Larger Issues
AN: Yes, normally this would have been Small Issues turn to have a new chapter written but I was in a mood to get this one done right away, so here it is. Also, thanks to anyone who has followed me and my works since the last posting. And for those of you who got to see the eclipse today, that was an experience, huh? Too bad I'm a bit too far away from the path of totality to get the real experience... and had quite a bit of cloud cover here causing interference. Managed to get a few good looks and pics of the near total eclipse though, so not too bad.
Now on with the show!
Run
Itazura wasn't kidding about Grimm attacking. Easily a hundred Beowolves came charging down the mountain towards the team. Among them were quite a few other dark beasts such as Ursa and Griffons.
"Here they come!" Talon yells as she opens the control console of the Scarab to activate the turret built into its rear end, the feature flipping up and its parts shifting into position within two seconds. Another command entered in and the big gun began firing, focusing mostly on the aerial adversaries but also cutting down a good chunk of the leading wave. In the span of a few seconds, roughly twenty of the Grimm were taken out by the turret before the horde was too close for the large gun to truly be effective.
A quick entry of a few more commands and the turret was set to auto fire as the fixed machine guns in the hood popped up and the girl hit the accelerator to get the Scarab moving and lining up the new guns on the Grimm. Soon more of the beasts were being mowed down.
As that was going on, the rest of the team weren't standing around in the slightest as they had no such luxury. They were beset by the Grimm too but they didn't have the convenience of having been in the vehicle at the time of the attack and as such they had to fight.
Raijin slashed through Beowolves like a propeller through the air while Sinners Punishment stabbed deep into black-furred bodies. Laug and Loki kept a steady beat as the shotguns picked off the Grimm at a short distance.
"Ha! Takes us back to how we met, huh?!" Denko seemed to be in good spirits at least as he dealt with an Ursa Major and a Beowolf at the same time by climbing on the former's back and taunting the latter to leap at him. The blonde responded with a full sweep of his heavy blade, not just cutting through the airborne Grimm but also severing the neck of his mount.
"Was that supposed to be a good thing?" Anya retorts as a Griffon swooped down at her, only for it to lose its right front leg and wing for its trouble, causing it to crash into the ground and roll until a boulder stopped it with a crunch.
"It wasn't that bad!" Itazura comments as she flips over a Beowolf and shoots it in the back of its head.
"In the long run… maybe." Anya agrees as she cuts the throat of her own Beowolf.
"Perhaps we should finish these guys off before going down memory lane?" Denko blocks the slash of an Alpha Beowolf with the shaft of his weapon, shoving it back before using the opening to slash its torso several times in quick succession.
"You started it!" Both girls shout at him as they kept up their battles against Grimm.
—
Across the valley, a figure clad in a white cloak to blend into the snow covered mountain stood with a pair of binoculars watching the fight. They made no effort to help, just standing still aside from minor adjustments to view different parts of the battle.
A white Nevermore glided down to land on their shoulder as a jellyfish looking Grimm floated from behind some trees where a small but unnaturally dark cave sat in the mountainside.
"Your attack came too late, I've located the Relic." The voice echoed from within the floating Grimm.
"You were highly skeptical that this group had it anyway." The man in the cloak scoffs.
"That may be true but now you can move to the next phase of your orders without having to hold back."
"You want them gone." The man states. It wasn't a question, merely a summary of the orders he had been given. Still, he never stopped watching the fight across the valley.
"They have interfered too much since Vale. Beacon, Haven, Menagerie…" The woman's voice lists off as her tone grew harder.
"And your Maiden lost to these children." His teased slightly.
But the woman was quick to thwart his wit. "Might I remind you that you have struggled against their allies."
The man growled at those bitter memories, only taking solace that in every encounter that they struggled to draw even with him and almost every time they suffered severe injuries. "And THAT is why I'm ensuring that they will be isolated and I know how they fight." He countered, not surprised that the team had defeated the Grimm by this point, the few survivors fleeing.
"See to it that you do not fail. You know that my patience has its limits."
"I know… and my men are ready to strike when the order is given."
"Very well. I will be watching." The woman says and the Nevermore ruffles its feathers slightly as its four red eyes glowed brightly for a moment. With that said, the Seer floated back to the cave and vanished within the inky darkness.
The man looked at the Nevermore on his shoulder, stashing the binoculars into his pack. "Go find me the strongest Grimm in the area and their packs if they have them."
The bird didn't hesitate to take off and fly over the treetops and soon vanished over the mountain. For the man, it was… different being able to give commands to Grimm but they had their orders not to attack him… at least for now.
