章 766: 109
Chapter 109:
"What do you want, Qrow?" growled Taiyang, glaring over the table at his old teammate, once his brother-in-law.
Qrow frowned back, resting a casual elbow on the arm of his chair, staring through the invisible hard-light shield that divided the table, ensuring that neither of them could attack the other. Taiyang was apparently prone to bouts of violence, having been listed as extremely easy to provoke. He couldn't even be trusted to meet with his assigned therapist without the barrier between them. Qrow couldn't deny that he himself was occasionally filled with the desire to clean the stubborn man's clock some either. So, in this case, the barrier was just as much for Taiyang's protection as Qrow's.
"How're your sessions going, Tai?" asked Qrow. "Makin' any progress?"
"There's no progress to be made," insisted Taiyang. "My problem is that you are all conspiring to keep my daughter from me."
"More like protecting her from you," groused Qrow. "You been getting Yang's photos?"
Taiyang grunted, flinching. "Yes," he mumbled. In fact, his therapist always opened their "sessions" by transferring the latest photos Yang had taken over to the basic scroll Taiyang had been supplied with. It was little more than a photo album with a screen, really, incapable of linking with the CCT network, and only able to interact with other scrolls at close range. Taiyang wouldn't admit it, but he went over those pictures every night, before bed. Those photos were the only reason Taiyang would enter the room and speak with the doctor at all.
"Anything jumpin' out at ya?" asked Qrow. "Anything...like, say...how happy Ruby is? I know Yang snaps those pictures when she's smiling her widest, and she's taking quite a few of 'em."
Taiyang grunted. "She's an idiot," he growled. "That won't last."
"Says you," said Qrow. "Yeah, there are tough times for her in the future, but she's even more of a fighter than Summer was, which is sayin' somethin', let me tell you. She's got solid friends by her side. And...she's got even more family than she realized at first."
"More family...?" Taiyang looked up at that, before his eyes widened. "Wait! Don't tell me..."
"Yep," said Qrow, pulling out his scroll, opening it up into tablet mode. He brought up the picture that Yang had taken, then sent to him when she'd learned he was visiting Taiyang. "She finally got to meet Yuki."
Taiyang's hands clenched around the edges of the table as he leaned over, staring at the picture of Ruby and Yukimura hugging each other, Ruby staring up with teary eyes and a loving smile. His lips pulled back, baring his teeth with an angry snarl. The look in Ruby's eyes should have been for him. And yet, all he'd received from her, even going back to before she had run away, had been anger, scorn, defiance, and hostility. He had done everything in his power to ensure that she was safe and secure, and she had rewarded him by throwing all that out the window. And now, here she was, clinging to the one man he had never wanted her to know.
"Now that's what a father and daughter should look like, don't you think?" asked Qrow, glaring over the scroll at Taiyang. "You could've had that, Tai, if you hadn't been such a damn idiot. But you were so dead set in wrapping Ruby up in bubblewrap that you've burned pretty much every bridge the two of you might've had, and you only have yourself to blame for that."
"At least I didn't let her go and get herself killed!" Taiyang snapped back.
"She ain't dead yet," Qrow reminded him.
"But she will be!" Taiyang countered, rising to his feet, leaning forward over the table. "One of these days, she'll get in over her head, just like her mother! She'll go on some mission...and never come back! Then what will you have to say?"
"That she lived the life she was meant to live," Qrow replied firmly. Truth be told, the thought of Ruby suffering the same fate as Summer unsettled him, however much confidence in her strength and skills he expressed outwardly. It was still there, that niggling doubt, squirming quietly in the pit of his stomach. However, letting Ruby grow into the kind of girl she wanted to be, was meant to be, meant accepting that possibility. There was a time when Qrow might have...almost...agreed with Taiyang on that, back when he'd still been searching frantically for his niece's whereabouts.
But, if accepting that possibility meant the chance to see Ruby's real smile, to see her genuinely happy, growing alongside her friends and what family had accepted her course in life, then it was worth the fear and worry. Just like the rest of those who truly cared about her, he would just have to do his best to ensure that she had the skills and strength to make that terrible possibility as remote as possible.
"Bullshit!" shouted Taiyang, in response to Qrow's answer. "You're killing her!"
"No!" snapped Qrow, rising to his feet and glaring at Taiyang. "You were killing her! Maybe you weren't literally stabbing her to death or whatever, but you would've locked her away from the world, kept her 'safe' until her soul rotted away, and she was dead on the inside, staring at you with eyes like glass, because you refused to let her be anything more than a doll for you to play fucking house with."
"Shut up!" snarled Taiyang.
Qrow settled back into his seat. "But I guess you'd be perfectly fine with that, wouldn't you? Six years ago, you stopped caring about her as a person. So it wouldn't really matter to you if she was really alive or not. You could've gutted her and had her stuffed, and that would've been enough for you, wouldn't it?"
