Yo!
Somewhat shorter chapter this week! I was busy with school the week I wrote this (although it's been a month and some change since then lol).
Start Chapter 20
The flight from Beacon to Atlas is to be a rather lengthy one. Even in their high-speed passenger bullhead, it's still a journey that's going to require two legs, with a stop for fuel in between. It will take roughly twenty-six straight hours of travel to arrive in Solitas.
And Ruby is… well, she's bored.
Being on a flight with nothing to do but talk to people – which she'd done for the first three hours with Roman, but is now sick of – read a book – which she does not do – or sleep – which she isn't tired enough for – just doesn't lend itself well to… being Ruby Rose.
She lets out a lengthy sigh, and thinks briefly about trying to rest her eyes anyways. All around her, many of the third- and fourth-year teams going along with them are doing just that. Amber had fallen asleep the second they'd gotten on the plane, being a relaxed enough person to manage that, and Roman had concocted a plan to stay up all night and sleep through the entire flight, which hadn't worked out that well. Instead, it had resulted in Ruby having to talk to her manically tired teammate as he slowly and utterly exhausted himself.
Eventually, he had fallen asleep, but Ruby's the one worse off for it.
"Would you mind if I sat down here, Ms. Rosenberg?"
Ruby's eyes widen, and she turns to see Professor Ozpin standing next to her, gesturing towards the empty seat beside her.
She's… not unwilling to talk with Ozpin, but she'd really rather not. Still, her options are to decline, and make the man even more curious and suspicious about her…
"Sure." She smiles, employing her other option. "What can I do for you, headmaster?"
"Oh, nothing." He chuckles as he sits himself beside her. "I was simply curious as to how you feel you will be doing in the upcoming Vytal Festival."
"May I ask why?"
"Oh?" There's a twinkle in his eye as he turns to her. "Do you not believe my interest to be benign, Ms. Rosenberg?"
Ruby frowns, uncertain as to what the man is getting at. There's always an angle with Ozpin, and to try and fool herself into thinking there isn't would be… well, foolish.
"I guess I'm just curious." She shrugs. "You picked me of all people to come and talk to."
"Well, you are quite likely the most skilled first-year student we have ever hosted at Beacon Academy."
"That…" She can't exactly deny it. She doubts that Beacon has played host to a lot of fully-fledged Huntresses pretending to be students.
"You need not explain yourself, Ms. Rosenberg." Ozpin interrupts before she can make a fool of herself any longer. "We all have our secrets, and you have proven to be a true leader to Team Rarity."
"Thank you, sir."
"I would simply ask you where you feel your ceiling is in this tournament. Do you believe you can claim victory over the entire event?"
"That's my goal, sir."
"And an admirable goal it is indeed." Ozpin speaks. "I confess that I was not entirely sure as to Mr. Torchwick's abilities at the start of the year. I felt that on many other teams, he would have floundered; left by the wayside as the team around him refused to slow in order to give him the help he needed."
"Roman's a member of my team." Ruby speaks. "I wasn't just going to leave him behind."
"Mm. And that speaks to your character."
"Uhm, Headmaster… why is it that you really wanted to talk to me?"
Ozpin's expression shows just the smallest bit of shock upon its features. He settles a moment later, shaking his head with a tiny smile.
"You are rather perceptive, Ms. Rosenberg."
"Thank you, sir, but…"
"If you must know, I came over here to learn your goal." Ozpin explains. "After all, I do not believe it is any secret for me to say that you were not on our planned roster of first-years at the start of this school year."
Ruby shakes her head, seeing no reason to lie. "I… wasn't."
"And yet here you are, a student of Beacon Academy, and heading off to represent it in the Vytal Festival." Ozpin has his eyes set forward, not looking at her. "I would like to know why. Or, I suppose I would like to know where it is you've come from most of all, but I doubt you will grant me such information."
He's guessed correctly. "It's not… I can't tell you."
"I assumed so, Ms. Rose. You've no need to explain yourself to me."
Her eyes widen, and she turns to see Ozpin looking at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Am I correct in assuming that to be your name? Your real name?"
Ruby swallows nervously, not entirely certain how she wishes to handle this situation.
"That…"
"You need not confirm it." Ozpin looks away, and Ruby can breathe again. "I've had my suspicions ever since the beginning of the year. Even during initiation. I would also assume there is a reason that you cannot tell me why you have chosen to go by a different name?"
She nods.
"Then I will respect your privacy. All I ask is that you inform me at least partially on the truth of the matter; what are you really after here? What is your goal in and around the Vytal Festival. Tell me this, and I will do nothing to impede you."
