KINGDOM OF VACUO
TWO WEEKS LATER
POV
As Morning in Vacuo did not arrive gently as compare for other kingdom's as the dune was unfortunate just unforgiving as there's was no gradual as easing from darkness into light, no quiet transitions of soft colors stretching across the horizon as The sun rose quickly here; harsh, immediate, and unrelenting, spilling over the dunes in a flood of gold that turned the desert into a sea of burning glass as Heat followed just as swiftly, pressing down from above and rising from below until the air itself seemed to shimmer with it now just as By midmorning, the world already felt too bright. Too hot. Too exposed The desert stretched endlessly in every direction, it's surface rollings in long uneven waves of sand broken only by jagged and rock formation that's pushed up from the earth like the bones of something long buried and the wind a moved steadily across the landscapes, carrying fine grains of dust that drifted in thin and just restless currents and blurring the edges of everything they touched It's was beautiful. In a way that felt indifferent, and as in that vast, sun-scorched expanse just beyond as the outer perimeter of Vacuo City—Something moved...At first, it was subtle just A shift in the sand A ripple where there's shouldn't have been one. Then another. And another. The surface of the desert began to stir in uneven patterns and has if something beneath it had begun to wake now has the very ground started to trembled...A low, and distantly rumble rolled across the dune's and growing steadily louder as the sand split apart in violent bursts as Dark just shapes surged upward from beneath the surface, clawing theirs ways into the open air in sprays of dust and debris and just Grimm's and they came in waves.
As Long, segmented bodies twisted through the sand like living blades and as their blackened forms cutting through the dunes with unnatural speeds and smaller creatures followed in their wake, scrambling over the shifting terrain with sharp as erratic movements, their very bone-white masks just then gleaming under the brutal sunlight as well And as standing between them and the distant walls of vacuo as it eye locked upon it. The Vacuo desert just stretched endlessly a beneath the pale glow of the moon, its vast expanse rolling in quiet waves of sand that seemed to breathe with the very wind as Each gust drifted lazily across the dunes reshaping their surfaces in subtle, constant motion—soft ridges rising and falling, edges blurring, patterns forming only to be erased moments later as Out here, nothing stayed the same for long Tracks disappeared within minutes, as swallowed by the desert as though they had never existed at all and has The land did not remember. It consumed, it shifted, and it's moved on.
Which made tracking someone across it an exercise in patience And then with frustration At the crest of a high dune overlookings and what remained of a long-forgotten settlement and just four figures lay partially concealed against the slope and has their silhouettes blending into the sand as best they could... They had been there's long enough that's the wind had already begun to gather thin lines of dust along as their boots and just sleeves and has if the very desert was slowly reclaiming them too....As sun wukong just as lowered the binoculars from his eyesight a with a quiet exhale as just rubbing the lenses absently against the edges of his shirt before bringing them back up again as The very view through the glass just remained unchanged from minutes ago and just from an hour ago, from the moment they had first arrived here a Below them, the very settlement sat in silence....now and It's had once been a mining outpost's and judging by the scattered remains of equipment half-buried in the sand and just with the larger structure at it's center that's resembled an old storage warehouse.....Now, it looked more like a corpse left out in the open and as Crooked wooden buildings leaned at tired angles and as their supports weakened and warped by time till now and then some had collapsed entirely, their roofs caved inward under the weight of drifting sand. Others remained standing only out of stubbornness, their frames creaking softly whenever the wind passed through the very hollow in spaces and as where's window's and door's used...to be sheets of rusted metal hung loosely from fractured walls, swaying just enough to produce a dull, irregular clatter that's echoed faintly through the empty street..
As sand just had crept into every open space burying thresholds, filling interiors as swallowing anything left behinds as the desert had not simply abandoned this place, it had claimed it....Sun let the binoculars lower again his gaze lingering on the settlement as if willing something—anything—to move..."Still nothing," he's said quietly....Beside him, Neptune Vasilias lay flat on his back, hands folded behind his head as he's stared up at the night sky...as it was just few days ago before the announcement of Salem and the fall of Atlas and rest of team RWBY and jaune die and just everyone's else is taking it hard and sad as he was as well then it was weird at first but it's was normal with everything's just now Vacuo's stars we're relentless in their clarity, scattered across the darkness in a way that made the sky feel impossibly vast and has uncomfortably close at the same time now "So," Neptune said after a long pause and his voice low and edged with the kinds of restlessness and as that came from too much waiting "remind me again why we're doing this at night." As it was Scarlet David ask him still didn't shift his position nor did he take his eye's off the settlement below and then his very posture remained composed controlled alert in a way that suggested he had not relaxed since they arrived here."Because as that's when the attack have been happening," he just replied, his tone even.
