5th December.
The port of Ana was the most windswept they'd come upon yet. Barely few ships there. Weathered and dusty from disuse. The whole place in eerie silence as if forgotten, and devoid of any sign of life. The stillness of this harbour unsettling.
It felt as if the entire town was holding its breath.
Until…
Sudden, mournful cry blasted through the air as a foghorn responded to their arrival.
There were people on one of the ships in the desolate harbour. A trio of youngsters like them. These trio extended a plank over and boarded the Hangpole with a grace of authority about them.
Two boys and a girl all in uniform.
"Ahoy there! State your business at this port!" Demanded the boy with a bulbous nose clung on fair, wide face.
The other boy had a more commanding poise as well as height. "I'm Corporal Rowan and these are my associates, Arlo and Carla."
Davy, Rwby and Klein exchanged glances, somewhat sceptical of these authorities. Clearly the uniform worn by Carla couldn't be hers from how oversized they fit her small frame while she kept propping up the big hat, which otherwise kept swallowing half her face. Nevertheless, Davy played along politely. "Berth for our ship and we've come looking for a doctor."
"Very well. We are Harbour inspectors, you see. We must conduct thorough inspection of your vessel before you can be allowed on our island."
Klein whispered to Davy. "They seem a bit young for this job, don't they?"
Davy nodded. Still, they allowed the trio to inspect around. They moved about with an air of confidence, their eyes wandered, sizing up Davy and the others. They opened compartments and peered into crates with an eagerness, which casted more suspicion on their claimed authority.
Arlo called Rowan in excited whispers as he opened a certain barrel. "Sweet, would you look at this! We've hit the jackpot!"
"Shh! Keep it down! They might hear us."
"Oh, right, sorry. Wait 'til Tom sees this."
"See what?" Carla came for a glimpse too. Muskets, flintlock pistols and ammo filled that barrel. "Why do you even want these? They're old models." She disapproved. "These will be almost useless against… them."
Neither Rowan nor Arlo were the least bit discouraged however. "Not useless. We can use these." They looked each other.
Rowan returned to the adventurers. "Firearm–" he cleared his throat and affected a more authoritative voice. "Firearm are highly illegal in Ana. Article 5V, Section 1 of the Marine Decalogue states hence: Attempt to smuggle firearm onto Ana's soil warrants confiscation of said firearms. Additionally, incarceration of the would-be smugglers for a minimum of 52 weeks."
"But today's your lucky day, lads." Came Arlo.
"Aye." Rowan continued. "We shall confiscate the arms and let you turn and be gone from this island."
Klein, Davy and Rwby looked each other.
"How do your rules apply when we haven't yet docked?" Asked Rwby.
"What she said." Came Davy. "We'll keep our weapons and be on our way." Davy replied.
"Wait, wait. What's the rush now? We're all friends here." Said Arlo, desperation betraying his voice. "We're… a flexible authority. How about a deal? That's a lot of guns for your few numbers anyway. So how about give us half and we say welcome to Ana?"
Klein had a bad feeling about it. He whispered so to Davy, only to receive a sidelong frown from him. "Deal." Davy agreed as if just to spite his opinion.
Just the woody smell of the city excited Adonna, she didn't look so sick anymore.
They decided to take Sela's advice and picked a random island on the map they'd claim to be from just in case anyone asked.
Rather than ask around right away, they elected to explore and first thing was to get to higher ground to survey the metropolis.
The alive chimneys, steam pipes crisscrossing the city's architecture. Rwby pointed towards the hedged railways excitedly as train streaked through the city pulled by Thunderhoofs. Adonna directed eyes towards a domineering citadel so old foliage grew on it. While the others kept pointing one sight or another, Davy hunted for a medicine store with a spyglass.
Klein cared about where best to conceal a flintlock on his body.
Rwby wore a black beret to match her hair, which Adonna soon got jealous so she suggested they first went shopping first. After all, thanks to Louis IV, they had more money than they knew how to spend.
"Aren't you supposed to be sick?" Davy looked her.
"Don't you know it's scientifically proven that shopping is the ultimate Cure-all?" With that and a giggle, she went on ahead.
She bought a blue beret, a stylish cardigan, and bunch of unnecessary items that prompted the others to buy more unnecessary items. In fact, the only useful things bought in their shopping spree would be Rwby's new woollen jackets – though exact same design as her regular ones; then Klein getting a holster for his pistol.
Most shopkeepers were women. The scarce citizens they'd pass by on the streets were mostly women. The doctor's wife examined and medicated Adonna in her husband's absence.
Women filled the diner they entered for lunch. So many empty bottles. So gloomy the atmosphere.
They all agreed it wasn't any of their business what's wrong in the city. Their only business would be to enquire about sea legends and Astrids.
