Nina and Nilya JP:
OOC big oops we forgot to post this eariler as this comes before my post below I am adding it here. OOC
Nina arrived at the home in almost no time, and she was slightly relieved that this area wasn't as badly damaged. She knocked on the door, "Hello? Is anyone there?"
An older fox faunus who looked around 40 years of age answered cracked open the door and said in a soft voice, "Yes, and what do you want?" Her long dark hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall. Her hair looked black unless the light directly shined on it so one could see the tint of purple. Her piercing blue eyes looked over Nina before locking on her eyes. The woman was clearly wary of the faunus looking human.
"I'm sorry miss, but I'm looking for Nilya, is she here?" Nina asked politely.
"What do you want with her?" asked the woman with a short tone of voice.
"I just came to see if she was okay is all." Nina replied, "I'm not dangerous at all, especially to her."
"Who are you?" asked the woman. There was another voice in the room that sounded much more familiar. The elder faunus pushed the door almost closed as she responded to the voice. The sounds of movement and whispering could be heard inside for a few minutes before Nilya re opened the door. She stared at Nina for a second before asking with a lifted eyebrow, "Nina?"
Nina nodded, "Nilya! You're okay." She said, looking at her, "Are you okay all the way though?"
Nilya looked at Nina with a puzzled look, "I am not the one who grew a tail and ears. I still do not plan to help you save Archer so there is no reason to continue to ask me." Her voice turned cold as she mentioned Archer.
"Don't worry about that, I wanted to just talk to you about some things." Nina said, feeling a little nervous, "Could we talk somewhere private?"
"There is no where we can have a private discussion in a mile radius of here, but if you really have some burning questions we can go for a little walk, " replied Nilya calmly.
"Thank you." Nina said, "I wanted to talk to you about your past I guess."
Nilya nodded then shut the door, three minutes later she emerged from her family's home, and out into the cold street as she said, "Parents had a break in so the are overly cautious right now, let us start walking." She then turned to the south and began walking further away from the hospital than they already were. There were a few minutes of silence before Nilya asked, "What questions did you have for me?"
"Could you tell me how you and Varik got together?" Nina asked, "I'm kind of curious about how you two met and stuff."
Nilya silently wondered what Nina was up to with this strange question. Keeping her calm look Nilya replied in a soft tone, "Varik rescued me from some self titled "faunus hunters," who were nothing more than a gang of sick minded filth. We then began travelling together, and I found myself falling in love with the ill tempered troubled genius. As a birthday gift after a few years being travel companions, he took me to a hidden faunus camp so I could be with other faunus and stop hiding. I did not want to be separated from him so I refused his offer and professed my love for him. Ends up he had similar feelings back, but hid them so it would not hurt our friendship and thus his ability to insure my safety."
Nina listened intently, thinking it over, "Why didn't you go home with him afterwards?" She asked.
"I was afraid," replied Nilya her tone unchanging.
"What were you afraid of?" Nina asked curiously, "Was it your family? Or were you afraid that the faunus would hurt Varik?"
"I was afraid of what my family would think of me and if they would still accept me. Ironically I feel the fear became a self fulfilling prophecy with Nara," replied Nilya staying emotionally neutral.
"It's really hard for me to imagine how that feels Nilya." Nina replied sadly, "Ilexa and I have always been close just out of necessity, y'know, but I couldn't imagine ever being afraid of her." Nina thought for moment, trying to put herself in Nilya's shoes, but she began to tear up a bit and stopped, "She's still your sister right?"
"Yes she is, why would you ask that?" replied Nilya looking at Nina with a raised eyebrow and inquisitive look on her face.
"Does that mean you want to be close to her?" Nina asked, "Like, you aren't going to hate her?"
"I do not hate her, and I do want to be close with her. Sadly, I have created a great rift between us that I am not sure that I can mend," replied Nilya calmly as she hid her emotions from Nina.
"I think that's wrong, you didn't do anything wrong." Nina said, feeling angry, "That is so unfair, why don't you get to be happy?!"
"I did do something wrong. I went with what was comfortable, not what was right. I should have tried to reconnect with my family, especially Nara. She had been looking for me for years while I avoided the family because I was too cowardly to face them," replied Nilya as they slowly walked. She continued her voice unwavering, "I prefer to hide from problems and not face them, and I did that for years. All I wanted until recently is to run away with Varik and hide, but that was the wrong choice. I had others I cared about, others I am responsible to protect."
