The day after the double birthday, Raven spoke to Shine and Wally about her proposed plan to find the pirate/bandit connection.
"This is so exciting," Wally said. "Just like my friends and I."
"Why are you asking us?" Shine's mind was more on Raven's behavior.
"You have an eye for these things. I thought I would run my plan by you," Raven explained.
"Wow," Wally said.
"Not you, really," Raven added meanly.
"Hey, I run this stuff all the time," Wally feigned offense.
"Since we're not here all the time now," Shine said, "I don't know how much I can advise you. But from what you said, you've thought it out, as you usually do. My only caveat is that you should not rely just on your own wits in this case. The Grimm have been unpredictable--it's wiser to expect to be surprised and have to make adjustments. If you go ahead with looking for those scoundrels, do it carefully and don't leave yourselves without an escape route--and not just your Semblance. If all of you got backed into a corner, people could die."
"And you guys didn't survive the gods to just fall because of some lame thieves," Wally piped up. "So don't let them get the drop on you."
Raven nodded. "That makes sense. Easier said than done, however."
"You do have other people who are good at this who you could ask for backup," Shine pointed out. "I'm not sure this is just Argus' problem, or just Menagerie's. They can't really just be targeting your territory."
"I know, but the other kingdoms are less willing to cooperate now that we're not all in immediate danger," Raven said. "The more the other threats decrease, the less they feel they need us."
"A foolish but inevitable turn of events for mankind." Shine rolled her eyes. "As soon as we feel self sufficient, we neglect our allies. It's so frustrating--more so because I catch myself doing the same thing as others."
"It's funny how some people never want to rely on anyone, and others want to way too much," Wally mused.
"We don't encourage that in this militia/base of operations," Raven said.
"That could be partly why they don't cooperate more on a wider scale," Shine said. "The kingdoms want to keep their identities, and I can't blame them for that. But they need each other. There's only 4 of you. There's hundreds of countries in our worlds--a few fighting doesn't ruin the entire globe, usually. You don't have that luxury here. Probably in time you'll have more than the 4 kingdoms, but I wouldn't guess that would be in your lifetimes."
"Can you not say things like that?" Raven balked. "It makes it seem as if you'll live much longer than we will."
Shine and Wally exchanged a look but said nothing. Raven had to wonder if they already thought they would.
Well...given Alicia's life, that wouldn't be out of the question...but it would be so odd for them, wouldn't it?
Raven had the feeling again that they were just spectators in some way to the drama of Remnant, like it was a big show to them. [Lol, she's closer than she knows.]
"On a different note, you'll be at the wedding, right?" Shine changed the subject.
"Of course," Raven said. "I said so before."
"Just double checking that you wouldn't let all this excitement distract you too much," Wally said. "We made that mistake. World drama is hard to push aside long enough to have time to get married."
"I can't wait for you to meet our other friends," Shine said. "There's even one named Raven. You'll like her--total rebel."
"I see what you did there," Wally said.
Raven wasn't so sure she would enjoy the reception. A bunch of people from a motley assortment of worlds she knew nothing about? What would that be like?
* * *
As a matter of fact, the wedding came and went with all of them going who'd been invited, and it was a lot of fun. A smashing hit, one of the people there said.
[The wedding is supposed to be uploaded eventually, but not as part of the main stories. So I'm not sure when I'll put it up. It's an ambitious crossover attempt that I'm still trying to polish.]
Not everyone went. Whitley wasn't invited. He knew why--they could only fit so many people.
But he was interested to hear about it from Weiss, who came back to Argus from there, since that was easier. Everyone did.
"I had more fun than I expected," she told him. "The people were weird, but some of them were very nice. I met some more ice users--they were incredible...and they didn't need dust. Just like Mr. West doesn't."
"But I have to know--" Theo had popped in for a visit just to hear about this. "--did you meet Batman?"
Qrow and Winter looked kind of perturbed.
"We did," Winter said. "I thought he was almost underwhelming after all we heard."
"No, he was cool," Sun protested. "Totally scary."
"Yeah, to be honest, I didn't see the resemblance to Qrow that much," Neptune said.
"He really did dress like a bat." Yang rubbed her hair. "Which looked less stupid than it sounds, but you shoulda seen what his friends were wearing. Geez, Wally's personality makes a lot more sense once you meet his friends."
"I thought they were very serious compared to him," Winter said. "I liked some of them...some not so much. I understand Shine's opinion of them now."