"Shut up!" shouted Taiyang, leaning closer to Qrow over the table.
"When are you gonna accept reality, Tai?" asked Qrow. "You need to wake up to what you've been doing, otherwise you'll never be outta here." He moved on the next image, the one he had taken, showing Yang and Ruby both embracing Yukimura. "The girls have their godfather, and you'll never have anything to do with them again, so long as you don't realize how wrong you were."
"I'm not wrong!" Taiyang shouted. "I kept Yukimura away from them for a reason."
"Yeah, so that Ruby could keep being your little doll," said Qrow. "You know, he was gonna sue for custody, probably would've won too. But he held back, 'cause he had faith in your ability to overcome what happened to you. I guess he picked the wrong person to believe in."
An inarticulate growl was all Taiyang had in response.
"I think he and the girls are gonna get along just fine," said Qrow. "So, even without you there, they'll do just fine, not that Ruby had any problems taking care of herself before she found out she had a godfather."
"You came here just to taunt me about that, didn't you?" asked Taiyang.
Qrow closed down his scroll, slipping it back into his pocket. "I thought about it," he said. "You've done a good job of making an ass of yourself, Tai. But I'll admit that it ain't 'cause you're a bad man, deep down. I came here, because I wanted to make sure you knew this is your last chance."
"Last chance for what?" growled Taiyang.
"To actually be Ruby's father, in some capacity," he said. "Things'll never be like they used to be. That ship has sailed. But there is still one little...tiny...puny...minuscule chance that you could see Ruby again, talk with her, and actually have her treat you like family. And the how possible that is depends all on you."
"What do you mean?" asked Taiyang.
Qrow's eyes narrowed. "You're sick, Tai. There's no denying it. You've been in a bad way, ever since Summer died. That ain't entirely your fault. But this has gone beyond grief. If you want to actually see Ruby...with your own eyes...again, you. Need. Help. And this is the place you're gonna get it.
"Those photos that Yang took and sent to you, those are the carrot. The pictures I just showed you...those are the stick. I showed them to show you that the girls don't need you, that they're perfectly capable of moving on in life, without needing you to be there for them, which means the only way you'll be a part of their life is if they want you to be, and your only hope of achieving that is by getting the treatment you need."
"And what's the damn point of that?" asked Taiyang.
"'Cause at least one of those girls still wants you to be a part of their lives," said Qrow. "That's why Yang keeps sending you those pictures, in order to get you to see that Ruby is happier and stronger than she's ever been. If you stopped trying to hold her back, you could be a part of that. The question is how badly you want it. Do you want to be Ruby's father...or her jailer? 'Cause you'll only be one or the other to her."
Taiyang was silent, staring at the table before him.
"My advice is you start actually cooperating in those sessions," said Qrow, pushing away from the table. "Get better, Tai. That's the only hope you have right now...otherwise, you're not leaving here."
The took his leave, the door slamming shut behind him. Taiyang was left alone in the room, staring at the table in silence.
Monday morning was an early one, not that that was any different for them. After months of waking up before sunrise to get some early-morning training in, Team RASP and RYNB awoke with ease. There would be no training this morning, however, seeing as they didn't want to wear themselves out before their missions began.
It was a bit odd to Ruby, waking up with the knowledge that she had a godfather, a man whose job it was to care for her, in place of her parents, who had been prevented from doing that by her biological father. Even with a whole day to get used to the notion, it was still disconcerting...in a good way. She couldn't help but admit that the whole idea made her giddy. Yukimura had been so incredibly warm and kind to her, especially considering how much he had invested in Jaune's outfit. She looked forward to the opportunity to get to know him more, once her team returned from their mission.
Maybe we should pick a shorter one, she thought. Given the nature of their last mission, not to mention the extra missions they had taken before that, Ruby felt that no one would begrudge her and her team picking something a little less dangerous, that they could finish up quickly.
Ironically, this would make it the first normal mission her team and Ren's would be picking for themselves in their first year. Is it weird that I'm so excited over something that simple?
This time, there would be no assembly. Instead, the assembly hall would open after breakfast, with the mission boards displaying the available opportunities, with it being first-come-first-served. Ruby and her friends had all resolved to ensure that they were ready and waiting to get first-pick of the best available missions.
They got dressed, the extra time afforded by skipping on their morning training allowing them to take their time. That time was particularly useful for Jaune, who wasn't used to all the steps required to don his new outfit just yet. Weiss had to help him adjust his coat and armor, once he stepped out of the bathroom, after changing. But it still went fairly quickly. Yukimura had designed all the pieces of Jaune's ensemble to require very little extra work to put on, the armor pieces in particular having been ingeniously designed to be easily snapped together.
They emerged into the hallway and waited for their sister-team. Across from their door, they could hear the voices of their friends on Team RYNB, as the other team worked to get ready for the day. The door opened, and Ren was the first to emerge, naturally. Blake wasn't long after him, with Nora coming out next, and Yang bringing up the rear.
