[Other FULL] [IC] As the Dust Settles; A RWBY RP [M] [EPILOGUE]

[Orx of Twinleaf]

Team FEAR
(condensed for reduction of clutter and broken in the middle for your convenience)

Spoiler:

Fajio jolted awake from the static sounds that had invaded his quiet time in the darkness. He looked around for a moment, expecting perhaps a Grimm coming upon him—he wasn't sure anyone had had the notion to spray the place with repellant before leaving him strapped to a tree—but realized he was in no immediate danger. He figured he must have dozed off from the cold and the quiet. He wondered inwardly if perhaps his rear-end would take frostbite from this incident.

The sound came again: a voice. "Fajio, Fajio come in!"

Fajio had forgotten he had been given the two-way radio for communication's purpose and now pulled it out of the snow next to him and fumbled with his cold fingers to get it to work. He found himself wishing he hadn't managed to put the one shackle on before they bound him, because it was just making such delicate work that much harder. "Yes, I'm here."

On the other end of the connection, Evegy was hopping from rooftop to rooftop with her cloud-throwing trick, shouting down at the wounded Azoo and Rimer on the streets below to keep them running the same direction. Fajio's affirmation came through her radio and she addressed him again: "Call in the evac, we need to go!"

A pause on the other end before Fajio responded, his voice not sounding at all human as it came through the grainy radio after having been distorted by his mask. "Calm down, my dear. Did you take out the target?"

"No, I—this way!" she called down as Rimer started down the wrong alley. He righted himself and followed her direction, Azoo huffing on his heels. "No, he was too strong, and now I think he's got people on us."

"Hum. Well, I suppose that means they've gotten some sort of Aura training over here, after all, then. Is everyone alright?"

Mr. Mammoth's trumpeting hadn't come since they had disengaged, but Evegy was still casting looks back the way they had come, half-expecting a giant elephant-man to leap over the buildings after them. "Azoo and Rimer are hurt." She looked down at her teammates in the street. At the very least they weren't bleeding in any great capacity, and it seemed like their Auras were starting to perk them back up, but they were still sluggish. Luckily, they weren't far from the edge of town, now.

"I'll call SAWW in, just focus on getting back here as fast as you can. I don't think the Faunus would follow you too far out of the city unless they're chasing you this instant, and I suppose they aren't if you've got time to talk." There was a pause and a rough sound. Evegy supposed it might either be coughing or sighing; it was hard to tell through the radio. "Ms. Evegy, I must apologize for—"

Evegy jerked her hand away in pain as the radio burst in a spray of metal shreds with a loud pinging sound. She stumbled and almost fell off the building she was on. She looked back the way they had come and could only just see someone crouched a few rooftops back. The figure raised a long implement before lowering it again: sniper.

Evegy tried to bob sideways away from what she could only guess was a shot aimed at her head and felt hot pain as a bullet scoured a grazing blow across her shoulder. She stumbled backwards and fell fully off the roof, screaming.

She tried to orient herself as she fell, but she was going head-first: she squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the impact of the street, but was surprised as she landed hard on a muscly brace, and found Azoo had managed to catch her. Rimer was there and looking at her shoulder. "Hahaha, elephant man's got a gun now, ah?"

Evegy had Azoo let her back down and she checked her shoulder: bloody but not too bad. "No, it's not him, I think it's that Faunus he was with. She went to get help, remember?" She hissed little as her fingers grazed over the tender wound.

Rimer looked up towards the rooftops, frowning. "Heh, guess we'll go the rest of the way down here so they can't see us."

Evegy looked at the stars, having lost her direction in the fall. "It's not too much farther, now, I just need to try and find north again …"

A slender girl rounded the corner suddenly, her voluminous pink hairstyle glistening in the streetlights; Evegy realized that in amongst her hair were several thick tentacles. The girl grinned at them with horizontally-slitted pupils, pulling a radio out of her pompom-decorated coat. "I found them! They're out by Mr. Jerry's cheese shop. Good shot, Bea, you got her good, bleeding bad."

Rimer scowled and brought the Gut-Grinder off his back, starting it up. Evegy moved to draw her weapon, but Azoo pushed her behind them. "Get the direction," he told her, putting up his fists and facing the newcomer.

The octogirl opened a big case strapped to one of her winter boots and brought out a sickle with a long chain attached to it, a weight on the other end of the chain. She passed a look between Rimer and Azoo before spitting a thick, shiny black wad at the ground. "Wow, you humans look nasty." She winced as Rimer revved his chainsaw. "What kind of weapon is that? Certainly you can't fight with that thing?"

Rimer cackled something about calamari and leapt at her, missing horribly as the girl was easily as fast as he was. Azoo wasn't moving to help, but was keeping between the fight and Evegy. For her part, Evegy forced herself to ignore the combat and look at the sky. "This way!" she said finally, pointing.

Azoo waved her on as Rimer dodged backwards from yet another lashing toss from the octogirl's chain-weight. "We'll follow," he said simply, and Evegy forced herself to run off and leave them.

Rimer looked over his shoulder and saw Azoo was backing slowly away down the way Evegy had gone, as clear a signal to disengage as he'd ever seen. Rimer swatted a flurry of metal projectiles from pure instinct: he hadn't been paying attention, and the shuriken would have hurt badly if they'd landed. He looked upward briefly and chose one pocket of stars to remember. He looked back at Azoo again to cement his new sense of direction and nodded to signal him onward. Rimer knew he was the fastest of any of them; he could catch up.

The octogirl leapt at him of a sudden and Rimer wasn't as quick this time. She caught him on both shoulders with her boots and sent him to his back, straddling his chest and grasping the chain of her weapon with the clear intent of strangling him with it. She was too close on him for him to get the Gut-Grinder between them. He let it go and brought up his hands to keep the chain off his neck. The girl pressed down, smiling as she examined him. "What sharp teeth you have, human," she said tauntingly as she pressed.

Rimer chattered his pointed teeth menacingly. "All the better to eat you with, ahahahaha!" He tried but failed to kick out of the girl's hold. He frowned for a moment; he would have liked it if he could have knocked her away with that line, but he was too light. She wasn't very big, but was plenty heavy enough to keep Rimer down. The cases on her boots seemed unusually heavy, as well.

She laughed at his failed attempt to break loose and shifted one of her hands to the sickle of her weapon. "You're lucky I need to take you for questioning or I'd kill you right now. I can still rearrange you face, though. All those piercings, maybe I should carve them off?"

She lolled her tongue at him, glaring and showing off that her front two teeth were fused into a single overlarge and sharp tooth. She brought the sickle up to Rimer's face and he tried to kick out, but this time he sent his kick sideways and managed to roll, putting the girl on her back and bringing Rimer up to his knees over her.

He cackled and reached for his chainsaw. "I haven't seen inside a Faunus before, hahaha! Think I can find your ink sac? Huh?! Hahahaha!" He revved the chainsaw and brought it down in time for it to squeal angrily in protest against an Aura-cast tentacle. Rimer regarded it in surprise, it was rooted to the ground above the girl's head and had blocked his saw, solidified Aura being one of those things the Gut-Grinder couldn't cut through like hot butter.

The tentacle bucked and sent the Gut-Grinder up and away, back against the wall of a nearby building. Rimer looked after it and then looked back at the tentacle, which fizzled out, spent from the effort. He looked down at the girl, frowning. She smiled and whipped the weight of her chain at his face. Rimer managed to catch it on his arm before realizing that that was exactly what she had wanted him to do. She brought her knees up to her stomach and then yanked Rimer down on top of her, driving his ribs against her legs.

She looked him in the eye and winked. "Name's Agurolishi, by the way. I get the feeling you're a raving lunatic. I don't suppose all humans are as crazy as you are."

Rimer smiled his shark-toothed grin at her, his red eyes strong in the dark. "Ha ha, don't be so sure." He snapped forward and clacked his teeth together in an attempt to bite her, but fell short.

"Ooooo, kinky," she taunted before rolling backward and launching him into the air with her legs. She jerked him down to the ground roughly with the chain still wrapped about his arm and then watched him as he got to his feet and attempted to untangle himself from her weapon. "You're supposed to introduce yourself, too, human!" She pulled back on the chain again.

Rimer stumbled but kept his feet, even though his arm was starting to hurt badly from where the chain dug into his flesh. He laughed and pulled against her, she leaned forward slightly but didn't give. Rimer let off suddenly and she stumbled backwards and lost her grip. He took the opportunity and used the slack to get back to his Gut-Grinder and cut the chain. It was still wrapped to him, but at least he had cut himself loose from her.

Rimer found the way Azoo had gone and started crossing to it, running low and with his chainsaw blocking the angry spray of shuriken that came at him. He cast a quick look skyward and found the stars he had made himself remember to get his direction. He stopped a moment to taunt. "Hahaha! Tell them Rimer broke your weapon, hahaha, and that he used the Gut-Grinder to do it, ahahahaha!"

He turned and started running, turning off the Gut-Grinder and slinging it to his back as he heard the girl's response. "Oh, I've got plenty more, please keep it as a souvenir!"

Rimer almost didn't fully notice the whirring sound behind her voice but managed to spin and dodge away from the sickle that she'd sent at the back of his head, still trailing a length of chain. It kept going to the intersection ahead and caught in the side of a lamppost. Rimer yanked it free as he came by it and waved it jeeringly at the girl as she pulled a fresh chain weapon from her boot-pouch. "Hahaha! Thanks, Agurllshi!" He stuck out his tongue and continued on his way.

He heard the metallic tunking sound of shuriken burying themselves in the lamppost behind him as she called after him. "It's Agurolishi, Heimer!"

"It's Rimer, hahahaha!"

They look like people,
But how can one be sure?
Why, we must only cut them open
And see the red of their innards
To know that they are the same within
As all people are.
Indeed, it is a better question,
Perhaps,
Whether or not you are like them.
You may be cut and bleed,
But blood is shallow.
How can you know
That you are like them on the inside
Without you kill yourself
And show them you should have lived?
What if there are those
Who inside are black and vile
But who are never cut open
And so continue in our midst
Hoping to drive the knives towards others?

Spoiler:

Azoo rounded one last corner and saw where the streets were slowly giving way to dirt more than tile, the buildings yielding to foliage. Evegy had stopped and was waiting for him. She looked past him, catching her breath. "Where's Rimer?" she asked.

Azoo was rather winded himself; he very much regretted having skipped leg day so often. "He'll catch up."

Evegy seemed like she was going to say something more but stopped herself, thinking better of it. Azoo might have been a little more talkative than he'd been before, but he still didn't like to carry fully-fledged conversations. She looked up at the stars, instead. "Fajio's probably called SAWW, we have to get back. They'll leave us if we're not ready."

Azoo would have liked to assure her that SAWW would do no such thing despite what they said, but he rather believed that they would be abandoned. He glanced at the sky but had no head for constellations. Regardless, this was the way they had come in; it was pretty much a straight shot to camp from here. He waved Evegy on.

She looked at him and back the way they had come, worried. "I'm not leaving you guys."

Azoo shook his head. If Fajio were here, he'd have understood immediately, but Evegy was still learning Azoo's unique form of language-of-silence. Azoo personally felt a little guilty for what they did to Fajio, but also knew that Fajio wasn't one to hold grudges. Or not specific ones, anyway. He liked to act like everyone in general had screwed with him, but he never really got personal. Azoo forced out a few more words. "We'll cover you. Go untie Fajio."

She began to protest again but Azoo was forced to shove her backward a little more roughly than he would've liked as a couple of round, fused balls rolled over at their feet. Azoo managed to get himself a little ways away with a small hop backward as the bombs burst, but he was still too close. He brought his arms up to cover his face from the blast and was sent to the ground with hot pain all up his legs, from the running and from the bombs, both.

Azoo got to his feet and turned to face a muscular Faunus juggling a few more bombs in one hand and clutching a swollen-headed club in the other. He was built, but nothing like Azoo was, and Azoo still outsized him easily. He was in a long whitish trench coat against the winter cold, and had a thick red scarf tied about his neck, trailing its ends down his back. One eye peered at them lazily from under messy black bangs, the other covered by a bedazzled eyepatch with some sort of symbol on it. His gaze drifted to Evegy, then back at Azoo, and then fixed itself on Evegy. He laughed, his breath a thick, thick fog in the night air.

"Y'all interrupted happy hour at Fawny's, you know," he said in a thick voice before lobbing the unlit bombs high into the air.

Azoo took a deep breath: he would make sure Evegy got away. He would hold until Rimer arrived, and then he'd make sure Rimer got away, too. And when that was all said and done, he'd stand here and distract the Faunus while Fajio and SAWW got away.

Azoo had always privately wanted to be martyred. He was sure that not even his father would argue he was useless if he sacrificed himself to such a noble cause. The bombs arced through the air as the Faunus took a gulp from one of about five hipflasks he had tied to his belt with long colored cords. "Go!" he yelled to Evegy.

"You guys will make it out, right?"

The Faunus spat a long, glistening stream out after the bombs. They clattered uselessly around Azoo as he was splashed in an extremely strongly-scented alcohol, a wet trail leading back to the Faunus's feet, more of it dripping off his chin. Azoo turned to Evegy and waved her on impatiently. Damned girl was too clingy. "I said—"

"Watch out!" she gasped. Azoo looked and saw the Faunus drop a match onto the trail in front of him, sending a wet line of flames toward him with shocking speed. Azoo managed to bring out his extra arms and cover himself just before the fire washed over him and the bombs reduced his world to a loud flash of hot and forceful pain.

Azoo felt his head spinning and his ears rang loud. He lost his balance and fell backward onto his rump. He felt his extra arms fizzle out from the strain. He blinked, dazed, and his hearing came back. Evegy's voice: "Azoo! Azoo, are you okay?!"

He coughed roughly and moistened his lips. At least he wasn't bleeding internally, he didn't think. The Aura had done a lot to absorb the damage, but he was so exhausted, now, and he could feel the searing burns on his shoulders and on places on his body he hadn't been able to cover. "Go!" he barked. He looked back for emphasis but couldn't see her through the thick smokescreen kicked up by the brushfire ignited by the alcohol blast.

The Faunus sat down unconcernedly and drank deeply from another of his flasks, swallowing it this time. The starlight shone off the pale scales on his cheeks. He hiccupped. "Well, you're a prisoner now, big guy. Bea will get your daughter." As he said this Azoo was dimly aware of a shape hopping off the nearest building and into the tree next to it, swiftly.

Azoo would have been panicked or worried were he another man, but he was Azoo Rah. He was retainer to Fajio Rekstum and son of Buster Rah, the Fist of Fury. He was grandson of the legendary Angor Rah, one of the finest and last of the hunters who had been assigned to "Faunus control" in those days when renegade Faunus still terrorized the countryside.

"The world wants to pass through you," he remembered is grandfather telling him and Fajio, "but you must stand and force it to go around. Don't let it push you over, show it you're an obstacle to be evaded, not a road to be tread upon."

Azoo straightened up and sat cross-legged, and evened out his breathing. He could not fight, but this Faunus mistook that as meaning he was captured. Azoo would prove him wrong.

"Don't talk much do ya, big guy?" the Faunus asked lazily, taking a drink from one flask and then another in quick succession. He swished them about, his cheeks gyrating before he swallowed: he was mixing it in his mouth. "What, did you bite your tongue off when ya fell?" He laughed drunkenly at his own joke.

Azoo put his hands on his knees and bowed his head as he waited for his Aura to come back up. "Know when to sit down, boy," he could hear his father saying. "If you're gonna talk with your fists, you're gonna go through a lot of air when you decide to deliver a speech. Sit your ass down and take a breather if you know what's good for ya, or you won't be able to give a rebuttal."

The Faunus opposite him frowned and got up, walking over. He stood over Azoo, one hand on his hip and the other tapping his disproportionate club against the toe of his metal-plated boots. He hiccupped slightly. "You're being a sore loser, dude. You got a name? I'm Kab."

Azoo didn't move much, but cast a glance up toward the fellow: for all his slurred speech and the stench of drink on him, he wasn't stumbling or anything. Evidently, he could hold his liquor well enough. Azoo rolled his shoulders, unhappy with how stiff they had become since Mr. Mammoth had caught him in that shockwave. "Azoo."

The Faunus sniggered. "Pffft, you got a weird-ass fuckin sneeze, man."

Azoo looked up to speak more directly with this "Kab," and as he made eye contact he made a mental note that the man's one eye, though half-lidded, was not it the least glassy. Drunk or not, Kab was fully lucid. "My name," Azoo explained. "Azoo."

Kab nodded to himself and shouldered his giant club, sneaking a drink from a wineskin that had been inside his coat. "Cool, cool. Now, maybe you're wonderin 'Why aren't I dead yet?' and 'Why is Kab talkin to me like I'm not a filthy human?' and 'Why is it so obvious Kab would whoop my ass if I got up?' " He laughed at his own joke again, slapping his knee.

He wiped his eye and drank from three of his hipflasks before continuing. "Mr. Mammoth wants you for inturr … imterri … uh …" He scratched his head for a moment and hiccupped. "Mr. Mammoth wants you for questioning," he said, evidently being unable to find the word interrogation. "I'd do it now if I was any good at it. And you don't exactly seem like a squealer." Kab stopped and looked at Azoo for a moment, eyebrow raised. He shook his head, laughing. "Hot damn, but you're a tight-lipped motherfucker, I'll give you that."

Azoo watched Kab with the same polite attention he gave to anyone who was talking to him, but was also watching the Faunus, trying to get a handle on what his angle was. From the scales, Azoo figured Kab was either a fish or reptile phenotype. The latter would be sluggish in the cold, but Azoo had every confidence that Kab's alcoholism would probably keep him warm if he were naked in the ocean. His club had a metal head on it but was entirely too large, and Azoo wondered how it managed itself as a passable weapon at all. Azoo still couldn't tell where Kab kept his bombs, and supposed it must be in his coat somewhere. We wondered how Kab could seriously stomach walking around covered not only in explosives but in alcohol on top of that. He thought back to Lucinder, the fireworks-tosser of Team LERN, who had brutalized Fajio. He wondered if a fight between Lucinder and Kab could even be expected to last more than a second.

As Azoo and Kab shared another awkward silence, the latter drank from a canteen he had had tucked into a pocket in the end of his scarf. Azoo raised his brows. "Do you always drink so?" he ventured. His Aura was only just now coming back up, and he'd have to keep Kab's interest a little longer.

Kab took a single long gulp from one of his flasks before answering. "Gotta be ready for duty. My Semblance turns poison into Aura, and if I want to really get nasty …" He leaned in for effect and whispered in a perfectly clear and unslurred tone, "Well, let's hope you don't have to find out." He smiled again and hiccupped before stretching himself out and yawning. He twirled the giant club lazily, like it weighed nothing to him.

Azoo didn't like talking. His father had made sure Azoo had come up hating the sound of his own voice. Even so, Azoo heard Fajio's words as if they had just been said to him yesterday: "You'll fight a lot of Grimm, but when you fight those other things out there you'll benefit from knowing one thing in particular: humans and Faunus both love to talk. Be it taunting, banter, or verbal jousting, they'll talk for days while you use that time to study them and get ready. I know you don't like to Azoo, but sometimes you need to talk with them, even across the barrel of a gun."

Azoo uncrossed and crossed his legs again, shifting to get more comfortable. "There are poisons that don't make you drunk," Azoo said, keeping up the conversation.

Kab sniggered into a hiccup, sending some spittle into the air, where it glistened briefly. He wiped his mouth, laughing it off. "Alcohol's the tastiest poison I've found." He laughed again, slapping his knee. He let go of his club briefly to hold his stomach in his hysteria so that Azoo could shoot to his feet without fear of any immediate attack.

Kab straightened up quicker than Azoo would have liked and brought one arm up to block, the other fishing in his coat. Azoo grabbed the smaller man's arm in one giant hand and lifted him off the ground before spinning about with him. "Drink Mixer!" he called, loving as he always did the heroic bellow his voice became when he called his moves. He threw Kab away down the street. Kab's club was still on the ground in front of Azoo. He picked it up and flung it like a javelin over the nearest building.

Kab was back on his feet without the slightest evidence of tipsiness. "You sly fuck," he laughed, hiccupping. "Wanna go mano a mano, ah?" Kab whipped off his coat, throwing it away. It fell to the ground heavily, weighted with drinking vessels and bombs. He showed off a rather unintimidating white sweater and palmed his fist, grinning. "You're a big guy," he said as he began to swell is size. The sweater—and thankfully the rest of his clothing—swelled with him, but even so a decidedly hulking musculature became visible through his sleeves and pants. In short order he was twice the size Mr. Mammoth had been, and far more muscular, his breath making rolling fog clouds in the cold air. "But I'm bigger." His one eye was wide and mad, his eyepatch on the other side of his face bulging.

Azoo was rather unhappy with how often he had been outsized tonight and privately resolved to devote three rather than two days a week to lifting if he survived this. He almost brought out his extra arms but decided he shouldn't burn through his Aura like that after it had just come back up.

He held himself low and held his arms out, flexing and waiting for the Faunus's charge. Before it could come, Rimer came sliding between Kab's legs, slashing at one of his ankles as he went. Kab cursed and went to a knee as Rimer came sprinting past Azoo, turning the Gut-Grinder back off. There was a length of chain wrapped around one of his arms and he had a chain with a sickle on the end dangling from his belt. "Hahahaha! Feels good, don't it?!" he called at Kab jeeringly before turning to Azoo. "We're home free, Azoo, hahaha, let's go!"

He began running again but slowed and stopped as he noticed Azoo was hesitating. Azoo very much wanted to martyr himself, and opportunities didn't present themselves very often, he had to admit. On the other hand, dying for no reason when they were in the clear wasn't exactly martyrdom.

As he thought of it, though, another Faunus appeared: the octogirl from earlier. She looked at Kab for a moment before looking at them and twirling a weapon that looked like the one Rimer had had on his belt. Azoo rolled his shoulders: he would stay. He would cover the retreat.

Rimer laughed nervously, darting a look at the Faunus and back at Azoo. "Come on man, let's go!"

Azoo heard his grandfather's words. "To die to protect those close to you; that is the best way to die, Azoo. That's one of the most important things a hunter can do."

A third Faunus came scrambling out as Kab got to his feet. He was a younger fellow, and white feathers in place of hair, with a stalk of bright red jutting from his head like a crest. He caught his breath and pointed a rapier at them, a trail of long green feathers flaring behind him like a skirt.

Rimer was calling his name now, but Azoo closed his eyes and heard his father's words. "You'll never be worth shit, boy. You, a hunter? Pfah, as if." Azoo's fists clenched. He'd show him.

The newcomer Faunus flourished and spoke with an odd accent. "I am Antonio d'Eyuul, leader of Team ABAK, and by ze authority of Nungerfaldt Ixis and FaunAc, as vell as zat of Menagerie, I place you humans under arrest! Surrender peacefully and your final moments vill not be rife vith pain."

Rimer cursed and ran. Azoo took a deep breath, ready to face the Faunus. He heard Fajio's voice in his mind. The voice of a younger boy, who still had not put on that dreadful mask. "Okay, Zoo-Zoo, you're my guard so don't go dying, okay? You need to be there to protect me from things, or else you'll be a really bad guard. And I know you can be the bestest guard there is." Azoo's eyes sprang open.

"Hey! I vas still talking! How rude!" The Faunus's voice grew softer as Azoo put more distance between his pursuers and himself, clinging to all of his Aura to keep his legs from giving out as he kicked up snow in his wake on his way to return to Fajio.

 

[Groc]

Team CAOX - Cassandra Alexandra, Azrael Marjorie, Orion Romanov, and Xyra Coronis
Vale, Wild Things nightclub​

[h1][/h1]
Xyra spun Painbrush in a quick circle, deflecting the lunging sword strike of the goon in the suit. She slashed at his chest with the bladed end, following it up with a kick to his midsection. The goon stumbled back, only to be smashed into the ground by Orion's hammer. Xyra leaned on Painbrush as she caught her breath, while Orion flipped his hammer around to shoot at another goon as he tried to flee. Orion's sniper round caught him in the back, dropping him instantly.

"You alright, Xyra?" Orion rested his hammer against his shoulder, not even breathing hard. Xyra gave him a thumbs-up, retracting Painbrush and storing it on her back. "Yeah, I'm good. How did we get into this mess?"

☆☆Earlier, at Azrael's house...☆☆

"You live here? All by yourself?" Xyra looked around the place, a little depressed by the blank walls and concrete floor. "It's kinda sad."

Azrael scoffed indignantly, leaning against the door. "Hey, I don't exactly have a lot of options on a student's budget, okay? It's not so bad!"

"It's a warehouse. An abandoned one." Cass shoved past Xyra, looking around the spartan interior. She wasn't exactly wrong, either. Azrael's house was a small, single-room building in the old business district on the edge of the city, an abandoned sector referred to as the Glades. These days, most of the buildings were used for storage.

Azrael slipped in past Xyra, not happy that his team was dissing his home. "Yeah, well this is just camouflage, you know? I keep all my stuff downstairs." He pointed to a set of stairs tucked away against the side wall.

Cass rolled her eyes at that. "Of course you live in the basement. Why am I not surprised?"

"You know, a little paint and a better floor would really liven the place up! Maybe hang some paper lanterns from the rafters, get rid of the harsh fluorescent lighting..." Xyra was walking the perimeter, trying to help in the only way she knew how. Orion had come in as well, but stayed silent.

"You said we needed a place to set up, and I'm trying to provide. Is this the thanks I get?" Azrael crossed his arms, leaning against the wall with a scowl. "You don't like it, find another place to use as 'Huntsmen for Hire' headquarters."

"We're not really calling it that, are we?" Xyra asked, coming to join the group. "We're still students, after all. Doesn't it seem a little disingenuous?"

"Disingenuous? What are you, a dictionary?" Azrael sniped back.

"Enough!" Cass snapped, glaring at the two. "We've been at that school for months now, and haven't learned a damn thing. I'd get better training at the gym! If you don't want to do this whole mercenary business, you can spend your holiday back with your family."

Xyra flinched at Cass's tone, but relented. Azrael looked at the ground at the mention of family. Orion stepped forward, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "Do not worry. We discussed this, is good plan. We take jobs, keep our skills sharp, and maybe make some extra money until class starts. You have job for us, Captain?"

Cass grinned, looking around the building again. "I've put out some feelers, asked some people I know. You guys up for a little bounty hunting?"

"Who is target?" Orion asked warily, while Azrael looked excited and Xyra looked confused.

Cass pulled out her scroll, pulling up an arrest warrant. "This guy runs boats between Vale and Menagerie, deporting any Faunus they find hiding out in the city. He also uses those boats to import weapons, drugs, and Dust, which he sells on the black market. Police haven't been able to bring him in, so they're hiring Huntsmen to do it. I know a guy, and he offered to let us do it. Guy operates out of a nightclub here in Vale. It should be quick and easy."

"Bounty hunters? Sounds fun!" Xyra grinned optimistically.

☆☆☆☆

Xyra snapped out of her flashback when a bullet pinged off the wall by her head. She drew Painbrush as Orion created a force field between her and the shooter.

"Xyra! Get your head out of the clouds and back in the fight!" Cass shouted, picking a goon up by the neck and shoving him through a wall.

Azrael teleported up to the catwalk, appearing behind the shooter. He fired six quick shots into the man's back, then teleported back to the others. "What's going on, Cass?! What's with all the thugs in suits, and why are they attacking us?!"

"I don't know!" She snapped back. "Someone else must be after the same guy we are, and brought some extra muscle."

Further conversation was interrupted by a loud crash and shattering of glass above them, followed by someone hitting the floor in front of them. A loud, angry voice could be heard from the room upstairs.

"Is that all you got? You guys don't know the MEANING of the word fight!"

Xyra looked at the man on the ground, who was wearing the same suit as the goons they'd been fighting. "You sure about that, Boss? I think these guys all work for our boy."

"Then... we've just been going through their backup?" Azrael reloaded his guns nervously.

"It doesn't matter! We have a job, let's do it! Come on!" Cass yelled, rushing over to the stairs. She didn't care who this other guy was, she'd take him out just like the rest of these fools. The rest of her team hurried to follow her.

Reaching the office on the second floor, Cass got a look at the guy who had trashed the goons before CAOX had arrived. He was a shade under six feet tall, but built like a truck. She didn't know who he was, but his large nose (complete with nose ring) and bovine ears gave away what he was.

Azrael skidded to a halt beside Cass, eyes widening in shock. "A Faunus?!" The bull Faunus looked over at Azrael's outburst, breaking into a grin. Not taking any chances, Azrael lifted his guns and started firing as fast as he could pull the trigger.

The Faunus turned to face Cass and Azrael, crossing his arms at the wrist and putting them in front of his chest. Azrael's bullets smacked into an invisible wall inches in front of the Bull. He laughed at that. "Nice try kid, but you'll have to try harder than that to take ME down!"

Without speaking, Azrael teleported behind the Bull, firing his guns until they clicked empty. The Bull didn't expect that, but didn't seem terribly bothered by the shots. Azrael teleported again as the Bull turned, again appearing behind him, this time striking with the blades on his guns. His guns glowed blue and leaked black smoke as he teleported new bullets directly into the cylinders. Before he had a chance to fire, the Bull reached back and grabbed him by the head, slamming him into the wall.

Cass took that as her cue, rushing in and grabbing the Bull's other arm, using her momentum to flip him over her shoulder. Azrael teleported out of the Bull's grip just before he hit the ground. The Bull bounced when he hit the floor, but got his feet under him and lunged forward, headbutting Cass. She staggered back a step, losing her grip on the Bull. She shook her head to clear it, glaring at the Faunus.

"Ha! You got spunk, but it takes more than that to wrestle with me! You need skill, strength, and STYLE!" He flexed his muscles, but Cass wasn't going to give him the chance. She rushed in, electricity crackling along her fist as she punched him in the solar plexus midflex.

To her surprise, the Bull took the hit full on, even flashing her a grin. Somehow, the Bull had absorbed the impact with pure muscle. She quickly fired off a shotgun shell from her gauntlet, jumping back from the Bull. She spun and grabbed the desk, throwing it at the Bull's head. He punched right through it, but she had expected that, and rushed forward at the same time, using the desk to hide her attack. She punched the Bull in the face, firing another shell as she did. The Bull staggered back a step, and Cass pumped her fist to reload her gauntlet.

The Bull shook his head, then had the audacity to laugh at Cass. "HaHA! Now that's what I'm talking about! STYLE!" He rushed forward, but sidestepped at the last moment to dodge Cass' punch, throwing out an arm and catching her with a clothesline. The hit knocked Cass off her feet, but the Bull didn't stop there. He jumped, kicking his feet against a force field to halt his forward movement, dropping to the floor and driving an elbow into Cass.

Cass got her breath knocked out of her, and the Bull jumped to his feet. He was promptly smacked back by Orion's hammer, knocking him into the wall. Xyra dragged Cass back as Orion and the Bull faced off.

"You want the horns? YOU GOT 'EM!" The bull pulled a double barreled rocket launcher off his back, extending the stock and resting it on his shoulder. Orion called up a force field of his own, just in time to block the missile. The Bull seemed surprised at first, but fired another missile at Orion. The force field held, but Orion could feel it start to crack. He prepared himself, ready to call up another force field, but the Bull surprised him by charging through the smoke and shattering the field before Orion could see him. The Bull converted his weapon from rocket launcher to melee weapon (which could be called a baseball bat, but would more accurately be called a war club), striking Orion and knocking him back.

Azrael teleported back into the room, firing his guns at the Bull. The momentary distraction gave Orion enough time to recover his footing, swinging his hammer at the Bull. The Faunus stepped back, dodging the swing, but stepping into Cass' range, allowing her to hit him in the back with both fists and fire her guns. He staggered forward, and Orion quickly jabbed his hammer into the Bull's face.

Cass jumped forward, ready for another punch, but smacked into a force field. The Bull pushed the field back, pinning Cass to the wall. Orion swung his hammer, but the Bull encased the head in another field, preventing it from moving. Azrael opened fire, but the bullets just impacted the Bull's force armor. With a wave of his hand, he moved the force field containing Orion's hammer, dragging the hammer and Orion with it. Azrael teleported out of the way, leaving Orion to collide with the doorway back to the nightclub.

Cass struggled against the force field, managing to push it back enough to slip free. The Bull was suddenly right on top of her, grabbing her by the head and throwing her at the window. She spun in the air, shooting her guns and using the knock back to stop her forward motion, landing in a crouch. The Bull stepped forward, but a shot from Orion's sniper rifle made him stop.

"Heh heh heh... you kids are tough, I'll give you that! You could even give some of my students a run for their money! But this has gone on long enough!" He switched his club back to a rocket launcher, prompting Orion to put up another force field. The Bull fired a missile at Orion's feet, the explosion taking out the floor and sending Orion tumbling down to the ground floor. Cass leapt at him, shouting a challenge and throwing a punch at his face. The Bull turned his head, catching her fist on his jaw. He grit his teeth and took the hit, raising his launcher and hitting Cass point blank with a missile. The blast sent her out the window and back to ground level.

The Bull took a moment to catch his breath before turning to Azrael. Azrael weighed his options, then teleported to safety on the ground floor with Cass and Orion. The Bull laughed, retracting the stock on his gun and storing it on his back. "Good fight, humans, but you didn't stand a chance! I'm the roughest, toughest, and all around buff-est!" He casually walked toward the door at the back of the office, still singing his own praise. "The one, the only, and the best! The most ELECTRIFYING Huntsman there ever was!"

He opened the door, and immediately got smacked in the face with Xyra's Painbrush, leaving a red streak across his eyes and nose. The red dustpaint started burning the moment it touched skin, blinding him. He yelled in pain and anger, forcing his eyes open. Xyra bolted for the stairs, her Chrominions following after and carrying the club manager Team CAOX had come to collect.

Azrael was helping Orion stand when Xyra ran past. "And where were you?!" Cass angrily demanded, stopping when she saw their target carried by Xyra's living paint blobs.

"Not now! RUN!" Xyra yelled, never slowing as she hit the door. The others agreed, heading for the door as fast as they could.

****

Back in the office, Bullrush rose to his feet, wiping the rest of the paint off his face. "That was a cheap, low down dirty TRICK! No sense of fair play WHATSOEVER!" He sighed, heading to the owner's desk and retrieving what he had come for: the shipping manifests for the Faunus transports.

 

[Geras]

Brooke Webster, Reese Kells, Oswald Carotene, and Salazar Jones
Vale Harbor​

[h1][/h1]
Moonlight shone down on the quiet harbor as team BROS made their final preparations. The air was still, with no sounds of people, creatures, or even wind, as if the night itself was holding its breath. Only the ocean's waves disturbed the peace in their steady rhythm.

The door to the cargo hold where BROS went over their plan one last time opened, and in stepped a young man to ask, "Is everybody ready?" He was a hardworking member of the ship's school-assigned crew, and he seemed to have taken a shine to the group of huntsmen.

"One moment, Hershel," Brooke stopped him, not looking away from her team. "So we'll need to do this quickly before the sun rises and dock activity picks up. I should have enough light stored away to keep it from affecting my combat ability... if it comes to that. You all know your roles. Ozzy's with me, Reese is free once there's an opening, and Sal's on the inside. Sal, wait for my signal before moving, but if you notice signs of battle then regroup. We do this quick and we do it quiet. Any questions?"

"Yeah, you sure you're good to go, brah?" Reese asked, pointing toward Brooke. "Your hands are still shaking."

Brooke looked down to where her teammate was pointing and saw that he wasn't lying. She clenched her fists tightly and took a deep breath. "If we're fast enough there shouldn't be any problems." Her hands had calmed for the moment, but the tension in her voice was heavy.

Reese's expression softened a bit. "You want it fast, you leave it to me."

Ozzy was pacing back and forth, going over his gear for the fifth time. He was usually nervous before a mission, but now he could barely stay still. "Understood. I stick with you. Not like I'm going to go anywhere..." His ears twitched toward any sound, barely noticeable under his hoodie.

As usual, Sal seemed unconcerned, although he wasn't as exuberant as he usually was before a job. "Wait for the signal, play my part, open the doors and incite a riot. I hope I can remember all that." He rolled his eyes as he finished tying a bloody rag around his arm. "I know my role. You guys just focus on blending in."

Brooke nodded. "Very well, then. Let's move out!" She looked over to Hershel who led them to where they were to disembark.

"We'll be waiting offshore for word of your success via communicator to take you back," he explained as they walked, "But remember that we can't retrieve you if you're being pursued. I'm sure you'll be fine, though." He flashed them a smile before Brooke led the group onward.

The cart bearing Sal's cage rattled as it rolled along the planks of the boardwalk. It wasn't very far, but to Brooke the journey felt like an eternity, their destination looming in the distance much larger than she'd expected it to be. She wondered just how many or her innocent brothers and sisters were trapped in that prison.

