Larger Issues
AN: Welcome back everyone! And yes, I know I was going to get the next Small Issues chapter posted last weekend, a friend reminded me that today is Pyrrha's birthday, 4-24! And given that I had this chapter planned out already, I churned this one out in record time despite life trying its best to prevent me from writing. Enjoy!
Family
Pyrrha's mother proved to be one mother who has a daughter who resembles them in almost every way. The real differences were the length of their hair, with Thetis keeping hers at shoulder length, and the older woman only standing up to her daughter's nose. Besides that, there was her sturdy build, heavier build than Pyrrha ever looked with broader hips and thick legs, and her arms were nothing to scoff at. It was easy to see that the majority of what bulk she has is muscle only softened by the years of being a mother rather than training to earn more rewards to add to the already extensive collection.
"You know, you are making me glad that I kept some of my old things." Thetis Nikos remarks as she sits at the table in the home next door. Her remark was directed to Pyrrha and Nora as they wore sets of her older sweats that were in rather good condition.
Pyrrha had taken a red set, though due to the height difference between her and her mother, a few inches of her legs and stomach were exposed. Not that it mattered too much as Pyrrha used to fight with armor that exposed her stomach, though the nip from the cold on her bare skin was something that ensured she was awake.
Nora was much better off, she was shorter than Thetis but arguably thicker than the mother ever was, meaning that her borrowed black pants were practically skin tight. The top half fit well enough though almost as tight, requiring her arms to stay low or she'd flash some skin. It was good that they had been provided undergarments and white shirts that wound up covering little more than their chests, but that was enough.
"Mom!"
"I'm just saying that it was a good thing that I did." Thetis laughs. "I was big when I was competing but never quite as big as you girls. If I hadn't had such clothes sitting around in storage, you wouldn't be as comfortable as you are now."
"She does have a point there." Nora admits with a shrug.
Pyrrha just groaned and held her head in her hands so she wouldn't drop her face into the stir-fry dinner. But she did receive a reassuring pat and rubbing of her shoulders from Jaune.
"Hehe…. Think of it this way, this is easier than if we had gone to my home with the rest of my family." The blonde gives her an awkward smile, letting her know that he was preferring this smaller interaction with family over the alternative.
"Gods help us if each of them will be this bad." She mutters as she leaned into his touch and began to relax.
"Did Pyrrha ever tell you about what she did after finding her Semblance when she was younger?"
That one question made the champion sit straight up with her eyes wide in a panic. "Mom! Don't tell them!"
With a smile, Thetis continued as there were more than enough curious looks. "She wanted some soda from a high shelf and used her Polarity."
"But aluminum isn't magnetic." Ren states.
"True, but the shelf was steel… and she bent the shelf until it crushed the cans and sprayed her with the drinks. Oh, she was soaked head to toe!"
"I was eight!"
"And you cried so much!" Thetis laughs. "You kept saying 'I'm sorry' so much I lost count but you said that for days as I had to keep washing it out of your hair over the next week."
"Well… that certainly explains a lot. No wonder you never drank any soda at our parties." Nora crosses her arms as she nods.
"And all of the apologies." Ren adds.
"Or why she doesn't make big moves with her semblance." Jaune taps his chin.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Pyrrha was banging her head on the table as everyone else laughed. Even Jaune rubbing her back didn't get her up. At least her bowl was moved out of range before her hair could get in her food.
"Oh, come on Pyrrha, it's not that bad. Lots of people do silly things when they are kids." Jaune tries to assure her.
"Joan!"
"Hey, little guy, my name is Jaune." Adrian just smiled widely at his uncle. The little boy is just over a year old with brown hair and eyes and a natural tan. Dressed in a dark blue shirt with red stripes and denim overalls, he was quite cute as he sat in his high chair and 'argued' with Jaune.
"Joan!"
"Jaune."
"Joan!"
"I'm not gonna win this, am I?"