"Ready to debut your new duds, Stud?" asked Yang, grinning mischievously as she took in Jaune's new look.
It was interesting to see all four members of RYNB execute a quick double-take when they saw Jaune again. Sure, they had seen his new outfit on Saturday and Sunday. But they were still used to the sight of him in his armor over a hoody and jeans. Even his own teammates occasionally found themselves staring (and blushing, in Ruby's case) at the sight of him, given the dramatic transformation Jaune's new clothes had wrought.
This would also mark the first time Jaune would be showcasing his new outfit in front of the rest of the student body, he and his friends having mostly kept to themselves for the weekend. He wondered just how the other students would take it. Jaune himself admitted that he felt a little out of place. His new clothes seemed so much...more to him than his previous set, and he still looked at his reflection in the mirror like he was seeing his face on a stranger's body.
"I don't really have a choice either way," he said, in response to Yang.
"You'll do just fine," said Pyrrha, gently clapping his shoulder. "You look wonderful."
"Yep," agreed Ruby emphatically.
They headed down to the dining hall. Given that it was still fairly early, it was sparsely populated, though more-so than usual. They were not the only teams that had gotten the idea of getting a jump on the competition, when it came to choosing available missions. They got in line to load up their trays with a hearty breakfast. Of course, depending on the mission they chose, their departure time could be immediately, in the afternoon, or possibly even a day or more later. But it was better to be well-prepared for whatever laid ahead.
As they got their food and headed towards the table, Ruby could tell that Jaune was already attracting looks, many surprised, quite a few appreciative. Even if they had no idea just how much his new clothes were actually worth, they could definitely see that he had had them made by a professional, and that they had been well-suited to him.
They took their seats, eating and talking, speculating on what kind of missions they might be able to take.
"Holy crap! Jaune! Is that you?"
Jaune lurched, blinking in confusion. Turning in his seat, he saw Coco, and the rest of her team approaching. "H-hey, Coco," he said nervously.
The second-year's response was to flash Jaune an appreciative grin as she and the rest of their team sat down next to RYNB and RASP. "Damn, boy! I knew Yukimura was gonna do good work for you. But it looks like he pulled out all the stops."
"Y-yeah, he really went all-out on me," said Jaune.
"You're not kidding," said Coco, eyeing Jaune's clothes carefully. "You must be more loaded than I thought. Those materials must have cost a fortune."
"W-well, I sorta got a discount on them," Jaune admitted sheepishly.
"Discount...?" Coco blinked.
"Um...Yukimura is...my godfather," explained Ruby. "I just learned that the other day."
"Really!?" exclaimed Coco, standing partly up, before a restraining hand from Velvet pulled her back down. "I had no idea."
"I didn't either," said Ruby, going on to explain the circumstances.
When she finished, Coco and the rest of CFVY digested the information for a moment. "Wow...your dad's a jerk."
"That's putting it mildly," said Ruby, scowling for a brief second.
"On the bright side, Ruby could definitely get you an introduction," commented Fox.
"Shut up!" Coco said quickly a blush appearing on her cheeks.
"What do you mean?" asked Ruby, looking at Fox.
"Coco should say it," said Fox, smirking smugly, leaning back and folding his arms behind his head.
"W-well, you know that I'm a fashionable sort," said Coco, nervously, her current manner completely at odds with her normal confidence.
"We couldn't tell," deadpanned Yang playfully.
"Well, a Huntress should always look her best," said Coco, puffing herself up proudly for a second.
"I think you always look your best," commented Fox, flashing his white teeth in a grin.
"Thank y-..." Coco froze, before glaring sidelong at Fox. "Why do you do that?"
"'Cause it's fun," he replied.
"But what's this about wanting an introduction with my godfather?" said Ruby, not quite sure how she should refer to Yukimura yet.
"Well...once I graduate, I want to get in on the designer end of the business," explained Coco. "I mean, I still want to be a Huntress, but I want to work on designing Huntress and Huntsman outfits. Yukimura is basically my idol. He's a revolutionary in the business. A bunch of the materials he works with, probably including most of the ones he used on Jaune's outfit, are ones he invented himself. I really want to learn the ins and outs of all that."
"If I can help with that, I'd be happy to," said Ruby, smiling widely. "I thought Yukimura would know about that already, since you recommended him to me."
"Well, I've had work done by him," said Coco. "But, since I'm not partners with his goddaughter, I didn't get near as good a discount. But that's beside the point."
"I'm glad," said Ruby. "For a second, when you were talking about 'getting an introduction', I was worried that you wanted to date him. I mean, I know he looks young, but Uncle Qrow says he's almost fifty."
Coco's mouthful of coffee nearly exploded from her mouth, and she had to force a choking swallow as her teammates, and Ruby's other friends, all laughed at her response. "O-of course not," she said, after recovering, before flashing a cheeky smile across the table at Ruby. "Besides, I swing the other way." Her grin widened. "There was a time I was thinking of asking you to introduce me in that way to your cute civilian friend. But I understand she's already taken."