Since the Sagittarius Legend itself left no clues aside from navigating in one certain direction, Adonna had gathered or scribbled clues to other unfound treasures down this path that could be anyway relevant to the quest itself.
She spread a map across the table, explaining a theory of Carto-astrology. That certain ancient civilisations might've captured alignment of stars or constellations for creating cryptic maps even the best cartographers couldn't decipher. So their best shot would be finding clues about sea legends that may match points referenced on this ancient Carto-astrological map believed to highlight habitats of different species of Astrids. "I believe understanding how to read Carto-astrology might just be the key." She added.
"So this map is otherwise useless because the locations on it won't match expected places if we followed by it but if we find the places it marks then we can reference to understand how to read it? And in turn, how to read the stars in order to find the Sagittarius Legend." Rwby summarised.
"What?" Klein was left lost.
"I find my hope in you being able to figure our next course terribly shattered." Said Davy.
"If we figure out how to read this map, we figure out how to read Constellations as map."
"And we do so by finding as many of the Astrid habitats it marks as possible, so we can correlate their locations on an actual map to this cryptic one in order to figure out the trick." Rwby added.
"This will take forever." Davy groaned.
"We better start asking around then." Replied Adonna.
They split up to mingle.
But, women in this diner responded cold grunts at best. Most ignored them, one told Klein to piss off.
So they re-strategised. Lift the mist of gloomy mood first, Adonna suggested.
Rwby shook her head rapidly against Adonna's idea – but in vain as she dragged her onto the unused stage in the diner.
To sing like they used to during their schoolhouse years.
Just when their carol began raising spirits, someone stormed into the diner. A young man about their age. Patches from multiple repairs riddled his clothing, and a brown scarf flapping close behind his neck. "Marblemen!" He cried.
The bartender hastily opened a trapdoor behind the counter for him to hide then she opened the back door wide. Back to her counter, she put on a calm comportment despite her thumping heartbeats.
The whole room went so quiet you could hear a needle drop.
Four big men entered the door. Armed men, clad in similar uniform those 3 self-proclaimed Harbour Inspectors wore – however you could just tell without shadow of a doubt these men were the real deal.
"That way! He ran out." The bartender pointed to her open back door.
One moved to check outside that door. Two around roamed the diner. The last approached the lying bartender. He squinted with suspicion. It wasn't their first time losing a target like that yet everyone they asked in the diner buttressed that lie.
The wooden floor creaked under their boots as they roamed around tables. All the Marblemen armed with not muskets but rifles. One stopped at Klein and Davy. He looked the former's bald face, looked away; then looked Davy's light moustache and asked how old he was.
The Marbleman didn't even give him chance to reply. "Oi, Gaff, look on here. A man." He called over the others.
"My – my, it is a man. You're coming with us, chief." Another pulled out handcuffs.
When his friends protested, one of the Marblemen pulled his rifle, another shoved his daunting pistol in Klein's face. Unlike the flintlocks wielded by Hangpole pirates or that man with the tricorn hat, Louis IV, which carried only single shots, this pistol model housed 5 rounds in revolving cylinder.
Another of the Marblemen placed his hands on both Adonna and Rwby, saying. "Why so riled up, girls? It's for your protection."
"He did nothing wrong! We were just about to leave your island in fact." Adonna blurted.
"Oh, tourists, I see. Well, you see, here in Ana we protect the womenfolk by… removing the danger away. Men are dangerous, you know? Thieves, scoundrels, killers, dogs. So we heroically round up the menfolk from 18 to 60 years old to where they won't be a danger to any of you lovely ladies. You're welcome."
"He's barely 17!"
The one with his rifle at Davy laughed. "I know a middle-aged dog man when I see one." The moment Davy opened his mouth to defend himself, that man silenced him with the butt of his rifle then went on to cuff him.
The Marblemen found a flintlock pistol on him that further solidified their grounds for arrest. Klein's pistol also drew their interest. "What of this one, Gaff? A real man in the making over here."
Gaff was the one keeping Rwby and Adonna under his hard grips. Bear snarling at him but he simply ignored the little dog as harmless. "Leave that one. We're only here to arrest just one person today." He eyed Adonna especially, the volume of his voice lowered for their ears only. "It's a real pity no one seems to know where the boy who ran in here went."
She understood what he really wanted. However, her defiant eyes looked down at little Bear. Then to Davy, who shook his head knowing what she was thinking to do. In that moment, the decision fell upon her. With another look at little Bear, torn between temptation and hesitation, she made a decision. She pointed over to the bartender's counter and told the men there's a trapdoor behind it.
It's a well camouflaged trapdoor, but the Marblemen finally got their target, the boy called Tom. His striking blue eyes stood out from the rugged backdrop of his features, Adonna noticed as they slapped on his wrists the cuffs that were once on Davy's.
