It was not rare for families to sell their children to the Kingdom, be it because they couldn't afford giving them a good home, didn't want one… or simply just wanted a little bit of cash.

These children would then be raised as soldiers and workers - their entire childhood would be dedicated to prepare them for their role.

Usually, most children were bought for cheap. Their only worth was in their labor and potential that would take years to bring out. But occasionally a child would be born with a rare potential, trait or power. If a governor heard of such a thing occurring, he could send out a Recruiter to approach the family with an offer - usually substantially more generous than the standard fare.

When the Kingdom sought to take the young Wilbur Rennet in, they gave his peasant family enough money and land to lift them into a low nobility.

And so Wilbur Rennet, now with a D. in between his name, has joined the ranks of the Royal Brigade Guild of Terraria.

…At a mere age of six.

-:-O-:-

Yang tiredly went into her room. The night was long, the events hectic and stressful but now… Now it was over. Weiss was already lying on her bed with closed eyes, Yang imagined that she was asleep… but the moment she closed the doors Weiss's eyes opened.

Weiss looked at her. "Done already?"

"Yeah." Yang nodded and jumped onto her own bed, which was above Blake's bed and on the opposite side of Weiss's. "Now they took Rubes and Blake."

It was just reaching two in the morning before they finally let Yang go. They meaning the police. A dozen or so officers arrived at the scene, and Professor Oobleck and Miss Goodwitch led them to where they needed to be. They secured the area while paramedics patched up anyone that seemed injured.

Cherry needed to be carried out on the stretcher. Yang remembered. "They said that Cherry lives, by the way." Yang told Weiss. One of the policemen reassured her of that, and Yang decided to cling onto those words.

It was haunting to see someone you just made friends with almost die during the same day.

Weiss's reaction to the news was muted, but at this moment, at this late hour… It could be anything. Even something as simple as exhaustion. "At least something good came out of it." Weiss huffed. "You know… I didn't know they would come for me… here of all places."

Yang herself didn't have any energy left to react to anything, leaving her completely numb save for the yearning desire to sleep. That still made her frown, though. "Who would come? The White Fang?" Yang turned to stare at Weiss, feeling her eyelids grow heavier.

"I mean, you know my father owns the Schnee Dust Company." Weiss said, Yang nodded. She already knew that Weiss was a rich girl. But how did it relate to today? "That mask, the White Fang, they've been at war with my family for years. Attacks like that are a constant. I've seen my family's friends disappear, court members executed… And tonight I think they tried to end my life as well."

It was not difficult to reach that conclusion. Cherry and Vera's room was right next to her. It might honestly be a miracle for Weiss that this intruder missed and entered through their room instead of hers. But a miracle for her meant a disaster for Cherry and Vera, who almost lost their lives.

Yang, after hearing this, could only say "Wow." and fall silent.

"I know, right?" Weiss rubbed her forehead. "It's… It's not rare for collateral damage to happen during such attacks… I guess I will have to make it up to them somehow."

"...I don't think she, like, went for you at all."

"Huh?" That was when Weiss's train of thoughts crashed. That lone argument gave Weiss a burst of energy enough to get up, lean towards her blonde teammate and ask "What do you mean she didn't go for me at all?"

"I mean, looking back, she did have a very good opportunity to get you… but she didn't. She went for me." Yang grumbled and pointed at herself. "And let me tell you... That very much hurt."

Weiss fell silent when Yang imagined the things she would do to that woman next time she got her hands on her, and Yang felt like they would see her again. "That… does not make any sense, but I guess you're right." Weiss told her. "But then what was their goal?"

Yang shrugged. "Don't know, don't care, whatever it was, I'm happy it didn't happen." Yang closed her eyes but she couldn't sleep. All she saw was Cherry lying in the pool of blood. Or that woman who caused all of this.

If she had her gauntlets, this battle would've taken a different course. "This is still weird." Weiss said. "There was something off about her."

Yang sighed and opened her eyes, dashing away the visages of blood and terror. "I don't know, Weiss. But I know this," she got up and looked Weiss right in her eyes. "Next time, I will beat her ass. I GU-ARAN-TEE you this." Yang grinned. "Imagine what we could do if we actually called our weapons."

"We would probably not have a place to sleep tonight." Weiss said, then nodded to Yang. "But I see what you mean, yeah. She wasn't that tough, we could handle her if we were a bit more prepared."