"I thought they were all cool," Emerald told Whitley and Klein. "But Cinder met her match for sullen and antisocial people. This guy named Sasuke was there. He was kind of a prick. Shine's been saying he's her most difficult student."
"Was he?" Whitley asked.
"From what I saw, I could believe it," Emerald said. "But he seemed to care about them, in his way. So kind of like some of us."
She didn't look at Mercury when she said that, which showed restraint.
"There were such weird people!" Ruby said, like she liked that. "This guy who had, like, no feelings, but he was nice. And these people who stuck to walls or yelled weird stuff or had talking snowmen."
"I liked meeting Shego," Raven admitted. "One of the only smart people there."
"You just liked her sarcasm," Qrow said.
"Well, it's a shame we missed it," Whitley said. "But...I'm not sure I would have liked it from the sound of it. I like people to be a bit more...grounded."
"My favorite people were the hero students," Pyrrha said. "But I liked the ninja ones also--they seemed the most like us, a large group of friends and students. The others were a bit different, but they all had connections with Shine and Wally in different ways. I learned a lot. In a way, I feel I know Shine and Wally better than before. And they all wanted to know our story too. Some things are the same between worlds. "
"Yeah, I noticed that," Oscar said. "Shine's always told us that, but it took meeting them all to really make me understand it. We had all these differences, but when we talked about our stories, the same things came up. We were bound up in curses, or afraid, or lost, or evil, or just alone, and they came and showed us a better way and cared about us. Sometimes even when other people wouldn't."
"Sappy," Theo said.
"It wasn't like that to hear it," Qrow said, more seriously. "It made it out like we were part of something bigger."
"Truly that we are all part of some grander scheme of the universe," Winter agreed. "All of us in our own ways influence each other. I felt there were traces from what some of them told us in our own lives, and that we were part of theirs. Shine and Wally connect us all to each other, not just themselves. I think truth is like that. They've always told us that, but it's as Oscar said--you don't understand it till you see it. But I know now why they look at things the way they do."
"I think they wanted to share that with us," Jaune said. "That's why they invited us all. And it does make me feel like the world is a little smaller, you know. Maybe we're not all as different as we think. We've got to work on meeting more people."
"Yes, I've been thinking about that also," Pyrrha said. "I'm so busy right now, with the baby and the other kids, but...well, in a few years some of them will be on their own. I just wonder if I should think about doing more outside my little niche. Not just fighting though. I think I could do more."
"I wouldn't push yourself yet." Qrow was afraid she'd give Winter ideas. "You have a family now. You have time to think about doing other stuff once that's not such a huge responsibility."
"Can we wait that long?" Pyrrha asked. "The world needs us now."
The others kind of understood how she felt.
"As an aside," Yang said to Nora, "now that we've met Camie and Bakugo, I really have a new standard for what a crazy but functional relationship looks like. I wish I was more like that."
"Heh..." Neptune didn't look like he thought the same.
"I agree, they were awesome," Nora said. "But we're better. Eh, Ren?"
"I guess it'll be your turn now." Theo glanced at them. "When's the big day? You're a little late as it is." Nodding at Storm, who was asleep on Ren's back.
Ren frowned at Theo, but then he said, "It'll be soon. Maybe this month, if we can get everything lined up."
"Hmm, well, I guess my news will seem small after all this," Theo said.
"What news?" Winter hoped it wasn't bad news.
"Is it about your crazy wife?" Raven asked. "I noticed she didn't come with you, and she never lets you go far out of her sight anymore."
"More like the other way around," Theo said. "But no, she didn't come. I feel like we're a little late to the party on this, but we're actually hopping on the baby train also."
Weiss thought that was a crass way of putting it, but the others got excited.
"Oh, really!" Pyrrha said.
"When?" Yang said.
"Well, appropriately, probably the end of summer," Theo said. "I'm kinda hoping for a two for one, like Qrow, but Vara's not feeling it."
"I thought you couldn't have kids," Blake said. "I mean, I'm happy for you--I just thought you said that."
"Nah, she was just afraid to because of her condition," Theo said. "So...it wasn't exactly planned, if you get my drift, but hey, it doesn't always work even when you try not to--"
"Theo!" Qrow warned.
