Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[MyrtenRose]

"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 just 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"

"...Oh." That wasn't good news, and if it wasn't a fortress palace full of people who thought of her as a traitor and had taken her down with ease, Ilia would have absolutely turned on her heel and marched back in to demand the freedom of both/try to free them herself. She was still sorely tempted to do so, mind you, but she didn't actually move from where she was standing.​

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."

"..." Ilia didn't know how to feel about that request. On the one hand, she had no love lost for Weiss Schnee, at least not the one that existed on this world. Especially not after being personally taken captive by her and everything that had happened as a result of that. But on the opposite hand...it was a member of the Shadow Fang asking her that. Even if she was nicer than most. They were still terrorists and killers allied with the definition of the word monster. Ilia didn't have a squeaky clean past herself, but...

The chameleon lowered her head towards the ground, eyes flittering back and forth as her thoughts internally warred with themselves. It was a ferocious battle indeed, but not a long one. After about fifteen seconds of silence, she lifted her gaze back up to the snake.​

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."

"Agreements like that are built on trust. So if you want to come with...I need to know how it is you all knew what Tock had said. When you warned her that if she didn't have the ship land where you demanded, she might have been better off against an Atlesian fleet. Tell me that, and I'll consider it. Oh and don't keep Tock in your dungeon, if that's where she's at." If the croc wanted to stay, for whatever reason, that was her choice. But the thought of a faunus in chains, for not doing anything...​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"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?!"​

Neo whirled on Mercury with a look of wild rage as her wrist was snatched, and she showed just how much trigger discipline she had when Watts' pistol went off into the dirt a few feet away with an explosion of fire. The words only reached her ears in scattered pieces.

'I'm not acting like myself'

She knew that, deep down, but she didn't know how to act like herself. Just because Mercury wanted well wanted was a strong term to have a conversation about this now didn't mean that she was able to; She couldn't untangle any of the thorns that were choking her heart with words, with the questions she wanted to ask or the things she wanted to say, because she couldn't. Because the person who was supposed to wasn't here anymore.

'So just shoot your friends??? Where's the A to B there?'

She didn't want to! She didn't want any of this, she didn't want to hate Vernal, She didn't want to be mad at Cinder, she didn't even wanna know who Yang Xiao Long was! But she'd pulled the cork on everything she'd been stewing in since the second Torchwick took his last breath, and all the horrible emotions were gushing out like pus from a wound. If she didn't give it any direction then it was just going to drown her.

'Maybe its better if I just do that'

No. no that... she was too angry to just curl up and die! Someone needed to hurt, someone had to join her on the ground, to feel anything close to what she was feeling, even if she had to... had to put them there herself. She couldn't just tell them how she felt, so they needed to feel it, everyone did, no one deserved anything better it... she...

'You sound like even more of a monster than she did'

"..."

The rage on Neo's face slowly started to crack, and she looked over to where Watts was being helped up by Cinder. She turned back to Mercury with an utterly helpless, despondant look in her eyes. This was so much worse than the rage. She tried to find it, the anger she'd felt just moments ago, to take Mercury up on his challenge, to try and blame him just as much as she did herself for what happened, but it slipped through her fingers like sand. The breakdown she'd been trying to stave off with apathy and then fury finally consumed her, and Watts' pistol fell out of her hand as she started to shake.

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?”

Watts gasped for hair as the ice came off his head, and he slowly sat up with a wince and a dark glare towards Neo as Cinder helped him. It... wasn't a glare he could hold as he saw the state she was in, and meeting Cinder's eyes wasn't any easier when she looked like that. Not with what he was about to say. He sighed and clasped his hands together loosely across his knees, instead choosing to stare off into space as he answered his partner's question, the events of today, of a week ago, and of Beacon still painfully fresh in his mind

"Now? Now that's it, Cinder. Now we're done. We go home."

it was a grim declaration, but a firm one.

 

[MyrtenRose]

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!"

Ruby looked rapidly back and forth from Raven and that guard, a concerned expression on her face. This Raven may not have been as powerful, or as self-centered, as the Raven from back home but she sure could glower just like her. For the sake of relieving tension and possibly preventing any unnecessary violence, Ruby quickly snatched up the scroll where it had clattered to the ground after being smacked and gingerly slipped it back into Raven's hand. The older huntress was still scowling, but she wasn't making any moves for a fight so Ruby just chalked that up to a mission accomplished.
​

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

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

Wait...Jaxter and Baxter...?

Despite the seriousness of the situation she couldn't help herself.
​

"...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.

That was more than enough...for Raven to write these two off as nothing but complete morons, absolute embarrassments to the uniform. The more experienced huntress just reached out for the one who had told her that oh so very little amount of information, unknowingly replicating the same exact thing her brother from another world had once done.