"Welcome to my world, little brother. Think of this as a warmup for when you have kids." Saphron gives him a smile that seemed just a little too cheeky… before her eyes flicked to Pyrrha next to him and back. The slight glare she received in turn did nothing to bother her, especially when he has a blush on his cheeks.
"Another late night for Terra?" Thetis asks, deciding that she had embarrassed her daughter enough for the moment.
Saphron didn't even look up as she helped her son with his spoon to feed himself some noodles. "Unfortunately yes. I'm glad that she makes enough money for us to live comfortably but they seem to act like she's the only technician in the city who can fix whatever someone manages to break at the Transmit Relay Tower."
"Didn't she have off once your son was born?"
"Six weeks… technically. But most of that time they kept calling her to walk them through the processes. I could probably pass as her backup from hearing her explain everything so many times." Saphron sighed. "Then she kept having to go in person… spent the first month just trying to clean up whatever the idiots did while she was away. Barely did anything here at home but sleep before going back in. Sometimes just sleeping there because she had to."
"Oh my. I knew she had it rough from our occasional talks but I didn't think it was that bad."
"Yeah, sometimes we feel like moving away for the sake of her sanity. Though the last time Terra had to talk to Cordovin personally, she came home smelling like boot polish just from being in the same room as her."
"Umm…. Who's Cordovin?" Nora asks.
Saphron and Thetis blinked as they remembered that the others didn't know her. But the former answered first. "Oh, Cordovin… let's just say that Atlas could have sent someone better to run their base."
Thetis mimicked the sour look that her host wore. "She gets her job done but if it isn't needed for Atlas, she'll push against any requests to help."
Immediately, Ren slapped his hand over Nora's mouth and held her tight, the girl doing her best to shout obscenities despite the impediment.
"So… urgh, you mean that if we would have told the soldiers at the base that Weiss Schnee is among our friends left behind, they would have been out looking for them by now?" The ninja asks the mothers, partly to help cover up Nora's speech.
"That would have gotten her attention really quick." Thetis admits with the blonde woman nodding in agreement.
"Umm…" Pyrrha began. "I did give them a list of names to be added to their report."
"Then we can only hope that Commander Cordovin will read it to see her name." Her mother crosses her arms.
"And hope that your friends are doing well." Saphron adds.
—-
"I really hope that the others have gotten a search party started." Weiss grumbled as she trudged through the snow.
The group had managed to lose the Beowolves after a three hour long chase, with nearly all of them having taken turns fending off any Grimm that had gotten too close. Eventually, it was Ray who ended the chase by causing a small avalanche that wiped out a large portion of the pack, leading to the survivors to break off their pursuit. Though given that Blake could hear the Grimm, they were more than likely following just out of sight.
"If they did, I'm sure that we left enough of a trail for them to follow." Qrow states. None of them were trying to be sneaky and none of them even thought about covering their tracks. And with six out of eight of them on foot and the last two on a motorcycle, there were plenty of tracks to follow. "Come on, if we are where I think we are, there should be a farm just up ahead."
"And how far is that?" Yang was really wishing that her outfit had sleeves right now. She had taken the opportunity at a short stop to close her jacket to insulate the exposed patch of her stomach and her chest, though it was tight. But not only was the cold getting to her arms where they were open to the elements but her stump was getting extra cold since the prosthetic had very little heat of its own and cooled rapidly.
Qrow did a quick look around before answering. "Maybe about five minutes before we see it at this pace." He shrugs. "Besides, if anyone is home, we can almost expect an invite to stay the night and we can make a call. If nobody is home… well… we'll be out of the cold."
"You're willing to trespass?" Oscar asks, glad for his layers but wished he had a hat.
"I've done worse than trespass before, kid."
"I don't know if that's a good or bad thing." Weiss had no problems voicing her opinion. But she was also the most comfortable with the current weather since she was used to the cold of Atlas.
Blake was wrapped in a blanket salvaged from the train. Of anyone in the group, she was the least prepared for the cold since her outfit had been selected while in the heat of Menagerie and while it was cooler in Mistral, it wasn't enough to bother her. But now she was regretting her lack of foresight to prepare to GO NORTH IN WINTER!