"Oh, please, Qrow, most of these people are married or dating. They know how this goes by now," Theo scoffed. "Get a grip. The point is, it's happened. But so far, she's handling it all right. I won't say the rage is fun--all the time--but then she's so temperamental, I hardly notice. Took the students ages to figure it out. I'm not say I expect you all to hop on a plane and come see us for the big day, in fact Vara said she'd kill you if you crowded her, but I thought you should know why we'll be a little busy and close to home. Send us a card or whatever.... But yeah, I can't help as much with your project to find those ruffians either." Glancing at Raven. "Var will kill me if I do anything too dangerous while she's in her time of need."
Raven sighed. "I can't argue with that, even if I want to. But you'll still have an eye out for leads."
"Yeah, even Meridian's interested in the case," he said.
Meridian looked up and nodded.
"But we haven't found any leads," Weiss said. "Not in Vacuo. I keep telling you, it's just too obvious. I thought you guys were going to check Mistral more."
"We've been getting ready," Emerald said. "But I guess we can't wait forever."
"Probably not," Theo said. "Trails get cooler with time. Should have gone already."
"That's one reason to wait," Raven said. "See if they make a mistake."
* * *
Raven would regret those words later, because it wasn't even a week after that the bandits attacked another small town on the southeast side of Mistral, not far from the other ones they'd attacked.
A lone huntsman in the town of Dolor managed to contact Argus to let them know what happened before he was killed.
Raven called her elite squad for investigating to the base.
"What happened?" Yang asked.
Raven explained wearily.
"Is it still going on?" Neptune asked.
"I'm sure by now the bandits have fled, but the Grimm will likely be ravaging it for hours after," Raven said. "You can all get there before that's likely to be over and end it. This is the best time to investigate.... I didn't anticipate it to be this bad of a movement before you went in, but they are getting greedy. This town wasn't even in line for that much supply delivery. But this proves they're tracking our delivery routes somehow, so there's still a rat in our midst. They couldn't have found it so quickly otherwise."
"We should go then," Emerald said. "Maybe we can stop the entire town from being destroyed if we go now."
"Yeah," Raven said. "I've already let Zapato know to be ready for you."
Cinder looked up but then rolled her eyes.
"And don't give him a hard time." Raven seemed to notice. "Frankly, not many other pilots even wanted to risk this mission. I asked for backup, and most of them are afraid of the bandits too much. Normally I'd be flattered that we scare them that much, but now it's just irritating."
"I'm not scared of bandits." Yang stuck her chin out defiantly.
"These are not the same as mine, Yang," Raven said. Then she gave Cinder a cold look.
Cinder had almost forgotten about how she'd helped slaughter them.... She really didn't feel so guilty about it; bandits killed other people without remorse.... But of course, Raven had felt they were her family.
She kept her mouth shut wisely rather than comment on it.
"So don't do anything cocky," Raven finished. "They won't be likely to give you a hearing out, even if you take down a few of them. They'll gang up on you. That's how they work."
"I got it, sheesh." Yang might have been faking how bold she was.
"But the bandits are gone, right?" Neptune said.
"Hopefully, but this is as good a time as any for you to visit the other towns also," Raven said. "I don't think they'll double back to places they already plundered...but the Baba tribe are unusually cruel, and they might think it was amusing to do that, so be on the watch for anything strange."
"At least we're finally moving on this mission," Mercury shrugged. "I hate waiting."
Cinder shoved him as she walked past. She remembered him whining about that to her, and it annoyed her that he was being that trite about a killer tribe. It wasn't as if they had magical advantages now.
* * *
Not long after that, on the plane, they all were nervous.
"So...just going on our own, no big deal," Neptune said.
"We do that all the time," Yang said.
"Yeah...just...not with pirate bandits," Neptune replied.
"Grow a pair." Cinder folded her arms.
"Easy for you to say. You're used to it," Neptune said.
"We can handle them," Yang said.
She glanced out the window. "And I think we're coming up to the town.... I see smoke."
Emerald had grabbed the co-pilot seat, maybe to avoid eye contact with Mercury.
"How are you feeling about this, Roy?" she asked, adjusting her weapons.
"Hmm, not great," Royal said.
"And you're the optimist," Emerald said.
"Sorry, those pirates stuffed me in my own cargo hold. It's hard to be excited about this," Royal said. "But also, a wrecked town isn't my idea of cheerful."
"No, I got you," Emerald agreed. "I can't wait for this to be over.... Raven said that some local help might still be there, but they're not official huntsmen, just fighters or rescuers who never went to academies but act like the town guards. Like Ren's dad, I guess."