"Out of the way, idiot." She growled as she stepped past them to go find the commanding officer herself. Hopefully they would be of more use. Ruby gave them an apologetic shrug before she followed, jogging up after.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Agreements like that are built on trust. So if you want to come with...I need to know how it is you all knew what Tock had said. When you warned her that if she didn't have the ship land where you demanded, she might have been better off against an Atlesian fleet. Tell me that, and I'll consider it. Oh and don't keep Tock in your dungeon, if that's where she's at." If the croc wanted to stay, for whatever reason, that was her choice. But the thought of a faunus in chains, for not doing anything...​

Snake let out a quiet hum as she regarded Ilia before she shook her head.

"Unfortunately, I can't agree to one of those. Miss Jade is one of Salem's most dangerous enforcers, the woman we just had a long conversation on our opinions about. And perhaps this is judgemental of me, to decide so quickly, but she doesn't seem like the sort of person who'll just behave herself if we asked nicely" she drawled, though there was a note of appreciation to it before her seriousness returned. " She can leave, or she can be somewhere that won't make her a danger to those under our command... Is what Sienna would say, anyways. What you ask is something out of my control." She said with a helpless shrug as she turned around in the direction they'd come.

"So if you needed both of those terms, I'll merely confess my disappointment and find my own way to Atlas. If it was just the first, however..." She didn't start to leave yet, a sly smile on her face as she met Ilia's eyes.

"...I can certainly oblige. Information is something Sienna's given me leave to gain and give as I please, and this little bit is even somewhat personal to you. Its the same way we knew you were at the CCT tower."

 

[MyrtenRose]

Watts gasped for air as the ice came off his head, and he slowly sat up with a wince and a dark glare towards Neo as Cinder helped him. It... wasn't a glare he could hold as he saw the state she was in, and meeting Cinder's eyes wasn't any easier when she looked like that. Not with what he was about to say. He sighed and clasped his hands together loosely across his knees, instead choosing to stare off into space as he answered his partner's question, the events of today, of a week ago, and of Beacon still painfully fresh in his mind

"Now? Now that's it, Cinder. Now we're done. We go home."

it was a grim declaration, but a firm one.

"...Home? You mean...just go back to Beacon?" Cinder questioned, some life drifting back into her eye, if only out of confusion. She was not sure exactly what he was trying to say. Why would they go back there, now of all times?​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Ruby looked rapidly back and forth from Raven and that guard, a concerned expression on her face. This Raven may not have been as powerful, or as self-centered, as the Raven from back home but she sure could glower just like her. For the sake of relieving tension and possibly preventing any unnecessary violence, Ruby quickly snatched up the scroll where it had clattered to the ground after being smacked and gingerly slipped it back into Raven's hand. The older huntress was still scowling, but she wasn't making any moves for a fight so Ruby just chalked that up to a mission accomplished.



Wait...Jaxter and Baxter...?

Despite the seriousness of the situation she couldn't help herself.



That was more than enough...for Raven to write these two off as nothing but complete morons, absolute embarrassments to the uniform. The more experienced huntress just reached out for the one who had told her that oh so very little amount of information, unknowingly replicating the same exact thing her brother from another world had once done.

"Out of the way, idiot." She growled as she stepped past them to go find the commanding officer herself. Hopefully they would be of more use. Ruby gave them an apologetic shrug before she followed, jogging up after.

The two seemed completely oblivious to any awkwardness or frustration their behavior was causing.

"HUP HUP HUP HUP-"

"ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS-"

They chanted as they kept pace with their own bombastic jogs, thoroughly winded again by the time they reached the bunker's sealed blast doors. Jaxter's hand suddenly shot up from his hip as if brandishing a gun, but it was just a keycard.

"Wait."

The stiff voice of resolve that spoke up from behind them had both Atlesian guards clap their hands to their cheeks in awe, unable to believe what they were seeing.

"DISGRACED FORMER GENERAL IRONWOOD!!!!"

"GENERAL IRONWOOD, SIR!"

"..."

"..."

Spoiler

While the two worked that out among themselves, Ironwood opted to completely ignore them as he joined Raven and Ruby in his calm stride. He nodded back up the walkway, where a juncture midway across led off to the aircraft-bearing helipad.

"I have a responsibility to the men and women inside, but neither of you two do. You should go prepare-" Implied meaning: steal "-a manta while I figure out what's going on. It seems the Grimm presence here is neutralized either way."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Snake let out a quiet hum as she regarded Ilia before she shook her head.

"Unfortunately, I can't agree to one of those. Miss Jade is one of Salem's most dangerous enforcers, the woman we just had a long conversation on our opinions about. And perhaps this is judgemental of me, to decide so quickly, but she doesn't seem like the sort of person who'll just behave herself if we asked nicely. She can leave, or she can be somewhere that won't make her a danger to those under our command... Is what Sienna would say, anyways. What you ask is something out of my control." She said with a helpless shrug as she turned around in the direction they'd come.