As they approached the ship, they saw that it was swarming with guards, each equipped with armor, a rifle, and what seemed to be a large cattle prod. Already Brooke began to tremble with indignant rage, but she did her best to keep it in check, however difficult that was. If the team was to succeed, she would have to keep it that way, even as a pair of guards standing outside the ship approached the group.

Ozzy noticed Brooke trembling, and stepped forward before she did something they'd all regret. He took a quick puff from a cigar, one of his herbal blends, to calm his nerves. "Evening, boys. No need to get jumpy, we're just dropping off some cargo, here. This is the animal boat, right?"

Inside his cage, Sal let out a snort. Hearing Ozzy trying to sound tough was just funny. Sure, he wasn't someone to mess with, but he wasn't a tough guy. Realizing that they might have heard him, he snarled angrily, kicking the side of his cage weakly. Reese looked into the cage as if to monitor Sal, though in reality he was also struggling to hide the laughter welling up inside him.

One of the guards looked at the cage suspiciously. "I thought we had all the animals we were gonna take on this trip. Where'd this one come from?"

Ozzy shrugged, casually blowing smoke at the guard. "He was causing a ruckus at the docks. Attacking crates and yelling about oranges. He's a tough one, but a little worse for wear. Still, they could put him to work. Or make a belt or purse out of him, I don't care."

The guard looked at Ozzy for a moment, then laughed. "Ah, whatever. There's still some room below decks. Load it up, get your pay. You did your job, I've done mine. The sooner this ship sets out, the sooner I can go home."

Brooke looked at Ozzy apologetically as the guards led them onto the ship, one of the guards leading ahead while the other stayed behind them in case they tried anything. They were brought inside the giant, pristine vessel that was leagues beyond any of the ships Menagerie was able to cobble together.

Once inside, the guards talked about the details of the ship as they walked, treating it like some sort of grand tour. They passed barracks with real beds, a cafeteria with incredible-looking food, and even a break area with music and games. Each room they passed pissed Brooke off more and more, but she somehow managed to contain herself.

Finally, the guard/guide showed Ozzy to the cargo hold. There were dozens of cages lining the walls, containing hundreds of Faunus. Ozzy stopped in his tracks, his breath catching in his throat. He had known there would be captured Faunus, but he never imagined there would be so many. "There's... so many..." He tried to keep up his tough guy act, but couldn't help but shake, especially as the imprisoned Faunus looked at him. Some were angry , but most just looked tired, resigned, and hopeless.

The guard shrugged, pushing Sal's cage against the far wall. "I guess. We've actually had bigger hauls than this. I gotta say, I appreciate Huntsmen like you keeping these animals out of our city."

Sal growled in anger, pounding his fist against the wall of his cage. "I'm gonna get out of this cage, and when I do, I'm gonna kill you!"

"Yeah, keep talking, lizard. That's all you're good for." Ozzy kicked the door of the cage, mouthing the word "no" and looking at Sal nervously. Sal tilted his head in confusion, having forgotten about the mission in his anger. He growled in frustration, but backed away from the door.

The guard missed Ozzy's nervous look, but laughed as Sal backed down. "All bark and no bite! Come on, let's get out of here. I'll take the key to his cage, and we'll see about your pay." He extended his hand toward Ozzy, who only paused a moment before handing it over. The guard marked it with a pen, then placed it on a hook on the wall, next to dozens of keys in varying shapes and sizes.

Ozzy followed the guard to the door, letting him go through first. He gave Sal a mock salute before leaving. "See you later, alligator." With that, he turned and left.

Sal snarled in genuine annoyance. "Oh, he's gonna pay for that later..."

The door closed behind the group and the lead guard saluted his comrades at the cargo hold door before taking the huntsmen toward the ship's exit. They walked in silence, the guards seemingly eager to get going already, until they turned a corner. Brooke, who had been surprisingly calm considering the sight of the humans' makeshift prison, put her hand on Reese's shoulder before speeding up to pass him and approach the guard.

In moments, the light around the group faded. There was a thump, a thud, and muffled grunting before the light returned. Reese stood over the guard who'd been watching them from behind, now unconscious on the floor. "Sorry dude," he apologized as he collapsed his staff and placed it back onto his gauntlet. The guard ahead of them hadn't been as lucky. A sleek stone dagger formed from the light Brooke had stolen impaled the man's neck, going through the back clear out the front. Some of the light had been used to freeze the wound and prevent the otherwise inevitable gush of blood.

Reese looked over at Brooke, and after a flash of shock his face bore mostly disappointment. "Y'know, we weren't supposed to kill anyone. Avoiding a panic and all that other stuff they said at school."

Brooke looked back at him with an unnervingly warm smile. "Don't worry, I haven't killed anyone. This man has simply gone missing, as you'll see. I'll just come back in a bit and make sure he's never found. You can trust your leader."

He frowned, but he didn't pursue the subject. "Whatever you say. I'll head out and do my part." He took off in his own direction, keeping to corners and shadows wherever they were.

Once Reese had gone, Brooke made sure to snuff the unconscious guard's life as well before stuffing the bodies in a utility closet, which she ensured could no longer be opened thanks to her solidified light. She gave a satisfied nod before turning back to Ozzy. "That was relaxing. Well then, are you ready to go hunting?"

Ozzy turned back to Brooke, taking a calming breath. "Ready to go hunting. Just be careful. Reese is right, we're not supposed to kill any humans." He grabbed his shovel, making sure it was fully loaded. "So don't leave any bodies behind."

"Of course." Brooke was glad that Ozzy was with her. After double-checking the closet, the two began their part of the mission. However, they didn't even take two steps before they were stopped by a loud blaring and flashing red lights. Brooke looked around frantically to see if anyone was there to see what they'd done, but there were no eyes or cameras, just as she'd ensured. "There's no way Reese messed up this quickly," she reassured herself, though she readied herself to follow after him.

Her panic grew tenfold when an announcement came over the loudspeaker. "We have intruders on the ship! A group of four huntsmen, armed and dangerous! We believe them to be faunus, shoot on sight! I repeat, shoot on sight!" Her first thought was that their cover had been blown, but logic quickly revealed that to be unlikely. With Sal, their fourth, already imprisoned, any witnesses to her crime would only have seen three. On the other hand, if Sal had jumped the gun, there would be far more than only four faunus to worry about, not to mention that of them only Sal would be recognizable as a huntsman.

Whatever the case, the ship was now on high alert. "Up against the wall!" She ordered Ozzy, flattening her back against the steel grey surface. She used her semblance to alter the light around them, painting her and her teammate a color identical to the wall's in a rudimentary camouflage while they made way to a room where they could hide.

The chaos did not stop at the alarm. An explosion rang out through the halls of the ship, followed by thuds, clangs, and the grinding sound of twisting metal. Brooke had a very bad feeling about this. She heard sparking electricity and guns firing, then screaming and the squelching sounds of bodily mutilation. She could only imagine what things Ozzy could hear.

Ozzy held his hands to his ears, leaning against the wall in fear. He hated getting into fights, but what he heard wasn't just fighting. It was a massacre, and it was coming closer. "Brooke, we should mo-" his suggestion was cut off by the ceiling's sudden collapse.

At first, the pair couldn't see anything in the ensuing cloud of dust, but it wasn't long before they saw a large, humanoid silhouette rising within. "Ozzy, prepare for battle," commanded Brooke, pulling her laser cannon from her back and into her hands. Brooke didn't hesitate to take action, pulling the trigger and firing a thick, searing beam right into the thick of it. It didn't matter who this person was, only that they were dangerous and close enough to them to be a threat. Any amount of hesitation could mean their lives.

Meanwhile, down in the cargo hold, the sounds of battle were muffled, but still audible. Sal paced in his cage, holding his bandaged arm. "Wait for the signal, Sal. Just wait for the signal..." A loud explosion rocked the boat, making even the most downtrodden Faunus sit up and take notice.

"If that's not a signal, I don't know what is!" Sal pulled up the false floor, revealing his weapons. He reattached his Grappling Hand, relieved to have a fully functioning limb again. It took a moment for feeling to return, so he busied himself with his new gun. Brooke called it the AMDC-2b, but Sal just called it the Riot Cannon. He strapped the cannon to his left arm, the trigger mechanism on a handle he held. He wasn't entirely sure what the various Dust canisters Brooke had given him did, but he was eager to find out. Stepping on the secret switch unlocked his cage, and he stepped out to fulfill his part of the mission.

The door slammed open, revealing an armored figure in the doorway. He sauntered down the steps, casually pounding a fist against an open palm. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Some kind of cargo-" He stopped near the bottom of the stairs, looking at Sal in shock. "No... it can't be..."

Sal braced himself, not sure what to expect. Then the man burst out laughing. "Oh, it is! It must be my BIRTHDAY! I never thought I'd see you again! Especially not in a death trap like this!" He removed his helmet, revealing his face and the pangolin plates running down his head and neck. "Hey there, tough guy. Remember me?"

Sal thought about it, trying to remember. He wasn't great with names or faces, but something about the shields on this guy's arms looked familiar. "Oh, yeah! You were that chump Faunus from the sewers! Last time I saw you, you were getting flushed down the drain!" He chuckled grinning excitedly. "I guess that makes this Round Two."

Manus put his helmet back on, expanding his shields. "MY thoughts exactly. You're going down, lizard boy!"

 

[Khawill]

GAIN
Menagerie
​

​

​

Archer woke up in bed with Isa sitting in a chair beside him. "Did you knock me out." Archer asked tiredly.


"You were getting worked up, we didn't want to hurt Nara did we?" Isa replied, giving him some water.


"They're mad for a reason though." Archer replied solemnly, "Maybe I'm doing the wrong thing."


"They just don't understand what you're doing Archer." Isa assured him, "We're going to make things better."


"But what if we make things worse?"


"Don't let her cloud your judgement, Archer. Things are already bad, they couldn't get much worse." Isa smiled warmly and spoke in a calm and confident tone, "We need to start getting on with our plans." She pulled out an injection for Archer, and took his arm, "Take a deep breath, everything will go fine."


"I don't know Isa…" Archer said, although she had already begun injecting him.


"Just relax, when everything is over, you'll feel good about what we've done."


Archer sighed, "You're right, I can trust you." Archer laid back as his medicine took it's course. "It feels different…"


"I had to change it up so your body doesn't resist it." Isa nodded, "You'll be leaving in the morning, be ready. I'll go get our friends."


Archer rested for the night, gathered himself and allowed his mind to clear, focusing solely on the mission at hand before going to change into his outfit and improved wings.


Archer, Tyler, and Milana were ready to go, and promptly left on foot, heading towards their target.


-----------------


Gaige rounded up the rescued faunus as Isa arrived that morning with her summoned monsters. "I'm not getting on a grimm!" One of the faunus yelled.


"How crazy do you think we are?!" Another yelled.


Isa pat her nevermore gently, "They didn't mean it, you're not monster." She said in a comforting tone.


"I can't force any of you to come." Gaige responded calmly, "But this will be your most direct method to see your families. I should remind you that staying will expose you to much worse grimm, while these are harmless creatures summoned by Isa."


Slowly, people began to approach the creatures, eventually convinced. "Anyone unable to fit on a grimm will ride on a dragon of mine." He said as people got settled. In a short time, they took off and headed to Menagerie.


-------------------


The trio slipped into Mrs. W's home and quickly sedated her. They then went about setting up the house with cameras and prepared themselves for the next step. Archer made his phone call, and everything was in place for them to begin. Everyone but Archer put a mask on, and he framed himself and Mrs. W on the cameras.


Archer smiled as the camera flickered on, his body eerily relaxed and his eyes empty. "Hello? Can they hear me? Hey! I hope every single one of you has had a good day so far, I know I did, although it has been pretty cold." Archer brushed his hair to the side, showing his ears, "As you can see, I'm a human, and some of you may remember me from when you threw stones at me a while back. That's all forgiven though, I'm sure you were certainly justified for doing so." The camera zoomed out to show an individual kneeling next to Archer, whose head was covered with a sack and whose body was struggling to get unbound. "Today I just wanted to talk a little bit about monsters, and then offer my hand to those that need it. By definition, a monster is "any creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is often hideous and may produce fear or physical harm by its appearance or its actions" now, monsters are pretty common to identify. Grimm are pretty nasty creatures, and many of you certainly seem to think humans are monsters. I can assure you that such a statement is untrue. You see, every individual is potentially a monster, perhaps your friends or family harbors a desire to harm, but certain things can make someone a monster." Archer pulled the hood off of the figure, revealing the woman who had put him in a cage on the island. She thrashed about, with rage in her eyes, but Archer kept a smile on, "Even faunus can be monsters. This one is an especially bad one, she had just about 27 humans killed, and she didn't blink an eye." Archer walked over, out of frame as the camera centered on the figure, "These humans were innocent enough, mostly workers or people guarding their goods, but I can forgive that."


Archer walked back into frame, brandishing a sword, the portion of his body above the shoulders completely out of frame, "But I didn't know those people, so I'm in no position to forgive, now the families of those workers? They aren't so forgiving, and I'd like to take a moment to apologize on this faunus' behalf. If you have young children, please have them turn away." Archer paused for a moment, and then impaled the woman through her chest. She collapsed motionlessly, and Archer pulled the sword out, placed it next to her, and then kneeled down to look into the camera. "There we go!" Archer said in a positive tone, "One less monster in the world. Now, those watching shouldn't be afraid, I'm not hunting faunus, I'm not going to hurt anyone innocent, but I am trying really hard to be a monster, and the kind of physical harm I wish to impose, and the people I want to fear me most are those that would harm an innocent. If you're just a normal person, smile and be happy, you have nothing to worry about from me." The blood pooled at Archer's feet and he motioned for a masked figure to carry the body off, "As a matter of fact, I want to help you. I can take care of your monsters, and I won't charge you a penny. The situation you faunus are in just burns me up, and I'll certainly be helping in my own little way." Archer giggled a bit, "If you post the name of someone you want us to target on a wall, in red paint, then we will seek you out and help with your problem." Archer dipped his finger in the blood and the figure who dragged the body away handed him a piece of cardboard. Archer wrote his own name on the board in her blood, "Just like this, and don't worry about any details, we will find you. As a sign that I am in fact on the side of the innocent, I had my people release 27 faunus prisoners on the mainland." Archer showed a video of prisoners being freed from their cells, and in frame are several guards on the ground as the faunus walk over them, "I am no friend of faunus or humans as a whole, but I am certainly on the side of you, the individual who has been wronged in this world. Thank you so much for listening to me, and please, have a wonderful evening." The camera cut off and there was nothing but black silence.


Archer had the other two patch up the wounded woman and take her away. Outside, Isa had unleashed her caged grimm, and chaos was starting to ensue. As the other two took her away, shedding their masks to blend with the crowd, Archer began to slaughter the grimm nearby, gleefully destroying the grimm as faunus ran from the streets. Before long, the area he was in was clear, and while people certainly noticed him, he was restless to fight more and took off, his flame colored wings clear in the sky.


---------------------------------------------------------


Gaige, Isa, and the twins landed with the faunus and Isa's monsters dissipated. The former prisoners ran off into the city, given the addresses of their families courtesy of Isa. Isa smiled as she listened to the sounds of fighting within the city, "Well let's find Archer and let things settle." She said casually, walking towards the fray.


"I don't think we should be looking in the city." Nina replied, pointing up at Archer who was happily stabbing into a nevermore. "I've never seen him look like that before…" Nina said, looking at the unsettling grin that made a home on Archer's face.


"Well, that is an interesting reaction." Isa muttered, stopping to write in her journal, "Seems like his new medicine worked a little too well."


Ilexa grabbed Isa by the collar, "What are you doing to Archer behind our backs?" She growled.


"Oh relax, I'm just giving him the means to do what he really wants." Isa replied, "I'm not putting him in danger or anything of that sort. Anyways, is it not better that he's killing? There quite a lot of grimm here."


"Seems a little fast for a natural grimm response." Ilexa growled.


"They're unpredictable beasts." Isa replied, "You aren't going to blame me for a grimm attack, are you?"


Ilexa put Isa down, not as happy about her answer, "You look like someone I should blame, I'll make sure to rip you apart if you step out of line."


"Please do." Isa replied, "I wouldn't want to do anything to upset you or Archer." Gaige shook his head and walked away with Isa as the twins stood back.


Ilexa grinned as Gaige and Isa went off to fight. "I swiped her book." She giggled, holding Isa's journal and opening it up, "I knew she was up to something wretched." She said as she read through the pages. She tore a few pages out and sneered.


Nina looked at her sadly, "Does everyone have to try to ruin everything." She said with an angry tone.


"Let's tell Gaige and stop her while we still can." Ilexa said, putting the book away. The two of them ran through the city, many citizens evacuated, and sparse hunters sprinkling the field. They say Isa in the sky above, fighting nevermore, while Gaige was on the ground taking care of the Grimm that were near him. "Gaige, Gaige!"


"What is it Ilexa?" He asked casually, "I thought you'd enjoy fighting."


Ilexa pulled out Isa's journal, "That faunus girl started this, and she's going to do worse things to Archer." She said, "We need to stop her."


Gaige took the journal and looked at it for a moment, "Interesting, how much did you read?"


"I read enough to know she needs to be put in jail." Ilexa replied, frustrated at his nonchalant demeanor.


"A tragedy befalls the curious." Gaige said as if he were quoting someone. Ilexa didn't have time to respond before a dragon lashed put at her, only narrowly stopped by Nina.


"Gaige?" Nina asked, hurt from the betrayal.


"I knew what she intended to do." Gaige explained, having another dragon lash out from underneath them, "Her eyes entrapped my will, her mind spurred my drive." Gaige put his hand to his chest, "She was a beautiful monster, more violent than the savage sun and more captivating than dancing fires." He sighed, "I thought Archer would step up and become a monster, I set him up for tragedy every time I could, and he hardly ever showed any sense of becoming who I wanted him to be, but Isa came in and showed me that even a wretched angel like Archer could be reduced to a monster as bad as the rest of us." Gaige split the twins up with an increasingly more savage assault from his dragons. "Maybe when he finds out about the accident you two were in, he'll end up killing an entire faunus town." Gaige laughed, "And I certainly can't wait to see what happens when we get the faunus girl Lauren to kill him." Gaige effortlessly spoke as the twins struggled to stay alive, their distance controlled, and their focus constantly interrupted. After he had sufficiently separated them, Gaige smiled as the dragon chasing Ilexa lashed out at her. She avoided the strike, but a stone dragon sprang from the ground, sinking its teeth into her side. She cried out in pain, and Nina struggled to survive as she watched Gaige slowly approach her sister. Gaige looked down at Ilexa as blood trickled down her body, "How sad it is, to bleed out in a foreign land where everyone hates you." Gaige, "I tried as hard as I could to look for you and your sister, but you were under a pile of rocks." Gaige smiled as he had a dragon collapse a nearby building, trapping Ilexa under chunks of wall, and she fell unconscious. Gaige flew up, dispersing all of his dragons and leaving Nina to die with her sister. Above, Archer had already been carried far out of the city by a grimm.


Nina struggled to move the rocks, feeling her sister's life drain away, "I-I'll get you sis don't worry…" Nina cried desperately. She could feel herself fill up with power, and she began to panic, "No, no I can save you, I-I just need to find someone…" Nina managed to get the chunks of wall cleared, and Ilexa laid, broken and bleeding, struggling to breath. Nina kneeled over her sister and hugged her, thinking rapidly over her distress. Nina went through her sister's pockets and found the papers she tore out from Isa's journal. It was a list of people Archer wanted to save, complete with their addresses, "Th-the woman that fixed Archer!" Nina exclaimed, "She can save you, Archer said she was really nice, but you have to stay alive Ilexa…" Nina's breathing quickened and she was shaking profusely as she put the bloodstained pages in her pocket and gently picked Ilexa up. Nina desperately shot forward, out to find Lauren's mother, her speed vastly surpassing what her body could handle. When she arrived at the faunus' door, her own body gave out and she collapsed, struggling even to lift an arm to knock on the door, "please.." she rasped weakly.


Dahlia was disturbed from her mid-afternoon routine with the knock on the door and a rasping voice weakly beckoning her. She bolted to the door and opened it, only to have two teenagers in bloody, mangled shape collapsed at her feet and handing her some bloodstained pages. "Oh my god!" She dashed to the phone and called the academy hospital, firmly and quickly detailing their condition and urging a stretcher to be sent to her office. While they waited she took the necessary measures to slow the blood flow. In a matter of a few minutes, the twins were on the stretcher and en route to treatment. She did not pay any mind to the pages for now, lest her mind would be distracted from the task at hand.​

​

​

​

 

[Kaylee Akua]

Archer crashed through the window of the building, scratched and bruised from fighting grimm outside. He struggled to his feet with a bloodthirsty grin on his face as his mechanical wings reformed to repair the damage done to them. He looked around and noticed a deer faunus gazing at him after his abrupt entrance, "Sorry to interrupt you, but are you sure you're safe from grimm in here?"

Kaylee looked at him in awe as she scanned Archer for anything that would've hurt her. She replied softly and calmly
"No, I assure you they never bother this house, surprisingly I don't even know why they don't, must be some energy attached to this house." She paused for a moment and assessed the situation further. "Need me to get you anything?" she kneeled by him "Like bandages or anything?" She gave him a worried look.

"I'd presume it's because they had no reason, although a lot were just released, and it might not be as safe in here anymore." Archer said, pulling out a syringe and injecting himself in the leg, "I'll be fine, ju---" A grimm burst through the window and lunged at Archer, who used his arm to take the bite, gritting his teeth as the grimm's fangs dug into his skin.

Kayle reacted quickly to the next intruder, grabbed her scythe and sliced the blade through the Grimm, not disturbing anything in its order in her home that wasn't already disturbed. After killing the Grimm, she looked outside to see if any more Grimm followed her visitor, only one charged its' way through the field and she looked through the sights of her scythe that changed into a rifle then, pulled the trigger and landed a headshot, the bullet was fire dust, and exploded the Grimm entirely.
"First off-" she said as she put the weapon away. "you're in the middle of the woods, how far did you travel to get here?" she asked with curiosity.

"How far did I travel?" Archer asked confused, "I don't know, I was carried off by a nevermore and after I killed it I crash landed in here. You see, there's a huge infestation over in the city."

She put the tea she was drinking down, and shot Archer a look. "What do you mean 'infestation'?" She picked Archer up and placed him into a chair, she dusted off another chair, and sat down, ready to listen to what Archer had to say next.

"Just quite a bit of grimm attacking the faunus city." Archer looked around again, "Oh man, I really am far out huh, you didn't even see what I did?"

She blinked at him a couple times. "No, actually. I was just drinking tea then. And here you come through my window. I'm surprised you're not dead!"

"Oh, a drop like that isn't so bad, I could survive a fall even at terminal velocity." Archer replied, "I had to replace my bones to better withstand my semblance." His robotic eyes adjusted as he spoke, "If you didn't know what I did before, I'm sure it's better for you to peacefully enjoy your tea here.

She shrugged at him and sipped her tea "You're not wrong about the tea part, but since you probably don't know where you are, you're at least three four miles away from the city, though, they haven't bothered me yet."

Archer sighed, blood running down his arm, "I might take your offer of those bandages." Archer said, "I don't think my medicine will help this much."

She got up and went through her closet to get the first aid kit, she then held out her hand. Telling him to stick his arm out so she can see what she needed to do "let me see it,"

Archer held his arm out for her, "Don't worry about being careful, my arm isn't fragile by any means."

Picked out the needle and thread and began to sew the fang marks up "I'll drive you back to town, if you'd like.. or you can stay here and rest up a bit too.."

"You don't want to be seen with me." Archer replied, "It's best if you act like I hadn't just destroyed your window."

"Fair enough" she finished up stitching and sat across from him, and studied Archer for a few moments.

Archer sat down for a moment, "Are you a huntress?" He asked, giving himself a moment of reprieve.

"I graduated, so technically I'm a former huntress. I'm just waiting for that call of duty, and since you say there's an infestation~" she smirked and her eyes brightened up. "there's my calling" she said in a singsong voice.

"Seeking out danger is pretty foolhardy." Archer replied, "Do you still have a team?"

"Sadly, not anymore, they all supposedly 'died' or ran away to a different kingdom…" she looked at the floor a little sad. A moment later she replied "foolhardy maybe. But if it gets me away from the house for a while. Then it's all good to me~"

"Well, if you make you way there, don't end up dead." Archer said, standing up, "I'll have to repay you later, and I'd prefer it's not in the form of funeral expenses."

Kaylee smirked again. "so what's the plan then?"

"Plan?" Archer asked, "What do you mean plan?"

Gave Archer a confused look " aren't I going with you?" she hoped that she could get out of the house for a little while.

"I'm probably the last person you'd want to be seen with as a faunus." Archer replied, "I've just thrown the entire city into chaos, and deliberately showed my face."

"oh? I don't mind too much" she said but then gave a look like she tasted something sour. "what do you mean, chaos?"

"I had to take care of a person who had been doing cruel things to humans." Archer replied, "And naturally, there was backlash."

"I see… well- that won't stop you from leaving without me" she stood up and went to make more tea.

"Well, we can go back together, but I would advise going into the city with me." Archer sighed, "And I'll need to warn you that if I happen to lose control of my emotions, it's likely we'll both be crushed, so if anything happens, you'll need to get as far from me as you can."

"Leave now then. If it protects me, then just leave and get back to the fight, I fear I've kept you here long enough.." she sat down with tea in her hand.

Archer bowed, and pulled out a substantial amount of money, "I can offer this if you would like to get out of this place."

Kaylee bowed back and accepted the money. "thank you, I'm Kaylee by the way, sorry I didn't say it earlier" her ears flickered "I don't know if I'll even go, but I'm far enough from a main road that I won't be spotted until I need to run away."

"Simply ask for Archer or Isa and you'll find us, and we can get you to the mainland if you like." Archer said, adjusting his mechanical wings.

"I'd appreciate that, but for now I need to pack I guess, come back to me once you've sorted things out." she took a sip of her tea.

"To be honest, I don't think I'll be able to come back." Archer replied, "This place is too peaceful for the things I've done, but thank you, I wish I was more deserving."

"Anyone is deserving in my book. Just have someone from your team come by then." signaled Archer to follow her to her truck.

Archer followed her respectfully, "I can think of two from my team that would enjoy it."

She started up the truck and they began to travel near the city, when they heard conflict in the forest. Archer had her pull over, and she said "This is where I'll leave us. I wish you good luck on stopping the chaos." As Archer quickly got out of the truck.

"I hope your peace lasts!" He called back, sprinting into the forest.

 

[Orx of Twinleaf]

Archer and Team FEAR
(condensed for reduction of clutter and broken in the middle for your convenience)

Spoiler:

"Well, kiddo, hope you're comfy cuz we'lla be a lil' late on that pick-up," came the drawling voice through the radio. She sounded a little winded, but Woro's voice had a certain omnipresent aloofness to it.


Fajio tapped the face of the radio impatiently. "That may not be an option, Ms. Woro, we may have drawn some unwanted attention."


The answer this time was from SAWW's leader Sarah, who had evidently taken the mic from Woro. "What do you mean 'unwanted attention?' "


Fajio was happy to have Sarah to talk to instead: he couldn't help but think Woro wasn't taking him seriously. "Evegy's on her way back to base, and she thinks they're being pursued by Faunus." That had been the last thing Fajio had heard from her before the connection had been lost. Personally, he considered that more than enough evidence that they were being pursued, but he couldn't be sure.


"She thinks there are pursuers?" Sarah asked. "In that case you can wait. We'll be there when we can." A surge of static for a moment before Woro's voice came through. "You heard her, kiddo, we're gonna be a bit. There's been a big ol' Grimm event, we needta cut us a path through if'n we're gonna get to ya."


Fajio cursed his luck. He was, after all, still tied to a tree. "And if we're routed? How're we supposed to rendezvous if we need to scatter?"


Sarah's voice again, but this time impatient. "Then you're not leaving Menagerie! Now close the comm before we're traced and wait, Fajio!" A blast of static, and then Woro's voice once more: "Gotta go, kiddo!"


Fajio looked at the two-way radio incredulously. Of all the damnable times for Grimm to flare up, it had to be now. He tried weakly to see if he could break his bindings, but Azoo had made sure to tie them tight enough that they would might as well have been made of steel as far as Fajio was concerned. He breathed a rattling breath of frustration through his mask and set to working out in his mind how best they might be able to defend the camp against whatever pursuers his teammates would bring.


Fajio threw the radio down into the snow angrily, and tried to get loose again: just as tight as a few seconds ago, unfortunately. He cursed his luck and tried to clear his mind more properly.


A short time later, Archer came running through the forest, stopping to stare at the strange person tied to the tree. "What are you doing here?" He asked, "Did you not get the memo that Grimm are filling the area?"


Fajio looked up at the extremely unanticipated voice and couldn't believe his eyes. It was no one he knew, not in any proper sense of the word, but it was someone he'd seen. Those bizarre wing-things on the fellow were one-of-a-kind. "Mr. Ines?" was all Fajio could manage. If he was going mad and starting to hallucinate, this was certainly a strange hallucination to have. Fajio might not particularly like the story of the talk-of-the-campus "Man Who Survived the Faunus Abduction," but he didn't think it was important enough to start hallucinating about.


"Er, I don't think I've ever been called by last name." Archer said scratching his neck, "Do you know me from somewhere?"


Fajio weighed the pros and cons of acknowledging what may well be an illusion: there was no reason Archer should be out here. On the other hand, this was exactly the thing he needed to get his mind off of SAWW's evac being delayed. "Well," Fajio said, his voice coming through his mask like a metal grinding, "I'd have to be rather impaired to not know the famous Archer Ines, he who escaped the clutches of the Faunus!" Fajio's tone was far from genuine. He never thought much of Archer's little "exploit."


"Uh, I didn't realize that was known to all." Archer said modestly, "It really was nothing at all." Archer looked down and noticed prints, "Are you here with your team?"


Fajio was increasingly certain Archer wasn't really there: how could he be standing there making conversation like Fajio wasn't tied to a tree in a Faunus forest? "But of course, Mr. Ines," he said, instead. "And what of you? Or is the famed monsterslayer here to rack up his kill count on his own? Stalking prey in their homeland, hm?" Fajio flexed his fingers against the cold, his breath still rattling, clouds of it drifting out of under his muzzle.


"Funny you say that, I did come here to kill a Faunus." Archer replied, "And I set the Grimm up to attack the city." Archer sighed, "Alas, I was carried out of the city by a Nevermore that I had sought to rip apart."


At that Fajio began to properly entertain the notion that Archer was in fact standing in front of him. Setting Grimm to attack the city? Why was GAIN a part of this? If they had been sent out, why bother having FEAR come in? Why not brief them together? Fajio sat in silence for a moment before stroking his mask in thought. "It seems we're both here for assassination, then. You will forgive my tone previously, I was starting to think I was seeing things, and that you weren't actually here. SAWW didn't mention anyone else coming out here. Where's the rest of GAIN?" He almost said "AGIN" and only just in time corrected to "GAIN." Why it wasn't AGIN when Archer was the leader bothered Fajio to no end.


"Oh they had to break some Faunus out of a human prison, they should be in the city about now," Archer said, thinking. "Who is SAWW?" Archer asked curiously.


Fajio was happy his mask showed all the emotion of the snow around him, because he was legitimately surprised at Archer's report on GAIN. Fajio knew governments did a lot of strange things, but breaking into their own prisons was something that didn't happen often. And especially not in tandem with assassination. Was Archer rogue? He obviously wasn't with SAWW. Fajio looked at Archer silently. A little bit of snow whirled around. The sun had come up a bit ago, and was casting its asymmetrical light over them both. "Mr. Ines," Fajio finally said, "on whose orders are you acting?"


"Orders?" Archer said, tilting his head, "I gave the orders, I can't even think of who else would do it." Archer began to show signs of mania, mumbling through potential people who would likely be his boss, before finally saying his own name, three times, "Yeah, Archer! I'm acting under my orders." He laughed, finally understanding.


Fajio watched the man closely and realized something: Archer wasn't quite in the right mind. Fajio wondered inwardly whether or not all those theories of his having been experimented on during his capture by the Faunus had some truth to them. Was he some sort of sleeper agent, now? Alone in the woods, Fajio couldn't credit that this was some concerted event. He decided it would probably be best to have SAWW retrieve him, maybe Alex could fix him. Madness wasn't a fun ride to go through, Fajio didn't feel like just anyone deserved it. He smiled under his mask and straightened up. "Do you know who I am?"


"You're a human, nicely tied up to a tree on faunus land." Archer replied happily, "But you still didn't tell me where your team was," he said drawing out the last word. "You look dangerous, perhaps you're some kind of killer? Did you come here to kill Faunus?"


Fajio forced himself not to address Archer's "killer" comment as the hypocrisy it was and cooked up a pretty story that he was sure he could lead his own mother to believing. "Mr. Ines, Mr. Ines," Fajio said easily, "I told you my team's here to assassinate a prime target. Now, see, I'm tied up here because they didn't trust me not to interfere. Don't tell anyone but," he leaned in for effect, "I'm a Faunus, under all this. Been hiding out in Beacon for a while, they don't have a clue." Fajio knew he was gambling with this: if Archer wasn't under some sort of influence, claiming to be an undercover Faunus would likely only enrage him. He had, after all, been the one who wrecked the Faunus camp as mercilessly as if he had been smoking out wasps. Fajio tugged on his ties a moment, looking at Archer. "They're probably on their way back, now, but they may well leave me here with the other Faunus. Could you maybe untie me?"


Archer thought for moment muttering "They came here to kill Faunus" repeatedly as he thought. "If you're a Faunus in disguise, then I'll keep you here for safety while I kill your team to stop them from killing more Faunus." Archer said, a wide smile spreading across his face as he formulated his plan, "Normally killing would make me lose control, but I'm feeling pretty good about it." He began to run his fingers through his hair as he got more excited, "I'll kill them for you, Tree Faunus." He said gleefully, "Is that what you want me to do to your team?!"


Fajio only just in time stopped himself from muttering "For fuck's sake" in agitation. He very much hoped that when he went off the deep end, he wouldn't be so … insufferable. Fajio splayed his hands in a calming gesture and said levelly, "Hey, now, they might be humans but I've grown rather fond of them. Following orders isn't something to be murdered for. Besides," he said gesturing at Archer, "you said you came here to kill a Faunus, too, it wouldn't be rightly fair if you killed them for doing that and you got to walk away, Mr. Ines." Fajio was fighting the urge to just snatch Archer's body away: he couldn't do it until SAWW showed up, or else there'd be far too much confusion. Besides, he preferred to have the ability on hand should he need to use it to cover his team when they got back. They might well have to defend against pursuers for SAWW to show up. "Can't you untie me?" he asked again. "My ass is getting rather cold."


Archer stared blankly after being told what he came here to do, "I came here to kill a faunus." He whispered, "Kill a Faunus." The air began to get heavier and Fajio began to feel the influence of Archer's Semblance. Archer stayed trapped in thought until even he began to feel his influence, at twice the usual gravity. He pulled out his syringe and injected himself, calming himself down, "I came here to kill a Faunus, but I'm not going to let two faunus die." He decided, with a smile, pulling his sword out, "But I'd appreciate if you told me where your team was so I can stop them, otherwise there will be three dead Faunus." Archer laughed, "Yes! Three Faunus, that's it! If two die, I'd still have to kill one more because two would cancel each other out, don't you agree Tree Faunus?"


Fajio bit his lip at realizing he'd talked himself into a corner. He had to admit he hadn't had quite as much practice talking through psychos as he'd like. He decided to go for the dim, dim chance that Archer's syringe had been some sort of mental stabilizer, that Archer was a little more open to reason after taking it. "I can assure you, Mr. Ines, that stopping them won't be necessary. As it would so happen," he nodded to the two-way radio sitting in the snow, "sounds like they screwed it up and no one's dead. They're running back here with Faunus chasing them so that SAWW can evacuate us." Fajio very much disliked having to play the "truth" card in this situation. However, he wasn't so rusty in his verbal combat that he didn't have faith in his ability to twist it around with more lies if he had to. If Fajio could just talk Archer into a calmer state …


Archer thought for a moment, and then sighed in relief, "I'm glad that your team failed then." Archer said with a wide smile, "If you would like, I can take care of those faunus that are threatening your team! Yes, I'm sure Isa would be happy if I killed five Faunus, and not two or four, it'd be like just killing one wouldn't it Tree Faunus?"


Fajio had a mixed reaction at seeing his card had answered favorably but that Archer was still raving mad. "Well, we were only ordered to kill that one particular fellow and loss of life can be, oh, so distressing, but …" He looked at Archer and saw his face anew. It seemed to have that same look about the cheeks that Rimer's did when he got excited. Rimer yielded to Fajio, so if Fajio said "No killing," Rimer would listen. But Archer was not Fajio's dog. He was very likely a feral mutt. If he wanted blood, there was probably going to be blood.

