Yo!
The climax of Atlas is upon us! Let's get into it!
Start Chapter 31
Weiss isn't going to say that she thinks the Vytal Festival is boring when Ruby's not competing, because that's not a very fair thing to say. She would just prefer if some of the students she sees fighting below her would actually try employing strategy, or intelligence, instead of clumping into a ball and throwing their heads at their opponents.
She runs a hand down her face and groans exasperatedly as a team from Beacon gets eliminated on ring-out after the enemy Vacuoan fighter had utilized a wind semblance of some sort to send them flying away. It wouldn't have been quite so devastating if they hadn't all come up with the brilliant plan to just… charge the guy who had been serving as obvious bait.
Qrow, to her right, is cackling with amusement.
"Ah, shit," he wipes a tear from his eye. "They should be charging to see you react to this shit!"
She glares up at him, and receives only another round of exuberant laughter in return. She rolls her eyes, but can't quite hide the smile on her face as she looks to her left and sees Trivia's eyes glued to the matches.
She's, evidently, a bit more impressed than Weiss is.
"Having fun?"
Trivia looks up at her, before nodding swiftly, and immediately going back to the match.
…Weiss supposes a little coaching couldn't hurt.
"Were you watching that last match?"
Trivia nods.
"Do you remember when the team from Beacon all gathered in one point, and fell for the opponent's trap?"
She nods again.
"What do you think they should've done differently?"
Trivia thinks on that for a moment, before reaching towards her scroll – Ozpin had been kind enough to get Trivia her very own scroll, and hadn't charged them a dime for it – and typing out some words. She isn't quite as speedy as she'd been writing on her notepad, but given she's almost always going to have her scroll on her, learning to type now is going to be beneficial in the long run.
'They shouldn't have gone after the same guy. Or gone at different angles?'
Weiss nods. It's a basic analysis, but Trivia is eleven – or, well, Weiss thinks she's eleven – so it's not like she's asking for something as in-depth as what she might have been asked for by Clover while they'd been training under the Ace-Ops.
"I agree with you." She smiles over, and Trivia smiles back, bright and eager. "If I were them, I would've had my fastest teammate go in and check the bait. If it's a trap, then I'd hope they could get out in time."
If it had been Ruby, then that would've been a given. She'd only grown faster with time, it seemed, judging by the performance she had already put on here during the Vytal Festival's first round, which means that the chances of a trap like that one catching her are slim to none.
"After that, I'd have set up my own countermeasures. I'd utilize someone tricky to try and trap their trap."
Blake would serve that function. She'd be able to get in with a clone, and hit them from behind where they least expected her.
And then…
"And then, I'd use a big hit to secure the victory." She says, keeping things simple, and Trivia nods along, beaming.
That would be Yang, of course.
Suddenly, Trivia seems to zone back into reality, having been focused on the matches for the last while, and she frowns, before typing something out.
'I have to use the bathroom.'
Weiss chuckles. "That's fine. Would you like me to walk you there?"
Trivia nods her head, and Weiss looks back to Qrow, making sure he knows they're leaving.
He gives an affirmative hum, barely looking up from his scroll where he's, seemingly, playing some sort of card game.
Well, to each their own, Weiss supposes.
They don't exactly try to make that great of time, given that there's not going to be another match on for quite a while, and there are a good fifty restrooms on Amity. That's not to say they won't be standing in a massive line, because they almost certainly will, but at the very least, Trivia won't be missing any of the fun.
She's glad that Trivia's been able to enjoy this, honestly. It means more than Weiss had thought it would to see her happy, bouncing around with an energy that had so clearly been hampered living with her parents.
…Although Weiss still isn't quite sure how she feels about the fact that she'd essentially kidnapped Trivia.
She'd just sort of assumed that Trivia's parents wouldn't really care for her, judging by how they'd treated her, and that they'd put up little fight in court to keep their daughter. That couldn't have been farther from the truth. In fact, they'd fought tooth and nail to prove that Trivia had been loved and cared for, and while it had all seemed like lies…
Had it been? Truly?