"So if you needed both of those terms, I'll merely confess my disappointment and find my own way to Atlas. If it was just the first, however..." She didn't start to leave yet, a sly smile on her face as she met Ilia's eyes.

"...I can certainly oblige. Information is something Sienna's given me leave to gain and give as I please, and this little bit is even somewhat personal to you. Its the same way we knew you were at the CCT tower."

"Well, then go ask Sienna for permission or whatever then!" Ilia replied in frustration. "You have a whole fortress full of people and you're telling me you can't control one person??" Ilia shook her head, but added less confrontationally. "And I didn't need both, only the one about how you knew that. I just am not particularly fond of picturing our kind locked away like that. Surely you understand that?" The look on her face as she listened to what Snake said after, was one that grew more confused yet also curious. "Personal? How...what do you mean? How'd you know that too?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

The two seemed completely oblivious to any awkwardness or frustration their behavior was causing.

"HUP HUP HUP HUP-"

"ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS-"

They chanted as they kept pace with their own bombastic jogs, thoroughly winded again by the time they reached the bunker's sealed blast doors. Jaxter's hand suddenly shot up from his hip as if brandishing a gun, but it was just a keycard.​

"Oh for the love of--" ​

"Wait."

The stiff voice of resolve that spoke up from behind them had both Atlesian guards clap their hands to their cheeks in awe, unable to believe what they were seeing.

"DISGRACED FORMER GENERAL IRONWOOD!!!!"

"GENERAL IRONWOOD, SIR!"

"..."

"..."

Spoiler

While the two worked that out among themselves, Ironwood opted to completely ignore them as he joined Raven and Ruby in his calm stride. He nodded back up the walkway, where a juncture midway across led off to the aircraft-bearing helipad.

"I have a responsibility to the men and women inside, but neither of you two do. You should go prepare-" Implied meaning: steal "-a manta while I figure out what's going on. It seems the Grimm presence here is neutralized either way."

"...Your call." Raven conceded, happy to get away from these two and the nightmarish possibility that there were more like them inside. She started that way, with Ruby following a moment or two later, after giving the general a respectful nod. Even though she had no idea how to prepare a manta at all. Raven did though, presumably...hopefully.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

The rage on Neo's face slowly started to crack, and she looked over to where Watts was being helped up by Cinder. The revolver fell out of her hand, and she turned back to Mercury with an utterly helpless, despondant look in her eyes. This was so much worse than the rage. She tried to find the anger she'd felt moments ago, to take Mercury up on his challenge, to try and blame him just as much as she did herself for what happened, but it slipped through her fingers like sand. The breakdown she'd been trying to stave off with apathy and then fury finally consumed her, and Watts' pistol fell out of her hand as she started to shake.

If it was any consolation, Mercury found it much worse than the rage too.

A look of alarm flickered across his face as his unwavering tough-love approach elicited a reaction entirely different than the one he anticipated, on some level the one he even hoped for. His eyes were slightly wider, his tone not quite as ironclad, but old man Marcus didn't raise no quitter, and after a moment of uncertain staring he redoubled his efforts with a voice raised to let anger mask any other emotions seeping their way in.

"...What, gonna cry now?! Maybe you can't answer, but I KNOW you heard what I just said! Looking for someone to blame? Why waste the time when we both know he's RIGHT HERE!" A blend of resentment, frustration and genuine pain burst through the front he was putting up to spike his voice with actual, unfeigned emotion, though none of it was actually directed at Neo as he jabbed a thumb into his own chest. "C'mon! Hit me! It's my fault you feel this way, I was supposed to have his back it's my fault he's DEAD, SO HIT ME! I DESERVE IT! I RUINED YOUR LIFE! DON'T YOU DARE CRY JUST HIT ME!"

He never relinquished the grip on her wrist, even gave it an aggressive shake or two in a final desperate bid to shake loose the correct emotions, the ones Neo had every right to be feeling. So long as they were directed at the right person, someone who was actually to blame. Him.

He could face Neo being mad at him, even hating him. He could square his jaw and endure the righteous beatdown she quite frankly owed him.

But when he saw her start shaking, every single atom of Mercury Black knew he couldn't endure what was about to happen next, because of him, because he screwed up, and with a final jerk of the wrist he held he tried desperately to rattle Neo's emotional state back to something he knew how to process, eyes flared wide and stinging.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...Your call." Raven conceded, happy to get away from these two and the nightmarish possibility that there were more like them inside. She started that way, with Ruby following a moment or two later, after giving the general a respectful nod. Even though she had no idea how to prepare a manta at all. Raven did though, presumably...hopefully.

Ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

"...How long'd he say he'd be gone again?" Qrow ventured, the stare he held on the one-time fortress and current twisted sculpture of Atlesian military power succumbing to Grimm a thoughtful one.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

"...How long'd he say he'd be gone again?" Qrow ventured, the stare he held on the one-time fortress and current twisted sculpture of Atlesian military power succumbing to Grimm a thoughtful one.​

"He didn't." Raven acknowledged with a sigh, her patience nearing its end too. "Figure I should open a portal to him and poke a head through to check?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"He didn't." Raven acknowledged with a sigh, her patience nearing its end too. "Figure I should open a portal to him and poke a head through to check?"

"...Something just seems a little off."

Kraken notwithstanding.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"...Are you... *gulp* the Harriet I know or are you the one that's already from here?"

Harriet had been watching Yang from a distance. She'd figured that if she were assigned to keep an eye on this chick, better she never even know Harriet was around. Then when she messed up or tried doing something she shouldn't have been trying, BAM!

She'd rush in faster than lightning and chew her ass out. Maybe Schnee would even grant her a compliment.

...No way that was happening now.

Whatever anger Harriet may have had quickly faded away and was replaced with a quirked eyebrow.

"If I said yes, would you explain how you managed to trash an entire kitchen? Because, believe me, I'm dying to know-"
​

"This... This is just boorish, immature, unhelpful, ungrateful, uncooperative and BRATTY, Yang. I hope you're very proud of yourself."

Harriet grew stiff as a board as Weiss entered.

Whatever her two cents on the new maiden were, Harriet didn't let them bleed into her work. That'd be unprofessional and she was a goddamn Ace.
​

"It's funny, since if I'm not mistaken the reason for you being here in the first place was to prevent her from doing things like this. I thought you were supposed to be quick on the uptake? What were you even doing before you ran in here just now? Were you running all around the manor, looking for her?"

Needless to say that it wasn't an easy task however.

"I..."

Nope. Any attempt an excuse would be shot down and she'd be reprimanded for backtalk.

"...You're right. My deepest apologies, Councilwoman Schnee."
​

"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."

Well, at least she wasn't going to get stuck with clean up duty-

​

"...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."

With all due respect, Schnee, how is an enemy considered a guest-
​

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

-THERE IT WAS!

Ugh, she was a soldier, not somebody's maid!

Still, this was her role and she'd do it. Giving a salute, Harriet held it until she was sure Weiss was gone.


" 'I'll just get right on it, Councilwoman Schnee!' Ugh..."

Harriet sheepishly leaned from one foot to the other.

"Was assigned to keep an eye on you. Just like Schnee said and I was thinking that if I kept an eye on you from afar, things would be good. Guess that didn't exactly pan out." Looking at the bowl of cereal, Harriet sighed.

"...If you need anything, just ask. I'll see what I can do. You still hungry or are you gonna be content with just cereal?"

It pissed Harriet off to have to 'baby' an enemy like this but what choice did she have? She'd never hear the end of it if Weiss complained about her behavior/performance.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"...Something just seems a little off."

Kraken notwithstanding.​

"Leave it to me." The other Raven spoke up, interrupting her counterpart before she could even open her mouth to reply. The helmeted maiden pushed off where she had been leaning against the ship and started forward. Her head angled pointedly towards Qrow for a moment, infinitely grateful that her expression was hidden away behind her helm. His explosively angry rant, how badly just listening to it had broken her, it...​

"WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT OF YOU, RAVEN!? WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST BE WORTH A DAMN?!"

...the experience was still fresh on her mind. "...Least I can do." She admitted quietly before continuing on. Besides, just sitting here waiting wasn't doing any of them any favors. Better to personally check it out than to waste time just waiting around. Though she eschewed any use of portals, given she couldn't open one to James directly and she had no desire to rely on her double. Instead her purposeful stride took her closer to wherever the two guards were standing...and she simply straight up laid out the one with the keycard with a single punch(and another for his friend, if the guy objected) before she took said keycard, approached the door into the base, used the card and slipped inside once the door opened. Time to find their dear general and/or figure out why he was taking so long.

Ruby watched her go, but once she was out of sight, her gaze moved up to the rock solid grimm kraken. "...Uncle Qrow?"​

 

[MidwayLives]

"...Home? You mean...just go back to Beacon?" Cinder questioned, some life drifting back into her eye, if only out of confusion. She was not sure exactly what he was trying to say. Why would they go back there, now of all times?

Tyrian didn't join in on the attack on Vernal.

He had told Hazel before but fighting just didn't feel the same without his tail. It was always there as an option if Tyrian needed it. Not that it would have helped in the fight against a monster like Carneilan but it'd have made Tyrian feel better.

Didn't mean he did a damn thing to stop it though.

He looked away from the group at large and spoke.

"He means it's over, Cinder."

