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sustraiii · 15 days

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TEAM ZRCN ARC 1 REWRITE - CHAPTER 9

Plans go awry and new plans are formed.

Xanthos

As per the suggestions of Cordovan, Team ZRCN currently found themselves waiting to speak with General Ironwood.

Although they had made their plans, it still took another day for a meeting to be arranged. It was a little frustrating having to wait but as the General’s secretary, Miss Santiago, pointed out he was an extremely busy man - even more so following events at Beacon.

In order to try and sway him to their cause, Zelde had insisted they all wear their academy uniforms when they went to speak with General Ironwood. Xanthos agreed but he could not say he was particularly happy about it. Somehow, whoever had designed the uniforms had ensured they were made from the scratchiest, most uncomfortable material ever. Every time he wore it, Xanthos felt as though he was developing hives and could not stop itching around his collar.

When they entered the small waiting area before the General's office, Xanthos had a finger in his collar, scratching idly away.

“Are you trying to take a layer of skin off there, Ravi?” Neela quipped, speaking softly into his ear.

Xanthos stopped and caught his reflection in a nearby glass pane, already seeing his neck turning pink from the scratching.

“Oh, Team ZRCN, you're early,” The secretary, Stephanie Santiago, remarked from behind her desk.

She was a short, bespectacled woman, with brown skin, neatly plaited black hair, and amber eyes. Stephanie didn't wear a modified military uniform like the majority of the faculty or staff in the school, but her outfit was very formal and neat. She wore an orange blazer with a red turtleneck underneath, a darker orange pencil skirt with brogues in a matching colour, and dark tights.

As ZRCN stood there, she looked around for something on her desk, before typing something on her computer. “I’ll let the General know you are here,” She said, briefly looking at ZRCN. “You're early but he should be able to see you in a moment.”

Stephanie flashed them a cheerful smile before looking at her screen again. After reading a message on it, she leaned back in her chair, gesturing to the door to his office. “The General will see you now.”

Xanthos wondered if he had ever seen the man in front of him look so scruffy. Rising from his desk, General Ironwood moved to greet them, shaking their hands in turn. All the times Xanthos had seen him in the past, the man had always looked so neat and polished, but today he seemed rather dishevelled.

Zelde did most of the talking for them, as per her offer the day priorly, giving a brief rundown of their mission. From the plan they had discussed earlier, Xanthos knew it would be long until she broached the topic of what to do with Candy and Wisteria. After confirming what had happened at Hargrave Manufacturing, Zelde paused for a moment before inquiring about Candy and Wisteria. She spoke about how whilst they were aware of Candy, Wisteria was an unknown entity to them.

“Sir, considering what happened at both Verdant Storage and Hargrave Manufacturing, we were wondering if you planned to follow up with them at all?” Zelde inquired.

General Ironwood’s expression shifted. “Unfortunately, at this time, we do not have the resources to investigate this further.” He responded simply. “The four of you have completed your initial mission with the Princeton's there is little need to pursue matters further for now.”

Xanthos couldn’t see her face, but he could tell by her tone that Zelde must have been frowning. “You’re not suggesting we just leave them be? If nothing is done soon, these thefts will continue, and having seen what some of their people are capable of, I don’t think they’re afraid to step up their game either.”

“The military has considered the risk and we have concluded that now is not the appropriate time to continue,” General Ironwood said. “I am sorry, Miss Sewick. We simply do not have the military resources to spare at this time to commit to a full investigation.”

“Well, if the army isn’t willing to help, why can’t we just do it? Put us in contact with a few good huntsmen and we’ll soon have them sorted out!” Xanthos cut in. Zelde turned and narrowed her eyes at him, and Cordovan shifted awkwardly by his side.

“That is a nice thought, Mr Ravindra, however - “

“Cordovan's mother is a specialist! Perhaps she'd be willing to help?” Xanthos prompted, looking between the General and Cordovan.

General Ironwood gave Xanthos a kind smile. “Your spirit is highly commendable, Mr Ravindra. If only more of the new members of our army shared your enthusiasm,” He said with a wistful smile. The General took a step towards them, extending an arm outwards that made it appear as though he were ushering them out of the room already. “Your willingness to help has been noted, I assure you. However, for the time being I ask that you leave things alone and return to your schoolwork. Once matters have resolved in Vale I promise I will put my best people on it.”

With those final words, the General ushered them out of his office, bidding them farewell before closing the doors on them.

“My, that was fast!” Stephanie said, shifting her glasses when she saw ZRCN's sudden return. “Did your meeting go well?”

“Something like that,” Neela answered sarcastically.

Zelde grumbled something under her breath. She fumbled with something on her uniform. “Come on,” she said, turning to the group and gesturing for them to move. “Let’s head back to Cordovan’s place.”

At Zelde’s prompting, the team headed back to Cordovan’s home and were back there within twenty minutes due to an early airship.

Once they had returned to the home and gotten changed into more casual clothes, Cordovan excused himself into the kitchen, whilst Zelde and Neela slipped into the living room, and Xanthos bounded upstairs to the bathroom. When he returned minutes later, he found Neela sitting on the bottom of the stairs, her scroll held tightly in one hand. She had probably tried to call Tilia again, Xanthos reflected sadly.

Walking down the remainder of the stairs, Xanthos sat on the same step as Neela and wrapped an arm around her. Neela in turn leaned her head into his shoulder a little bit.

“How are you holding up, Nee?” he asked, as she pulled away a little.