—-
"Ugh… my head."
If there was one thing Ruby recognized as she woke up, it was pain. Though given that it was mild compared to when she woke up after the attack on Beacon, she pushed through it to find the source.
Opening her eyes she found that she was still in the train… but everything was sideways with anything loose laying on the wall around her. Among those loose items included her friends, Weiss having been thrown over to land with Blake as Yang had somehow managed to keep an arm around her waist.
Prying herself from her sister's clutches, Ruby rolled off the blonde so she could look at her.
Yang was still breathing and has a few scratches thanks to broken glass on both of them and littered the cabin. The biggest problem that Ruby found was that Yang's right arm was twisted under her and against the window frame, leaving it with visible damage.
Perhaps her sister was lucky that it wasn't her flesh arm in that position otherwise it would have been broken and sliced by what glass remained in the frame.
Still, she did her best to shift Yang to a better part of the wall to lay on as she checked on the others.
Weiss, being on top, was first to be examined. The girl has several bruises on her pale skin, no doubt from being tossed around in the crash. Like with Yang and herself, Weiss also had quite a few cuts on her skin but her heavier clothes kept the worst off her at the cost of said clothes now being torn.
Ruby just hoped that her backpack filled with her gear didn't hurt her best friend too much as she lifted it off the girl's torso.
Blake wasn't in the best shape, her stomach having a few dark bruises, one of which being a straight line across her where Ruby guessed her friend was thrown into a bed frame. Another bruise looked suspiciously like it came from Weiss- the small scratches matching too well with the heiress's tiara to be coincidence.
At least none of their weapons hit them… as far as she could tell since neither Myrtenaster or Gambol Shroud had sheaths. The two swords are embedded into the floor as if they were used in a vain attempt to not be thrown around.
"Where's… Crescent Rose?" She asks herself as she looks around, eventually finding the weapon in its stored configuration under a pillow.
Now that her friends and sister were taken care of to the best of her ability, Ruby looked around for the way out. The window was out of the question, not only was it still barred but it would have been a tight squeeze even before the Issue added to her waistline. Plus there was the fact that all she could see was the dirt, rocks, and a few plant stems through the opening ensured that she wasn't going that way.
That left going up where the door is.
Climbing up as best she could in her sore and tired state, she eventually dragged herself up into the hallway. Given that the hallway was only wide enough for two people to walk past each other when the train was upright, Ruby was forced to crouch and shuffle her way to the nearest end door.
The bright daylight blinded her briefly and the snow all around didn't help any. But she did find Ray leaning against the luggage car which had landed upright.
"Ah, Little Red, glad to see your awake."
"What's going on?"
"Taking a little breather. Been fighting Grimm since the crash."
Motion drew her attention to where Oscar fended off a Beowolf with his cane-sword, smacking its face with the sheath and using that as an opening to stab with the blade deep into the furred chest. The beast fell and Oscar kicked it off his sword before looking around to find that the area was clear of Grimm, so he flicked his blade out and sheathed it. Turning around to talk to Ray, he found Ruby standing nearby.
"Oh hey! You're awake now!"
"Um… yeah." Ruby rubbed her arms as she began to feel the cold. "Did… did any of you check on us in there?" She points back at the car.
"Your uncle went in to see you as a bird." Oscar took the lead for this, still amazed that the man could shapeshift. "But then Grimm started coming…" He gestures to the snow around them and how it was churned up and crushed, barely anything was untouched.
"Where is Uncle Qrow?"
Ray decided to chime in at that point. "As things slowed down a bit he flew off to scout the area, hoping that we are closer to Argus than we think. Plus these mountains interfere with comms too much for scrolls to work all that well, so getting to town is a must if we are going to call anyone."
"And any ideas on how to get there?" Ruby still wasn't fully functioning as she asked that.
"Follow the tracks would be easiest." Ray smirks.
"And you kids really need to get a move on!" An elderly woman's voice cut through the wreckage, soon the source came around the corner in the form of a rather short lady with grey hair, blue dress, and large goggles on her eyes, complete with a walking stick topped by a skull. And she was carrying a sack of something over her shoulder with surprising ease.
"Uh, who are…?"
"Name's Maria. I'd tell you more but I'll wait for the others to wake up so I don't have to say it again." The woman chuckles, though Ruby had the distinct feeling that the blue lenses were studying her intensely.
"Ruby? Ruby!?"
"Yang!" Hearing her sister awake and calling for her gave the young girl new energy and she scrambled back inside the train car.