Neptune nodded slowly, still watching the Star "Right. Makes sense." As He paused again then added, "Still think daylight would've been nice." Just then As quiet huff of amusements escaped Sun as he adjusted the very binoculars once more now... "You're the one who said the desert heat was trying to kill you earlier..." He said to him "That's different," Neptune muttered... "At least sunlight doesn't hide murderou as psychopaths in abandoned ghost towns." As Scarlet exhaled softly through his nose but offered no responded A few feet behinds them and Sage Ayana remained motionless kneeling with his very weight evenly balanced has he just surveyed the surrounding desert his as presence was steady and grounded in a ways that's contrasted the shifting landscape around them Where the others watched the town and Sage watched everything else.
As Sun shifted his focus again, raising the binoculars toward the largest structure just near the center of the settlement as The old warehouse stood as the town's final anchor point, its size and shape hinting at a time when this place had purpose has Now it's doors hung just unevenly from rusted hinges has swaying slightly whenever the wind caught them just right The interior beyond them was swallowed in darkness....deep and uninviting and though the buildings itself had become hollow...As He just held the view for several second's, studying the entrance as the shadows the stillness as then just Nothing....No movements. No light. No sign that anyone—or anythings—had been there recently. "Still quiet," Sun said as lowering the binoculars once more and then Neptune pushed himself up onto his... elbows, glancing toward the settlement with a frown..
"Like suspicious quiet," he asked, "or normal quiet ?"
Sun considered that his gaze drifting back across the buildings. "…Desert quiet" As Neptune just grimaced. "That's not comforting" As Scarlet shifted just slightly brushing a bit of sand from his sleeve without looking away from the town "The tracks led here," As he said "They didn't vanish until the settlements." That much was true. The trail had been faint as barely more than disturbed patches of sand and scattered impressions that could have been missed if they just hadn't known what they were looking for But it had been consistent. Intentional and it's ended here and just..Sun lifted the binoculars again and a swept them slowly across the very empty streets and lingering on doorways broken windows and the edge's of rooftops where's shadows pooled the deepest and Every part of the town looked abandoned...after a long moment as he's lowered the very binoculars again as his shoulder sinking slightly "Yeah," he's just admitted "Still nothings" As Neptune brushed a thin layer of sand from his jacket... "Maybe he's asleep" As Scarlet just has finally glanced at him his expression flat."Tyrian Callows does not strike me as the 'nap in an abandoned shack' type" As he's just before Neptune shrugged "Everyone needs hobbies" As Sun let out a short, quiet laugh, and even Scarlet's expression softened, if just barely Behind them, Sage spoke at last."Maybe he knows we're here" As he say before realizing as words settled into the very silence more heavily than anything that had been said so far.. Sun turned slightly, looking back toward him. "As You think so ?" As Sage didn't answer right away His eyes moved slowly across the settlement, then out toward the horizon as just though tracing something invisible between the two."If he was here," as Sage said finally, "he would know." As The wind shifted again, stronger this times, sweeping across the dunes and threading its way through the hollow structures below... A loose metal sheet struck against a wall with a dull clang, the sound echoing faintly before fading back into silence.
As Neptune shivered as rubbing his arms. "You know what ?" he just muttered "I don't like ghost towns." As he said to them as Sun smirked faintly. "You don't like a lot of things." As Sun said to him "Yeah..," Neptune replied. "Most of those things don't involve murderers hiding in the dark" As he's said to him as Sun pushed himself upright, brushing sand from his hands has he let the binoculars fall against his chest as he took one last look at the settlement below and his expressions tightening slightly as not with fear, but with something closer to impatience."Well," As he's said "there's only one way to find out." As Scarlet's gaze flicked toward him. "You want to move in" As sun nodded "We didn't hike all the way out here as just to watch buildings all night." Neptune let out a long groan, dragging a hand down his face. "Oh good as That's exactly what I was afraid you were going to say." As he's said before Sun grinned and spinnings Ruyi Bang once before resting it across his shoulder now "You worry too much." As it was then Neptune gestured toward the settlements below " As We are here just hunting a new dangerous serial killer in a creepy desert ghost town," as he said flatly... "I feel like I'm worrying the correct amount." As he said to him Scarlet rose to his feet, brushing sand from his coat with practiced efficiency "If Tyrian here," he said calmly, "we won't find him from the dune." As he said to them Sage stood beside him, his presence solid and unmoving as he's looked down towards the very silent town...For a moment, none of them spoke.
