Chapter Text
BOOK I - BURNT OFFERINGS
Mist.
Mist and fog were ubiquitous in these lands. They draped over the rolling hills, poured into the many valleys and floated spectrally along damp and lonely moors. One could feel isolated here – forgotten almost. Hence the land’s name: The Lost Coast.
Certainly, for many days Ruby and Yang had felt quite alone as they travelled along the creatively named Lost Coast Road. This was a vast land, peppered by woodlands, big and small; every now and then a great redwood rose out of the boughs – the towers of the forests. And wherever the trees gave way, there were the moors and fens. Rivers, creeks and streams bubbled, rattled, hissed and fell silent, winding between ragged tors and limestone escarpments. The sound of crashing waves was never far, and sometimes when the road bent west enough and the fog faded and the trees parted, then, sometimes, Ruby and Yang would catch a glimpse of the sparkling sea. Only the occasional small inn gave any hint that people lived in these lands, and the sisters sometimes skipped them, walking deep into the night to save on time. One of the innkeepers had told them of a festival in Sandpoint but they had to be quick, because it was going to be on the first day of autumn. That was not why Ruby and Yang were travelling, and, to be entirely honest, Ruby wasn’t that fond of celebrations, but her sister had insisted they attend. So, sleeping amongst brambles and fog it was. Then again, Ruby couldn’t quite complain. Her mind may be filled with cogs and bolts, but her heart loved the woods; to be sung to sleep by the howl of wolves and waking to the singing of birds.
And so, their journey had been quite lonely. That is, until about two days ago. Forests and fens had given way to farmland. Low stone walls and trimmed hedges lined the road – now wider and better kept. Howling wolves gave way to barking dogs. Deer turned to cattle, boars turned to pigs, and wild fowl turned to chickens and ducks. Ruby couldn’t complain of that either – she wanted to hug them all. Their last night on the road had been sleeping beneath a rocky escarpment with the sea just beyond the road. The lights of Sandpoint had twinkled just beyond. Gulls had awoken Ruby and Yang before the light of the sun could. After fighting the feathered thieves for their breakfast, the two had started making their way down the road.
One bend of the road. Then another. A third. And there it was: Sandpoint, the Light of the Lost Coast. In the grand scheme of things, it was a small town (barely a neighborhood for a place like Absalom) but for the region it was rather large a settlement. It took up much of a peninsula, separated from the south by a twisting river and a cove. A short wall marked its northern border, and a ruined lighthouse marked its westernmost edge. Ruined it may be, but it towered over every building in that town still. Even the new cathedral looked small compared to it, though it towered over the rest of the mostly wooden buildings. Docks lined the eastern edges of the cove, its waters an inviting teal and so calm as to look painted. Even from where she stood, Ruby could see that the town was abuzz with movement.
“Finally,” Yang huffed, giving a long stretch.
Ruby’s sister was comfortably a head taller than her. Golden hair framed her face like the mane of a lion, cascading down to her hips. Yang’s eyes were purple. She wore a cropped shirt to show off her abs and a sleeveless coat to show off her muscled arms. Yang claimed it was for mobility. Ruby new better. She also knew Yang wasn’t half as good at flirting as she thought she was. The inventor also valued her life too much to mention it.
“Is that what we are looking for?” Ruby asked, nodding towards the ruined tower.
“Not today it isn’t,” Yang said with a smile. She wrapped her arm around Ruby and started pulling her down the road. “Today you’ll learn how to have fun!”
“I know how to have fun…”
The Lost Coast Road ended at an old wooden bridge not that far from the docks and where the river spilled into the cove. A small road forked from it towards a small bridge over a creek and then up a smaller peninsula dotted with mansions. Two overlooked the town from the edges of cliffs. At the beginning of the bridge there was a sign hanging from an old, bent nail and a small mirror just beneath it. The sign read:
WELCOME TO SANDPOINT!