There was a good chance that they will never see that particular White Fang grunt again, but this was a valuable lesson. She got complacent. Beacon or not, she was a Schnee, and there were many people that would love to see her suffer.

And after today's events, maybe Weiss could convince teachers to let them keep their weapons in their room during the night.

Ozpin would not get a lot of sleep tonight.

After bidding Wilbur, Cherry and Vera a goodbye, the headmaster rushed back to his school to do his job. He had to check in with the police and teachers and ensure that no other intruders had entered the premises, and then appease any worried students that were affected by the break in and urge them to go back to sleep.

For a White Fang attack, the damage was minor. A destroyed room, damaged hallway, two guests injured. In material terms, Ozpin got off lucky.

But this was Beacon. The most prestigious huntsman academy. A jewel of Vale. And an impregnable fortress.

An attack like that shouldn't have happened in the first place. It shouldn't have succeeded like that. Especially when it was just one person.

He learned that the police detective was waiting for him in his own office. Ozpin found him waiting in his own chair, killing time by browsing the internet and helping himself to Ozpin's coffee. He might need a cup too, actually.

Nonetheless, this called for cordial greeting. He was probably annoyed by having to sit here and wait. "My apologies for the wait." Ozpin said. "I hope that you at least found my personal blend of coffee to your liking."

The man nodded to the side. "I've always been something of a tea drinker myself. But right now? I was falling asleep." He told him and stood up. "...Usually I would be pretty pissed about having to wait, you can't really… keep the police waiting you know, sir. But my team filled me in… something happened with the portal near the front doors?"

"Yes." Ozpin nodded. "We've been making contact with people from the other side of the portals."

The detective sucked his breath. "And that's the reason to just leave and make me wait" he checked his watch "an hour?!"

For a brief moment Ozpin regarded the irritated man. His anger was justified, as he was called in here at a late hour and told to wait for him.

Still, Ozpin felt no regrets about that. "The victims in this break-in were actually two girls from the other side." The Headmaster said. "So to avoid any misunderstandings, I had to personally escort the man, who turned out to be an influential figure from the other side, back to his friends and explain the situation to him. We wouldn't want to have any diplomatic fall-out you see."

The detective fell silent and closed his eyes. Thinking, possibly, whether or not he should raise a stint about Ozpin's treatment of him. "...Above my paygrade." The man eventually declared. Both that something like this would be an uphill battle for him. It was a police detective going up against a Beacon's Headmaster with a justifiable cause for absence. Worst come worst, the council will take his side on this.

The detective shoved the scroll back to his pocket and took a big swig of the coffee, before putting the mug down with enough sound to make an audible knock against the desk. "Derek Grayson." He introduced himself, then waved his hand on a wreck that was placed on top of Ozpin's desk.

"We found this in the forest a few clicks away from your school, sir. We believe this was the cause of that blackout that has been reported."

Ozpin hummed and examined the thing. He quickly realized it was a camera, not just any camera… It was one of the many cameras that he had hidden in the Emerald Forest. The thing was burnt to a crisp, with the camouflage paint charred and the metal in a few places was melted.

There was a trace amount of magic on it, the foreign similar to what he felt in Cherry's and Vera's room.

"What happened to it?" Ozpin asked.

"The running theory is that the intruder blasted the thing with electricity until it melted, and then overloaded the rest of your grid." The detective responded. "You guys are lucky it only flipped the breakers."

"So… a power surge."

"Yes." Derek agreed. "Witnesses claim that the intruder had electricity generating semblance, and camera footage supports that - Miss Goodwitch gave us access to those."

Ozpin nodded for the man to continue. The man cleared his throat. "We managed to recover some recordings from before it got fried."

That piqued his interest. "Let me see it."

The first video was definitely the Emerald Forest at night time. Thanks to the camera's night vision, Ozpin could see a shadowy figure slowly shuffling towards his school. Thanks to the poor lighting they were just a blob of green and black, but as they got closer Ozpin could see more of their features.

Like the beret, or the Grimm mask that the White Fang members were oh so fond of.

But when they raised their finger, that was when Ozpin paid particular attention to. Two small circles appeared around their digit; one small, the other much bigger. And in between those circles there were numerous glyphs that Ozpin could not read, for the footage became blurry when these appeared.

One thing, however, stood clear to him: This was no simple semblance or dust manipulation. That was magic.

Magic that Ozpin did not recognize.

