Rwby: Child of Grimm: Volume 4

Chapter 16: Cocytus

As the two fox Faunus search the desert landscape for any sign of where Gwenn's brother could be. It's at this point that Gwenn turns to see a solemn look on Rouge's face that looks as uncomfortable for her as it is for Gwenn to see.

[Gwenn] "Something on your mind?"
[Rouge] "hm? Why do you care?"
[Gwenn] "Considering I would have died a few times over coming here alone, I think I owe you an ear for your problems."
[Rouge] "How noble."
[Gwenn] "Are you going to share or not?"

Rouge sighs at Gwenn's Insistance, eventually giving in.

[Rouge] "Do you...Remember me?"
[Gwenn] "What?"

The white haired girls response gives Rouge her answer. Though it is what she expected, she certainly wished it were not the case.

[Rouge] "Nevermind."

Though confused by Her psychotic allies strange question, Gwenn shrugs it off and continues walking. That is, until she feels a hand pushing her from behind, causing her to trip and fall on her behind with an audible thud.

[Gwenn] "What was that for!?"
[Rouge] "I don't know what you're talking about."
[Gwenn] "Gr-you-wait, did I just thud?"
[Rouge] "You did."
[Gwenn] "Uhhhh..."

Getting up and brushing the sand out of the way, she sees what she has landed on appears to be a metal trap door of some kind. Rusted and unkempt but still relatively sturdy.

[Rouge] "You're welcome."

Rouges smug attitude does not escape Gwenn, however she is too interested in the door to even care. Instead, she searches for a latch or button that they could use to open the door, to no avail. With that option no longer viable, she instead places her hands along the parting between doors. A light blue mist emanates from her gloved hands as the door freezes. After doing the same for the doors hinges, the trap door begins to creak and shudder under the unfamiliar element. After a few minutes, the ice melts under the desert sun before being frozen once again, melting, freezing, she repeats the process multiple times until the metal door finally gives in and falls out of place, landing with a loud echo when it hits the ground approximately three minutes later.

[Rouge] "Huh. Ever thought of becoming a vault cracker?"

Gwenn lets out a small noise of disgust at her temporary compatriots impressed opinion.

[Rouge] "well? Are we going in or what?"
[Gwenn] "Just give me a second."

A few minutes later, after recuperating from her previous trick opening the door, the white haired girl begins climbing down the steel ladder followed closely by Rouge. After what seems like an hour, when in reality was only around ten minutes, the two reach the ground.

[Gwenn] "It's..."
[Rouge] "Damn cold!"

The dark, damp, cold cavern laboratory is frozen. Various functioning machinery is encased in thick ice while lights flicker and the thin sheet of ice covering the floor cracks with each of the girls steps.

[Gwenn] "What happened here?"
[Rouge] "Can we just hurry? I'm not exactly wearing winter clothes."
[Gwenn] "R-right."

The two continue to search aimlessly in the frozen labyrinth, finding almost nothing of any value until Rouge sighs, leaning against an unfrozen wall and accidentally pushing a hidden switch in the wall.