Chapter Text
Robin Nomarch had never been considered either by herself or by others to be a cowardly person. She had never shied away from conflicts either with humans or with Grimm, and she had never been afraid to make difficult choices as a leader. She faced all challenges head-on with full acceptance of the consequences that may come to fall on her shoulders as a result.
However, on one evening in early November, Robin was suddenly feeling not so brave. There was a decision to be made now, and though she hoped to shelter others from it, she knew it would affect all of their lives drastically. While on that evening, she was at least grateful to be sitting beside her teammates, to have them supporting her in this decision, as she stared around at the other members of the Vermoss Hunting Commune—at Peppa and Salina, preparing the evening’s stew, at Cali, mending Copper the blacksmith’s singed apron, at Chrys scolding Salm for sticking his hand into burs while foraging for nuts—she couldn’t help but wish that things could stay like this forever.
But she knew they couldn’t. Everything had to change eventually. She could only hope that the commune—and that their daughter—would be able to accept that as well.
“Alright Warbler,” Robin said at last. “Call them in.”
Warbler Dalton, who was sitting on the end of a line that consisted of himself, Robin, Nary Coline, and his husband, Budge Melopes, pulled out his flute, Harmonous. In addition to serving as his weapon, he used his flute to send out signals to the commune. He raised it to his lips to blow the signal for them to gather, but before he could play a single note, he found it snatched from his hands.
Someone above his head commented, “Neat weapon. Not really my style, but still, y’know, cute.”
Warbler and the rest of Team RNBW jumped to their feet at the sound of an unfamiliar voice and found a tall young man standing behind them. He had copper-colored, windswept hair and was dressed in pale green sashes. He twirled Harmonous between his fingers and casually waved at them, saying, “Hey, there. Nice to see you again.”
Snatching his flute back in a huff, Warbler snapped, “What do you think you’re doing? Don’t you know not to touch a man’s instrument?”
“And who the hell are you, kid?” Robin demanded, backing Warbler up.
The young man smirked and asked in a mock offended tone, “What? You don’t remember me?”
Budge, watching the scene in confusion, scratched his head and asked, “You’re not one of Citrine’s friends, are you?”
“I’m…an acquaintance, you could say,” he said.
Cutting between Warbler and Robin and the boy defensively, Nary said, “Guys, more important than who he is—how did he get in here?”
The rest of Team RNBW froze at this realization. Just like every night, the hunting commune was protected by a ring of portable shield generators. The shields were strong enough to keep out most of the Grimm foolhardy enough to attack such a large group of people. To see that something had not only broken through the shield, but that something was a human out in the wilds, was unprecedented.
The young man raised his hands up and shrugged, “Hey, don’t have a cow about it! I suppose I didn’t think you’d remember me. We only met once, and you probably talked to my leader more than me.”
“Explain yourself,” Robin demanded, looming over him. “Why are you here? And how?”
“Look, I just came to let you know, the job’s done,” the boy said. “We took care of Kaijumura, just like you asked.”
“What?” Robin shouted. She grabbed the boy by the shoulders and shook him, demanding, “Start talking sense, kid! Who are you? And what happened to the city?”
The boy did not flinch in her grip. Instead, he smoothly answered, “You want specifics, I get it. Look, we didn’t get it as destroyed as you would’ve liked, but all the chaos did attract a chimereon to help out. That’s gotta be worth something, right?”
Behind them, Warbler snorted. “He’s lying,” he insisted. “Clearly. Chimereons don’t exist.”
“Ha, well,” the boy laughed coolly, “I bet your daughter would beg to differ on that.” As an icy silence fell amongst Team RNBW, the boy took the chance to address them all again and asked, “So, are we getting paid or not?”
With the possibility what could have happened heavy in her mind, Robin grabbed the boy tighter and said in a tone of rising anger, “I’m not paying you a single damn lien! Tell us what’s happened or else—”
The boy suddenly reached behind his back and grabbed a collapsed staff, which he used to swat away Robin’s hands. As Nary moved to flank him, he called out, “I’ll just send a bill, okay?” before being consumed in a swirl of shadow. The shadow quickly disappeared, and him along with it.
“Where’d he go?” Robin asked, staring around the camp. “Where’d that punk go?”
