.
Still, that didn't really help here. "Yeah. That's cool." Adam hated beating around the bush, but it was hard to just up and ask people for favors. "I used to work at a lumber mill years ago. Mainly just stripping branches and stuff. Got pretty good at it after a while. They even showed me how to use the machines." Bane nodded along, his face blank as he either missed or ignored Adam's hinting. "I was thinking…what with my experience and all, maybe I'd be good at it? You know, chopping down trees and stuff."
Bane shrugged. "Possibly. I didn't have any experience when I started."
Adam nearly put his head through a wall in frustration. How could he be so dense? Did Adam have to come out and say it? Wait, this is Bane he was talking to. Of course he would. The big guy wasn't dumb. He just didn't really waste time with hints and subtlety. Taking a breath, Adam decided to just go for it. "I want to join the tree clearing team."
Bane arched a single eyebrow, looking Adam over for a second. "We could use some more help. I'll ask during my next shift."
Finally! Adam felt more frustrated with himself than with Bane. While he appreciated the directness, it could be terribly frustrating to deal with. Then again, maybe that was his fault. If he'd just started with asking to join, the whole conversation would've lasted two seconds instead of dragging on with a few uncomfortable silences.
Maurice overheard, not that such surprised anyone in their cramped bunkhouse. "Excellent idea, Adam! It's a great way to earn a little more lien."
"Yeah. Sure." If Jakob was right, then that wouldn't matter. He could take every opportunity, spend nothing, and save up for years, but it wouldn't be enough. No amount would be. Because in the end, even if he had all the money in Remnant, Orostachys would make sure he never collected a single lien.
But working in the forest would come with other benefits. Fresh air for one. The clearing crew only went out as needed, but it typically replaced a mining shift. Given the choice, Adam would take trees and sky over the tight confines of the mine any day. But his plan to join the tree clearing crew went beyond that.
They were the only ones allowed outside the walls. Always with an escort of armed guards, of course. The island still had Grimm, so sending them out alone wasn't an option, but Adam knew the truth. The guards weren't there to protect them. No, they were there to make sure no one escaped. The chance at freedom lay just beyond those trees. If ever he needed to make a break for it, his best bet would be out there. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that, but he knew better than to cling to hope.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
It didn't take long to hear back from Bane. In fact, it only took a few days.
"You're on the team," Bane announced on Saturday after breakfast. Adam had just been getting ready for whatever horrible tasks Gideon had prepared for the day.
"Really?" That fast? They must really need people. Then again, the more workers they had, the more they could clear each time and the less often they'd need to go out there. "Great! When's our first shift?"
"Right now."
Adam heard the words, but it still took him a few seconds for them to sink in. "N-now? You mean-"
"Let's go. They're waiting."
And just like that, Adam found himself following Bane to the edge of Faunus Alley. Maurice promised to let Gideon know of the assignment so he wouldn't get in trouble. A simple radio call could verify it if needed.
A group of at least two dozen workers were gathered at the edge of the inner fence. Adam recognized one or two, but most of them he'd never seen before. Workers from other crews, he supposed. Bane practically shoved him in line behind the others. Not in a cruel way or anything. Bane just didn't do much gently. The line moved quickly until it was finally their turn.
"This the new kid?"
The bald-headed guard at the head of the line wasn't what Adam expected. He'd gotten used to the domineering idiots of the camp like Gideon. Brash and aggressive they may have been, but none of them carried themselves like a real fighter. They thrived in a world where they never faced any true adversity, and it made them soft. They might talk a big game, but Adam doubted any of them had been in a real fight their entire lives. One where their lives were on the line.
This man…he wasn't overly intimidating to look at, but Adam recognized a fighter when he saw one. He carried himself differently. Gone was the pompous overconfidence of the inner guards. Adam could feel himself tense up in the man's presence, and not just because of his weapons. This was the first guard he'd seen in person with a dust rifle, not to mention the spear and shield across his back. Those weren't guard weapons - they were Huntsman weapons.
"It is," Bane answered, snapping Adam back to reality. The guard's eyes roved over him for a moment. Would he recognize the difference in Adam too?