Fajio cleared his throat and hastily amended, "But any cover you can provide our evacuation would be more than welcome, Mr. Ines."


"I'll take care of things before your evacuation arrives, I have no interest in leaving Menagerie until I've cleansed it." Archer said matter-of-factly, "We're going to slay each and every monster, Tree Faunus, make them fear us." Archer laughed, "The thieves, the Grimm, the assassins, the fear-mongers, we'll purify the whole island."


Fajio felt bile rising. This was the problem with people in this world. He would kill Faunus and humans because he was told, not because he thought it was right. Archer, though, was exemplifying all that which the Faunus hated, which the Faunus would hate so badly that they would war over the oceans with humanity. Fajio very much expected the world would fall to the Grimm. He didn't reveal any of this, though, as he nodded and said simply, "Very good, Mr. Ines."


This ended up working rather well: the pursuers would come, Archer would help drive them off, and then Fajio would seize him when SAWW arrived, and everything would be fine. As he looked at Archer some more—why was everyone so damned fit?—Evegy came running into the clearing.

She stood up abruptly at seeing Archer and looked between him and Fajio in confusion, catching her breath.


Fajio cut in before Archer could mistake her for a Faunus. "Ah, Ms. Evegy! This is Mr. Archer, he's here to help us."


Archer sheathed his sword and walked up to Fajio, and whispered in his ear, "No Faunus would agree to my plan, human." Archer said with a grin before taking a few steps back, bowing to the new entrant, "Hello Ms. Evegy."

It is amazing
In its own way
How much hate
And spite
And fear
Can come from one person
And that this horrible
Negative energy
Can be directed
Not at the horrors of reality
Not at the creatures of Grimm
But at one's own fellows.
What is perhaps more amazing
Is that for all this hate
And spite
And fear
People can still proclaim
"I am good."
I know only
That I may proclaim
"I am sick."

Spoiler:

Fajio was simply up the wall at having been out-talked. He decided to chalk it up to his having been tied to a tree for three or four hours and sitting in the ice. Anyone would fail to notice how heavily Archer had been laying on the "batshit crazy" if they'd lost all feeling in their asscheeks.


As Fajio fumed silently, Evegy looked at Archer with that special sort of look usually reserved for people who stumble into your private quarters in the dead of night: an almost insulted surprise. After having just gotten beaten by Mr. Mammoth and having to run with her tail between her legs like a spooked horse, though, Evegy wasn't to be bothered with proper greetings. "The others are in trouble, we need to—"


Fajio cleared his throat noisily. "Untie me?"


She cut herself off and went to cut him loose. Fajio stood up slowly and looked at Archer hard. Evegy looked between the two men uneasily.


Archer grinned comfortably, "What's with that look? Your friend is here! You should be happy." Archer looked over to Evegy. "Would you allow me to help your friends?" he asked politely. "I'm in a bit of a rush, but I can spare a few moments."


Evegy winced away from him, as if he were contagious. She didn't have to have been standing here to know that Fajio seemed angry about something, and she wasn't sure how to take Archer's attitude in the face of that. She shook it off though: Rimer and Azoo were in trouble. She opened her mouth to say so but Fajio cut her off, taking a heavy step toward Archer.


"What's your angle, rogue?" Fajio growled, pointing angrily with his shackled hand. He put it back down before anyone could mistake him for trying to point its barrel at Archer. "What do you—"


A loud ping of noise and Fajio fell backward into the snow. Evegy yelped and ran to him. Fajio moaned softly.


Archer heard the noise and smiled. "I like to think a cute angle," Archer said innocently, drawing his sword. "I didn't get permission to help you guys, it certainly looks like you need it."


Fajio rolled upwards quickly, forcing Evegy down and putting his body over her. He waved his arm at Archer impatiently. "Ha ha, Casanova, get your pretty head down, there's a sniper—" Another loud ping and Fajio flinched again, a crack forming in his shades. "Dammit!"


Archer shrugged. "I guess that is as much of a 'help me' I'll get," he said disappointedly, he swung his hand and his wings separated into a flurry of metal feathers. In a motion, he shifted them into a shield that blocked the next shot. He took a moment to do the math beforing estimating where the sniper could be. "How many people should there be?"


Fajio got up to stand behind Archer's shield. Evegy dusted the snow off of herself abashedly and joined them as another shot went into the shield. "Um," she said, "I'm not sure, I think there's at least three. I think there's a team on us, like a hunstman team. The Faunus must have a training program over here."


Fajio reached his shackle around Archer's shield as another shot pinged off and fired a blast out of its barrel. It flew into the trees and burst in a dirty explosion. "That should scare them off. No one has any business sniping from that height in a forest. If they can hit us through the branches they're a one-trick pony and they won't make it easy to pin them." He looked at Archer. "I daresay unless we can convince them to come out to talk, I'm not going to have a clear shot at their head."


"The trees are a problem for you?" Archer asked, "Well that makes things easy…. er, do you two have a particular aversion to your bones potentially breaking?"

Fajio sniggered: Archer at least had the decency to ask. Azoo always tossed him around like a bola without so much as a warning. "What use would I be if I did?" he said wryly. He looked at Evegy to see if she'd object. Even if she might have, she wasn't about to in the face of Fajio the Fearsome and Archer the Faunus-Slayer. She nodded sheepishly, and added her consent.


Archer laughed, "You two are pretty funny, and pretty weird liars, I don't need to break your bones!" He sighed and injected himself with his second to last bit of medicine, before lowering his shield and breathing in as the trees around them began to crack. The ground below Archer ruptured as gravity on him and the trees increased more and more until they began to fall. Archer sighed tiredly, "No trees, I hope you have good eyesight."


Fajio eyed Archer suspiciously. Gravitation should have been something he'd have heard of if someone had developed it. Fajio chided himself for not having gone to further lengths to dig up dirt on the other teams. He scanned about a moment but couldn't quite see anything at first. Evegy's voice cut in: "There!" Fajio looked at where she was pointing and saw a girl in a grey coat and heavy grey trousers some distance away, nursing her leg as if she had fallen and hurt her ankle, and with an incredibly long rifle in the snow next to her. Fajio pointed his shackle's barrel in her direction. "Faunus ho, fellows."


Archer remade his wings. "I'm going to go talk to her," he said, taking off immediately to swoop up and pick her up like a hawk picks up their prey. He promptly dropped her in the snow in front of the two humans, landing on top of her to pin her.


The girl looked up at them with eyes far too big to be natural, a longish simian tail thrashing the snow between her legs. Evegy recognized her from earlier: "She was the Faunus that was with Mr. Mammoth. She ran to get help, she should know who's coming after us."


Fajio moved away unconcernedly and dug in one of the chests they had in the clearing for his other shackle. He said over his shoulder, "If Mr. Ines hasn't scared her stupid, anyway."


She struggled to kick out of under Archer's weight, but failed. She glared at him, snarling.


"You said you wanted to talk, so I peacefully picked her up," Archer said innocently. He got off of her but kept her down with his Semblance. He sat down in front of her, "Do you feel that? The stress on you right now? I can up that to a point where your bones would crack under the pressure." Archer said, looking at her with a warm smile, "I'd rather not have to do that though, so please, let me know how I can peacefully resolve this."


She struggled some more, her chest heaving, and then barked "Piss off, human," in a squeaking voice a little too cute for the language she used with it.


Fajio called Evegy over to help him put his other shackle on, and went on as if the girl hadn't said anything. "I said I wanted a clear shot at her head, Mr. Ines, but now that she's been apprehended, combat is over, and I'm not going to play field executioner. If you two want to talk to her, you may try all you might. I guarantee she's probably not in anything like a cooperative mood. And she'll be much less so if she's still here when SAWW shows up."


"I'm not telling you bastards anything!" she cried defiantly, her big eyes shining with panicked tears of anguish.


Archer nodded. "You're probably right," he said as he pulled out one of his sedatives. "I guess I'll just put her to sleep and take her back, and when her team ends up here, we'll see if they come after me." He smiled and looked at the girl. "Do you think that will work? You think your friends will come after you?"


She whimpered but kept a strong look in her eyes.


Fajio sighed as he checked his shackles for security. "She won't be waking up if you put her down, unless you mean to take her with you. Besides, I hardly think any team of Faunus is really going to go sniffing after tracks when I'm standing here being a suspicious scapegoat."


The Faunus looked hard at Archer and her eyes flashed a series of colors. She blinked as they returned to normal and sneered. "You talk big for someone who can't properly reign in his own Semblance, human."


There was a slowly growing roar in the distance, faint for now. Archer smiled. "I do lack control, but don't you think that's more reason to be afraid?" Archer said gazing into her eyes with his false eyes. "Hey, Tree Human, this SAWW group, what will they do with the Faunus when they get here? They're humans after all aren't they?"


Fajio set Evegy to packing up the two chests as best she could before responding. "SAWW's under specific orders that there are to be no witnesses to our little expedition, and they were ordered to give no quarter. The only reason I'm telling you this at all, rogue, is because I'm rather convinced you mean to defect, and I'm sure it's none of my business what bizarre things you go off to do in the name of your whimsical ideals. Personally, I wasn't told to kill anyone besides our target, so I'm not busting my hump to murder this sniper. Even if she did shoot me in the face twice. If SAWW gets here, she'll be decorating the ground. And I suspect you will be, too."


The roaring grew louder, followed by a distant crash. Shortly, Rimer and Azoo came into the clearing, the former cackling with his chainsaw out and the latter huffing with the effort. Rimer turned his saw off and slung it to his back as they approached. They stopped and looked at Archer and then at Fajio. Fajio nodded to them and waved his hand low.


"Well I won't be letting them kill me, or any Faunus," Archer decided, taking her weapon and looking it over. "How nice for a Faunus." He looked at the Faunus girl, "Does it make you happy that I'm going to save you and your friends? Because you look a lot more scared than anything."


She squirmed. "We don't need your help, you filthy human. Don't touch my gun!"


Rimer looked like he was about to say something, but Fajio looked at him hard and he clapped his mouth shut. He and Azoo went to help Evegy pack. Fajio stood up straight and fired once into the air to test his other shackle. It burst high in the air, like a smoking flare. He turned to Archer. "Look, Mr. Ines, I might not particularly like idealists, but I do have some grudging respect for anyone that goes against the norm so strongly as to defect. That's why I'm only going to say this once: no matter how strong you think you are, SAWW is two or three years ahead of you. They're graduated and they're specifically deployed against people, not Grimm. They'll kill you, this girl, her team, and probably me when I tell them my mark's still alive. So I'm going to look the other way, and as far as I'm concerned, I never saw you here and our pursuit was killed in the chase. All you have to do is convince that girl's team not to stand here and try to fight so you can all get far away from here." He tapped his shackles together. "That sound like it's to your liking?"


"The chances of that SAWW team getting here before negotiations, I wouldn't know," Archer said in thought, injecting the Faunus with his sedative. "But I know a way to get them to move pretty quickly."


As if on cue, three more Faunus came running into the clearing. Fajio shrugged and checked to see if the chests were ready: they were. He signalled Rimer and Azoo to flank Archer, for safety, and fell back to stand by the chests with Evegy. "The floor's yours, Mr. Ines."


The biggest Faunus approaching, in a trench coat and scarf with scales about his eyepatched face, pointed and bellowed, "They've got Bea!"


Fajio chuckled a little and looked at Archer. "Good luck. I'd say you have ten minutes."


Archer imposed his Semblance on the two humans that invaded his space and shot them both in the legs, he then shot at Faijo. "I'd like to thank you for the company," he said, effortlessly picking up the Faunus girl and taking off into the sky, "Faunus! You're free to kill these humans, but I'll be sure to drop her from a height that she wouldn't survive." Archer said with a laugh as he took off.


Rimer scrabbled madly from where he'd been grounded. Azoo, who had kept his feet with his strong frame, had been looking to throw something after Archer, but Fajio's voice came through from where he had fallen back onto one of the chests. "Let the simple fucker go, Azoo," he growled, nursing his leg. Just his luck, it was the same one that had been maimed by the Grimm on the ferry. And it was just getting better, too. "That's not a fight we've been asked to participate in." He looked up after the winged human. "Hopefully the stupid fucker didn't just jump in front of SAWW's recovery flyer."


He waved Evegy off angrily as she tried to help him up. "I've been shot before, dammit, go make sure Rimer hasn't had his ribs flattened by our friend."


The Faunus on the edge of the clearing seemed ready to start something, but Fajio, angry at the world after having been out-talked, showed-up, and now shot, wasn't having it. "Are you fucking inbred?!" he roared from his bloody seat on the chest. "The madman took your friend, and he'll kill her, too! Hell, he already shot me! I'm rightly pissed off, so if you wanna mess with me now, we're all dying right here, understand?!"


They didn't move at first, but the smaller of the group, a quite obvious rooster Faunus, finally said something low to his fellows and they ran off out of the clearing.


Rimer had gotten back up and was coughing blood as Evegy opened one of the chests and tried to find the first aid kit. "Hahaha … Was that that Archer guy? The one that got away from those Faunus on Island G?"


Fajio coughed and tried to ignore the pain in his leg, taking a deep breath and calming down. He honestly should have expected that, after having just regained feeling in his ass, he'd be shot in the leg. It just seemed like something he should have been ready for at this point. "Yes, Rimer. And as far as all of you are concerned, we never saw him."


"He shot us," Azoo said simply. Fajio supposed that might have been his own fault, really: Archer was apparently too fucking full of himself to realize that Azoo and Rimer had moved to try and provide cover for him, not to suppress him. Fajio ought to have known better than to assume the man had the slightest notion of how negotiation escorts were arranged, given his shameless acts during the Island G incident.


"That's hardly a reason to call death down on him," Fajio said instead, even if he privately would have liked to wring the pretty boy's neck with a C-clamp for having shot him in the same leg he'd been having trouble with for months.


He looked up at the sky again, his breath hissing through his mask. "Archer Ines. May your blasted ideals see you through. I hope you learn before it's too late that you can't save everyone. Best of luck, ass hole."

a joint-post with Khawill

 

[Jay]

---

Location: Somewhere South of Beacon.
Time: Roughly two weeks prior to current events.

Tenerus gasped and strained as he ran through the dying shrubbery around him. Sullivan was near unconsciousness upon his back, weighing him down, but despite the other man's protests Tenerus refused to leave him behind.

After the island, help had never come, half of team STLL and team SNAP both were presumably dead and the remaining members of both came together over a period of two weeks to fight off Grimm and build a raft to escape... that raft had been destroyed in sailing back from the island, both teams were separated once again and Sullivan sustained grave injuries as he and Ten washed up upon the shore. From there Tenerus had fought many threats and entities while ferrying his friend to Beacon Academy. It was on this particular night that a pack of Beowulf's had tracked the two desperate huntsmen down and stalked them through the night, toying with their potential prey as it ran.

He darted into a cave. The bitter cold air of the now approaching Winter months drained the semi cold blooded Tenerus of strength quickly and soon he became winded and tired. He set Sullivan down upon a nearby rock, gently pushing strands of hair from the younger mans head to feel his sweating cranium. A cold sweat on a temperature repressed by the night air, same as it had been every night for days.

"T-Ten..." Sullivan croaked, the badly sutured wounds on his infected leg, damaged by the destroyed raft, leaking blood as he attempted to move.

"Sully stop, you can't move alone right now. You're going to make your injuries worse." Tenerus fussed and checked the dressing on the wound with an unsatisfied grunt, before removing the old and re-applying fresh bandages.

"Atatata... careful... urk, man we gotta be honest here, y'know? Haha... I ain't as strong as you. I'm not gonna make it back like this so... you've got to-" Sullivan started to speak, but a quick glare from Tenerus shut him up fast. "I'm not... leaving anyone else behind Sully. I won't be the only one to make it back. I won't face that alone. I need you to come with me."

Sullivan looked down to the dark cave floor. His eyes brimming with tears from the pain, both physical and mental. "Ten... I know... but..." He trailed off, his voice fading to the silence of the night. A silence that hung unsteadily in the air, interrupted occasionally by the chirping of insects and the buzz of small flies and night bound bloodsuckers.

And finally... by the sound of fast approaching padded feet across the forest shrubbery.

"T-Ten... you've got to go... they've found us, you won't be able to get us out in time you-"

But Tenerus was already exiting the cave and drawing his sword.​

*****

There were ten to be exact. He counted the eyes piercing through the shadows. Ten Beowulf, tracking him, taunting him. His blade had slaughtered many more Grimm as he fought to survive. He had killed monster after monster. It made him feel numb, how he cut them down, like the animals they were... ashes to ashes, dust to dust. He reduced them all to nothing.

He had to protect his friend. He had to get back home. He had too much to live for... too much to die for... but this was not the time. This was not the place.

These creatures could not break his resolve. They could not even hope to. His stand had changed, it was more than a shield, but a dagger in the dark, a poised and sharped point. An edge built to lacerate and destroy.

As the first Grimm charged, his attack stance flared along his blade in a mixing flame of shadow and light.​

There was no way the bestial Grimm could have expected the Komodo Faunus to be it's better in speed, but he was. In a blinking instant he ducked and swung, the Beowulf in its lunge flying over Tenerus' head. It was a flash of reflex past that point. As the glowing blade streaked through the night sky, not even a cry was heard as the body of the beast was severed clean in two, both sections slapping to the grass with a sickening squelch.

He flicked the blade and the splattered blood soon followed, plastering itself across the ragged blades of grass... and with that he charged.

The hoard coalesced around him. Using pack tactics to take him down. The hunters knew not the advantage of the prey in their terrain, however, and Tenerus quickly kicked off a nearby tree trunk to soar high above their assault. The shattered moon shone brightly behind his silhouette and the bland disdain in his eyes shot daggers into the psyche's of those who stood against him. He would teach these beasts without feeling the value of fear.

Howl after howl after howl echoed across the plain as green grass turned black. With a grand Komodo Talon, Tenerus allowed his blade to flare with the energy of his semblance and with a roar to rival a dragon he drew his blade across the group with an almighty slash, tree Beowulf severing and falling to silence with a single attack. Alas, the swordsman did grow arrogant in his strength and in the brief moment of recovery that followed such a mighty blow he felt claws rake cruelly across his back.

He spun the sword backwards in response and dodge rolled to his rear, his blade sunk into the torso of the Grimm and it let out a sickening cry in his ear as they both fell back. Tenerus using the momentum, rolled backwards off the now lifeless corpse and crouched in place, ready to pounce as the light of his semblance shone out like a beacon in the perpetual night.

Only two Beowulf remained... and despite every comrade they had being cut down, they still charged forward. The Grimm unnerved him even now, their perpetual rage and inability to recognize self preservation, living manifestations of negative emotion and a desire to kill. He was pacifistic by nature... but these creatures...

Such abominations held no such right to live. With a sidestep using superhuman speed he gripped the leg of one of the Beowulf mid pounce, summoning all of his strength he swung it like a ball and chain, smashing its skull against a nearby tree with a sickening crack and as he did, with one fluent motion, his sword swung in tandem, catching the neck of the final foe and tossing its head through the air to fall limply to the floor, some distance ahead of its body.​

*****

​

Location: Beacon Academy
Time: Present

The white of the snow covered burned Tenerus' eyes as his entire body ached from the intense cold. Sullivan's faint breathing echoed around him as the only sound he could hear apart from the quiet trudging of his own footsteps and the clanging of his nigh broken armor.

The final staircase home... the final few movements to reach the threshold of peace and sanity. It had been a long time since he had seen Beacon academy. The first time he made this trek, his heart and mind were so filled with hope. He had tried so hard to convince himself that he could achieve peace... he had dreamed of the day where Faunus and humans could live in total harmony. He had smiled for it... wept for it... he'd have died for it. Since then however, so much had happened. One moment he had friends he could trust. The next they were all gone. His semblance had gone from one of defense and peace to something violent and twisted... out of necessity... but did that make it okay.

Twenty steps from the top.

Sullivan was the only friend left he had... his mind drifted to Artemis and Paxton, two whom he had worked hard with to escape that cursed island. With a new pessimistic attitude, he could only assume they had been taken away as well... he just had to make it to the top of this staircase. This was all that was left. He had to save Sully. He had to save someone.

Fifteen more steps.

Closer... closer. But he always got close. Close enough to taste victory, salvation and more, but never close enough to really be happy, to really attain those things. In the end what had he done? He had deluded himself with dreams and ideals of all that he had never been able to achieve... and now he was wishing for peace in a war that was older than he was. What kind of an idiot was he?

Ten steps.

Would it be alright to just stop here and give up? Would it be okay to just rest a while? He was so... tired. He was so cold. He felt so alone. Nobody even knew what he was... and all the people he had hoped to tell one day were dead bar one. Would he really be able to find another group to stand by him so closely? Would that group still have his back if they knew what he was? Even after all this, in his heart Tenerus knew that Sully would never accept him if he discovered the truth. Nobody would.

Five.

Sullivan stopped breathing. Tenerus with a gasp pushed himself forward, sprinting despite his wounds and fatigue, tears brimming in his eyes and streaking down his face. It didn't matter... It didn't matter who accepted him and who didn't. He wouldn't lose them all. He couldn't lose them all!

His legs couldn't take the pressure.

Halfway down the walkway to the school. He feels his weak and exhausted legs give out underneath him. He falls flat on the ground... Sullivan growing slowly further away on his back, holding Tenerus down with his limp weight. He can't move... but he feels his hands desperately grip the ground and pull himself closer to the door. If he could just get to the entrance, just to the entrance, that's all he needed to do. He just had to go a little farther.

But he couldn't move. His vision began to blur and shift, watery and milky reflections dart over his line of sight and he's so tempted to close his eyes and let it all fade away... but he can't. With everything left in his body he takes a breath, a deep gust of air fills his lungs and he releases it, screaming to the nothingness, through falling flakes of snow.

"HEEEELLP! HELP US!" He screams and tried to drag himself a little further, but to no avail.

"HEEEEELLLP!" He screams one more time as his body collapses from exhaustion, his cheek pressed to the icy floor.

"Please..."

He can no longer keep his eyes open. In pure exhaustion, agony and defeat they drift closed. His consciousness slips away to nothing and a cold deeper than any he had felt before grips his heart. The last small piece of information he can retain is the sound of boots hurriedly trudging through the snow.
​

 

[Fen-Fen]

Saved
A JP between Fen-kun and Stingray

Gareth stood on the docks staring off into the dark horizon. "Quarter moon looks nice tonight," noted the raven faunus as his companions trying to figure out how to save their kidnapped companion. "We should get some slee…" The raven faunus started staring at something in the distance intently.

"I believe something is coming this way," announced the raven faunus. As the dark shape skimming the surface of the water running along the coast, grew in size. It seemed to be a small black airborne transport.

Lauren also noticed the ship. Being Faunus, they could just barely make out the ship in the black ship against the darkness, and it seemed that the ship was foreign and belonging to the humans. Bringing her trident to a ready position and very much on edge, she prepared for the worst and growled. "Just leave us alone!"

The ship suddenly slowed to a stop right in front of the faunus team. It slowly turned around as the back ramp and door opened. The pilot kept the aircraft perfectly level as the ramp made contact with one of the close by docks letting two figures exit the ship. As soon as the pair had stepped five feet away the aircraft closed up and started to speed away while climbing on abnormally silent engines. Two smaller aircraft could be seen joining up behind the transport as it disappeared in the night sky.

The two figures approached the team, and their small ears and tails quickly betrayed them as faunus. As soon as the twins were in range to speak without yelling Nara's voice broke the silence in an upset voice, "Please do not ask me any questions about what happened. I do not want to talk about it right now." As the two got closer Nara was wrapped up in a blanket and her hair laid flat on her head. Nara seemed focused on getting indoors and walked right past the group.

Nilya stopped next to Lauren and spoke in her normal calm soft voice, "Dropped her off in the water. I think she will be a bit more talkative when not exposed to the cold weather."

After seeing Nara wet but relatively unharmed, Lauren felt more at ease and put away her trident, tempted to give Nara a hug after worrying about her. "Oh thank god, it's you two! Is Nara alright?"

"Mostly," replied Nilya a frown appearing on her face. "Her semblance saved her limbs from hypothermia, and maybe even her life," added Nilya as she watched her sister continue toward the town.

Relieved, but still reeling from her hectic day, Lauren sighed deeply and looked down. "I'm so glad she isn't hurt. But how on earth did she get back here? I was so ready to start a hunt for her." Her expression certainly revealed how worried she had been.

"Archer or his associate dropped her off… in the water. I am beginning to believe he needs a straight jacket," responded Nilya in a sharp tone as she began following after her sister. "Yes, Nara has arctic fox features like our mother, but that does not mean she can survive in below freezing temperatures soaking wet," added Nilya.

Feeling angry at Archer and his allies, Lauren glared and said, "Those bastards…"

Nilya glanced at Lauren and then said, "I am sorry about interfering. I feel like I made things worse."

She shook her head, "No, no, you did the right thing by telling me about his plan. I needed to know."

"I am certain he told me at the very least a partial lie. I suspected he was not being completely honest, but thought you would have better luck than me discovering the truth. I might have been mistaken in that assumption," replied Nilya.

"I guess so. We were mistaken about a lot of things, and trusting humans was one of them." Her remark was delivered bitterly.

Nilya calmly replied, "I am still married to a human."

The dolphin faunus looked at her with a look of pain and conflict. "Indeed...you have managed to find someone to trust. But grgh...I'm pretty torn about all of this. Why why why?!"

"The betrayal is still fresh, and perhaps we all wanted to believe he was another good human to rely on," replied Nilya softly. "You were closer to him than the rest of us so the pain is worse," added Nilya a second later.

Lauren replied back, "There has to be something I'm missing...it's all the same when it comes to me and humans. They either stomp on your heart and humiliate you, or betray a close friend." She crossed her arms and glared to the side.

Nilya frowned as they reached the building Nara had gone inside of. "I am sorry Lauren, I encouraged you out of selfishness. I did not know the man and let my hopes cloud my judgement," replied Nilya in a somber tone.

When they knocked on the door, Tilki answered. "Oh, hello madam one and madam two. Nara is in the dining room."

Nilya entered after Lauren and gave Tilki a grateful bow. "Thank you sir, I do not think we have met. I am Nilya Umbra, Nara's twin sister," spoke Nilya as she straightened up from her bow.

Tilki offered a theatrical flourish of his own, He invited them to sit and have tea with Nara. The two women obliged and sat with Nara and Tilki.

Nara seemed a bit calmer now she was indoors. Once Lauren and Nilya sat down the white haired sister decided to keep the focus on Nilya instead of herself. "Why are you here Nilya?" asked Nara softly.

"I want to help, and I want to reconnect with my kind. I have been hiding among humans for too long, " replied Nilya softly.

"So you can sleep with one," shot back Nara her tone as harsh as her words.

Nilya did not reply and instead turned her head down and focused on her tea in silence.

Lauren also gave Nilya a strangely sympathetic and conflicted look, as if she was weighing something on her mind. but said nothing. She also was silent and focusing on her tea. After an extremely tense silence, Tilki spoke up and said, "You're married to a human, Nilya?"

"Yes, I am married to a human," replied Nilya solemnly she did not look up, but sensed her sister's hostility.

"Hmm…" Tilki was mulling over this revelation. He distrusted the humans like most faunus, but certainly did not possess the personal attachment that his two comrades seemed to share. "I don't know, but I suppose if you really think he's not that bad of a guy…"

Lauren said nothing at first and sighed. She had a downcast look and angrily glared at her tea, looking as if she wanted to throw the cup at something or someone. Then, she exclaimed to Tilki, "Who knows what the hell people have in store for us, especially humans."

"Varik is not going to play us. He is not like the others, he listens and allows me to make the decisions when it comes to sensitive matters," replied Nilya softly.

"How would you know what is best for us?" asked Nara bitterly. "You abandoned the faunus years ago to live among humans. You're even one of their hunters. You know nothing about what it is like living here."

"I know… that is why I came here," whispered Nilya as she fought back tears. Her sister's and Lauren's words tore at her heart as she instincts kicked in to protect herself. The darkness around her slowly began to wrap itself around her body breaking up her outline and making her slowly transform into a dynamically shifting form made of darkness.

Tilki, briefly intrigued by this development before returning to the more pressing matters at hand, spoke up and said "Ladies, please, enough with the mud slinging and hostilities. It does not suit me or our team well to be bitter and--"

Nara then asked, "Should we even trust Nilya?"

Sighing very heavily, tears in her eyes, "I don't even know anymore, everything is such a mess. Faunus hate me for standing with Archer, humans hate us!"

Nilya looked up finally as her cloak of darkness continued to melt her outline into the shadows of the chair she was in. Her eyes were watering as she spoke, "I am sorry Laur…"

"Stop saying that! You're not sorry! You encouraged her so you could be accepted. You never cared about Lauren, you never cared about me!" yelled Nara has her suppressed feelings of anger exploded out of her. "All these years of searching for you and you were avoiding me! Avoiding your family! Because of your stupid relationship with a human! The only reason we were united is that you were looking for Lauren because of what happened to the humans! Stop acting like you suddenly care!"

Nilya looked stunned for a second as her eyes turned into waterfalls. A second later her form was completely masked by her dark aura. The only way to tell where she was at was her sobbing.

Nara crossed her arms as she hissed, "I am tired of people acting like they care when they don't. I am tired of feeling used."

Tilki grimaced at the whole affair, not liking the unpleasantness of it at all. He wished he could just be the same old silly, flamboyant Tilki to get everyone's mind off of things, but it would be inappropriate and ill-suited for the current environs. Meanwhile, Lauren was looking down, appearing very exhausted, pained, angry and a whole unpleasant assortment of emotions. An uncomfortable silence overtook the table, only broken by the sounds of Nilya's sobbing. After what seemed like forever, Tilki mumbled, "Let me clean this up," referring to the unfinished tea set to put it aside.

As Tilki began to clean Nilya's broken voice came from the shadows. She was forced to pause every every couple of seconds in order to cry, "I am sorry Nara… I hid from you and our family. I was so afraid… I was afraid of being rejected because I married a human… I have always felt more comfortable in the shadows, hiding… Varik is the only one I truly showed myself to… he accepted me for who I was… I am sorry for encouraging you both to trust Archer… I wanted to believe there were more good… out there. I wanted to believe I would not have to hide myself or my husband… I did not want to feel the pain of being rejected for my choices… I was selfish, I know that, I am sorry and I beg you two for another chance." Nilya continued to cry, but after a few seconds she was able to get herself under control.

Nilya's voice was still cracked as she spoke again, "I came back to help. I have seen the foolish endeavors of those who try to help, but are blind to the whole situation. I want to do something to help our kind in a positive direction for the future… what can I do to help?"

Nara looked over at Lauren the whole time refusing to look where her sister was hiding. Her arms crossed her chest in defiance as she closed her sister out. Her eyes were still filled with anger and pain from being betrayed by her twin. Lauren looked back with an anxiety in her eyes, frozen on what to do. Again, Tilki took up the response in lieu of his two teammates. He called back from the kitchen. "From what I can see, and the way things are going, I think the only thing to do going forward is to vet our allies, faunus or human. I can't stand to see our team in pain like this. It truly is an awful, awful affair." Despite everything, Tilki injected some theatrics in his words, belying the role he had just taken up, "I think you really have meant well Nilya, from what little I know of you. You only meant well in trying to get Lauren away from hating all humans. I think that what would be best out of you is to spend more time with us, like you've been trying to do, and reconcile all this pain." He shifted his voice to a more normal, serious tone.

Nara looked toward Tilki then at Lauren before saying in a sharp tone, "Fine, perhaps we could use her help."

Nilya had returned to tears at this point and she whispered, "I promise I will re earn your trust sister." Nilya felt terrible and wanted to just sneak away, but she had to stay. She had run and hid most of her life. Now she needed to stand her ground to help her family and kin.

With a small smile, Tilki exclaimed, "Ok, progress." Taking the smile off of his face, he continued, "So, Nilya, did you have an idea how to regain their trust?"

Gareth had been listening from the table where he had been snacking on some leftovers. Walking over to the group of three women and showed them a picture of Varik while asking, "Is this your husband?"

"Yes," responded Nilya before she started to reply to Tilki, "I will help the faunus the best I can. I want to…"

Gareth interrupted her as he read from his old beat up scroll, "Varik Umbra has become an overnight millionaire…" He looked at each of his teammates and then Tilki before continuing, "Her husband is very wealthy, and considering that strange airship she arrived on, I would guess he has more than just money at his disposal. She wants to help us now and she claims he follows her. Thus we have access to these resources now. I recommend we use them to insure our goals are met and to show we are a force to be reckoned with."

"A millionaire?" Lauren asked warily.

"He sold some inventions," replied Nilya shyly. As her sister glared at Nilya's seat her sister slowly reappeared from the shadows.

Lauren crossed her arms. "Inventions? What kind of inventions?" She looked very suspicious of this claim of wealth in this day and age where war was upon everyone.

"A 3D interactive hologram device," replied Gareth reading the scroll.

"Varik was careful to not sell any weapons that could be used against the faunus," added Nilya in a soft tone.

"Hmm…" Lauren mulled over her response, not happy but seeming to at least put some faith that that indeed was the case. "So he didn't sell any weapons...I really hope that for all of our sakes you are right, Nilya." She glanced at Nilya with suspicion and ire.

Nilya noted the distrust and replied, "Do you think he would create something that could be used to harm me?"

"Perhaps not, but like you said, we all have to be careful."

Nilya gave a slight nod and then asked, "How can I help?"

Lauren stood up and paced the room, eager to get some of the emotional energy out of her system. "I think it can be said that we all need a talk with Varik. I'm still very wary, and I think Nara is too." She looked over at Nara. "But besides that, we need access to your husband's resources. Can you do that for us?"

"Yes, but I need to know what resources you will want access to," replied Nilya softly.

Mulling over the resources that she might need, she answered, "Transportation, definitely. Money would be nice for us too."

"I can call Varik to send the transport when needed. Where do you want to go?" asked Nilya with a defeated tone.

"Vale. We need a handle on the situation there."

"You want to go now?" asked Nilya.

"Not yet. I still have some business to deal with here." That business pertained to spending some time with her father, and of course sorting through her current emotional mess. She returned to her seat and hung her head a little, before adding, "Anything else you want to add, Nara?"

"No," replied Nara shortly.

"Then please excuse me I need some time alone to think," whispered Nilya as she stood up to leave.

Tilki showed her out the door and faced his teammates, saying to them, "Would you guys like some time alone? After all that has happened I'd be happy to oblige."

"I do not care," muttered Nara as Gareth returned to his previous seat.

Gareth looked over at Tilki and said, "If you want to talk to her go before she disappears."

Tilki shook his head, watching her go out. He returned to where Lauren and Nara are, sitting in silence before them, reading how absolutely beat they both seemed to be. Being the hospitable host he was, he asked the two, "Anything else you ladies need?"

"A better twin sister," muttered Nara.

Lauren went over to Nara, sighed, and mumbled, "Oh Nara. I'm so sorry about all of this. But even if you don't have Nilya on your side, you at least still have me." Lauren forced a small smile on her face.

"I know and thank you," replied Nara, also forcing a smile. "Just I… I gave Nilya the benefit of the doubt before, and it hurt all of us. I have all that built up anger, and I have held it in till now. I like to think I am a kind trusting person, but I am tired of being pulled in several directions emotionally. I hate the feeling I should not trust people by their words unless I get to know them," added Nara her voice sounding tense. She then added, "Being Archer's captive was confusing emotionally and I am fed up of feeling this way. I want to be in control of my emotions and stop letting them play tug of war with my mind."

"I understand completely. That's...pretty much how I feel," Lauren remarked wistfully. "But it's so hard. I've done so many things in the name of my feelings, and I can't seem to put anything to rest. Not the business with the humans, not my reputation here, not even with myself."

"Archer is not worth your time… Doesn't matter what he did on the island. He isn't worth anyone's time. I am glad his new faunus friends just want to use him. He acted all nice and concerned while I was there," replied Nara in a rant. She suddenly scoffed and said, "He is a weak idiot… those drugs he takes helps him control his semblance. He is so pathetic he has to drug himself up so he doesn't kill himself with his own aura." Nara then let out a twisted giggle which she suddenly stopped before muttering in a sad tone, "Sorry Lauren, my point is a part of me feels like he did you a favor. You're too good for him. All he would do is drag you down and get you hurt with his stupid plans. You deserve someone much better than him."

She sighed and replied sadly, "You're right." An uncomfortable silence lingered, before Lauren decided to break it. "Enough with all of this. We need to do something else. It's gonna be the death of me if I keep moping. Though that hasn't always worked out…" She thought back to her last attempt to blot things with Archer before inevitably succumbing to her rage.