Most of it, surely, but…
Weiss wishes this could be simpler. If Trivia could've just come with them without any of this hassle. At this point, she's grown to care deeply for the girl, and she doesn't want to be parted from her.
She can think about that later, though. For the day, at least, she wants to put on a happy face, and let Trivia enjoy herself here at the festival.
They make it to the restroom, and Weiss smiles as Neo gets in line. She steps off to the side, telling her, "I'll be right out here, okay?"
Weiss watches until she enters into the bathroom, then takes out her scroll to occupy her time. She's really just browsing news articles and the occasional cat video. Eventually, a minute or so later, she decides to put her scroll away and just… think.
Her brain, of course, focuses in on the fact that everyone – minus Jaune – is here at the Vytal Festival. Well, Blake isn't going to be here much longer. She might also be about to start an international incident, which Weiss just sort of nods at, because that's just kind of how Blake does things.
Weiss understands her desire to not abandon her student. She's not going to begrudge her that. Especially when things here in Atlas seem like they're worse than they'd been in their time.
And the White Fang had already had plenty of ammunition then.
…She decides to think on happier topics for the moment. She's spent long enough in the doom and gloom.
She thinks, instead, about getting to spend some more time with the other members of RWBY. And perhaps, if Ruby's plan works out, maybe even Jaune. It would be good to see him again. It had been far too long, in truth.
…That isn't to say that Weiss particularly wants to see him, to be completely clear! She's just… she's missing him in a completely normal and regular way.
…Ugh, she's arguing with herself, and she can't even convince her.
Still, given that Blake's situated on Menagerie, and she can't really afford to leave with things as they're going to be after her mission, perhaps they can all take a vacation there? That sounds nice to Weiss, at least. Take a few weeks to just… relax around the people she loves.
She sighs out in brief bliss, just imagining the feeling of her feet not constantly aching from moving about.
It sounds like quite the life.
…Trivia has been in there a while.
It's a thought that comes to Weiss a bit suddenly. She'd expected her to be in the bathroom a few minutes, after all, but it's been nearly ten, and Weiss…
Well, it can't hurt to text her, can it?
She opens up her own scroll, and asks, 'alright in there?'
Ten seconds go by. Thirty seconds. A minute.
She doesn't want to be some sort of helicopter parent – she's not a parent at all! – but at the same time…
Well, it couldn't hurt to check, could it?
So, she walks over to the bathroom itself. A few people get on her for cutting in line, but she tells them she's checking up on her younger sister, and so they let her by.
Weiss is not a parent. She is too young for that.
She steps inside of the packed bathroom and checks around. Trivia's not obviously there, and Weiss can't help but wonder if her stomach has started to hurt, perhaps. Maybe she'd been unable to get to her scroll.
She doesn't want to be some sort of creep looking under stall doors or something, but she'd really like to find Trivia.
"Trivia?" She calls out, and a few people turn to her, but no one really pays her much heed. "Are you in here? Could you text me if you are?"
No response, but then, she'd expected that much.
It's just…
…Her stomach is unsettled. She's probably overreacting, but she can't help but feel like something's wrong.
"Excuse me," She turns to a nearby woman. "Did you see a young girl leave here? Pink and brown hair? Mismatched eyes?"
"Hm?" The woman thinks. "Uhm… I think I saw her go into the stall at the back?"
That… Weiss still feels a bit weird about it, but she nods her head, and makes her way over there. The door is latched shut. Weiss hopes that there's no one inside, because it's already going to be weird when she does this if no one is, but she bends down to look under the door.
No one's there.
Weiss' already beating heart grows frantic as she crawls under the door, and stands up.
And then she sees it, and her heart stops.
It's Trivia's notepad, with a little doodle on it, like she'd been occupying her time. It's laying on the floor, open, with the pencil that Trivia had been using to draw right on top of it.
But…
She's not there.
Trivia's gone.
/
Ruby's taken a shower and cooled off a bit by the time she exits out of the competitor's locker room, stretching her muscles to get them limber again.
It's not like she'd been pushed, per se, but she'd had to exert herself a bit. The people here at the Vytal Festival aren't amateurs… well, among amateurs, they aren't amateurs.
