Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Tch. You judge others poorly for being killers and try to say you aren't the monsters under the bed...who are you trying to fool??? The man you're working with is the literal definition of the word monster?! I've seen it! Maybe you haven't, but I have!" Ilia was having none of this nonsense. "By allying with him, every horrible thing he does reflects on you too, not to mention all the terrible things you do by yourselves. I didn't go to Eve for aid because I wanted to kill people! I don't like hurting people, but you are all making extremely bad choices and invite even more hatred onto who knows how many innocent faunus?? Attacking the academies?? Destroying the communication tower??? You give every hateful human even more reasons to make us suffer and give even the more neutral or allied humans reasons to doubt their position or slide into that hateful camp!"​

She gave Ilia a sad smile and shook her head, picking up the pace to take the lead once more.

"Sienna knows Ozpin's a monster, Ilia. But he's not the only one. You act like the humans ever needed a reason to hate us. Salem has been in power for thousands of years, and for every one of those years, the humans have already hated us, and do you really expect us to believe, after all we know now, that it isn't on purpose? That Salem hasn't maintained this status quo for a reason? No, Ilia. We didn't side with the monsters. We're just helping one monster destroy another."

They reached the gate at that point, and Snake paused at the threshold to watch the rain coming down for a moment before she turned towards Ilia, her face still wearing that soft, disappointed smile.

"But I understand. She's dug her roots into every aspect of the kingdoms, and shielded herself with lives, innocent lives of both faunus and human, in the process. The work we do to dig her out, it is... its rotten work. It takes its toll on even the most hardened of our warriors, and some of what I've only heard second hand haunts my heart and my dreams at night. We know this isn't a fight everyone can take. But it has to change. It has to change before what happened to our parents happens to anyone else, before the next generation, and every generation after, is stuck in the same oppressive swamp of her rule."

 

[Indolent]

"..." The unfolding emotions pervading the scene built upon itself, with the realization of their teammate's safety to the sad mention of Roman's passing. It was enough to bring his taciturn side to the forefront, a solemn expression on his face conveying an affirmation in all those things. Still, though, he was more than overjoyed his teammate was alive and well, to a degree. Although, there was still that question he had, he'd asked, that was answered with silence. He wasn't going to force it, it wasn't the time for it. The underlying tension was there, palpable, and the big man more than recognized the need for carefully navigating it. He understood he wasn't the only one that came with hard feelings about it all, his the least of it in fact.

Which was why, throughout the whole of the exchanges, with the primary speaker being that of Cinder, he had edged towards the Fall Maiden under the guise of placating her roiling emotions, whether by placing an assuring hand on the shoulder or a hug. Whatever the others thought he would do. It made for solid positioning near Cinder and therefore Vernal.

"I understand these feelings, I really do. Revenge. The thought on my mind. And who better than the instigator, the person we knew had Cinder, could've killed Emerald. All those, factors that contributed to the following events. I... was angry. Still am angry. I was right there, not far from Roman, when it happened. Feeling that it should have never happened, feeling that I should've prevented it, feeling that someone bears the onus for it, feeling that they should pay. Those mounting thoughts only exacerbate these feelings for the worse. That anger, the all consuming rage... I understand it. It nearly killed me when I tried to re-balance the scales myself."

He exhaled the last of the oxygen in his lungs, the sound that of a weary, sad wheeze.

"I loathe that feeling. Nothing comes of it but misery, a self perpetuating cycle. We can't be like this, we need to be better. Or we add more to what's wrong with the world. I... do not think Roman would want this. I know he was your teammate, your friend, best friend. Do you think he'd want this?"

"..."

after Cinder's speech, Neo reappeared, but even Vernal knew she didn't look right. Her outline was fuzzy, her colors muted, and the proportions were all just a little bit incorrect. Bits of her were already flaking away like leaves of glass in the wind. She looked up at Cinder, and a Neo with no face at all slowly shook her head.

This wasn't psychological warfare, not like Emerald. It was just all she could manage; in a lot of ways Neo's semblance was making art on the fly, and in her current state of mind this was what she could conjure up of herself.

But it didn't matter whether they knew it was her or not; they still had to look, on the off chance it was her, and the only way they could 'hear' their friend speak her answer. When Roman was teaching her how to pickpocket, the number one rule was to always make sure they weren't watching the hand doing the work.

So the sad fascimile of Neo, the brief window into the current state of her soul, gave the answer, and the real Neo appeared behind Vernal's back with Hush whipping out in an arc for the back of her neck with the blade

Hazel knew he came across to his compatriots as a fairly simple man, with simple interests and a simple outlook on life. But there was one thing he had a knack for and that was gleaning an understanding of a person. Especially with the more time he spent with them, the more he learned about them. Whatever he could glean, he crystalized into something he tried to appreciate complete with the promise he'd never leverage it against them.

Which was why his face was crestfallen when he saw the morose, faceless marionette of Neo's approaching them and in the next instant he moved with a speed belying his size as he shoved Vernal to the side in abrupt fashion. Whatever became of Neo and Hush between then and now, Hazel would wait and weather, letting the chips fall now.

"IS THIS WHAT ROMAN WOULD WANT, NEO?!"

 

[MyrtenRose]

She gave Ilia a sad smile and shook her head, picking up the pace to take the lead once more.

"Sienna knows Ozpin's a monster, Ilia. But he's not the only one. You act like the humans ever needed a reason to hate us. Salem has been in power for thousands of years, and for every one of those years, the humans have already hated us, and do you really expect us to believe, after all we know now, that it isn't on purpose? That Salem hasn't maintained this status quo for a reason? No, Ilia. We didn't side with the monsters. We're just helping one monster destroy another."

They reached the gate at that point, and Snake paused at the threshold to watch the rain coming down for a moment before she turned towards Ilia, her face still wearing that soft, disappointed smile.

"But I understand. She's dug her roots into every aspect of the kingdoms, and shielded herself with lives, innocent lives of both faunus and human, in the process. The work we do to dig her out, it is... its rotten work. It takes its toll on even the most hardened of our warriors, and some of what I've only heard second hand haunts my heart and my dreams at night. We know this isn't a fight everyone can take. But it has to change. It has to change before what happened to our parents happens to anyone else, before the next generation, and every generation after, is stuck in the same oppressive swamp of her rule."

"Okay. Let's say that you do that, with him and Sienna and you all accomplishing that. The academies are destroyed or abandoned as ruins, world communications are nonexistent. The fighters on both sides, huntsmen/huntresses and faunus revolutionaries alike, are left weakened and tired, however little of them are left once the two sides are done battling each other. A world left divided. Salem is ousted, left...wherever. I don't know enough about Salem to say whether she's as responsible as you think she is for the state of faunus in the world. She's no queen, and from what I heard from Tock, she's been more occupied trying to keep all of us alive than stamping out hate and racism in cruel people. But putting that aside, once she's gone...what happens then? Do you honestly believe for one single moment that Ozpin won't take advantage of both sides being weakened? Our fighters, human or faunus, they take years to grow. To train properly. From what Tock told me, Ozpin can make new grimm whenever he wishes." Ilia stopped at the gate just as Snake did, eyes staying locked on the Talon member and a heavy frown on her face.