The settlement remained still beneath the moonlight, its empty streets stretching between hollow buildings that's seemed to watch theirs approach sun rolled his very shoulders as then turned and began making his way down the slope of the dune "Alright," As he's said now "Let's go see if our guest is home..." One by one, the others followed, sliding down the sand toward the settlement below....Behinds them and the wind swept across the crest of the dune once more as it's erasing the marks they had left behind as though just as they had never been there at all...As The descent into the settlement was quiet and Sand shifted softly beneath their boots as they moved down the slope, each step placed with care to avoid sending loose grains with a cascading ahead of them....By the time they reached the base of the dune has the wind had already begun to blur the trail behind them and smoothing over their approach as if they had never been there at all. It was a subtle reminder of how quickly as the desert erased evidence and then how easily something could move unseen from the dune as it's had seemed distant and lifeless and Now, as standing at the edge of its broken streets...it loomed with a hollow presence that just as something pressed in from all sides as the building's we're larger than they had appeared from afar, theirs warped frames leaning into one another as if just held upright only by habit as The silence here was heavier, just thicker and broken only by the occasional groan of old wood shifting under it's own weights or the faint just then clatter of rusted metal swaying somewheres deeper within the town now as Sun slowed as they're approached the first row of structures, raising a hand without turning as the team just stopped immediately now...He lowered his hand and followed with a series of small, practiced gestures—two fingers forwards, a just split motion, then a brief tap to his chest now and then the very signals were simple and efficiently, and then they all just understood without questions now...
As Neptune just exhaled quietly a nodding to himself as just scarlet and Sage were already moving before the moment fully settled peeling off to the right side of the street with fluid precision Scarlet took point as his posture low and controlled as he just slipped just has between two leaning buildings a while Sage followed just behind as his larger frame moving with surprising restraint as the two of them advanced in near silence, communicating through as subtle shifts in movement rather than words Sun glanced towards Neptune and tilted his head toward the opposite side and Neptune made a face but pushed himself just forward anyway. "Yeah," he muttered under his breath, "I'm coming..." They moved left a stepping over debris half-buried in sand as they entered the settlement proper. Up close, the damage was more severe than it's had appeared from above as Doorways hung open like broken jaws, their hinges rusted and strained as windows had long since shattered, leaving jagged edges that caught the moonlight in uneven glints as Sand had filled many of the interiors nearly halfway and swallowing what little remained inside—tools, furniture, fragment's of live's abandoned and forgotten....sun just attention moved constantly, sweeping across rooftops, shadows, and narrow gaps between buildings and his very weapon remained low, but ready and his postures deceptively relaxed. Every step was measured. Every movement deliberate....Beside him, Neptune tried to match that focus, though his gaze lingered just a second longer on the darker spaces.. "I'm just gonna say it" Neptune murmured and his voice low enough to barely carry. "I really don't think he's here." As Sun didn't look at him. "We don't know that." As Sun said to him as Neptune stepped carefully over a collapsed beam as testing it before putting his weight down "We've been watching this place for over a while" As he just pressed on now.