Ozpin continued to watch the video, but the footage afterwards quickly glitched and the screen went dark. That must've been the part where the intruder overloaded the camera.

"The footage ends afterwards." The detective said.

Ozpin nodded. It seems like the girls' theory was right. Not even a Maiden spawned… glyphs when using magic. That answered many things, but also added more questions. "Was there anything else near it?"

"Loads and loads of foam, and a few scraps from what we think were grenades." The detective said. "That's actually how we found it. We believe that the intruder used grenades filled with firefoam to put out any fires before the break in.

Firefoam and grenades? That was a curious combination. "Like, fire extinguishing grenades?"

"Yes." The detective shrugged. "It shows that they didn't want to torch the forest, at the very least. As for the incident itself… I have to admit it, this is an open-and-shut special case."

A special case, basically 'we have no clue what to do here.' A keyword for police giving up on trying to find the culprit of the incident, and simply take note of everything and hope that the next case will be easier to solve. In a way… Ozpin shouldn't have expected anything else. White Fang and the crimes they've committed were already being investigated. This attack would just be just another thing in the pile.

That is, if the intruder was from White Fang. "I spoke with one of the girls. They believe that the intruder came from the other side." Ozpin told the detective. "They told me that the intruder knew them by their name. Told them that 'they have to die.'"

"The girls." The detective said. "The same girls that were supposed to be from the other side of the portal?" He nodded to the side. "All the more reason to make this a 'special case', because… consider this: The portals have opened in the morning. In that single day the culprit must've: Crossed the portal into Vale, undetected mind you, otherwise we would've stopped her. Get a mask from the White Fang. Learn that you house two other people from the other side, break into Beacon, and then attempt to kill them."

When he put it out like that, it does seem weird. The intruder would have barely any time to do any of this, much less plan it out. "It is, simply, very unlikely." The detective said. "Even ignoring stuff such as a motive for all of this, how did she get her hands on a White Fang mask? They're not really handing these out. Even if she could, for example, track the location of the girls, that still doesn't leave her with a lot of time for much else… Unless she's part of White Fang. Where does that portal lead, anyway?"

Ozpin rubbed his face. He did not know much about the other side, but he remembered the awe they expressed when he showed them the elevator, and he remembered Miss Goodwitch talking about numerous problems she faced when she tried to fulfill the paperwork for them. Ozpin doubted White Fang would exist there. Something similar, maybe. But not White Fang specifically.

"We will have to ask them more once they leave the hospital."

Derek sighed, but he had to concede. Ozpin believed he wasn't happy to hear that this didn't turn out to be such an open-and-shut case. "Fine, I will send word to call them for questioning later." He said. "About the culprit itself, barring the mask and this new reveal that they came from the portals, we have another thing: The possibility of wings."

The investigator pulled up the video of the fight, and showed him a single frame of that fight. "You see this?" He pointed at the intruder's cloak, where Ozpin could see a… transparent bump peeking out of the cloak. It did look kinda like a flat side of a wing. From an insect… or a fairy.

"We've compared it with a few other moments where we could've seen underneath her cape, thanks to the high resolution cameras you have installed. We ultimately came to a conclusion that this is not part of her cape, so it might be something else. So, our best current conclusion: Wings."

This did sound to Ozpin like jumping to conclusions, but he wasn't there to see Derek and his team shuffle through whatever evidence they found of that. If he was saying that the intruder had wings and showed him some evidence, Ozpin had no reason to disagree.

"This does significantly narrow down the list of suspects, and gives us a distinguishable trait to work with, but we've encountered another problem: Out of all the few faunus with wings that are registered within Vale… none of them fit the bill. In other words: She's unregistered."

"Perhaps, because they've crossed the portal to come here." Ozpin supplied.

Derek nodded to the side. "Yes. Or White Fang simply smuggled her into Vale." He shrugged. "Whatever it is, we don't have much to work with. Also, because of the lack of ID and this these… weird abilities of her, some folks in my team have given her a moniker "Maiden"."

Ozpin found some humor in that. "Like the four maidens?"

"Exactly." Derek nodded. "This woman has managed to cross the distance between this camera," He pointed at the wreck on top of his table. "And the victim's room in a span of less than two seconds. We have footage of her legs going through the wall. I would honestly not be surprised if she turned out to not be human."