So now she wore the blanket like a cloak with her ears folded back against her scalp and teeth chattering.
"How about we pick up the pace a bit, huh? I don't want to have to try carrying any of you." Ray spoke up. "And I'm sure you'd prefer to NOT be dragged through the snow?" That threat was more than enough for the team to walk faster as Yang drove further ahead to scout the area.
"Hey! There it is!" Ruby shouts as she stood at the treeline and spotted a farmhouse and barn. Drawing Crescent Rose so she could use its scope, she was able to see no signs of people walking around but given the light snow that had begun, it was easy to imagine that any footprints had been covered by now. But the sign in the fading afternoon light did allow her to read the sign displaying the name of the property, 'Brunswick Farms'.
"Let's hope that the others are having a better time than we are." Blake mutters before joining the rest of the team in a brisk walk towards the shelter from the elements.
—-
"Here! Try this song!"
The group in the house had decided to cheer up by switching to some karaoke. Ren seemed to have a talent for slower songs while Nora preferred pop. Saphron proved to be rather good with rock and let Adrian have a turn with a nursery rhyme. Thetis had her turn with a folk song common with her generation.
But now it was Jaune's turn and Nora had chosen his song. "Don't worry! Pyrrha can sing with you since it has parts for a second singer! And I've put your names into it."
"Well…" The blonde looks at his girlfriend who smiles and nods in approval. "Okay, let's do this."
"Okay! Your lines are in yellow while Pyrrha's are red!"
"Got it."
The holographic screen of the television switched to the chosen song and soon a guitar began to play, a simple piece of music with a steady beat and repeating chords. A few seconds and the words began to show themselves, quickly filling in with yellow.
"Oh what a thrill
When the night goes still
And my Pyrrha goes in for the kill
She takes away my breath
She's the angel of death
For me
Oh Pyrrha!"
Jaune turned out to have a good voice for the song and as the lyrics went on, he began to connect with them and as he did the words became smoother and emotions crept in to show his feelings. Then the timing sped up slightly for the next verse.
"She's my queen
It's like a dream
When I hear her prey start to scream
In and out of the sack
She's the maniac for me
Oh Pyrrha!"
Needless to say that he and Pyrrha blushed at that particular line, having done nothing more than have their sleeping bags side by side at best or holding hands and some hugging. Even kissing was rather sparse and limited to cheeks as they tested their comfort boundaries, only recently going for lip to lip contact. That was a moment to remember as they felt like fireworks were going off around them during that contact, though they also tried to repress the memory of the first time they had lip contact at Beacon.
"When the Grimm start creeping down the walls"
"Creep, creep, creep" Pyrrha nearly giggled at her part, though it helped to mitigate the embarrassment from the earlier lines.
"And the bodies start to fall."
"Thud!" She giggled after that one.
"My heart skips a beat
When my Pyrrha's guns are blazing in the heat"
"Bang, bang, bang!" There was no way to wipe the smile from her face and the pacing of the song sped up slightly again as the guitar grew a bit louder, encouraging them to sing louder in turn.
"My Huntress love
She makes the Hunting fun
For me!"
Then the words began to fill in both yellow and red, signifying that they were to sing together as one.
"Of those on the Fell
It's for him/her that I fell
Oh Pyrrha/Jaune!"
The song came to an end and their small audience began to clap… except for one.
"Mom! Were you filming us just now!?"
"Of course not, dear. I've been recording since Nora chose the song for you. I have to say she found an excellent one for you two." Thetis grins widely as Nora made sure that Ren was between herself and the couple.
"Wait, you knew?"
"Of course dear, she showed me the moment she found it."
Jaune crossed his arms with a huff. "Nora… you are not allowed to pick songs for others in team karaoke sessions."
"Hehehe… worth it." The short girl gave him a small salute as she said that.
"Definitely worth it." Thetis' comment drew attention back to her.
"What?"
The mother just held up her scroll for the couple to see… the two of them singing on MeView.