Left unsaid is that if Ruby does not, he will likely do something to act against her. She can't exactly blame him for being cautious, not when the lives of his students, and for all he knows, the very world, might be on the line.
So…
Perhaps she can just be honest with the man. Just a little bit.
"When I ended up on that transport to Beacon Academy, I…" She purses her lips. "I was separated from a few very important people in my life. I haven't seen them since. But I have reason to believe they are still alive. Somewhere. I felt that by winning the Vytal Festival, I might be able to broadcast myself to the world, and make at least my position known to all of them."
Ozpin doesn't seem to have suspected such an answer. To be fair, it is a touch unusual. The idea that she'd go to all this effort just to look for somebody.
"If that's the case, I could always ask some of my allies to aid in your search, Ms. Rose." Ozpin speaks. "You need not do this alone."
It is both an offer of assistance, and a hidden grasp for further truths. Ozpin is offering to help her, which she appreciates, but he's also trying to learn more about her situation.
And at the moment, Ruby doesn't want that to happen.
"Thank you, but I'd like to keep this relatively innocuous for the moment." Ruby smiles over at him.
"I understand." Ozpin says, and though he seems a touch disappointed, he does not push her further. "Know that I am here if you require assistance, Ms. Rose. After all, you are a student of Beacon Academy now. And I am always accessible to my students."
She gives a far realer smile, then. "I do appreciate it."
Ozpin hums as he rises from out of his chair, seemingly content. But a moment later, he freezes, and looks back down at Ruby.
"A word of warning, however."
"Hm?"
"Your plan is well and good, but be mindful that you do not put your name out there for those far less… scrupulous to find. Those who might be interested in ones such as you."
He gestures towards the glasses on his face, and the insinuation is clear.
It's also something that Ruby hadn't even considered.
Because of course, Salem will be after those with Silver-Eyes, and she plans on broadcasting herself all over the world. She'll figure out about her, that's almost assured.
Of course, how had she not considered that? She has Silver-Eyes, and such will be rather obvious, especially on a giant jumbotron, or on video in interviews after her win.
If Salem discovers her – assuming she hasn't already – then…
"Thank you for your warning, Headmaster." She nods her head. "I'll be sure to keep it in mind."
"I'm glad." Ozpin speaks. "Know that I will not allow harm to come to you, but I would ask you not put yourself in a situation where such would be made easier."
"Gotcha."
The man smiles, and then he's gone, disappearing into the front section of their ship.
And Ruby…
She's alone with her thoughts.
Alone with thoughts of her plan, and how she might need to make adjustments. Alone with thoughts of what she might be faced with.
And all the while, Atlas grows ever closer.
/
They're not exactly riding to Solitas in style, but then, Blake hadn't really expected them to be.
The cargo plane they're hitching a ride on had been willing to let the Belladonna family and their guests go with them for free. Her father simply isn't that kind of person, however, and so the pilots and crew are being thoroughly compensated by her father for their loss of cargo. It makes Blake smile to see her father as he's always been; endlessly kind and generous.
The plane rocks with turbulence every few minutes, and Blake's finding it rather hard to focus on the hardcore smut in her hands. She lets out a pained sigh as her attempts to read through a paragraph about the main character being railed on a dresser get interrupted for the third time, and decides that she can read this later. She places it back in the bag she's brought along with her, looks up, and studies the fifteen or so people who've come with them.
The people she recognizes are Ghira and Kali, her father and mother, and then a younger version of herself, which is very confusing. Then there's Sienna, Eve, and a young Adam, who Eve had brought along due to not wanting to be apart from her son.
Blake can't really blame her.
The others… some of them Blake can remember. Old friends of her family's, or other people with likeminded ideals to her father. This is, after all, going to be an organized protest. But a lot of them are mere familiar faces, ones for whom names have long since fled Blake's mind.
Still, the bulk of that protest will be made up of the faunus of Atlas and Mantle. Likely more the latter than the former.
Their chances of actually making it up to Atlas with the current political landscape as it is are low.
Eve's sat to her right, letting a sleeping Adam rest on her shoulder. It's funny, seeing Adam like this. He'd always been so independent, even when he'd been just fourteen or fifteen, back when Blake had first met him.
Yet… she wonders if that independence had been a forced thing. If he'd always secretly just wanted a shoulder to lean on, and to sit back and let others take the reins. If anger had blinded him to peace.
She supposes that's more a rhetorical question.
"How are you?" She asks the woman with a whisper.