"I don't know who his dad was, but that's not so reassuring if the town is already decimated." Royal began the landing process.
They landed just outside the town in the biggest clearing that could fit them. Like many Mistral towns, it had a stone pathway that led inside and then mostly dirt.
"Should I stay here?" Royal asked.
"We could use help, if you feel up to it," Neptune said.
"I was afraid you'd say that," Royal muttered.
"If you're so afraid," Mercury said, as he swung onto the ground outside the ship, "why did you agree to do this?"
"A) No one else volunteered, and B) I worry about you guys when you don't have me around to watch you," Royal joked half-heartedly.
"Worry about Cinder. We're fine," Yang said. "I'm not worried about the pirates, bandits, or Grimm."
"Who said I was?" Cinder said sharply.
"Don't start." Emerald already sounded tired. "There's people who still need help, look."
She already saw Grimm. A bunch of small ones, luckily the normal physical kind, were inside the town already.
What was left of the population was hiding or trying to fight them off their homes and families.
A lot of buildings were still on fire from things being knocked over by the Grimm or the bandits.
Neptune ran to a water barrel outside one house, and, gritting his teeth, he moved the water up and onto the fire, putting the bulk of it out in one swoop. Then he twisted the water a little to get the rest.
A kid stared at him, open-mouthed and wide-eyed.
"Wow," Emerald said. "You've really got that control down."
"It's been the work of years, but I'd say I'm pretty good now," Neptune said with a smile of bravado.
Yang patted his shoulder in passing before rushing to punch a Grimm away from a woman holding a cat in her arms and cowering in her doorway.
Mercury rushed to where he could see more of them at once.
The Grimm looked up at him, and, abruptly, a lot of the ones that were likely older and smarter, ran for it.
The younger ones weren't so bright and kept moving. Mercury, not one to let Grimm just get away, fried most of them in one blast, and the ones who were retreating also.
Emerald ran after a few more who were trying to get away, and sliced through them while they couldn't even see her because of her Semblance.
Cinder, making sure she was out of sight of any humans, shot a few more as they tried to take off into the trees on her side.
Neptune ran to put out more of the smoldering buildings.
Royal went up to one person, who was a little more calm than the others and actually had a weapon.
"Hey, how long have the bandits been gone?" he asked.
"Are you from Argus?" the man answered.
"Yes," Royal nodded.
"About d--- time you showed up. Walt called for you hours ago," the man said testily. "Right before one of those monsters bit his head off. Are we just not a priority for you?"
"I understand you're angry, but we came as fast as we could," Royal said. "It's just not ideal how far you are from any of our big outposts."
"Well, it doesn't matter now," the man said sourly. "There's not much left of our homes now. Those blaggards took anything worth taking that they could get before the Grimm showed up. Everyone's scattered all over the town. The Grimm are finishing them off. It's too late."
"It's not, just yet," Royal said. "We'll take care of the Grimm, but anything else you could tell us about the bandits after that would be much appreciated. Do you have any dust left?"
"Not much," the man said. "We learn to do without it here."
"Great," Royal muttered.
"Hey." Emerald sprinted over. "We have to spread out and chase the Grimm out of the town. There's too many for us to all attack together. We need to herd them out, like we did out of the woods."
"Herd Grimm! Are you addled, girl?" the man said. "Grimm are mindless killing machines."
One jumped from around a trough and at him, probably because he was being negative.
Emerald turned sharply in time to knock it aside.
"Get out of here!" she shouted at it. "And your friends!"
The beast, that was some kind of large, rodent-like Grimm, snarled at her and put its tail down, then it backed off and ran away. A few more joined it.
"Like that." Emerald looked at Royal.
"Yes, ma'am." Royal saluted her. "I'll just use my gun since I can't use my words."
"You probably could, if you believed," Emerald reflected. "But...uh, don't test it without backup. I read that that can be bad."
"Duly noted. See you at the other end of town," Royal said. "And you, Chipper--" He meant the fighter. "--either help us or get under cover. Don't draw the suckers back in with your attitude."
The man frowned but began to chase after the Grimm still in the town.
Everyone did spread out, though Cinder stayed at a distance, and Mercury kept on top of the roofs so he could use his Eyes--but of course, he would run out of shots before too long and need to use guns.
The Grimm did begin to flee the town in droves, but would stop to try to prey on weak people before the huntsmen could catch up and stop them.