Twenty minutes later, all four of Team RWBY were now outside in the cold and feeling their injuries. One thing that was noticed rather quickly while they climbed out was that Yang's prosthetic arm did not have the range it used to thanks to the damage and occasionally it would have small spasms and loss of control, not including the sensitivity fading in and out.
"Hmm… your arm is in bad shape." Maria tells the blonde as she holds the limb in her hands as they sit away from the others, a short way to have some privacy.
"I noticed." Her fingers twitched erratically for a moment, bringing irritation to her face but she tried to remain calm as she recognized that the woman helping her had prosthetics of her own. And to be quite honest, judging by the design she figured that they had to be older than herself, possibly even double. At the same time, with her getting around with new eyes, it once again made Yang feel a bit petty about how she had dealt with losing her arm just as she had felt when she first met Ghira.
"Well then, I heard you kids are on your way to Atlas. So am I, gotta go there for my usual adjustments." She tapped the side of her goggles as one of the shutters that served as eyelids to display her expressions had gotten stuck, thankfully it was knocked loose easily. "I'm actually pretty good friends with the best they have up there for this sort of thing, I'm sure he would fix your arm good as new if you ask."
"I really hope so… getting this arm, it helped me get back to being a Huntress."
"Oh? You look a bit too young to be a Huntress, students most likely."
A slight blush came to the blonde's face at that. "We, um… never finished our first year at Beacon."
"Right, the attack… and I can assume that is where this happened?" Maria asks as she taps the metal arm.
"Yeah. Tried to save a friend." Yang glanced over at Blake who was gathered with the others around a small fire made from some debris. "Wound up having to be saved myself." She shrugged her right shoulder.
"And you got the arm?"
"My boyfriend surprised me with it, came just after my birthday."
"Hmm… the power of having loved ones by your side can be a wonderful thing. Seen it plenty of times in my days… never got to experience it myself though."
"Mind sharing why?"
The woman sighed as she felt her past regrets rise up again. "It was because of this." She waves at her face. "Used to work alone but when I lost my eyes… I was rather bitter and it blinded me as much as the sword did. Turned away the few people who were interested in me for me because I thought they were just pitying me. It took a while for it to hit me that they were genuine but by then I had pushed them away. But by that time… hehe, I was old. Wound up doing a little apology tour once I realized how stupid I had been." There was a moment of silence. "But you said your boyfriend gave you the arm?"
At this, Yang blushed as the memories came back. "Hehe, would you believe that we hadn't gotten that far in our relationship when he ordered it? Actually made these for me." She taps her Hiryu Shoten. "Wound up using them that night during a Grimm attack at home."
Maria's face split into a wide grin. "Oh really now? Sounds like a keeper. You'll have to tell me the juicy details once we're somewhere more comfortable."
Over by the fire the others were having their own time.
"Here, Maria salvaged them from the dining car." Oscar hands out what looked to be snack bags, slightly charred in places.
"Oh, thanks." Ruby takes the bag of chips from the younger boy and opens it as he moves onto the rest of the group.
"Better than nothing, I guess." Weiss was next to Ruby and started on her pretzels.
"At least you girls have plenty of insulation." Ray comments as he adds a little more wood to the fire.
A few minutes of silence passed as they ate before Qrow flew down and shifted back to human form, warming his hands by the fire.
"So… any good news?" Ray asks.
"We're a bit further out than expected, didn't see Argus itself but I did spot the landmarks around it. We could probably get there in two or three days in a straight shot."
"And the stuff for the people on the train?" Yang points at the cargo car.
"With any luck, a response unit will have been sent out to at least look for it and us. Sticking by the tracks will get us spotted faster."
"So… do we just stay here with the train? It does offer us shelter if it snows again." Blake asks, regretting that she didn't wear something that would cover her more.
"Why would we stay with the train? We've been on two and both of them crashed." Weiss comments.
"That's… not a great track record." Oscar tries to lighten the mood with the joke, only getting smiles from the rest of the men and Yang.
"We gotta work on your delivery if you are gonna use puns." The blonde pats his shoulder.
Weiss and Blake rolled their eyes but it was the former who responded. "The proper delivery of a pun is not to use them at all."
Yang's eyes went wide and she pulled Oscar into her side, holding him there. "Come on Weiss! You gotta get some jokes in your life!"
"I already have you!" There was no heat to her words, if the smile tugging at her lips was any indication that she wasn't serious. "Besides, why should I sink to using such nonsense like puns?"
"Um… Weiss?" Ruby raised a finger. "You tried using one the first time we met Neo."
The look her best friend gave her for that reminder could have frozen a pot of water if they had one.