"Mom!"
"What? You're an instant hit!" She points to the view counter rapidly rising and comments scrolling past, most of which she had seen were positive.
"That's not the point."
"Hmm… perhaps." Thetis taps her chin. "Let's try it again but from the front."
"Mom!" Then she turned to her left. "Jaune, help me out here!"
"…"
"Jaune?"
"I dunno… maybe we could do it. Have a nice memory to hold onto for the first time we visited your family."
"Looks like your man is willing. Are you?"
The champion fighter looked back to her boyfriend and sees that he was waiting for her to decide. Her mother was expectant though it was one of the few times that she was so insistent on her daughter. Ren was as stoic as ever while Nora was silently encouraging her to sing again. Adrian wanted to hear more and Saphron remained calm and silent, but interested in hearing more from her brother's girlfriend.
"Oh…. Alright. Let's do it again." She relents, though the quick hug and peck on the cheek was enough for her to really smile.
"Grand! Nora, reset the music!"
"On it!"
—-
The airship landed on the pads just outside of Beacon just after sunset and Raven couldn't be more grateful to get off after being sick for a large portion of the flight.
"Are… you doing better now, Rae?" Tai rubs her back as she leaned against a light post and took deep breaths.
"Ugh… Next time I'm flying myself."
"Alright then. I'll give you a minute and we'll go to Glynda to drop this thing off."
Vernal looked around at the school, not particularly missing the last time she was in a classroom but she did have some fonder memories from before then. But she could see that there were a few buildings missing with only their foundations remaining while others looked brand new. She had heard that things had been bad here with the Grimm and White Fang attacking and even the Atlas mechs being turned against their allies, but seeing how much was rebuilt or was in the process, she could tell that there was a lot of effort going into getting this place back to a functional state by the time the new school year began in a few short months.
Of course, she had seen the state of Vale as well from the air, some areas looking like they were completely leveled while much of the city was newly rebuilt and/or repaired. Comparing the state of Beacon to Vale, it was obvious that the former suffered more damage to scale even if the lives lost swung the other way due to sheer volume.
"Nice place." The young woman comments with Tater standing nearby nodding in agreement.
"Yeah? Well, you should have seen this place before the attack." Taiyang had overheard her and walked over to the now former bandits.
"I can imagine… Raven told me a few stories about her time here."
"Oh… please tell me you know the one about Qrow on our first day-"
"And you switched his pants with a skirt and told him it was a kilt?!" Vernal laughs as Tater chuckled.
"All of the girls thought he had nice legs!" Tai gestured at his own out of habit when it came to this particular tale from his past.
"Yeah, it's an old favorite."
"That it is." Raven states as she walks up to them with a smile at the memory, though it was slightly strained from her earlier sickness.
"Better?"
"Yes,Tai."
"Then let's get to Glynda."
Thirty minutes later, mostly due to them looking around at the damages and reconstruction… and asking a student in armor bearing a large bird on his chest plate where the Headmistress is currently, the four found themselves at the top of Beacon Tower in the office.
"Taiyang, you're back."
"Hey Glynda. Brought some company with me." The blonde man greets the woman behind the desk, idly noting that some decorations had been added since the last time he was here but they looked to be pieces of art that were recovered from the wreckage given their conditions. If they would be restored or not was debatable.
"Raven, we meet in person." The blonde stands up from her chair so she could look down on the woman with her greater height. "It's been twenty two years."
"You've been counting?" Raven gave a slight smirk as Glynda scowled at her.
"The Relic?"
Tater stepped forward and set the lamp on her desk, letting it float just above the surface, towering over the woman briefly before he stepped back to stand behind the others.
"Yeah…. Pretty sure that's one of the fakes we made before leaving." Tai rubs the back of his head.
"I see." Glynda says as she sits back down and examines the lamp in her hands, noting that it was exactly as Ozpin had described to her years ago when she had been brought into the big secret.
"So now what?" Vernal crosses her arms and tries not to think about stealing anything here, just appreciating the value of the items in the room.