"I'm alright." Eve answers. "Nervous, I suppose?"
"You didn't have to come with us."
"But I wanted to." Eve speaks, looking down at the floor with some embarrassment in her gaze. "All my life, I've been unable to do anything for my own sake. Just… just for others. I guess this is more of the same, but…"
"You're doing this for the faunus." Blake smiles. "That's for you, too, you know."
"Yes, I suppose it is." She chuckles, but quiets down as Adam briefly stirs, presses himself a bit into her arm, and falls right back to sleep. "…I hope everything goes well."
"It will." Blake's not just saying that for nothing, either. The worst that had ever happened during their protests had been a few people being carted off under false charges, and being held a few days' time before being released, or rocks being thrown and some people being minorly injured.
Now, Blake doesn't believe their actions will change anything, but they should all come back to Menagerie fine.
"I hope." Eve speaks quietly. "I just have a bad feeling is all."
Blake's… not exactly a superstitious person. If anything, she relies far more on logic than on vibes, as Yang does. But even so… she'd felt a similar sensation as they'd been thinking about leaving Menagerie for this protest.
"I'll be there." She tells Eve, reaching across and placing her hand atop the woman's, smiling supportively for her. "Nothing's going to go wrong."
She'll hold herself to that. There's a certain vulnerability there in Eve's expression. Blake doesn't want to betray that. It's faith. Faith in her, and in the words she's said.
Her pupil believes in her.
And she's not going to let her down.
/
The civilian airliner that they've booked to fly to Atlas is rather packed with people.
Yang's almost impressed at how many. Then again, she supposes this is a time of peace. She's spent the last two years of her life on her Remnant in a time of calamity and strife. Things had definitely not been normal.
But here, there are parents and children alike, no Huntsman – other than them – aboard to guard the craft in case of Grimm. Nothing at all.
Yang can't quite help but be a bit nervous about that, despite knowing that she probably doesn't have to be. No Grimm in the world is fast enough to keep up with a plane, and as long as they're not accosted during their takeoff or descent, they'll be fine.
It's not a short flight to Atlas, in that it's going to take two trips and the better part of an entire day to make it there, so Yang had initially thought that she'd sleep through as much of it as she could.
That sort of goes out the window the moment someone taps on her thigh, and she looks down to find…
Well, herself, actually.
Little Yang.
"Hey, there." Yang – er… Big Yang – speaks. "What's up with you?"
"Nothin'!" Her little self giggles, clearly and obviously up to something, and probably something she shouldn't be, either. Yang would know. "I just wanted to see what you were doing."
"Oh, well, if you must know I was planning on sleeping."
"That's cool." Little her smiles. "You want to talk about stuff?"
Yang's not sure how the little version of her missed the part where Yang said she was planning on sleeping, but she apparently had. She'd be more impressed with that if she wasn't also a little annoyed.
Still, it's hard to stay mad at a kid, and it's even harder to stay mad at a kid that used to be you.
"Alright, sure, kid, what do you want to talk about."
"I'm not a kid!"
"Sure." She quips at the seven – maybe eight at this point? – year old. "What do you want to talk about."
Little her looks left, then right, then left again, like she's about to cross a street, before leaning close to Yang.
"Can I tell you a secret?" She whispers in a very loud way.
"Sure," Yang plays along, leaning in close as well. "What's the secret?"
"You have to promise not to tell."
"I won't tell."
"Okay…" Little her looks left, then right, then left again. Again. "I saw auntie Raven kissing mommy and daddy!"
Yang's eyes widen however briefly, because those aren't really the words that she'd been expecting to hear from out of little her's mouth. She'd been expecting… she's not really sure. Maybe a schoolgirl crush? She'd been head over heels for that one guy around this time… Danny, maybe? Or perhaps that she'd cheated on some homework. She'd done that a lot.
Nope. She'd caught her 'aunt' kissing her mother and father.
Yeah, that's uh…
"I see." Yang has no idea what she's supposed to say to this. "That's uhm… is that good?"
"Yeah!" Little her gives a toothy smile. "That means that Auntie Raven's going to stick around!"
Yang gives a silent sigh of relief. "That's good, then. I'm glad to hear it."
"Mm." Little Yang looks around for a third time. "You know, Mommy really wanted Auntie Raven to stay."
"Hm?"
"Well, when she first visited, and then left, when mommy got back home, she cried a whole lot." Little her's words have Yang's eyes widening. "Me and daddy tried to be there for her, but she was… kind of mad and sad."
Yang nods her head slowly. "…Yeah. I get ya', kid."