"But you're back here now, and you came here because of Nara didn't you?" Nina asked, "Nara is fine, but why doesn't she just forgive you?"
"Nara and the rest of my family. She feels betrayed by me, hurt that I would choose a human over her," replied Nilya before quickly adding, "The pain humanity has caused faunus has poisoned her mind toward them."
"I see." Nina said with a sigh, "But she doesn't even know Varik, if she's going to hate humans like some hate faunus, then how is she right?"
"Humans have caused a lot of pain for faunus. She tried to bury the hate, but after Archer's betrayal it was renewed with greater strength," replied Nilya.
"So it's another problem Archer caused." Nina said with a sigh, "I know it's silly to say now, but he really does care, but I think he's gotten lost. But didn't he at least bring you two together?"
"I am not interested in trying to help save Archer," replied Nilya calmly as they reached the shoreline.
"That's not really why I brought that up, I think." Nina said, putting her hands in her pockets, "It's just kind of instinct to defend him you know?"
"I understand and I am sorry. I will be honest with you, I do not think he can be saved in a matter you would want. There is not much hope for him from where I stand, and either way I have no way of truly helping him. Thus it is a waste of my time and energy to try when there are other matters I could focus my energy on. Also you need to realize his true enemy is not the ones manipulating him," replied Nilya.
"I know he's his own biggest enemy." Nina replied, "And I'm angry that those two are making it worse, but I think of him like a brother, and I know of Ilexa was doing all this stuff, I'd do anything to stop her and help her." Nina kicked the sand a little bit, "I don't think you should forgive him though, you don't know him very well, not the good parts, so I can understand why you'd see helping him as a waste. At this point, we won't ever be able to go home, so I'd at least like to get exiled with two people that I care a lot about." She began to fidget with her tail, not sure of herself.
"I am not the one he needs forgiveness from. The two using him are playing off his ignorance and weaknesses, I am not sure if they are making him worse, or just exposing the harsh truth of Archer's flaws. If you want to help him, Nina you have to stop listening to him. You have to strip him of as much power as you can. I believe if he can be stripped of all his strength perhaps he has a chance, " replied Nilya before suddenly turning to face Nina.
"You also need to learn when to not support his ideals as good. Your eyes are a perfect example, you allowed him to think his self mutilation to fix his mistake was acceptable. He took the first horrible path that came to mind to relieve his growing mountain of guilt. You accepted that and defend his terrible deed, and thus enabled his mind to continue its self destructive pattern. Deep down it is likely he still feels guilt, but his mind and you as well tell him he fixed it. Thus he never actually faced and resolved his real demon. A part of him wants to be called a monster, and he is designing a path to become one. His intentions are not noble, because I believe deep down they are driving him toward destruction," said Nilya her tone reflect her resolve and belief in her words.
Nina touched her eyes, silent for a moment, her body tensed up as if she were angry, but then relaxed before she spoke, "I feel guilty for his eyes… I was angry that I lost my sight, and I expressed that to him. When he did it, I just took responsibility, and figured that was it." She looked at the ground, "Ilexa and I don't like to think about things, we grew up solving all of our problems by fighting and stealing, we were the strongest, so we didn't need to think about much. Now, everyone around us is strong than us, and we really don't have the ability to think about things like you do…" Nina sighed, "I don't have the ability to strip Archer of anything. If I could, I'd take away his stupid powers and take him somewhere where there isn't so much violence. He wouldn't have taken my eyes in the first place if he hadn't felt the need to save Lauren, and Lauren wouldn't have gotten captured trying to kill him if I had been strong enough to stop those grimm our first mission." She looked up at Nilya, her face filled with confusion and defeat, "I'm going to fail again because I'm weak aren't I?" She asked.
Nilya looked back into Nina's eyes her face calm and friendly. "Archer does not need someone who is strong. He needs someone who can find a way to reason with him, and make him see the truth. Rescuing him from those using him will not save him, as he will be drawn back to his self destructive ways," said Nilya calmly. "Your loss of your sight was all Archer's fault. He creates a plan and fails to fully think through it. Then when things go wrong he feels guilty and decides he has to do something so he comes up with another poorly thought out plan. The cycle repeats itself with the only thing building is his guilt and his desire to fix it. He is now losing control."