"Is it that obvious?" asked Weiss, averting her eyes nervously.
"To anyone who cares to look closely enough," said Coco, "which isn't that many people, and the ones who do don't care enough about the Schnees to go gossiping about it, so it shouldn't be getting back to your father anytime soon, I think."
"Thank goodness," said Weiss with a sigh. She wasn't so sure though. After all, someone had notified her father that she and Ashley had gone to the dance together. Cinder's cohorts were the prime suspects, but it wasn't something they could be a hundred-percent sure of just yet. There was the off chance that someone else at Beacon was primed to notify Jacques that his daughter was in a relationship with a faunus, should she and Ashley relax their guard too much.
"I think that's enough talking for now," said Yatsuhashi, breaking into the conversation for the first time. "You first-years want to finish early to get first-pick of the missions, right?"
"Yep," said Ruby.
"The assembly hall opens in an hour," said Velvet. "And you can tell you're not the only ones to get that idea. The quicker you finish, the closer to the front of the line you'll be."
That put a bit of a damper on the conversation, RASP and RYNB turning their attention back to their food. They didn't want to rush their eating too much. However, every team that left the dining hall ahead of them was one more between them and their pick of mission, so they did eat a fair bit faster than normal. Just a few minutes later, RASP and RYNB bade their seniors farewell, picking up their trays and taking them to the dishwasher station, before making their way to the assembly hall.
Their early-rising habits had stood them in good stead, and there were only about three teams ahead of them in line for the terminals that they could use for mission selection. There were enough terminals that they would be able to take one immediately, once the hall opened. The downside to their initiative was that they had arrived a good forty-five minutes before the hall actually opened, which left them with a lot of time, and very little to do.
Blake was situated immediately, taking a cross-legged seat on the pavement outside the doors, and pulling out a book for herself. Ren sat down beside her, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes. A minute later, he was dozing lightly. Meanwhile, Yang and Nora pulled out their scrolls to play video games. Weiss and Pyrrha took seats of their own, conversing softly. Ruby and Jaune sat down as well, leaning their backs against one another, taking out their scrolls to follow Yang and Nora's example, playing a cooperative RPG that Jaune was showing her the ropes of.
Time flew by, and soon they were able to enter the hall. Making their way to the terminals, RASP and RYNB searched through the list of available missions.
"How about this one?" asked Ren, pointing to it. "It's a village outside the walls. We'll be shadowing the local sheriff."
"Oooh!" squealed Nora. "That sounds like fun!"
"There's a light-patrol mission in this seaside village," said Pyrrha, pointing to another one. "The mission isn't worth many credits, but it sounds like the scenery will be wonderful."
"And we could do with a little peace and quiet," said Weiss, nodding approvingly.
"I like Ren's idea," said Yang, looking to her partner. "What do you think, Blake?" She paused, noticing that Blake was seemingly closed off from the world, staring at the mission board with all her attention. "...Blake...?"
Yang followed Blake's line of sight, and gasped at the mission that Blake was looking at.
"What is it?" asked Ruby, leaning to look past her sister, before gasping herself.
"White Fang Investigation," read Weiss, her eyebrows going up.
"Seriously? That's an available mission?" asked Jaune, looking up the listing on RASP's terminal incredulously.
"It's open to first-years," noted Weiss. "And it's open to two teams."
According to the report, teams taking the mission would shadow a Huntsman in Aiwendil, who would be looking for evidence of White Fang infiltration of the settlement.
"That's...interesting," said Ruby, frowning, her sense of danger perking at the sight of the mission.
"What do you think, Blake?" asked Ren, looking pointedly at Blake.
"I'm not sure," said Blake, pulling out her scroll and sifting through the network. "Just because Sienna's come to Vale to take control, and has dialed back the White Fang's activities, it stands to reason that the authorities wouldn't stop investigating them." She found what she was looking for on her scroll. "Aiwendil is a settlement to the northeast of Vale. They apparently have a majority-faunus population."
"Um..." Weiss snapped her mouth shut, before she could make an insensitive remark about a mostly-faunus settlement being the perfect hiding place for the White Fang. However, she could tell that Blake already knew what she had been about to say.
"You're not wrong," said Blake with a rueful smile. "Anyplace there are faunus, the White Fang would probably try to make inroads, if only for recruitment purposes. Even settlements like this one, where faunus are the majority, it makes sense that the White Fang would still want to try and recruit them, though I have no idea if they have or not."
"I guess that's what this Huntsman is gonna be there to find out," said Jaune. He scrolled through a few more missions on RASP's terminal. "It's kinda strange though," he added. "You'd think that, if they're gonna look for the White Fang, the investigations would be centered inside the Kingdom. But none of the inner-city missions seem to involve the White Fang."