"And you are?"
"Glynda, this is my adopted daughter, Vernal."
The blonde needed a few seconds to process that information. "You adopted? She looks older than Yang."
Raven's face fell as shame overcame her, something that Glynda wasn't used to seeing in all of the time she had known her, everything was either confidence or steadfast determination. "I'll admit that part of the reason I adopted Vernal and Flora as my daughters was because of my guilt from leaving Tang and Tai behind. But they also needed help, so I brought them into my Tribe."
"Not much help if they became some common bandits."
"Hey! I'm one of the best you'll find!" Vernal counters the Headmistress… only to be flicked in the back of her head by Tater. "But we gave up that life now that the Tribe is gone." She added with some sorrow in her tone.
Glynda remembered the brief report that Qrow sent from Mistral about the new addition to his family and the aftermath of the attack on Haven. The girl had run away from her family with her twin who was the Spring Maiden at the time and found new purpose with the bandit Tribe. But with their defection from both her as the acting leader and from Raven, along with Tater who was their loyal enforcer, the Tribe had been either killed or captured at Haven. Now they were looking for new purposes in life.
Glynda chose to ignore the outburst while nodding in acknowledgement of the correction. "And what will you be doing now? You'll need places to live and work."
Taiyang decided to speak for the others at that. "I promised the big guy here that I'd ask about getting him a job at Signal. Be the groundskeeper most likely and he could live on campus."
"That's rather bold of you, having someone with his background there."
"Ahem." Raven cleared her throat. "In his defense, Tater was always more of an enforcer of peace in the Tribe than a bandit. Breaking up fights and killing Grimm… mostly."
"I see." Glynda didn't want to believe Raven but his size would make him bad for sneaking around, not to mention that his injuries from the explosion which included the blinding of an eye, did make her more sympathetic than she normally would be. "Very well, if Taiyang can arrange it, I'll allow it."
"Thanks." Tai says as Tater bowed his head while remaining silent.
"And you two?" Glynda points at the other women.
"Are coming home with me." Tai was quick to answer, surprising Glynda with how he said it that left no room for argument. Then he continued more like his usual relaxed self. "Besides, we already began coming up with ideas to expand the house since Yang and Denko are together and need some privacy. And Vernal will need her room but she did agree to share a room with Ruby until any additions are done. And we do have the guest room for Raven too."
"Alright, I get it." Glynda raised her hand to stop his rambling. Though she did understand the need to renovate for the extra people, she did notice that Taiyang and Raven weren't rushing to share a room again, something that she didn't mind them taking their time with so they could keep working on sorting out things between them.
The Headmistress stood up and walked over to a wall to push on a specific part, the section of wall clicking once it was an inch in before it slid to the right to reveal a safe with a trio of tumbler locks. She made sure that she blocked her guests view as she spun the three to the correct numbers in a specific order before that door opened so that she could retrieve a ring from inside.
"Bring the Lamp, if you would." She asks Tai on her way to the elevator.
When the door opened and Goodwitch beckoned them inside Raven saw how much room the woman took up on her own. "Tater, it's probably best that you wait at the lobby for us."
"Got it."
It was a tight fit, with Tater even having to duck his head a little as he stood inside and everyone let out a collective sigh of relief once he stepped out.
"Down to the Vault, eh?" Tai comments as he waits for the elevator to stop it's renewed descent.
"We do need to store the lamp properly."
"And the ring?"
Glynda gave the man a small smirk. "Ozpin always did say that the Relic of Choice was a bit trickier to get to, didn't he?"
"And that ring is the key?" Vernal asks, rather interested to see how the Vault would compare to the one under Haven with the cave and the bridge and tree. Even the door for the Vault was a thing of beauty.
"It's a key." Her smirk widened. "But without the other two, we won't be able to reach the Relic of Choice anyway."
Raven blinked at that. "Two more keys? I'm assuming that one is the Fall Maiden."
"As it is with every Vault for their corresponding Relics." Glynda affirmed. "But he also had other ways besides keeping them hidden."