"With everyone who could put up any resistance either dead and gone, or left weak and exhausted...what stops him from just overwhelming everybody with all those grimm and then he simply assumes the throne you think Salem sits on? You wouldn't be saving anybody from oppression. The only thing you'd accomplish in the end is trading one perceived monster for another even worse one."

"Would you feel proud of yourself?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Yang seemed absolutely flummoxed by Weiss entry, so lost in the sauce of her own defeat that she hadn't even considered that it might've hurt the far more important battle of wills and wits she'd been forced to join into. She froze with her next bite of cereal halfway to her mouth as Weiss drifted into lecture mode, her eyes jumping between the various faux servants slowly erasing the history of the Battle of Schnee Kitchen from the books. Her eyes seemed to lock onto one servant into particular, and a flash of something other than confusion appeared in her eyes.

Whatever it was was buried in a sullen growl as she dropped her spoon her bowl and looked away. She'd been all ready to clean up after herself and apologize if Weiss ever brought it up, but being talked to like she was, like, five really flattened the desire to do so

"It wasn't on purpose, Weiss. I'm sorry, I was just... trying to entertain myself. I've never been a great cook, so... I was gonna clean up." She finished before she pushed out of the chair and moved to drop her bowl in the sink with the rest of the growing pile of dishes. "Trust me, when I want your attention, you'll know."

"...This was an accident."

Weiss clarified, bemused at what she found to be a quaint notion in the way only someone whose accidents in this kitchen growing up had evoked consequences dire enough to eliminate the concept from her brain could be. The realization brought about an accompanying, almost pitying air of amusement that someone could mess up so bad cooking and cleaning for one. So pitying that she actually raised a dainty hand to her lips to try and stifle this round of unbelievably condescending laughter, because frankly if she were in Yang's shoes right now and messed up that bad right at the beginning of their mental battle for dominance she would've been mortified enough that she'd have packed it in then and there in favor of being swallowed up by the dirt.

"...Hmhm... My apologies for assuming otherwise. And if I didn't explain the, ah, stove to you well enough. I don't expect my guests to actually cook for themselves, you know."

She shot the other in the room a stiff, disapproving frown.

"Harriet! If Yang's hungry then for goodness' sake make her something."

With that, she turned to leave them—and her creepy servants of questionable origin—to it.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"IS THIS WHAT ROMAN WOULD WANT, NEO?!"

"He'd wanna be alive, you complete tools."

That simple, dismissive response was the only one Mercury gave, and it was one that echoed around Vernal's ears as copies of the assassin's son suddenly appeared all around her, spread out from one like a deck of cards. All of them lashed out with a kick at once, but only one was real, and it never seemed to be the one Vernal struck back against if she indeed did as the varied rhythm of kicks colliding with the maiden's skull started getting quicker and quicker in tempo, Mercury not intent on giving her the chance to go off with her maiden powers.

"He'd wanna be alive, you complete tools wanna be alive, you complete tools tools tools he'd wanna be alive you complete toolswannabealiveyoucompletetoolsaliveyoutoolswannabehe'dwannabealiveyouhe'dwannabealiveyoucompletetools-"

Though to everyone not named Vernal it just looked like Mercury started beating her ass.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Which was why his face was crestfallen when he saw the morose, faceless marionette of Neo's approaching them and in the next instant he moved with a speed belying his size as he shoved Vernal to the side in abrupt fashion. Whatever became of Neo and Hush between then and now, Hazel would wait and weather, letting the chips fall now.

She had barely managed to recover and get up from being swept aside by that giant of a student by the time...​

"He'd wanna be alive, you complete tools."

That simple, dismissive response was the only one Mercury gave, and it was one that echoed around Vernal's ears as copies of the assassin's son suddenly appeared all around her, spread out from one like a deck of cards. All of them lashed out with a kick at once, but only one was real, and it never seemed to be the one Vernal struck back against if she indeed did as the varied rhythm of kicks colliding with the maiden's skull started getting quicker and quicker in tempo, Mercury not intent on giving her the chance to go off with her maiden powers.

"He'd wanna be alive, you complete tools wanna be alive, you complete tools tools tools he'd wanna be alive you complete toolswannabealiveyoucompletetoolsaliveyoutoolswannabehe'dwannabealiveyouhe'dwannabealiveyoucompletetools-"​

...those attacks came in. In contrary to what might have been expected, Vernal didn't make any attempt to fight back. Not with her weapons, or her fists or even her magic. By the time the fifth or sixth kick hit with her aura being chipped away with each blow, she accepted that there was only one way this would end. Those blue eyes shifted over with an inscrutable look aimed at Cinder's golden one. Before any more kicks could lash out, phantom or real, the fall maiden witnessed those eyes briefly flicker into a dark black, sclera and iris and pupil all. Cinder didn't see the blue color return, as in an instant her own vision went completely dark. As did everybody else's currently in the camp. They were all rendered blind, as if someone had just flipped a figurative switch for their eyesight to off.

In the next moment, there was a sudden explosive gust of wind that pushed the actual Mercury back and rippled through the air for the rest, rustling their clothes. A second even stronger rush of wind followed, though the sound of it got more and more distant with each second and the rough feeling in the air itself did likewise, leveling out until it was little more than a gentle breeze coursing through the camp.

After somewhere around two minutes passed, all their senses of sight returned just as suddenly as they had been taken away. The camp was exactly the same as it had been, save that it was now short one person. The target of their vengeance. She was gone. ".......no....." Cinder murmured, the weak shaky feeling in her legs finally giving way as she dropped to her knees. All that time she'd spent talking things out with the criminal, all the training she had gone through, this seemed to be all she would get now. Anything further she could have learned from somebody more experienced with the power...now a pipe dream. A fantasy. Maybe it was an overly idealistic daydream to some, but her it was a chance!

She was in the company of a maiden, one who despite everything was open to the idea of helping her out. One who had, even in the relatively short time of training, revealed that it wouldn't be a relaxing time of it. Vernal didn't believe in going easy in that department, and certainly put Cinder through her paces. But despite how tough it was, it had been useful! In some ways she felt she had learned more even in those couple of days than all that time at Beacon. But now that was all gone, and Cinder wasn't sure when she would ever have an opportunity like that again. If she ever would. "...What did you do?" The Fall Maiden questioned softly, not looking at anyone in particular.

In the next second though, she had shot back up to her feet and rapidly stomped over to where Mercury was. Once in reach she grabbed tightly at his collar and lifted him slightly off the ground with one arm, revealing a surprising amount of strength for her young age and relatively slim arms.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!"

