After the Fall

by E. C. Myers

  “See? Glynda could have lifted that,” Yatsuhashi said.

  Coco stepped gingerly on the slab and looked down, expecting to see a flattened Huntress through the murky glass. Instead, she saw a hole in the ground, which was quickly filling with sand.

  “Uh-oh,” Coco said.

  “Huh,” Bertilak said. “I didn’t know she could do that.”

  She scanned the terrain around them. Then she realized what Carmine’s move was. “Gus!” Coco said.

  They turned as one toward the boy. He stared at them in alarm for a moment, then a hand reached from the ground and grabbed his ankle. He screamed.

  Velvet was closest. She raced toward him as he began sinking into the sand. She reached him and grabbed his hands when he was waist deep.

  “I’ve got him!” Velvet said, straining to keep his head aboveground. But Carmine had her, too. Velvet began slipping into the sand, while Gus held on to her desperately.

  Coco was out of bullets, but she had another idea. “Yatsuhashi!” she shouted as she ran toward Edward.

  She need not have bothered. He was already on his way to help Velvet. He drew his sword and plunged it into the ground at Carmine’s position.

  Coco heard a muffled shriek. Carmine let go of Gus.

  “She’s on the move!” Fox sent.

  Yatsuhashi studied the area around him and brought his blade down, sending a geyser of sand up. He picked up the blade and brought it down again a few feet to the right. He spun around and struck again. It reminded him of a game of Whack-a-Grimm at the Vytal Festival fairgrounds.

  Suddenly a Ravager dove at him, raking his back with its claws. Yatsuhashi spun his blade around and sliced it in half. A second Grimm swooped down and pecked at the sand. The spot swelled, knocking the black bird back.

  Bertilak was fighting a third Ravager, backing away and firing bullets from his broken weapon as it advanced on him.

  Sinkholes began forming around the desert. Yatsuhashi got to his feet and pulled Gus and Velvet out of the sandpit. He lifted Gus to his shoulders.

  Coco leaped over a hole as it appeared in front of her, eyes on Edward.

  The old man was lying in the sand, disoriented. He mumbled incoherently.

  “Edward,” Coco said. “We can’t do this without you. You have to concentrate, block Carmine’s Semblance. Block everyone’s, whatever. Just do it now.”

  “I … can’t …” Edward closed his eyes and his hands trembled.

  The sand opened up beneath them, and they began slipping beneath the desert.

  Coco squeezed his hands reassuringly. “You have to,” she said. “Be that legendary Huntsman one more time. For your grandson.”

  Edward’s breathing calmed. His forehead crinkled in concentration. And then he smiled.

  They stopped sinking.

  The holes around the desert filled in, and the sand stilled. The dead Ravager near Bertilak smoked and faded away like the other defeated Grimm. Everyone looked at one another, wondering, was it really over?

  Bertilak scrambled over to a mound of sand and started digging. Yatsuhashi spotted the hand sticking out of it and joined him. They worked quickly, but the sand fell back into the hole as soon as they could scoop it away.

  “We’re losing her,” Yatsuhashi said.

  “Keep digging!” Bertilak grunted.

  Velvet fiddled with her camera, walking toward Bertilak and Yatsuhashi.

  “Stand back,” she said.

  “Velvet?” Yatsuhashi looked up as a hard-light hologram formed in Velvet’s hand. A glowing blue trumpet. It flickered and dimmed in the sunlight. Velvet was nearly out of Light Dust.

  “What good is that?” Bertilak asked.

  Yatsuhashi’s eyes widened. He grabbed Bertilak by the back of his armor and hauled him away.

  Velvet put the trumpet to her lips, leaned back, and blew a clear note. Sound waves blasted out of the trumpet and blew sand away in sheets. Carmine was uncovered in a second, just as the trumpet disappeared, the note slowly fading away.

  Bertilak hopped into the canyon and picked Carmine up.

  “Good going, Velvet,” Coco said. She looked around. “I think we won.”

  It was slow going as the group dispatched the remaining Grimm and followed the path of the turtle toward the Coquina settlement, which was the closest settlement to the city of Vacuo. Then the path of the turtle veered off, and there were signs of a big struggle.

  “The Blind Worm,” Yatsuhashi said.

  “No … that can’t be, after everything we did?” Coco looked around, wondering what had happened, kicked at the sand in anger.