Meanwhile, Oscar was getting a bit too warm as he blushed at just how close his face was to her chest and it wasn't hard to notice how soft and warm her side is. 'I'm too young for this and she has a boyfriend!'
"Back to what we have to do, I suggest that we grab our packs just in case we need to bail. That means your bike too."
Yang glowered at the damages her motorcycle had taken thanks to the derailment. The straps kept the bike itself from moving but a lot of other suitcases and stuff like that had been thrown around, scratching the paint and inflicting dents. Even the headlight was cracked and a mirror was broken off. She would have to scream and curse about it later, doing that now would only attract more Grimm and most of the team were still recovering and would be for the next few days.
"I'll have Bumblebee ready."
"And strap on anything we can't carry easily."
Now it was Weiss' turn to be embarrassed as she was the one who insisted on traveling with proper suitcases rather than a backpack or duffle bag. At the same time, Yang both understood the need to do so and was irritated that her baby was now the pack mule for the team.
"Mind if I get a ride? I may be in good shape for my age but I do have my limits." Maria asks. It was thanks to their talk earlier that Yang was more willing to do so.
Thirty minutes later, not only did they retrieve their bags from their rooms along with JNPR's, but had gotten Bumblebee freed and loaded while also neatly organizing the luggage they were likely leaving behind.
"Urgh, it's gonna take hours of work to fix her." Yang grumbles as she turns her bike towards the hill and prepared to drive up with Maria clinging to her waist as she sat in the small gap between the driver and the stack of luggage..
"We'll see what we can do once we get to town, Firecracker. Otherwise I'm pretty sure you could find a good repair shop once we get to Atlas." Qrow had overheard her complaints but understood her frustrations after seeing how hard she had worked to even get Tai to buy the bike and the amount of careful maintenance she put into it.
Then came the last sound they wanted to hear, the howl of an Alpha Beowolf. While they could stay and fight, the cold was draining what aura they had recovered and a fair amount of that was also trying to accelerate the healing process of their wounds from the crash. Add in that there were probably fifty under the Alpha's command charging down the slope and their minds were made up.
"R-run!" Ruby and Oscar yell together as the entire group turned to follow the order, racing as fast as they could back through their impromptu campsite and into the woods with Qrow serving as their lead.
—-
"What do you mean we can't speak to the Commanding Officer?" Jaune asks as he and the rest of JNPR stood outside of the gates of the Atlas military base located by the port of Argus.
"Look kids, official business only." One of the soldiers on gate duty tells them flatly, but there was a touch of sympathy in his tone.
"But we are part of the Huntsman team that was on the train! They were in the cars that were left behind thanks to the Grimm attack!" The blonde argued.
"Did you have a meeting set up in advance?"
Nora blew her top at that. "How do you plan for an accident like that!? We just need you to fly out and find our friends!"
"It will need to be cleared by the Commanding Officer before any search parties are sent out."
"Then will you let us in to make the request?" Ren tries to be diplomatic to make up for Nora as she fumes.
"We'll have to ask the Commanding Officer." The soldier replies before closing the window he was speaking through. He typed something into his console and began speaking but the glass prevented them from hearing what he was saying. A minute later he opened the window again. "I'm sorry, but she is busy and cannot be seen at the moment. I'll try to have you scheduled for tomorrow."
"WHAT THE F-MMMPPHHH!" Nora's rant was cut short by Ren clamping his hand over her mouth and began to drag her away.
"Hehehe… umm… sorry about our friend, she isn't the best when it comes to filtering everything between her head and her mouth." Jaune tries to apologize.
"Are you sure that there is no way that we could speak to her earlier?" Pyrrha pleads. "Our team is stranded back there on the tracks and I'm sure the rest of the civilians who arrived with us would appreciate it if their belongings would be recovered as well."
"Look kids, I know what you are trying to do… but the Commander… She's a bit of a stickler for the rules and regulations." The man tries to deescalate the situation, though Nora had gotten her mouth free from Ren and had begun shouting insults. But her lung power is strong and her voice carried the distance so the man could hear her quite clearly. "I can see how much you care for your friends and all, even trying to take care of the other passengers… My hands may be tied but if you give me your names to add to the report I'll see what I can do to get it at the top of her list."
"I guess that will have to do. I'm Jaune Arc." The blonde winced as a particularly graphic insult was shouted that he had no idea that the girl was capable of.
"I'll bet that bitch has a face that looks like a boot!" That one was much tamer but not exactly something to ease the tension.
"And I'm Pyrrha Nikos."