Ozpin hummed. A Maiden. If he hadn't already crossed out that idea, then Derek's words would fill him with some sense of dread. No. It wasn't really one of the Maidens that broke into Beacon, even if Ozpin were to consider the person he was keeping in his basement. There was too much unfamiliar magic at the scene. Therefore a Maiden breaking into Beacon was an impossibility.

Someone equal to a Maiden, on the other hand. That was a different story. A very, very likely and terrifying story.

Wilbur spent the rest of his time talking to Cherry and Vera about this new place, learning more about their brief stay in this place. He learned about the group of teenagers that they made friends with, and they confirmed that they could fight. Plan A appeared to proceed smoothly.

Then Wilbur decided to drop a bomb on them, and tell Cherry and Vera about what the voices told him.

"Light and Dark spread further?" Cherry hummed in thought. She frowned when, whenever she tried to decipher this message, she was achieving the same conclusion every time. "That's… probably a warning that Hallow and Corruption got in here." Or Crimson, but Cherry won't say it. The Cthulhu didn't need more land to feed on, and she didn't want to risk turning Wilbur into a panicked frenzy.

Vera looked at Wilbur with a flat expression. "We've been here for, like, a day. What did you do?"

Wilbur could only shrug in defense. "They told me that just as I was leaving for Beacon… which is weird. Because this is my second visit here. First time I got here, I was somewhere with tons of snow."

"Well, powdered snow doesn't really conduct stuff well." Cherry said, then realized that Wilbur really might've accidentally spread Crimson into Remnant. "Though, I will warn Oz when I get a chance. He will want to prepare themselves." She will also need to check if there was any red grass back at Beacon.

"I could also help them out with that Grimm problem." Wilbur said. "Truth be told, I've been itching for a challenge. Things got rather dull after…" He paused, suddenly not wanting to continue that train of thought "well… I'm sure these guys have some problematic monsters that I can take care of."

This wasn't a subtle change of topic, but neither of the girls pointed it out. Cherry liked that Wilbur seemed eager to help these people. A nice contrast to before when he was ready to murder one of them on mere suspicion.

She still had time, it seemed.

Wilbur could take out the worst the Grimm has to offer, while Remnant could help them with cleansing the land from Corruption. They would finally have enough manpower to recover the land beyond the Dead Ocean. Both parties benefit.

"I told Andy that I will be back after a few hours, I also need to check if no one else suddenly disappeared." Wilbur said. "Will you two be fine if I make a quick round around Sol?"

"Yeah, go for it!" Vera said. "Tell bro that I'm fine."

Cherry nodded. "Bring some purification powder," The Party Girl said. "Oz will probably want some, and I could spread it around the portal just in case. And, oh! Don't forget your Bestiary and Vera's notes on our monsters, they could now use it more than us."

"I will ask Elysia for it. Stay safe!" He said, then gazed into the Magic Mirror. His vision, both natural and magical in nature, distorted for a moment - before everything cleared and he found himself back in Sol.

His bedroom, more specifically. The Chambers of a Regent.

He got up and redid the covers on his bed, using his Third Observer to check on his neighbor. Tiara was asleep, tuckered out after an entire night of supporting the frontline and snoring peacefully. Wilbur's heart ached at the mere thought of breaking the news to her. She would probably try to visit them. Considering how close the portal was to school, this might not be that bad of an idea. Hopefully she will tell me beforehand, so I could come with her.

If things were different. If it wasn't for that intruder threatening them… Maybe they could even migrate to Remnant permanently. Then if they learned how to close those portals, Wilbur could rest easily… Knowing that his duty was finished and that they were safe.

One thing at a time, Will. He reminded himself. First, notify Andy. Then you can start daydreaming.

The doors didn't make as much as a squeak when he left, and his footsteps were muffled by the recently washed royal carpet - both an evidence of his own diligence. The Princess was sleeping, and her knight and hero made sure to keep her that way. He allowed himself to make noise only after he teleported outside and unfurled his wings.

When he returned to the gate, he found Andy still keeping watch. The Cyborg found him, and greeted him with a nod. "Any luck, chief? You had twenty-eight minutes and twelve seconds left."

"I found Cherry and Vera." Wilbur could not help but to rub his face. "They're stranded… unable to return."

A.N.D.Y. was silent for a moment, processing the information. "Concerning." They stated. "Are they safe? Do they require assistance?"

"At the current moment…Not sure." Wilbur shook his head. "There's a whole different civilization over there. They are hospitable and we've struck a deal… but someone over there broke into their room to try and kill them. Specifically."