"I need a new weapon… again," suggested Nara. "Could try figuring out what I would be good with and how to get a weapon, or maybe just talk about clothes or something. I still need to get you in a nice dress sometime," added Nara with calmer voice. From there, the two eventually held a more casual and friendly conversation, just to keep their minds off of things. It seemed to work for a while.

 

[Stingray]

JP with Fen, Part Two: Taking on Crime​

Lauren dashed after Nara, easily catching up and called out to her, "What happened?"

"I don't know she just messaged me trouble at parent's home come quick," replied Nara looking over her shoulder at Lauren as the two girls ran down the streets. It did not take long for the two to make it to Nara's home to find the street was quieter than normal.

The door to the little ground floor apartment was busted open to the inside as if someone had kicked it in. Inside was dark as they approached and it was completely silent. Nara absorbed what light she could from the dim street lamps as she approached the entrance with a burst of speed. Her semblance unleashed a steady light inside the small living room making her gasp.

Three muscular faunus lay motionless on the floor in spreading pools of deep red blood. The room's furniture and walls were splattered with the gore of the three fallen thugs. To the left was a small kitchen where Nara's mother was tending to her father who was covered in bruises and claw marks. Nilya stood over her parents with her blade in hand ready to once again protect her family.

Nara gasped, "Nilya did you do this?"

Nilya's stance relaxed as she calmly said, "They attacked our family, but I still gave them a chance to leave peacefully… they refused." Her voice was cold and showed no remorse for killing the three men.

Absolutely shocked at the spectacle she was witnessing, Lauren cried out and exclaimed, "My god, how terrible! Who did this?"

Nara looked over at Lauren and said, "Nilya did…" Nara looked back at Nilya and realized her sister did not have a scratch on her body, and she looked perfectly fine for just fighting a three on one battle.

She looked over at Nilya, processing the carnage. The fallen victims certainly appeared to be of some gang, based on their attire and brutish appearance. "What were these guys doing here anyways? Don't tell me-"

"Threatening my family," replied Nilya, her voice cold as ice. "I confronted them with an illusion of myself, and asked them to leave. They proceeded to inappropriately handle the illusion and making claims that I would be a good way to pay off the debt indeed. My father tried to stop them, but by the time I had arrived he had already been beaten rather savagely so a single punch took him down due to his previous wounds. Thus I dealt with them in a manner they could never hurt my family again."

"I paid… on time… I never underpaid… I never complained... even with their outrageous interest… the debt was small," forced out the elder male faunus on the ground as he tried to stand before his wife forced him to stay seated.

"I know of other people with far greater debt than us to the Mercardi family, and many who are behind on payments. That is not the reason they are here… They mentioned our daughter several times. I think they were targetting you Nara," spoke their mother who seemed very concerned but was not losing her cool despite the situation.

Nara looked shocked and confused, "Why would they target me?" Fear started to dominate her face as she looked to Lauren for a possible answer.

As she thought about what this could all mean, it suddenly dawned on her. She had heard of the Mercadi name before, and seen their goons every now and again. From what she knew, they were quite involved in racketeering, prostitution, drugs, illegally acquired essentials like food and medicine and loan sharking. "No...this can't be...oh Nara. It's not necessarily you that they want. They want my family!"

Nara looked confused, "If they want your family why did they go after me?"

"Let's just say, around these parts, I heard a few things from some trusted contacts. Things about them really wanting medicine. You can guess why they'd want me in that case. Plus, our family isn't exactly low key, so attacking us directly would attract too much attention."

Nara thought for a second before saying, "So they are trying to get me to get to you. This isn't good the Mercadi are a powerful crime family what are we going to do?!"

"Simple, we remove the threat," replied Nilya after leaning down and hugging her mother. "Where do they live?" asked the fox faunus.

"The Mercardis?"

"Yes," replied Nilya who walked over next to Lauren and Nara.

Lauren answered, "They live in the 'nicer' part of Menagerie, where you see all the fancier houses and better living conditions. Their residence is a yellow 'estate' with all the security guards and suited men milling about. It's pretty hard to miss."

"In which direction?" asked Nilya.

"Why do you want to go there?" asked a concerned Nara.

"They will not stop here. Our families are not safe while they are in power. In addition I am sure they are taking advantage of their fellow Faunus and causing more suffering to our kind than our enemies," replied Nilya.

Lauren shifted at the thought and muttered, "To think that they were keeping down my best friend's family like this...I'm so sorry, Nara."

"It is okay I did not tell you on purpose, and Nilya you're being insane. They are a powerful family with lots of guards and henchmen. There is no way we are--," said Nara before she was interrupted.

"Not if we stand here idly talking. Darkness will be our ally and will hide us from their sight. Now let us go before we lose our advantage," interrupted Nilya getting impatient with Nara and Lauren's desire to just talk.

Being a bit shaken up at all that had transpired, but setting aside her anxieties to put on a brave face, Lauren firmly said to Nara, "Look, I know we're all shaken up here, and it seems like an impossible task that we have before us, but I need you to calm down some. These guys may seem scary, but they're quite wrong if they think some street thugs will scare me, after all the shit I've been through! I will not let these guys hurt you, Nara." Her sudden streak of confidence came as she collected herself and was put back into the swing of things after being thrown around.

Nilya looked at Lauren and then Nara, "Then let us go. If you two have any ideas on how to do this I am listening. My plan is to use my abilities to sneak us inside, Nara you can absorb any light in our way. Once inside we go straight for their throats, I do not intend to show any mercy. The heads of the family go first then we remove any chances for the family to ever come to power again."

Lauren was still taken aback by her change in demeanor, and looked at Nilya a bit incredulously. "Uh...just as a quick note, their 'mansion' is by the sea, so anything you'd need with my abilities would be very effective."

Nilya nodded and said, "No doubt the master suite overlooks the sea. We will approach from the water then, you can control water correct?"

"Indeed. I have very good control of the water. Not to brag or anything…" She grinned and laughed a little, only for her laughter to nervously peter out when she happened to glance at Nilya's deadly serious face.

"I can cover us in darkness and you can use your abilities to prevent the water from giving us away. Also your abilities will be very useful if we need to escape. Also I must admit your strength will be needed, both me and Nara lack in that regard. Lauren do you think swimming or a small raft would be best for the approach?" asked Nilya.

"Swimming. We'd be way less likely to be spotted that way. Plus, I can give you guys a boost in the water if you really need it.

"Sounds good, let us move toward the mansion then," replied Nilya. The small group of three women moved to the outskirts of the better part of the town. Finding the mansion wasn't hard, but it was a grim reminder of how bad things were for the faunus. The "mansion" itself was nothing more than a two story house that was actually in good repair. It had additional flair on it, but compared to the standard Nilya was used to seeing among humans it was no better than a human middle class home. The back of the house was a gentle decline to a rocky shoreline that would make their approach easy. However the property was surrounded by a fence and several armed guards were positioned all around the house. The small size of the home meant it would be easy for guards to react if the three were spotted.

"Looks like a small balcony on the second floor attached to the middle room. Likely the master is located there," whispered Nilya as the three made last minute preparation.

"Do we really have to swim in the frozen waters?" complained Nara as she stared at the calm water with a frown.

"Yeah. But...they don't have to be so cold. I can make the water warm. That's why I still swim even in winter. A cold tolerance from my dad also helps. I guess when you both control the water and are part dolphin--"

"Nara is just being whiny because she just got dry from her last swim. Let us go," said Nilya as she took off her heavy jacket so it would not weigh her down. Nara just glared at her sister as they prepared for their little swim by taking off any clothes that would be nothing but a burden during the swim.

Lauren followed suit and took off her heavy clothes, and without an iota of hesitation led the two into the water, warming up the water for their sake. She reassured Nara, "C'mon, the waters only about 75 degrees now. It's pretty great now."

"Do not waste too much energy Lauren, you are going to need it for the fight ahead." whispered Nilya as the twins followed after Lauren. Their forms were soon engulfed in darkness that hid them from view but allowed them to still see.

Nara whispered in a nervous tone, "Lead the way, Lauren."

With that in mind, Lauren led the way to the house, easing up on heating up the water to conserve energy. Moving onto the rocky shore carefully Nilya motioned for the other two to follow as they approached the fence. The fancy fence was constructed to not be an eyesore and to not block the view of the beach. The three were able to find a good spot among the beautifully painted metal that had been shaped like twisted ivy. With a quick swipe of her void blade Nilya created a weak point for the three to climb through. Once inside the yard of the estate, the three faced two well armed guards in the back as well as many more in the front and inside. With the three of them still concealed, Lauren appeared just about ready to go on a full offense against the guards.

Nilya laid a hand on Lauren's shoulder as if to hold her back. Motioning to the guard on the left Nilya put her finger up to her lips then drew it across her neck as if trying to cut it with one of her fingernails. She then motioned Nara toward the light right above the guards. She then started toward the guard on the right, slowly and silently pulling out her blade as the light above the thugs began to dim. The two men looked up at the light with a puzzled look and began discussing and cursing the quality of the light bulb. Lauren took the guard on the left and stabbed him with her trident.

Nilya's blade streaked across the second guard's throat, slicing it open. The man fell to the ground trying to scream for help as blood poured from the wound. Lauren's victim also fell silently to the ground as Nilya started to cover the bodies in darkness. The fox faunus was about to motion for Lauren to move the bodies when she heard someone inside the building yell something and the sounds of a weapon's bolt being cocked back.

Instinctively Nilya dove toward her sister as she left an illusion of her shadowy form as a decoy. Suddenly the sounds of a submachine gun firing and glass shattering filled the air as Nilya's illusion was riddled with bullets. Nilya was able to tackle her sister to the ground, and then she looked over at Lauren to see if the other faunus was safe. Thankfully it was night so she could hold the illusion and the cloak of darkness up for now.

After having ducked out of the way of the bullets, it was action time for Lauren. No time to process the act she had done, no time to worry about herself. She decided to go for a frenzy of razor sharp ice trajectories, followed by a barrages of water to put some distance between the men and herself. She motioned for the fox twins to come forward, initiating the assault to flush the remaining guards and Mercardis.

A sudden bright flash of light temporarily blinded the guards as Lauren charged in followed by Nara. Nilya capitalized on the resulting chaos and disappeared in the shadows. Lauren's chaotic assault more than disarmed the other guards, and Nara's binding light attack subsequently gave Lauren an opportunity to strike. She took advantage, and offed more of the guards. Now, with the adrenaline pumping and the fate of her family and her best friend's family on her shoulders, she cried out to the fox twins, "C'mon, on to the family!"

"Lauren to your right!" yelled Nara as she quickly absorbed most of the light in the room before releasing it in a focused blast at a pair of guards on the stairs who had just appeared from upstairs.

Lauren quickly transformed her trident into a shotgun and fired some rounds directly onto the disoriented guard, making her mark with ease and turned back to Nara. She saw a guard approaching from behind her, and proceeded to cover her with more shots. She led Nara onward to search the rooms for the Mercardis.

Nara and Lauren continued to fight their way through the guards as they heard a car engine start rumbling in the front. "Damn guards are slowing us down," exclaimed Nara as she blinded another faunus who was charging at them with a massive sword, causing him to trip over a rug and fall.

Suddenly, the sound of gunfire and screaming could be heard out the side a few rooms away from Nara and Lauren. "I think Nilya used us as a distraction, " said Nara in an upset voice.

"Now's not the time to dwell on that, we have to go!" She pulled Nara out of the previous line of fire to safety. The guards' numbers were dwindling quickly, and even at this heavily guarded estate there were not too many more to take on.

Nilya stepped from the shadows once again to stab the last personal guard who was trying to escort the Mercardis to their vehicle to escape. The blade tore through the faunus' chest before a flame like darkness ran down the blade, devouring flesh and bone around the wound. The guard fell lifeless to the ground as the overweight head of the Mercardi family reached for a pistol.

The vile man lifted the weapon just as the mysterious faunus disappeared again. The man fired wildly around him until he saw a shadow moving to his left. Turning he unleashed the last three rounds of his clip as the cloud of darkness dissipated revealing his shocked wife. She was holding her chest as blood poured from the gunshot wound he had just inflicted.

"Your life is over, your betrayal of your kin ends this night. Ironic your last victim of you selfish life would be your wife's," spoke a cold voice behind the man. The man turned around quickly to see a woman stepping from the shadows. 'Click, click, ' announced his empty pistol as the strange black haired fox faunus slowly walked toward him. Her nine midnight black tails playfully dancing behind her with no regard for gravity.

"Who are you? What do you want? I will give you everything to spare me!" blurted out the man as he watched wicked black flames beginning to form around the nine tailed fox's blade.

"You attacked my family out of greed. You oppress those in need. Your wife lays dying and all you can think of is yourself. You are not worthy of life, and I am here to take it from you," replied a cold remorseless voice as the blade raised into the air. Darkness completely engulfed the blade as Nilya approached the man. Standing over him she slashed downward releasing the energy surrounding it into the man. Throwing much of her energy into the blade Nilya afforded to create enough to completely consume the large screaming man. Then there was silence… He was completely consumed by darkness. The extra tails disappeared as Nilya breathed heavily from exhaustion.

Looking over as the man's dying wife who began asking for mercy, Nilya asked out loud, "Does she deserve mercy or death?" Nilya then looked up at Nara and Lauren who had arrived just in time to see her kill the kingpin of the crime family. Nilya gently touched the gunshot wound on her left side that she had ignored and hid until now. The spike of pain made her wince a little as she waited for the other two girls to respond.

Lauren looked to Nilya, and to Nara, frozen and unsure of what to do. "I…don't know."

Nilya looked down at the woman and said, "Her luxury lifestyle was built upon a foundation of suffering and death. As a wife, I understand I have an influence over my husband's actions but I do not control him completely. Was she as dark hearted as her husband, or did she live in ignorance?"

The woman gasped, "I… am… sorry… please… spare me… and my child."

Nilya lifted an eyebrow and added, "Pregnant with an evil's man child. Does it make the child inclined toward evil?" Nilya slowly walked toward Nara and Lauren. Placing her hand on her sister's should Nilya added, "I bring darkness and death… you are the one who brings light and life. This is your choice, and your burden to take. She could turn out to be as vile as her husband and could seek revenge, or she could have a better heart than her husband. You can leave her to die from the wound her husband left, have Lauren deliver a merciful blow to end her suffering, or heal her and give her and the fractured family another chance." Removing her hand from her sister's shoulder Nilya stepped into the dark hall behind Nara and Lauren.

Nara looked over at Lauren with big eyes and asked in a scared tone, "I want to heal her… but what if she comes after our families? Is her life worth the risk?"

Lauren replied, "Spare her. We've...done enough. I'd rather take this risk than killing this woman. We have to be better than these scum, for our own sake." She gestured to the corpses around her.

Nara nodded and walked over to the woman and began to heal her. Nilya whispered to Lauren in her calm tone, "I was hoping Nara would have made the choice on her own, but either way I agree with the decision to give her mercy. It is impossible to know if she had any hand in her husband's dealings, and we know their child did not. This is a dark path to walk… the line between hero and monster is thin and often clouded."

Feeling simultaneous relief at the defeated crime family and a metaphorical heaviness in her heart, Lauren nodded somberly and watched as Nara went to work on healing the widow of the crime boss.

After healing the woman she sat up and looked at the three women and then the lifeless bodies around her. Her face was pale from fear as her eyes locked on the spot that her husband had been minutes before. All that remained was a black scar on the premium wood floor. "I do not know what to say… You spared my life, but destroyed my world… I… Was my husband so terrible?" she asked shaking as the chilling scene burned itself into her mind.

"Yes," replied Nara as she stood up. "Your husband is responsible for many deaths, and ruined more lives than I can count. He had the power to help other faunus through this hard time, but instead exploited those in need. Honestly I feel like he was worse than many of the humans who forced us here in the first place."

"O…" replied the woman as she gently wrapped her hands protectively around her stomach. Her hyena like ears drooping in shame.

"The reason we were involved at all was that your husband threatened my best friend and my family. As much as I hate humans right now, your family hasn't been much better to Menagerie. But enough with that. This is your chance to start fresh."

"I guess… but I have no idea where to start," muttered the woman.

Nilya suddenly asked, "I am guessing you did not care for your husband much."

"Well we did not see each other much over the last year. He was always going on about his business and shutting me out. Seemed like the only time we interacted is when he wanted my company in bed. I honestly did not know everything he was doing, but I was not ignorant to the fact it must have been bad. I just wanted to believe he wasn't the terrible man he was. After seeing him not show any care for me after almost killing me… it's hard to feel much sorrow. There is some, but I just feel… lucky to be alive. No offense but you're scary," replied the woman with a heavy voice.

"Lauren, perhaps we should take her to your mother. Your mother can insure the stress of the event did not do any harm to the baby, and she cannot stay here or stay with us," added Nilya calmly.

The dolphin faunus nodded, and duly helped her up off of the ground. Lauren was back to relative normalness for the first time in a while, and smiled warmly at the woman, beaming a little with pride. "My mother will take good care of you. She's one of the best we have here on Menagerie."

"Okay," replied the woman as they walked out of the body filled home. Looking back at all the dead Nara frowned and shook her head. The four silently walked down the street, cloaked by Nilya's darkness to avoid detection from others as they left the scene of the battle. Halfway to their designation Nilya stopped using her semblance and her pace began to slow.

Looking over at Nilya, Nara finally saw her sister's wound. Swallowing her anger, Nara walked up to Nilya and gently pulled away her sister's bloody covered hand from the wound and frowned. "Why did you hide this from me?" asked Nara a little upset at her sister.

Nilya replied in her normal voice, "I am okay, I did not want to bother you."

Nara rolled her eyes and said, "You are bleeding a good bit, and it's clearly draining you. Now hold still." Nara's hands lit up as a close by dim street lamp dimmed and finally went out. After patching up her sister's wound Nara said, "Go back home and check on mom and dad. I am sure they are worried." Nilya nodded and slowly turned around before heading back toward her parent's shack.

Watching her sister leave Nara muttered, "She is confusing and stressing me out."

"Yeah...I had no flipping idea she'd do any of this. Or even that she had it in her."

"Nilya always did have a darkness to her that wasn't just her abilities. She mostly kept to herself growing up other than pulling the random trick on others. She did not have many friends and seemed happy keeping to herself when a child. Granted she was always there for me or anyone in the family when she was needed," replied Nara as they started walking again.

The taller girl nodded, taking in Nara's assessment of Nilya. "Huh...can't say I'm very comfortable with this kind of darkness. I mean, I've really hated being so angry, mopey, depressed. Things like that. Things that are a far cry from me."

"She is my sister, but I do not know her like one. A part of me is angry and horrified by her, but another part wants to believe she has good intentions," replied Nara in a voice that made it sound as if she was carrying a heavy weight on her back.

Lauren stopped walking, and embraced Nara tightly, partially for her own sake, partially for Nara's sake. "I really hope she has good intentions. For all the anger and hate I have said in the past few days I could really use more good people. Don't get discouraged. After all, we sure as hell don't let anyone get the better of us, right?" She flashed a confident smile.

"Good people seem hard to come by these days," sighed Nara sounding a little distracted by her thoughts. The widow silently followed the girls not wanting to jump into their conversation.

After walking for a while in the direction of the clinic, they all arrived there, with Lauren's mother surprisingly still in duty. The doctor greeted Nara and Lauren and asked who this woman was. Lauren answered. "Well...she is the pregnant widow of the Mercardi crime boss. We need to make sure she is okay."

Looking incredulously at her, but nonetheless offered the woman up to check on her. She explained briskly to the two girls, "I will be a little bit. Anything else you two need before I go?"

"Not really," replied Nara seemingly distracted.

Dahlia left the two girls and began checking up on the patient, asking all sorts of question to the poor woman to assess her condition. Nara and Lauren were left alone after that. Lauren turned to Nara, and said, "You distracted too?"

"Yes I have to go back home with Nilya. I have no idea how to face her or what to say, and I know my parents will force us to talk," replied Nara with a heavy sigh.

"Ah. I see. I can certainly understand not wanting to face up to Nilya. Erm, what would your parents think about all of this?"

"Family first, but um my dad would likely not approve of the method used. I am not really sure what they will do or say to Nilya. Did you see Nilya's extra tails?" responded the confused Nara.

Lauren nodded. "What was that all about?"

"Dad used to tell me and Nilya a story about the origin of our last name. A powerful faunus who had the power over light and darkness. She was so powerful she grew eight additional tails to help store all of it. She was said to protect our ancestor's tribe. At night she hunted the tribe's enemies and made them disappear. As well as guide the tribe out of trouble under the cover of darkness. At day she burned away foes who attacked and healed the members of the tribe from all forms of injuries. Mom said it was a fairy tale, but dad insisted it was true. He always said legend had it her spirit would return in one of her descendants when the tribe needed her powers once again to survive. Well that is the short form of the legend. I have a feeling Nilya was playing to that… I guess as a way to show me what she was doing," responded Nara.

The taller girl nodded and replied, "I see. Quite the curious myth. Kind of chilling too…" Lauren shivered a little bit.

"I think dad made it up for me and Nilya due to our darkness and light semblances," replied Nara. "Granted Nilya also got some of mom's illusion abilities as well."

"Mmm…" Lauren paused, looking around her and yawning. "Well, I think we should get going. Good luck with your family. I really hope you can make things work out better than the things have been working out for me." She hugged the smaller girl, towering over her, before pulling away and going their separate ways. The two girls had many things in their mind, and were dead tired. Despite all of that, it'd be apparent that no one would get much sleep after the day's trauma had taken its toll. Sorting out all of their troubles was something that the two took to bed with them that night, and would carry over to the next day.

 

[Orx of Twinleaf]

Team FEAR
(condensed for reduction of clutter and broken in the middle for your convenience)

Spoiler:

"No, I can wait for Mr. Alex to patch me up," Fajio said, waving Evegy away. She had just finished helping Rimer wrap some gauze around his arms and had been uncertainly making a move towards where Fajio was sitting in the snow bleeding out his leg.

"Has the bleeding stopped?" she asked.

"Yes, it's fine," Fajio lied impatiently. In reality, Fajio's Aura had always been uncommonly weak for a hunstman, and whatever Archer had shot him with had drilled right through it and into his flesh. Leave it to the Faunus to be carrying around anti-Aura rounds like they weren't expensive past all reason, and leave it to Archer to pump one at Fajio to make a point that didn't need made. At least he didn't have a bullet in him—hunstmen hardly ever used bullet guns, thank heavens. Even so, though, Fajio's leg didn't feel right at all, and he suspected there might be something very, very wrong with it now.

"What was Archer doing here?" Evegy ventured as she put the first aid kit away.

Fajio hadn't the slightest notion what Archer had been doing here, however—besides being an enigmatic ass hole—, and didn't want to discuss it anyway. "He wasn't content with showing up the Faunus at Island G and he's here to hit them where it hurts so he can be praised as the Genocider of the Faunus."

Evegy blinked. "What?"

"No not really," Fajio spat. "Whatever he's up to is none of our business. What is our business is the mission at hand. You said you couldn't kill Nungerfaldt?" Evegy looked at the ground, evidently expecting to be yelled at. Fajio was angry right now, but not with her, and there was besides a certain quality to bleeding out in the snow that calmed one down. "Just tell me what happened."

She sat down on one of the chests as Rimer settled down in the snow with a meditating Azoo to sharpen his chainsaw's chain. She rubbed at the bandages on her shoulder. "We got there but Mr. Mam—uh, but Nungerfaldt wasn't home. We were thinking about what to do but he rounded the corner and had a bodyguard with him. It was that girl that Archer just carried off."

Fajio nodded. "You said he had Aura training?"

"He didn't do anything with it until later, though. He told the girl to go get help and then he fought Azoo and Rimer for a bit."

"Fast for a big guy, hahaha," Rimer pitched in, checking the Gut-Grinder's oil. Azoo nodded in agreement.

"He held us for awhile and then he activated a Semblance and turned it against us."

"Kicked our asses, you mean, haha," Rimer called again.

Azoo put a hand on his shoulder to quell his interruptions and saw that Evegy was looking at the ground again. "You did a good job calling the shots," he said reassuringly in his heavy voice.

Fajio looked between the three of them and realized where the tension was coming from: Evegy apparently thought they had failed solely because she had been in charge and not Fajio. "My dear," his metal voice came, "you got in and out without anyone dying, even after Nungerfaldt surprised you and you had to retreat outnumbered." He cleared his throat awkwardly, unsure of how to sound genuine when he said, "You did a good job."

She didn't seem particularly reassured by Azoo or Fajio, though. "We should have let you come."

Fajio had had a lot of time to think about how to handle Evegy while they were off making their attempt and he had been tied to a tree. He had always been able to talk to Azoo—they had grown up together and were as much like brothers as any pair of siblings were. He had quickly learned how to talk with Rimer after their rough start together. Even Timereaux, before he was traded with Evegy, hadn't been beyond Fajio's reach when it came to connecting on some level.

But Evegy was a different sort of person from any of them. Azoo might also have confidence problems, but he handled it in a very different way and Fajio had never had to beat around the bush with him. But Evegy's were too forward, and it made Fajio feel like he was handling an egg with a skill crane. He couldn't talk plainly with her: she was too hurt inside, and Fajio knew he was probably to blame for it, too.

For a long time he had tried to simply quash her into listening with his threats in the hopes that keeping her nose to the grindstone would keep her from dwelling on her thoughts, but he had to realize he couldn't do that anymore. She had summoned up the nerve to speak against him in a very crucial moment, and had had him bound to a tree. Even if Fajio thought threats might still have some effect in future, they ultimately couldn't be counted on.

And more than that, Fajio had—despite his best efforts—come to be rather fond of his team, her included. What that usually meant was that Fajio acted roughly towards them so that he wouldn't become attached, but he had come to realize that that probably wasn't the way he wanted to go about things anymore. He spent a lot of time trying to be different or contrary but Archer had put that in a pretty context for him: Fajio realized he didn't want to be someone like that. Someone who could walk around with their head so high in the air, who strode across the lives and affairs of others on some reckless path visible only to him, who threw around gunfire and Semblances like they were tools of argument rather than the deadly forces they were.

Fajio didn't know Archer personally, but from what he had seen he had not been someone Fajio wanted to emulate. And that's what mattered. Fajio could count on one hand all the people in the world who "knew" him. The rest of the world would only know him the same way he knew Archer: in passing only. It didn't matter who Fajio was when he was presenting himself like that to the world around him. It didn't matter if Fajio told himself he could kill and still remain morally-clear in his mind because what the world saw was that he could kill, and that was all that mattered.

Fajio realized that a silence had fallen in the wake of Evegy's statement, and he spoke now to break it. "That Faunus team, their leader made the call to go save their comrade rather than suppress us. They were no doubt under orders to apprehend us, and they went for Archer instead."

No one said anything for a moment.

Fajio struggled to his feet, now, and continued as he limped across the clearing toward the far chest. "They would rather save their own than complete their objective. And you," he turned toward them, sweeping a gauntleted hand over them, "would rather see me here and safe rather than risk my dying in the field. You said it was to keep me out of the way because I was out of my head, but I wasn't born yesterday. And you all know damn well that if I had been there Nungerfaldt wouldn't have lived, that I'd swap him and hold him still for you to execute."

He coughed heavily into his mask, a grating metal noise that rattled the cold air. "You and them both would let your prissy, irrational emotions get in the way of doing your jobs. You'd rather see your teammates live another miserable day in this horrid world than do your part to make it less so!" He glared at them all hard. Rimer had finished maintaining his saw and was looking rather abashed, and Azoo seemed rather more confused than anything. Evegy was covering her face.

Fajio let out a hissing sigh, his breath rolling through the slits in the muzzle like steam escaping an old machine. "I've been too wretched to do the same." He turned away from them. "And I hope you might all find it in you to forgive me some day."

"Fajio?" It was Azoo's voice.

Fajio turned to face them again, trying not to let it be too obvious that his leg was still oozing blood. They were regarding him uncertainly. There was a feeling of wrath in him, but it wasn't his, and he found he was able to suppress it enough to give them a thumbs up. His thoughts were clearer now than they had been in a long time. "We're going to do this our own way now. Next time they give me a mission like this, then I don't care what they say, I'm not dragging any of you into the far corners of hell. Azoo, I told you once, long ago, that I wanted you to be the guard while I was the leader. You've performed admirably all this time, my friend, and yet I wasn't the leader you needed. I hope you can give me one last chance to make this right. I told you that you didn't have to care about what your father said, what the others would say, and then I walked around and that was the only thing I cared about. From here on out, it matters what we think Azoo, and no one else." He opened his palms forward. "Can I count on you to keep with me?"

Azoo stood and crossed his arms, frowning. Evegy and Rimer looked between them a moment and then Azoo took the few steps he needed to cross the clearing to Fajio. He towered over the smaller man and looked down into his metal mask. He smiled and clapped Fajio on the shoulder. "Like you even gotta ask," he said. He moved to one side as Fajio addressed Rimer next.

"Rimer, you and I got off on quite the wrong foot, back when we started together. I attacked you and Timereaux both and then treated you both like dogs to be sicced on my targets. When you were put into my team, your father told me to make certain you came up to be a fine young hunter, and instead of treating you like a student or trainee I betrayed him and you both by treating you like an unwanted child to be chided at every turn. There's not much I can teach you, Rimer, you're stronger and faster than I am, but I can still show you how to conduct other people, and from here on out I mean to do so properly, if you would give me the chance. I understand of course if you would rather transfer out like Timereaux did, and if that's the case, I'll do what I can to find you a good spot."

Rimer sniggered. "Hahaha, geez, Fajio. What, did Archer knock you in the head or something?" He stood up, slinging the Gut-Grinder to his back. He crossed his arms, his pointed teeth bared. "You've yelled at me, attacked me, and made me bend to your dumbass whims since I've known you." He spat into the snow angrily before laughing again. He smiled. "Ah, fuck, I don't give a shit, hahaha. My sister's worse, and I don't care about that learning stuff, haha. GG and me just wanna tear it up, you know? Cutting it up, it just makes sense to me, haha, and at least you never tried to make me think I was bonkers or something because of it."

He walked over towards Fajio, scratching idly at his cheek. "Hahaha, no one else is gonna take me in a team, man. I'll stick around with you guys, hahahaha, and maybe we'll see if GG and me can help you 'cut your own path' or whatever you were going on about, hahaha!"

Fajio nodded to him before looking at Evegy, where she sat alone on the chest on the other side of the clearing. She was looking at them all and cut Fajio off before he could say anything. "Don't apologize to me," she said, looking at the snow angrily. "It's not like I could leave FEAR if I wanted to anyway."

Fajio looked at her silently for a moment. He wasn't sure how to respond to her, and yet she was the one who most needed to be rallied with the team. He felt a big hand on his shoulder and looked up at Azoo's bearded face. Fajio nodded.

Azoo cleared his throat. "Evegy," he said, "even if you can't get with another team you don't have to stay with us. You've had enough training at Beacon now, my grampa could find you a job as a solo agent if you want, even if you don't graduate."

Rimer spoke up too, now. "Or, if you want, haha, my dad's pretty big in the policing forces, hahaha, he could get you on as a detective or cop or something if you want." He laughed some more but gave one of the most genuine smiles Fajio had ever seen from him.

She looked between them doubtfully. Fajio cleared his throat. "Even after my reputation takes the hit it's due for what happened out here, I'll still have enough sway at the academy to have something done for you. I know how hard-up the Weqqs are, so if they wouldn't take you in, you could always stay with Simon while I convince the administration to hold back your classes. You could come back in a year or two and be teamed with some newbies who don't know you, and you could have a fresh start." Fajio found himself bitterly tasting the irony of it as he gave her the same advice he had rejected from Dr. von Vivian just before they had been sent on this ill-fated expedition. "You always have an option, Ms. Evegy." He swallowed. "After this you won't ever have to look at me again."

Evegy blinked and looked away. "I—"

A six-foot-tall stuffed rabbit toy covered in knives slammed into the ground between them, kicking up some snow as it let down Sarah and Widao from its clutching embrace. Widao immediately ran towards one of the chests with the rabbit behind her and made sure it was locked and shut so the toy could pick it up and leap into the air. There was a smallish black stealth flier hovering overhead in almost perfect silence.

"Time to go," Sarah said sternly as Widao shooed an abashed Evegy off the second chest.

There are too many people
In this wide, wide world
For all of us to be heroes
Or villains
Or somebodies
And so
That's why
We must do our best
Not to be lesser somebodies
But the most prominent
And most wonderful
nobodies
That we can possibly be.

Spoiler:

Evegy sat quietly along the back of the flier's interior while Woro's rabbit thing and Azoo worked together to wrestle the chests into some sort of overhead compartment. The flier wasn't large by any means and only had two rows of passenger seats with a pilot's seat and copilot's seat besides the overhead compartments, which in any case weren't meant for things as large as sea chests.

They had taken turns clinging to the rabbit's back as it leapt up towards the flier, and after it had brought Azoo up it had him help it secure the chests. Widao, Sarah, and Fajio were still on the ground below. Rimer was in the seat next to her, having the bandages on his arms undone by Alex, who had gotten the medical field kit out of under one of the other seats. Woro was sitting very still in the pilots seat, with her hands off the controls, evidently focusing on maintaining whatever it was that let her move the rabbit thing.

Evegy was still a little bothered by what had happened on the ground. She hadn't expected everyone to make offers to her like that, to help her leave if she wanted to. She had expected to be reprimanded, not pandered to like she was … was …

Popular?

She hadn't had anyone make offers to her like that since before she had gotten her faced messed up. People pretending to be her friends in exchange for attention and some of the social limelight that came with it. But FEAR never cared about popularity, and she was besides unable to provide that sort of social reward now. She was beginning to realize—really realize—that these three were more her friends than anyone had ever been for a long time.

"Rimer?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he said as Alex dabbed his roadburned arm with a cotton swab soaked in disinfectants.

"Did you mean what you said? About your dad getting me a job? You could make him do that?"

He hissed a moment as Alex jabbed him with a small needle. He looked at her a little worriedly. "I mean, yeah, if you're really gonna leave."

The rabbit thing teetered out the open door backwards, Woro's voice coming out of it with a "Whoopsie-daisy!" as Azoo made a grab for it and missed. Woro's voice could be heard outside as it fell. "Look out below!" There was a muffled thud and then Fajio's metal voice could be just barely heard in answer: "Too bad that didn't kill me." Woro's body turned around in its seat and said to Azoo, "It's okay kiddo, doesn't hurt Mistah Ouchy none. Go ahead and buckle up, I'll-a have him bring Fajio up after we finish sweeping." She turned back around and went back to sitting very still.

Azoo sat down in front of Evegy and buckled his seat-belt. She leaned forward and spoke to him. "Did you mean it, too, Azoo? That you could have your grandpa get me a job?"

He looked over his shoulder at her and nodded.

She sat back in her chair and nodded to herself. "Well, okay." With her handkerchief over her mouth she knew they couldn't see her smiling, but she smiled at them anyway. "That's good and all, but I think I'll stay with FEAR. I mean, the team does need its feminine touch," she said, getting her confidence back. She crossed her arms, now, the spirit back in her voice. "Besides, without me, you guys couldn't get very FAR."

She chuckled at her own joke and after a moment to follow what she'd said Rimer started laughing to, interrupting Alex's attempt to rewrap his bandages. Azoo shook his head, smiling, and said, "We're all a part of FEAR." He turned in his seat and looked at Evegy and Rimer sternly. "You saw what happened when we played it by EAR." He smiled.

Evegy found herself laughing at the sheer absurdity of hearing something like that come from Azoo of all people. Alex finished with the laughing Rimer's arm and stood up, rolling his eyes. "I suppose laughter is the best medicine."

"Oh, ease up, Alex," Woro said without moving. "I'm sure ya'd get it too if you SAWW what happened!"

They all laughed some more as Alex twirled the end of his mustache, unamused. "And you wonder why my hair's gray."

At that, the rabbit thing leapt into the flier with Fajio in its arms, and Alex had it set him into the seat next to Rimer as soon as he saw the blood on his pants. "Your dossier said you were contrarian, Mr. Fajio, but I admit I hadn't expected you to go getting maimed specifically because I told you to be careful with that leg." The rabbit left out the door again.

He pushed Fajio back into the seat when he would have leaned forward, and pulled a pair of scissors out of the field kit. Fajio jammed one of his barrels between Alex and his leg. "What are you doing?"

"I'm cutting open your pants," Alex said impatiently. "How else would you have me treat your leg?" The rabbit came back in with Sarah and Widao and they both went to the seats by Azoo before turning around to see what all the fuss was about. The rabbit dragged the door shut and shut itself behind some sort of bar built into the inside of it before going limp. Woro turned around in her seat now. "Y'all about done back there?" she asked.

"Just about, Worojiji," Alex said and made another move to cut off Fajio's pants. He blocked again. "Now, Mr. Fajio, you are being less than cooperative."