"It's also displayed so prominently," said Pyrrha, her eyes narrowing. "It's almost tailor-made to jump out at Blake."
"You think it's a trap for Blake or something?" asked Nora worriedly.
"No..." said Blake, after a moment's hesitation, "...not for me."
"For me," said Ruby.
"That's why it's a two-team mission!" gasped Weiss. "Whoever came up with this mission expected Blake to jump on it, and that we would all follow her."
"Are we sure?" asked Pyrrha. "I mean...this is assuming a little much, isn't it?"
"It all lines up though," said Ren. "We know that someone is after Ruby, and that they have the clout to manipulate information on the network, if not to the extent of Cinder's virus. Posting a mission would be relatively easy for them, as it doesn't require special access to Beacon's network."
"But what's their plan then?" asked Jaune. "I mean, if they were gonna go after Ruby, why would they create a mission open to two teams? It would make more sense that they'd want a situation where they can isolate Ruby from the rest of us. But that's gonna be awfully hard with seven other people around her."
"If I had to guess, it's because they figured that flashing the words 'White Fang' would be the best way to get our attention," said Weiss. "But Blake's the one leading the charge on that front, and she's on Rainbow. So they would create a two-team mission in order to ensure that we come along with her."
"Is there any way we can look into this?" asked Pyrrha.
Blake frowned, looking up the mission specifications. "The departure time is two hours from now. That doesn't give us a lot of time. We still have to pack, after all."
"Another suspicious sign," grumbled Weiss. "It's like they're trying to minimize the time we have to look into this matter."
"What do you think, Ruby?" asked Jaune, noting that Ruby hadn't said much at all.
Ruby looked up, her eyes drifting across her friends' faces. "Let's do it," she said.
"Wha-?" Yang began to protest, her eyes widening. "A-are you sure?"
"Not really," admitted Ruby, looking down at the terminal again. "Everyone's making sense. This has the feel of a trap to it. The problem is...it's too obvious."
"What do you mean?" asked Weiss.
"It's laid out too perfectly," Ruby pointed out. "This mission was tailor-made to get Blake's attention, and designed so that both Rainbow and Raspberry could go on it. That makes it a little too obvious that their intention was to draw us outside of Vale. And we know that someone is after me, so..."
"So it would be easy for us to guess it was a trap," said Jaune. "If that's the case, what does that mean?"
"Someone expected us to realize it's a trap," said Ren. "But what does that do?"
"When a trap is openly advertised as a trap, it becomes an invitation..." said Ruby, "...and a challenge."
"I see," said Weiss. "They know we'd want to find out who is after Ruby. So they dangle the obvious trap in front of us, hoping we'll take it, because we see an opportunity to find out who Ruby's attackers are."
"And then what...?" asked Jaune.
"Then it's a mystery," admitted Ruby with a shrug. "All this becomes a whole bunch of 'we know they know we know' that we'll have no hope of picking out, if we don't do something."
"So what do we do?" asked Jaune. "What do you want to do, Ruby?"
"It's your call," added Weiss, Pyrrha nodding her agreement.
"We're with you," added Ren, the rest of his team nodding as well, Yang quite emphatically.
Ruby swallowed, and turned back to the mission board. "I'm going to take it," she said, entering her team's designation into the first slot.
Ren immediately followed suit, while Yang gave her younger sister a worried look. "Ruby, are you sure?"
"As sure as I can be," admitted Ruby. "There's no way to really know what they have planned for us out there." She frowned darkly. "But...if we don't take this opportunity, then it's just back to waiting for their next move, without any idea where or when it will come. And that means there's a bigger chance that they'll go after someone else; one of you, our friends, Ashley; again..."
The others nodded, Weiss trembling at the thought of Ashley being threatened again.
Ruby hit the command to accept the mission, and the information was transferred to their scrolls. "We have two hours to get ready," she said.
"What do we do?" asked Jaune.
"I know what I can do," said Blake, taking up her scroll. "I'm going to make a call."
"I'll go get our packs ready," said Yang everyone already knowing who Blake was going to call.
"I'll go to tell Ozpin," said Ruby.
"I'll go with you," said Jaune.
"We'll get the packs ready," said Weiss, Pyrrha nodding in agreement.
"Let's do this thing!" declared Nora excitedly. "We'll find out whoever this jerk that's after Ruby is...and break their legs!"
They went their separate aways, aiming to take care of their allotted tasks as quickly as possible.
"You want to talk to High Leader Khan?" asked Ilia incredulously.
"It's important," Blake assured her, "and urgent."
"So is a lot of stuff," countered Ilia. "I can't just ask her to take a call."
"You can, if she wants to have any further negotiations with Ozpin," said Blake. "This is a matter of someone using the name of the White Fang to their own ends, so I think High Leader Khan would be very interested in that."