A.N.D.Y. fell silent once again. But this time Wilbur could hear the cogs in their brain turning. Processing and churning through the information they have received. "Concerning." They said. "The half-beast has decent mobility, survivability and lethality in close quarters. Cherry however is unsuited for direct combat. Suggestion: Cherry will require additional combat training and equipment."

Wilbur nodded. "I was thinking of that, and it seems that both of them will be staying at some sort of combat school. I could find something she could use, and then she could learn how to use it there."

"A valid short-term plan." They agreed. "But circumstances demand a long-term objective. Proposal: Go through the portal and eliminate all threats."

"I'm not giving you a permission for that." Wilbur hurriedly said, lest A.N.D.Y. actually goes out and starts killing. "Cherry thinks people over there are nice. I talked with a few of them and they were quite sane. We might even make some new friends and find an escape from the apocalypse."

The possibility of an escape from this hell sparked some curiosity. After all, they have confirmed that such a thing was impossible… And that they would all die here.

"...Explain this, please."

Wilbur nodded. "I saw not a single rotten tree, or a bloody blade of grass. Their world… They claim that they never heard of Corruption or Crimson."

"You're talking as if that was a different planet."

"Their moon is shattered and in pieces." Wilbur said. "I saw it with my own eyes, it's completely different from our own moon."

A.N.D.Y. had to pause and process this. "The circumstances are weird, but presented evidence sufficiently proves that on the other side of the portal exists a wholly different land. Reiteration: What the fuck?"

Andy just gripped their head and looked away. Wilbur gave his subordinate a moment to process this and calm themselves, watching as the Cyborg found a nearby bench, sat on it, and fell silent with their own thoughts.

Then they clapped their knees and straightened themselves up. "Permission to visit?"

Wilbur scoffed in amusement. That's your first question? Unfortunately, Wilbur had to crush their dreams. "Until we find a way to ensure everyone's safety, it's best if we keep the visits to a minimum. We already have two girls stranded, and first night someone broke into their room to get them. I don't want to give this person more targets."

"I'm second only to you." They argued.

A fair point, which Wilbur had to concede. "Which is why we're screwed if something happens to you. Death only slows me down, but you can be put down for good."

The Cyborg was Wilbur's second in command. He was the only one left who had enough durability, mobility and firepower to keep up with him. They were Sol's two main protectors who took care of the bulk of enemy forces - leaving others to deal with any stragglers.

Take out A.N.D.Y., and there was a greater chance of Wilbur spreading thin during the times of need. The risk of others becoming overwhelmed and becoming casualties would skyrocket. Can't let him get hurt. Wilbur shook his head. "And we don't know how strong that assassin is, much less her capabilities. For all we know, she might be able to stand up even to me."

"...This prospect is unlikely, but terrifying."

"Yes, but we don't know it yet." Wilbur shook his head. "If you or someone else wants to visit, we can work something out, but I don't want people to start going through the portals just yet. Especially without anyone else knowing."

Wilbur only knew that Cherry and Vera went missing because of the Voices, and finding them still required the help of strangers. These two were lucky enough to be found by Ozpin. The next person might not be so lucky and find themselves in Atlas instead.

"What if someone from the otherside visits us?"

That was a fair point. Even if Vera said that the portals wouldn't let them cross, the situation might change and suddenly people from Remnant could cross into Terraria. Wilbur had to think about it for a moment. "We're going to do it case-by-case." He decided. "If one or a small group finds themselves stranded here and looking for help? We could take them in, show them around, let them return home if we can. Someone coming here looking for trouble? Give them trouble."

A.N.D.Y. nodded. "So business as usual?"

"Yes, but if they really don't have Corruption over there, then we might find ourselves with more friendly visitors than hostiles."

At least he hoped so. Ozpin already confirmed that they have terrorists on the other side. They're usually not friendly even when in a completely different place. Atlas also might come looking for revenge. Wilbur hoped that the show of force he did would cause them to reconsider hostilities but at the same time he wouldn't be surprised if this also ruffled a few feathers.

He should actually go ahead and check in on their teleporter network. If there was a portal here and in the Old Town, logic suggested that there were also portals outside Sol. Across the Ocean.

…In the Corrupted, Crimson and Hallowed soils.