Tyrian's tail drooped.

"WTCH is done."


​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Tyrian didn't join in on the attack on Vernal.

He had told Hazel before but fighting just didn't feel the same without his tail. It was always there as an option if Tyrian needed it. Not that it would have helped in the fight against a monster like Carneilan but it'd have made Tyrian feel better.

Didn't mean he did a damn thing to stop it though.

He looked away from the group at large and spoke.

"He means it's over, Cinder."

Tyrian's tail drooped.

"WTCH is done."​

Her stare had pulled away from Arthur and towards the scorpion when Tyrian chimed in. "...Over? Done?" She repeated. Oh. Oh.

When the full weight of that sunk in to the young maiden, her eye had returned to look at her partner. Now it made all the sense. The way he had said it, the way he had avoided looking at her while saying it...now she understood why. Her mouth opened to say something, but no words came out, not even so much as a single sound either. No matter how hard she struggled, whatever feelings she wanted to give words to, they just...got stuck in her throat. Maybe it was shock. Perhaps it was the lingering rage that kept her from speaking. Or maybe it was that...deep down...she found herself thinking that maybe that was the right call.

Her mind was racing with plenty of thoughts, far too many to think deeply about, but a lot of it was just extra fluff on a few major sentiments. Everything at Beacon, including the loss of one of her eyes. How badly Tyrian had been hurt at Haven. What Mercury had just done. The beyond angry look, the intense glare that promised a lot of pain that Neo had just been directing, at her, the look she had been trying so desperately hard to not think about. How...how Roman was no longer even here at all. How she hadn't been there for him in the end...an end that came because, perhaps, the simple truth of it was that none of them were ready. Not for the enormity of the task ahead of them and all it could potentially cost them. That maybe everything had a reason for happening, and all this pain was because they truly weren't prepared for these stakes, that they were not fit for the battles ahead. Not yet.

That as she was right now, she was just too weak. Nothing more than a foolish child, not strong enough. Not hardened enough, not tough enough.

Her mouth slowly slid shut, the borderline dead look in her single eye returned in full force and then some. Her gaze shifted from Arthur, to Tyrian, to Hazel, to Mercury, to Emerald, to Neo. Friends, one and all. Good ones, no, great ones. Her eye lingered on each for a good while, as if she was committing every inch of every face to her memory. When her gaze returned to Arthur, her mouth opened after a moment and this time a word did come out. "Okay." She agreed, without even a hint of the incredibly cheerful optimism that her voice normally carried. After the word had completely faded away in the air around them, she turned her back on all of them and started walking away, once again making her way for the gate out of the abandoned bandit camp. She didn't think there was anything left to say, and she...hated goodbyes.

Home?

No, she was never going back there. She couldn't. If she did, what she imagined her dad might do to her for leaving in the first place...she feared that by the end of it, all the things she saw as the best parts of herself might have been gone, forever buried under a mountain of hatred and pain. But as much as she never wanted, never planned to go back there, as shitty growing up there had been...she admitted it had at least given her some things.

One of them being earned from all her years spent hunting on behalf of her parents, going out into the woods on quiet mornings and bringing home the meals for them to stuff their cruel faces with. She knew how to track. She desperately hoped that would be enough to find the other maiden that had just run when her back had been against the wall, having chosen flight over fight. She had to find her. Absolutely had to. Not just for herself, not only for her friends, but for everyone in the world out there who could suffer at his hands, who might have been suffering right this moment even. To all the people that were knowingly or unknowingly counting on her.

She would become strong enough. She would become as tough as necessary to see this through to the end. She'd never be weak again.

She vowed it.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Ruby watched her go, but once she was out of sight, her gaze moved up to the rock solid grimm kraken. "...Uncle Qrow?"

"I have no idea." He answered succinctly, speaking more towards Raven's new helpful attitude than the unusual monster or its petrified state. Though he was pretty sure those types of Grimm practically never came anywhere close to the shoreline. Attacking a ferry or fishing boat, sure. Attacking a military outpost just off the coast of Argus? Something definitely felt off about the whole charade.

He thought about going in too, then remembered the racist old lady who ran this place and thought again.

Meanwhile, after a long and healthy dialogue in which they discussed their differences and ultimately agreed to disagree, the two guards were guarding the base entrance with a much more fulfilled and confident outlook.

Instead her purposeful stride took her closer to wherever the two guards were standing...and she simply straight up laid out the one with the keycard with a single punch(and another for his friend, if the guy objected) before she took said keycard, approached the door into the base, used the card and slipped inside once the door opened. Time to find their dear general and/or figure out why he was taking so long.