There was a moment of silence on the other end. Then she heard her old friend let out a soft sigh. "Fine...I just hope this is important enough. I don't want her angry with me for bothering her."
"I think she'll understand," said Blake.
Ilia hung up. Blake found herself waiting for several moments of tense silence, wondering if Ilia would be able to get Sienna to call back before it was time to depart. However, only a few minutes later, her scroll rang again, the suddenness of the sound prompting Blake to jump, glad she'd picked this isolated corner of the courtyard to make the call from. Answering it, she heard the familiar, slightly deeper voice of Sienna come through the line.
"What is it you wished to discuss, Young Miss Belladonna?" asked Sienna. "Ilia wouldn't say."
"I didn't tell her," said Blake. "You might not be aware, but us first-years will be attending our second assigned missions of the year."
"I was not," admitted Sienna. "But I fail to see how that involves me...unless those missions involve the White Fang in some way."
"You could say that one does..." said Blake.
Sienna was silent for several telling seconds. "Explain."
Blake told Sienna everything about the mission that she and her friends had just signed up for. Sienna listened in silence. "You're right to be suspicious," she said finally. "At present, the White Fang has no presence in Aiwendil."
"None at all..." asked Blake, "...even though it's a majority-faunus settlement?"
"It's the best kind of that settlement," said Sienna. "The humans who live there accept it specifically because they can get along with faunus. Tension is practically non-existent, which means there's no hostility for the White Fang to react against. It's practically a utopia of coexistence. Our Vale Branch did carry out a few efforts at recruitment out there, but weren't very successful. Fortunately, that was before Taurus implemented those...changes...of his."
"So someone is using the name of the White Fang to bait us then," said Blake.
"That would seem to be the case," said Sienna. "To be honest, it irritates me. Such a mission, being carried out in a place devoid of any activities on our part, is practically made to cast suspicion on faunus in general."
Blake found her lips curling back in a smile. "If that's the case...what do you say to being able to act on that irritation?"
Sienna was silent again. "Go on..." she urged.
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention," said Ozpin, looking at the makeup of the mission on the projector on his desk. "It certainly does stand out rather starkly against the other available missions. Normally, one of this nature would not be available to first-year students...or students at all, depending on its danger-level."
"So it's what we thought then," said Ruby.
"So it would seem," said Ozpin. He nodded to Glynda behind him. "What can you tell me about the Huntsman they are assigned to shadow?"
"According to the mission files, that would be Faolan Hargrave," she said, looking him up on her scroll. "He was a graduate of Haven Academy, six years ago. His mission record is...interesting, to say the least."
"How so?" asked Ozpin.
Glynda sent the files to be displayed through Ozpin's desk. "The majority of his missions have involved tracking or combatting the White Fang in some fashion or another." She began to review his records in more detail on her scroll. "He has received multiple admonishments for excessive force against faunus who were not members."
"Meaning...?" prodded Ozpin.
"On a mission to a faunus settlement, in Southwestern Mistral, he was reprimanded for taking a family hostage, and threatening to execute them in order to draw out a few White Fang members who had been hiding in the settlement."
Ruby gasped, her hands going to her mouth.
"Since his suspicions on the matter were validated, the punishment was limited to a reprimand," said Glynda, scowling. "Mistral still has a fairly poor track record, when it comes to upholding faunus rights, despite being the Kingdom closest to Menagerie. The complaints of a few faunus civilians wouldn't have bothered them, even if Hargrave's suspicions had been proven baseless."
"And now he's on a mission to a mostly-faunus settlement to look for the White Fang there," said Jaune.
"Yes," agreed Ozpin. "The circumstances of this mission are quite suspicious. You will need to be on your guards." His eyes narrowed as he regarded Jaune and Ruby. "However, if Mr. Hargrave attempts the tactic he used in Mistral, you have my authorization to do what you need to to protect the residents of Aiwendil from any unnecessary brutality."
"Yes, Professor," said Ruby with almost-military crispness, her voice ringing with conviction.
"We will take measures to ensure that you are properly looked after," said Ozpin.
"Thank you, Professor," said Ruby, bowing her head to them.
"Good luck," said Ozpin.
Ruby and Jaune took their leave to go meet up with their team and friends, before heading to the docks to take the bullhead out to the settlement. Ozpin glanced sidelong at Glynda. "Contact Qrow."
Ruby and the others arrived at the docks with their packs, their bullhead already waiting for them, its engines idling. They quickly climbed aboard, stowing their belongings and taking their seats. According to the mission specs, they would be staying mainly within the confines of the village itself, quartered in its inn. Therefore, they had no need to bring bedrolls or camping supplies with them, which allowed them to pack rather lightly.
The flight out to the settlement was brief and quiet, everyone waiting for the first sign that the other shoe was about to drop. Ruby, Jaune, and Blake shared what they had learned about the mission from their respective sources, but that was about it for conversation. Even the flight out wasn't devoid of suspicion, all of them wondering if this had just been a way to get Ruby outside the boundaries of Vale, so that the bullhead carrying her could be blown out of the sky. That seemed like a little much, but they couldn't afford to rule out any possibility at this point.