These people, if they made a mistake coming here, would find themselves woefully unprepared for these hostile lands. Their only lifeline would be a handful of small outposts that Wilbur built around the world for quick travel. I should at least check if the Teleporters still work, maybe even update the instructions on how to use them. What kind of written language did the people use over there? Common? Dwarven? I spoke to Ozpin in Common, so perhaps that's what I should use.

But that's for later. Now he had to think about how to prepare Cherry and Vera… for school.

When the morning came, so did Wilbur… Appearing in their own room just as abruptly as he did before. He had breakfast for them ready, because while Cherry said that the hospital was passable, Wilbur wouldn't tolerate his friends being forced to eat a meal that was simply… passable.

So he took some ingredients from the storehouse, and some leftovers from the kitchen, to prepare them something more fulfilling and delicious. And today's meal turned out to be very sweet: A slice of pumpkin pie, and a bowl of fruit salad for each person with a small jar of honey to pour over the fruits. There was also full pot of herbal tea to sate the girls' thirst. All in all, it was a delightful meal to raise the spirits and give them energy for the rest of the day.

"Mmm, so sweet~" Vera cooed, her tail wagging at the sweet strawberries she just tasted. "Thanks Will!"

"Oh, sunny slice, so sweet and bright~" Cherry sang as she played with a piece of an orange, before putting it in her mouth. "You're the flavor of my delight!"

Wilbur nodded when the girls audibly enjoyed their food. While they were busy with that, he unloaded other things that he brought from their homes. Most importantly: more clothing and pajamas.

For Vera, who couldn't use magic at all, having more clothes to herself was of utmost importance. She couldn't hide herself behind an illusion, and Wilbur refused to let her stay in this realm with only her tattered shirt and dirty pants. So he left her a couple of fresh outfits, and will later take what she was currently wearing for wash and repair.

Cherry also needed more clothes, despite having the benefit of illusion magic. The Vanity spell didn't mask the smell, so if she wore the same thing for days without an end then other people would get uncomfortable. Armor was also very uncomfortable when worn over bare skin, so undergarments were a must.

He also brought her a spare set of Orichalcum armor.

Beyond clothing, he brought them some hygiene and personal items. Whatever he could think of that they would need right now. While more stuff could be brought later, he also saw no harm in bringing them an odd book that he found lying around. Something to deal with possible boredom that might result in being confined to the hospital.

"A.N.D.Y. expressed interest in visiting." Wilbur told them. "The others will probably too, once they wake up."

Cherry nodded but kept eating. Vera swallowed her bite and licked her lips. "Well. The Doctor said that we can be discharged, like, today." She blinked when Wilbur placed a book titled The Supreme Calamitas on a table. An odd choice of literature, but Vera didn't argue. Maybe someone in this world would be interested in it.

He also unloaded more books. Some fantastical, some historical. Vera saw Wilbur's Bestiary and her personal notes, which were most likely meant for Ozpin. But the Zoologist also saw titles such as The Origin of Mana or The Rise of Humanity. Probably because Wilbur thought that Ozpin could learn about the history of Terraria on top of everything.

The warrior hummed in surprise, placing down the last book from his inventory. "What about the tests?"

"They told us that we will continue those, but like… next month or so. Something about looking into the samples they got right now."

He hummed again, this time in understanding. Vera no longer had any bandages on herself as Wilbur's Healing Potion took care of those, and it has already been more than eight hours. The effects that Vera felt from the Potion Sickness were minimal now. All in all, these two girls were pretty much healed now, and their room could be used by other patients.

But how would they return to Beacon? Wilbur could just close his Third Observer and let Cherry teleport but Vera? "Should I fetch Ozpin?"

Cherry shrugged. "They said they will let him know, and he will send someone to pick us up."

She took a look at the items he brought, noting with a bit of amusement that he even thought of bringing bags for Vera to carry her items… despite the fact that Cherry could just carry everything back to Beacon herself.

She also saw him piling up healing and recall potions, and as well a few packs of travel rations - bedrolls, tents, preserved food, tools to make a campfire, a workbench… even a set of cobalt tools, including a sword!

"...You know we will live in Beacon, right?" The Party Girl couldn't help but to point out. "They gave us a room."

"It's a combat school, right?" Wilbur said. "I assume that they will eventually throw you out into the wilderness. To make you learn to live off the land."

…Good point, Cherry had to admit it. If the teachers would allow us to take tools and tents. Here Cherry and Vera had enough preserved food to last them two weeks, as well as tools to make her own little Mountainhome inside a cliff.