  “I think I see something.” Velvet squinted and pointed. “A group of people ahead.”

  Coco picked up the pace, which was challenging because they had Bertilak and Carmine tied up securely so they couldn’t cause any more trouble, and Fox was still recovering from his injuries. They were all tired from their fight, and the sun was relentless. She missed her beret.

  They finally caught up to the refugees, a long line of them winding through the desert toward their new home. Slate was in the rear. She called a halt to the march when she spotted Team CFVY and their group. The message passed up the line, stopping people as they received it.

  “I’m glad to see you lot,” Slate said. “Looks like you’ve had an adventure.”

  “You too,” Coco said. “We saw you had another run-in with the Blind Worm.”

  Slate nodded. “We did as you said and ran for Coquina, but we didn’t get far before the Blind Worm came up on us. We thought we were goners, but then four Huntsmen came to our aid.”

  “Four Huntsmen?” Fox turned to Coco.

  “Hey, it’s Team CFVY!” someone called out.

  Coco looked up. She blinked. It had to be a mirage, but—

  “Sun!” Velvet cried. She ran ahead to greet Sun Wukong excitedly.

  “Well, how about that,” Fox said. “Team SSSN is here?”

  “Never thought I’d see those guys again,” Yatsuhashi said.

  The two teams came together.

  “Where have you been?” Coco and Neptune Vasilias said simultaneously.

  The groups laughed. “It’s a long story,” Sun said.

  “Same,” Velvet said.

  “We have a lot to catch up on,” Coco said. She had so many questions.

  “You guys look terrible,” Neptune said.

  Coco lowered her sunglasses and glared at him. He held his hands up.

  “But you’re still a sight for sore eyes.” Neptune rubbed the back of his head nervously.

  “We were on our way to Shade Academy, when we ran into Slate and her people,” Sun said. “Didn’t realize we were cleaning up your mess. Man, you guys used to be the best.”

  “We’re still the best.” Coco folded her arms. “Better than you, anyway. It’s just been so long, you’re probably overdue for a reminder.”

  “You’re heading for Shade? We’ve been studying there,” Velvet said.

  “Maybe we’ll get a chance to settle this in class,” Yatsuhashi said.

  “Looking forward to it,” Sun said.

  Coco nodded. “But first let’s get these people to their new home.”

  Velvet smiled. “And then we can go home.”

  Teams CFVY and SSSN spent a couple of days at Coquina, recovering from the fight, and learning all about what Sun had been doing with teams RWBY and JNR at Haven Academy, of all places.

  “Sounds like we missed out on the action,” Coco had said. “Maybe we picked the wrong school after all.”

  “There’s plenty going on at Shade, don’t you think?” Velvet said. “And it’s kind of nice not to have to defend our school from a major threat every year.”

  Coco and Velvet exchanged a knowing glance.

  But they had only scratched the surface of everything that had been happening in the wider world; no one did isolation better than Vacuo, especially with CCT communications down. They would have a lot to talk about on t
he way to Shade, and both teams CFVY and SSSN were raring to go. Sun Wukong seemed to have a problem staying in one place for very long; Velvet wondered if he’d be able to stick it out at Shade Academy for the long haul.

  When it was time to go, CFVY gathered up their things. They hadn’t brought much, but the villagers had loaded them down with whatever they could offer as a thank-you. Coco tried to reject all their gifts, but Fox couldn’t resist hauling in at least a few pounds of extra mole crab meat. And Edward wouldn’t hear of letting them go without at least a bit of money for their trouble.

  “I wish you could stay a little longer,” Gus said to Velvet. “I’ll miss you.”

  “I’ll write, and I’ll come visit you at Oscuro,” Velvet said. She mimed boxing. “Show you and your new friends a few things.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll ever be a fighter like you guys and my grandfather. I just want to learn to control my Semblance so I don’t hurt any more people. Maybe figure out how it can help people one day.”

  “You don’t have to be a Huntsman to protect others,” Velvet said. “You’ve been doing a great job with your grandfather.” She followed his gaze to where Yatsuhashi and Edward were meditating together under a stand of palm trees.

  Gus smiled and Velvet felt a surge of hopefulness and happiness. But she couldn’t attribute her feelings to his ability this time—these emotions were her own.