"Nothing moving as there's No lights flashing and No sound made as yhis whole place feels dead." As he's said obversing his surroundings area as this is wrong in some many ways Sun paused briefly at the edge of a doorways, and leaning just enough to glance inside before stepping past it again. The interior was empty half-filled with sand and shadows "That doesn't mean it is." As Neptune exhaled slowly, frustration creeping into his voice despite his attempt to keep it quiet. "Or just it means we're chasing something that's already gone." As he said and Sun just stopped in his trucks. It's was subtle—just a slight shift in his stance—but it was enough for Neptune to notice has Sun turned his head just enough to glance back at him, his voice still low, but firmer now...."We follow the trail until we know for sure," he said to them "That's the job" He said and trun and Neptune held his gaze for a moments before looking away, rubbing the back of his neck."…Yeah. I know," he admitted. "I just—this place gives me a bad feeling." As Sun expression softened slightly, though his eyes never stopped scanning the streets ahead... Now "Good," he said and then looked around "Means you're paying attentions." As Neptune huffed quietly.. "That's not reassuring." As Across the street, Scarlet and Sage moved in quiet tandem, theirs coordination nearly seamless as Scarlet checked each entry point with quick efficiently movements and just awhile sage positioned himself just beyond his line of sight and as covering angles without being's asked. A raised hand from Scarlet brought them both to a halt. A slight shift from Sage adjusted their positioning. Then, without a word, they moved again Sun caught the motion from the corner of his eye and gave a small, approving nod before continuing forward as The further they moved into the settlement has the more the silence seemed to deepen. Even the wind felt muted here, as though the building just as themselves were holding it back...
The central warehouse came into view gradually and rising above the surrounding structures likes the last remnant of purpose this place had once held and Its frame was worn but intact and its been size imposing compared to the decaying buildings around it as The large doors hung unevenly from their hinges, swaying slightly with each passing breeze as leaving a narrow opening into the darkness beyond from this distance, the interior was nothing but shadow and Sun slowed again, raising his hand as Neptune stopped instantly beside him. Across the street, Scarlet and Sage froze mid-step, both turnings towards the warehouse in the same motions. Sun made a tight circular gesture with his fingers then pointed inward and then they regroup and They converged without hesitation's, Scarlet and Sage crossing the street with controlled steps as their very attentions split between the warehouses and the surrounding buildings and within second as the team stood together just outside the entrance and the dark interiors stretching before them like an open void and
Neptune leaned in slightly, his voice barely more than a breath. "As Last chances to say we checked and go home." As Sun just didn't answer right away. His gaze remained fixed on the opening his expression steady, unreadable as when he spoke as his voice was quiet but carried authority..."I'm the team leader," he's said. "That means I make the call." As Neptune sighed, the very sound more resigned as than frustrated this time "Yeah," he's muttered... "Figured you were gonna say that." As he said Sun gave a small nod. "We clear the building now as then we decide what's next." As he's said and then neptune lifted his hand's just slightly in surrendered. "Alright and You're the boss..." As a faint creak echoed from inside the warehouse. The sound was subtle and barely more than wood shifting under very pressure, but in the stillness it cut through the air with startling clarity but then all four of them just froze
As Sun's grip just tightened. Scarlet's posture shifted instantly, his focus sharpening to a razor edge. Sage just stepped forward half a paced and placing himself slightly ahead of the other's, his presence's solid and just then unmoving and neptune swallowed, his voice barely audible "…Okay. That wasn't the wind." No one argued.....amongst them as the very darkness inside the warehouse seemed to deepen, swallowing what's little light reached its threshold and for a moment, the very entire structure felt as though it we're holding it's breath as Something moved. Or at least— It sounded like it had. Sun took a slow step forwards his voice no more than a whisper...."Positions" The team adjusted instantly and forming at the entrances with practiced precisions, every movement controlled, every breath measured And for the first time since they had arrived— The very settlements no longer felt empty and Sun didn't move at first and as He's just stood just outside the warehouse entrance, his gaze fixed on the narrow opening between the warped doors has listening with patience that went beyond simple caution The desert had its own rhythm and as even in stillness there was movements, quiet language carried through the wind, the shifting sand and a the soft creak of old structures settling under their own weight and It was something huntsmen learned to recognize over time But here, at the threshold of the warehouse as that rhythm felt off; subtly disrupted and just like a note out of place in an otherwise steady patterns....He raised a hand without looking back and made a small has deliberate motion toward Sage....as Sage acknowledged it with a single nod and stepped forward, positioning himself beside the door. Slowly, with careful control, Sage placed his hand againsts the door and began to push. The hinge answered with a low dragging creak and as the sound stretching thin as through the silence as if reluctant to disturb whatever lay beyond and everyone just stilled