Fortunately, the flight proved to be uneventful. Their pilot announced over the intercom that they had arrived, the lurching sensation of the airship's descent making it apparent even before she'd said anything. The bay doors opened, and the eight students made their exit, hopping down onto the cleared space of bare earth that had served as the village's air-dock.
Aiwendil wasn't all that developed, a rural farming community like a dozen others found outside Vale's wall. According to the files they'd gotten on the settlement, it was mainly known for its orchards, which mainly produced apples, its chief export (it also had a few side-crops it was known for, particularly tobacco of a particular strain known as Longbottom). There wasn't much else to say about it. As such, its facilities weren't much to write home about. The air-dock was a circular patch of cleared and leveled earth, one just large enough to host a small airship, the earth packed down to keep dust from being kicked up by landing jets, in the case of bullheads, and cleared of anything that might be ignited by running engines.
Beyond the pad was a space of short grass, which almost looked like a mowed lawn, before reaching the village-proper. A wooden palisade encircled the main settlement, including most of its residences, while gates opened up into the wider area, the paths through them stretching out between the neat rows of fruit-bearing trees.
"This sure looks like a nice place," said Jaune.
Ruby nodded in agreement. They hadn't even entered the settlement yet, and she could already feel a peaceful sensation. There was a distinct absence of conflict, which indicated a lack of suspicion and mistrust among the townsfolk. Faunus were the majority here, but the human minority appeared to be perfectly comfortable with their situation, which meant that the odds of the White Fang gaining a foothold here were close to nil...
...Which made it all the more troubling that someone with such a poor history of dealing with the faunus had apparently been sent out here to look for the members of a faunus-organization. It was too contrived, too primed for conflict, as though the one who had posted this mission expected things to get ugly...and not because the White Fang were actually in Aiwendil.
"Where's our Huntsman?" asked Weiss, looking around.
The ground between them and the village was completely empty, with not even any of the villagers there to greet or guide them. Granted, finding their way into the town was no trouble, given that it was right in front of them, and finding the inn would probably be a simple matter. But it was strange that not even the Huntsman they'd been sent to shadow had come to greet them.
"Perhaps he's already at the inn," suggested Pyrrha.
"It's as good a place to start as any," said Ren. "We will need to drop off our luggage anyway."
The others nodded, and began to make their walk into town. As they passed through the walls, they found themselves surrounded on all sides by faunus, all going about their business without a care in the world. Ruby saw ears here, tails there, and even a full set of wings in one case. Her other senses, meshing together to feed her even more information about those who possessed more subtle faunus traits, which weren't so readily apparent to the naked eye, some faunus seeming outwardly human upon first glance, much like Ilia did.
It was the most faunus that Ruby had seen in one place in her entire life. Even growing up with the Mibu Clan, which boasted a high faunus population, hadn't accustomed her to such a high concentration of them in one place. That was mainly due to the nonexistent prejudice between the humans and faunus of the Mibu that enabled them to be sufficiently accustomed to mingling that their numbers were, by and large, equal wherever Ruby had been within the Mibu's territory, with any skewing one way or the other being purely statistical, and not something she would have even noticed from her limited perspective.
Here, humans were few and far between, with Ruby's senses picking out only a couple of humans from amongst the more subtle faunus who could be mistaken for human on the walk along the village's street, leading in from the gate they'd entered through. There was a remarkable lack of tension in the air though, the humans apparently being completely at ease, surrounded by faunus. It was the kind of relaxed state that Ruby would have expected from her homeland, not a village in Vale, even though Vale was definitely not the worst of the Kingdoms, when it came to human and faunus relations.
As they had expected, they soon found themselves coming up on the inn, a low, long, two-story structure. In her travels, Ruby had encountered a few inns that shared space with the local tavern, which served as a hub for the village's residents to eat and mingle, also allowing visitors passing through to easily find a place to eat as well.
This inn was not one of those. Upon entering, they found themselves within the confines of a fairly nicely-appointed common room, with a few sets of seats arrayed around tables, and couches set into the wall-space that wasn't occupied by doors, or the desk, which Ruby and Ren approached, the other members of their teams falling back to keep from crowding the man behind it too much.
"What can I do for ya?" asked the faunus behind the counter, his face sporting a thick salt and pepper beard, accompanied by matching hair, from which a set of feathery tufts extended. His voice was rough and gruff, but devoid of anything approaching suspicion or hostility, which Ruby took as a good sign. He was thickset, sporting a bit of a gut, his build not too dissimilar from Professor Port's. It was mostly hidden by a starched, white shirt, and a pair of plain, black slacks. It was enough for him to look sufficiently professional, without suggesting that this was some high-class establishment.
"Do you have reservations for a party from Beacon?" asked Ruby politely.