Whatever he saw must not have bothered him too much. "I don't have time for deadweight. Make sure he gets up to speed." Bane nodded in understanding as the man turned his focus to Adam. "I am Officer Geryon. My job is to make sure you survive long enough to do yours. Your life and the lives of your entire crew are in my hands, got it?"
"Y-yes, sir."
"Good." He pointed to two other guards, each armed with a matching rifle. "Those are Dahaki and Trechend. You got a question, bother someone else. You see a Grimm, and you run to one of us." Adam wouldn't need to, but he agreed nonetheless. After all, what sane person without an aura would take on a Grimm alone? "Ankle."
"What?"
Officer Geryon rolled his eyes. "Give me your ankle." Adam hesitantly moved his foot forward as Geryon knelt in front of him for a moment. Whatever hope he had of making a break for it out there died with an ominous click. "There. Bane, you're next."
Adam looked down at the metal ring around his ankle. It wasn't heavy, yet the weight of what it meant threatened to crush him.
A tracker. They'd fitted everyone with trackers. Of course they had. If Adam could see the opportunity to escape, then so could they. Three men could only watch so many workers at once. Keeping an eye out for Grimm would divide their attention even further. But why bother watching them when they could just track everyone's position? If anyone slipped away, all they had to do was pinpoint their location and collect them at their leisure. Even beyond the walls, Adam was trapped.
"Dahaki will get you your tools. We'll be working in the southwest today. Don't cause any trouble and there won't be any." Adam had a feeling the last part was aimed at him. Officer Geryon's hand rested naturally on the rifle hanging in front of his chest as he called out, "Let's move, people! The sooner we get out there, the sooner we get back."
Adam collected his equipment for the day - a large axe, a handsaw, and the usual vest and protective gear from the mines. Bane, on the other hand, shouldered an enormous chainsaw like it was nothing. Looking over the group ahead, he spotted a few more chainsaws, but none quite as big.
The march out of the gate let them out to what felt like an entirely different world. How long had it been since he'd seen grass? Nothing grew inside Camp Orostachys. The rocky, unforgiving soil had been turned into one big, bleak patch of dirt. Yet only a few feet beyond the walls, life flourished. He realized they weren't actually the only ones beyond the walls, either. The hum of lawnmowers surrounded them as a squad of workers toiled to keep the area close to the camp orderly. Adam spotted a matching anklet on one of the closet mowers, but only a single guard stood watch nearby, nodding to Geryon as they passed. This close to the walls, they had the protection of the camp watching over them, though the mounted weapons resting atop the walls could cut a fleeing worker down as easily as an approaching Grimm.
Their march led them far beyond the walls, though. This far out, the camp would spot a Grimm well before it became a threat. Still, clearing the trees wasn't just for protection. The wood they gathered would be used both in reinforcing the mine tunnels and building new structures. Adam had to focus on the first one. Every tree they brought down might stop a cave-in and save lives. When they finally came to a stop, Adam instinctively shook his leg, annoyed by the presence of the foreign object hanging around his ankle. Idly, he wondered if his axe would break through it. His aura would protect his ankle, so there wasn't much risk to him. Of course, he had to assume a sudden loss of signal would be noticed. Might even send out an alarm or something and have the three guards on alert. Best not to try until he had to.
Work felt surprisingly familiar. He never had to fell a tree himself, focusing instead on keeping up with Bane as he decimated the forest with ease. As each tree toppled, Adam and two others buzzed around it, hacking and cutting through the branches before moving on to the next victim of Bane's assault. Papi would've been proud as Adam kept up with his coworkers. He caught himself looking for a familiar bushy tail at one point, but his old friend was nowhere to be found. In fact, neither of them even spoke most of the time. When Adam tried to strike up a conversation in a rare moment of rest - Bane took a breather for some water - Trechend ended the moment with a bark of "Save the gossiping for when you're off the clock."