Gaff approached the bartender, whom he called Gerchen, with a stern warning. "Next time we lose another of our target, I will personally see to it that certain people get expelled from the Mines. I have my way with the boss, don't forget." Then, on the Marblemen's way out, he stopped once again at Adonna. "Welcome to Ana." He said.
They needn't wait for the bitter women to kick them out once the Marblemen had left, they wanted to leave Ana more than anyone.
One person didn't want them leaving just yet.
One woman chased after them down the row 'til she got their attention. Porcelain-like skin and neat hair packed into a bun skewered by a metal hairpin, she introduced herself as Elsa. "I might have overheard you mention the Sagittarius Legend. Well, it's your lucky day." She said.
"You know about it?" asked Davy.
"She didn't "overhear" anything." Said Rwby. "There were 22 people in the diner aside us, I don't remember her face being one of them."
"Oh that's impressive. That's really – really impressive." Elsa clapped – if lightly. "Indeed, I wasn't. Let's say I have eyes and ears everywhere. Not every day a group of adventurers show up with an Astrid of their own."
They all couldn't believe how she knew Bear was an Astrid despite being dyed brown.
"I've an eye for stuff like this." She said. "What if I told you I have information on the Sagittarius treasure journaled by someone who spent 15 years pursuing it?"
They looked each other. Desire defeated doubt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The whole city of Ana was only a strip of land stretched from the port through a fraction of the island's forest.
Elsa took them through the eastern woods to a cave concealed by the deafening susurrus of a waterfall. There lay an old ship telling tales of years of exposure to the elements right from first glance. Its once majestic, steam-powered form now covered in moss and patches full of rust. Its hull carrying scars of many adventures, massive paddlewheels that used to churn the waters now stationary while overgrown with ivy. The whole ship at least half submerged in a pool as if cradled by nature.
Elsa took them inside this ship, where the scent of damp wood and aged metal greeted them. Light filtering through various channels into the cave filtered through cracks into this ship. Trinkets and leftover treasures everywhere like they meant nothing.
To Elsa, they did mean nothing as her eyes misted with memories. "My husband was one of the most successful treasure hunters there is… and obsessive. Found so many treasures while seeking the Sagittarius throughout. And he probably would have found it but… I finally got him to retire from it all. He could be gone for months, a year… two. After all those years I'd finally got him to quit and stay home with me. But then he was taken away from me this time." Her voice wavered like a lump formed in her throat."
In the dimly lit cabin, they could feel the weight of her words.
It's barely been a year since Marblemen came to Ana. At first they were making arrest on every petty trespass. Then they kept imposing new laws up to the point of segregating the population like so. Sending countless fathers, husbands, brothers and sons to either the prison or Mines. She'd been paying informants for any piece of information that could get her closer to her husband ever since. Her offer was simple: their help in exchange for his 15-years' worth of discovery about the Sagittarius Legend.
"I'm sorry." Said Davy. "But this is beyond us."
Voice torn between reluctance and guilt, Adonna agreed. "We just helped Marblemen capture another victim. We're really the last people you should be asking for help."
"My dear, you prioritised and saved the people you love. There isn't a single shred of wrong in that. It's exactly what I'm doing here. I have a lot of treasure so I will compensate you dearly aside from the information. I also have a plan how to break into the Marblemen's prison and get him out. I have eyes and ears everywhere, remember? What I lack are hands."
Still they couldn't.
Each of them in their thought on their walk back through the woods.
All quiet.
Until,
Animals came stampeding from one direction all of a sudden, raising dust and booms. Yet as the stampede passed, the explosive noise didn't cease, only became intermittent from the direction the animals ran from.
Curiosity beat fear as Klein engaged the others down that direction of apparent danger.
There, they discovered a Thunderhoof grazing.
Not like regular moose or reindeers would graze, it dashed back and forth in destructive whirlwind velocity, splintering trees with its charged antlers. The large shards of timber, it would chew on. Then onto the next tree.
Any quick eyes would notice this Thunderhoof missing both hooves of its forelegs – replaced by worn-out metallic replicas.
Klein took a step closer.
It fled in a blink.
"Whoa! No catching up to that." He remarked.
An idea sparked inside Rwby inspired by the electricity the Astrid produced whenever it ran.
That brief spectacle had lifted spirits, however not Adonna's. She remained spaced out in thought. Davy snapped her out of it with a touch.
"As long as pursuing this treasure remains our goal, quickest, most logical path is freeing the Treasure hunter, who knows more about it than we can ever learn on own." Said Rwby.
Klein agreed.
Adonna looked Davy. With a faint smile, he said to her "Whatever you wanna do."
They returned to Elsa.