18
It was a sulking cat faunus that sat down with a harrumph in Carmine's office, a few days later. It looked like she'd yet to fully forgive her but that was fine, she wasn't forgiven yet either. Blake was, ironically, still in the doghouse. It was evening on a weekday and the young girl had shown up for her detention with Professor Rose, by herself like she had been asked.
"Glad to see you're punctual, Blake." Carmine commented, only partially glancing up at the student.
"Even I'm not suicidal enough to do something like that." Blake glared at her.
"Oh?" Carmine blinked, "Didn't think you guys were afraid of me."
"We aren't." She folded her arms and looked away, "We just aren't stupid enough to make Goodwitch come find us."
The professor let out a small laugh at that, "That's understandable. Not many want to get on her bad side."
They fell into silence for a few minutes, Blake's desire to break the silence warring with her desire to express her discontent with being there in the first place. The only sound that punctuated the silence was the sound of Carmine's pen on paper and the occasional tapping away at the keyboard of her terminal.
"Why am I here?" It looked like she'd finally had enough.
"Because you're in trouble."
"No, not that." She huffed, "Why am I the only one here?"
Carmine made a sound of understanding and looked away from her work to look at Blake. She met her amber eyes steadily. There was some curiosity in there amidst the indignation, the girl was defensive and so sure in her own righteousness.
"That is because you are in more trouble than the other three." She finally answered, putting her pen down to fold her arms on the desk.
"But we all fought the robot." The objection had Carmine chuckling.
"No, Blake." She shook her head, "That's not why you are here right now. The detentions for team RWBY will be served with Glynda. The reason you are here right now is because you broke into my office and invaded my privacy."
Blake flinched back at that, "What makes you think it was me?"
Carmine's smile was relaxed as she leaned back, picking up the pen and twirling it between her fingers in a pattern, "Where should I start? At first we were concerned about a possible infiltration but soon dismissed that. The reason was because whoever accessed my computer had done so by not getting the password wrong. There were no failed attempts or signs of brute force solving. There are only a few people capable of that and none of them have reason to get into my computer, except for you."
"Wait, you knew?"
"Well yeah, but I couldn't prove it." Carmine shrugged, "Ozpin told me I couldn't punish you guys on suspicion."
"What?!" Blake surged to her feet, slamming her hands onto the desk, "Then why am I here now?!"
The professor simply smirked, "Because you got caught. And because I can. Now that I have a valid reason, I can punish you as I wish."
"But that's not fair!" She cried.
"Not fair?" Carmine's smile faded, "Fair would be expelling you. Fair would be turning you, Blake Belladonna, over to Atlas or Mistral or even Vale for your crimes as a member of the White Fang. You're already being shown an unbelievable amount of favoritism."
"But…" She never finished the statement as she sat back down, looking shell shocked.
"But what?" Carmine pushed on, "Did you really think your past would never catch up to you? I can't tell if that's naive or arrogant."
"I'm not arrogant." She protested weakly.
"Naive, then." The one-eyed professor sighed but let the girl think in silence. Blake had always been the broody one, the one to suffer in silence and not want to burden others with her thoughts. Carmine could tell her old teammate was conflicted, and probably rightly so. She was young and brash. Full of vigor, idealism, and guilt. She found herself just staring at her, examining the lines of her face as she rested her cheek on her knuckles. She called it Blake's tormented face and it felt like it had been ages since she'd last seen it.
"I'm sorry." The small voice surprised her.
"What?"
"I'm sorry." Blake repeated with more strength, "I'm sorry that I invaded your privacy. I only meant to look at the files on the White Fang but Y- I saw something I shouldn't have and I'm sorry."
"What did you see?" Carmine ignored the sidestep of who's name she'd been about to say.
The girl fidgeted like a nervous schoolgirl and it was with widening eyes that Carmine realized that she was a nervous schoolgirl, "Well I saw your pictures.. and a video at the end."