Ruby's just used to fighting professional Huntsman, or people around that level.
It's as she's walking that she hears someone shout out for her, and she turns to see Roman jogging his way up. She smiles to him as he steps in line with her, and they make their way up to the competitors seating.
"Bit intense, huh?" Roman's clearly still coming off the high of victory in front of so many people. She can't blame him. She'd been there, once, what feels like a lifetime ago now. Only three years… well, it certainly doesn't feel like it.
"Mm." She nods. "You handled yourself well. So did Amber."
"Yeah," Roman rubs at the back of his neck, laughing under his breath. "We make a pretty good team for technically being down a member."
"Yeah, we do." Ruby chuckles. "But what's up? You seem… more energetic than normal."
Roman looks caught. "Do I?"
She hadn't meant to call him out on anything, but suddenly Roman seems almost on the backfoot, almost defensive.
"Well, maybe not," she shrugs, trying to stay easygoing, and that at least seems to let Roman relax a little. "Probably just the adrenaline from the matches, yeah?"
"Oh, right," Roman latches onto the excuse. "Probably."
They walk slightly more awkwardly until they arrive at their seats, and Ruby sits down. Roman sits next to her, playing with his hair – or trying to style it, Ruby can't really tell.
"So, I've been thinking," Roman begins, adjusting his posture. "You uhm…"
Ruby waits patiently, a small smile on her face. Roman seems really serious about something. She's willing to hear him out.
"Well, it's just…"
She nods. Roman's a good friend. She's not going to turn him away if he needs counsel.
"Well, when the Vytal Festival is over – since, y'know, we're all busy, and stuff – but once it's over, uhm…"
He's really struggling with this.
"…Would you wanna' go out sometime?"
Ruby stares at Roman.
She looks at Roman.
She watches Roman.
Her brain catches up with what he'd said about five seconds later.
"…Eh?"
/
"So!" Tyrian giggles excitedly, rubbing his hands together. "Tomorrow's the big day!"
Jaune grunts out under his breath, doing his best to pretend like he's anywhere but there.
"Now, getting into Amity itself isn't the hard part, oh no, you have a Hunter's license, after all. And if you vouch for me, we can go as extra security, likely without any complaints."
"And?"
"Once we're in, that's when the fun part starts. We have all the time in the world to get the girl, so we'll wait for her to leave her seat at the stadium itself. Once she does, we grab her, and make our way off of Amity."
Jaune's not going to let that happen. He'll kill Tyrian before he lets him take Ruby back to Evernight.
…The problem, of course, being that victory or defeat, he will bring suffering onto someone he cares about.
He tunes out that train of thought, turning instead back to Tyrian.
"And how do you suppose we do that, exactly?"
Tyrian grins.
"And here I was thinking you'd never ask."
/
Of course, someone would find him.
Jaune's not really sure why he's surprised.
He's… almost glad that someone had. Yang's found him, which means the chances of anything happening to Ruby are slim to none. Now he just has to locate Tyrian – who'd said they'd be 'splitting up' – and keep an eye on the bastard.
Gods but he's on edge. Tyrian had him constantly angry, this mission had him jumping at shadows, and seeing Yang isn't really helping. If he fails, Cinder faces the consequences.
And damn it, but he cares.
How can he protect both people? Ruby and Cinder?
He can't. Not entirely.
And that's driving him mad.
Madder than he is already.
"You're here!" Yang laughs, running up and practically suffocating him in a hug. He chuckles below his breath, despite everything, as he wraps his own arms around her. She pulls away, before raising an eyebrow. "I see you're growing your hair out."
"I see you cut your own." Is his response.
Yang snorts. "Yeah, wasn't my idea, but I'm making the most of it. Where have you been?"
"Recently? Here." He decides to tell lies for the moment. He just… gods, he's being selfish, and he knows it, but he just wants to have a normal conversation before everything goes to shit. Because it's going to go to shit. "I appeared in Atlas. Things got a bit complicated for a while, but I'm back."
"Well, it's good to see you." Yang laughs easily. "I'm sure a certain someone will be thrilled."
He raises an eyebrow. "Who?"