Spoiler

As Raven stepped over their limp bodies and unsealed the doors, her first instincts were not to go any further. It was hard to say why. Maybe it was just her bandit self-preservation impulse trying to dissuade her from this single act of decency, maybe it was the stark, unsettling silence that came from the metallic corridor of what should've been a busy military base, or maybe it was the faint note of copper carried by the stale air rushing through the doors to meet her. Whatever it was, if she managed to stave off her overly(?) developed survival instincts and delved inside she eventually turned a corner to find-



Bodies.

About two dozen of them strewn across something as mundane and everyday as an admin area. Just under half were soldiers. The blood painting the walls had long since dried, and rigor mortis had set in where a number of the cadavers appeared to have been posed as if they were still alive and working, suspended by cords, wires, and even simple neckties and shoelaces in ways that almost looked like they were supposed to be comedic. It was like something out of a grim, twisted taxidermy gallery, and every last one of their expressions-- From the most civilian of interns and receptionists to the hardest Atlesian soldier-- were contorted and frozen with terror.

What Raven's survival instincts made of that, only she could say.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"I have no idea." He answered succinctly, speaking more towards Raven's new helpful attitude than the unusual monster or its petrified state. Though he was pretty sure those types of Grimm practically never came anywhere close to the shoreline. Attacking a ferry or fishing boat, sure. Attacking a military outpost just off the coast of Argus? Something definitely felt off about the whole charade.

He thought about going in too, then remembered the racist old lady who ran this place and thought again.

“It’s weird, right?? That’s what I did to the dragon, and the leviathan, but...obviously I didn’t do this one.” She remarked, still looking at the frozen grimm. “And I don’t think the other me would either, I mean...as sad as it is, she’s on that side. Why would she even...? No, it can’t be her. I don’t think. But then...who?”​

As Raven stepped over their limp bodies and unsealed the doors, her first instincts were not to go any further. It was hard to say why. Maybe it was just her bandit self-preservation impulse trying to dissuade her from this single act of decency, maybe it was the stark, unsettling silence that came from the metallic corridor of what should've been a busy military base, or maybe it was the faint note of copper carried by the stale air rushing through the doors to meet her. Whatever it was, if she managed to stave off her overly(?) developed survival instincts and delved inside she eventually turned a corner to find-


Bodies.

About two dozen of them strewn across something as mundane and everyday as an admin area. Just under half were soldiers. The blood painting the walls had long since dried, and rigor mortis had set in where a number of the cadavers appeared to have been posed as if they were still alive and working, suspended by cords, wires, and even simple neckties and shoelaces in ways that almost looked like they were supposed to be comedic. It was like something out of a grim, twisted taxidermy gallery, and every last one of their expressions-- From the most civilian of interns and receptionists to the hardest Atlesian soldier-- were contorted and frozen with terror.

What Raven's survival instincts made of that, only she could say.

...Violence was not something foreign to her. She was greatly used to it. It had been a part of her life from even a young age. Hell, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say she had been born into a violent lifestyle. Her early days as a part of the tribe, her time at Beacon with those four years spent learning how to kill grimm...and more than that. The period of her life where she trusted Ozpin, worked with the rest of her team under him. More than that, both her and her brother in particular serving as his eyes and ears out there, thanks to their special gift. And then when she left that life begins to return to the tribe.

In all that time, she’d seen plenty of horrible things. Terrifying sights. And more than her fair share of violence. It wasn’t something that easily unnerved her.

Yet, barely seconds after stepping into the place, with the door sealing itself again behind her...every honed instinct was telling her to turn back around. In the eerie silence, they seemed even louder in contrast. And even through her helmet she could smell the faint tinge in the air. Yet she willfully ignored the instincts. She refused to be seen as that cowardly, scared off by the quiet and a smell lingering in the air. She pressed on.

And when she turned a corner, she found not Ironwood, but...that.

More than 20 corpses, from a rough count. Several were strewn up, in poses and positions that seemed...purposefully done. Like someone had been trying to make...art.

She couldn’t say she felt nauseous, looking at it. She had been a bandit tribe leader, after all. Murder, robbery, it was a part of that life. But not even the most vicious among them had ever gone this far with it. They did what they did, took what they needed, out of survival. This...this was something else. It didn’t make her sick, but it did up her level of caution by a few notches. Even if the blood staining the walls indicated it had been quite some time.

One hand stayed on her sword hilt at all times, while the other fished into one of her pockets and withdrew her old scroll from her Beacon days. Instantly she called her brother, and whether he picked up or let it just go to voicemail, the message was the same. “Qrow. You need to see this. Alone. Now.” The edge in her voice left no room for argument. Neither did the fact that she ended the call immediately after the final word.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

“It’s weird, right?? That’s what I did to the dragon, and the leviathan, but...obviously I didn’t do this one.” She remarked, still looking at the frozen grimm. “And I don’t think the other me would either, I mean...as sad as it is, she’s on that side. Why would she even...? No, it can’t be her. I don’t think. But then...who?”