Fajio looked around the cabin at everyone looking at him, exasperated. Widao smiled at him. "Huhuhu, you're not shy are you~?"

Sarah turned back around in her seat, facing forward and rolling her eyes. "Eyes forward, Widao, Fajio would rather bleed to death than let any of us see he's human under that stuff. Woro, get us home, Alex can work while you fly if you keep it steady."

"Can do," the plump woman said before turning around and flipping some switches. The flier eased into motion, pulling up steeply until it had breached above the wintery cloud cover.

Evegy couldn't help throwing a curious glance in Alex's direction, but Rimer leaned forward, smiling and blocking her view. "Nothing but blood and gore, hahaha," he said. "You wouldn't want to see it, haha."

Alex's shrewd voice came now as he started cleaning the wound, his gloves and sleeves still unnaturally white and unspeckled with the blood. "I'm inclined to think you only ever take your stuff off when the situation absolutely demands it, Mr. Fajio, there are far too many old wounds all over your skin here. You realize of course that I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't check your whole body for similarly neglected areas."

Widao made some sort of humming noise and Fajio cried, "Like hell! You can wait for a proper medical room if you're going that far!"

Evegy looked past Widao and Azoo and out the windshield, out at the blue-white sky. FEAR might be a bunch of weirdos and screw-ups, but at least she could be one of them, too, and know that they were there for her like no one else had been. "Not like anyone wants to see that anyway, Rectum," she said in that snappish way she used to, smiling.

 

[Crow]

x

Natalie Star

CH 1 · 1 PT

---

Anger Management​

Time to train... I can slip past the staff in these trees... Just have to time my launches...

With a powerful leap, Star quickly threw a hand downward and flicked at the air below her. Sure enough, she propelled herself forward with a small blast, though she lost control of the spin and landed roughly on a branch, nearly knocking the wind out of her lungs. Slowly pulling herself up, she clutched a hand over her heart. Irregular heartbeat still... She clenched her hand into a fist. Doesn't matter. I'll fight through it. Three years... If I made it through that, I can't be stopped. Heart-pounding slowing back to normal, Star dropped down from the trees and picked up into a sprint. Once far enough into the plains, she drew her weapon.

"THIS IS FOR THE LOOKS AND STARES, *******!!" The fury looked to actually burn in her eyes and hair, as both began to glow brightly, the ground below her seemed to compress and crack into a slight crater. She flicked her bat in a circular motion, the handle bending 90 degrees off the remainder of the bat. As the massive size of the end seemed to span down the whole bat, Star held up the front and handle as it grew over her shoulder into a large bazooka. She let out a furious battlecry as a star-shaped sight flipped out from the side in front of her eye, and as she burned ever brighter, large balls of light launched from the tube into the nearby plateau, shot by shot blasting craters into the side of the natural structures. Explosions blew up in an overdone blast of light, booming sound, and Star's angry shouting. The wind force of the shots blew wind behind her, seemingly of no affect to her position. However, as her shouting grew louder, her hair and eyes brighter, the small crater below her slowly sank a bit deeper.

A werewolf-looking Grimm appeared from behind the half-destroyed plateau, clearly bothered and charging for Star. What looked to be fury just a moment earlier, turned to a somewhat devilish grin, almost overjoyed in a sadistic sort of expression. "BONUS POINTS, BRING IT ON LOSER!!" She shouted, violent delight in her tone. As it approached, she rose to a stand flipping her weapon around as it shifted back into a bat. In her pirouette she readied her swing and, upon colliding with its head, a brilliant explosion of light erupted from the swing, and off into the nearby distance the Grimm was launched. Without hesitation, she flipped and went back to a kneel with her now bazooka. As the Grimm began to rise from its crashing point, Star took aim and launched a burst of three consecutive shots, blowing the Grimm to less than appealing chunks. Star let out a finishing war cry, though this one seemed much more joyous. Standing and sheathing her weapon, she fell back to a kneel somewhat, clutching her heart once more.

It was pounding furiously. She couldn't hold back a pained expression, though forced herself back to a stand, panting somewhat trying to regain a more regular heartbeat. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the faintest glance of a glowing eye nearby. Multiple, in fact, after she turned to face them and squinted for focus. They didn't seem like normal ey-- Ooooohh... Panting slowing to a stop as she casually approached them, she chuckled, half-nervously, half-sincere giggles. "Um... Won't tell anyone you're here if you don't tell 'em I'm here.. Deal?"

​

.

 

[Khawill]

IN and LGHT​

Spoiler:

Nina, Lauren, and Nara
Menagerie
GAIN and LGHT​

​

​

After a long and arduous trial to get the two twins into better shape, Dahlia and her crew had the twins lying in bed recuperating from their severe injuries. Now that everything had finally settled down and her mind was off of ensuring that they would not die from shock, the status of the two twins were stable, with one of the two unconscious. She asked gently, "What is your name?"


Nina looked down, unable to speak for a moment, "I-is she going to live?" Nina responded, feeling anxiety about her condition.


In a soft, comforting voice, the doctor answered, "Yes, she is indeed going to live. She is unconscious, but stable. I can assure you she is fine. She is in good hands."


Nina relaxed a little bit, and meekly answered, "My name is Nina…"


"Nina...okay." She fumbled in her lab coat pocket, and pulled out the blood soaked pages. "You put these in my pocket when you came to me. Let's see…" She skimmed what she could of the legible parts of the page, before adopting a surprised look on her face. "Lauren,,,?"


"It was a list of people Archer wanted to protect." Nina said, feeling increasingly more ashamed, "But he doesn't know that he's being used. A-are you there person who helped him before?"


Dahlia's face changed, adopting a sterner look. "Yes. I did indeed help this Archer. What do you know of him?" Her words were more measured and curt than before.


"He's, he's our team leader." Nina said, knowing that it was risky, but not willing to lie.


"So you are a part of the team that I saw on the broadcast this morning. You're damn lucky that I didn't notice that you were human in the heat of the moment. Otherwise, you'd be as good as dead." Her icy words were marked with a standoffish look, concealing her anger, frustration and pain on behalf of her daughter.


"I know I shouldn't have came to you for help, we don't deserve it." Nina said, looking down, "But she's all I have, and the fourth member of our team was the one who attacked her… I can't trust anyone here or on my team." Nina began to tear up in frustration and emotional pain.


Dahlia's face softened, but her words were still measured. "You do sound like you're telling the truth…" She looked up thoughtfully, before facing Nina again. "But that doesn't make any sense. Why would they want to attack you? And more importantly, how do I know this isn't some cover story for your team?"


"Archer became friends with someone who promised to help him save faunus, but Ilexa stole her journal, and found out she has been lying." Nina replied, "She's been giving Archer this medicine that's making him more and more violent, and I think she wants him to snap." Nina thought for a moment, and panic began to swell up inside of her, "She wants Lauren to kill Archer, I think she's going to do something to you."


Dahlia pinched the bridge of her nose, "First it's the damn Mercardis, now it's this person who wants to mess with us...who the hell is this person anyways? Why would she promise Archer to protect Faunus only to betray them?"


"Maybe she doesn't care." Nina said, "Gaige said she was a monster, and that's why he liked her, I think she sees Archer as a toy…"


While she no longer saw Archer in the same way, still holding onto the residual resentment and distrust for humans like her daughter, she couldn't reasonably come up with any explanation for why she would be deceiving her, especially when Nina seemed sincere in her anxieties and coming to Menagerie for treatment would not benefit her with the immediate danger it possessed. "Do you have any idea what she has in mind for our family? You mentioned she wanted Lauren to kill Archer."


Nina nodded, "Lauren tried to kill him before, I think Isa wants her to do it and succeed. Archer… Archer cares a lot more about Lauren than most, but I know he pushed her away."


Dahlia snorted. "That's...putting it lightly. I know Lauren had to sacrifice a lot to do that, and for him to betray us...you can imagine we're not the happiest with humans. It's either apathy or hate for us."


"If I may speak on behalf of my te- no, just my sister and Archer, we don't hate or feel apathy for faunus, I grew up with just my sister in a slum, and I know what it's like to have society abandon and despise you. I know that when Archer isn't taking his medicine, he's unable to sleep, he hasn't done anything pleasant or fun with us since our first mission when Gaige got that faunus shot."


All of a sudden, Dahlia exclaimed, "What?! Don't tell me...you don't mean...Rosa, do you?"


"I didn't learn her name, I-I was injured and unconscious, Ilexa told me everything afterwards." Nina said, a little surprised by the sudden exclamation, "B-but she was the only faunus our team encountered before the island…"


She growled, "That bastard, this Gaige is the bastard who shot my best friend! This entire time, and he was in cahoots with Archer!"


"Ilexa told me that they were hiding until I got better, but somehow they were found… Gaige said that he set Archer up for tragedy, and now I think he had told the town about where we were." Nina said, feeling a tinge of fear.


Furious, Dahlia fumed at this development. "This ****er! He's so much of a coward he even blamed his own teammates and left me and my daughter without my friend. I have absolutely nothing but contempt for that creature you call a human!" Her voice only rose a little, but her anger was quite apparent, dripping from every word.


Nina shook in fear, "He beat both of us without even trying, he's going to get Archer killed, and Ilexa and I are too useless to do anything." Nina began to cry again, "I don't know what to do, not even humans would help me, not after Archer had us break all those faunus out of prison."


Calming down some, Dahlia composed herself and sighed deeply. "I am going to get Lauren over here immediately. She deserves to know what's going on. In the meantime…" She toned her words to a softer tone. "We will see about what to do, but please, relax. It can only help your recovery."


After a terse call via scroll to Lauren, she was summoned with immediacy and barely ten minutes later she appeared in the hospital. She stormed in fairly angry, exclaiming at the conscious twin, "What the hell are you two doing on Menagerie?"


"I know you saw what Archer did." Nina replied, "We came here to make sure Archer was safe."


Lauren replied with contempt. "Yeah, he's real safe as a monster on Menagerie with hate on both sides. Nothing less than he deserves."


Nina nodded, "Everybody does hate him, everyone hates him and he can't even control himself." Nina looked up at Lauren, "You hate him too now don't you?"


"Yes. And I wish to make sure he and his kind is out of my life for good." She seemed somewhat hesitant with her words, but was still angry nonetheless.


"I'm sorry." Nina said quietly.


With a note of hostility, she replied, "Are you really?"


Dahlia stepped in, firmly saying, "Enough. Hear her out Lauren. She has a lot of information that is invaluable to us.


"I am sorry." Nina snapped, "I don't want Archer doing any of this either, and I know something about you doesn't either. Why don't you look at my eyes and tell me what you see."


Lauren refused to meet her eyes and with her voice wavering, the dolphin faunus said, "You're w-wrong. I don't care for him anymore. He's a monster, and a two-bit liar using us for his own goals!"


Nina kept looking at her, "How did he use you?" She asked, "When he sprung you from the human camp, he took my eyesight, and risked himself and our trust just to save a faunus stranger, and I couldn't see him with my own eyes, but I know he came back much worse off, and he didn't lie to us, he didn't make excuses, he told us what happened." Nina took a breath and leaned in, "Tell me what you notice about my eyes."


Reluctantly, the faunus took a look and stuttered out, "Th-th-they're…"


"They had to be removed, Archer spent a lot of time looking for a solution before he begged his father for help… His dad wasn't interested until Archer did something more extreme."


"Solution?"


"Archer is a good inventor, but his dad was above the rest, but his father didn't have any interest in helping me… you captured Archer before didn't you?"


Lauren nodded. "That is correct."


"Surely you must have noticed his eyes were different?"


"Yes…"


"Archer has no regard for his own life, so what makes you think he'd ever feel like he needs to use people." Nina responded, sure Lauren got the implication.


Lauren vehemently shook her head and clenched her fist. "No, no, no, no! Not this again. I am not buying this crap! How dare you patronize me by suggesting that."


"I don't need to suggest it, what other type of person would commit actions that he does. He could do better, his decisions are not always the best, but he strives for what he thinks is good for others."


"Stop...you're not helping…" It was clear the Lauren was torn, and certainly on something a little deeper than expected.


"I know." Nina sighed, "My sister and I can't do anything, and Archer is only going to get used more. I'm not trying to get you to change your mind, maybe it isn't my place to do that, but I'll still take Archer's side, because I know how much he cries at night, and I know the kind of people that he grew up around."


Lauren couldn't help but have her guard lowered after spending so much energy fighting with herself and muttered, "I...don't know what else to say. This is all news to me."


"My sister is lying there, and she almost died because someone on our team tried to kill her." Nina said, "I'm confused and frustrated too."


The dolphin faunus sat on a nearby stool and faced Nina. "Y'know, maybe we do have more in common." She looked aside. "You'll have to forgive my attitude, I'm usually not such a bummer to be around."


Nina smiled a little bit, "If things settle out and he's still around, Archer is going to have to wear every single dress and swimsuit I buy him, and he'll have to apologize on his knees to you."


Lauren covered her mouth, chuckling at the thought. But her laughter was short lived and she reverted to a serious tone. "I can't imagine how it feels to almost lose a sibling. This world we're living in is so damn cruel, isn't it?"


"Well I'm lucky in a sense, if she dies, I wouldn't live much longer afterwards, but the world is exceptionally full of cruelty."


Thoughtfully, Lauren spoke aloud. "These sorts of hardships are sort of new to me. I've always lived a great life back on Vale. I had to hide my identity, but I lived well off, with a loving family and a supporting community. Only in the past two years have I had to deal with the problems of our kind. I'm...a bit lost."


"All we know is that we didn't stop having hardships until we were adopted, and I kind of regret becoming a huntress."


"Ya do?"


"Don't you think it have had been better to meet us as some normal shopkeepers or as neighbors. Maybe a small town, where the worst thing Archer ever did was get in a fight with a bully, and our biggest worry wasn't whether grimm would kill us or our friends." Nina said, "Maybe it's selfish, but I'd prefer that to… all of this."


Her voice wavered at the mention of this ideal place. "That was my life. I lived in a small town in Vale and I'd give anything to have it back, except...without the hatred that had me and my family humiliatingly deported on some godforsaken rock."


"I know I said I didn't have the right to ask you for help… but I want to try and save Archer, and stop him from doing anything worse, and when I do, I think I'll drag him away from it all, by force if I have to." Nina looked up at Lauren, "Maybe start a town away from the cities, away from the schools."


Beginning to tear up, Lauren said, "I don't know...this is all so much to take in…" Quickly trying to stop crying, Lauren took a deep breath and continued. "I frankly don't know what to do. I've tried so, so hard, but I still feel like a little girl playing grown up. I mean, look at how emotional I get."


"Yeah, you cry as much as he does." Nina laughed lightly, "Well, that makes me feel good that you probably won't kill him."


She slumped her shoulders and sighed. "I learned my lesson after the island. I can't sink to that level."


"Please stay that way, I think Isa wants to find a way to push you to kill him."


Nara burst into the room at this point, she had come with Nilya to check up on the widow, but quickly heard there were two humans in Dahlia's clinic. "Who are you two? What are you doing here?" asked Nara defensively. Nilya stood on the other side of the wall listening, but remained unseen by the others.


"I-I'm Nina." She said, completely startled, "I came here because I didn't want my sister to die…"


With Nara coming in, Lauren looked up and called out to her. "Nara! Oh my god, there is so much to explain here."


"What do you need to explain?" asked Nara eyeing the twins with a distrustful glare.


Nina explained as much as she could, as truthfully as she could, "We got her list, but Gaige took her journal after he tried to, tried to kill Ilexa." Nina looked and Nara, "You look a lot like Nilya." She said.


"We are twins," replied Nara softly. She looked over at Lauren and added, "What do you think about all this?"


Hesitantly, Lauren said, "I think she is telling the truth here. I've talked with her long enough to make me think she isn't lying to us, certainly not with her twin in dire straits." She gestured to the unconscious sister of Nina.


Nina suddenly remembered something, and quickly said, "C-could you tell Nilya that Amane snuck with us to the jail, but didn't come out? Gaige said she left on her own but…"


Nilya decided to make her appearance at this point and appeared in the doorway. Her face was her normally friendly smile, but her voice was as cold as ice, "I do not care what happens to her, nor do I care what happens to Archer. Amane decided to betray me when she helped you. Archer has dug his own grave with his stubborn foolishness. He pushed away and ignored those who wanted to help him, and chose to associate with those who seek to destroy him. Those are his decisions and his mistakes. He has proven himself unwilling to listen to reason. I refuse to waste any more time or energy trying to save that fool, when those I care about more are at risk. As for Isa, if she thinks she can harm those on that list I care about, she is fatally wrong."


Nara looked confused as she looked at Lauren then Nilya, but did not say anything.


Lauren spoke up. "I care what happens to these girls if they are not even on board with this shift in direction. They want nothing to do with this mayhem as much as I don't, but I'm not sure how much choice we have left."


Nina hung her head down, "Archer didn't know they wanted to hurt him." She said quietly, "We can't go home, not until Gaige is gone and Archer stops, so…" Nina took a breath, "If you'll allow us, my sister and I will do whatever needs to be done to atone for our part in this." She sighed, "We could've been a voice of reason before he got out of hand, but we didn't do well enough."


"Archer would not have listened to you. He is blinded by his guilt, ignorance, and self absorbed nature. I agree Gaige and Archer need to be stopped to protect the faunus living here. Lauren, I would recommend gathering your team as soon as possible to deal with this situation," replied Nilya.


"As soon as Gaige and Isa find Archer, they'll leave with him." Nina said, "Archer told me that we would go into hiding in Mistral, but I don't even know if I was lied to at this point."


Feeling conflicted between Nilya's and Nina's views on the matter, Lauren said, "I wouldn't count on Archer's words with what he's been doing about hiding Mistral. It probably would be a trap."


Nilya looked over at Nara to see how her sister was reacting to this. Nara believed her opinion was likely more important to Lauren than any of the others in this matter. "I do not think we should trust Archer," said Nara softly after a few seconds of silence. "Even if he means well… he is listening to someone who wants to harm us, and is under the influence of some strange drugs that modify your emotions. Drugs that he believes he needs to maintain control of himself… if he is right he is dangerous to not only himself but others, and I am sure his "friends" know that and will use it against anyone who tries to help him," added the solemn Nara.


Looking sadly at Nina, Lauren reaffirmed what Nara said. "Indeed, that's why I hated him. Pushing me away even as I wanted to help him and him not listening to my pleas. And to have it all turn out like this...even these two see how badly Archer is screwing up. But...my stupid emotions keep getting in the way of everything. Taking me this way, that way, and back again."


"Emotions can be both beneficial and a hinderance, but you have to be in control of them enough to make the best decisions. Everyone makes mistakes Lauren, just learn from them and strive to be better. I invested trust into Archer as well, but he showed me why I hid myself from others. Archer had his chance for our help and friendship, but he threw it away in favor of surrounding himself with enemies," replied Nilya. She then turned to face Nina, "I understand you have a deeper bond with him. I do not blame you for wanting to help him, but I am unwilling to help him. I have those in my life who I care about greatly that I am driven to protect, and that is where I will focus my energy."


Nara looked at Lauren with pity and said, "I know you likely feel something for him, and a part of you wants to rescue him. I just do not know if you can… Yes, you can save him from his enemies now, but I do not think you can save him from himself."


Sighing, Lauren replied, "You're right Nara. My stupidly kind heart can't entirely hate Archer. I never told anyone about it. But I bet there were some signs, huh Nara? I'm always terrible at hiding things."


"It was the fact you were considering helping him, and the hope in your eyes after talking with this human. After all he has done, you still want to help him, " replied Nara with a sorrowful tone of voice.


Lauren looked aside and mumbled. "...Yes. I've been very bipolar about it. I've both legitimately hated Archer while also legitimately wanting to help him."


Nilya glided up next to Lauren and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and whispered in a soft soothing tone, "It is okay to feel such strong emotions when you invested so much trust and a little of yourself into someone. I cannot understand the pain you are in, but I am truly sorry for my part in it."


Nina looked between them, "If it means anything, Archer really does hope he can help, but he doesn't know he's being used… I-if we can get him to get away from Isa and Gaige, maybe he'll listen? I mean he'll have to listen to all of us right?"


The dolphin faunus faced Nina and looked a bit somberly at her. "Where do we even begin on such an odious task? Those bastards probably have a ton of stuff hanging over our heads. I mean, why else would Isa expect me to kill Archer?"


""Well… they don't know Ilexa and I are alive." Nina said, "Maybe we could be used as bait?"


"How so?"


"Well, if Gaige hears that we lived, maybe he will come after us?"


Nilya listened quietly before asking Lauren, "Do you really want to save him after he betrayed you? They can give you hopes that he will come around, but did you not talk to him without his "manipulators" around? Did he not plan this behind your back as he built your friendship then tore it down? Did you not give him a chance to escape this fate, but instead he endangered your life and the lives of your team so he could fulfill his own desires. He might be manipulated, but he chose that path. Also how can we trust these women to not be tricking us?"


The dolphin faunus sighed and winced at the comments made by Nilya. "I can only be sure that these humans are telling the truth at least about their struggles. There is nothing to gain from them nearly dying and being here. There could have been ten better ways to deceive us if this was a trick, and I highly doubt a member who cares about their team would lead them to their intentional death. They would not be on the side of Isa."


"I just want to get away, but I don't want to just leave Archer with those two." Nina pleaded, "I know you don't have a reason to trust me, but I'm willing to do anything to at least try to get your trust."


Nilya looked locked eye contact with Nina and as she stared at the woman with an icy stare she spoke in a cold uncaring tone, "You had your chance. Instead you humiliated one of my former team members, the one that I trust and actually has a good heart. Then you ignored me when I tried to modify a plan to help faunus that did not risk putting our kind in greater danger. Now you only want my trust because you want to use me and my abilities."


Nilya stance and glare slowly turned hostile as she continued, "Now you are pulling at Lauren's emotions to get her to help you. You only want our trust now that you need our help. You are no different than many of the other "friendly" humans out there. You are only nice because you want to use us. You are not our friends and you do not deserve any trust."


Nilya turned to Lauren her anger finally showing in her eyes, "You admitted it yourself your emotions are being toyed with. When have these women ever helped us? Helped faunus? You and Nara tore into me because of my marriage with a human. A human who has shown he is willing to make real sacrifices help faunus. Now you are listening to them and considering helping a human who betrayed you. Who took you compassion and loyalty and ruined you with it."


"They are ripping open that terrible emotional wound Archer created in the hopes of using you. Let Archer meet his fate, he chose it. He deserves what is coming to him. He does not care about you. He only cares about himself and satisfying his guilt complex. Why should we risk our lives helping him when faunus lives are at risk? Should we not be devoting time to help our kind instead of saving that fool from himself? Remember how he repaid you and your mother when you last helped him?" added Nilya in an increasingly angry tone. Nara stared at her sister in shock as she let her calm demeanor fade in the favor of her pent up anger.


"I'm not asking for your help because you're faunus, I'm asking for your help because you're the only people I can trust." Nina said begging to tear up, "Of course I'm going to follow my team, what else would I do?! I'm not as smart as everyone else, all I'm good at is fighting, I didn't know they were lying."


Lauren looked helplessly between the two, hurt by her own actions concerning how she treated Nilya. "Nilya, I'm sorry, I didn't mean--"


"Ladies, let us move on from this emotional stalemate and figure out a viable solution to this situation," said a calm voice that was all too familiar to Lauren and Nara. The male faunus stepped briskly into the room as his wings stretched out a little. "These girls need help saving Archer, but why should we?" asked Gareth his normal emotion lacking tone dancing off the walls.


"The answer is simple: payment. Not with money of course, since Nilya has that covered, but with favors. Favors that in turn be used to help save faunus, or whatever you each want," said the faunus as he paced in the room. Looking over at Nina he said, "You trust us so there is no risk we would abuse such a request."


He looked over at Nilya and added, "I can insure their loyalty that they will not betray us." His gaze shifted to Nina's sister as he added, "Not without paying a great price."


"So each faunus who helps gets a favor of their choosing from the twins. In return we help save your overly dramatic friend. Heavy price but the risk of our lives for another life it seems like a fair trade do you not think?" asked Gareth as he stood in the middle of the room.


Nina shivered as Gareth spoke, and her face showed slight disgust, "Who are you?" She asked, feeling like Gareth reminded her a bit of Gaige.


"I am Gareth… Lauren's and Nara's newest teammate. I see I have already left a poor impression on you. I admit I am not what most would call a good man, and I do not care. I am however loyal, " replied the faunus noticing the human's reacting to him.


Nina shook her head, "No, I'm sorry, I have no right to be so rude, you just remind me of a not so loyal teammate." Nina sighed, "What kind of favor would you have from someone like us?"


"Help with a personal project. Likely in the form of protection or gathering of ingredients that are difficult to acquire. I do not know the specifics yet as I have not finished my research," replied Gareth.


Nilya still looked upset as she said, "I do not need nor want their help. I am beginning to question why I am even here."


Lauren looked over at Gareth a bit warily and said nothing as she hung her head. She couldn't face Nilya for her own hypocrisy.


"Nilya I won't ask you to help me if you aren't willing." Nina said, "I know it's a ridiculous request. Still, I'd at least like to earn your forgiveness for my sister and me, so if there's anything you need us to do, I'll make sure it gets done if I can do it."


"You have asked and I rejected your request. Now you are begging Lauren and Nara," replied Nilya coldly. "My position is clear on this matter, there is no reason for me to be here any longer," added Nilya as she turned and left the room. Nara looked at Lauren then toward Nilya with an uneasy look.


Nina sighed sadly, "I didn't mean to cause friction between you guys." She said guiltily, "When Ilexa wakes up, I guess we'll just go and try to find somewhere to survive, I'm sorry to have bother you all."


Finally, Lauren spoke up and said, "I guess you might have just us then. I really want to make it up to Nilya about what I've done though…"


"If I go… Nilya will likely follow but just to make sure I stay safe, " muttered Nara still unsure how to feel or what to do.


Gareth looked at Nina and asked, "I am guessing that is a no to my offer then?"


"If you guys are willing to help, I'd appreciate it, but I don't know what we can do." Nina replied, "I don't want to risk your lives."


Lauren then sighed and said, "Maybe I shouldn't have said yes. My mind is spinning, I can't think straight."


"Perhaps we should talk in private without the human trying to sway us, " offered Nara.


Looking back at Nina, Lauren nodded and wordlessly excused the two of them to talk in privacy outside.


Nara looked around for Nilya, but did not see her. "Sorry, Lauren but I can see how your emotions are pulling at you. I think you… we need to do some soul searching. It's clear now that you still care for Archer and their words gave you hope he is not so bad. Perhaps he isn't…" continued Nara clearly struggling with her words.


"Lauren why do you want to save him? One minute you hate him… now you want to risk everything to save him," added the conflicted Nara.


"I care, but to what extent I don't know."


Nara frowned as she asked, "What are you going to do? I will be there to support you the best I can, even if it means never seeing Nilya again."


Looking at Nara, Lauren exclaimed, "I'm going to make it up to Nilya and help Archer. I need to see Varik. I feel like such a coward for hating her husband and considering this offer, so I don't want to face your sister directly."


"Varik is currently on a mission for his corporate allies… Nilya tried contacting him before we came here and she was told he is in the middle of a classified mission," replied Nara unsure what Lauren was planning to do.


Gareth watched the two faunus leave and focused on Nina, "How do you like those machine eyes of yours? Do you want to see with real eyes again? I can make it so."


Nina shook her head, "I move too fast for my old vision to process, I do miss having my old eyes, but I can't go back yet. Not to mention, Archer gave a lot to get these."


"Would he not want to see you whole again? No more grim reminder of his mistake, and you will once again share your sister's eyes. Lastly they would look like your old eyes, but be better. Human eyes are lacking when compared to those of most of my kin," replied Gareth his tone neutral


Nina shook her head, "It doesn't really sound appealing to me, it's almost creepy."


"Process is I agree creepy. However when others look at your eyes now they will consider you creepy. I can remove that by giving you normal looking eyes. No one else has to know how it happened, and at least then you do not have to worry about being seen as the strange looking twin," replied Gareth slowly growing more interested in the process of trying to convince Nina to accept his help than actually doing it.


"What's wrong with being the weird twin?" Nina asked, "I'm not the only one with eyes like this anyways."


Gareth replied, "Considering who I am talking to. I would guess the justification of potential mates always preferring your sister over you would not be a convincing argument. Anyway with how things seem to be going you soon will be the only one with eyes like that." The raven faunus stretched out his wings once again before adding, "I should head out and assist cleaning up your friend's mess. Dull work, but comes with the title." He then turned and started toward the door slowly as he retrieved his vast tome from his belt and began writing in it.


Nina giggled, "Ilexa and I don't like the same type of people." She said as Gareth walked away, "Can I help? With the clean up?"


Gareth replied, "I doubt you would want to hear my solution to your human problem that prevents you from doing any good here, so no." He stopped moving but did not turn around.


"I'm fast and I'm strong, I can move debris and help any faunus who need it!" Nina said defiantly.


"You are human, and you are not welcome here. Many faunus see humans as greater enemies than even the Grimm. If you want to help you have to become a faunus. At least in appearance," added Gareth wondering if the girl was catching on to what he was suggesting.


"So I need like a tail or something?" Nina asked, looking around, "Or ears maybe?"


"Yes," replied Gareth glancing over his shoulder at Nina.


"Well, then I can do that right?" Nina said, "If it only matters on the outside."


"I doubt anyone will be testing DNA to prove what you are as long as you look the part. Do you want my assistance in this manner?" asked the raven faunus still not moving.


"Yeah, I feel like I should at least do something." Nina said with certainty.


"So what do you want?" asked Gareth turning around a the edges of his lips barely moving upward.


"What? Uh, I guess I'd look really cute with a big fluffy squirrel tail?" Nina said.


Gareth stared at Nina silently for a second before adding, "A bold choice, but no one will question you with a tail like that. Let me get something to help." Gareth then left the room. A minute later he returned with a stolen syringe and added, "For the pain… while I am used to it, most find it excessive. Unless you prefer to not be drugged for this."


"Is that clean?" Nina asked, "I know a lot of trouble came from friends on the street who didn't work with clean ones."


"Yes," replied Gareth as he walked over to Nina and gently took her arm. Skillfully pressing the needle into her skin, he injected her with the medication. "I would recommend laying on your stomach," added Gareth.


Nina felt numb and laid forward, "You should give me ears too so Gaige and Isa won't recognize me as easily." Nina said, her utterance of their names venomous.


"Might want to wear sunglasses then as well. Your eyes are dead giveaways. Faunus might question them, but all you need is a believable sob story how some grimm or human tore your eyes out," responded Gareth calmly as his palms opened up revealing a mouth like orifice with an eye in the middle of it. He carefully began to weave his semblance so it looked more like brilliant strings of energy instead of fire. Pressing the strings into Nina's lower back he slowly began the mutation process.


At first growing the tail bone out took several long painful minutes to get any sort of progress. Once the bone tore through Nina's skin, Gareth had good control of Nina's body as a warming sensation flowed through most of her body before collecting around her new growing tail. Bones came first followed by thin strings of veins, muscles, and nerves, and finally a layer of skin began to wrap around the new addition. Gareth then coaxed the tail to quickly grow hair before he moved to her head and quickly grew a pair of ears.


The whole process was painful despite the drugs, and very draining to Nina as her body was forced through rapid mutations to grow extra body parts. "Rest I will get you something to eat," said Gareth calmly as he stood up. The faunus smiled as he left the room. Experiment successful, Nina would be considered a faunus from now on. A DNA test would prove her humanity, but with the tail and ears no one would consider checking such things.


Returning with a small tray of food Gareth's face had returned to his normal state as he said, "Here is some food. I am sorry if it's not up to the standards you're used to at Beacon. The tail will take some time getting used to as it will throw off your center of balance, but with time you should find it actually improves your balance."


Nina was still shaking from the pain, although it wasn't the worst she'd ever felt. "Thank you for the food." She said as she ate, the quality of food completely irrelevant to her. She took a deep breath and tried to get on her feet, swaying a bit and using the bed for stability. Her tail touched the night stand and she jumped a bit, surprised by the feeling. She looked behind her and moved her tail a bit, and the touched it, "It's real..." She said, touching her new ears, "This is too crazy."


Gareth nodded and said, "Genetically you are human, but everyone will see you as faunus." The faunus decided to not give Nina all the details of her transformation at this time. He was rather curious how his companions would receive her knowing her before her transformation.


"Well I have no idea what that means." Nina said, taking a few steps to test her balance, "This is extremely awkward."


"You will get used to it, or so you should hope," replied Gareth.


"Hmm…" Lauren simply mulled over the info and stood thinking for a while before being unable to get out of the circular and illogical thinking that her mind was taking her. "Then it'd be best not interfere in that. Maybe there's some other way...." Her mind seemed to be everywhere from the look on her face and seemed absolutely frazzled.


"Why do you not want to talk to Nilya directly?" asked Nara.


"I can't face her after I spat in the face of her human husband while I'm considering this offer."


"I understand, I honestly do not know what to do either. You are my best friend so I will help you any way I can, but I feel guilty after attacking Nilya like that," replied Nara.


Shaking her head as if to clear the fogginess in her head, Lauren tried to mentally snap out of her conflicted emotions and said, "I appreciate it, Nara. I really do. Tell me, am I a good leader? I have made so many bad decisions and seemingly at risk for making more bad ones. I feel like a leader wouldn't leave all of this mess behind and y'know, take charge of the entire thing and begin fixing things. And on top of that, I wouldn't leave innocent people at risk, whether it's you, Nilya, Archer, or those two girls. Sorry, I'm rambling right now, I don't know, maybe I'm a great leader but I just need to get all this off of my chest. Maybe that's what I really need."


"I think you're a good leader," replied Nara not sure if she was giving her friend the right answer or the answer she believed Lauren wanted to hear. "However I would not call Archer innocent. Like Nilya said he brought this on himself. Also not sure I would call Nilya innocent after last night," added Nara.


Lauren nodded in agreement, and added, "Indeed. She was very brutal even for the sort of thing we were dealing with. Had I not intervened, she seemed ready to snap and kill that woman." Returning the conversation back to Archer, she also added a statement of agreement there. "And Archer has done a lot that rests with him, I agree there. Getting mixed up with Gaige and the others. Following all that stuff. Not accepting our help." She frowned, furrowing her brows in thought. "There's no denying all these problems. Grgh, these strong feelings, why why why am I still holding on? Just...urgh." Her declaration of frustration certainly came out of denial of some kind.


Nara stared at Lauren for a second and then asked in a whisper, "Lauren, do you love Archer?"


Defensively, Lauren replied, "What, no! I don't love him! He was just a friend, that's all. I'm sure you know that I care for you a lot as a friend, and that is how it is-urgh, was- with Archer."


Nara's right ear perked up and she replied, "We have known each other for years Lauren. You and Archer know each other for a few months, and the last time you interacted with him he betrayed you, attacked your team, and kidnapped me. Not sure if you can build a friendship that strong on so little time."


"W-we had our ways. I-I mean, why would I still love him after all that stuff. I-I certainly don't see it."


Nara shrugged, "I do not know but your emotional connection to him is strange considering everything that has happened. I guess I asked because I feel like love can often be blinding and strange."


Lauren replied, "It really is. B-but could it really be, that I love him? That is just so...confusing and really, really stupid of me."


Nara looked concerned as she replied, "That is only a question you can answer, but it's an important question to find the answer to."


Absentmindedly, Lauren said, "It'd explain a lot. We did have some really nice talks…" She then shook her head vigorously. "N-nevermind that. Focus on this."


"Focus on what?" asked Nara as her ears perked up showing her curiosity.


"On...erm, nothing. Just talking to myself."


Nara sighed and said, "Well a decision needs to be made on what we should do. You know my stance, but I feel you should make the final decision."


Lauren replied, a bit defeated. "I know. Decision time." Sighing deeply, Lauren finally had her decision. "Putting aside all of these confusing emotions, I say...we help him. He may have burned me, but I can't give up. And we can do it without burning other bridges. Trust me!"


"Okay, but we need to figure out how not to burn the bridge with Nilya. I am still mad at her, but she is my twin. I still share a strong bond with her despite all that has happened," replied Nara with a heavy sigh. She did not like Lauren's response, but she was going to help regardless. "We should get Tilki and Gareth on board as well. We will need all the help we can get, plus sometimes the best way to fight a monster is to use your own monster."


The dolphin faunus nodded. "Understood. I certainly don't wanna burn that bridge either. Any and all help is required." She paused, before telling Nara, emotion heavy in her voice. "Thanks for the help. I know I'm not the easiest to put up with, certainly not on matters like these…" Indeed, there had been a point where Nara knew how much issues with boys could mess Lauren up from her otherwise upbeat personality.