"Alright, thank you… Wait… Nikos?"
"Erm… Yes?"
"Hmm, welcome home."
"Oh, thank you."
"You're welcome. And I've sent the report in to her secretary and have it marked as urgent. With any luck, a search party will be sent out soon."
With that done, the couple met back up with Ren and Nora, the latter having calmed down but was still being restrained just in case she would attempt to force the gate open.
"Alright guys, we did what we could today. Maybe we can try tomorrow." Jaune tried to stay positive despite the failure. "Now, how about we stop by my sister's place here in town?"
The bridge to the military base was a decent walk just going one way but now they had to return to the mainland where the city of Argus itself sat nestled between a pair of tall cliffs.
Those cliffs granted excellent protection from Grimm as it is a sheer drop from both sides, and they offered decent protection from storms if they blew in the right way, otherwise they tend to focus the winds right through the city. But with the military base run by Atlas on an island a short distance from Argus connected by a bridge on one side, it is a solid stone wall on the other to defend from land based threats. Five stories tall with a single arched entry point that could be closed off with a series of gates, it is a formidable barrier.
A pair of watchtowers sat on the cliffs with one side having the addition of a CCT relay tower which helped to ensure that communication was clear and boosted in the large distance between the Kingdoms of Atlas and Mistral.
As for the city itself, it is a port town and much of its business involves shipping goods between Atlas and Mistral, mostly in the form of foods and raw materials to Atlas and Dust and refined products to Mistral. Most of the raw goods come from smaller settlements around Argus, small but rich mines and a number of farms, though they were scattered with tracks of forest in between.
It maintained a simple layout to make the most of the space it has, three large roads splitting the city with much smaller ones going across spanning cliff to cliff. From those, roads went up and down the fairly steep slope of the city, allowing for access to the homes.
The buildings of Argus are mostly… compact, for the best terms, opting to build vertically to allow for more space to be used. That meant a dozen homes per block with them being three to four stories tall, and quite narrow with every home being connected to the neighbors. And while most homes were of the same design, little touches were made by residents to customize them from the paint on the bricks to awnings, small balconies and such. They were lucky that each home was given space for a yard, even if it could be crossed in a few strides, it was something to allow them outside and maintain privacy.
There is also the park in the middle of the city where many would often go to relax outside and meet with friends, let their children play, and let their pets run.
There are a few much larger buildings, though they all went for height rather than width, including town hall with the police department inside. Many of the larger buildings also happened to be closer to the port where the wind could be broken by the cliffs or they broke it for the smaller homes around them. They also happen to be for the storage of goods being shipped and the small amount of industry for the city so that they weren't completely reliant on outside manufacturing.
But it was the tallest building that stood out as it is Sanctum Academy. The Huntsman academy that produced the likes of Dove Bronzewing, Neptune Vasilias, and Pyrrha Nikos. It is notable that most of its graduates have a tendency to either go to Haven or Atlas Academies, though there are always a few who apply elsewhere. Of course, there are always those who stay at Sanctum for the next few years to hopefully receive their Huntsman license upon graduation.
And with the strong connection with Atlas, came many advances in training equipment from the exercise machines, to combat dummies, target practice, and weapon creation and maintenance. They even have a small coliseum in the lower levels where the public could come and cheer for the students during their sparring sessions.
But for Team JNPR, they enjoyed being able to relax on the way up the slope by riding the trolley to the nearest stop of their destination- Jaune's sister's home. He had gotten the address from her while still on the bridge and while he was watching for street signs and house numbers, Ren and Nora took in the sights of the city. Pyrrha looked around to see what may have changed since she left nearly two years ago.
One thing that she did notice was how familiar everything was looking the closer her boyfriend was saying that they were nearly to his sisters.
"Looks like this is it." Jaune announced before taking a deep breath and climbing the short set of stairs. The rest of the team hung back on the sidewalk as he rang the doorbell.
It took until the second ring for the door to be opened, revealing a tall blonde woman with blue eyes wearing a sleeveless orange shirt under a light tan vest and brown pants with orange stitching up the outside of the legs along with brown boots.
"Sorry, I was changing a diaper…" She trails off when she saw who was at the door. "Jaune!" She wasted no time giving the young man a hug, which he gladly returned. "Oh wow, someone's been hitting the gym."
"Hey Saphron, it's been a while, huh?"
"A while? It's been three years since we saw each other in person!"
"Yeah, when you moved out."
It was then that Saphron noticed the three standing back and watching them closely and expectantly. "Oh, I'm sorry! You must be Jaune's friends, please, come inside." She invites them into the much warmer home.