“And what in the world was he talking about?” Budge asked, clutching his head in confusion. “Bills, Kaijumura, chimereons—”
“And Citrine!” Warbler exclaimed. “She was at Kaijumura. And we haven’t heard from her since before then. You don’t think—”
“She’s fine. I’m sure she’s fine,” Nary said, though she was less than confident in saying this. Still, she had to help keep the wheels on this wagon. Her teammates could be quick to run away with their imaginations. “And perhaps that boy simply had us mistaken for someone else. Perhaps this is simply all a great misunderstanding.”
“Right. Yeah,” Robin sighed, sweeping her hand though her hair. “Either way, tomorrow, we’re making our way to the nearest village and calling in to Haven. Whatever that kid was doing here, there is something—”
There was a loud, metallic smashing sound and Team RNBW spun around just quickly enough to catch the sight of one of the sections of their holo-shield failing and dissipating. As cries of alarm rose up from the rest of the commune, Team RNBW leapt between them and the breach, prepared to fight whatever monster had been powerful enough to break through their barrier.
But for a moment, there was nothing there beyond the border but the pitch black night and the smashed remains of the projector.
Then, two flashes burst from the darkness, charging towards them. Robin had barely a second to pull out the dormant staff of her weapon to block an axe kick swinging down at her head. There was a clang as a metal boot collided with Haruno Tori. Robin was taken aback by how much she needed to brace herself under the blow. Her attacker spun and swung their other leg around and Robin began to block, but she found herself unable to move. Defenseless, the kick smashed into her shoulder and she was flung to the side.
“Robin!” Nary exclaimed, staring after her leader’s crumpled form. A hand fell on Nary’s shoulder and she was frozen as well. From the corner of her eye, she could see a kick coming down at her, but a sharp note from Warbler’s flute lined with wind dust blew the attacker off course.
Grunting as she pushed herself up onto her elbows, Robin called out, “Blindside!”
Nary shut her eyes and activated her semblance, enveloping herself in a blinding flash of light. As she did, she felt a rush of air behind her and suddenly, she was able to move again. Letting her flash fade, she looked back at Budge and saw his own gigantic fist slowly returning to normal.
Robin rushed back over to them and the four hunters took up their guards again, only to be taken off-guard when they realized who they were facing off against.
“Bluebell?” Warbler asked, lowering his flute. “North?”
Bluebell Johnson and North Blustere, members of Team CABN and former classmates of Team RNBW, 20 years past, stared them down with very different postures and expressions. Bluebell was crouched low to the ground, ready to spring again with his spring-loaded boots, but his shamefully low-slung rabbit ears showed he was hesitant to attack. North, meanwhile, was stood up straight with her crook slung over her shoulder, her expression as cold as the chill November wind that ripped through the break in the barrier.
“What are you two doing here?” Warbler asked.
“Why did you attack us?” Nary demanded.
“What is going on tonight?” Budge cried out.
North narrowed her eyes slightly. “I guess you don’t get the news out here. You’d be running faster if you did,” she commented. “So lemme just get this out there. Team RNBW, you’re under arrest for orchestrating a terrorist attack on the city of Kaijumura. We’ve been hired to bring you in.”
The members of Team RNBW exchanged bewildered expressions before Warbler exclaimed, “But we didn’t do anything! We didn’t know Kaijumura was attacked. We haven’t even been anywhere around Mistral in years!”
“Doesn’t matter too much right now, “North said. “Media thinks you’re guilty. Evidence says you’re guilty. You have to come at least face trial.”
Nary considered this carefully. Despite North’s supposed nonchalance, she could see how readily she gripped her crook. Bluebell too looked ready to spring into action. “What if we don’t think we have to?” she asked quietly, calculating how long it would take her to draw her own bow and arrows.
“Oh, come on guys,” Bluebell said imploringly to both parties. “We don’t have to fight. We’re all friends here! Or we used to be. Acquaintances, at least!”
“Doesn’t mean much right now either,” North commented.
“North, stop it,” Bluebell said, standing upright and putting a steadying hand on her crook. He looked to Team RNBW with an earnest smile and said, “Guys, you have other friends in Mistral. And I’m pretty on the fence about this whole thing too. I’m sure that if you come in peacefully, and if you really are innocent, this’ll all get sorted out in no time.”
While Budge and Nary seemed half-convinced by this, Robin still glared at the pair. Warbler, meanwhile, was not buying it at all.
“Right,” he scoffed, “because Mistral’s justice system has always been so fair. Only the right criminals punished there.”
“Warbler, please,” Bluebell begged. “I don’t want to fight you.”
“Agreed. It should be such a shame if this situation were to become violent.”