“I’ll be fine,” she answered. When Xanthos gave her an uncertain look, she flashed a genuine smile his way, and he eased up a little bit. “I’m still a little worried about Tilly and her team. As you know, we practically spoke every day if we could, so it feels weird not to have that option. I feel a little silly worrying though. Knowing Tilly she’s probably off swinging her sword somewhere, saving the masses.”

Xanthos laughed in agreement. “Yeah, from what I’ve seen she’s a strong woman. Remind me to never challenge her to arm wrestle or anything, I fear I’d walk away missing an arm.”

Neela smiled and began to laugh along with him. They were still laughing and talking a few minutes later when Wren returned home, jumping slightly to see the two youths sat there. Cordovan called out a greeting to her from the kitchen and then suggested everyone head back into the sitting room, as he would be bringing in some tea and snacks. At his suggestion, Xanthos and Neela followed his mother into the sitting room, getting comfy on the sofa next to Zelde. The older woman settled herself in an armchair by the window.

Cordovan appeared a moment later carrying a tray laden with tea and snacks. He sat it down on the coffee table, pouring himself a cup of tea, before taking the armchair adjacent to his mother. Zelde also poured herself some tea, sipping at it gingerly whilst everyone else picked at what was on offer.

“So how did things go with, General Ironwood?” Wren inquired politely.

“About as well as you’d expect,” Cordovan responded grimly.

Wren gave the group a sympathetic glance, clearly sensing that they hadn’t gained Ironwood’s approval to pursue matters further. “He said no then?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Zelde confirmed. “He cited a lack of resources, which is understandable after what happened in Vale.”

“I did suggest we push on ahead ourselves,” Xanthos explained, drawing Wren's attention to him. “Or suggested a few good huntsmen to assist. I even brought up your name too.”

Wren shifted in her seat. “Of course, had circumstances been different, I would have been happy to assist, but unfortunately I am required to help get a handle on things in Essen. Some nasty Grimm issue, I’m afraid.”

Zelde paused to shake her head, emitting a deep sigh. “I just wish Ironwood had at least given us permission to look into matters further.”

“Technically he didn’t say no,” Neela pointed out.

Xanthos paused a minute to think back to the earlier conversation, and sure enough, as Neela had said, he hadn’t technically said no. He had merely advised them to leave things alone for now.

“You’re not suggesting we go after them without any permission are you?” Zelde asked with an incredulous tone, silver eyes shifting between her teammates.

“Again, Ironwood technically didn't say no,” Xanthos pointed out.

Surprisingly, Cordovan seemed shockingly on board with the suggestion. “We do have some old notes from Vernon to go on. It would be a strong start.”

“I can't believe you're all suggesting this,” Zelde raised a hand to her face, continuing to shake her head. “If we get caught we’ll be in so much trouble…”

“Does this mean you’ll be going after them then?” Wren asked with a tilt of the head.

“It would appear that way based on my teammates' enthusiasm,” Zelde responded.

Wren chuckled. “Very well,” Wren said, rising to her feet. Xanthos watched as she moved to a desk on the other side of the room, opened a drawer and proceeded to grab a pen and paper and jot something down. She handed the slip of paper to Zelde. “I dislike the idea of you four going after them alone, so consider this my way of helping. In a non-military capacity at least.”

Zelde glanced down at the note. “Oh, this is an address in Apex,” Zelde said with a hint of surprise in her voice. She handed the note over to Neela to look at. “What is this ‘help’ you’ve provided us with.”

“An old friend,” Wren responded plainly. “Someone who I’m sure will be willing to offer some assistance when going after these women.”

Xanthos wondered who this “old friend” might have been. A huntsman or huntress? Or perhaps another specialist like herself? He felt a growing sense of excitement at the possibility of getting to work with someone famous.

Cordovan held his hand out for the note and Zelde passed it over to him. “This is Olive's address,” He said. “You don't think…?”

“Well, Helia might still say no Cordovan,” Wren pointed out. “She is very in demand as you well know.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Xanthos snapped his fingers, drawing attention back to him. “Helia wouldn't happen to be Helia Vines would it?”

Cordovan nodded. “The very same.”

“She's my goddaughter,” Wren added, proudly.

Xanthos was practically bouncing with excitement. Helia Vines. The very important, very notable, former Vytal winner, Helia Vines, could be assisting them on a mission. Just the very idea of meeting her would have been enough for Xanthos. Even if she said no, he could boast about having met her in person.

“Do you think she’ll help?” Neela asked.

Wren shrugged. “Possibly. As I told Cordovan, she’s very in demand for missions, but last I heard she was taking a little break after some incident with her teammates.” The older woman frowned slightly. “I don’t know the whole story, only what Helia’s mother has told me, but I heard there was quite a bit of fallout between the four of them.”

Rather embarrassingly, Xanthos could not recall many of Helia’s teammates, save for perhaps the blonde-haired teammate she had competed in the doubles with. What he did remember is that they seemed to stay out of the limelight a lot, but when they were all shown together, they appeared to be friendly with each other. Something pretty bad must have happened to cause such a breakdown of their team.

Regardless of the state of her team, Xanthos reflected that Team ZRCN now had a metaphorical ace up their sleeve. If Candy or Wisteria tried their luck with them again, they would be ready with their own equally powerful backup.

#team zrcn fic #team zrcn #zelde sewick #xanthos ravindra #cordovan radcliff #neela oxford #wren honeycutt #james ironwood #stephanie santiago #zrcn rewrite

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