Nara forced a smile, but her drooping ears betrayed her real feelings as she said, "That is what friends are for. I am just worried you will be hurt again."


Lauren took note of Nara's drooping ears and forced smile. She decided to hug Nara, saying softly, "It'll be alright. I just need faith in my strength. I've been through too much to stop now. It's time for me to stop being the sad, mopey Lauren you've been seeing."


Nara whispered in Lauren's ear as they hugged, "I know you're strong, but I fear what Archer's captors might have planned. I am still unsure of the sisters, but it could be my distrust of humans. We just need to be careful and know our allies. I have a feeling Archer ran his mouth about you to his "friends." If Isa wants you to kill Archer she must have a plan to do it."


The taller girl winced at the thought. "Urgh, you're probably right about them planning something big in terms of having me kill him. Oh how that would hurt...But nevermind that. I need to stop being worried about that. I've spent far too much time moping as it is. Now we have to do some more action." She gestured over to inside the lab. "C'mon, I think we got through what we need to. Unless you have anything else to add?"


"Not at this time," replied Nara.


"Then let us go back." The two walked their way over to the inside of the infirmary, only for the two to be very surprised at the current sight that they were seeing. "N-nina?! Is that...a tail? And ears?"


Nina tried to balance herself, with an embarrassed smile, "Oh, uh yeah, sorry." She said, "Okay I think I'm getting a hang of it, now I can help clean up without being called a human." She righted herself and took a few study steps forward and back, "Are things supposed to be so loud or am I just confused." She asked.


Nara just stared at Nina in shock then asked, "You decided to become a faunus?"


"Well people won't like a human walking around." Nina said, "So yeah."


"B...but that means you cannot go back home! Or to Beacon or anywhere. You are now stuck here," added Nara still in shock.


Lauren added, "W-wow, all this just to help…"


Nina tilted her head slightly confused, "I already said, I can't go home anyways, and I am at least a little responsible for the mess here. Even if you guys decide you don't want to help, I at least want to prove that humans can be good."


The dolphin faunus blinked, stammering, "Y-yes, you have said that. Forgive me, but I'm still a little surprised at your move there. And you must also understand that we still harbor our own doubts over humankind in general. But at the very least you have proven that you are willing to make sacrifices."


"It's not a sacrifice, I participated in a lot of bad things, so this is more of an apology." Nina replied, "As long as my sister is fine, nothing is really a sacrifice, she'd still like me if I was a faunus or human or even a grimm." Nina laughed.


"Do not ask me to turn you into a grimm. That is currently outside of my abilities," said Gareth as he stood off to the side admiring his work with a dull stare.


"Is this permanent?" asked Nara.


"Yes, unless she cuts them off with a blade," replied Gareth in his neutral tone.


"Grimm aren't even cute." Nina replied, "So don't worry about that even a little. Are you guys ready to go?" Nina asked, stroking her own tail


Lauren looked to Nara and Gareth for any other pending matters. "Well, yes, but we need to have Tilki in on this. He's part of the team after all."


"What about your sister?" asked Nara looking at the still human looking twin.


"She needs to rest." Nina replied, "When she wakes up, she will know what's going on, it's our twintuition." Nina giggled.


Confused, Lauren looked at Nina and asked, "Twintuition? Is that literal or…?"


"Well that's just a joke, but a lot of our senses and thoughts are shared because of our semblance. I guess you could say we're like conjoined in spirit, if she dies, I die." Nina explained.


Gareth was the one to respond initially, "Interesting semblance weakness." He hid his real feeling on the discovery behind his unflinching neutral face.


Nara was silent for a second before saying, "Then we need to be careful then. I do not think rushing into this rescue is wise. Nina what do you know of Archer's… captor's abilities?"


"Isa can summon monsters that look a lot like grimm, she has a nevermore she really likes. Gaige can summon serpents, and he can change their elements." Nina thought for a moment, "Isa almost never fights, at least I've never seen it, she usually has Archer or us do it."


Lauren briefly thought back to her fight with GAIN back on the island, remembering Gaige's semblance. She took note of the abilities of Isa, and despite seeming like nothing they couldn't handle, Lauren still fretted. "It doesn't sound too bad, but I certainly would be on the lookout for some devious plot that gets us all screwed. As kind of what already happened…"


"When they tell Archer we died…" Nina had a look of fear spread across her face, "They're going to have to drug him more, he'll be worse than ever…" She gripped her tail, "Ugh, this is frustrating, why couldn't he just like, light up or something." She said wincing and petting her tail, "Ow…"


"Those bastards," Lauren growled. "That might be the thing that she has in store for me." Her expression conveyed a look of disgust and sadness at the thought.


"It is too bad I have not learned how to evoke change on another's semblance like I can their body. Granted the right application of mutations in the brain I could make him less gloomy, but there is always the risk of insanity. Too bad, I know such measures would not be agreeable with others," added Gareth as if he was thinking out loud.


"I think that is one reason Nilya does not want to help Archer. She just does not see the point in rescuing someone so pa… lacking control," added Nara catching herself a little too late.


"No! We can't mess with his head anymore." Nina snapped instinctively, "We just need to beat him up until he stops being so out of control."


"I could do what I did last time," offered Gareth.


"We need a plan," added Nara as a pregnant woman appeared at the door.


The woman looked both tired and scared as she quickly interrupted, "Lauren is it? And um… white hair fox lady. I am sure you remember me from last night, but um… I need your help." She hung her head as if ashamed as she spoke.


Lauren asked, "What is it?"


Nina made sure to obstruct her sister as the stranger came in. Nina wondered what was going on, but didn't say anything out of fear of being outed as a human.


"Well um… things are going bad. I decided to take the chance you gave us and find a better path forward. I started trying to shut down the ex-husband's various shady businesses, but the thugs in charge decided to stop listening and run things themselves. Then all these grimm appeared, so the local law and hunters are distracted protecting civilians and killing grimm. Several other crime families and gangs took advantage of both situations and have moved into my ex husband's territory. The tension is high and I fear for innocent families stuck in the middle. Also not to sound selfish, but I am worried about myself and my child as well I know some groups are going to try in have us killed," explained the woman her eyes darting between Nara and Lauren as she spoke. Her raccoon like mask on her face made her look untrustworthy, but her words were from the heart.


Nina began to feel guilty and eventually she couldn't hold back, "I can help!" She blurted abruptly.


The woman seemed shocked by Nina's outburst and looked over at the squirrel faunus. "Thank you… miss… sorry I never got your name."


"Oh, I'm Nina." She replied, slightly embarrassed by her outburst, "Sorry…"


"For what?" asked the woman confused why Nina was apologizing to her.


Nara looked over at Lauren and whispered to her, "Should we help by just getting her somewhere safe, or should we try to help clean up some of the mess?"


Lauren mulled her options over. "Hmm...we can certainly teach those thugs a lesson. It's pretty bad that all of this is happening when Menagerie is in such bad shape. But, we have to take into account this woman's safety. She shouldn't be stressing herself out in her condition."


"Well we can get her somewhere safe, then teach the thugs a lesson," offered Nara.


Hesitating, Lauren scratched her chin and replied, "Yeah. That sounds good. But I'm really hesitant to use your sister's help though…"


"We do not have to, she is pretty distracted right now anyway," replied Nara unsure how to feel about Nilya.


Nina tugged at Nara's sleeve, "Is your sister okay?" She asked, worried, "I know we've caused her a lot of trouble."


"Likely not," replied Nara keeping her answer short to avoid discussions of her sister.


"Then you should help her right? You're twins, so you have to!" Nina said.


Nara glared at Nina and said, "It is her problems and I do not want to deal with it right now. We may be twins, but she decided to spend most of her life among humans instead of with her family so we are not close."


"Of course you're close!" Nina snapped, personally hurt, "She came back because she found out Archer kidnapped you, and she threatened to kill him. How can you not be close to her?!"


"Because she betrayed her family in favor of being some human's faunus pet!" shot back Nara. "I do not want anyone to kill for me! Why do humans think killing and maiming is a way to show loyalty and love?!"


"So because she went after what made her happy, you're going to just stop being close to her?!" Nina said, getting fired up, "If you aren't going to take the time to understand her choices, then who is?! You're twins, but you're treating her like she's a friend that betrayed you or something." Nina sneered, "No wonder she's in such a bad mood, and since you asked. The reason Ilexa and I see violence as a loving gesture is because we grew up having to fight everyone for just food scraps, but no matter what, we always shared, and never fought each other. You really hate humans, I get that, but it sickens me that you would let that get in the way of being a good sister."


The widow's eyes grew as big as dinner plates and she addressed the dolphin by quickly saying, "Lauren could you show me where your mother is? I want her to check up on the baby. I'm sure all this stress hasn't been good for him."


Lauren replied with a "Yes" and took the widow to see her mother.


"We were close, no matter how strange she acted or how unpopular she was growing up I was always there for her. We had that special bond and she threw it away! I spent years searching for her when everyone else said she was dead or gone for good I never gave up hope. When I finally find her, she admits she avoided coming back to see her family… seeing me! It is all his fault! Do not pretend to know the situation, she was the one who turned her back on our sisterly bond, not me!" replied Nara her voice filled with pain and anger as her ears pinned themselves down and she snarled at Nina.


Nina frowned, "Make up your mind, did Varik take her away, or did she choose to be with him!" Nina snapped, "Cause I know for a fact that they are close, and she probably knew that you would pretend like she was bad for who she chooses to like. Now she's come back, and all you're doing is proving her right." Nina shouted. "You're the one leaving her right now as far as I'm concerned!" Nina took steady breaths as her heart raced, and she felt a hand grab hers. Ilexa was still unconscious, but she looked uncomfortable and had reach for Nina's hand, "Nara, how much do you even know about Varik?" Nina asked in a significantly calmer tone.


"Both, she chose to stay away because of him. He took her away, but she allowed it. She could have come home after choosing to be with him, but she did not. You are just supporting her since she is a human lover! You do not care you just want our help," replied Nara still upset. She did not answer Nina's last question because in her mind it was unimportant.


"I'm supporting her because she's a good person!" Nina shouted, "And what, you actually expect her to come to Menagerie with a human!? Not even you care enough to want to learn even a little about the person she loves!" Nina let out a sound of frustration, "Where is she now?" Nina asked.


"You know her less than me! If you want to talk to her, Fine! She is at my family's home," replied Nara motioning toward the town.


"Fine, tell me what your family home looks like, and how to get there." Nina said, "I'll talk to her myself."


"South end, 32nd street, look for the poorly repaired door that looks like it's barely hanging on. It got kicked in the other night," replied Nara as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her tone sounded like she was trying to dare Nina to do something.


Nina let go of her sister's hand and made sure to tucker her in, "Fine, if you're going to abandon your own blood, then I'll at least get her perspective."


Nara shook her head and walked out of the room without saying another word.


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Natalie and Esraella​

Spoiler:

Ciena, Esraella, Natalie, Zierra
Vale
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Esraella scoffed, "What do I care if you tell people I'm here." She said walking out of the bushes.


Zierra shook her head, "Not to mention we couldn't really tell anyone you're out here without outing ourselves you know." She picked some twigs from her cloak, and dusted away some snow, "Although it's certainly rather rude for you to interrupt our sleep with that noise."


Star gazed somewhat blankly at them while she listened. A twitch pain in her chest brought her back to reality, and after a slight wince she spoke up. "Cool capes," She bluntly replied. "Uhm... Well if I did tell someone they'd probably kill you on sight, not bein' human and all." Dropping down into a criss-cross seat in front of their nest, Star beamed rather cheekily. "Worst I get is a slap on the wrist and some scolding and sympathy and 'ohhh Star are you okay, my gods you could've died why aren't you in bed, or the hospital, or the hospital bed, euhhh you poor poor baby thing let us smother you.'" The further into the impression the more exaggerated and challenged it became.

Star sighed and rolled her eyes. "You know maybe we can switch spots, I'd rather be put to death than deal with more of that." She smirked, suppressing a giggle. "I'm not gonna tattle though. I could care less so long as you don't act like those dumb *****." She rested a hand over her heart, sighing slight relief at the normalized pace. Her gaze went up to the night sky, unwavering as she continued, "Why are you guys here anyway? Seems kinda dangerous."


"We just had a bit of a prison break to get our sis here out." Zierra replied, putting her arm around her silent friend, "Well, that and we kind of missed our ride home, so we're camping out and just relaxing."


"This isn't relaxing Zie," Ciena replied, her tone full of frustration, "I'd rather not be out on human land."


Esraella stretched, starting a fire, "You're right, I could do with having less cold all over the place. Say, human, what are you doing out here? Don't you tend to go around in fours or something."


"Name's Star, so you know. I don't go around calling you guys Faunus. And I always assumed you guys did the four-man thing too," Star scratched her cheek thoughtfully, "but uh... Those guys. Yeah..." Star heaved a somewhat overdramatic sigh. "They're the worst offenders with their dumb stupid annoying sympathy. They're holding me back, telling me to get rest, to stay home, go get medical treatment, psych evals, and uhhh..... That stuff."

Star formed a rather tiny smile as her gaze moved down to the dancing flames, which reflected nicely in her shiny topaz eyes. "I agree with-- err, Zie, you said? If you're stuck here you might as well have some fun until you can return safe. You're just stressing yourself out regardless of getting caught. I was just out, uh... practicing." After a slight pause, Star let out a snort, followed by stifled laughter. "I'm just letting off some steam. I'm sick of how everyone treats me at home. I'm stronger than they treat me and it makes me right furious when they baby me."

"I'm gonna show them all and they'll crap their collective pants when I do." With a slight yawn, Star stretched out an arm, her other hand covering her face. "So uh.. what'd ya do to go to jail? Didja actually commit a crime, or was it racism, or what? I'm surprised you'd tell one of my kind something like that when we just met like five seconds ago." She turned and glanced at the now demolished hunk of rocky hill. "Mmn... the place looks really nice lately. Probably 'cause I haven't been around to destroy stuff until just recently."


"What's the point of proving anything to anyone." Esraella replied with a yawn, "Although, yeah I guess I should use your name. I'm Esraella, the girl you agreed with is Zierra."


"Please don't use our nicknames, although we are friendly to you, we aren't friends with you, I'm sure you understand." Zierra said, huddling up to Esraella.


"As for the whole jail thing, Ciena totally deserved to go to jail, she was a bad egg." Esraella laughed.


"Yeah, and you still broke me out." Ciena replied, annoyed and frowning, "I don't get why we would tell this girl anything, didn't you say that guy Archer is going to make it hard for us to hide out?"


"It's one girl Ciena." Zierra replied, "I have to apologize again, Ciena is a little grumpy after being locked up for so long."


Star scratched behind her head, a doofy grin sprawled over her face. "No, I getcha. I wouldn't underestimate, uh... Me, though. Before I vanished I was the prodigy kid. Though I've missed a few years of school, I guess. If I hadn't though, who knows. Maybe I woulda destroyed the school or something... on accident though. Probably. Maybe. You guys want some jerky? I'm starvin'." Reaching behind her into a belt pouch, she grabbed several assorted bags of beef jerky and dropped them on the ground, then grabbing a teriyaki flavored bag from the top of the small pile.

"I never go anywhere without some on me. I may be a lil bit addicted, but I've been depraved of it for a long time." With no hesitation Star ripped the bag open and promptly gripped a piece between her teeth, ripping it apart with a satisfied grin as she began chewing. "Mmph... That's what freedom tastes like." Star swooned a bit in place, enjoying her food far more than one might expect. "So uh... What're you guys gonna do when you get home?" She swallowed, not even pausing for a moment before ripping apart another chunk. "I know I spent a lot of time thinking about that when I was finally on my way back home."


"Hm, well we'll probably go back to living in the desert." Esraella replied, "Life is certainly never boring when the biggest grimm in the world are trying to eat you."


"Yeah don't take offense to this Star, but being a prodigy in a school doesn't impress us very much, humans have a pretty cushy lifestyle." She laughed a bit, "Even the nature here is pretty tame."


For a moment, an absolute look of offense was plastered all over Star's expression, though it quickly washed over with delight over her favorite food. "Mph... Yes and no. Sure, we may live more comfortably, from what my mom has told me about Faunus land anyway. But we fight the same challenges, more than anything the Grimm. Each other sometimes. Our own kind even. But huntsmen are huntsmen, regardless of who they are. Just because we have a comfy lifestyle doesn't mean our warriors aren't as strong."

She threw the last piece into her mouth, crossing her arms and hugging her knees up against her torso. "Besides. Maybe not the others... but I've experienced real torture. But if I'm still here, it means I can keep getting stronger. My mom takes care of me financially, but no amount of money or cushy comfort can undo what I've been through." She sighed. "I'm not looking forward to going back to town in all honesty... I might actually prefer the wilderness to it. No one understands what I've been through. They couldn't. But they can still treat me like a person, ya know? I'm here now, and I'm stronger for it. I don't want to get babied for what happened. Even just walking around I can hear them whisper, see them frown at me. My stomach twists every time..." Star trailed off into silence, her gaze lowered and fixated on the fire.


"Sounds like you have some serious trauma." Zierra said with a yawn, "Not that I care at all, just don't end up like Archer."


"Eh, I doubt she'll end up like him, he's done quite a bit by this point." Esraella replied, "I should say that you really shouldn't compare the three of us to huntsmen though, Star. We don't hunt grimm like you humans and some of the faunus, we come from a place where getting kidnapped or almost starving to death is a weekly part of life, getting stronger isn't something you have to prove, it's something that you do if you want to eat."


Ciena scoffed, "I doubt she'd survive a few day, being a human and all."


Esraella jabbed her with her elbow and Zierra spoke up, "I've heard of humans who've survived quite a while in the sands."


Star raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a challenge, and maybe I'd prefer it that way." The slightly annoyed expression turned to one of pondering. "Have you eaten Grimm before? To be honest I've considered it, but it always looked really nasty." Another yawn, and she took on a somewhat serious face. "It's not like I have any attachment here anyway. Besides my mom, but she lives a long ways away anyway."

"I could leave with you guys if I wanted. And I bet I would do more than fine. Although I doubt your land would be all too inviting to me. You have no idea what I've been through... No one does. Even the ones I've told don't know what it's like... But coddle me anyway." Star sighed and looked back up to the sky.

"I've got a reason to prove myself past survival. The fact that I'm still alive and walking after everything, and they still treat me this way, I'm not okay with it. They used to talk about my amazing potential, now they just talk about all the help and support I 'need'." She clenched her fists, and with a faint glow in her hair and eyes, the ground cracked and split apart beneath her. "If you tell me I can't do something I'm gonna go out of my way to prove you wrong."


"Well it is a fact that you can't eat grimm." Cienna replied, shaking her head, "They quite literally disappear after death." She sighed, "Having some fanatic desire to prove that you're strong doesn't make you strong either, if all you do is desperately seek to prove yourself, then the only good life you can live is one where you're beaten so bad you die, or your spirit is broken."


Esraella sighed, and stroked Ciena's hair, "I'd say your team probably coddles you because they worry about you, and I can already tell that you're at the very least as reckless as Archer is."


Star could feel her teeth grinding slightly, a fairly bad habit that would likely remain unbroken. "If I die fighting I'm dying happy. You may think it reckless, dumb, sad, or whatever. I can't think of a more honorable way to die." Despite the actual fire, another seemed to burn in her eyes. "I live for combat, I'm going to die for it too. You haven't even seen reckless yet from me."

"And if they cared they'd treat me with the same respect they had before. They changed. I changed. Everyone changed. But I'm no more helpless than I was three years ago. I'm sick of everyone... and I'm sick of how they treat me now. I've been back a week and haven't done any of the junk they thought I needed, and I'm still walking, fighting, taking care of myself. I don't need anyone if they're not gonna treat me with respect. That's all there is to it."


"Honestly, I don't care." Esraella replied, "I didn't much care for Archer's reckless actions, and I really don't care much about yours, but I can assure you that isolating your team for such a petty reason will only ever hold you back."


"Even Archer knew to ask for help from people, and he despises the idea of endangering his friends. Alone, you'll probably just end up being the dinner of some grimm who was too big for you to handle." Zierra added on, "Oh, and if you die in combat, that isn't honorable, or even remotely respectful, it just shows that something was stronger than you and you decided to fight it still." The two of them had a level of cynical experience to their voice, and they were incredibly confident in their words.


Star was more visibly agitated at this point. "You guys are testing my patience. And they were holding me back. If it were up to them I'd probably be retired early, and like hell I'm gonna do that." She stood, stretching her legs out until the bones popped, and she was relieved by the wonderful sting of a well stretched muscle. "Sounds more to me like you're just scared of bigger Grimm. I can't imagine anything more exhilarating. I can't imagine feeling more alive. It'll take the mightiest beast to put me down..." Star's eyes gleamed at the thought.

A muffled ringing snapped her out of the short trance, and she reached into her belt pouch and pulled out her Scroll. Sighing, she closed it and tucked it back away. "Ugh. That's right. My mom's expecting a call." She began to walk away, stopping for a brief moment. "Keep the jerky. I don't know if they make it where you're from, but it's worth a try. I have plenty at home already." She continued her walk back to town, giving a brief wave without turning around. "Good luck with the great escape thing..."




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[Jay]

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Location: Beacon Infirmary

It was cold... but not as much as before, only a small breeze of the cold outside flowed through a barely open window. A blanket covered him to the neck... and he felt a sticky plastic, stained by his evaporated breath pressed to lips and jaw. The dull beeping of a monotonous machine toned in a dull and unsteady rhythm just at the edge of his hearing. Opening his eyes was a struggle, he felt the weight of his eyelids as if they were a thousand stone weights upon his face. His body refused to move whatsoever. He was trapped, held in place within his own prison. Where was Sully... was he alright? He no longer felt the weight of his limp form...

Yet he was not alone.

While his functions were dulled, as a faunus his hearing and smell could not be stopped by heavy lids and broken parts. He heard the soft breathing of a woman... and he caught a familiar scent in his nose. He knew who it was, who she was... but he could do nothing to reach out to her now. How was it even possible? That she be here before him? When she was dead and gone like the others? He tried to speak her name, to force out even the most croaked of cries so that she might respond... but all that escaped was a spluttering cough and wheeze. In beacon they could heal a man in hours from the brink of death, but even they were not miracle workers.

He felt a soft touch to his cheek. A hand that pulled him from the floor in training... a hand that pulled on his sleeve for attention rather than words... a hand that held his shyly at one point, in what felt like a flash of a shy and awkward exchange from some time months ago.

"Lu... c... cy...."

He swore he heard a choked gasp, quickly stifled for a brief moment. Then the breeze grew colder as the window pushed further open... and the sound of padded footsteps on icy shingles rung in his ears. He could not stop her. He could not hope to hold her back as he was.

Not with his consciousness already fading again.
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[Stingray]

The End of NAVF...​

(( This part happens right after Nilya and GIN interact before the prison break... so time skip backwards))

Varik stood there for a second before replying, ?No idea where she is. You realize your ears are??

?I am tired of hiding,? interrupted in a calm tone Nilya as she walked past her husband and continued toward the transport with determination in her step. Varik started after the faunus still looking around for Amane.

Nilya changed her movement so she would pass by Fei on the way. Stopping in front of him she spoke with a soft voice to the human, ?Fei, I thank you for your support and kindness despite what I am. I am sorry for all this, but I cannot keep hiding among humans pretending I am something I am not. I live in fear of my secret being exposed every day, and live with the shame I am not helping my kin through their hardships.?

The faunus gave the boy a warm smile as she continued, ?Despite what others say, I believe you will become a great hunter one day who will protect others as your heart desires.? Her face twisted into a frown as she added, ?That is why I cannot ask you to follow me, or Varik any longer. We are going to turn our backs on Beacon, and thus give up being hunters.? She sighed then started toward the airship once again.

Varik hesitated and let his wife continue ahead of him looked over at Fei and said, ?If you follow us, there will be no turning back.?

They were serious about this. They really wish to help the faunus. Nilya?s words pierced Fei?s heart. Could he really be a great hunter? ...How could he? He?s not that confident in his abilities. Compared to his team, he might as well be just a burden. Still, they were willing to put up with him this far. They were the only true friends he?s ever had.

Looking out where Amane originally was, Fei thought about what to do. Should he go with Varik & Nilya, give up on being a hunter, & help the faunus? Or...stay & become a great hunter, never seeing his friends again, & gain all that others possibly desire? ?What would Jackie want me to do?

?...? Jackie has always been on Fei?s mind. She?s the reason he?s ever come this far. Ever. He wouldn?t be here if he hadn?t met Jackie back then. This was a decision he had to make, & he was going to make it. With his mind made up, Fei turned around & followed Varik & Nilya from behind into the airship. He looked at Varik with a smile. ?I?m not abandoning my friends. No matter what.? Done talking, Fei went on ahead.

The inside of the airship was mostly open with built in seating on both sides. Long skinny panels ran down the metal floor suggesting something hidden under these panels. On the back of the airship was several black lockers next to a door that led to the cockpit. If one had any experience in a normal airship of this type they would notice the back end was shorter than normal suggesting a larger cockpit. Sitting next to these lockers was a tall muscular faunus. His lips wrapped around a cigarette that lit the air around him as he read a newspaper. A pair of wolf like ears stuck out from his slicked back muddy brown hair that matched his scruffy facial hair.

Once the three were aboard the faunus slammed his fist against the door. ?Careful with my ship!? yelled the pilot as the large ramp and door N-VF had entered through quietly closed. The faunus grinned at his pilot?s protest but did not say anything.

Varik and Nilya sat down on the left side of the ship as it gracefully took to the air. Almost as soon as the aircraft lifted off the door to the cockpit opened and a very short female faunus stepped out with a friendly smile. She had a large set of Caracal cat ears with the black tips fashioned into little inward facing spirals. ?Is Varik?s wife onboard?? she asked almost skipping as she quickly moved toward Nilya.

?Nilya right? Great to meet you, Varik told me about you. O you have such cute ears and such a beautiful fluffy tail! I wish I had a tail like that!? said the woman in a enthusiast tone.

Nilya smiled and replied calmly, ?Nice to meet you too.? The fox then looked up at Varik with a questioning look.

?Blair, now is not a good time,? said Varik solemnly.

The other faunus frowned until she noticed Fei and her smile instantly returned as she asked, ?Who are you??

Sitting on the other side, Fei was thinking about where he would go from here when a faunus asked who he was. ?Oh, uh. M-my name is Fei. Fei Zero.? He introduced himself, a little nervous scratching his cheek.

Cocking her head to the side the faunus asked, ?Why are you nervous? It's okay I don?t bite.? The overly energetic faunus did not stop moving as she stood there. She continuously lifted herself on her toes and then let her feet touch the floor again then repeated the action.

?Oh, I-I?m just nervous around new people I meet.? Fei explained nervously, looking around timidly.

The faunus looked confused with Fei?s response and asked, ?Why??

Suddenly the pilot?s voice came through the room saying, ?Blair can you get back in here and make sure the Witches go to a safe holding point??

The faunus looked toward the cockpit and quickly said, ?Got to go Fei! Sorry work to be done.? She bounded off for the cockpit closing the door behind her.

The rest of the trip was mostly silent as Varik and Nilya whispered to each other and the wolf faunus read his paper and smoked. At one point Nilya went over and whispered to the faunus, and he let her into the cockpit. It was not much longer when the aircraft slowed to a hover and gently landed.

The ramp and door opened to reveal they were on a rooftop landing pad. Varik stood up as Nilya re emerged and she ran over to Varik as he removed his helmet. The two embraced and gave each other a long series of kisses that was finally interrupted by an impatient looking wolf faunus. Varik put his helmet back on and started out the door followed by the male faunus. ?Come on Fei, time to introduce you to my benefactors,? said Varik in a heavy voice as he left his wife standing in the ship.

Fei stepped out of the airship & followed Varik, looking around. ?So, these benefactors. They aren?t friendly, are they.? He assumed.

?Depends on your definition of friendly,? replied Varik. After the three stepped off the transport it took off again, Nilya still inside. ?They are driven and focused on their goals. They are not afraid to use forceful methods to forward said goals. They are however completely neutral when it comes to the hostility between humans and faunus, and they have vast amounts of resources and equipment they will allow me some access to. Since I can help them and have agreed to, they are very friendly to me.?

?Since this isn't really my forte, I'll let you do the talking.? Fei said, following Varik to their destination.

?I planned on it,? replied Varik as they went through a door that led inside the building. They went down several sets of stairs and then through a small hallway that led to a reception area. The area was vast, but only had a few plush seats for visitors next to the half circle desk against the far wall that housed a secretary. The human woman in her mid 40s was frantically typing at her computer as the small group walked down the vast hall filled with displays of military robots and models of various vehicles and weapons. Without looking up the woman said in a frazzled tone, ?Mr Umbra the Brackmans are waiting for you inside.?

Varik nodded and turned to the right and marched toward a set of wooden double doors that had intricate carvings on them. Fei suddenly felt a firm grip on his right shoulder as the wolf faunus? gruff voice said, ?Not until you're invited kid.? Varik then disappeared inside the other room while Fei was held back by the faunus.

Fei was startled quite easily, though didn?t make a sound. He watched as Varik disappeared on the other end of the room as the doors closed. He sighed. ?All right.? He abided. It was a bit quiet. Fei didn?t quite know what to say. He felt awkward, that?s for sure. Trying to relax, he turned to the faunus behind him & spoke. ?I-I never got your name.? He mentioned, scratching his cheek.

?Bigby, but most call me wolf,? replied the man has he lit up another cigarette. ?Fei right? So what skills do you bring to the table?? asked the man as he let out a puff of smoke that drew a death glare from the secretary.

?W-well, I?m mostly a healer for my team. They get injured, I fix them up. I can boost their defense slightly, & I can still provide backup with my weapon.? Fei explained the best he could. He looked over at the secretary & back at Bigby, though he stayed silent about the smoking.

?We already have a medic. I guess Varik just wanted to bring some of his old team along. I hope you don?t become a burden. Most hunters lean too much on their semblances and suck as actual operators so we will see,? replied Bigby as he let out a puff of smoke.

?Oh, well I do have a claw that helps my mobility in battle! Let me just-? Fei reached for his family heirloom, but suddenly remembered that his father currently has it. He sighed. ?Oh yeah, my dad has it? Well, Varik did craft me a crossbow as a substitute. Has a hookshot attached n? all.?

?That is neat, and I have a pistol,? replied Bigby sounding unimpressed.

?Oh.? Fei...couldn?t quite figure out what else to say. He felt awkward just standing there with Bigby, not saying anything. It?s rather difficult for him to talk about something with a stranger when he?s barely met them.

?Sorry but your friend here needs to wait to meet with the Brackmans. Please show him to his new room,? suddenly announced the secretary. Fei did not have any chance to protest or say much as the wolf faunus dragged him back to the elevator. Soon Fei found himself in a very nice one bedroom apartment inside the vast business structure. Hours drifted by with no word from any of his team?

...The Beginning of Endless Horizons​

Varik twisted the massive hologram around as the airship hit a little turbulence. ?How are you going to crew this?? asked the former hunter as he examined Dr Brackman?s great endeavor.

The elder frowned and exclaimed, ?I believe you completely underestimate how advance my automation and drone technology is?

?Sorry Doctor, robots are good augmentation, but for your plan to properly work there needs to be a significant larger crew,? interrupted Varik as he inspected a specific part of the greater device. His reply brought a sad look to the old man?s face as he looked down in defeat.

?He is right especially to reach your goals further than a little pleasure cruise with this,? added Dostya from the other side of the hologram.

?Loyalty is not easily found or created. I was almost ruined once due to traitorous employees. Robots are completely loyal,? replied a defensive Brackman. His tone both hostile and filled with sorrow as he spoke of his mistrust of others.

?We can put out offers with?? started Dostya.

?No, we turn a bad situation into an opportunity,? quickly announced Varik pleased he was able to lead the conversation in this direction. Both of the Brackmans looked at the younger man as he explained his plan, ?The faunus are suffering heavily under their forced exile. The growing hostilities between humans, and faunus only promises to make the situation worse. We can offer a security, good living conditions, good food, equality, and a promise for a better future away from the hate. They will have little to attach them to their current lives so uprooting them will not be difficult.?

?Give them enough money and they will turn on us,? replied the white haired man as his dark green eyes looked at Varik.

?Once again we will be offering more than money,? replied Varik as he looked over to Dostya for support.

?Varik has a point father. However we cannot completely depend on faunus,? replied Dostya cautiously choosing her words.

?Of course we will recruit both humans and faunus,? replied Varik. ?Not all humans are so closed minded toward faunus.?

?We will have to be careful with our recruitment on both sides to insure we do have the conflicts between the two races affect our efforts. We do not want to add to the potential danger if a war does erupt between the two races,? replied Dostya as her mind began going over recruitment challenges.

Varik stood up suddenly as he added a dramatic flare to his next words, ?We will sell them a better future? a way to escape this terrible growing conflict. Escape where the hatred cannot follow us and create a greater society. One common goal to unite our races under for a greater tomorrow.?

Dr Brackman smiled at this as he adde, ?O yes, this plan is good. Sell an ideal instead of just a job. This will help in the loyalty department, o yes it will.?

As Varik sat down Bigby, who had been silent up to this point asked, ?Do you like to give one of your speeches before you unify the races with your wife??

Varik was taken off guard by the crude joke, and he snapped back with a simple no.

Smirking Bigby added, ?We need to insure we do not gut the faunus population too much. If this coming conflict you keep talking about does happen we cannot hinder the current faunus population too much so they are easily wiped out.?

?Plans have been made to help insure the human?s vast military doesn?t slaughter the faunus,? replied Varik with a smirk. Cybran Industries and its sub companies was currently supplying over 80% of Vale?s military robots and around 40% of their fighting vehicles. Currently they were operating as normal when they were battling Grimm, but their advanced IFF systems happened to have a ?minor? glitch pre programmed into them. If a war started the IFF would not acknowledge faunus as enemies, but as allies or civilians not allowing the robots to attack or many of the vehicles to lock or fire their weapons. Ironically the military signed their newly renewed contracts with Cybran with the glitch in the fine print.

Bigby looked at Varik with a raised eyebrow and did not say a word. The wolf faunus was not a huge fan of the Brackman?s newest partner and found his desire to help the faunus was annoying since he knew he would get dragged into it. The cargo bay of the transport when silent and Varik decided to write a letter for his faunus wife. The two Brackmans entered into a recruiting discussion as Bigby went back to reading a magazine.

An hour later a cheerful voice announced, ?We are here! Coming into land everyone!?

Within five minutes the transport had landed safely inside a hidden bunker deep in the wilderness. Varik and Dr Brackman exited the vehicle and immediately and headed for the underground tram that led to the main facility discussing work that needed to be done on the massive project. Dostya on the other hand stayed behind in the transport.

Turning to Bigby she motioned the tall wolf faunus to follow her to the cockpit. Opening the door to the cockpit she walked over next to Blair and Cadivus. ?I am sending you three on a little mission to see if Varik?s idea will work. Blair and Bigby go to the faunus capital to assess the situation, and recruitment potential there. I recommend getting in contact with Nilya and her associates for help. Also look into evacuating Nilya?s family to a safer location. I do not want them being a liability our enemies can use against us.?

?Sounds fun! I will get Arachna ready!? announced Blair jumping out of her seat.

?No bringing your ground assault drone with you initially. If you need its firepower Cadivus can have it airdropped to you, but you two need to avoid attracting too much attention,? replied Dostya as she grabbed Blair's shoulder.

?Fine,? protested Blair as she sat back down and crossed her arms in protest. Cadivus nodded and Bigby stood there silently.

?Good luck,? added Dostya as she left.

?We leave in one hour so I suggest you two gather some normal clothes and some food. I?ll get this bird fueled up and ready to go,? said Cadivus as he continued shutting down the engines. ?Blair please grab me something from the mess while you?re getting yourself something, and a few energy drinks and some more go pills,? added the pilot as the smaller faunus jumped out of her seat.

?That cannot be healthy,? stated Bigby as he moved to the side enough to let Blair run past him.

?Neither is your smoking and alcoholism,? shot back Cadivus.

?That doesn?t matter, I?m going to die fighting long before those habits kill me,? replied the gruff voice of the wolf faunus as he turned and walked off the jet lighting up a cigarette he had been dying to smoke for hours.

 

[Foxrally]

Jairo & Sahn Xill

Mira Cullous      Nel Phelia

Team JSMN
Deep Sea Shark Attack​

The trio braced themselves for the freezing water as they jumped into ocean, but the cold rush never came. Instead, it felt warm - almost room temperature, in fact. They still felt the water itself, but surprisingly, never its temperature. Each of them now had small, clear bubble covering their mouth and nose, made by Nel. Mira had activated her goggles beforehand, Nel had put on hers, and Jairo's second pair of eyes were unaffected by the water, meaning all three could also see perfectly in the murky deeps.