Inside, they found comfort on the plush couches and Saphron was quick to get them all mugs of hot chocolate and made some sandwiches.
"Oh, thank you!" Pyrrha says as she takes a portion of the finger food and accepts her mug.
"Not a problem." Saphron noticed that she and her brother sat together and quite close while the other two were in much the same position. "Forgive me, but you look familiar… what's your name, Miss?"
"Oh, I'm Pyrrha Nikos."
"Nikos…" The blonde woman looks to the wall towards her uphill neighbor. "My neighbor is Nikos."
It was then that her face began to turn as red as her hair. "Well… that would be my mothers home and where I grew up."
Jaune's eyes went wide as his whipped around to face his girlfriend. "Pyrrha! Why didn't you say anything about that?"
The Spartan Huntress chuckled as she scratched the back of her head. "Well… I never did get to see the address."
That left the knight to slam his forehead with his open hand. Though it was only then that he remembered that his gloves have armored fingers and he didn't have his aura active- meaning that it hurt a lot. "Gah!"
Fortunately, Pyrrha was quick to try to sooth him, rubbing his head and patting his back.
"Wow, you two are pretty close." Saphron smirks, taking Jaune's accidental injury in stride. She had seen him take too many hits of his own making to be worried unless it was obviously serious, but he had a habit of bouncing back from them as easily as he got hurt.
"Wait… Mom didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Then she saw them blush and hold hands and she connected the dots… by jumping over and hugging them both. "Oh, I can't believe my baby brother finally got a girlfriend!"
"Saph… really?"
The woman pulled back to give them some space. "Well, yeah! I saw how you were in school back home, being all awkward and stuff."
"Saph…"
"And I was there the one time a girl said that she really liked you and you ran away crying."
"Saph!"
"Did… that really happen?" Pyrrha was curious. Neither of them tried to pry into each other's pasts and they only shared general information from their home lives. Though now that they have family here…
Saphron stood up with a wide grin. "Oh, you better believe it!" She went back to her chair with her arms crossed. "But we can swap stories more at dinner, I want to know what you've been up to at Beacon and after."
"And what is for dinner?" Nora asks, her share of the sandwiches gone… with whatever Ren gave her of his share.
Saphron blinked at the reminder. "Oh… I should see what we have available or if I should just order take out."
"Anything would be fine at this point, sis."
"Alright, take out it is."
"Hey Saph?"
"Hmm?" She paused as she brought out her scroll to look for restaurants that would deliver.
"Can we get cleaned up?" Jaune asks. "We… haven't since the night before leaving Mistral on the train…"
"And all of our stuff got left behind with the train when we were attacked by Grimm and the dining car blew up!" Nora emphasized the last part with raised arms and her usual less-than-quiet voice.
"Ummm… sure. I… think I have some sweats that could fit you two." Saphron points at the boys before switching to the girls and taking another look at their fuller figures. "You two… might be a bit trickier."
"I could see if my mom has anything that would fit us." Pyrrha offers.
"Good idea." The blonde agrees. "And feel free to invite her over."
"That sounds grand. Come on Nora."
The shorter girl notably didn't have as much pep in her steps as usual following her friend for the mother/daughter reunion but only Ren knew exactly why, knowing that her feelings were happy to see others having that bond but nothing bitter memories for herself.
—-
"Her?" Cinder questions as the door opens, but she didn't see anyone come in. Perhaps someone had left because the rest of Spider had circled around her. While she wasn't particularly worried about fighting anyone here, their numbers and individual strengths were both something to take seriously. That didn't count her existing injuries and general exhaustion that she fought to conceal.
"Yes, and don't forget that once we take a job, we deliver." Malachite says with a smile.
"And what about my offer?"
"Well… you can just leave the cash here safe with me while you discuss things with an old friend." Her smile was unwavering but the small twitch of her eyes to Cinder's left was all of the warning she needed to spin around and react.
Yet that reaction was still too slow, her block being raised late and thus took a boot to the right side of her head.
Blinking the stars from her remaining natural eye, Cinder didn't have time time to get her bearings before the next blow hit her in the stomach and drove the woman into the table behind her.
Malachite had to grab her bowl of pudding before it was knocked off to spill on the floor, though she also held up a hand to prevent her closest guards from interfering.
Cinder reacted on instinct, lashing out at the one who attacked her, the first overhand blow being dodged but Cinder acted like a windmill to maintain her momentum and press the attack. The next swing also missed, as did the third. The fourth made contact, if one counted her fist being swatted away, only for the counter to come in the form of a palm to Cinder's chin that sent her reeling once again.