She saw that?
Carmine let out a deep sigh as she let her head thump against the back of the headrest of her chair, closing her eye. She felt the anger well up in her and she grabbed a hold of it, shoving it away. It wouldn't do any good getting angry for something she was being punished for. She knew that and had to remind herself of that.
"That was…" She said slowly, "Very private, Blake."
"I know." The faunus bit her lip, "Was that… how Yang and I died?"
The professor found herself gritting her teeth, it was hard just to think about that night. Her world might as well have ended that day. Carmine couldn't quite remember why she'd kept going, Jaune had been part of it, a rock for her even amidst his own grief and loss. They had found solace in each other. The days after had been a blur of alcohol and the beds of strangers. The memory of her team, her family, had kept her putting one foot in front of the other, desperate to make it all mean something. The uphill struggle not to let humanity slide down into oblivion, only staying one step in front of the apocalypse.
"Yes." The answer was a simple one word croak, her voice thick with emotion.
"Can you tell me more about what happened?" Blake asked.
Carmine slid a hand down her face, fixing her one eye on the young version of her teammate, "You don't really want to know that."
Folding her arms, Blake frowned, "I want to listen to your story. I want to know what turned you into… this."
Carmine considered the girl before her. Blake had always been inquisitive and nosey, at least once she'd opened up to them. Before that she had been aloof, too concerned with the White Fang and her own guilt to risk stepping out of her comfort zone. This was the first time she had truly displayed the person she would eventually become.
The person she had once loved.
"Where can I even start?" Carmine looked away, "There was an incident in Vale. We lost a friend, and Yang her arm, in a White Fang attack on Beacon. Afterwards we all kind of scattered. Weiss got taken to Atlas, Yang and I stayed in Patch, and you ran off to Menagerie."
"I… ran off?" It didn't sound like she liked the implication.
"Yeah. Blamed yourself for everything that happened. 'Course it wasn't your fault but good luck convincing your stubborn ass that. There was some trouble but we all managed to meet back up in Mistral alongside what was left of team JNPR."
"Why Mistral?" Blake asked.
"Well the White Fang were after Haven after their attack on Beacon. Lucky for us you showed up."
"Me?!" The girl blinked in surprise.
"Yeah." Carmine smiled with nostalgia, "You wrangled up the people of Menagerie to sail out and stop them. It was pretty great timing. We were in a bind, just didn't quite know it. After that we all headed up to Atlas on an escort mission to take something important to the headmaster there."
Carmine stood up as she spoke, busying herself with making some tea for the both of them. The kettle set to heat itself with the small amount of dust inside of it, quickly coming to a boil and she let the tea steep before turning around.
"Things went well in Atlas, for a while." She leaned against the small table with the kettle on it, "Managed to get in good with Ironwood and help the people there. At least before the attack. The Grimm came en masse, assaulting both Mantle and Atlas. Even with their armies, airships, and huntsmen we couldn't protect it all. After a few days of fighting and some unexpected backstabbing, Atlas fell. Literally. We were fortunate to be able to evacuate as many civilians as we did."
"Atlas crashed into Mantle?" Blake whispered in horror. She had no love for Atlas but that didn't mean she wish that sort of calamity on the innocent people that lived there.
"Yup." Carmine popped the sound, turning around to pour the tea into cups, handing one to Blake and setting the other down on her desk with the sugar between the two, "Managed to escort a bunch of them to Vacuo. It wasn't easy though, tensions got high when we arrived but luckily we managed to carve out some peace between the refugees and the city. Enough huntsmen and soldiers survived to help defend the kingdom, so the increase in negativity was at least manageable. Once things stabilized we went back to Vale, needed to clear out Beacon of Grimm."
Blake threw up her hands, "Of course there were Grimm in Beacon."
Carmine smiled, "Yeah. Things weren't looking too great. Vale was stretched thin after suffering an attack and Beacon being out of commission and occupied by Grimm for a few years. It was all the city's Huntsmen could do to quell the attacks. Luckily we had a secret weapon."