She leveled an absolutely burning glare of rage towards Mercury's face. "That was my ONE chance to learn what I needed to, so that I could eventually be strong enough to do everything I could against Ozpin and every evil piece of human or faunus trash that serves him! The ONLY thing even remotely positive that came out of this whole damn MESS and you took it AWAY from me! Now what's left? What else do we have other than a bunch of LOSSES that leave us barely any BETTER for it?! And why?! So you could have a scapegoat to blame?? To have a target to take all your ANGER out on? She wasn't a good person by any stretch of the imagination but she didn't kill Roman, she didn't kill a single one of us even though she could have! Your need for revenge, it..." She fell quiet just then, hesitating to continue further. Despite her rage, she knew in her heart of hearts what the pain of loss could drive someone to do. Despite the tirade, she couldn't truly hold what he'd done against him.

After a few seconds of heavy silence she released her grip and started full-on sprinting for the gate out of this camp, mouth opening wide as she roared up into the sky as loud as she could, no matter how in vain it could be.

"WAIT! COME BACK! THERE'S SO MUCH MORE I NEED TO KNOW HOW TO DO, YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE! PLEASE!" ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

...those attacks came in. In contrary to what might have been expected, Vernal didn't make any attempt to fight back. Not with her weapons, or her fists or even her magic. By the time the fifth or sixth kick hit with her aura being chipped away with each blow, she accepted that there was only one way this would end. Those blue eyes shifted over with an inscrutable look aimed at Cinder's golden one. Before any more kicks could lash out, phantom or real, the fall maiden witnessed those eyes briefly flicker into a dark black, sclera and iris and pupil all. Cinder didn't see the blue color return, as in an instant her own vision went completely dark. As did everybody else's currently in the camp. They were all rendered blind, as if someone had just flipped a figurative switch for their eyesight to off.

In the next moment, there was a sudden explosive gust of wind that pushed the actual Mercury back and rippled through the air for the rest, rustling their clothes. A second even stronger rush of wind followed, though the sound of it got more and more distant with each second and the rough feeling in the air itself did likewise, leveling out until it was little more than a gentle breeze coursing through the camp.

After somewhere around two minutes passed, all their senses of sight returned just as suddenly as they had been taken away. The camp was exactly the same as it had been, save that it was now short one person. The target of their vengeance. She was gone. ".......no....." Cinder murmured, the weak shaky feeling in her legs finally giving way as she dropped to her knees. All that time she'd spent talking things out with the criminal, all the training she had gone through, this seemed to be all she would get now. Anything further she could have learned from somebody more experienced with the power...now a pipe dream. A fantasy. Maybe it was an overly idealistic daydream to some, but her it was a chance!

"...Marco."

"Polo."

"Marco..."

"Polo..."

Worst two minutes ever. But the voice answering Mercury was thrown to a different spot in the camp entirely from its point of origin, and when sight returned to those gathered he was standing by himself off in a completely random direction. Emerald had zero expectations that that was going to go over well, and frankly just chickened out from facing the heat of...

In the next second though, she had shot back up to her feet and rapidly stomping for where Mercury was. Once in reach she grabbed tightly at his collar and lifted him slightly off the ground with one arm, revealing a surprising amount of strength for her young age and relatively slim arms.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!"

She leveled an absolutely burning glare of rage towards Mercury's face. "That was my ONE chance to learn what I needed to, so that I could eventually be strong enough to do everything I could against Ozpin and every evil piece of human or faunus trash that serves him! The ONLY thing even remotely positive that came out of this whole damn MESS and you took it AWAY from me! Now what's left? What else do we have other than a bunch of LOSSES that leave us barely any BETTER for it?! And why?! So you could have a scapegoat to blame?? To have a target to take all your ANGER out on? She wasn't a good person by any stretch of the imagination but she didn't kill Roman, she didn't kill a single one of us even though she could have! Your need for revenge, it..." She fell quiet just then, hesitating to continue further. Despite her rage, she knew in her heart of hearts what the pain of loss could drive someone to do. Despite the tirade, she couldn't truly hold what he'd done against him.

...something like that. The blank calm that had settled over Mercury's face during his assault was shattered by angry dismay as he was manhandled, but he didn't put up much of a struggle as Cinder took him to task for what he did. Just locked eyes with the fall maiden the entire way through her rant, and met it with a bitter snort that stood in contrast to how outmatched he plainly was.

"Maybe you're right. Or maybe it's better for everybody if she stays gone, so either way. And take some advice, junior; nobody's gonna fall out of the sky and make you strong. You have to do that yourself."

His voice took on a dark edge for that last thought, and he didn't say anything further as she let him go in favor of trudging his way back across the camp in silence.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Elsewhere...

Boom. Argus.

After what was presumably an agonizingly awkward and long train ride between the two Ravens, Qrow, ex-general Ironwood and Ruby, the makeshift squad stepped off the train into something more resembling a ghost town than the continent's primary trading port. In a similar light to Mistral, the worrying state of affairs in the world had most staying inside and a storm of negative emotion in the air, which boded ill for a city so openly exposed to the sea. Rumors on the street spoke of worry for how scarce activity at the military base seemed to be of late, and with borders closed and long-distance communication down across the kingdoms the only ones in direct contact with one of the two capitals the city hovered between were the military themselves. After their worrying activity prior to the CCT tower's destruction, it created a sense of unease. No one was sure what Atlas were going to do next.

Once they were headed down a quiet street alone, Ironwood laid out the next steps.

"I need to get inside the military installation here to reach Mantle... But the CO here isn't the malcontent type. It seems the council have no intention of weakening their grip on such an important trade city, and I'm likely to be arrested on sight. What do the rest of you suggest?"

​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"..." The unfolding emotions pervading the scene built upon itself, with the realization of their teammate's safety to the sad mention of Roman's passing. It was enough to bring his taciturn side to the forefront, a solemn expression on his face conveying an affirmation in all those things. Still, though, he was more than overjoyed his teammate was alive and well, to a degree. Although, there was still that question he had, he'd asked, that was answered with silence. He wasn't going to force it, it wasn't the time for it. The underlying tension was there, palpable, and the big man more than recognized the need for carefully navigating it. He understood he wasn't the only one that came with hard feelings about it all, his the least of it in fact.

Which was why, throughout the whole of the exchanges, with the primary speaker being that of Cinder, he had edged towards the Fall Maiden under the guise of placating her roiling emotions, whether by placing an assuring hand on the shoulder or a hug. Whatever the others thought he would do. It made for solid positioning near Cinder and therefore Vernal.

"I understand these feelings, I really do. Revenge. The thought on my mind. And who better than the instigator, the person we knew had Cinder, could've killed Emerald. All those, factors that contributed to the following events. I... was angry. Still am angry. I was right there, not far from Roman, when it happened. Feeling that it should have never happened, feeling that I should've prevented it, feeling that someone bears the onus for it, feeling that they should pay. Those mounting thoughts only exacerbate these feelings for the worse. That anger, the all consuming rage... I understand it. It nearly killed me when I tried to re-balance the scales myself."

He exhaled the last of the oxygen in his lungs, the sound that of a weary, sad wheeze.