Nina laughed a bit, "If I was as wise as you are, I'm sure a lot of this could've been stopped earlier." Nina sighed, "Can you come back with me?"
"Back where? And not as much wisdom as experience," replied Nilya.
"To Nara and Lauren." Nina replied bashfully, "There's a pregnant woman who said she needed some help, and I kind of got in an argument with Nara."
"I am guessing you were arguing about our relationship, " added Nilya while motioning for Nina to lead the way.
"She said you weren't okay, and I kind of got angry that she wasn't coming out here to talk to you." Nina replied, "She was so against making sure you were okay, and I was getting frustrated, because I know I would be if Ilexa didn't come to help me when I'm having problems y'know."
"Nara's hate for me is one of the main reasons I am not okay right now," replied Nilya.
"Y'know I really think she still cares a lot about you Nilya." Nina replied as they walked, "I think she's afraid to really say anything to you, but I don't think she hates you."
"Thank you for trying to comfort me, but my sister does harbor some hate for me," replied Nilya as they walked down the dirty streets of the faunus capital.
"But some isn't entirely hated, and your back now, so things will get better." Nina replied. "Should've seen her face when I get transformed into a faunus."
"How and why did you decide to become a faunus?" asked Nilya her tone hinting that she was curious.
"I'm going to help clean up, so one of Nara's team guys turned me into a faunus using generics." She said, blissfully unaware of her error, "People won't try to attack me this way."
Nilya shook her head, "You still need to be careful here. These streets are filled with criminal activity feeding off the desperation of the faunus. Also what about Beacon and you life back in Vale?"
"Well, I can't really go back because of Archer, although there really isn't anything to go back to. The only other family I have besides Ilexa is in jail for killing my mother, and then trying to kill us." Nina shrugged, "And since neither Ilexa nor Archer would particularly care if I was a faunus, I figure I'll be fine."
Nilya listened but did not respond at first. "Do you fear that the tension between humans and faunus will force you and your sister apart?" asked Nilya.
"Well we can't get too far apart or we get really weak." Nina replied, "And we share senses and feelings, so it's hard to really imagine we could possibly be apart." She laughed, "Ilexa and I don't really care much about the difference between human and faunus, so she'd never reject me for being one. She'd definitely say I was super cute!"
"I mean as the growing tension pushes our races apart. You will not be welcome among humans and her around faunus. It is not an easy life to be…" replied Nilya before her scroll beeped interrupting her train of thought. Pulling out a sleek top of the line scroll as she stopped walking, Nilya added, "Pardon me I have been expecting a message." She seemed a little excited as she spoke and a small authentic smile appeared on her face.
Looking at her scroll the slight smile on her face faded a little as she read. It then transformed into a serious look. Once she finished she said, "That was not the message I was expecting. Let us continue." Nilya started walking once again.
"I'm not too concerned if faunus or humans as a whole don't like us." Nina replied, "When things are over, we'll probably get far away from the cities and governments. We never really lived an easy life anyways right.." She said with a relaxed grin.
"Outside the cities is not the easy life, remember the Grimm control the majority of the land and if you are the only two for miles they will all seek you out, and it is just you two verses hordes of Grimm. I wanted to do the same thing for years, just run away with Varik and live in peace but the Grimm issue prevented it, " replied Nilya. Looking around as if to insure no one was listening Nilya added, "The overall plan was flawed, but aspects of it are not. One idea I had was to create a village that was based on the ideals of human and faunus equality and working together. Not too sure if it is completely viable, and still runs into the Grimm problem."
"I don't know, if there were a lot of us then we could definitely fight grimm right?" Nina said confidently, "Ilexa and I are pretty good at that at least, and I've seen Lauren when she gets angry. I bet those two faunus would come too, though maybe they're with Isa." Nina said in thought, "I'd definitely want to do that though, grimm are a lot easier to understand than people are."
"True, but it also comes down to it being worth the fighting. Too few and you are having to be on guard at all times, or constantly fighting. A good location needs to be found away from the eyes of both human and faunus so some of the most hate filled members of the two kinds will not try to destroy what is created, " replied Nilya she sighed then added as she braced herself as a sudden gust of wind rushed by throwing snow of the two women.