"Really? What was it?"
Carmine tapped just below her good eye, "Silver eyes."
"Silver…?" She looked confused.
"Yup." Carmine nodded, "Silver eyes. People like myself or my mother have a rare trait that allows us to essentially become anti-Grimm weapons capable of clearing entire fields of them in an instant."
Blake looked at her like she was crazy and she couldn't help but burst out laughing, "No, I'm serious. It's true, Blake."
"The Ursa!" Blake exclaimed, "I didn't remember it because I didn't know it was you when we first met but you did something to some Ursa that were about to maul Jaune!"
"Bingo!" Carmine aimed a pair of finger guns in Blake's direction, "And of course Ruby can do the same. I'll be teaching her soon enough about that but back to the story. Eventually the negativity became to great and there was some sabotage within the city. The last remnants of the White Fang bombed Weiss' room in the middle of the night. Among other acts of terror the city was thrown into an uproar. And then the Grimm came."
"Over a period of a month the attacks gradually increased until we had a full on incursion on our hands." By then Blake's mouth was hanging open, a look of pure horror across her face. It was easy to see why, hearing of the destruction of the place you currently called home wasn't easy and top of that the death of her friend. The young girl had to know what was coming next if she had seen the recording, "During the incursion is when I became the last surviving member of team RWBY."
Carmine slowly stirred sugar into her cup, staring into the swirling contents. She could still feel the heat of the fires, the cold of the night. Could still hear the screams of people as they were torn asunder by the snarling Grimm and their vicious roars of triump as they poured into the city. She had watched Vale burn as they left, a handful of survivors attempting to flee. The horizon had been painted orange that night and it was not a color she would ever forget.
"I'm so sorry." Blake finally choked out, causing Carmine to really look at her. She had tears brimming in her eyes, threatening to spill over.
"Don't be, it's not your fault." Carmine took a sip of her tea, breathing in the aroma, "The rest isn't important. Jaune and I spent a few years holed up protecting Vacuo before I ended up here."
"I know it's just… I can't even imagine…" Blake struggled with vocalizing her feelings.
"And I hope you never have to find out." She took a long sip, "I have watched almost everyone I love and care about die, Blake. I want you away from this not out of some notion that you cannot help but that I don't want you or anyone else in unnecessary danger."
The faunus squirmed in her seat, suddenly uncomfortable under the scrutiny of her professor, "I know but… I was complicit in their crimes. I just don't feel like I can sit back without doing something."
"You never could sit still." Carmine said, a slight smile on her face.
"You know it feels really weird that you know so much about me but I feel like I know nothing about you." Blake grumbled, causing Carmine's eyes to widen a little bit.
"Really?" She asked, "I thought you were fed up with the likes of me. If you want to get to know someone there's always your team."
"I don't see why I can't do both." She crossed her arms.
Carmine recognized the resolute look in her eyes and chuckled, "Sure, kitten, what do ya wanna know?"
Blake scowled, bow twitching, "Don't call me that. And tell me about other things. You already gave me the rundown but it's a decade, surely there were fun parts in there. People you've met, places you've seen, lovers?"
She had to sit back at the question, one hand cupping her chin, "Let's see. Vacuo was gorgeous, Shade specifically. It's got this massive oasis hidden in this rock formation. Atlas was cool, whole floating city thing was neat. Shame it was so damned cold though."
Blake found herself chuckling, "I've seen Atlas once or twice in my days with the White Fang, I always thought it was a shame a place so beautiful was so rotten."
"Hah, yeah." Carmine poured some more tea into her cup, "I got to walk all over Remnant, stayed at a ton of villages. Noromance though."
"Really?" Blake asked with surprise, "I thought you'd have met someone in ten years time."
Carmine's smile became bitter, "I just wasn't interested once I lost the person I loved, Blake. Don't worry about it though."