"I loathe that feeling. Nothing comes of it but misery, a self perpetuating cycle. We can't be like this, we need to be better. Or we add more to what's wrong with the world. I... do not think Roman would want this. I know he was your teammate, your friend, best friend. Do you think he'd want this?"



Hazel knew he came across to his compatriots as a fairly simple man, with simple interests and a simple outlook on life. But there was one thing he had a knack for and that was gleaning an understanding of a person. Especially with the more time he spent with them, the more he learned about them. Whatever he could glean, he crystalized into something he tried to appreciate complete with the promise he'd never leverage it against them.

Which was why his face was crestfallen when he saw the morose, faceless marionette of Neo's approaching them and in the next instant he moved with a speed belying his size as he shoved Vernal to the side in abrupt fashion. Whatever became of Neo and Hush between then and now, Hazel would wait and weather, letting the chips fall now.

"IS THIS WHAT ROMAN WOULD WANT, NEO?!"

She didn't know what Roman would have wanted.

Their very last conversation was her learning that she may not have known him at all.

She didn't even really register that this was Hazel, only that someone was in her way.

So Hush's arc didn't stop in the slightest, and it gouged into Hazel's aura with enough force that Neo could use it as leverage to vault herself upwards into a spinning kick to the side of her biggest friend's head, pushing off of it with seemingly no concern towards being disarmed to launch herself straight at Vernal-

She had barely managed to recover and get up from being swept aside by that giant of a student by the time...



...those attacks came in. In contrary to what might have been expected, Vernal didn't make any attempt to fight back. Not with her weapons, or her fists or even her magic. By the time the fifth or sixth kick hit with her aura being chipped away with each blow, she accepted that there was only one way this would end. Those blue eyes shifted over with an inscrutable look aimed at Cinder's golden one. Before any more kicks could lash out, phantom or real, the fall maiden witnessed those eyes briefly flicker into a dark black, sclera and iris and pupil all. Cinder didn't see the blue color return, as in an instant her own vision went completely dark. As did everybody else's currently in the camp. They were all rendered blind, as if someone had just flipped a figurative switch for their eyesight to off.

In the next moment, there was a sudden explosive gust of wind that pushed the actual Mercury back and rippled through the air for the rest, rustling their clothes. A second even stronger rush of wind followed, though the sound of it got more and more distant with each second and the rough feeling in the air itself did likewise, leveling out until it was little more than a gentle breeze coursing through the camp.

After somewhere around two minutes passed, all their senses of sight returned just as suddenly as they had been taken away. The camp was exactly the same as it had been, save that it was now short one person. The target of their vengeance. She was gone. ".......no....." Cinder murmured, the weak shaky feeling in her legs finally giving way as she dropped to her knees. All that time she'd spent talking things out with the criminal, all the training she had gone through, this seemed to be all she would get now. Anything further she could have learned from somebody more experienced with the power...now a pipe dream. A fantasy. Maybe it was an overly idealistic daydream to some, but her it was a chance!

​

The wind had buffeted her back, and she let out a grunt of surprise as she was tossed away and to the ground, but she rolled to her feet with a feral sound of rage, just in time for everything to suddenly go dark.

"..."

She slowly fell to her knees with her breath coming in short, erratic heaves, a honest to goodness panic attack consuming her at the thought of letting one of Roman's killers escape. Every drep of despair and anger she had bottled up and buried, every tear she'd refused to shed for fear of accepting the truth of what had happened to Roman, all of it had swelled back up when she'd laid eyes on Vernal, and now it was all spewing out of her at once with no direction. When everyone's sight started to come back, She hadn't moved, her head clutched in both hands and the ground underneath her soaked in tears and gutteral, choked sounds coming out of her as her body told her to scream but her mind wouldn't allow it.

She was in the company of a maiden, one who despite everything was open to the idea of helping her out. One who had, even in the relatively short time of training, revealed that it wouldn't be a relaxing time of it. Vernal didn't believe in going easy in that department, and certainly put Cinder through her paces. But despite how tough it was, it had been useful! In some ways she felt she had learned more even in those couple of days than all that time at Beacon. But now that was all gone, and Cinder wasn't sure when she would ever have an opportunity like that again. If she ever would. "...What did you do?" The Fall Maiden questioned softly, not looking at anyone in particular.

In the next second though, she had shot back up to her feet and rapidly stomped over to where Mercury was. Once in reach she grabbed tightly at his collar and lifted him slightly off the ground with one arm, revealing a surprising amount of strength for her young age and relatively slim arms.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!"

She leveled an absolutely burning glare of rage towards Mercury's face. "That was my ONE chance to learn what I needed to, so that I could eventually be strong enough to do everything I could against Ozpin and every evil piece of human or faunus trash that serves him! The ONLY thing even remotely positive that came out of this whole damn MESS and you took it AWAY from me! Now what's left? What else do we have other than a bunch of LOSSES that leave us barely any BETTER for it?! And why?! So you could have a scapegoat to blame?? To have a target to take all your ANGER out on? She wasn't a good person by any stretch of the imagination but she didn't kill Roman, she didn't kill a single one of us even though she could have! Your need for revenge, it..." She fell quiet just then, hesitating to continue further. Despite her rage, she knew in her heart of hearts what the pain of loss could drive someone to do. Despite the tirade, she couldn't truly hold what he'd done against him.

After a few seconds of heavy silence she released her grip and started full-on sprinting for the gate out of this camp, mouth opening wide as she roared up into the sky as loud as she could, no matter how in vain it could be.

"WAIT! COME BACK! THERE'S SO MUCH MORE I NEED TO KNOW HOW TO DO, YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE! PLEASE!"

"..."

The sounds faded and Neo took her face out her hands, a look of vapid surprise on her face as she heard Cinder yelling at Mercury. Defending Vernal

All of her anger? No. There were plenty of others she was angry at

But saying Vernal was blameless? That she didn't have a hand?! THAT SHE DIDN'T DESERVE ANY OF IT?! THAT SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO ACCEPT A BUNCH OF KILLERS AND SCUM ENDING UP IN JAIL WAS ENOUGH PUNISHMET FOR HIS DEATH?!

For how unsteady she stood up, and how much her brain continued to add on more than Cinder had actually said, her stride was purposeful as she made her way over to Cinder.

Watts had froze, that was all there was to it. His hand had shot to his pistol as it all went to hell, but he had no idea what for. Shooting Vernal, doing exactly what he was asking these idiots not to do? Shooting Neo or Mercury, his friends, having an entirely understandable reaction that, for all Cinder's childish naivety wanted to preach forgive and forget, had squarely acted with the group that got their teammate killed? Both sounded entirely stupid. So did doing nothing, unfortunately, but it was all he was capable of before their eye sight all went.

When it came back, he was resting his forehead in his palm in frustration, letting Cinder's and mercury's words wash over him.

"...I agree we could've handled that better. But there's nothing to be- Neo."