"Varik is trying to work on the location, and initial resources. It is the driving reason he signed up with his new partners," added Nilya her tone filled with caution when mentioning Varik's business deals.
"I don't know much about that stuff." Nina said, "What if those guys that are helping him are like Isa and Gaige?"
"They are not, they do not seek to tear people down to see them suffer and turn into monsters. They will take drastic steps to reach their goals, but they can be reasoned with. One good thing is they are not racist… they hire both humans and faunus," replied Nilya her tone a little wary as she spoke.
"I mean, I didn't think Isa or Gaige were that bad." Nina replied, "But maybe you're right, they probably help faunus because they're good people, and not because they have other things."
"They hire faunus because they do not see race, just abilities and skills," replied Nilya calmly. "They need Varik's inventive mind for some project, and he plans to use their resources to help our situation. I trust Varik, but I am afraid for him. I know his associates are not exactly good people, but they do not seek to bring ruin like Gaige or Isa. I would however recommend not trying to get in their way."
"I trust you, so I wouldn't even really think about it." Nina replied, "I care a lot more about getting Archer back and finding somewhere peaceful to go anyways. And more immediately, I need to help fix the mess Archer made around here, I know I owe at least that much."
"It is too bad Archer refused to listen to those who cared for him," replied Nilya as they approached the clinic. Nilya secretly hoped Nara was not around.
"He'll come around.' Nina said with a hopeful tone, "Do you want me to check and see if Nara is in there?"
"No, if we run into her now so be it," replied Nilya wondering if she had somehow shown her hesitation to see her sister again.
"Okay." Nina replied, "I'm going to go make sure Ilexa is doing well, Lauren and the woman should be in there somewhere, so let me know when you guys get ready to go."
"I doubt the woman would want to see me," replied Nilya as she followed Nina into the clinic and down the sterile halls. Nilya decided to explain herself further, "I am the reason she is a widow.'
"Oh." Nina said as they walked in, "I think she's more worried about other things, but why did you do it?" She asked curiously.
"Her husband was a crime lord who sent his thugs to attack and threaten my family. I do not take such things lightly. My aura is dark for a reason, " replied Nilya calmly. Her expression and tone showed no hint of regret for what she did.
"I don't think that's dark at all." Nina replied, "Ilexa and I have broken a lot of arms of people who threaten us, and Ilexa almost killed one guy who was being, well, he made her pretty mad." Nina replied.
"There is a difference in killing someone and almost killing something, and the crime lord was not the only one. I deliberately killed the boss and his thugs. I do not believe myself as evil, but I do not deny that I am not so good either," replied Nilya calmly as they entered the room with Ilexa sleeping in it. The room was empty other than the passed out twin.
Looking at the wounded human, Nilya added, "I tell you this so you understand who I am. You have been betrayed and fooled enough lately. I do prefer to hide my emotions it is more of a self protective measure than a deceitful one. It is also a warning: if Archer ends up hurting Nara terribly or worse killing her. I will get retribution, so consider that when you seek help to rescue him."
Nina thought for a moment, "Well, if he does that, I'll still try to save him, and I'll stop you from killing him if I have to." Nina replied confidently, "But he won't, I'll stop him before he does anything to her." Nina went to sit next to her sister, "I do fully intend to kill Gaige and Isa though." She said in an unusually aggressive tone, "Because he fully intended for us to die here, and I can't let someone who would do something like that go without having every bone in their body broken at the very least."
"Do you have a plan?" asked Nilya calmly as she looked around the room.
"For now I'm going to help out around here and think." Nina replied, "If they think we're dead, I'll at least be able to surprise them."
"You know Gaige's abilities correct? What about Isa's?" asked Nilya.
"All I know is that she summons monsters." Nina replied, "It's how she flies between here and the mainland."
"I would recommend focusing on finding their..." replied Nilya calmly as she carefully sat down on a nearby bed. Suddenly her ears perked up as she heard some noise in the hall.
Nina's superior new ears could also pick up what sounded like a nurse yelling at someone for smoking in the clinic, followed by a gruff voice. The argument lasted a few seconds of words that could not be completely understood from their position. Nilya seemed rather focused on these events and Nina could hear her mutter, "They are here already?"
"Who's here?" Nina asked quietly, "Are they people who are looking to start a fight?"