"Who-"
"Look at the time!" Carmine interrupted her student, "Looks like your hour's up, kitten."
The faunus girl stopped before closing her mouth, thinking twice about prying into Carmine's affairs, "Thanks for the tea, Professor." She paused by the door, one hand touching the handle, "Carmine, this didn't feel like a detention, is that allowed?"
"That depends, Blake." Carmine folded her hands in front of her, "Do you plan on getting in the way anymore?"
The girl thought for a moment before shaking her head, "No. I won't get in your way anymore."
She turned to face her completely, "But can you promise me something, Carmine…" She shook her head, "Ruby, can you promise me to at least involve me, even if it's only by letting me know what's going on?"
One lone silver eye widened in surprise as she took in Blake's serious face, "I think I can do that."
It was with a rare, small smile that Blake slipped out of the door and back into the hallway, leaving Carmine alone with her thoughts. She picked up the pen on her desk, flipping it over and over in her hand as she thought. The detention had not gone as she'd expected, doing far less telling off and headbutting than she thought she would. She'd forgotten how amicable Blake could be when someone just talked to her. A sigh escaped her lips as she leaned back, mentally checking through various things.
The Vytal Festival loomed over the horizon but before that came the dance. At the moment team RWBY were in charge of organization because team CFVY was still out on a mission with Peter. That was fine, and just as she remembered, which left just the plans for the dance itself. She tapped her pen against the wooden desk, deep in thought. Things had changed with Jaune appearing, it gave them access to two powerful allies in Raven and Jaune.
Carmine smiled as an idea struck her.
-SY-
Vacuo was miserably hot, Salem decided. The sun beat down upon the city causing a dry heat that blistered skin that was too exposed to the harsh weather. Already she could feel her own fair skin becoming dry and cracked even underneath the light and airy shawl purchased for her by Doctor Greene. Sure she could have produced one via magic and he knew that but who was she to turn down his generosity? Despite the heat the people remained in good spirits, friendly on the streets as they passed her by. It was quite the novel sensation.
Within the past few days she had taken to wandering the city. Already she had visited Shade Academy, the bastion of her adversary, and reluctantly found it beautiful. The school carved into the face of the rocky cliffs overlooking a serene oasis, Ozma certainly did have a knack for architecture. Or at least good taste in it.
So far she had been touched rather inappropriately twice on her jaunts and had even one attempted mugging. Attempted because not only did she not have anything to steal but because the mugger was no longer among the living. Vacuo, while friendly, was still a dangerous place. It reminded her of some of the old kingdoms she used to live in, back when she and Ozma had first started traveling together.
Days had gone by and she still was not sure what to do.
At first she had been adamant on getting back to the Grimmlands somehow but since no one chartered there and she could not contact her minions to assist her that would leave her with swimming the journey there. Even though her survival was guaranteed, arriving in the right place was not. Not to mention drowning was rather unpleasant.
The idea of returning to that drab place was looking less and less ideal and instead she turned her thoughts to different objectives. She needed to find out concrete information with her own eyes, the only thing she could truly trust. Salem was immortal, time meant nothing to her. So what if she took years to gather her thoughts or information? It was all the same, and if her theory was correct then there was another her in this time.
Eventually she would return to the Grimmlands but for the moment she decided to tour Remnant and see what she was dealing with. It was for this reason that, unbeknownst to Greene, she had made her way to the gateways of Vacuo. She recalled her past, how Ozma had once secured passage by trading protection for a trade caravan. Surely she could do the same.
Salem ducked into an alleyway and created a staff for herself, no one would take an unarmed stranger seriously. If she was to pass as a huntress, she needed to at least be able to look the part. The massive gates were bustling with a throng of people, the morning sun not yet high in the sky making it prime time to get business done. Vacuo tended to lull at midday because of the heat.
There appeared to be a caravan arranging to depart, there was generally one every week and this was the day they typically left. The rumors were abound that there was a shortage among Huntsmen, it sounded like the perfect opportunity to slip into one.