"Damn, it's warmer in here than outside!" Jairo exclaimed and grinned at Mira. The latter looked at him with a confused expression, shaking her head and pointing at her ear, signaling she couldn't hear anything. Jairo felt Nel tapping his arm. The hawk faunus waved her hands dismissively, pointing at the bubble then her mouth before shaking her head. Mira and Jairo nodded, understanding her message. They shouldn't speak with the bubbles on, or the thin layer of semblance that separated them and drowning would pop. Mira looked at her watch, its light strong enough to be still visible in the water, before pointing downwards at her two teammates. Then, motioning for the two to follow her, she dove down.

Navigating through the ocean proved to be more difficult than expected. Despite the ample light that shone through the surface of the water, most of the seafloor was completely invisible to them, cloaked in shadow at the bottom of the ocean. However, dunes of sand and rocks jutted out of the floor in certain areas, giving the impression of a sort of underwater desert, with massive pitfalls between dunes. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to even see the ship part they had come for, let alone bring it back up safely, Jairo thought. In the distance, they could hear a faint metallic clang, accompanied by distant roars which they could only assume were the current and deep sea beasts.

On the other hand, Nel seemed to be having the time of her life. She had realized that although her semblance didn't work very well underwater, it was strong enough to blast a jet of bubbles every time she used it. She swam around excitedly, propulsing herself with her newfound bubble engines. She flashed her two teammates a thumbs-up sign, blasting herself straight into a large shoal of colourful fish.

Meanwhile, Jairo noticed Mira had stopped. He swam over to her and tapped her on the shoulder, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. She waved him off dismissively, tapping her watch and motioning for him to wait. He hoped this whole operation wouldn't take too long - Nel's bubbles wouldn't last forever and Mira's shield would eventually wear off. Suddenly, the owl faunus called for him to come over. She pointed at her watch. The small, circular green screen had multiple flashing red dots on it. The depth meter on the side of the screen displayed [INSERT DEPTH] - at this level of water pressure, they would already be having trouble breathing if it wasn't for Mira's aura. Jairo could vaguely make out the map contours on the watch, and the crosshair which detailed their current position on it. He pointed to himself, and then to the right, signaling he'd begin his search there. His teammate nodded back, motioning to the left. They both looked around them for Nel, she was nowhere to be found. The bubbles hadn't popped however, so it meant she was at least nearby. Jairo turned to Mira and flashed her a 'forget it' sign, knowing they had no time to waste on finding the playful hawk girl.

Each of them swam in separate directions, heading for the closest rock or sand mound. It's got to be somewhere near... Mira thought, reaching a large pile of sand. As she drew closer, she could hear the beeping from her watch get slightly louder. Crabs skittered out of the way as she dug through the sand in front of her, but after a few moments of fruitless effort she stopped. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of something shiny in the corner of her eye. Mira turned around, and noticed it was coming from one of the crabs she had scared off - or rather, something it was holding. It was far too small to be any engine or ship part, but maybe it could lead them to it, she thought. She held her watch tentatively towards it, and the device let out a loud beep. Rushing over to the crab, she quickly snatched the curved piece. It looked and felt metallic, with little grooves on the side possibly made for some sort of mechanism. Sighing disappointedly, she pocketed the piece, hoping it would be at least useful and the current wouldn't take it away.

After some more time of fruitless searching, the owl faunus returned to her teammate. Jairo, who had finished searching his half of the area, shook his head in annoyance as he met with her. Mira shook hers too, pointing at her watch and shrugging slowly. Even though the spider faunus' regular human eyes were shut tight, she could see the frustration on his face - the more time they wasted, the slimmer their chances of escaping got.

Out of seemingly nowhere massive shoal of bright, multicolored fish shot past the two faunus, before doing a full turn and dashing past once again. There were hundreds of the creatures in the massive group, and in the center was a larger figure which seemed to almost playfully command them. As the shoal slowly stopped in front of them, they could make out Nel's silhouette through the large cover of fish. How is she even... Jairo thought, peering at the hawk faunus as she waved at them from inside the fish-bubble. She spent the whole time playing with bloody fish?! He looked at Mira indignantly, the latter trying her best not to sigh loudly at the risk of making her air bubble burst.

Suddenly, Mira's watch let out a loud, screechingly high-pitched beep. It kept going, causing all three teammates to instinctively put their hands over their ears as the noise got even louder. The shoal gathered around Nel immediately dispersed, the fish all swimming off in separate directions in fear. Nel glared at Mira, pouting angrily as if it was her fault her new 'friends' had deserted her. The owl faunus grimaced, painstakingly taking her hands off her ears and attempting to turn off the noise. Sound traveled ever better in water, and the bird faunus' heightened hearing basically made listening to the beeping a very loud form of torture.

Jairo on the other hand, while still annoyed by the watch, was confused about the malfunction. Was it really a malfunction, or had the beeping actually been triggered by something? If that was the case, it must have been a massive piece of metal. Massive... He suddenly realized what the metallic noises and roars were. The fish hadn't run away from the sound of Mira's watch... it was something else. He slowly turned around, holding his breath and his heart pounded in his chest.

The intelligible gargle of curses, screaming and fear that came from Jairo's bubble was loud enough to alert the two teammates behind him. Mira and Nel turned around, gasping in shock and terror at the massive, immobile grimm who had somehow snuck up on them in the briefs moments that they had turned around. Frozen in fear, the three faunus gazed into the open jaw of the shark. They remained stuck like this for a long while - neither the grimm or its prey daring to make a move.

Slowly, Mira raised her arms to grab her two teammates by the shoulders. She carefully turned them around, keeping an eye on the immobile shark. They could hear a low, crackling hum emit from its jaw, almost as if it were the sound of its former victims' bones being slowly crushed. Mira looked at her two terrified teammates, trying her best to hide her own fear. Raising a shaky finger to her mouth - or rather, her bubble - and pointing to the shark, she then pointed upwards, making a 'move slowly' gesture with her arms. Jairo and Nel nodded in response, the latter having instantly dropped her cheery demeanor at the sight of the massive shark, almost uncharacteristically so. They began slowly pushing themselves upwards and backwards, trying their very best not to alert the hulking monster that stood right in front of them. As long as they didn't move too abruptly and didn't make any noise, they would be invisible to the shark-

BEEEEEEP! The owl faunus' watch, who had been beeping nonstop from the grimm's metallic armor, let out a final, piercing screech before fizzling out. All three members slowly turned around. The shark had begun emitting a low growl, its figure beginning to move.

"GO, GO, GO!" Mira screamed, grabbing Nel's arm and pointing up as Jairo did the same. The latter nodded quickly, and after a second of concentration, blasted herself and her two teammates upwards with a powerful jet of bubbles.

"GRRHOOAAAAAH!!!" The enormous Grimm roared, sending a shockwave through the water, blowing away any fish in its path and completely disorienting Nel. The hawk faunus looked panickedly behind her, gritting her teeth as she used every ounce of her strength to propel herself and her team to the surface. Behind them, the shark snapped it jaw, its seemingly blank eye sockets fixated at all three of them. The impact of the Grimm's teeth slamming shut sent another wave in their direction. The surface was close now, just a little longer-

"Aagh!" Nel's yelped in pain. The impact of the shockwave went through them like an electric shock, stopping the hawk girl in her tracks as she clutched her head. As her teammates tried their best to shake her out of it, the shark continued to make its way towards them. Nel was completely passed out at this point. Suddenly, Mira stopped, her eyes growing wide in horror.

"HOLD YOUR BREATH! SHE CAN'T-" was all she could manage before the air bubbles covering their mouths inevitably popped, leaving them stranded deep underwater with no air supply. Thankfully, Jairo had gotten the message just in time. Feeling a little dizzy from the pressure change, the spider faunus held Nel in his side arms, covering his mouth with one of the others.

The spider faunus looked at his distraught teammate, and the one in his arms. He had to act- and fast. He could see the metallic hull of their wrecked airship floating above them, if only they could somehow latch on to it... Bloody hell, I'll be damned if this works... the spider faunus thought to himself.

"GRRHOOAAAAAH!!!" Behind them, the shark let out another roar, its sound getting closer and closer to the trio.

Grunting, Jairo suddenly looked up, spitting out a large ball of web upwards towards the ship. Unobstructed by water resistance due to Mira's shield, the lob shot up, before hitting the hull seconds later in a soft thud. Jairo snapped off the thin, white string with his teeth, tugging at it once to test it's durability. He didn't have to tell the owl faunus what his plan was- they both knew what to do. Painfully 'slinging' Nel over his shoulders (or rather, the underwater equivalent of slinging) the spider faunus pushed himself upwards with the silk rope, Mira following close behind.

----

Sahn sighed softly on the hull of the wrecked airship, her back against the wall as she looked pensively into the distance. She had managed to recover some supplies and apparently functional machinery in her time in the ship - which was turning out to be longer than expected, Mira had said half an hour at most. The cold wind had died down by now, and all she could hear was the sound of the waves... wait, there was another sound. It was the sound of-

Jairo was the first to burst out of the water, coughing and spluttering as he unceremoniously dumped Nel onto the deck. The coughing was then followed by a series of shivering, of cursing and insulting as Mira's shields broke, letting in the piercing cold air. Sahn rushed over to her brother, hoisting him up.

As she did so, Mira emerged from the surface, coughing out water herself. "SAHN! FUCKING -cough- HIT IT WITH SOMETHING!" she screamed in between coughs, ignoring the fact the three newly-initiated deep sea divers were freezing outside in the cold in nothing but their underclothes.

Just as she spoke, almost on cue, the enormous beast's head leaped out of the water following the three faunus, snapping it jaw as Mira scrambled onto the deck. Sahn looked around at the debris on the ship before settling on a large hunk of material, which appeared to be one of the airship's former wheels. Activating her semblance in an instant, she grabbed the wheel with once hand, throwing it full force in the shark's face. The latter reeled back in pain, its head splashing back into the water. Not ready to give up, the spider woman grabbed another piece of debris, this time a long, thin metal bar. Taking a second to aim, she speared it down into the water. Whether or not the steel had hit its mark, she couldn't tell- the beast had disappeared already.

Panting, Sahn turned back to her teammates. "And that is why I dislike the ocean."

 

[Orx of Twinleaf]

Team FEAR
(condensed for reduction of clutter and broken in the middle for your convenience)

Spoiler:

"Time for debriefing," Sarah said, stepping into the infirmary without further ceremony.

Fajio sat up, covering his face with his hand. "Ms. Rooth," he croaked. There weren't a whole lot of people in the infirmary at all right now. There was a big fellow in the corner by the window that had been getting some special attention, but that was about it. Alex had taken off Fajio's shackles, his boots, and even his mask to more properly examine his body, and had refused to give any of those items back until Fajio had gotten his bedrest. He hated being without his mask. Especially on the campus.

No one in the infirmary seemed to care, but Fajio preferred to maintain an air of presence with Sarah. That usually included not letting her see his flayed skin-mask of a face. She walked through the rows of beds impatiently, though. She had no doubt just finished debriefing the others. She knew FEAR had failed there mission, and she wanted to cut to the chase. "Put your damn hand down, Fajio, I don't care what you—Shit!"

She quickly recovered herself, clearing her throat awkwardly. Fajio smiled to himself bemusedly, which warped one of his melted cheeks into something like a wrinkled flap of gooseskin. Fajio hadn't thought she'd meant that fully: people too often assumed Fajio's mask was just a quirk, but he wore it for more reasons than just to look cool. Sarah pulled up a swivel chair and sat by his bed, looking over his face some more. "Sorry about that. Damn, what the hell happened, anyway?"

Fajio looked past her, just off to the side. In all honesty he rarely looked directly at people he was talking to, but his shades tended to hide that little quirk. Now though his indirect line of sight made him look like something out of a monster movie. His nose was bent in three places and smashed against his face, which was raked all over with deep, black scars that crawled across burn patches that speckled his cheeks like overlarge birthmarks. He was missing a chunk of skin out of his upper lip that kept his out-of-line teeth in view, and his eyes were bloodshot and watery. He scratched absently at his matted, ratty black hair. "Had my face smashed into a hot forge, long ago," he said. Without his muzzle's queer effect on it, his voice was thin and raspy, like his throat had been burned, too. He looked at his hand, flexing his fingers. "I suppose you already know FEAR failed," he said, bringing the subject off of his past.

Sarah looked at him a little more, searchingly now, not with the grim curiosity a bystander uses on a dead pedestrian, but with something Fajio couldn't quite place. In any case, she seemed to have totally gotten over Fajio's appearance. She sat back and crossed her arms. "Well, it's not like you had a preset target, anyway, Fajio. Your team isn't in hot water just yet. You might not have completed the mission to all specifications, but you still got in and out of Porsche, and I mean to get something out of it." She sat forward, now. "The others said that you bodyswapped a Faunus and had him off himself in the streets; did you manage to cause a stir?"

Fajio would have just as soon preferred to forget about poor Baxter, but he answered her as best as he could. "Tried my damnedest to anyway. Had him stab himself with a box cutter in broad daylight, lots of people saw it. Made sure to have him carry on about some higher up or something meaning to use the Faunus as pawns in a coming war, or some such. Vague things, I was hoping it would be enough to maybe cause some unrest and put off any rebellion attempts for a bit, but it's hard to tell if it worked or not." He reached at the table on his other side and got a bottle of water, pouring some of it into his mouth—he preferred not to have to actually use his lips on it; without a straw his broken lips would have made a most unpleasant slurping noise.

"And you're sure the Faunus didn't survive?" Sarah asked as he put the bottle back on the table.

Fajio frowned, remembering that jarring sensation. It had felt so … strange to die. "Quite sure," he said, sternly.

Sarah nodded to herself and took off her baseball cap, adjusting it. Her hair under the cap seemed to be graying at the roots, Fajio noticed. He supposed SAWW's job was a stressful one, indeed. This damned business with the Faunus and all the hate was probably turning everyone's hair gray. She put her cap back on. "And the guy you tried to bring down, what can you say about him?"

"Nungerfaldt Ixis," Fajio said, shaking his head. "The locals called him Mr. Mammoth, and he seemed to be quite popular there. He was on the ferry when we went over. Big guy, elephant Faunus."

Sarah nodded. "Yes, I remember him. And I suppose you just decided that the biggest Faunus there was the one to go after?"

Fajio felt as if she was joking, but she didn't do it well if she was. She certainly sounded and looked very serious. "The Faunus I bodyswapped told me about him, I didn't realize it was the same fellow until later. From what I gathered he seemed to be a tycoon of sorts. Owns a grocery and had enough money to throw away to have a team guarding him."

"About that team: the others said they were huntsmen. Aura-trained."

Fajio nodded. Sure he had been tied to a tree when it had gone down, but he had at least seen the sniper and saw her do something with her eyes against Archer. Fajio stiffened up a moment, blinking. Had someone said something about Archer? He looked at Sarah, at her face, trying to read it, and then realized that his eyes were quite visible and that he was staring. "Um, yes," he said, "they were Aura-trained. So we can confirm the rumors that have been around since the Island G Incident. It seems Menagerie does have a way to train its Faunus in Aura."

Sarah got up and started walking away, saying over her shoulder, "That will do, Fajio. I have to turn this in at once. FEAR's back on student-duty here at Beacon, get well soon."

"Ms. Rooth," Fajio said before he could stop himself.

She stopped at the door and looked at him with those cold eyes. "What? Is there something else you need to report?"

Fajio looked past her thinking about Archer and how he had acted. He was going to get so many people killed, Fajio had no doubt about that. And yet …

And yet …

"See, Fajio," he heard his father say to him, showing him a very lifelike marionette, "it might look like a person, but you can see the strings. People don't have strings, Fajio, we can move on our own. Remember that. You do you, Fajio, and I do me, and everyone else does their own thing. That's what makes us people. Everyone gets to do their own thing."

Archer might be a radical but, dammit, he was his own man. Fajio had too much respect for someone that willing to cut their own path to be an instrument of his undoing.

He cleared his throat as Sarah looked at him. "Make sure you mention the Faunus have anti-Aura ammunition," he said instead.

She nodded. "One of our depots must have a rat," she said. She left out the double doors.

Fajio took another drink of his water and laid back, closing his eyes. He wondered how long it would take for his perjury to bite him in the ass.

The doors opened again and his eyes sprang open—could that ass-biting be that much sooner than anticipated?—but it was only Dr. von Vivian, rolling in in his wheelchair. The wrinkled old man looked like a human-headed woolly worm with as many layers of winter clothes he was bundled in.

"Good day, Doc," Fajio said on seeing him.

But Dr. von Vivian looked away, mouth pressed thin. Even from this far away Fajio could see new wrinkles form on him. He called something quietly behind him and wheeled out without so much as waving.

Fajio wondered what that was all about until Dr. Podegard stepped in next, wearing a deep frown above his green scarf and clutching an envelope.

It is the branches
And the leaves
And the fruit
That make the tree
And its strong trunk
That holds it all above the world
So that it might be viewed
In all its majesty.
But every tree has its roots,
Though unseen they often are,
And without them the tree
And its branches
And its leaves
And its fruit
Would never have come to be.
No matter how nasty the roots
And how crooked the trunk
There is some gratitude to be had
For their having helped
To make the fruit.
So when the roots are fully cut away
And a tree stands alone
It withers and dies
With grief
And with mourning.

Spoiler:

Fajio sat very still for a moment as he finished the letter, and then calmly and silently handed it back to Podegard.

The tall man took it and folded it to put away in its envelope. He blinked awkwardly, unsure of how to handle such a situation. Normally one of the other more personable professors would have to do this, but with most of them away for break and von Vivian fit to crumble into dust under stress Podegard had been made to do it. "I'm very sorry," he said.

Fajio took another swig from his water bottle, very slowly, and then placed it with especial care back on the table. He did not trust himself to speak. He wanted to yell, but Podegard didn't deserve to be yelled at for being messenger. The other patient in the infirmary had been unconscious this whole time, but if he was capable of waking up, Fajio didn't want to be the reason he didn't get his rest. He took a deep, shuddering breath, blinking.

Podegard set the envelope on the table by Fajio's water and cleared his throat. "Angor Rah has been notified and will be on his way to—"

Fajio put up his hand, stopping him. "Notify him again and tell him he doesn't have to come." He looked past Podegard, eyes hard. "I'm in no mood to discuss matters of residency. Him and I can iron that out when classes are over."

Podegard wrung his hands nervously, both uncertain as to how he should act and uncertain as to whether or not this was how Fajio ought to act in light of the news. "I'll tell the offices. Your teammates were in the lobby, would you like me to—"

"I'm not taking company, thank you," Fajio blurted, voice cracking only a little on the last words.

"I'll tell them," Podegard said stiffly. He stood there a moment more before nodding and hastily leaving the room.

Fajio waited until the door had closed to let his breath out and take another hissing one, blinking to try and keep tears back. "Dammit," he snarled at nothing in particular, lobbing his water bottle across the room, where it splashed its contents over the vacant bed opposite him and bounced to the floor.

Fajio and his parents had never been especially close. At the age of ten he had used his Semblance on another child and almost killed the kid, and the government had stepped in on seeing he had developed a bodyswap ability. Angor Rah had taken him to train up and raise. Azoo's grandpa, and a special agent for the human kingdoms, Angor Rah had been one of the members of the team that Fajio's grandmother had been in. Angor had watched over Fajio's parents from afar since they were children, and had stepped in to relieve Waltzur and Myndy Rekstum of their strange and valuable child.

Fajio hadn't minded at the time and he didn't mind now. It didn't matter to Fajio, nothing ever did. But his parents hadn't been quite happy with it. They had loved him, and they continued to try and keep connected with him even when he moved away from Vale all the way to Vacuo to live with Angor in the woods. Every year Fajio distanced himself more and more from them until he and them were completely estranged.

He hadn't seen his parents for some four or five years now.

And now he'd never see them again.

There had been a blaze in downtown Vale. The latest of a series of fires by what officials suspected was a serial arsonist and the media was trying to drum up as Faunus insurgency. It had happened just a day ago, while Fajio was in Menagerie. His parents had died in a fire.

And he had been in a completely different country.

Murdering Baxter.

A person's Semblance comes from many things. It reflects an aspect of a person's soul, true, but it also combines parts of the parents' Semblances. Usually if only one parent has Aura training, that parent's Semblance generally dominates the child's. That how "family line" Semblances work, and Timereaux had had one of that sort.

Fajio didn't though. Both of his parents had had Aura training. His father could see out of other peoples' eyes, and hear out their ears, and he could share his own sight and hearing with someone else, too. His mother could form a mental tether with people, and could feel their emotions over miles and miles. They had been supportive Semblances for supportive people. And somehow that had come together in Fajio to produce the twisted, perverse Semblance that he had used to kill an innocent, nice person while his parents were burning alive.

Fajio looked at his hands, and couldn't tell if they were shaking or if his vision was blurred for the tears.

"How'd he take it?" von Vivan asked as Podegard came back into the lobby.

Podegard shook his head. He turned to where Azoo, Rimer, and Evegy were sitting along one wall, looking at him expectantly. "He needs to be alone for a while."

 

[Groc]

Brooke Webster, Reese Kells, Oswald Carotene, and Salazar Jones
Faunus Prison Ship​

[h1][/h1]
Reese continued to sneak around the ship despite the chaos, having managed to knock out most of the guards he came across without much of a fight. As he came upon a door, he looked back at the hallway behind him, specifically at the unconscious bodies scattered throughout it. "Sorry dudes," he whispered with an apologetic smile.

He reached out to open the door, but before he could touch it he thought he noticed it shaking. He waited a few moments and the shaking only intensified, confirming to him that he wasn't just imagining things. He backed away from the door just in case, but he couldn't help watching the way the door moved. It held a certain familiarity to it.

It soon shook even harder, rattling more violently in short bursts, but it was only when he heard the faint sound of what he recognized as a synthesizer behind it that he realized someone was playing some very loud music on the other side of that door. He personally preferred something a bit more chill, but this wasn't bad either.

It took a few more seconds of the music getting louder for Reese to realize that it wasn't just getting louder, but that it was getting closer. He rushed to the nearest hiding spot, which in this case was an air duct overhead from which he watched the door carefully.

He could hear the electro house music clearly now. The song ramped up to a crescendo, and as soon as it hit its peak the heavy metal door burst open, filling the hallway with the full force of the music that jolted the walls with every drumbeat. Through the door stepped a dark-skinned Faunus boy with long, upward pointing ears (though they didn't compare to Ozzy's ears). He was tall and pretty muscular, wearing a colorful tank top, a gold chain necklace, large sunglasses, shorts, and sandals. Reese could appreciate the comfort that was sure to afford. However, the most notable feature was the giant boombox he carried on his shoulder, clearly the source of the insanely loud jams.

The boy stopped to look at the sleeping guards in front of him, giving an impressed whistle. "Looks like someone's been busy, eh?" he said as he slowly stepped through the hall. He crouched down next to one of the guards, prodding at her face to examine her. To Reese's surprise, she stirred. It looked like her training took over as she reached for her gun the first chance she had and pointed it at the Faunus. But just as she fired, he grabbed the muzzle, pushing it upward. "Hey now, that wasn't cool, man!" She struggled against him, but to no avail. Instead, he forced the gun back so the muzzle pointed directly at her. Her eyes widened in fear, but he only smiled. "See, how would you feel if someone did that to you?"

Reese was kinda digging this guy at first, but now he couldn't bear to watch more. He quietly pulled apart the bars of the grate he was looking through and poked the barrel of his gun through the opening, loading one of his stun rounds. Hidden by the music, the gun discharged its payload straight into the music lover's head. The force knocked him down, leaving the guard likely traumatized but otherwise safe. Reese gave a sigh of relief. Sure, she was probably bad too for being on this ship, but he didn't want anyone dead.

The monkey Faunus jumped down from the duct and made his way over to the other boy in order to knock him out properly when he heard laughter. "Man, you got me good!" The other Faunus slowly got back up, smiling all the while, and he put a hand on the guard woman's head while looking straight at Reese. "Name's Boson, but you can call me the Night Beat! Now let's have some fun, eh?" Reese knew Boson was going to do something, but before he could react, Boson's hand surged with electricity, making the woman scream in pain.

Another projectile shot toward Boson, one that he easily dodged even in the position he was in. However, dodging the monkey Faunus flying after it was a bit more difficult as Reese closed the distance between them with his grappling hook, clotheslining him with the staff still in his other hand and throwing the bat Faunus several meters back. Reese assumed his combat stance with a sigh. "Brah, I wanted to like you, but I can't let you go around just killing people. It's not cool, brah."

Boson stood up once more, wiping a bit of blood off his face. He held out a hand toward his boombox, causing it to float in the air before it rushed toward him. From the bottom extended a huge pole from which he grabbed it, revealing its true form as a warhammer. He pushed a button on the boombox head and the house music changed into a more intense rock song. "Man, I think you've just gotta lighten up a little. Learn to go nuts every once in a while, y'know?" He took his own fighting stance, his smile growing even wider. "Come at me, bro."

Reese rushed toward his opponent with his daggers drawn, expecting to have the upper hand against someone wielding such a large weapon. Boson didn't look like he would make it easy as he set the hammer's head on the ground, triggering the speakers to open up and make way for a pair of large minigun barrels. Despite the change in the boombox, the music remained uninterrupted, not that Reese had much time to ponder on that with the bullets that promptly filled the hallway.

The agile monkey Faunus leapt over the stream of bullets, running high along the wall before launching a grappling hook behind Boson once more. But this time the bat was ready, leaping over Reese's follow up slash with surprising speed. He spun downward with his hammer with a speed just as surprising, slamming it over Reese. The floor rang out on the impact, tearing apart under the force of the strike. However, Boson knew the uninhibited sound of metal-on-metal meant he had missed his mark, and he looked around to find his disappeared foe.

Not a second after he turned, Boson was met with a downward slash that gouged his face, immediately followed by another across his chest. A third and fourth strike would have hit as well if Boson hadn't leapt back. Boson grunted and opened his mouth for some smack talk, but Reese jumped after him, not even giving him a moment to breathe.

Boson was forced to focus on defense, blocking and dodging whatever he could as he struggled to gain ground after letting Reese build so much momentum. Even this was difficult, as Reese used his speed and grapples to constantly strike from every angle. Boson's smile remained intact, but it was clear that he was frustrated behind it. It was then that Boson noticed something that made him start laughing.

---

Ozzy held his hands to his ears, leaning against the wall in fear. He hated getting into fights, but what he heard wasn't just fighting. It was a massacre, and it was coming closer. "Brooke, we should mo-" his suggestion was cut off by the ceiling's sudden collapse.

At first, the pair couldn't see anything in the ensuing cloud of dust, but it wasn't long before they saw a large, humanoid silhouette rising within. "Ozzy, prepare for battle," commanded Brooke, pulling her laser cannon from her back and into her hands. Brooke didn't hesitate to take action, pulling the trigger and firing a thick, searing beam right into the thick of it. It didn't matter who this person was, only that they were dangerous and close enough to them to be a threat. Any amount of hesitation could mean their lives.

The laser struck the figure square in the back, but didn't seem to have any effect. The dust and smoke cleared enough to get a good look at him. He was nearly seven foot tall, with a long scaly tail and a pair of short, forward facing horns protruding from his temples. He carried a large hook, nearly the size of a man's torso, connected to his arm by a chain made of some strange red metal.

After apparently absorbing the laser, he turned to look for the shooter, spotting Brooke and grinning wickedly. "I feel the burn... I feel it all! It sustains me!" He raised his hook, shaking it to make sure the chain wasn't caught on anything. Brooke could see blood dripping from the hook's point.

"Let me hear you SCREAM!" He shouted, throwing the hook at Brooke. To her surprise, the red chain seemed to stretch and expand, similar to Reese's staff. Despite the distance, the hook was coming right for her.

Brooke was too stunned by the fact that her greatest invention had failed so definitively to be able to properly dodge in time, only starting to gather light in her right hand when the massive hook crashed over her shoulder. She grit her teeth from the force of its impact, likely nothing compared to what was to come. He yanked it back with a force that would have driven its point deep inside her if not for her armor, sending her hurtling toward her assailant. But before she could be put at the reptile's mercy, she emitted a bright flash of light from her armor, gathering what she could from it in that same instant to put a sloppily-made stone shield in between them.

Brooke's shield may have been sloppy, but it served its purpose. The reptile had attempted to hit Brooke as soon as she was in range, but his fist merely cracked her shield instead of her skull. Ozzy darted in, jumping up and kicking the reptile in the face. He reeled back from the impact, but recovered fast enough to grab Ozzy by the foot and slam him into a bulkhead door. Ozzy's failed attack gave Brooke a chance to recover.

Hesitant as she was, Brooke knew she would have to shelve her laser cannon for this encounter. Latching it to the holster on her back, she instead pulled out her Multi-Tool, transforming it in one smooth motion and slamming the large blade into her opponent's gut.

Brooke's blade pierced her opponent's flesh, cutting him surprisingly deep, as if he hadn't bothered to protect himself with his Aura. He staggered back, dropping Ozzy to the floor as he clutched at his stomach. "Pain..." He wheezed, but a smile spread across his face. "Shiny lady makes Blaine hurt. I'll repay this, and all the pain you inflict, a dozen times over before it's all said and done!" His wound started healing itself before her eyes, and he delivered a vicious kick to Ozzy, sending him toward Brooke.

Ozzy managed to get his feet under him, skidding to a stop before he could hit Brooke. "B-Brooke..." He stammered, holding his leg in pain. "Don't let him touch you! His touch burns, and it saps your strength."

Brooke's mind raced to figure out just what sort of fighter stood before them, but she knew she couldn't afford those thoughts much time with danger staring them in the face. While she would have loved to stand her ground, Ozzy was hurt, and as a leader she had to put her team's needs over her own.

She reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a flash bomb, which cracked open in her grip, bathing the hall in light. In that same instant she dove down and grabbed Ozzy, tucking him under her left arm, and with her right she reached for her opponent's feet, focusing light around them before solidifying it with her glove. Hopefully it would hold him as she bolted in the opposite direction.

Their opponent, Blaine, screamed in frustration as Brooke blinded him with light. "Don't run! It makes the meat less tender! I will have my pound of flesh!" He yelled after them, unable to move with his feet trapped in stone.

---

Manus put his helmet back on, expanding his shields to full size. Sal took a canister of Dust from his bandolier, one that glowed red and was stamped with a flame emblem, and loaded it into his cannon. "Finally picked up a gun, croc? I thought you only knew how to punch things!" Manus taunted.

Sal pulled the trigger, launching a flaming sphere at Manus. The pangolin blocked with his shields, but the hit knocked him off balance. "I prefer punching, but that doesn't mean it's all I know!" Sal retorted, launching another fireball. Manus blocked the hit, altering his density to keep his balance. He yelled in challenge, charging forward with his shields raised.

Sal fired another shot, this time at Manus' legs, before the pangolin got much closer. Manus stumbled from the hit, curling up into a ball and rolling forward. He rammed into Sal, striking the croc in his stomach and knocking him back. Sal shot his Grappling Hand out, striking Manus with a quick punch, which halted the pangolin's forward motion. Sal quickly reeled his hand back as Manus unfurled, taking a defensive stance.

"Give it up, croc! I've upgraded my defense, but you still punch as hard as you did last time we fought! Even with that gun, you can't hurt me!" Manus shouted, retracting his right shield and growing a long bone spike from his wrist.

"Do I?" Sal grinned in excitement. Manus may have put on some armor, but he seriously underestimated how much Sal had improved. With a faint whirring and clicking of gears, Sal's armored hand shifted and transformed into a solid steel wrecking ball. He let out a shout as a sickly green aura surrounded him, his Semblance consuming his own Aura to increase his strength and speed. "I have not yet BEGUN to punch!"

Sal dashed forward, swinging his arm up to catch Manus on the chin with his wrecking ball. The hit actually lifted the pangolin off his feet, even with his increased density. Sal followed up with a left jab, driving the cannon into Manus' chest and pulling the trigger, hitting him with a fireball that knocked him back. Sal's cannon let out a warning beep, alerting him that he only had one shot left in this canister.

Thick bone plates spread over Manus' body, protecting him from harm as he impacted the stairwell, which left a sizeable dent. The plates receded, and he skipped his usual banter to just attack. Lowering his density improved his speed, and he blitzed over to Sal before the croc could turn his cannon on him again. Manus lashed out his his spiked fists, hammering Sal's chest with quick blows. Sal retaliated with a right hook, but Manus caught Sal's wrist with his bone claws, which turned into curved hooks to turn away Sal's attack.

Sal quickly tried to smack Manus with his gun, but the pangolin blocked with his shield. Sal rammed his head forward, slamming his forehead into Manus'. A sickly green energy trail flowed from Manus into Sal from the impact, draining some of Manus' Aura to restore Sal's. Sal pressed his advantage, repeatedly ramming his head against Manus' until the pangolin increased the density of his skull, resulting in Sal almost knocking himself out as he rammed his head against a skull thicker than a brick wall.

Manus shoved Sal away, feeling like the croc's attacks were ripping at his very soul. "What the hell are you? You were not this strong last time we fought!"

---

"Man, you're pretty dense, huh?" taunted Boson as he jumped back to avoid another attack. "Stirrin' up all this **** 'cause I wanted to kill a little human, but you still haven't noticed, eh?" Reese's eyebrows raised widened as he took a moment to ponder Boson's words, giving the latter the opportunity he needed to deliver a quick jab with the hammer's end. Despite the abruptness of the strike, it still held enough force to send Reese flying, crashing against the door Boson had come through.

From this position, Reese was finally able to see what his opponent was talking about. Having been so focused on the fight, it hadn't even occurred to him that the hail of bullets he had dodged at the beginning did not just disappear, but had instead lodged themselves in several of the guards he'd left lying around. He frowned, annoyed by his own lack of awareness. "Aw, man…"

"Let's have some fun." The music changed tempo, and a faster rock song blasted from the weapon. Now that Boson had gained some momentum of his own, he was determined not to let it go, charging after his opponent. Reese moved to escape, but to his surprise the grappling mechanism on his knives wasn't working. "Not lettin' you get away with that anymore, dude!" Reese heard moments before he felt the full force of Boson's hammer strike, flattening him against the door and subsequently tearing the door off its hinges, sending both tumbling along the deck above.

Reese groaned, overcome by pain. As he rolled on the floor, he could feel that several of his bones had broken. He chuckled. "That's... gonna hurt for a while... hope my bros are doin' better than I am…" Louder laughter than his own alerted him of his foe's reappearance, quickly followed by a great, hammer-shaped shadow being cast over him. "Here comes the BOOM!" Reese managed to roll away as the hammer slammed down and avoid the brunt of it, but the sheer force of the attack still knocked him away, metallic debris from the impact site digging into his skin.

Finally being pulled from his pained trance, Reese leapt to his feet, ignoring his wounds as best as he could in time to see another incoming strike. Now it was Reese who was forced on the defensive, struggling to avoid Boson's effortless swings of the giant hammer with his most reliable means of escape disabled (which he confirmed after a few more failed attempts). Not even his staff would extend anymore. Eventually even he began to tire until he finally slowed down enough to be caught.

"This was fun," Boson taunted through his swings. "but I think you're just about done, dude." Punctuating a wide swing with a quick jab like before, he rammed Reese into the ship's safety railing which bent sharply upon impact. Reese stood up slowly as Boson walked over to him just as slowly, seemingly assured of his own victory. "Man, I wish the others were here to see me finish you. I wonder what they're up to…"

Reese, on the other hand, was racking his brain for ideas. It wasn't until he looked overboard at the jagged, rocky shoreline that he finally regained some confidence. "Nah, brah. My bros are counting on me, and I'm not gonna let them down," he answered calmly yet defiantly.

"Well too bad for them, eh?" The moment he was close enough Boson swung down his hammer. Reese, however, was ready, and dashed away at the same time, sprinting toward the bridge that lead off the ship. "Running away? Aww, I thought we were really getting along, dude!" Boson reached down behind him and pulled up one of the metal panels so that it was parallel to his back. He jumped, and it was like the panel launched him forward, quickly covering the gap from Reese's head start and smacking him aside with a swing of his hammer.

Boson failed to stick the landing, and tumbled along the deck until he slammed into a railing. "Nailed it!" He muttered. Reese flew overboard and plummeted toward the dark waters below. But before he could crash against the waves, a stone pillar shot up from the sea, which Reese stabbed his knives into to slow his descent. Metal ground against stone until he finally stopped, taking a moment to hug the column he had summoned as his savior. He climbed to the top and continued to extend it, riding it until he reached the deck once more.

Boson got to his feet, looking over the edge so he could see Reese dashed against the rocks. His jaw dropped as his foe slowly reappeared from over the edge. "Guess you really weren't done," he admitted, readying himself once more with a grin. Reese likewise smiled at him from atop his pillar, despite the blood staining his hoodie and the bruises covering his skin. As they faced off, both took deep, ragged breaths, taking the opportunity to rest a little after their relentless assaults.