There was a warning growl in his tone as he caught sight of her and the look on her face, and he was quick to intercept her path for the young maiden and grab her shoulder. "Enough! I get it, I understand-"

That was the final straw. One more person saying they understood. Hazel, Yang, Watts, everyone with their glances of unspoken pity and judgement, all claiming they could relate, that they'd suffered losses just as bad or worse, that they knew the depths of Neopolitan's pain.



All. Wrong.

Neo's palm caught Arthur square in the nose, a knee to the gut while he was reeling made him keel over, and he felt Neo rolling across his back and his holster feeling a little lighter. Neo didn't even look back at him as she squeezed off a trio of shots that exploded into ice across his body, a cry of surprise and pain muffled by half of his head being encased as he stumbled to the ground. Through the whole exchange Neo barely broke her stride, her eyes flickering erratically from pink to brown and bits of harden light twirling in the air around her as her semblance continued to go haywire without direction.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Okay. Let's say that you do that, with him and Sienna and you all accomplishing that. The academies are destroyed or abandoned as ruins, world communications are nonexistent. The fighters on both sides, huntsmen/huntresses and faunus revolutionaries alike, are left weakened and tired, however little of them are left once the two sides are done battling each other. A world left divided. Salem is ousted, left...wherever. I don't know enough about Salem to say whether she's as responsible as you think she is for the state of faunus in the world. She's no queen, and from what I heard from Tock, she's been more occupied trying to keep all of us alive than stamping out hate and racism in cruel people. But putting that aside, once she's gone...what happens then? Do you honestly believe for one single moment that Ozpin won't take advantage of both sides being weakened? Our fighters, human or faunus, they take years to grow. To train properly. From what Tock told me, Ozpin can make new grimm whenever he wishes." Ilia stopped at the gate just as Snake did, eyes staying locked on the Talon member and a heavy frown on her face.

"With everyone who could put up any resistance either dead and gone, or left weak and exhausted...what stops him from just overwhelming everybody with all those grimm and then he simply assumes the throne you think Salem sits on? You wouldn't be saving anybody from oppression. The only thing you'd accomplish in the end is trading one perceived monster for another even worse one."

"Would you feel proud of yourself?"​

"Probably not."

The answer came out far too light for the weight of the conversation, yet Snake shrugged and settled onto Ilia with a much more mysterious smile than before.

"But I feel relatively assured it won't come to that. The Hand doesn't think so, and even the lord of darkness himself would find it hard to lie under her gaze. Not all of us are so trusting though. This isn't your world, Ilia. Salem doesn't lead the monsters under the bed. and the one that does, well..."

She put a finger to her mouth with her eyes half lidded, the smile no less cryptic. "...I almost said more than I was supposed to. But we're not his blind zealots, in service to a dark god. We do what we must to ensure Salem no longer oppresses us. What happens after, well... who knows?"

She turned back towards the ship with a soft sigh, and her gaze turned contemplative. "After they used the relic, and before the butcher-" A sneer entered even Snake's tone at his name, though there was a noticeable anxious undercurrent to it "-stuck his nose into it all, your fellows seemed intent on going to Atlas. Was that still the plan?"

 

[Gus Gungus]

All. Wrong.

Neo's palm caught Arthur square in the nose, a knee to the gut while he was reeling made him keel over, and he felt Neo rolling across his back and his holster feeling a little lighter. Neo didn't even look back at him as she squeezed off a trio of shots that exploded into ice across his body, a cry of surprise and pain muffled by half of his head being encased as he stumbled to the ground. Through the whole exchange Neo barely broke her stride, her eyes flickering erratically from pink to brown and bits of harden light twirling in the air around her as her semblance continued to go haywire without direction.

"Neo!"

Mercury's voice didn't carry a single note of pity, attempted empathy or even a meager offering of understanding for Neo's plight. He was still pissed too, after all, even if the well of anger and anguish Neo was drawing from ran a lot deeper than his. Maybe that was why he offered nothing but a dose of hard, sobering reality before Neo did something stupid and got the entirety of team WTCH dogpiling her, at which point they'd be obliged to step in and have an inter-team sparring match none of them really wanted to have; a far cry from the simulated battles Beacon's leading first years used to have at the academy.

He stomped up to her and went to snatch at her wrist, glare firm and jaw stiffened.

"Cut the crap before you get hurt. She's gone. So is he. Life sucks enough without you being a baby about it."

His resolve only heightened now that he was looking her in the eyes, to either stop this or direct her anger someplace less self-destructive, and he creased his brow with a growl.

"Besides, if you're cashing in everybody's tabs then how bout starting with mine? I was there, wasn't I?! It happened right on my watch! This whoooole 'let's go get the bad guys' thing was MY idea in the first place! So what exactly do you owe Cinder that you don't owe me triple of?!"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

The blank calm that had settled over Mercury's face during his assault was shattered by angry dismay as he was manhandled, but he didn't put up much of a struggle as Cinder took him to task for what he did. Just locked eyes with the fall maiden the entire way through her rant, and met it with a bitter snort that stood in contrast to how outmatched he plainly was.

"Maybe you're right. Or maybe it's better for everybody if she stays gone, so either way. And take some advice, junior; nobody's gonna fall out of the sky and make you strong. You have to do that yourself."

His voice took on a dark edge for that last thought, and he didn't say anything further as she let him go in favor of trudging his way back across the camp in silence.

Cinder didn't get that far beyond the gate before forcing herself to a halt, with her head lifted up to the sky above and eye furiously scanning for any sign of the other maiden. She saw none. After a few moments she dropped onto her knees again and her gaze was angled down towards the ground instead of the empty sky above. Cinder's right hand curled up into a fist as she punched at the ground once, then again, then twice more and one final time. "Better for everybody?" She repeated to herself. "Tell that to everyone who suffers at his hands while I'm still too weak to put a stop to it." She hissed out, mostly just to give voice to her own overwhelming frustration.

She had always been a big believer in destiny.

For the longest time, she had feared that her destiny was to be forever stuck under the cruel thumbs of her parents, never to escape. Never to know a life beyond the one of that small, isolated village. But fate had other plans. The power that had come to her at random, the arrival of Beacon's headmistress to her distant hometown not all that long after...everything she learned that night and since then...it all pointed to a destiny far far greater than the one she had long been afraid of. A status as one of the few who mattered so much more than most people, not just for the power but also and maybe even more so for being a guardian for one of the relics. Yet beyond even that...perhaps it was the overconfident dreams of an ambitious child who had refused to lose her spirit no matter what her parents did to break it into pieces...but ever since she learned what she had, she had repeatedly imagined it was her hands that would bring an ultimate end to one of the world's greatest evils.

Even if the majority of the world never knew about the hero that saved them from the unknown evil that is Ozpin...she would know. The thought brought a smile to her face every time.

Yet now...she'd barely gotten any better. She could fly properly now, knew how to channel, harness and throw a basic fireball, but Vernal had demonstrated so much more than that. The one maiden she'd come face to face with, talked to...from what Cinder could tell, Spring had been chased away for good. It was out of grief, and hurt, and loss, all things Cinder could understand. She had only just learned about Roman, but even so her heart ached for that loss and for what it did to his team. Her mind, on the other hand...it couldn't help thinking that if they didn't take any opportunity they had to become stronger, to get one step closer to being able to stop Ozpin...then his death amounted to nothing. Bandit or not, backstabber or not, Vernal had been one of those opportunities and they had just thrown it away.