There was a large array of armored vehicles arranged in front of the gate, numerous people flitting about. Some loading, some working in the engines, and others milling about. A handful looked like Huntsmen but there were only about five that she could see. Too few for a caravan of that size, since most times they split in two partway to supply in different directions. So it was with confidence that Salem strode with confidence towards the caravan.
One of the Huntsmen was eyeing her as she approached, a scowl on his face as she did so, the large man keeping a hand on his holstered mace. Salem decided that anyone was as good as another and waved at him, calling out as she neared.
"Hail!" She put on a smile, "My name is Alba, are you a part of the caravan guard?"
The man looked her up and down, his eyes stopping on her staff, before nodding, "What business do you have with me?"
"Well not exactly with you, Sir, but rather with whoever is heading this caravan. I wish to request passage."
The man seemed suspicious of her before huffing and nodding, drawing out his scroll to send a message to someone rather than leave her unattended. A shrewd decision he most likely would have made a fine guardsman in her realm.
After about five minutes, all of which were spent in silence, a woman appeared. She seemed middle-aged with dark sun kissed skin and black hair, a pair of goggles on her forehead and a form hugging outfit that seemed meant to protect against dust and wind.
"What can I do ya for, Miss?" The woman seemed almost impatient and a little irritated to be drawn away from whatever task she was doing.
"My name is Alba." Salem performed a courtesy, deciding that it would be best to lay it on a little thick with this woman, "I am a Huntress from Vale, but unfortunately most of my belongings were stolen recently, including all of my lien." She noticed the way the woman started frowning, "Therefore, Miss Sky, I request to accompany you out of Vacuo. Of course as I cannot readily identify myself I shall ask for no money, just the company."
Skye folded her arms and assessed Salem, "Where ya headed?"
"I'm trying to get back to Vale."
The woman thought it over but Salem knew the answer even before she spoke. It was obvious, since she hadn't been rejected outright, that the woman planned on accepting her, "Very well. We're making a trade route over land to Vale, stopping at villages along the way. The trip will take a couple months. That okay with you?"
"More than okay." She put on a relieved smile, shaking the woman's hand, "Thank you so much, I promise I won't be a burden."
"Yeah yeah. Alright." The woman pursed her lips for a moment, "I'll set you in contact with the Huntress in charge of organizing the guard. You want to introduce her?" She said to the huntsman.
"Sure." The man nodded, motioning for Salem to follow him through the throng of people running back and forth, weaving between the vehicles of the caravan. There was a pair of huntresses huddled over a map that was pinned down on the hood of one of the caravan cars, one was pointing and having an intense discussion with the other, pointing at some point on the map.
"Hey, Red!" The man shouted out, getting the attention of the auburn haired woman, "Got a huntress here that's gonna join the guard."
"This late?" The woman's confusion was apparent as she turned towards them. Like many of the people of Vacuo she wore little in the way of attire, a simple set of goggles, a jacket with chainmail instead of a shirt of all things and some kind of shorts. Though the woman did have some striking golden eyes that reminded her of Cinder in a way, with the same kind of cunning intellect buried behind her brow. Salem saw it in the way the woman assessed her and shifted into the polite smile, "What's Angela doing adding more staff."
"This one's a charity case." The man grunted, he looked permanently angry, "Trying to make her way East and is willing to trade service for passage. She won't be on the payroll."
'Red' quirked her eyebrow and an amused smile crossed her lips as she extended a hand, "Well I'd love to hear your story sometime. The name's Carmine Esclados, Miss…?"
"I go by Alba." Salem took the offered hand, shaking it with her own fake smile, "And really there isn't much to tell. I was robbed blind and I'm trying to get home."
Esclados' laughter was like the chiming of a bell and Salem instantly distrusted her, "Well as long as you can hold your own I think we'll get along just fine, Alba."