Adam hid his snarl as best he could. If Trechend noticed, he ignored it, turning back to watch the trees for any sign of trouble. At least he was better than Gideon. He didn't stick around the entire time, either. The three guards patrolled between the spread out groups, meaning they had more time alone than directly watched. As annoying as it was to have more capable guards watching them, they did seem to focus on protecting them instead of trying to make their lives miserable. Still, they stood between him and freedom just as much as the blinking, metal ring around his ankle.
Trechend came back a little later with bag lunches for each of them. Simple sandwiches and fruit. They ate in silence, then went right back to work. The logs continued to pile up until Dahaki appeared behind them and called a halt. "That's enough for today. Trucks will be here shortly."
Sure enough, by the time they finished clearing the branches off the last tree, the rumble of an engine announced the arrival of a vehicle. It looked much the same as the ones he'd seen all the way back in Katai, complete with a mechanized arm that swung out and collected each log one by one. Sadly, it had no room for them to ride, meaning they had a long walk home to look forward to.
Not that Adam minded too much. Despite the hours of work, getting out of camp felt good. He wasn't the only one enjoying the warm sun and open air on the way back, either. The whole group took their time, knowing that nothing this good waited for them back at camp. Their guards didn't rush them, letting them enjoy their fleeting moments of freedom and ensuring they moved up Adam's list even further. Not too high, of course. They still worked for the camp and stood between him and freedom, but compared to Gideon, they were saints. Then again, almost anyone would be when competing with that scumbag.
Tools were collected and checked once they returned before Geryon came around and removed their trackers one by one with some sort of electronic key, holding it against the side for a second until the evil circlet beeped twice and opened. Adam rolled his ankle around the moment it was free, grateful they didn't feel the need to track them inside as well.
And why would they? Where could they go? They'd either have to sneak out the gate - a feat apparently only done once by a drunk according to crazy old Maurice - climb the wall, or scale the mountain itself. They'd then have to avoid being spotted in the open fields surrounding the camp, survive in a Grimm-infested forest, find one of the few fishing villages, steal a boat, and sail all the way to the mainland, all while avoiding whatever airships would likely be patrolling the waters looking for them once word got out.
Finding a single boat on the ocean sounded impossible, but all they had to do was watch the route between the island and the nearest port. Even that journey would be perilous. Taking a longer route pretty much guaranteed their doom. Escape sounded impossible, but Adam was no stranger to impossible. He'd killed a Beowolf as an auraless child. He'd escaped the clutches of Alyssa in Katai. He'd learned to fight and kill Grimm. He'd even defeated a bandit from the Branwen tribe. Things were only impossible until someone accomplished them.
Adam would find a way. He didn't know how. He didn't know when. But he refused to let his life end in some obscure mining camp in the middle of nowhere. Not that he planned to just run and hope for the best. Like Jakob said, he'd watch and wait for his chance. Let them lower their guard. And the moment they weren't paying attention, the moment they left an opening for him, he'd take it.
Bit of a slower chapter again, but such is life. Need a few things to happen for what's coming up, so gotta lay that groundwork. Don't worry. We aren't far from my real plans for this arc.
Adam returns to his roots as a lumberjack. Originally, I planned for this to be a lumber camp owned by the SDC, which is why he got a job at the lumber mill back in Katai. Then I read Adam's info from the Amity Arena (the now unavailable mobile game that I played way too much when it first released) bios and it specifically mentions a dust mine, so I had to alter my plans a little. Thus, Orostachys was born. Meanwhile, we get a handful of new characters, including three oddly named guards. I'm sure there's nothing those names reference. No. Definitely just random names with no subtle foreshadowing or anything. Also, they're last names, in case anyone noticed that they don't follow the color rule. Their first names do, but those aren't given since they aren't exactly getting all buddy-buddy with the workers.
Anyways, Adam discovers another hurdle to escaping in the form of tracker anklets. Did we really expect the SDC not to have some sort of plan in place for workers outside the walls? Don't worry. Adam isn't gonna run off and hope they don't check their trackers or something. He'll just need time to figure out a plan, especially if he wants to get all of 3C out.
Next chapter: Adam continues life as a miner/lumberjack.