"Leo carried the pocket watch that opened the way to the Vault in Haven." The mother stated.
"As did every Headmaster of Haven before him."
"And Atlas is in the air." Tai adds.
"True, but that wasn't the full plan." Glynda saw their questioning looks. "Atlas was meant to rise much higher to ensure that any threats could not reach it without extreme difficulty "
"And Vacuo?" Vernal asks to round out the locations of the Vaults.
"A desert that is just as hostile to Grimm as it is to anything else living there is a good start. But there is a rather complex way of reaching the Vault in the first place under Shade." Just as Glynda finished, the elevator stopped and chimed.
"This… isn't what I was expecting." Vernal says as she looks around, rather put off by the lack of anything noteworthy beyond the dim lighting, seemingly endless hallway, and the side passages that she couldn't see the end of.
"The Old Man was never particularly straightforward with anyone, why would he be when there was something to hide?" Raven tells her daughter, getting silent agreement from the blondes.
They followed Glynda as they reached the thirtieth branch and took the one on the left, finding the passageway to be just like the one they had come from.
Then they took the third left, then the first left, and the second right.
It was only then did they find something different where there would normally have been another hallway like so many others- a curtain.
The curtain is a deep green, appearing almost black in the dim lighting, but it reached all the way up to the ceiling and from wall to wall.
"Now what?" Tai asked, thoroughly confused.
"Look behind the curtain." Glynda offered with a wave of her hand.
He did so, pulling it back from the wall to find… "Nothing but more hallway." He announces as he let it fall back in place.
Glynda slipped the ring on and used that hand to pull the curtain herself to reveal a much different scene than before.
Now there is a large pond with a small island in the middle, a series of round stepping stones leading out to it while the sun shone down on them with a light breeze.
"Come now, we'll put the lamp here." Glynda beckons the others to follow her as she holds the curtain.
"What is this place?" Vernal asks as she looks around, idly noting that their guide stepped lightly across the stones despite her size.
"Call it the real entrance to the Vault for the Relic of Choice." Glynda responds as she was the only one who knew. "Everything before was just to ensure that even if Salem would gather the other three Relics, this one would buy those who oppose her time to counter her."
"Don't the other Vaults have extra protection like this?" Tai steps onto the island with Raven.
"What the-!" The mother shouts as flowers suddenly grew and bloomed as soon as she made contact with the island.
"Hmm… He did say it would be quite lovely to visit with a Maiden." The Headmistress comments at the flowers before walking to the center of the island where a round white marble pedestal stood.
"And this is?"
"The final gate to the Vault, Tai. The second key must be inserted…" Glynda points to the round hole in the center of the top. "And the Maiden present."
"But this is the Vault for the Fall Maiden, why did it react to me? I'm the Spring Maiden."
"Would you put it past the Old Man to not have a way to check on the other Vaults without raising suspicion?" Glynda was enjoying this far too much, knowing far more than the others who already knew many of the world's greatest secrets. "With the key and any other Maiden, they can travel to their corresponding Vault and bypass most of the defenses. But only Fall will open the next step to her true Vault from here."
"And the Relic?" Taiyang points at the fake in her hand.
"Will be fine here." Glynda sets the Lamp atop the pedestal where it floated just above the stone.
"Okay? Now what?"
"Why don't we get back up and talk over dinner?"
—-
"How's our time?" Sienna asks her ship's Captain as she steps into the bridge.
"Ah, good afternoon madam." The woman with a reptilian tail greets the former High Leader of the White Fang. "Seas have been calm and we've been able to avoid the small storms so far."
"And our ETA?"
"At the rate we're going, we should see Menagerie by this time tomorrow."
"Good, can't wait to get there… though I wish we wouldn't have bad news for some families."
"Aye, it's never easy to tell people that they've lost their loved ones. But they can take comfort that they can say their final farewells and that they went down fighting for what they believed in."
"It is a small comfort but it is something at least."
"Then let's make their passing count AND celebrate their lives."