Her assailant jumped for another spinning axe kick at her head but this time Cinder was able cross her arms to block the attack, followed by throwing her arms up and out to push them away. They proved to be nimble enough to easily and almost daintily land a few paces away, on a table no less, barely disturbing the cups that sat upon it.
It was thanks to this small break that Cinder was able to get a clear look at who she was fighting, and quite honestly, losing to this far. "Neo."
The diminutive woman gave her a little smirk, almost congratulating Cinder for bothering to remember her name before that was replaced by hard determination.
Cinder blinked and Neo was gone as if she never was there.
"I always did enjoy dinner with a show." Lil' Miss Malachite comments with a smile, prompting a few others of Spider to chuckle as they spread out to give the fighters more room.
Neo reappeared seemingly from nowhere with a thrust of Hush aimed right at Cinder's chest, which was slapped away only for the smaller woman to use the hook on her umbrella to gain control of Cinder's right wrist and spun on her heel, throwing the taller fighter off balance. A kick aimed at her face was blocked by the bandage covered left hand but Neo was extremely quick to switch legs and drove her other knee into Cinder's ribs as she was still bent over.
The air being forced from her lungs didn't stop Cinder from responding in kind, thrusting her elbow into Neo's gut while twisting her wrist to free herself from the hook.
Then they came at each other in what almost looked to be a dance as they traded kicks and punches at a rapid pace without many landing, and nearly all that did were against Cinder. Of course, the umbrella helped in that matter to give Neo the reach she needed to strike effectively.
But that dance ended once Cinder grabbed Hush, taking Neo along with it, and threw her over to the bar. Neo didn't just flip over to land easily, but opened Hush to slow herself with a flourish. And being so easily foiled only angered Cinder and she charged at the girl.
Neo proved herself to be resourceful as she glanced down at her feet to find an assortment of cups, bowls, plates, and eating utensils, a smirk coming to her face as she used her feet and Hush to flip and scoop up the items so they could be flung at her target.
The Fall Maiden found herself forced to deal with a mug of beer thrown on her, the glass shattering against her left arm but still getting parts of her robe soaked. But the instinctive reflex to close her eyes as the liquid splashed across her face left her open for the cutlery to impact her unimpeded, leaving her with a pair of forks stuck in her left arm as the knives and spoons were rejected by her aura. Then more plates and bowls flew, including a bottle of whiskey, all shattering against the woman before she pushed through the assault to swipe at Neo.
The short girl kicked up one more bowl and used it to catch Cinder's next fist, leaving her natural hand covered in a thick bean soup. Though the blow was blocked, it was enough to push Neo off the bar and back down to the floor.
Then they both had to pause as every weapon in the building was aimed at them, including one hand cannon held by Malachite herself.
"That's enough ladies!" The pudgy blonde shouts, still not bothering to rise from her seat. "I've been generous so far with your little squabble, reminds me of my own girls, but now… you better take it outside."
There was a moment of silence as the two adversaries looked around and saw that all of the enforcers had positioned themselves to surround them as much as possible yet ensured that they would not hurt their allies with crossfire. And there was no way that either would get out unscathed if they would begin shooting, aura or not.
So Neo did the next best thing to both comply with Malachite's demand and keep the fight going to satisfy her need for revenge- kicking Cinder out the nearby window.
The Maiden was able to roll out of her fall to the ground easily enough, though she was feeling the strain from this short bout. She looked up in time to see Neo jumping out from the window after her, only to shatter like glass the moment her foot touched the ground.
Cinder rose to her feet and her eye darted around in the unpopulated back alley she was in, trying to find any trace of the short girl.
Meanwhile… a certain girl found a mark in the wood of a fence nearby, one depicting the crooked grin of a face that she was very familiar with, along with a name carved under it, 'RAY'. Despite her surprise, she smiled before refocusing on the fight.
Movement caught Cinder's eye and she prepared herself for another round. What she wasn't prepared for was that Neo had changed.
Inside, she had the same appearance as the last time she saw her at Beacon, but now…
Neo now wears a deep pink, nearly red, collared button down shirt with a deep brown tie. Her legs are donned by tight white pants held up by a white belt with a large silver buckle while a thinner black belt wraps around her hips so loosely that it hangs against her right hip. Those pants are tucked into white, nearly knee-high boots with pink laces, the long tongue, toes, and heel all being dark brown while the soles match the laces.