The thought stung, and she didn't feel she could bring herself to vocalize the sentiment to the others but that didn't change the fact that it occurred to her.​

Neo's palm caught Arthur square in the nose, a knee to the gut while he was reeling made him keel over, and he felt Neo rolling across his back and his holster feeling a little lighter. Neo didn't even look back at him as she squeezed off a trio of shots that exploded into ice across his body, a cry of surprise and pain muffled by half of his head being encased as he stumbled to the ground. Through the whole exchange Neo barely broke her stride, her eyes flickering erratically from pink to brown and bits of harden light twirling in the air around her as her semblance continued to go haywire without direction.

"Neo!"

Mercury's voice didn't carry a single note of pity, attempted empathy or even a meager offering of understanding for Neo's plight. He was still pissed too, after all, even if the well of anger and anguish Neo was drawing from ran a lot deeper than his. Maybe that was why he offered nothing but a dose of hard, sobering reality before Neo did something stupid and got the entirety of team WTCH dogpiling her, at which point they'd be obliged to step in and have an inter-team sparring match none of them really wanted to have; a far cry from the simulated battles Beacon's leading first years used to have at the academy.

He stomped up to her and went to snatch at her wrist, glare firm and jaw stiffened.

"Cut the crap before you get hurt. She's gone. So is he. Life sucks enough without you being a baby about it."

His resolve only heightened now that he was looking her in the eyes, to either stop this or direct her anger someplace less self-destructive, and he creased his brow with a growl.

"Besides, if you're cashing in everybody's tabs then how bout starting with mine? I was there, wasn't I?! It happened right on my watch! This whoooole 'let's go get the bad guys' thing was MY idea in the first place! So what exactly do you owe Cinder that you don't owe me triple of?!"​

She had gotten back to her feet at this point, her walk carrying her back over to the group. She directed a sad glare over to Mercury and Neo before her head shook slightly and she did her best to put them out of her mind to focus on Arthur. One hand reached out to press against all the ice encasing him, the fiery touch soon enough melting it all away. "You okay?" She asked when he could respond, her eye mostly dull and muted and dreary as she looked at him. Nothing like the bright and vivid gold that it usually seemed to be. “And what do we do now?”​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Probably not."

The answer came out far too light for the weight of the conversation, yet Snake shrugged and settled onto Ilia with a much more mysterious smile than before.

"But I feel relatively assured it won't come to that. The Hand doesn't think so, and even the lord of darkness himself would find it hard to lie under her gaze. Not all of us are so trusting though. This isn't your world, Ilia. Salem doesn't lead the monsters under the bed. and the one that does, well..."

She put a finger to her mouth with her eyes half lidded, the smile no less cryptic. "...I almost said more than I was supposed to. But we're not his blind zealots, in service to a dark god. We do what we must to ensure Salem no longer oppresses us. What happens after, well... who knows?"

"...I hope for your world's sake that you're right." Ilia replied, not wishing to say any more on the topic.​

She turned back towards the ship with a soft sigh, and her gaze turned contemplative. "After they used the relic, and before the butcher-" A sneer entered even Snake's tone at his name, though there was a noticeable anxious undercurrent to it "-stuck his nose into it all, your fellows seemed intent on going to Atlas. Was that still the plan?"

Her eyes expressed plain disbelief. "Even if I did know, why would I tell you that?" She didn't wait for any answer before pulling her eyes away to look at the ship. "Is Tock already aboard or are we waiting for her?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Elsewhere...

Boom. Argus.

After what was presumably an agonizingly awkward and long train ride between the two Ravens, Qrow, ex-general Ironwood and Ruby, the makeshift squad stepped off the train into something more resembling a ghost town than the continent's primary trading port. In a similar light to Mistral, the worrying state of affairs in the world had most staying inside and a storm of negative emotion in the air, which boded ill for a city so openly exposed to the sea. Rumors on the street spoke of worry for how scarce activity at the military base seemed to be of late, and with borders closed and long-distance communication down across the kingdoms the only ones in direct contact with one of the two capitals the city hovered between were the military themselves. After their worrying activity prior to the CCT tower's destruction, it created a sense of unease. No one was sure what Atlas were going to do next.

Once they were headed down a quiet street alone, Ironwood laid out the next steps.

"I need to get inside the military installation here to reach Mantle... But the CO here isn't the malcontent type. It seems the council have no intention of weakening their grip on such an important trade city, and I'm likely to be arrested on sight. What do the rest of you suggest?"

​

"Well-" Ruby started, index finger rising into the air as she was about to go on about politely asking the CO to be let in, get that shut down, plan to steal an Atlas airship, send someone to temporarily disrupt comms, get caught, fight a giant robot, attract an equally large grimm in the process and volunteer to be the ones to put it down in an act of selflessness that reminded that CO of her(assuming it was still Cordovin in this weird world) true duty to the people and then let them take the ship to go on to the kingdom of Atlas.

She didn't get any farther than that 'well' before being cut off by the non-maiden Raven. "If asking is out of the question, then how about this? A certain bird flies over the installation, finds a strategic spot to roost, a brief portal opens up and you step through so that you can sneak through that base as best you can to get where you need to? Perhaps with a maiden causing a big enough distraction to draw away as many troops as possible and leave only a skeleton crew for you to sneak by?" She offered, the other Raven staying as silent as humanly possible behind the helmet.

Rudeeeeeeee.

That plan had worked once and she didn't see any reason why it couldn't work again...beyond not having a Weiss, a Blake, a Yang, a Jaune, a Nora, a Ren, an Oscar, or a Maria...okay yeah maybe not as feasible here.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA."

"Shut UP!" She yelled, otherwise silent and undisturbed as a grave ever since her own summons for the high leader.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Shut UP!" She yelled, otherwise silent and undisturbed as a grave ever since her own summons for the high leader.​

“No! I thought we already established you don’t get to order me around. You’re lucky I didn’t throw you off my ship!”​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Rudeeeeeeee.

That plan had worked once and she didn't see any reason why it couldn't work again...beyond not having a Weiss, a Blake, a Yang, a Jaune, a Nora, a Ren, an Oscar, or a Maria...okay yeah maybe not as feasible here.

"Any plan that doesn't get us hauled into jail soon as we arrive would also be great." Qrow dispensed his own advice with a sage, faraway look, glancing at Ruby out of the corner of his eye like he knew exactly where that 'well' had been headed. That was the worst plan and they weren't doing it again.

Ironwood didn't acknowledge the additional input, ear instead angled towards Raven as he continued walking with a thoughtful frown.

"Was it optimistic of me to hope for a suggestion that didn't involve me 'sneaking' into my own military outpost? Fine. We should proceed there right away then. But..."