"Radio the Menagerie Guard Captain once we're in range for a clear signal. Let them know about what's coming."
"Aye, Madam. Saber isn't going to like the news but we know he was expecting such. He'll be ready for us when we drop anchor."
"Good."
—
Vacuo, the Kingdom that had seen it's fair share of peace and war and everything in between.
When people first began to explore the region thousands of years ago, it was arid thanks to the rain shadow effect caused by the mountains from the west and south of the continent of Sanus. That left the occasional storm to come from the north where there wasn't such an obstacle but with the colder northern sea, the rains were lighter than anything that would come from warmer areas.
There are a few settlements along that northern coastline and between the mountains and the ocean, but they were small by necessity thanks to the limited area that they could build on with whatever resources they had available. They have grown over the years but as much as some of them grew, others had been lost and forgotten by natural disasters, disease, and Grimm.
But the region had one thing that made their lives much easier than in other places when real estate wasn't the most ideal- large quantities of Dust.
And that Dust helped those in Vacuo live relatively relaxed and mostly strife free lives for many years.
But there were others who desired the resource and larger mines controlled by other Kingdoms were allowed to open. And for a time, Vacuo flourished thanks to the Dust trade.
Problems began to develop, some of it being cultural differences. In Vacuo, the divide between humans and Faunus was next to nonexistent as such pettiness was both found to be useless and detrimental for those who would travel into the wilderness for entertainment and excitement. But the Kingdoms of Mistral and Mantle had no such views, seeing the Faunus more as work animals and making them slaves in their mines.
At first things had been contained to the work towns, those from the other Kingdoms putting on a good show for the native population but even that came to an end within a decade, the ones running the mines would organize small parties who would travel the countryside and capture any Faunus they came across, dragging them back to the mines in chains.
The news was dismissed at first by the locals as it wasn't too uncommon for a hunting party to go missing thanks to Grimm but the reports of missing people grew far higher than normal. The fact that most of the missing people were Faunus didn't go unnoticed but the humans too had started vanishing.
Around the same time that concerns were being raised about new mines were being started without authorization and waste being dumped into the river and streams, polluting the MOST valuable resource in this arid land, a boy stumbled into a town wearing little more than rags, obviously malnourished, and covered in bruises and cuts.
Word spread rapidly from that day about the boy who managed to escape his slave masters by tunneling to the surface and running as fast as he could.
Vacuo's greatest and only true ally, the Kingdom of Vale, which lay on the other end of the continent decided to intervene at that point. They demanded that efforts be made to stop the practices of slavery, land theft, and toxic dumping along with reparations made to those who became victims.
The responses from Mantle and Mistral were swift- the mining towns became militarized as soldiers were brought in to ensure the mines remained in their possession. Said mines were rapidly expanded, with entire areas now being stripped of everything and the waste used for fortifications.
And in turn, the once peaceful people of Vacuo took up arms and were supplied and reinforced by Vale.
The Great War had begun.
And the land of Vacuo suffered the most as the majority of the land battles took place on their soil. The arid land was churned up by the mines, their waste and pollution destroying much of the vegetation that grew across the land. Bombs and shells ripped up the ground as blood moistened the land in place of water.
Vale mostly fought at sea, weakening the forces sent to Vacuo from the north by Atlas as small fleets patrolled the western coasts to harass
In just a few years, large swathes of Vacuo had been transformed from arid grasslands, hardy small forests, and irrigated fields into wasteland.
And that didn't even include the toll that the Grimm induced on both the civilians and the fighting armies.
When the fighting finally came to an end on the island of Vytal just off the Vacuo coast thanks to the King of Vale personally taking part in the combat and crushing the combined armies of Mantle and Mistral there. Peace was finally established from that point, slavery was outlawed worldwide, and Mantle and Mistral relinquished all holdings in Vacuo. In a few short years, Mantle had begun giving gifts by way of the Cross-Continental Transmit Towers to the four Kingdoms, though it was originally meant to be a method of speeding up communication for the war effort but the scientists had run out of time before it could be properly implemented for that purpose and thus slightly altered for the sake of building better relations with the rest of the world.