One such Grimm ran into a house that had the door busted off, likely by the bandits.
Mercury jumped onto the roof of that house from the one he'd already been on--only to have the roof that was partially charred, now that he saw it, fall in under him.
"Mercury!" Emerald cried, seeing it from a hundred yards away at least.
Mercury looked up at the hole in the ceiling, with sawdust floating up towards it. He'd activated his Aura barely in time to avoid breaking a bone in that fall.
He sat up in time to see the large Grimm trying to grab a small boy, who had to be less than 10 years old, out of the corner where he'd been trying to hide under a table.
"Hey!" Mercury kicked the Grimm in the rear, making it turn around and snarl at him, before he blasted its head off. It turned to smoke.
Despite his swift action, Mercury had been unsure there that he was fast enough to kill this thing before it killed him, and he had to let out a sigh of relief.
The kid, instead of coming out of hiding, leaned on the wall more and covered his head.
Mercury got up.
"Come on," he said. "This house isn't sturdy enough to hide in. You have to move to one that's still got a solid door. At least till we clear the damned things out."
The kid made no answer.
"Hey, come on. Move it, kid." Mercury walked over and moved the table aside.
The kid leaned away from him and then used a wooden door jam that had been next to the wall with him to nearly clock Mercury in the head.
Mercury ducked. "What the h---?!" he said in disbelief.
"Go away, you dirty bandit!" the kid finally squeaked. "Leave us alone!"
Mercury rubbed his head. "I'm not a bandit, wise guy. I'm a huntsman. We're here to help."
He got a dubious look.
"Are your chances really better staying here?" Mercury tried again.
No answer.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, kid," Mercury said.
The kid shook his head.
"Where are your parents?" Mercury fell back on that.
"There." The kid pointed.
Mercury hadn't looked at the other side of the house yet--he didn't see much, but some traces of a fight and...well, whatever the Grimm might have left of two people...
He grimaced. He was used to gore, but that was...well, just wrong.
"The bandits killed them because they wouldn't give them their stuff," the kid said. "They wanted to take us to Mistral's capital.... The stuff is gone now. Nothing left to steal. So just go."
Mercury shook his head.
Bandits were sick people, he thought. It was one thing to kill these people, but to do it in front of their kid and then just leave the house like this...and the whole town...well, it never used to bother him, but it didn't sit right now.
"Hey." He bent down more to the kid's eye level. "I swear I'm not a bandit. We're here to help. The Grimm came, right?"
The kid nodded stiffly.
"I can't bring your people back, but I can take out those d----d monsters," Mercury said. "I have a friend who helps kids like you. But she's out there." He pointed.
He was not good at talking to smaller humans and didn't have the tone, he thought.... He hoped this kid had enough survival instincts not to care.
He might just have to drag him, but the Grimm would be all over that if he did.
A tense couple seconds of deliberation on both ends passed, but finally the kid crawled out of the corner and stood up.
Probably he was hungry and dehydrated, because he moved slow and tired, but he gave Mercury a wide berth.
Mercury could respect that, not wanting help. He wouldn't have either.
He checked the door. No Grimm were in front of it.
He motioned at the kid to follow him, and, thankfully, he did, slowly.
Outside the dilapidated house, some of the smoke was clearing, and most of the Grimm were scattering farther out of town, but the sneakier ones were still hiding and trying to snatch whatever humans they could. They would go for kids because they were easier to catch.
"Merc?" Emerald came around the other side of the house so fast, she scared both of them.
The kid sprang back.
"Geez, Em, I almost took your head off." Mercury lowered his foot. "Look, I found someone." He nodded.
Emerald glanced at the boy more sympathetically. "And his family?"
"Dead." Mercury saw no point sugarcoating it--the kid knew it already. "Bandits and Grimm combined. They're just in there." He gestured at the house.
Emerald looked a little sick, but then she nodded. "Okay."
She motioned at the kid. "Hey, we can move you to a safer location.... Did you have any siblings?"
The kid shook his head.
"Do you have any family or friends in the town?" Emerald asked.
He just stared at her and shrugged.
"He's not much of a talker," Mercury said. "I can't say I blame him. We might just be other bandits."
"But we can't get rid of the last of the Grimm while they have prey," Emerald said in a hushed tone. "They'll sneak back around. We have to take him and the other survivors to a better fortified place if we want to finish the job."
"I know, but a freak out wouldn't help anything right now." Mercury rubbed his head. "I don't know how to calm anyone down enough."