A deep brown jacket that reaches her knees sits over the nearly red shirt, the sleeves folded back to expose most of her forearms while that and the lapels reveal that the inner lining is pink. Down her spine, the jacket has a small expansion crease that has the same pink as the liner, as does the tail from her rear to the edge.
And to top it all off, Neo wears a rather familiar red striped black bowler hat.
Cinder's eyes widened at the sight of Neo like this, especially with how she was glowering with those heterochromatic eyes of hers.
Then Neapolitan struck out again, forcing Cinder to catch the girls wrist before the umbrella could complete its swing, only for that Neo to shatter in her grip and the real one darted in from the left and thrust Hush at the taller woman, the hidden blade glinting in the moonlight.
That attack too, was blocked, though it was how Cinder blocked her attack that got her attention. Cinder's left hand, the one wrapped in white bandages had been speared by the blade and the hand closed to take hold of the weapon. Yet the other surprise for Neo was that the hand did not bleed at all but black smoke wafted up from the wound.
"You've gotten stronger." Cinder notes aloud.
Neo kicked off the arm to break the grip and withdrew her blade from the hand, immediately swinging again only for her target to pull out the forks in her arm and use the two of them together to stop the slash.
The momentary pause created by the surprise of such a move… and the absurdity of mere forks blocking a sword strike, allowed for Cinder to kick out at Neo, though the smaller woman was able to bend backwards to dodge the kick aimed at her chin and turning that bend into a backflip.
"But I have gotten stronger as well." Cinder boasts as she tapped into what little Maiden power she could muster, summoning a whirlwind that made Neo slide back a few inches from the force of the winds as the creator was lifted a few feet into the air. It took a few moments of the display of power before Neo relented and took up a nonthreatening position, signaling that she was done… at least for now.
And with that, Cinder let the winds fade away and stood on the ground again. "Looking for your boss? I haven't seen him since Beacon. But if he's as dead as you think he is, then you are pointing the blame at the wrong person."
Neo narrowed her eyes and frowned.
"What? Who was it he was fighting? The General?"
Neo shook her head.
"The Witch?"
Another shake.
"What did he call her… 'Little Red'?"
That time the name seemed to strike a chord that had the petit woman gritting her teeth and clenching her fist.
"I see… well then, you may be in luck because I know that they were here, at Haven actually." Cinder gives her a smug smile.
Neo thought back to the night that Mistral and Haven were attacked. She knew the White Fang had been a large part of it, having taken down quite a few of them herself. But those in Haven itself, she hadn't bothered to look into who had defended the school ever since she had been there and gave up on trying to see through the crowd.
"Feel like getting your taste of revenge? Come with me and I'll make sure it happens."
The mute made a show of thinking it over before nodding.
"Good, then let's get some answers." Cinder led the way back into the Spider headquarters where a surprising amount of the mess was already cleaned up and Malachite seemed to be waiting for them, the wallet still sitting where it had been left.
"Ah, it seems you two have worked things out. Now… What can I do for you?"
"The ones who defended Haven… who are they and where did they go? And the same for the ones who attacked."
"Hmph! And I thought that you were going to ask about something difficult." 'Lil Miss smirks. "But I'm sure you already know exactly who was attacking Haven since you led the attack there. But I can see that it's more a matter of what happened to them since the incident nearly three weeks ago."
"Three weeks?"
"And the ones who foiled you left pretty recently too, going all over the world."
"And my forces?" Cinder nearly growled.
"Most of them are dead or jailed. The big dangerous ones got away, including the one who killed Lionheart. Buuuut… there is a girl being held who they are sure was part of the big attack last year at Beacon and now here in Mistral. Rather pretty thing with those red eyes and green hair."
"Emerald."
"See? I knew you knew her!" Malachite claps her hands. "Now, what are you going to do about her? And give me five minutes to get what we know about the ones who saved Haven."
AN: Quite a lot happened in this chapter. We get to see Team DAIT again, briefly, though their backstory as to how they became a team will be coming later. It seems that they have someone out to get them too.
RWBY and ROQ have survived their crash and Maria is with them, maybe I should refer to them as ROCQ from this point on? But they have some talks before being chased by Grimm while they are weakened. JNPR aren't having much luck with the Atlas military base, the CO refusing to break protocol and thus the team has to wait until their request is processed until they get an answer. But while they wait, they go to Jaune's sisters... only to find that she's a neighbor of Pyrrha's mom. Small world, huh?
And then we have Cinder and Neo. A fun little fight, Neo has new duds, and 'Lil Miss Malachite seems far too happy to pass on some knowledge about what happened while Cinder was on ice. Plus Neo found a little something...
Reviews are welcome!