As the noise that followed was faint—so faint it might have been mistaken for imagination if not for the way it carried through the stillness of the space and A soft scrape as uneven and irregular followed by the subtle shift of something moving just out of sight Neptune's breath caught beside Sun and his posture tightening instinctively. Sage paused mid-motion, his hand still pressed to the door as the sound came again as just enough to confirm it was real has Sun's expressions hardened, his hand lifting again as this time sharper, decisive Now. As Sage didn't hesitate. The door gave way under the sudden force, slamming inward with a sharp crack has the team surged forward in one fluid motion, weapons raised, bodies already shifting into position—and the darkness broke apart as A flurry of movement burst from within the warehouse now and just scattering in every directions with frantic urgency. Small bodies rushed past in a blur of motion's, claw's scraping against wood and just sand as they flooded toward the open air...The sudden eruptions of sound; scratching, squealing as the rapid skitter of dozens of tiny limbs and just filled the space all at once now and then neptune recoiled instantly stumbling back a step as something brushed Againsts his leg "Okay—nope—nope, absolutely not—!" As he jerked away swiping reflexively at the air as the last of the rats darted past him disappearing into the night as just quickly as they had emerged. His heart was still racing as he brushed his hands down his sleeves, shaking off the lingering sensations..."…Why rats? Why?!" he muttered under his breath his voice still edged with unease as No one answered As Neptune's expression shifted slightly as the silence settled again heavier this time and He just glanced towards the other's...Sun, Scarlet, and Sage had already moved inside and they've hadn't reacted. Hadn't flinched They we're just standing there as Still. The change in the air was immediate—subtle but has unmistakable...neptune irritation faded as something quieter settled in its place. He stepped forward more slowly this time and as crossing the threshold into the warehouse as his eyes as adjusted to the dim interior.
As the space was larger and than it just had appeared from the outside as its open floor broken by scattered debris and the just skeletal remains of what had once been storage as Crates lay overturned and splintered their contents long since buried beneath drifting sand that had pushed its way in over time. Above, sections of the roof had collapsed and leaving gaps where thin shafts of moonlight filtered through, cutting pale lines across the darkness Dust lingered in the air disturbed by their sudden entrance as drifting lazily through the beams of light....And then— Neptune saw them now.. The bodies were just gathered in the far corner of the warehouse and as partially obscured by shadow but impossible to miss once noticed...There's were six of them piled together in a ways that's spoke not of rest, but of neglect—of beings moved and then discarded without care. Theirs clothing marked them clearly as civilians and citizens of the vacuo kingdom as even in the dim light, the signs were evident. Their limbs were stiff their positions unnatural as expressions frozen in the final moment's of fear and pain and as faint sheen clung to their skin as catching the light just enough to reveal the cause....Poison Scarlet clicked his tongue softly the Sound's quiet but sharp in the stillness now then "...it to late" Sun just didn't respond immediately. As he moved forward at a slower pace now, each step carrying a weight that hadn't been there before as His just gaze lingered on now the very bodied as he's just approached and as his jaw tightening as the reality of the scene settled in. They had followed the trail. They had read the signs they had come to the right place's and just still—He stopped a few feet away, crouching slightly not reaching out—just looking and taking it in. As The positioning. The stillness. The way the bodies had been left without ceremony's without regard and as Behind him, Sage remained near the entrance, his presence steady and grounded, while Scarlet shifted his position to scan the rest of the warehouse and his eye's movings across the rafters and the corners, the deeper pockets of shadow as where something could still be hiding....neptune stepped further inside slower now, his earlier unease just as replaced by something heavier "…This was just recent..," he said just quietly..
As then sun rose gradually as his attention lifting from the bodies as he's just turned his gaze toward the rest of the room The scattered debris. The disturbed sand along the floor as subtle marks like drag lines, scuffed impressions, faint signs of movements that hadn't yet been erased as His expression hardened, the weight of the realization settling into something sharper and it was they had followed him....Right to the aftermath.
Sun's eyes swept the room again as slower this time, searching for anything—any detail has that just might give directions and just might tell him where's the trail continued...But there was nothing as just only silence and Only the bodies....Only the lingering just sense of something that had already passed through and then moved on without lookings back His hands tightened slightly at his sides as frustration as building beneath the surface as the reality of it settled in And when he's finally spoke... his voice was low, controlled—but just edged with something sharper beneath it. "Where's is he ?" As he said before looking at his surroundings...
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TO BE CONTINUED