"Well--" Emerald suddenly looked up. "Duck!"
She sprang forward.
A winged Grimm had taken advantage of their distractedness to fly over the roof at them and the boy, swinging out its bat-like, clawed wings.
Emerald jumped in time to cover the kid with her body and roll aside a little, while he screamed.
The Grimm, which had the body more of a lizard, lunged at her with its teeth.
Mercury's eyes flashed, and it turned to smoke in 0.5 seconds.
Emerald sat up. "That was close," she tried to laugh it off.
"How did you do that?" The kid was wide-eyed.
Mercury pointed to his eyes. "I have a special power that kills Grimm with a single stare."
"Do it again." The kid stood up.
Emerald smirked. "Everyone loves the Silver Eyes," she said.
"I have to have a Grimm first." Mercury didn't want to make a show of it. "Besides, I can't waste shots."
"There's more Grimm that way." Emerald pointed toward where they were gathering the townspeople. "Maybe you could blast them over there."
"Wouldn't it be better--?" Mercury began, but she gave him a look.
"Oh, yeah, good idea," he said instead, a bit salty.
Well, after that the kid followed them with more enthusiasm--though not the happy kind, but he seemed to find solace in thinking of the Grimm being annihilated so easily.
"I think you have a fan," Emerald teased.
"Shut up," Mercury said. "It's just the novelty of it. But if it works to get people moving, I guess."
"You can be negative all you want, but I've been thankful a lot of times for those things." Emerald pointed to his eyes. "They get results."
"I'd rather get results with a strong back kick," Mercury said.
"The burden of being special, huh?" Emerald rolled her eyes. "Keep an eye on the kid till you get under cover. I have to finish with that sector. Here for a second I thought you'd broken your neck falling off that roof, but of course it wouldn't be that easy to get rid of you."
"Some of us know how to fall properly," Mercury said.
"What's that supposed to mea--" Emerald was cut off by a glass arrow flying between them.
"If you're not too busy--" Cinder was on the street about 50 feet away, holding her bow. "There's still Grimm over there. Take your baggage and get moving."
"You are not the boss of me," Mercury said.
"Try that again?" Cinder held up her hands. "One more jab like that and a blunt arrow's going into your--well, I'll just let that part be a surprise."
"I see her teamwork skills are exactly what they used to be," Mercury muttered. "Let's move it, kid, before the crazy woman does."
"Is that a bandit?" the kid asked.
"No, she's much worse," Mercury said.
Emerald shoved him before she moved off.
"She won't hurt you," Mercury amended grumpily. "She just hates me."
The kid didn't question this, so he didn't have to explain further.
At the far end of town, Royal had herded most of the people into the buildings that were still standing, which the bandits had left alone, from the look of it, because they were public restrooms.... Not the nicest place to hole up, but at least they had doors that worked.
"This is not very glamorous," he said to Mercury, keeping his shotgun trained on the Grimm. "But we make do."
"Afraid to get your hands soiled, Princy?" Mercury had heard his base nickname by now.
"Don't call me that," Royal said.
"You ought to be proud of it," Mercury said. "A long line of royal snobs."
"I'd make some crack about your special lineage if I knew of one that would actually be an insult," Royal said.
He could have started with being the son of an assassin, but maybe he didn't consider that an insult.
"Ooh, that one hurt," Mercury said.
"Both of you creampuffs about done jawing?" The fighter of before was in an even worse mood, it seemed. "Our town is just about gone. Are you going to get rid of the Grimm or not?"
"If you want to volunteer to drive them all to one place so I can get them in one shot, be my guest." Mercury folded his arms. "Does anyone know who this kid is?"
The boy was standing stiffly, looking at the town.
Some people peered out the windows at him.
"That's Ming and Sean's boy," one of them finally said. "The bandits got 'em. We thought all of the family was gone."
"He survived. Are any of you related?" Mercury pressed.
"Nope," one woman said. "They weren't from here, initially. Their family was probably long gone. They were going to move. Maybe they had connections in the Capital, but none of us."
Her tone implied she didn't care that much, and no one else stepped up to offer to take charge of the kid.
There were other kids who had escaped because they were small enough to hide places their parents couldn't. Some of them were with other family or kindly neighbors...and some were alone.
The same thing that happened to Cinder, Nora, Emerald, and so many other people, Mercury and Royal both reflected.
Being too late to stop it hit different when you were there, right after it happened.