"I'm not a kid!"
Yang snorts, glad for the change in tone. "I get ya', adult."
Little Yang puffs up proudly. "Yeah!"
She can't help but laugh at her smaller self's want to be a 'big kid' as they say. Yang knows for a fact that being a kid's pretty damned nice, however, what with the no expectations and total freedom. Being an adult's got some positives, but…
Well…
"Don't grow up too quick, kid." She ruffles the girl's hair. "And treasure having your auntie with you."
"I will!"
"Mm. Good." She murmurs below her breath, even as she leans back against the seat behind her, and does her best to zone out entirely.
/
Weiss is just glad to finally be sitting down for what feels like the first time in eight months as she and Qrow board their flight to Atlas.
She lets out a weary sigh, allowing the tension of… everything to finally leave her body.
Qrow has the window seat, and she's sat beside him in the middle. The seat beside Weiss is empty, and she's hoping it'll stay that way. If it does, she'll move over once they've taken off, and give the both of them some extra space.
"It'll be nice to see everyone again." Qrow remarks as he looks out the window. "Although I'm still not sure about this whole Raven thing."
"I can't say I blame you. Nor can I say what I'd be feeling in your situation." She'd gone through something that could be called somewhat similar, what with Winter defecting from Ironwood after being with him for so long, but the scale of time is completely different. "Do you believe she's really changed?"
"Hard to say. Guess I'll just have to see her to find out."
Weiss can't argue with that.
She prepares to settle in for the flight as their captain comes on and says that they'll be taking off shortly. The moment their wheels leave the ground, Weiss lets out a quiet sigh, finally letting herself relax.
Of course, it's around there when she hears a choked noise from beside her, and turns to see Qrow with a shocked expression on his face.
"Uh… Weiss?"
"What's up?" She raises an eyebrow.
Qrow just points beside her.
Weiss's brow pulls together, but she follows Qrow's suggestion, looks over, and…
Her eyes bug out.
Because sitting there, casually waving towards her from the seat directly to her left, is a ten-or-so-year-old Neopolitan.
Who's apparently decided to come with them…
…Without either of them having any say in the matter.
/
"Will you be gone long?"
Jaune hesitates to answer that question at first. It's a fair question for Cinder to ask, and a fair thing for her to be curious about in general. After all, whether she knows it or not, he's her only true ally among the denizens of Evernight.
"I shouldn't be." He tells her, doing his best to smile for her sake. "Not longer than half a month or so."
Cinder nods her head slowly, but it's clear she doesn't like this. Jaune can't blame her that. He doesn't much like it either.
"Why do you have to go?"
"Because Salem told me to." He answers honestly. "And…"
Salem's expressly told him that he is not to reveal the fact that Cinder's fate is in his hands. He's not going to risk telling her and something happening while he's out. He won't.
No matter how difficult it is.
"Well, there's just a few things I have to do."
"Okay."
He looks over towards the bullhead they'll be taking – a smaller, high-speed model that had apparently been a prototype out of Atlas, stolen by Watts at some point – and sees that Tyrian has fired up the engine. How that man has a pilot's license Jaune doesn't know, but then, he also knows for a fact that the man can pilot one, given he'd flown the three of them – himself, Jaune, and Cinder – back to Evernight after the events at the Glass Unicorn.
Still doesn't make him thrilled to be stuck in an enclosed space with the man for half a day – Evernight actually being fairly close to Atlas.
"Be safe." Cinder tells him, and he smiles down at her, before reaching out and ruffling her hair. She takes a step back, clearly mortified judging by her bright red cheeks, and he can't help but laugh.
"I will be."
As he boards the bullhead, he turns to see that the doors to Evernight proper are ajar, and within them stands its queen.
Salem looks at him with an undisguised intrigue. She looks at him with a sort of pondering air. Jaune looks away, not wanting to see any more of her than he can help.
That she has some vague interest in him is bad enough.
"This is your captain speaking," Tyrian comes on the intercom as Jaune sits down in the back, not at all wanting to be in the same compartment as the man. "We'll be flying to the City of Atlas, although I'm afraid we don't exactly have the clearance required to land, so we'll have to… hm… improvise when we get there."
The man cackles to himself at what can really only barely be called a joke, and Jaune just groans and shakes his head.
Already, he knows this is guaranteed to be a nightmare.
End Chapter 20
Alright, that's Chapter 20!
Not a ton to say about this one. Transitional chapter this week. We'll hit Atlas next chapter, and our arcs for Part 2 will really begin!
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