PLEASE STOP TO SEE YOURSELF AS WE SEE YOU!
Ruby saw silver eyes staring back at her. Her dark hair reached her shoulders, the tips red. She wore a baggy white blouse beneath a black and red corset, the tip of the sleeves held by a pair of armbands. Her battle skirt was also black and red. Ruby took the opportunity to adjust the rose-shaped brooch that pinned her red cloak where it had started to ride up towards her neck.
She suddenly yelped and Yang butted her out of the way. Her sister combed her hair with her fingers, gave it a few pushes and then shook her head like a wet dog. Yang seemed pleased with the result. Ruby couldn’t tell you the difference even if under torture. She kicked Yang out of the way and went back to adjusting her cloak. Yang yanked her by the cloak. Ruby shoved her out of the way.
That went on for a while.
For such a small town, it was quite… eccentric. The first building, just to the right of the bridge, was made entirely of stone and looked like a fort or perhaps the town’s barracks (which made sense seeing as it was next to a major entry), but a sign proclaimed it to be a brewery – specifically it read “Two Knight Brewery”. Just across the street from it was a stable its sign proudly proclaiming it as “Goblin Squash Stables” with the drawing of a goblin being trampled by a horse. Glancing inside, Ruby saw what she at first thought were leaves nailed to the rafters, then realized those were, in fact, goblin ears, and then noticed that there was a jar with a goblin’s head inside. Yang quickly pushed Ruby past those doors. The next building towered all other neighboring buildings – a well-kept inn, Ruby quickly realized. The Rusty Dragon, the sign read, by Ameiko Kaijitsu. Then Ruby looked up and noticed the dragon looming on the roof. Not a real one but an iron statue that was rather rusty (which, admittedly, was on brand).
All of that and they had barely entered the town.
Suddenly, they found themselves in an open market next to the docks. Unsurprisingly, the place smelled of fish, though Ruby could also pick up the smell of cooked meat and perfumes. Much of the market was covered in stalls. Some were well kept, others were falling apart, and some were just carts with a blanket over them. In the back of Ruby’s mind she could tell the stalls were organized in rows but the sounds and gawdy colors made her head spin and to her this place looked chaotic.
“Okay,” Yang said. “Here’s the deal…” she winked. “Race you to the cathedral!”
“What…”
With a flash of gold, her sister was gone.
“Yang! Wait!”
Ruby bit back a few cuss words Uncle Qrow had taught her.
“Fine. If that’s how you want to play…”
Closing her eyes, Ruby took a deep breath and bolted. She had about one second of speed before she hit something soft. Ruby’s eyes went wide as she tried to regain balance. She felt her bag grow lighter and heard clattering against the cobblestones. Finally, she managed to adjust herself and came face to face with a pair of angry blue eyes. Very angry blue eyes.
“Are you trying to get us killed?!” the woman demanded.
She was very pretty – even while angry. Also, very white. Her skin was the color of fresh fallen snow, and matching, her hair was like liquid of moonlight that she had oddly tied in a side ponytail. She wore a white and blue travel dress, the skirt ending just above her knees, and a white bolero jacket with long, flared sleeves of pale blue lace, the insides of the jacket a bright red. A white sash was tied around her waist like a belt, and hanging from it was a pouch. All that white made the thin, pink scar over the girl’s left eye stand out.
The scar also made her look scarier.
“Well?!” she demanded.
Only then did Ruby realize she had been staring.
“Heh…” she sheepishly scratched her head. “Sorry?”
The girl seemed to want to yell a bit more but instead took a deep breath and went down onto one knee. With the elegance of the movement, she was definitely a dancer. She started picking up her stuff.
“Oh,” Ruby almost threw herself to the ground. “Let me help!”
“No need.”
“Some of it is mine, anyway…”
The girl looked up at her, sniffed, and then went back to grab some vials.
“I’m Ruby, by the way.” No response. “Ruby Rose.”
