I had let Cinder take my bed that night. Frankly the little girl needed it, so I found myself asleep in my chair, with my jacket as a blanket. It wasn't all that comfortable, but it was restful enough. I even managed to finish off what little documentation I had yet to the previous evening. It was nothing important, if one was being frank. But it needed to be done, I had a week off to look forward to, even if most of it would be letting Cinder settle in, given the only clothes she had were the ones Doc found for her. A week off was a week off, after all. I had been tired when I finally let myself sleep, and somehow managed to remain so on a roller chair.….right up until some poor and unfortunate soul hammered on my door before the sun had truly risen. I snorted myself awake and slipped my jacket back on, before opening the door. "...Yes?"

The person that greeted me was Adjutant Vocino, the woman from the previous night that Ironwood had me send in after me. She had a stoic expression on her face as she addressed me. "Archivist Schwartz, the Lieutenant has called everyone to the dining hall."

I blinked, before nodding. "Alright...now, Adjutant Vocino?"

"Yes, Archivist Schwartz. You have approximately five minutes. Failure to be present will result in appropriate disciplinary action." She curtly replied, before saluting and moving on to the next room, and repeating the process before I could respond.

I glanced over my shoulder. Cinder was still sleeping, and seemingly deeply so. I let out a soft sigh, smoothed out my uniform, and strode out of my room. Whilst leaving Cinder alone wasn't ideal, I was of the opinion that letting the poor girl to just sleep was probably far kinder than waking her up just to hear things she probably wouldn't understand yet.

I made my way through the halls of the airship, and entered the dining hall. Each airship was built to an identical design, so once someone managed to learn how to get around one, they never needed to worry about learning a different layout. Thankfully, I wasn't the last one to arrive. More people entered after me, most of them hiding yawns and sighs.

"Casper!" A voice called out as someone approached me. "Good morning."

"Bruno." I turned to greet him with a smile. "Good morning to you too."

The Panda Faunus smiled in return, and glanced down at my side. "No Little Lady here?"

"Cinder? No, I'm letting her sleep." I told him. "The Brothers know she needs it."

"Indeed, I can understand that." He nodded. "Good to know she's in good hands."

I raised an eyebrow at that. It wasn't supposed to be known yet. "And how do you kno-"

"Our Lieutenant would never willingly put a girl as…..damaged, as Cinder is through our foster system." Bruno said. "And given you are pretty much the only one that she's hung around with without her freaking the fuck out, you are the only real choice to look after her."

Oh. That makes a lot of sense..

We made small talk for a few minutes, talking about our plans for the next few days and the like. Bruno, it seemed, was remaining with Ironwood and headed straight on to the Lieutenant's next deployment. Wherever that might be, right now. I was of the opinion that that was a good thing, due to Ironwood's anti-racist standpoint.

"Good morning!" Speaking of, Ironwood's voice silenced the din in the room, and brought me out of my thoughts. "I apologise for doing this before we've all really had a chance to wake up. But I think I speak for all of us when I say that I wish to get out of the middle of nowhere and back to civilization."

There was a quiet rumble of acknowledgement, before Ironwood continued. "Our mission to investigate this ruin and its properties is, therefore, hereby complete. We have enough samples and pictures for the Science Bureau to figure it out. Atlas thanks you for your service and assistance in this matter."

"Now that official stuff is out of the way." Ironwood continued with a wry smile. "Let's get ourselves the hell out of here, and back home. In the sky in ten minutes, Ladies and Gentlemen, and we might make it home for a late breakfast. Get to it!"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Sir, Yes Sir!" I, and the rest of the expedition spoke as one, before we filed out of the dining hall. Thankfully, as an Archivist, there is nothing I needed to actually do, save maybe 'keep out of the way'.

As a result, I made my way back to my room. Not just to ensure Cinder didn't panic about waking up on her own, but to also pack up my things. Given I'll need to go and get some paperwork sorted out, being able to go home as quickly as possible afterwards is..something I am looking forward to greatly.

My little apartment wasn't just where I lived, it is my home now too. Frankly, despite its inbuilt racism, classism and a whole host of other problems, I'm almost grateful that I arrived in Atlas and not any other Kingdom of Remnant. Whilst it is by no means mentally healthy, the expected, and learnable emotional restraint that is part of Atlesian Social Culture is probably the only reason I've not completely broken down at being lost in this world. And given that sort of thing would probably result in some Murdery Murder Monster of Murder appearing and ripping my throat out in Remnant, I am genuinely grateful for that fact.

I arrived back in my quarters, and thankfully, Cinder was still peacefully asleep. So I simply began to clear my things away as quietly as I could.

Soon, there was a quiet rumble as the engines came to life, and barely a lurch as the airship took off a few moments later. It is a strange thing to fly in near silence, given how loud planes are. But not unpleasant. I had never liked flying before, but now I can at least find it tolerable.

"M-Mister Casper?"

Ah. She's awake.

"Hey sleepyhead." I turned and smiled at her warmly. "Feel better?"

She nodded, and rubbed her eyes. "...W-What's going on, Mister Casper?"

"We're flying, Cinder." I told her with a grin. "Atlas is a city that floats in the sky. So we need to fly to get there."

"Oh.."

An idea forms in my mind, and I grin. "Come here, I want to show you something."

The small girl threw her blanket off, and scrambled to my side. She let out a soft gasp as she saw the sight out of the window.

It would almost be beautiful, were it not for the knowledge that the desolate, snowy land below us was infested by Grimm, and almost utterly lifeless. Not even grass was growing in the expanse below us.

If I had to guess, by the look of absolute awe on her face, Cinder found it to be-

"It's pretty!"

Exactly that.

"It is indeed, Cinder. That is the 'White Sea of Solitas'." I smiled, pointedly neglecting to inform her that, in the days of the Kingdom of Mantle, most criminals were exiled to this vast emptiness. Their various demises were...predictable. Some things she could learn about when she's older. "It is very pretty."

___________________________________________________________________________

Cinder 'helped' me with packing my things away. She displayed a curiosity prevalent in all children, thank the Brothers. Something her 'Mother' couldn't take away from her. Good. Whilst, sadly unsurprisingly at this point, she couldn't read, she did ask about every document she passed over to me. I answered as best I could, since there is only so far I can simplify things, even for a child.

That, and certain things are classified. Even to a child.

I managed to string this entire process along for a few hours. Given I intend to drop my things off at home and take Cinder out for breakfast and shopping, the fact that she hadn't said she was hungry yet was…decidedly useful. But at the same time, it was also deeply troubling. Brothers willing, she'll never go hungry again. Not if I get my way.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the sight out of my window. Lights and smoke and...home.

"There it is.." I declared with a smile, as the city...as home came into view. Cinder scrambled onto my lap, and stared out of the window.

"What's that Mister Casper?" She asked with wonderment in her eyes. When I didn't respond for a few moments, she slipped her hand into mine. "...M-Mister Casper?"

"That, Cinder..." I squeezed her hand reassuringly, and smiled down at her. "...is Atlas."