"Oh, man, your density never gets old." Yang says, sighing in satisfaction. "Now, why don't we go see the others?"
"I'm afraid I've got something to do at the moment." Jaune says, trying to sound apologetic. He is, in reality, it's just…
"Ah, that's fine." Yang nods her head. "Whatcha' up to?"
"Patrolling." He gives out what he's supposed to be doing. What he's technically contracted to be doing. "Got guard duty for the festival."
"Ah, nice." Yang nods her head. "They accept just about everyone with a license, right?"
The Vytal Festival is a major event, and because of that, the Kingdom hosting it wants to make sure that it goes off without a hitch every year. Thusly, many hire a good deal of Hunters in and around the area to serve as added security. Most of the time, it's unnecessary, but even their presence is normally enough to deter anything major.
Or, well, that had been the idea, up until the attack on Beacon.
Still, Jaune doesn't think it's a bad idea, and at the moment, it serves as a good excuse for him.
"Well, we can patrol together then." Yang smirks at him. "Not like they'll be mad to have another Huntress join in, right?"
It's… true. Jaune nods his head, seeing no real reason to decline. He just… doesn't want Yang to get caught up in this. He's going to have to do something to bring attention to himself, or Tyrian, and try and make it look like a simple failure, rather than a concerted effort to fail. Because he imagines the punishment for the latter will be far more severe on poor Cinder.
He can't fully protect her, but he can do as much as possible.
"Y'know, you seem jumpy." Yang comments absently as they round a corner.
"Do I?"
"Mm." Yang looks over. "You alright?"
"I'm… fine." Just trying to work out how to save two people whose fates are diametrically opposed. Nothing major. "Honestly, between ending up here, thinking about Ren and Nora and everyone else, and just…"
He sighs.
"Being back in a world that's not the Ever After is hard to explain. I grew so used to the everyday insanities of that place that now… this world just feels so weird in its mundanity."
Yang hums out, looking a bit worried for him. "I… can imagine, yeah. It's weird enough for all of us – oh, speaking of, we're all here, all four of us–"
That's… Jaune's happy. He's glad they'll have one another.
He's going to be alone a while. But he's used to that.
It's okay. He'll manage.
Just like he has for the last two decades.
"But like I was saying, it's weird enough for all of us to be here in the past, and it's gotta' be a lot weirder for you to be back in a world you left behind years ago, and to not have it even be the same."
It… yes. That's pretty much how it feels. Life had already been full of so many weird, unexplainable things, and now…
It's like he's been pushed off of a diving board into a bottomless pool, with his arms and legs tied together, and told to swim.
He never even had a chance.
It's as they're passing by an open section of the back part of the stadium – where one could either go outwards to leave, or inwards to the seating itself – that Jaune spots someone he can't quite help but feel like is a touch familiar.
His eyes narrow, and he tries to pick out known features about them, but in all honesty, he's just going off of hair color. This person's is a gray that hovers almost exactly between white and black.
Jaune can't place them, and he gives up soon after, sighing under his breath.
"I'm… doing my best, I guess?"
"That's good." Yang smiles, probably mostly for his sake. "I'm just glad you're doing alright. But to think that we all came here for the Vytal Festival, and we all met up again. What are the odds of that?"
"Probably not terrible, given it's a worldwide event."
"Don't ruin my fun, Jaune."
He can't help it; he laughs. It's a quick one, but it's real, and it has him smiling as Yang looks over, seemingly just happy to have gotten a reaction out of him.
And then, of course, he gets the rug pulled out from under him.
"You!"
He turns on a dime towards the sound of the voice, his hand trailing down towards the handle of the nondescript blade sheathed within Crocea's shield. He's not really sure who he's expecting; someone who knows what he's done, perhaps? Someone who had spotted him and Tyrian on security footage? Just some random person calling out to them?
Instead, Jaune finds his eyes widening, and without thinking, he takes a step back.
"Shit…" He lets out under his breath.
Because the person staring right back at him…
Is Alabaster Rhodes.
The person that he'd saved from dying the day that Cinder had murdered her adoptive family.
End Chapter 31
Alright, that was Chapter 31!
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