"Could be another silver-eyed huntsman or huntress was in the area..."

Qrow slowly lowered the scroll from his ear, features taut with wariness and a touch of concern as he glanced over towards the base.

"...could be something else. Keep the engine running."

He stood up, a brief moment taken to stretch out his lower back before he made his way towards the blast doors with long, bendy strides. Barely a reaction was spared for the two unconscious foot soldiers as he casually stepped over their prone forms, but as Raven heard his ambling footsteps draw nearer and the huntsman plodded around the corner the same couldn't be said.

"WHOA! What the hell?!"

There was a limit to the depravity a creature of Grimm could inflict, and even by the standards of Salem's worst agents back in the sensible world this seemed like a lot. The shock on his face slowly dulled as he cast a sickened look around the room, not quite hardened enough in the face of mass slaughter like his sister was to not be affected by the absolutely deranged creative scope of what he was seeing. He flipped his cloak and drew Harbinger in an instant, turning away before Raven could make a comment or something about how rattled he looked.

"Place is completely locked down. Grimm-proof blast doors on all sides, 'cept for the one we just opened. Whatever did this... they're still down here."

What happened next was sudden, as if the base deigned to speak in reply. Despite the constant hum of energy ensuring the base's equipment remained operational, a light way down the far end of an adjacent corridor had been flickering, and Qrow's sentence was barely out of his mouth when it suddenly burst in a shower of glass and sparks, plunging it and the connecting room into the depths of darkness.

Something clattered faintly in that darkness, and the two barely got a glimpse of two tiny glowing pinpricks of light at the center of the room beyond, seemingly just hovering there of their own accord. Hardly a second passed before they vanished completely, and whether it was paranoia, a trick of the light or something else in that moment it occurred to the twins what they kind of looked like.

Eyes.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"WHOA! What the hell?!"

There was a limit to the depravity a creature of Grimm could inflict, and even by the standards of Salem's worst agents back in the sensible world this seemed like a lot. The shock on his face slowly dulled as he cast a sickened look around the room, not quite hardened enough in the face of mass slaughter like his sister was to not be affected by the absolutely deranged creative scope of what he was seeing. He flipped his cloak and drew Harbinger in an instant, turning away before Raven could make a comment or something about how rattled he looked.

"Exactly." Raven bluntly stated as she rose back up to standing from her knelt position nearer to one of the corpses, where she had been inspecting it more closely. The sheer terror permanently etched onto the face. She caught only a glimpse of her brother's expression when she glanced his way, and it was unclear if that had been enough time for her to recognize the look on his face. She didn't disparage it or call it out at any rate. This serious situation was no time for flippant comments, as far as she was concerned.​

"Place is completely locked down. Grimm-proof blast doors on all sides, 'cept for the one we just opened. Whatever did this... they're still down here."

"..." Her body tensed up even more than it already been. That had not crossed her mind, her focus having been more on the dead bodies themselves than on any thoughts of the perpetrator behind the massacre, but upon hearing him say that...she feared there was a strong likelihood that he was correct with the statement. And so is Ironwood, the general is somewhere around here. Our ticket into Solitas.​

What happened next was sudden, as if the base deigned to speak in reply. Despite the constant hum of energy ensuring the base's equipment remained operational, a light way down the far end of an adjacent corridor had been flickering, and Qrow's sentence was barely out of his mouth when it suddenly burst in a shower of glass and sparks, plunging it and the connecting room into the depths of darkness.

Something clattered faintly in that darkness, and the two barely got a glimpse of two tiny glowing pinpricks of light at the center of the room beyond, seemingly just hovering there of their own accord. Hardly a second passed before they vanished completely, and whether it was paranoia, a trick of the light or something else in that moment it occurred to the twins what they kind of looked like.

Eyes.

The burst of the light down one hallway got her head to snap over in that direction, and for the briefest of moments she saw something down there. Or rather, what appeared to be somebody. She couldn't explain why but she felt that what she had seen were a pair of eyes. Staring their way. Her head shifted to the side to share a look with her twin, helmet tilted like she was asking if he had seen that without actually asking. A second later though her vision was locked back down that corridor as she took a step closer that way. She clicked on her weapon and the sheath responded, whirring softly as it supplied a new blade.

When she pulled Omen free, it was red in color as she swung it. A blast of fire launched itself out of the end of the blade and down that hallway. Behind her helmet her eyes flared, focused on making the burst of fire dust swell in size and illuminate the dark to a much greater degree. To see if someone really was down there.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

The burst of the light down one hallway got her head to snap over in that direction, and for the briefest of moments she saw something down there. Or rather, what appeared to be somebody. She couldn't explain why but she felt that what she had seen were a pair of eyes. Staring their way. Her head shifted to the side to share a look with her twin, helmet tilted like she was asking if he had seen that without actually asking. A second later though her vision was locked back down that corridor as she took a step closer that way. She clicked on her weapon and the sheath responded, whirring softly as it supplied a new blade.