The man looked down at the screen hidden behind the desk. "Yep, got it right here. Team Raspberry and Team Rainbow. I'm assuming that's you kids."
"That is correct," said Ren, nodding politely.
The man hummed. "Awfully short notice," he muttered.
"We know," said Ruby. "I'm sorry if we've caused you any trouble."
"Aw, no trouble at all, young miss," said the innkeeper, looking up and grinning at her. "You seem like good kids. Beacon is a fine establishment. I've rarely ever had any students from there cause us trouble."
"That's good to hear," said Ren. "While we are at it, I don't suppose the Huntsman we are supposed to be shadowing is here yet."
"Oh...that guy..." said the innkeeper, his face falling.
Looks like Hargrave's already making an impression, thought Ruby dourly.
"Yep, he's here already," said the innkeeper. "Should be over in the pub."
"I suppose he didn't make the best of impressions," noted Ren.
The innkeeper snorted. "That's putting it mildly," he growled. "Talked to me like I was somethin' he scraped off the bottom of his shoe. Damn jerk had the gall to demand a human to perform his turndown service. Darn near looked like he was gonna have a conniption when I told him we don't have a human on our service staff."
"Sounds like he sure lives down to his reputation," Ruby heard Jaune mutter from behind her and Ren.
The innkeeper heard it too, from the twitching of the feathered tufts atop his head, and the twitch of his lips into a grin, which he swiftly suppressed. He continued on, as though Jaune hadn't said anything. "I sent him to the tavern a couple streets down. It's human-owned, so he might actually be civil there. I shot 'em a warning, so that they know to serve him with a human waitress, if just to keep things quiet."
"We're sorry about him," said Ruby, bowing apologetically.
"Eh, you're just students," said the Innkeeper. "Can't hold you responsible for a full Huntsman's behavior. 'Least you're a pleasant lot to deal with."
"We'll try to keep an eye on him," Ruby promised.
"Two, if we can spare them," added Ren, "and do what we can to keep him from stirring up any trouble."
"I'd appreciate it," said the innkeeper. "Now then, best that we get you kids settled. I've got two rooms booked, one for each team. That good?"
"That's just fine," said Ruby.
"Right then, have everyone set their scrolls on the counter, and I'll transfer the keys over."
All eight of them did as they were bade, their scrolls beeping as they made contact with the counter.
"I've given ya adjoining rooms," said the innkeeper. "There's a door between them you can open, if ya want."
"Thank you," said Ruby, already looking up the room number, along with its location on the map of the inn that had downloaded with the key. She was sometimes amazed at how accustomed she had gotten to using her scroll, after spending most of her life without one.
"Good luck on your mission, kids," said the innkeeper congenially, "whatever it is."
"Hargrave didn't tell you what it was?" asked Ren.
"He said it ain't any 'o my business," replied the innkeeper curtly. "All I know is that we, sure as hell, didn't request one. All of a sudden, we get a notification, and a Huntsman out of the blue, sayin' he's got a mission here, and that was it."
Ruby and Ren exchanged frowns. The more they heard, the less they liked it.
"Anything you can tell me?" asked the innkeeper.
"We're not sure," said Ruby. "We need to talk with him first."
"We'll let you know what we can," added Ren.
"Best I can ask, I suppose," said the Innkeeper.
They left the desk behind them to get settled into their rooms. That was rather quick, amounting to little more to setting what luggage they'd brought with them on the beds. Opening the adjoining door, RYNB came into RASP's room, all eight of them finding seats, mostly perching on the edges of the two queen-sized beds that dominated the center of the room.
"This mission has 'shady' written all over it," commented Yang.
"We don't know if Hargrave has anything to do with the people who are after Ruby though," commented Weiss.
"Why wouldn't he though?" wondered Blake.
"It could be a red herring," explained Weiss. "We focus all our suspicion on him, and then the actual attempt to attack Ruby could come from a different direction entirely."
"He's certainly suspicious enough, from the sound of things," said Pyrrha.
"My point exactly," said Weiss.
"At this point, there's nothing left to do but meet up with him, and see what this mission actually is," said Ruby.
"Agreed," said Ren.
"Sienna said there weren't any White Fang operatives out here though," said Blake.
"That doesn't mean that Hargrave isn't going to look though," said Weiss sourly, "or that he isn't going to use extreme methods to do so." She looked pointedly at Blake. "Above all else, we can't allow him to learn that you've received inside information from the White Fang itself, or he's likely to accuse you of being an active agent."
Blake nodded in understanding, her ears twitching beneath her bow. She wouldn't even let this man learn she was a faunus, if she could help it.
Ruby sighed, getting to her feet. "Well, I'm hungry, so we should head to the tavern anyway. We shouldn't put things off any longer than we have to, however unpleasant they might be."
"True," agreed Ren.
The eight of them headed out, getting ready to meet their Huntsman.
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