Team RNBW stared around at the sound of a new voice and even Bluebell seemed surprised by the presence of a tall man in orange and black now standing by the main crowd of the commune. He was staring at the long knife balanced on one of his fingers, the light of the campfires reflecting eerily off his scarred, milky white left eye.
Immediately, Bluebell seemed to be made uncertain by his presence. North simply glared at him. “We were handling it,” she growled.
Abraham Hollow, the third member of Team CABN, flipped the knife and caught it deftly. “I’m certain you were,” he said in the smooth, deep voice of his. “I just thought I might expedite the situation by making it clear to our friends what is at stake here.” He smiled over at Robin and said, “Nomarch, if I remember correctly, you were always a pragmatic woman. You must understand it’s no good for anyone’s faith or morale for a respectable team of hunters such as yourself to be convicted of such a crime, and losses like that only bring on more Grimm.”
Robin only held his gaze evenly.
“So, you must understand it’s in the best interest of everyone for you to come peacefully to Mistral and prove your innocence there,” Abraham continued on.
“Only if we think we’ll actually be proved innocent,” Robin countered. “And given the situation, I’m not sure how our chances are looking on that.”
“Of course, of course. Pragmatic as always,” he nodded. “But I would like you to at least consider that agreeing to come along peacefully could only be a point in your favor. And I would like you to know that attempting to fight and flee would not only reflect poorly on you, but it could lead to some unfortunate collateral damage. Right here.” Abraham turned his gaze fully on the other member of the commune. “Right now.” He let the knife fall from his hand. It stuck fast in the ground.
“Abraham, stop it!” Bluebell insisted quickly as North’s lip curled up in disgust. Some members of the commune seemed just as defensive at these comments.
“You think you can intimidate us just because we’re not hunters?” Chrys snapped. Behind her, Copper clenched his hammer tightly and Salina reached for the knife from her cutting board. “We’ve dealt with thugs and Grimm for 20 years too. We’re not afraid of you and your little threats.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” Abraham said. “But the question is—are your leaders?”
He turned his gaze onto Team RNBW, who had watched this all transpire silently. All set on edge by their fury and indignation, Nary and Warbler were on their toes, ready to pounce, while Budge’s fists were clenched tightly, already beginning to swell.
Then, there was a thud as Robin’s axe hit the ground, followed by her knees as she knelt there heavily.
“Alright,” she called out. “We surrender.”
A shocked murmur ran through the commune as, without question, Nary, Budge, and Warbler followed suit, all of them kneeling and folding their hands behind their heads. Abraham, meanwhile, smiled congenially.
“I’m glad we could all agree to be reasonable,” he said, leaning down and retrieving his knife. “And I do hope you can all accept my leadership in the interim,” he said, addressing the rest of the commune. “I would advise you to rest well tonight. We’ll be making our way to Mistral in the morning.” Gesturing towards Team RNBW, he added, “Bluebell, North, if you would?”
North spat in disgust. “Fuck you,” she said, and then stalked away towards the broken barrier.
Bluebell wavered a moment, staring between Abraham and North. Then, he knelt beside Robin and began to cuff her hands before her. “I am so, so sorry,” he told her in a hushed tone. “It wasn’t supposed to go like this. I swear, I didn’t know Abraham would do that.”
Staring straight ahead at the ground, Robin muttered, “You were just doing your job,” in a tone that did not seem to accept this as an excuse.
His ears slunk lower, just like his stomach, as he felt the resentful gaze of Warbler, Nary, and Budge on the back of his neck. He felt he had to do something to improve the mood.
“Um, you know,” Bluebell added, “I had my suspicions when I first saw her, but I’m certain now. That Citrine—she’s your daughter, isn’t she?”
Robin’s head snapped up immediately. “You saw her?” she asked. “How is she? Was she really at the city? Was there really a chimereon there?”
“Was,” Bluebell nodded. “Me and North took care of it. And your kid got a little banged up fighting the rest of the Grimm, but she came out alright.” He smiled reassuringly. “You’d have been proud of her.”
Letting out a sigh of relief, Robin let her head fall back. Behind her, Bluebell apologetically carried on with cuffing the rest of her teammates. Around her, the rest of the commune bitterly carried on with their evening duties under the gaze of someone who had just threatened their lives.
How quickly this night had spun sideways and out of her control.
At this moment, the only thing she could hope was that her daughter knew as little about this as possible. If Citrine knew that her family was in danger, this powder keg of a situation could only be set to explode.