There was a wrinkle of worry to the frown as he glanced up a side street, and he stopped walking all of a sudden to strain his hearing.

"...something's wrong."

If any of the others followed suit, really worked their ears, past the muted bustle of the typically busy city they could detect something faintly blaring from the direction of the harbor, something unmistakable to any huntsman or huntress with even a single day of active service.

A raid siren.

​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Any plan that doesn't get us hauled into jail soon as we arrive would also be great." Qrow dispensed his own advice with a sage, faraway look, glancing at Ruby out of the corner of his eye like he knew exactly where that 'well' had been headed. That was the worst plan and they weren't doing it again.

"Heh heh heh..." She awkwardly chuckled, scratching at the back of her neck.​

Ironwood didn't acknowledge the additional input, ear instead angled towards Raven as he continued walking with a thoughtful frown.

"Was it optimistic of me to hope for a suggestion that didn't involve me 'sneaking' into my own military outpost? Fine. We should proceed there right away then. But..."

"You asked. If you wanted something better, you should have come up with it yourself. You're the military man, James. Isn't strategy meant to be your thing?" Raven remarked.​

There was a wrinkle of worry to the frown as he glanced up a side street, and he stopped walking all of a sudden to strain his hearing.

"...something's wrong."

If any of the others followed suit, really worked their ears, past the muted bustle of the typically busy city they could detect something faintly blaring from the direction of the harbor, something unmistakable to any huntsman or huntress with even a single day of active service.

A raid siren.

That Raven didn't wait for an answer, however. So well-accustomed was she to her job, her duty, that the split-second she heard that faint sound, the huntress was already sprinting away in that direction before even her counterpart or the super-speedster Ruby could react to the noise themselves. Ruby, to her credit, swiftly followed suit but the maiden did not, seemingly content to stand there and let the repeated blaring of the siren wash over her.

"She has a point." She finally spoke, helmet angling just enough that even though her eyes couldn't be seen, it was obvious she was looking at James. "You really didn't have any ideas in that thick metal skull of yours? Disappointing if so."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"She has a point." She finally spoke, helmet angling just enough that even though her eyes couldn't be seen, it was obvious she was looking at James. "You really didn't have any ideas in that thick metal skull of yours? Disappointing if so."

"Interesting choice of words coming from you." He retorted frankly, though didn't pursue the topic any further. Qrow glanced between the pair of charmless knuckleheads for a few seconds before giving a meagerly contrite shrug, as if to apologize for abandoning them for the cool team before he vanished and took to the skies.

"I do have one suggestion. We investigate."

He almost seemed to take satisfaction in denying Raven's bandit alter ego any sort of a glimpse into the strategic mind of Atlas's erstwhile top officer as he followed after with a more measured step.

The source of the siren was, curiously enough, isolated to the Atlesian military base rather than the city itself. The sight awaiting them when they reached the city's busy port district satisfied that curiosity to an extent, but was liable to leave the impromptu responders with far more questions than it provided answers.

The abomination latched onto the roof of the base by its suckers was like a nightmare made real, a grimm dredged from the darkest depths of the sea where even a veteran huntress's knowledge started to run dry. Down there, amid the crushing pressure and pitch black, the creatures of grimm had learned to acclimatize in strange, alien ways, and it wasn't uncommon for the odd stray fishing boat or trading vessel to ignore the military's tidal readings and find themselves dragged down to a more hellish fate than a majority of land-dwelling grimm could impose.

Despite the creature seemingly literally trying to eat the city's military installation, and its troubling proximity to the shore as a whole, a few citizens were scattered around with scrolls in hand, most looking some combination of scared and traumatized as they questioned each other incessantly in hushed, bewildered tones.

"How long has it been there?!"

"Showed up in the night. No one's heard a peep from the bunker since."

"That has to be the freakiest Grimm I've ever seen! How'd that thing get by the barriers?!"

"They never went up. No citywide alarm, either. Everyone woke up and it was just... there."

"Seriously, what is it doing?! Why does it look like that?!?!"

It was clear even from a distance that the creature's stillness went far beyond a mere predatory patience.

Somewhere during the process of twisting, entangling and constricting the base in its tentacles, it had been completely and utterly turned to stone.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Interesting choice of words coming from you." He retorted frankly, though didn't pursue the topic any further. Qrow glanced between the pair of charmless knuckleheads for a few seconds before giving a meagerly contrite shrug, as if to apologize for abandoning them for the cool team before he vanished and took to the skies.

"I do have one suggestion. We investigate."

He almost seemed to take satisfaction in denying Raven's bandit alter ego any sort of a glimpse into the strategic mind of Atlas's erstwhile top officer as he followed after with a more measured step.

"Hrmph."

The maiden likewise didn't say anything more on that matter. Her eyes tracked Ironwood underneath her helmet as he went off after the rest, and a low sigh emanated out from her. She followed after in turn, but it was with a calm walking stride rather than the run of her counterpart. She believed that whatever could have prompted the siren would hardly be an obstacle. Not for that collection of huntsmen and huntresses. As such, she was in absolutely no rush.
​

The source of the siren was, curiously enough, isolated to the Atlesian military base rather than the city itself. The sight awaiting them when they reached the city's busy port district satisfied that curiosity to an extent, but was liable to leave the impromptu responders with far more questions than it provided answers.

The abomination latched onto the roof of the base by its suckers was like a nightmare made real, a grimm dredged from the darkest depths of the sea where even a veteran huntress's knowledge started to run dry. Down there, amid the crushing pressure and pitch black, the creatures of grimm had learned to acclimatize in strange, alien ways, and it wasn't uncommon for the odd stray fishing boat or trading vessel to ignore the military's tidal readings and find themselves dragged down to a more hellish fate than a majority of land-dwelling grimm could impose.

"..."

That was another new one. First the beast that assaulted them on the train, now this monstrous terror from the sea currently wrapped around Atlas's base as if it was trying to devour the installation itself, rather than any individual soldier or vehicle. As if it wasn't enough that the numbers of grimm had been steadily increasing in recent years, and getting far more prevalent, but new twisted forms of them were popping up more and more. Or if not new, then at least one she'd never encountered before.​

Despite the creature seemingly literally trying to eat the city's military installation, and its troubling proximity to the shore as a whole, a few citizens were scattered around with scrolls in hand, most looking some combination of scared and traumatized as they questioned each other incessantly in hushed, bewildered tones.

"How long has it been there?!"

"Showed up in the night. No one's heard a peep from the bunker since."

"That has to be the freakiest Grimm I've ever seen! How'd that thing get by the barriers?!"

"They never went up. No citywide alarm, either. Everyone woke up and it was just... there."

"Seriously, what is it doing?! Why does it look like that?!?!"

The huntress was not one to be completely unnerved by a grimm, no matter how horrible it looked, but listening in to the scattered citizens around her definitely put her in a more wary mood. The Atlesian military was not one to be so easily snuck up on, regardless of whether it was morning or night. Especially not by a beast of that size. No word from them, no alarm, no deploying of any security measures at all?