Ruby picked up the last vial – it had some red dust in it – and offered it to the girl. The pale girl looked up at her again. Her eyes were softer. She sighed and plucked the vial from Ruby’s hand.
“Weiss Schnee,” she froze. “Shouldn’t have said that…” she shoved the vial into her pouch and scrambled up.
Ruby quickly gathered her stuff too and got up. Weiss was already leaving.
“Uh… have fun at the festival!”
Weiss found her traveling companion waiting for her under a tree.
Blake Belladonna was a bit taller than her – although her cat ears did a lot of heavy lifting in that matter. She had long raven-black hair that framed her bright amber eyes. Her outfit matched her hair: mostly dark. A black vest with coattails buttoned just above her navel – her flat midriff kept bare by a cropped and sleeveless tunic that Weiss was pretty sure she only wore so her breasts weren’t bare. Her trousers were black like her vest and tucked into well worn, tall leather boots. She wore a black silk scarf that warped around her neck and then down her left arm. A short sword hung from her belt on the left, a hand crossbow on her right and small bag on her back.
As soon as their eyes met, Blake nodded towards where a crowd was gathering in front of the cathedral. A small wooden dais had been built in front of the stairs, and a few workers were finishing propping up a few flowers.
“So,” Blake said as they reached each other. “How was your morning?”
Her voice was monotone. Not naturally so, Weiss had long figured out. The rogue actively forced her voice to be like that. Given the girl’s past, Weiss could not quite blame her.
“Almost got blown up,” she said, instinctively adjusting her satchel.
Blake raised an eyebrow. “I thought we were supposed to not attract attention.”
There was a hint of amusement in her voice.
Weiss rolled her eyes. “It is quite hard not to do so when others knock into you!”
“Honestly, Weiss,” the girl said, shaking her head. “You have to be more aware of your surroundings – oomph”
Very few things in her life had given Weiss as much pleasure as watching Blake go face first into a pile of muscles while chiding her in awareness.
Her companion fell with a yelp and would’ve hit the ground on her bottom, had a pair of muscly arms not grabbed her waist. Their owner had a mane of golden hair.
“Careful there…” the girl said, flashing Blake a bright smile.
Weiss immediately clocked how Blake’s amber eyes wandered across the woman’s bare abs and settled on her large bust.
“Name’s Yang.”
Blake snapped her head up to stare at the girl’s purple eyes, her face deep red in a blush. Weiss rolled her eyes. The muscular girl – Yang – winked and hoisted Blake back to her feet.
“Uh…” Blake stammered.
Weiss raised a hand to her mouth to hide her smile.
“Blake,” she called. “This is the part where you say your name.”
Blake shot her a glare over her shoulder.
“Blake, then, is it?” Yang asked. She still held Blake by the waist.
That brought Weiss’s traveling companion back from trying to kill Weiss with her stare. She quickly stepped away from the golden girl.
“Yes. Blake Belladonna.” She straightened her jacket. “That is my name.”
Weiss leaned in. “You don’t have to add that last part…”
“Shut up, Weiss!” she hissed.
Suddenly, a blur of red jumped over Yang’s shoulder, holding on to her arm.
“Hey Yang! Who are you talking to –”
“YOU!” Weiss hissed.
Ruby Rose yelped and ducked under Yang’s arm. The strong girl looked between them and chuckled.
“This the girl that yelled at you?”
“She almost blew us up!”
“Yeah,” Yang said, pulling Ruby off her arm and dropping her in front of Weiss. “My little sister has a tendency to do that.”
“Yang!” Ruby hissed. “Don’t call me little!”
People started staring.
“There are some days I think she might be a Gnome –”
“You take that back!”
Yang pulled her fists into position, laughing all the while. A red-faced Ruby went to pull the odd contraption off her back.
Blake awkwardly cleared her throat.
“Girls? The speech is about to start. Also, people are staring.”