  Velvet hoped things would work out for both Gus and Edward. It was better than Edward’s other plan: to go after Bertilak and Carmine’s secret employer. They were relieved that Headmaster Theodore had sent the authorities in Vacuo City to Coquina to collect the Huntsman and Huntress. CFVY was getting tired of looking over their shoulder every five minutes.

  “Hey, everyone! Look at this!” Fox sent.

  Yatsuhashi’s eyes snapped open and he scowled. “Fox!” he roared. “Not while I’m meditating!”

  “Shouldn’t you be more peaceful or something?” Fox asked. He was under the shade of another tree, where he had been building a sand castle with Sun and Neptune for the last hour: a very impressive sculpture of Beacon Tower. Velvet wandered over to take a photo.

  “I’ll show you peaceful.” Yatsuhashi got up and promptly fell over. He smacked the ground in frustration. The sand rumbled and rippled away from him.

  “You meditated your legs asleep again.” Fox laughed. “Very peaceful.”

  “Hey, this is really good, Fox,” Velvet said.

  Fox beamed.

  “Roar!” Coco rose slowly from behind the sand sculpture, arms raised threateningly. “I am Grimmzilla!”

  “Coco, no!” Velvet shouted.

  Coco swatted the tower down, then stomped through the sand. “Grrrr!”

  “Guys? What happened?” Fox asked. “Is my castle okay?”

  “Yeesssss …?” Sun said.

  “Looking good, man,” Neptune said.

  Coco hefted her bag and the backpack full of crabmeat, handing the latter off to Fox.

  “It’s time to go,” Coco said.

  Velvet shook her head. “One second.”

  She ran back over to Gus and his grandfather. “Can I take your picture?” she asked.

  Edward nodded. He put an arm around Gus and they both smiled.

  “Oh, come on—take out your weapon! Show us your battle face!” Velvet cried.

  “Oh, like this?” He lifted the disc from his belt and separated the sharp outer ring from the curved shield, which had been reforged in town.

  “I like it,” Velvet said as she snapped a photo.

  Yatsuhashi came over to say good-bye to the pair, too. They all exchanged hugs.

  “Thanks again,” Gus said. “For everything.”

  “Take care of yourself,” Velvet said.

  Yatsuhashi knelt and put a hand on Gus’s shoulder. “You were great out there. I noticed you coming back to help me, when you could have run. And you helped us defeat Bertilak and Carmine by distracting them with their own emotions.” He smiled. “I know how scary a powerful Semblance can be, but don’t be afraid of it. Learn to control it, and use it for the right reasons.”

  Gus nodded, his eyes a little misty.

  Finally, the two teams of students set out for Shade. Coco seemed strangely quiet.

  “What’s up?” Velvet asked.

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about who hired Bertilak and Carmine.”

  “Who cares? They’re in custody now.”

  “If someone out there is kidnapping people with powerful Semblances, I don’t think they have good intentions. Do you?”

  “Coco, we won.”

  “We won the battle, but not the war,” Coco said. “Mission’s not over.”

  Velvet covered her eyes. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

  “Don’t you know me by now?”

  “You’re not going to let this go.”

  Coco tilted her head back. “And I know my team well enough to know you’re going to help.”

  Velvet groaned. “Do we have a choice?”

  “Of course. But I’m right about this one.” Coco nodded ahead. “There’s Shade.”

  Velvet looked up at the pyramidal castle rising on the horizon. She smiled.

  There was no place like home, and somewhere along the way Velvet had realized home was wherever Yatsu, Coco, and Fox were. For now, that was Shade Academy, but she didn’t know where life would take them beyond that or even what tomorrow would bring. They never could have imagined themselves in Vacuo, for instance.

  It didn’t matter as long as they were doing what they were meant to do, protecting others as Huntsmen and Huntresses—together.

  E. C. MYERS was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised by a single mother and the public library in Yonkers, New York. He is the author of numerous short stories and four young adult books: the Andre Norton Award–winning Fair Coin, Quantum Coin, The Silence of Six, and Against All Silence. E. C. currently lives with his wife, son, and three doofy pets in Pennsylvania. You can find traces of him all over the Internet, but especially at ecmyers.net and on Twitter @ecmyers.

  © 2019 Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

  First printing 2019

  Cover art by Patrick Rodriguez

  Cover design by Betsy Peterschmidt

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-49713-7

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