Forget surviving the wilderness. With what she got here Cherry could carve out her own dancing floor inside a hole in a cliff. Make her ancestors proud!

"The sword is for you, and this as well."

Cherry was forced out of her reverie when Wilbur showed her a rather familiar object. A tube, decorated with a red streamer, large enough to fit a couple of rockets in it.

She honestly did not expect to see this again, much less have Wilbur give it back to her. "You know I gave you that. As a birthday gift!"

"And I thank you for that, it served me nicely." Wilbur said. "But you could use an actual weapon."

"I have grenades." And in an endless supply too. She would sooner run out of confetti and party decorations than her explosives. "You also gave me a sword."

"You can barely fight with a sword, and you fill your grenades with confetti." Wilbur retorted. "C'mon, you like fireworks and you need something better to protect yourself."

"Is it really just protecting myself anymore when you're giving me the Celebration?!"

What Wilbur was trying to give Cherry was something she and Dawn once cooked up for him: The Celebration. A rocket launcher.

…He used it against the Moon Lord!

Cherry took the weapon from Wilbur's hands. The thing was surprisingly heavy, yet light enough for her to easily lift. What surprised her was that Wilbur had already readjusted the grips to better suit her. They were smaller than what she remembered, and closer to the trigger… perfectly suited for her and her smaller hands.

He didn't just take her gift and gave it back. Wilbur has gone the distance and tweaked it so she could actually use the thing.

That's so like him. Cherry thought, opening the chamber of the launcher. The thing was loaded, and had two rockets waiting to be launched at the first poor sod unlucky enough to go up against it.

It was sweet how worried he was about her, but this didn't dissuade the fact that Wilbur just gave a weapon of mass destruction!

I think this crosses the line of self-defense. Cherry gulped, closing the chamber and being extra careful to not brush her fingers over the trigger. The safety was on, but she didn't want to take any chances.

"You never know who you will be up against." Wilbur said. "For all I know, this might not even be enough. Maybe you will never need to use it. And I would be happy with that… but with things as they are… I might not always be there to protect you. You will need something that you could use to protect yourself."

It is certainly a step up from my grenades. Cherry nodded, putting the launcher into her Inventory where it had no chances of hurting anyone.

With her arms free, she gave Wilbur a hug. He reciprocated, and she giggled when she felt his arms brush over her back and press her further into him. It was very sweet how worried he was about her. That's so like him.

He also… smelled of copper, and the smell was worse than usual. "You haven't showered." She told him.

He blinked. "I-I did."

"You haven't showered enough. With soap."

"I did!" He argued, then sniffed his own armpit, frowning when he smelled it. "I will check in with Katie."

I will check in with Katie. Each time she heard that line made her more and more aware of the ticking time bomb above their heads. Cherry however made sure that Wilbur wouldn't notice her anxiety. He already had a ton of other things to worry about, including her and Vera. She didn't need to add more onto that plate.

Vera was also smirking at her, and Cherry responded by smirking back and blowing a raspberry at her. She was happy that he was here, and she knew it.

But the titanium flask in her pocket felt heavy.

It was so sad that moments like these would eventually come to an end. That there will come a moment where Cherry would need to use this damn flask and make sure that everyone she loved…

…Wouldn't be there to see Sol's walls crumble.

To be continued…

Since the start I imagined Cherry to be fighting with the Celebration. I mean, it is a perfect weapon for the Party Girl: Colorful explosions and fireworks.

But on the second look, I realized that it might be a bit too powerful and destructive to be used as a main weapon. So delegating it as something of a "nuclear option" is a perfect sacrifice.

I also liked the idea of having Cherry be slightly terrified of the amount of firepower she suddenly obtained. I'm already having plans of giving her more weapons, maybe even a whole arsenal of them.

But that's later.

I have also dug up an old document I had, where I compiled a short list of "ship names" for nothing else but it being a fun thought experiment.

Wilbur x Cherry = Adventuring Party

Cherry x Blake = Pink Panther

Yang x Cherry = Comedy

Cherry x Neo = Peek a Boo

Wilbur x Ruby = Crimson Heroes

On the topic of shipping, I will not say that romance won't happen… but it is not going to be the focus of the story. I do, however, have an incredibly evil idea regarding Cherry x Wilbur that will require me to ship them a bit. Which I'm already doing.

That idea is going to be a turning point for the whole story, and you can already see a few clues regarding it.