Nilya sighed, "I am not sure why they here exactly. They are some of Varik's "associates," and I hope they are not here for a fight."
Before Nina could respond two faunus walked through the white sheet that acted like a door. The male wolf eared faunus looked as rough as his voice with his five o'clock shadow accenting his grim expression. The smaller female looked extremely tired as she drifted toward an empty bed and fell on it instantly asleep. As the two entered, Nilya stood up her expression dead serious as she stared at the male faunus as if expecting him to talk.
Nina looked at the faunus that passed out on the bed and wondered if she was okay. She wanted to walk over to check, but the atmosphere in the room was tense between Nilya and and the wolf eared faunus. Nina was the one who ended up breaking the silence, "Do you need something?" She asked seriously.
The wolf faunus looked at Nina and replied in a rough voice, "To talk to your friend here."
Nilya quickly asked, "About what?"
"Recruitment possibilities," replied the large male faunus.
"Who do you want to recruit?" asked Nilya seemingly unsure where the wolf faunus was going with this.
"Faunus," replied the man.
"Why?" asked Nilya her voice filled with concern and caution.
"It was your husband's idea, he thought it would be a good opportunity to help faunus and further the team's goal," replied Bigby as the wolf faunus started to look a little impatient.
Hearing it was her husband's idea seemed to take Nilya off guard and she was silent for a moment. She suddenly asked in a soft tone, "Is Varik okay?"
"Yes, he very busy. Can we stay on subject?" asked Bigby not caring that Nilya was clearly missing her loved one.
This cold behavior from the wolf faunus seemed to have struck a nerve with Nilya as she glared at the other faunus for a second. "I want to speak to Varik before I help," replied Nilya in a stern voice.
"You cannot, but Blair does have a message from him if she will wake up," replied the wolf faunus.
"Then we wait for her to wake up… you can go outside and smoke. I can see your lack of foul air is getting to you," replied Nilya calmly her tone having a hint of venom in it.
"Fine," replied the wolf faunus turning around and walking off quickly so he could find a spot to smoke in peace.
Once he left Nilya looked over at Blair and said to Nina in a calm tone, "What are your thoughts on this Nina?"
Nina remained silent for a moment, "I… I don't know." She said quietly, "How did he know I was here, and what does he want me to do?"
"Bigby doesn't know who you are. They sought me out likely using my scroll," replied Nilya calmly.
Nina sighed, relieved "I don't trust him… and I'm not interested in joining any more groups."
"He is not too friendly, but mostly a straightforward person. It's his superiors I need to keep an eye on," replied Nilya walking over toward the sleeping Blair. "I would not invite you to join right now anyway. Not until I know the full plan, and if Varik has a hand in it like they claim. If he does, I am guessing Varik believes the corporation's security forces can keep faunus safe."
Nilya reached down and gently shook the sleeping faunus. "5 more minutes?" muttered Blair.
"You have message for me?" asked Nilya.
Blair's eyes slowly opened and she reached into her brown leather vest and pulled out a small envelope and started to hand it to Nilya. Taking the letter from Blair, Nilya returned to a bed on the other side of the room as she impatiently tore open the envelope and pulled out the small letter. The contents made the faunus smile warmly which faded to a serious look she then slipped it inside her kimono.
Looking up at Nina, Nilya suddenly added, "While I would not recommend joining them. You might be able to recruit some of them to help with Archer if you make it worth their time."
Nina looked awkwardly to the side and bit her lip, "I don't think I can be worth much to them… and they'll probably just use me like Gaige and Isa."
"Depends on the price, but they are not Gaige or Isa. It was an idea," replied Nilya. "I do wonder what price you have paid to become a faunus," added Nilya staring at Nina's tail.
Nina held her tail, "That's different right? I can't stay here as a human…" She looked at her sister, "We don't have money either."
"I was referring to Gareth. I do not know much about him, but what little I know about him from Nara makes me cautious. Just be careful with him, " replied Nilya as the wolf faunus re entered the room and walked over to his sleeping companion and shook her.
"Mrs Umbra, I recommend we continue our conversation elsewhere," said the wolf faunus as his patience for his companion ended and he just picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. The female faunus protested him with slurred words not one could understand.
Nilya nodded and stood up, "It was good talking to you Nina, but I fear I have other matters to attend to."