But the damage to Vacuo was done and it spread, turning much of the land into a vast desert with a few oasis where settlements could exist. Sandstorms now swept over the land, some lasting days on end before they would cease. Sinkholes became more common as the loose sands could drop into cave systems and drag anything and anyone with it. And most of all, the river that once crossed the land vanished from the surface. Few places withstood the conditions of the war and the desertification, those usually being rather harsh for humans for extended periods of time as well as in short supply. The best the residents of the desert could hope for were areas where the winds blew the sands away to expose the bedrock beneath so they would know that their settlements would be on solid ground and drilling wells for water was easier.
The city of Vacuo itself is a maze of adobe buildings, their thick walls kept the heat of the day out while keeping the warmth in while also being durable against the sandstorms. What wood was used often was recycled from any place that had to be dismantled and new lumber would typically be shipped in from Vale, though the western settlements along the coastline would provide some on occasion.
But the buildings wound in a way that at first would seem to be nonsensical but it wouldn't take long for one to learn that they would direct the breezes in ways that would be more beneficial to the residents, helping to cool some areas by focusing the wind or to slow it down. While most of the buildings were of the same tan color, they would often have brightly colored awnings to provide shade to the owners and for those walking by, keeping the worst of the sun off their heads.
The mudbrick walls around the entire city were often in disrepair but they served their purpose well enough to slow down or stop any Grimm that would make it through the desert to attack. And those Grimm would meet a swift end as even the civilian population was toughened by their everyday lives and would fight back together.
The most distinct feature of Vacuo had to be the central location, Shade Academy. A large step pyramid structure to train Huntsmen and Huntresses, often seen as both the most lax and harshest school of all of the Huntsman Academies in the world. Said pyramid houses the city's CCT tower within its center, the uppermost cap being made of the transmission and receiving antenna. But the school also boasted the largest awnings one could find, extending them out from the pyramid to cast a shadow over portions of Vacuo. That was helped by the small wall around the pyramid, more than tall enough to keep out those who don't belong there while they too would hoist their own awnings during the day.
The Academy also helped to protect the greatest resource of the city, the oasis, always monitoring it for possibly being drained faster than it would replenish and there existed a series of pipes run from the pumping station to areas around the city for the residents to use it as needed, but there were few who would dare to waste any. Even the small pool within the Academy was more about ensuring that the students would know how to swim so they wouldn't drown rather than for pleasure, though they would admit that it was a pleasure to have that opportunity at all.
And this was the city and history that Teams SSSN and ABRN knew when they landed on the northern side of town where the airfield is.
"Ahh…" Sun takes a step off the ship and draws in a large breath and lets it out slowly. "Back to where I began."
AN: Ah yes, always good to meet the family of your significant other, or part of Jaune's family and Pyrrha's mother. And for those who didn't recognize it, the song Jaune and Pyrrha sang is a tweaked version of 'Oh Millie' from Hellova Boss. I thought that it was too good for the young couple to not use... including Thetis recording them singing.
And Thetis Nikos. Yeah, I went with the name of the mother of Achilles for her, for the obvious connection to Pyrrha and the not so obvious lore that Thetis is a sea nymph and Argus is a city right next to the sea... and since the Vasillias family also lives in Argus... I think you guys and gals get the picture. But Pyrrha's mom hasn't really been physically part of this series since Small Issues, putting 100+ chapters between her appearances.
But Teams RWBY and ROCQ have found shelter at a farm. We got to see a look into the tricks of the Beacon Vault thanks to Glynda, and a brief history of Vacuo. Would you believe that it's been over two years since Sun has been back to the land he hails from? Maybe it's a good thing that he found a place to call home, he just has to go southwest of where he's at now to reach that island.
Reviews are welcome as always. And the next chapter I post WILL be for Small Issues, it is already mostly done so you can expect it within a week from now. Until next time! See ya!