When she pulled Omen free, it was red in color as she swung it. A blast of fire launched itself out of the end of the blade and down that hallway. Behind her helmet her eyes flared, focused on making the burst of fire dust swell in size and illuminate the dark to a much greater degree. To see if someone really was down there.

Qrow just raised his eyebrow in faux enthusiasm in response, confirming his own thoughts mirrored hers. The wave of fire sliced down the hallway and illuminated mostly nothing, but Raven caught a glimpse of the light glinting off something shiny through a crack in the door towards the very end of the hall before it abruptly slammed shut.

"Woooow." Qrow drawled in mock wonder as she attacked nothing.

Spoiler

 

[MyrtenRose]

Qrow just raised his eyebrow in faux enthusiasm in response, confirming his own thoughts mirrored hers. The wave of fire sliced down the hallway and illuminated mostly nothing, but Raven caught a glimpse of the light glinting off something shiny through a crack in the door towards the very end of the hall before it abruptly slammed shut.

"Woooow." Qrow drawled in mock wonder as she attacked nothing.
​

She scowled as she started striding down the dark corridor. “Shut your face, I saw something.” She hissed in the temperamental tone of an exasperated older sister. What little was left of the flames after they impacted the far end were more akin to candles, barely lighting up the darkness.

When she got to the other end of the hallway, more specifically that door...she hesitated for a few seconds. Her instincts were still going haywire but she was fighting even harder to ignore them, now that she was in the presence of her brother. Her impudent twin.

“...” She turned around to face him, assuming he had followed behind as she gestured to the door. “You want to do the honors?”​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Well, then go ask Sienna for permission or whatever then!" Ilia replied in frustration. "You have a whole fortress full of people and you're telling me you can't control one person??" Ilia shook her head, but added less confrontationally. "And I didn't need both, only the one about how you knew that. I just am not particularly fond of picturing our kind locked away like that. Surely you understand that?" The look on her face as she listened to what Snake said after, was one that grew more confused yet also curious. "Personal? How...what do you mean? How'd you know that too?"​

"A fortress full of people who we've promised to keep safe from Salem's monsters" she clarified helpfully. "Of which, despite her rugged charm and soft heart, miss Jade certainly numbers among"

She brightened considerably as Ilia clarified herself, and the umbrella that had been subtly hooked around her arms and out of sight against the folds of her dress was swung into her hand and popped open as she started to walk forward, walking slightly to the side in case Ilia shared her aversion to the rain and wanted the cover.

"Fantastic. I will speak to Sienna on behalf of Tock before we leave communication range, but I never make a promise that I cannot keep, and for all her virtues the high leader can be frightfully stubborn. But I will try. In regards to your other question..."

She tapped the side of her chin as she looked up, searching for the right words.

"How did she explain this to us again... Tell me; have you ever desperately wanted to understand someone elses perspective? Has it ever been the most important thing in your life?"

 

[Gus Gungus]

She scowled as she started striding down the dark corridor. “Shut your face, I saw something.” She hissed in the temperamental tone of an exasperated older sister. What little was left of the flames after they impacted the far end were more akin to candles, barely lighting up the darkness.

When she got to the other end of the hallway, more specifically that door...she hesitated for a few seconds. Her instincts were still going haywire but she was fighting even harder to ignore them, now that she was in the presence of her brother. Her impudent twin.

“...” She turned around to face him, assuming he had followed behind as she gestured to the door. “You want to do the honors?”​

"That right?"

His delivery was mildly teasing, like he didn't believe her. If Qrow was fighting to suppress any such similar instincts himself, he at least didn't show it as he met the invitation with a cool smirk and stepped over to the door. If nothing else, it was at least a little emboldening to have someone so familiar as a soundboard in the face of such a grisly scenario.

That didn't stop him from making a noise more becoming of his avian form when he kicked the door open and immediately got wiped out by a flying boot from the shadows to the right. "CORDOVIN KICK!!!" A voice boomed in haughty, imperious might, which incidentally was also the only reason Qrow didn't immediately retaliate against the assailant as his brow screwed up with something other than pain.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

That didn't stop him from making a noise more becoming of his avian form when he kicked the door open and immediately got wiped out by a flying boot from the shadows to the right. "CORDOVIN KICK!!!" A voice boomed in haughty, imperious might, which incidentally was also the only reason Qrow didn't immediately retaliate against the assailant as his brow screwed up with something other than pain.

Raven didn’t immediately retaliate either. And despite the grave seriousness of the situation and all the corpses back there...

“...Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

Definitely not spiteful petty laughter in response to ridiculous teasing, not at all.​