"Something's not right." Ruby pointed out, standing at Raven's side. She agreed, but hadn't said it herself since she thought that much was obvious. Something was very off here.​

It was clear even from a distance that the creature's stillness went far beyond a mere predatory patience.

Somewhere during the process of twisting, entangling and constricting the base in its tentacles, it had been completely and utterly turned to stone.

That, most of all. Her head moved to the side to glance purposefully at Ruby before she jerked her head in the direction of the base. "Come on." She ordered, resuming her run for the military installation. "We need a closer look, but don't go too fast and stay behind me at all times." Ruby nodded, going along with Raven's authority in this situation as she sprinted after the older huntress.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

That, most of all. Her head moved to the side to glance purposefully at Ruby before she jerked her head in the direction of the base. "Come on." She ordered, resuming her run for the military installation. "We need a closer look, but don't go too fast and stay behind me at all times." Ruby nodded, going along with Raven's authority in this situation as she sprinted after the older huntress.

The long connective runway that tethered the military base's island to the city of Argus proper was normally a reassuring sight for citizens, even with Atlas's unusual behavior of late. The image of the base, typically a hotspot of military activity, was one that guaranteed safety and protection.

Now it stood dormant, and guaranteed nothing. The Mistralian authorities present, about as out of their depth as a couple of beat cops from Vale, let the party pass through their perimeter without complaint once the first huntress badge was flashed, and as they raced across the walkway it wasn't long before they realized someone (or something) was racing from the opposite direction towards them.

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

Nevermind they were definitely people.

The two guards only made it a quarter of the way across from their side of the walkway by the time Ruby and Raven met them in the not-so-middle, but were massively out-of-breath regardless as they spoke with none of the majesty or awe of the Atlesian military.

"Hhhh... Hhhhhjjhhjjjj...."

"HALT!" One of them eventually managed to gasp through ragged breaths. "This base is under lockdown by order of Special Operative Cordovin with the authority of Atlas! Return to the mainland at once!"
​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Now it stood dormant, and guaranteed nothing. The Mistralian authorities present, about as out of their depth as a couple of beat cops from Vale, let the party pass through their perimeter without complaint once the first huntress badge was flashed, and as they raced across the walkway it wasn't long before they realized someone (or something) was racing from the opposite direction towards them.

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

"Hup!"

Nevermind they were definitely people.

The two guards only made it a quarter of the way across from their side of the walkway by the time Ruby and Raven met them in the not-so-middle, but were massively out-of-breath regardless as they spoke with none of the majesty or awe of the Atlesian military.

"Hhhh... Hhhhhjjhhjjjj...."

"HALT!" One of them eventually managed to gasp through ragged breaths. "This base is under lockdown by order of Special Operative Cordovin with the authority of Atlas! Return to the mainland at once!"

"...………………………………...……………...…..."

Oh no, seriously? These guys again? All the things that are different here but they stay the same???

Neither of the red-clad huntresses had an altogether positive reaction to the two guards that approached, though for different reasons. Raven in particular was still struggling to understand how two members of their military were that out of breath after that short of a run. Isn't being in shape an essential requirement for service? She brushed that thought away quickly enough however. Their lack of proper fitness was nowhere near a crucial thing right now. "No." Raven bluntly refused their demand, fishing out her scroll and showing the pair her license. "Huntresses have jurisdiction over all things grimm-related. So." One hand spun around and ended with index finger extended as she pointed casually up at the giant frozen beast that had been treating their base like a breakfast buffet.

"Explain." ​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"...I hope for your world's sake that you're right." Ilia replied, not wishing to say any more on the topic.​

"On that, we can agree" Snake replied blithely.

Her eyes expressed plain disbelief. "Even if I did know, why would I tell you that?" She didn't wait for any answer before pulling her eyes away to look at the ship. "Is Tock already aboard or are we waiting for her?"

"Ah" Snake shot Ilia a sheepish grin that looked wholly out of place in her otherwise elegant and graceful demeanor. "About that... Tock won't be leaving. You missed mist a few things; Taurus surrendered herself without a fight, aaaaand in response... Tock said she wasn't leaving either, apparently. She expects you to take the ship on your own it seems. Though you don't have to"

Snake made a show of studying her finger nails, the rain still clattering on the arch of the gateway above them and drumming on the walkway across the valley. "Salem may be our main enemy, but the shadowfang isn't after the relics; We'd rather not trust ancient magic that she'll understand leagues better than we ever could. You won't have any opposition from us in Atlas. I do, however, have business there, against a common enemy as it were. Miss Schnee."

She paused her inspection to put up a finger as she closed her eyes, looking contrite.

"Sorry, forgot where we were for a moment; Weiss fucking Schnee."

It didn't have quite the same ring to it when Snake said it instead of Sienna or Blake, and she rolled her eyes before clasping her hands behind her back. "We may have a truce with her right now through our common ally, but we do still do our best to keep tabs on what she and her pet general are up to these days, and with the CCT tower down such intel must be transferred in person. A task which falls to me. If you and your other friends out of time really do intend to go against her, well... we can't help directly, not without endangering the lives of every faunus in Atlas. But we can help, in small ways. Since we're going in the same direction anyways, I figure it can't hurt to ask if you'd like company on the trip north."

She regarded Ilia with a wry smirk. "Of course, I understand if you'd rather not; you've already written us all off as heartless monsters so long as our name isn't Blake Belladonna. I can find my own way North if I need to."

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...………………………………...……………...…..."

Oh no, seriously? These guys again? All the things that are different here but they stay the same???

Neither of the red-clad huntresses had an altogether positive reaction to the two guards that approached, though for different reasons. Raven in particular was still struggling to understand how two members of their military were that out of breath after that short of a run. Isn't being in shape an essential requirement for service? She brushed that thought away quickly enough however. Their lack of proper fitness was nowhere near a crucial thing right now. "No." Raven bluntly refused their demand, fishing out her scroll and showing the pair her license. "Huntresses have jurisdiction over all things grimm-related. So." One hand spun around and ended with index finger extended as she pointed casually up at the giant frozen beast that had been treating their base like a breakfast buffet.

"Explain."

The less winded of the guards respectfully slapped the license out of her hand. "To do so would disregard a direct order from a superior officer in a hierarchy you do not belong to MA'AM!"

"...W-Wait... Jaxter..."

"USING MY REAL NAME TO UNDERMINE ME! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PLAYING AT, BAXTER?!"

"...Hours since... last orders. No word since... gate sealed... What if... never... orders... again..." He actually seemed to be getting more out of breath rather than less.

Jaxter looked down at Baxter with lips parted in shock. Such an unreal thought hadn't even crossed his mind before now.

"Maybe they... can help-"

He collapsed. There wasn't any foul play to it or anything, he was just seriously that exhausted. Jaxter let his disposition grow serious at his comrade's rallying words, pushing his visor down with a sudden increased air of gravity.

"...Very well. I'll tell you everything I know. The base... is under attack."

His hand curled into a fist.

That was all.​