---

"Ozzy, are you able to keep watch for me?" She asked him, slinging him over her shoulder so his front faced behind her as she ran. "I need to think of some sort of plan. The biggest issue right now is figuring out why he's immune to my weapons." As she continued through the narrow halls of the ship, she took every turn she could hoping to lose her foe at least for a bit.

"Y-yeah. I'll tell you if he catches us!" Ozzy replied. On the one hand, he was glad Brooke could so easily spirit him away from the fight. But on the other, he resented being so small and weak. "Stop where you can. I've got a salve for my wounds."

Brooke nodded in agreement and kept a brisk pace, rushing through the ship until she made it to what looked like the engine room. The room and even the halls leading to it were eerily empty, likely having been cleared out after the initial attack. Fortunately, every loud piece of machinery there was still working, meaning that she could hide a little more easily.

Brooke made her way through the engine room's narrow corridors and crawled under one of the machines, laying Ozzy down next to her while she tried to figure out what she could do to defeat her bloodthirsty adversary. Little progress was made on that front, as her mind was hampered with other thoughts, like the issue of Sal and the Faunus prisoners, and her own agenda involving the humans on the ship.

Ozzy pulled out his healing kit, applying a spray of some kind to his leg. He slathered on a thick medicine that smelled oddly like strawberries, and finished by wrapping it tightly in bandages. He took a moment to check on Brooke, but she didn't seem to be injured. "It's too bad I can't heal as fast as that Faunus." Ozzy sighed. "He took your blade like it was nothing."

The thought intrigued Ozzy, and he mused to himself about what it meant. "Maybe we could use that. He seemed unfazed by your laser shot, but stabbing him clearly hurt. He recovered insanely quickly, but maybe we could overload his healing factor with enough damage? Or we could try hitting him with Lightning Dust. The shock might put him down..."

"Lightning dust..." Brooke muttered after him, mulling it over. "My lightning rounds don't exactly shock anything, or at least not since the earlier MADT models, but they can definitely do damage. And hopefully the narrow spaces in this room will keep him still enough for me to deal it all. They'll overheat my gun though, so we'll need to be ready in case they don't finish him. Or in case they don't work either."

As soon as Brooke finished talking, the door slammed open. Blaine stalked into the room, dragging his hook along the floor behind him. "They can run. They can run until their feet bleed and their muscles scream in torment! But I will follow, and I will do the screaming for them!"

Ozzy shifted slightly, moving farther away from the door and pulling his shovel off his back. In these narrow corridors, his speed wouldn't provide much benefit, but Blaine's chain would be almost useless, especially dragging along behind him like that. Ozzy nodded at Brooke, ready for a sneak attack on her mark.

Brooke took the initiative and dashed out from her hiding space, pulling the trigger on her gun the instant she was in position. "REGENERATE THIS!" She shouted defiantly as her gun's motor roared to life, overcharged by the lightning dust inside. Her weapon's muzzle flashes lit up the dark, cramped corridor, and the pouring bullets along with the motor created a thunder that drowned out even the great ship's machinery. It was clear to Ozzy that her weapon was even more powerful than it had been when it felled Manus.

Her attack took the reptile by surprise, her bullets ripping into him before he could even turn to face her. He charged forward into the hail of bullets, the red chain around his arm contracting and pulling his hook into his grip. Ozzy rolled out from his hiding place, pumping shotgun shells into Blaine's legs. Under their combined attack, Blaine was forced to fall back, overwhelmed by the duo.

As he stumbled back, Brooke could see his wounds start healing, even as she inflicted new ones. Ozzy dove back into cover, getting out of her way as he reloaded his shovel. Rather than retreat and turn his back to Brooke and her gun, Blaine smashed his way through the machinery beside him. Wires crackled with electricity and a ruptured pipe vented out steam, and Ozzy was forced to scramble as the crazed lizard almost ran him over.

Ozzy did take note of Blaine's actions, though. The reptile took hold of the sparking wires, letting the electricity course through him. He roared in pain, but his wounds regenerated much faster, leaving behind only scars where the bullets had struck. A nearby instrument started clicking rapidly as a sickly green aura surrounded Blaine.

Meanwhile, Brooke's weapon was already beginning to glow red with heat, forcing her to abandon her assault. "Damn it!" She shouted, stowing it away while she reached for another of her flash bombs. She backed away slowly, thinking of how best to use the light contained in the frozen sphere to make her getaway now that he knew what she was capable of.

Ozzy bolted from cover, coming to a halt by Brooke's side. "Electricity was a bad plan! He's just absorbing it to power himself up! I think his Semblance lets him absorb energy, and channel it into his healing factor. It's really setting off that clicky device, though. I had to get out of there fast!"

She almost tuned Ozzy out to focus on thinking of a plan, but the boy's words sparked an idea in her head. "Energy?" Her ears took notice of the aforementioned "clicky device" which she recognized as a Geiger counter. She almost smacked herself for not realizing it sooner.

Brooke split open the flash bomb, this time gathering the light into a wall in front of her, which she was quickly able to freeze. It wouldn't hold her foe back for very long at all, all she needed was a moment of time. She pulled her Multi Tool from her back once more, this time loading it with a light blue canister that chilled the heated weapon enough for it to at least be safe to fire again. "If increasing his energy levels increases his healing, then all we need to do is reduce them!"

Ozzy nodded slowly. There was logic in what she said. The wall shuddered from a sudden impact, but held firm. Another hit made it shake and crack, and after a third hit, Blaine's massive hook burst through the ice. He pulled it back, tearing a chunk out of the shield. He charged forward, breaking through the frozen barricade. "Oh yeah!" He shouted, as chunks of ice rained down around him.

---

Sal recovered from getting his bell rung, firing the last shot from his Fire Dust canister. To his surprise, the entire canister shot out from the barrel, detonating on impact and launching Manus through the bars of one of the cages. The Faunus inside, who had been watching the fight, pressed themselves against the walls, giving Manus some space. One young man, braver or more foolish than the others, knelt down to check on Manus. With some effort, Manus encased his fist in bone, lashing out and striking the prisoner in the face.

The Faunus fell back, clutching his broken nose in pain. Manus heaved himself to his feet, retracting his left shield and pulling a gun from his belt, identical to the pistols wielded by the guards. "Consider yourself the first casualty of the war." He swiftly shot the fallen Faunus in the head, then fired on the others in the cage with him as they tried to flee.

"Hey!" Sal shouted, his green aura flaring as his rage spiked. "What do you think you're doing?! They're not fighters, they're prisoners!"

Manus threw the gun down after it clicked empty. "I didn't do anything! These poor slaves were killed by humans, after they tried to escape! My team and I arrived later, and had to fight back when the humans attacked us!" He grinned wickedly, expanding his shields again. "Or that's the story we're gonna tell the world."

"You're not telling anybody anything!" Sal shouted, firing his wrecking ball at Manus. Manus crouched down, blocking with his shields and covering his body with impregnable bone plates. This defense was perfect, and had survived every attack made against it, even from his master. There was no way this lizard could break through.

Sal's ball/hand bounced off Manus' shield, but he charged in anyway, retracting his hand back as he did. He swung his arm like a hammer, smashing it against Manus as hard as he could, over and over again. Manus didn't even flinch.

Sal started hitting faster, dealing out faster but weaker attacks. Manus hid behind his defense, waiting for Sal to tire. The croc had a lot of stamina, but Manus was sure he'd last longer. After all, it didn't take a lot of energy to just stand still.

And yet, he found himself growing tired, while Sal kept punching. Too late, he realized his mistake: Sal couldn't break Manus' bones, but the croc's unique Semblance was chipping away at his Aura, simultaneously restoring Sal's own. Manus soon found his bone armor too taxing to maintain, and his plates receded, leaving him without his perfect defense. "NOOOOO!" He shouted, falling over backwards as Sal swung at him with a heavy punch. He rolled into a ball, careening past Sal and back up the stairs, leaving the cargo hold as quickly as possible.

Sal turned his cannon on Manus, but when he pulled the trigger, all he got was a hollow click. He realized he forgot to reload, and cursed his luck, his green aura fading. Keeping his Aura Burn up would prove too costly. He looked at the dead bodies in the cage and felt his anger come roaring back. He loaded a canister of Gravity Dust into his Riot Cannon, taking the stairs two at a time as he chased after Manus.

 

[Foxrally]

Jairo & Sahn Xill

Mira Cullous Nel Phelia

Team JSMN
Safe Landing​

Hurling one more piece of debris into the ocean for good measure, Sahn made sure the shark Grimm was far away from the ship before turning around.

"Oh my god, Nel!" the spider woman gasped uncharacteristically, running over to her unconscious body on the deck. She stopped to her knees and lifted her up. "What happened?" she asked.

"P-passed out... Urgh... Grimm knocked h-her out, she drank w-water..." Jairo replied, shivering from the intense cold.

Sahn gritted her teeth, laying the hawk faunus back on the ground. If professor Baxiao's first aid classes were ever going to be of use, it was here. Taking a deep breath, she pinched Nel's nose, and blew into her mouth. Then, laying her head back on the ground, she pushed down on her chest once, and hard.

"Come on..." Sahn muttered.

She pushed once more into her teammate's chest, the latter's cold skin now covered in a warm glow from Sahn's passive semblance. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Nel's body suddenly shook as she spat out a mouthful of water, coughing and sputtering as her breath returned. Sahn sighed in relief. A sudden realization came to her as she realized that if neither the shark or drowning were going to kill Jairo, Mira and Nel, the cold was. She quickly got up, and scooped up all three teammates up in her arms, getting them inside the ship to shield them from the wind.

"S-s-sahn..." Mira croaked behind her, shivering intensely. "C-coat p-p-p-ocket... Lighter..."

Shan nodded calmly, gently laying Jairo, Mira and Nel on the ground side by side.

"Rest, for now." was all they could hear her say before everything drifted to black.

------

3 days later

------

The smell of cooked food accompanied with the warmth of a campfire wafted through the rickety, makeshift 'boat' that had been made of the wreckage. Huddled around the flame, Mira, Sahn, Jairo and Nel held their plates, the latter two wrapped in blankets from the ship's first aid kit. Behind them, the large, now-functioning sole engine whirred softly, propelling the ship forward at a steady pace.

"This tastes like crap, Sahn." Jairo snapped, grimacing and wincing as he bit into the ungodly-looking dish his sister had cooked. It looked like a combination of mush, burnt meat and a few solid, chewy parts he couldn't even recognize.

"Crab." Nel corrected and winked, cackling at her own joke before suddenly grabbing her side. "Oww,. Man, this broken rib really has a-"

"Don't. Finish. That. Sentence." Jairo growled, pointing his finger threateningly at his teammate.

"-bone to pick with me!" the hawk girl finished, grinning. Sahn let out a small amused huff, carefully taking apart the cooked crab with her hands and tossing the inedible parts into the fire. Mira stayed silent, staring blankly into the fire without touching her food.

"Hm?" Nel raised an eyebrow at her teammate. "Mira, what's up? Don't listen to Jairo about the food, it's not that bad, y'know."

"Huh- what?" Mira blinked as she snapped out of her trance. "Oh, sorry, I was just... thinking. I'm not hungry, anyway." she replied, setting down her plate. "I'll be at the front of the ship if you need me." She brushed herself off before heading through the opening at the front of the boat. On her way there, she could have a quick look at the engine too. It really is a miracle that the piece I uncovered worked exactly for the engine itself... she thought to herself, but it only perplexed her. It was too convenient. She just hoped such luck would persist for the rest of the trip. Despite her navigation skills, she only had a very vague idea of where they were, and with food and fuel supplies running scarce - both in the ocean and their prepacked supplies - it was a matter of days before they would see themselves starving to death, especially with Nel's injury holding her back.

She pressed her hand against the warm engine, closing her eyes to sense any malfunctions. All good. Slightly reluctant to move away from the warm machine, she continued along the outside of the wreck-boat, until reaching the front. It was already early afternoon, but the air was still slightly foggy from the night before. Yet in the distance, she could see a faint outline...

"GUYS, LAND! I SEE LAND!" the owl faunus exclaimed.

"What?" she heard Nel call back.

"Get over here!" Quickly, the other three members of JSMN made it to the front of the ship, Sahn carrying Nel on her shoulders.

"Can't see much through that fog." the spider faunus remarked, squinting at the silhouette.

"Just... a sec..." Nel grunted, painfully raising her arms in a cross before suddenly bringing them down. "Gah!" Releasing a large tornado which blasted forward, the faunus' semblance cleared the mist in its path.

"Oh shit, you're right!" Jairo grinned. The fog cleared to reveal sand, and a little further, trees. "We actually made it!"

 

[Strange]

Team LUST

"…" Silence filled the air throughout the plains of Menagerie as a herd of Boarbatusk slowly roamed through. Suddenly rushing forwards from a thick patch of grass was a white-haired cat faunas.

"Eat shit!" Leon Ven Neku exclaimed as he drew two bladed western style revolvers from the holsters on his hips. As the muzzle flashed with various colours of dust, several of the shadowy figures dissolved before his very eyes.

Flashing into view beside him was a pale skinned chameleon faunas with a long black katana held in both his hands.

"Your way with words is... something." The young man named Umbra Yin Swan said plainly as he cleaved a charging Boarbatusk in half with a single swipe of his sword.

"Watch that they don't all charge at one person!" Shawn Mephitis yelled as he flipped onto the back of one of the Boarbatusks stabbing his curved daggers into it and tubling onto the groud as the body faded to dust benieth him.

He flinched as he saw a pair of tusks feet from his face, before a loud "Bang" sounded and a single metal rod implanted itself between the grimm's eyes. "Nice shot." he muttered. Tahu Yang Swan gave a saluting gesture from the top of a tree, where he began to reload his sniper-crossbow.

"Wooooo!" Multiple Leon's cheered as he suddenly split and two glowing copies appeared from him. "Alright, Lets do this!" The original Leon shouted as the other two grabbed him and tossed him into the air. The sounds of cylinders spinning echoed from him as he soared above the herd of Grimm.

The white haired chameleon faunus rolled his eyes as he saw his team leader go sailing through the air above him. "Showoff" He mumbled to himself as he clicked span the cylinder in the base of his Katana. Suddenly a glowing red ring of flame surrounded him and began expanding outwards, incinerating the three Grimm that were preparing to gore him.

"Don't you think this is a bit too easy? I mean come on, at least give us a challenge. We're too awesome for these pitiful Grimm." The first of the two Leon clones said plainly.

"Oooh, yes we are. You know what else we are? Really hot and se-" The second clone was interupted as a claw from an exceptionally large version of another Grimm charged forwards and tore the copy in half, causing it to dissolve into a shower of golden dust that faded away moments later.

Shawn stared up at the enormous Beowolf and readied his daggers. He ran towards the nearest Borbatusk and vaulted onto it's back, aiming the grimm to charge towards the larger beast by shifting his weight. He then stood on its back and gave a nod to Tahu who kept his sight aimed on the Borbatusk. "Now!" Shawn yelled as he lept off the speeding Grim onto the larger one's shoulders, sinking his daggers in. A "Bang" sounded as the smaller grimm below was destroyed.

"I'm gonna need a little help!" Shawn yelled as the Beowolf fought violently to shake him off.

"Affirmative!" Umbra called, fading from view instantly as several Boarbatusk leaped at the spot where he was before, only to crash into each other. Small foot shaped indentations quickly led away from that point before stopping infront of the Beowolf.

"Ni hao." Umbra said simply as he reappeared in front of the large beast with both hands on his Katana in a defensive pose.

Meanwhile, soaring over the nearby Boarbatusks, Leon grinned as he began to pull the triggers on his revolvers and shower the nearby Boarbatusk in a shower of dust infused bullets and causing them to dissolve away into nothingness.

"I'll keep these things held off! You guys take the big one!" He shouted to his team mates.

Shawn regained his grip on the grimm when he heard the thunk of a few crossbow bolts sink into its front. The beast doubled over, allowing Shawn to free one of his daggers and begin to slash at the creature's neck, which caused it to roar in pain and attempt to claw him off. Unfortunately its claws were just short, whisking past Shawn's arm and jabbing itself in the process.

After realizing its mistake, it slammed its back into a tree, knocking Shawn off onto the ground before it roared back to life, savagely slashing its claws at everything around it.

Umbra rushed forward, standing over Shawn as he deflected the Grimm's claws with his katana, and delivering a quicky slash to the creatures side. "Not today!" Umbra hissed as he returned to his defensive pose.

Poking his head around from the other side of the tree, the remaining Leon clone grinned and fired a shot into the creatures side, causing it to turn towards him and snarl.

"Go!" The clone shouted as the creature hurled a nearby rock towards him, crushing him beneath it and causing him to fade away into golden dust.

The real Leon meanwhile, was back on the ground. Taking aim at a nearby Boarbatusk he pulled the trigger on his revolvers only to hear a dissapointing click sound instead of the loud bang he was expecting. "Oh. Lame." He grumbled as he flicked his tail back and forth and he held the bladed guns out preparing to use the blades to finish what his bullets had failed to do.

Tahu sighed as reached back for another bolt but found his quiver empty. "Looks like I'll be going closer." He stood up, clicking a red barrel of dust into the front of his crossbow while he activated his semblance. His small swan wings on his back elongated and expanded, flexing as he took to the air. "Watch out!" he yelled as he haphazardly sprayed flames out of the crossbow, bathing the Beowolf with the bright flickering light.

Umbra looked back at Shawn who was still on the ground and shouted. "Get ready to move." He said simply as he spun the cylinder on his sword from the now empty red vial to the yellow vial. As he pressed it in the sword began to crackle with an electrical charge. Aiming the blade towards the now burning Beowolf he fired a lightning bolt towards it, smacking it dead center of its chest and stunning it momentarily.

At the same time, Shawn rolled onto his stomach and let out a cloud of foul gas from under his skunk tail. As soon as he did so he sprinted as fast as his legs would take him. The moment the gas came into contact with the burning Beowulf and crackling energy, it exploded, sending bits of trees and grim everywhere.

At the sound of the large explosion, Leon turned his head as he finished pulling his blade away from the last dissolving Boarbatusk. "Woo! Team LUST wins again!" He cheered, only to be interupted halfway through as a large branch impaled itself into the ground next to him.

"Indeed, it seems we have achieved victory." Umbra said plainly.

"Yeahhhhh!" Tahu cheered, emptying the rest of his dust canister as he flailed his flaming crossbow around.

"I'm gonna need a shower." Shawn complained, patting out small flames on his butt.
​

​

​

 

[Crow]

x

Natalie Star
with Esraella, Ciena, and Zierra

CH 1 · 3 PT

---

Traitor​

As Star leaves the encampment, the crisp night air flows by, and nips at her. It is uncharacteristically quiet, and she can make out the reds and whites of a grimm's mask in a bush in front of her. It creeps out, as well as two more to the left and the right of her.

"Here to avenge your big brother, eh?" Star formed a wicked smirk, though backed up a step. "I'd like to see you-- HAH!!" Throwing an open palm punch in front of her she detonated a star explosion mere inches away as the Grimm got a tad too close. The boom was rather loud and powerful, and Star quickly found herself launched a long ways backwards, spinning and flying through the air uncontrollably and as she crashed into the clearing. A few bounces and some rolling were what it took to slow to a stop, Star coughing out her lungs face down on the floor. As she slowly began to recover, the three Grimm, who seemed to survive the blast pretty well, reapproached Star, and the somewhat demolished rock formation behind her seemed to rumble and shake, as if something large inside had begun moving.

Zierra, Ciena, and Esraella hear the explosion and watch quietly in the trees, their faunus eyes able to easily track the grimm in the darkness. Esraella is about to jump down and help before Ciena stops her, "The human was talking big, let's see how well she can handle herself." She says watching as the grimm surround her. Esraella sits still and watches patiently.

Clutching her stomach as she rose to a kneel and slowly to a stand, Star let out some jagged coughs, trying to stabilize her breaths. "Fuck... I didn't think... I was hitting 'em... that hard..." A small streak of blood formed at the corner of her lips, slowly trailing down to her chin. She formed an eager grin, though even she couldn't hide just how hard her own blast had rocked her. Mocking an old movie she saw once, she stretched out one arm, bending her fingers upward a couple times, a gesture of challenge. As the three Grimm charged her from the front and sides, she formed a sturdy pose, the earth sinking slightly beneath her. With glowing hair and eyes, Star socked the middle grimm dead center on its mask and it exploded in light, launching far off into a tree before evaporating entirely.

Her victory was cut short however, as she finished her swing the two remaining grimm bit and latched onto her outstretched arm and leg, both clamping down simultaneously. She let out a pained cry, her heartbeat faltering a moment as she swung her arm and knee into one another, colliding the two Grimm in another bright display of light. She grabbed the two weakened Grimm by their masks and crushed them together, grinning but panting as the faded into nothing. She let out a cheer and pumped her first in the air, as the rock behind her blew apart to reveal a much bigger Grimm, one that resembled a huge tarantula, raising its fangs to bite.

A circle of fire forms around Star, stretching well over six feet tall of blazing inferno. Esraella leaps down and stretches anxiously, "Relax for a bit Star." She says with a grin as she cracks her knuckles.

The grimm reels back from the fire, and Esraella steps through it, forming a second ring of flames around her and the spider. The beast extends one leg out out to impale her, but she steps to the side effortlessly, "The spiders you humans have to deal with are so small and predictable." She laughs. The spider's leg gets stuck in the dirt below the snow, and Ciena can be seen up in the trees, watching the fight intently. Soon all of the snow and ice within the circle begins to melt, showing the dirt below. "Star, do you want a little lesson on becoming unstoppable?" Esraella asked.

Star exhaled slightly, though rather than a look of relief she had a look of outright annoyance and fury. "But y-- the fire-- I could've-- RRGGHHH!! LEMME HELP DAMMIT!!" Star hopped forward slightly into a handstand, detonating the ground beneath her as she launched herself in a proper frontflip through the air, vaulting herself well over the firewalls and drawing her bat as she flew over the spider's head. The combined force of her spins in the air and the sudden huge mass increase of her body fueled a mighty swing as she smashed down on its head, standing on top of its body while it struggled to break free from having its leg buried deep in the dirt.

Star however ignored it for the moment, her position on the spider leaving her face to face with one of the faunus from earlier. This caused her annoyance to pick up further, hands on her hips leaning forward. While rage and annoyance covered her entire expression and posture, the voice that followed it at least slightly hinted at some form of care. "YOU!! I COULDA HANDLED THIS MYSELF YA KNOW, AND ANOTHER THING, I'VE FOUGHT WAY BIGGER THAN THIS, YOU DON'T GOTTA GO AROUND ACTIN' LIKE YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME JUST 'CAUSE YOU'VE GOT FANCY EYES AND LIVE IN A DESERT, I MEAN SERIOUSLY! WE'VE GOT MASSIVE GRIMM BUT MAYBE OUR PATROLS ARE JUST MORE ACTIVE THAN YOURS AND BETTER AT TAKING THEM OUT, IT'S NOT LIKE WE'VE GOT AN EASY--" Star cut off abruptly, clearly she'd forgotten she was standing atop a living beast as the sudden movement threw her balance a moment and startled her. She remained on its body as it rose out of the ground, crossing her arms and closing her eyes, letting out a huff. "I-- jus--... I'll rest when we've killed the stupid thing!" While atop the spider her hair began to light up, as she began increasing her mass on top of it, slowing it down dramatically until it looked as though it was struggling to stand, let alone move. Star opened her eyes, their bright yellow glow burning brightly. "Fine, alright? Show me what you've got, full force!" Star stomped her foot on its back and a small explosion followed, using it not so much to hurt the Grimm but so she could land herself behind the faunus, sheathing her bat behind her. She remained arms crossed with the same bothered face, though she watched intently, clearly curious to see how she'd fight, a subtle distraction from her now very irregular heartbeat.

Esraella watched the tantrum casually, patiently waiting for Star to finish before she stops and lands behind the fire faunus. A red scarf drops from the trees from Zierra, and Esraella allows it to fall gently in her hands. All the snow had melted, and the dirt crept up the spider's legs, immobilizing it. Esraella puts the scarf on and takes a breath, "All of that flailing about is a waste of energy." She says as she holds out a finger gun aimed at the grimm. "Efficiency is the easiest path to power." She said, looking at star, "Bang." She says as an intense burst of flames erupts from the tip of her finger, completely engulfing it. The red scarf slowly dissipates and when it is completely gone, the flame fades, and in its wake, there wasn't a trace of the grimm, any snow, or even trees that had the misfortune of being caught.

Star withheld a snicker. "F-finger guns!? That's it?? Now I feel ripped off!!" Star casually threw her hands up in the air. "Where's the flair, the dazzle, the display of raw strength and fury!? Finger guns?? Anyone can do that! I can do that! Bang!" Star mocked the 'hand gun' pose and 'shot' a nearby tree, a small light explosion cracking the trunk as it fell over. "See? That's just boring! Goofy! You're gonna make 'em die laughing before ya kill 'em!" Clearly flustered, Star let out another huff, recrossing her arms over her chest. "I coulda made a fireworks show outta the fucking thing." Sighing, she caught sight of the pair of eyes in the trees. "No need to worry about my energy anyway, I've got way more than necessary."

Esraella shrugged, "There's no reason to be flashy in a fight. The more you exert yourself, the less time you can fight." She made the gun gesture again, "I barely have to move any muscles, and I can easily take out a monster of that size." She pointed to the tree, "You made the tree fall over, so you have kick, but you're hunched over and you've exerted yourself much too hard. What if I hadn't stepped in, would you have kept fighting until you killed yourself?" Esraella asked.

"Pfff," Star scoffed, "Makes ya look way cooler and stronger." From her back belt pouch she donned her star-shaped sunglasses, a cheeky grin stretching across her face from ear to ear. "I'll keep fighting until either I do or they do." Star chuckled heartily, adding "and they always do." Her grin was quickly interrupted by the erratic beating in her chest. She clutched her heart once more, immediately realizing how fatigued she actually was and probably looked now too. "I-- I'm fine, trust me. This is just a side effect… of somethin' else." Star slowed her breathing forcefully in an attempt to calm her heart, before speaking up again. "The fact that I'm still here despite everything, means I can still do way more." Star grinned somewhat, though it faded as her arms folded before her. "I coulda handled this without ya." After a long moment of silence, she gradually moved her gaze off to the side, away from Esraella. "But uh… I appreciate that ya came to help anyway."

Ciena and Zierra dropped down from the tree gracefully, and Esraella, sighed, "You look a lot "cooler" when you can end a fight quickly and with the least effort. Make your fight look easy, and make your fight easy for you." She explained, "The three of can fight for hours without passing from fatigue, because we conserve ourselves."

Zierra laughed, "Remember that one time we were swarmed for an entire night, and then those bandits came, thinking they'd have corpses to loot?"

Esraella sighed, "They just kept coming, none of us got any sleep."

Raising an eyebrow, Star shook her head. "I disagree, plus, that just doesn't sound fun. Like I said, I've got way more energy than I'll ever need." She twisted her neck to both sides, letting out several loud pops that almost seemed as if they could echo into the distance. "If yer fight ain't full of explosions and epic maneuvers, It's just quiet and boooooooring. Besides, the flashier and crazier I get, the more raw power I can show off, the more terrifying and unpredictable I can be. That's kinda my thing." She pointed one hand straight into the sky, pointing right out into space. "No limits! No distances unreachable!" She finished with a jumping fistpump, shouting, "NO CONSTRAINTS!!"

"She's loud." Ciena said cynically, still not acknowledging the girl. "Why don't we leave her here with the rest of the grimm." The much younger, almost childlike girl spoke with a condescending tone and didn't even look in her direction.

Zierra shook her head, "That wouldn't do, if humans come out here looking for her, we'll have a lot of issues. Besides, it isn't like someone else here wasn't that way."

Esraella glared at her friends and then looked at Star, "Your fighting isn't terrifying, it is loud, and anyone who has any experience will just wait until you exert yourself to exhaustion." She took a breath, and thought for a moment, "Do you want to get genuinely stronger?"

Visible veins stuck out of Star's forehead as her face reddened with anger, snapping at the other two. "I'M RIGHT HERE YA BUNCH OF RACISTS!! RUDE!!" Shaking her head quickly and regaining composure, she turned back to Esraella. "Loud can be terrifying. Unpredictability can be terrifying. And they'll have to wait a reeeeaaaaaally long time to see me run out of fight." Though the last thing she said gave Star that same, giddy grin from earlier. "And I'm always fightin' to get stronger." She couldn't withhold an excited chuckle. "Whaddya have in mind?"

"I figure you'll need to fight some real enemies, and get beaten before you'll learn anything." She replied, crossing her arms and sighing, "So why don't you come back with us to menagerie and face real challenges."

Ciena frowned, looking at Star, then at Esraella, "When did you start becoming so welcoming to strays." She said.

"Ciena, I'll break your arm." Esraella replied.

Ciena scoffed, "Keep your pets, I don't care." She said sourly, walking back to camp, "Train it not to not act like a noisy child."

Star was audibly and visibly grinding her teeth. "That brat needs a muzzle," Star growled through a clenched jaw. She adjusted her shades a moment before turning back to Esraella with a deep breath to calm herself. Arms crossed, Star finally responded, "I've had more beating than you probably think. Fought more enemies than you seem to think… But I like that idea." For several moments her gaze moved off to the distant town. She couldn't see them but she imagined she was looking in the direction of her former team. She'd probably never have to hear from them again! "Hmm….. Getting away from them is what I've been looking to do anyway. Two questions though. Who's to say Beacon won't come for me when they find out I've vanished? And what are the odds that your kind isn't gonna want to skin me alive when I get there? I may enjoy fighting, but I'm not exactly interested in attacking faunus. I kinda limited myself to Grimm and murderers. I'm not that savage."

"Put on a hood or something." Esraella replied without caring much, "We'll be in the sands anyways, so I wouldn't worry about seeing anything but grimm and murderers." She thought for a moment, "As for your school, I'm sure Archer will be a much worse thorn in their side than a missing student. At most I'm sure they'll send your team."

"Mm, good point." Star flipped open her scroll, flicking through screens and icons half-distractedly. "He sounds familiar… But I haven't really been in the school for a few years. Still, it rings a bell or two." She paused. "Ugh, they better not send that TAR after me. If I have to see Tyrael's face again I'm gonna smash it in, I swear." After a slight pause, she tapped a few buttons on her scroll and stretched, preparing to walk. "Alright, I'm in. Lemme just go home and get my bag and stuff. My mom taught me how to hand-knit clothes without a machine, I can bring that stuff with me and make a hood on the way there. I'll be back shortly!" Star quickly took off back in the direction she'd come from.

Zierra crossed her arms, "You really think she will survive?" She said, leaning against a tree. "Humans tend not to be much more fragile when they can't see, she probably wouldn't survive a night."

Esraella grinned, "I'd put my bet on her." She replied confidently, "Did you get a feel for her semblance?"

Zierra nodded, "I can weave her a cloak in a few hours if needed. I think she'll benefit from a cloak that stores and conserves her aura, rather than one that amplifies it."

Esraella thought about it, "Make her two, one that suppresses her aura as well." She replied, "If she fights like she does in the sands, then she'll kill herself of exhaustion."

Zierra sighed, "I'll sleep on the way there." She replied, walking back to camp. Esraella waited patiently for Star to come back.

Star returned minutes later, lugging a compact backpack behind her, starglasses tucked away once more. "I've luckily still got my knitting stuff and a looooooot of cloth to work with. Left town with no one tailing or watching. Told my mom I'm going out on an important solo mission and don't know when I'll get back. It should be a good long while before anyone catches on… Hopefully." She grinned, mostly just to Esraella. There was still an air of annoyance toward the otherwise silent one of the bunch. "Got me a fancy powered canteen that'll keep water chilled, or can heat tea and stuff. Got my scroll, cool shades, some food, sleeping material, a bunch of stuff. Plenty of black and yellow to make that hooded cape, and make it awesome. And what's left of my elemental dust reserves, including what's still in my Shooting Star. I'm sure I could do other cool things with that… Kinda like that fire scarf thing you used earlier." Star paused for a moment. "When's that ride supposed to show, anyway?"

Esraella sighed, "All that stuff is pointless." She said, "You just need a bag and some food, and even that is generous. If you're going to prove you can survive, you're going to use the bare minimum. As for the scarf, I doubt you will be able to weave something as complex as that, not as well as Zierra. If you bring her the cloth, she'll give you a cloak worth wearing. As for our ride, I don't think they're coming, so we'll have to stowaway to get there."

"Ugh, fine… But I'm not tossing my scroll, or my dust." She dug into her bag, pulling out deceptively small-looking piles of cloth. "But yellow stars on solid black are my thing. If it doesn't look awesome I'm not gonna wear it. But uh… I wouldn't mind watching to learn some more. I'll admit, that one-use scarf thing was actually kinda cool." She paused. "Stowaway? Stowaway how?? I swear it's like you're secretly just tryin' to make things harder."

"We can't exactly walk there." Esraella said, shaking her head, "I don't think you can learn what she does, it's her semblance. Not to mention, you're impatient, you'd probably rush through trying it."

"Maybe in combat. I like to think I'm a pretty decent knitter though." Star sighed. "Figures something cool like that would be a semblance." As per usual, her attention moved upward and into the night sky. "Duh, we're not walking, but what do you mean? Like you wanna sneak into a beacon ship or somethin', or build a log raft and paddle?"

"I'd say we can steal a ship." Esraella said excitedly, "So we aren't stowing away, so much as flying right off this stupid place."

Star grinned, her excitement bouncing right off of Esraella's. "Awesome! We gotta sneak in anyway, considering you guys. When are we gonna do that, then?"

"Tomorrow." Esraella replied, "We're going to sleep for now."

"sure thing. I did bring a family size sleeping bag! ... If you're not weirded out by that." Star smirked, rummaging through her bag. "I think I'm a pretty good natural heater."

"A sleeping bag?" Esraella repeated, "No, I don't think we'll be using that. Star, I invited you, but you aren't one of us. The three of us are closer than family, and you're not going to get on their good side that easily. Don't expect us to coddle you, or treat you like you're one of us." Her tone was serious, but respectful.

Star rolled her eyes. "Obviously. Common courtesy would be kinda nice is all. Or at least less of those horrible racist remarks the quiet one spits at me. It's not like I chose to be human…" Star slumped into her sleeping bag and rolled into her side, back somewhat turned to them. "I'd rather not hate the people I'm gonna be around. Kinda why I wanna leave in the first place…"

"I'll make sure your time around her isn't all that bad." Esraella assured her, laying with her sleeping friends, "You'll need to earn their respect, you aren't entitled to it."

"Duh, again… Not bein' racist doesn't mean you gotta respect me is all." With that Star wrapped up in her sleeping bag. Sleep came quickly, of course. It'd been a long, active day.

---

Pain. No matter how long it continued, it never eased, her body never adjusted to it. It felt as if her body would collapse in on itself at any moment… But it didn't. It was as though she could feel every molecule, every ounce of energy as it moved outward and away from her. Her life felt as though it was continually seeping out of her… But it never seemed to run out. Agony felt to be an understatement. Screaming, even speaking had ceased for quite some time. There was no point. Only a muffled, steady hum amidst total silence. She couldn't move, but if she could, she could not resist the natural reaction to flail and move about purely from the pain and stress.

Star, amidst nearly violent rolling and shifting in her sleeping bag, awoke with a jolt, jumping into a sitting position. Her breathing was jagged and heavy, her heart pounding furiously but offbeat. It took about a minute for both to steady. Star wiped cold sweat from her brow, just now remembering her surroundings. Her gaze moved back to the sky, as it often did. It was very early. A night sky with a distant pale blue on the horizon, a clear sign that the sun was nearly ready to rise. Sitting before her new allies and keeping an eye on their surroundings, Star kept watch in lieu of sleeping more. She hugged her knees close, dressed in her combat-ready attire, her Shooting Star folded into its compact 'sheathed' state resting against her back as she waited for the faunus to rise and their plan to begin.

Ciena woke up first, and got up from being cuddled between Zierra and Esraella. She walked toward the fire pit and fed the few sparks in it some dried sticks to get it going again. She glanced over at Star, who had a look of distress, and sighed, "Hey, human, think you can start a fire here?" She asks quietly, not trying to wake up her friends.

Star gave a short glance over to the quiet, racist faunus that came up beside her. She didn't seem quite that bad at the moment... Aside from calling her 'human' again. "I have a name, ya know..." Star grabbed a smooth, fairly straight stick from the pile, placing it upright amidst the fire pit. "But yes... With the fire drill technique, and my personal capabilities in semblance, good should be a breeze." In an odd change of character Star had suddenly begin speaking in a much more learned, civilized, and proper manner. As if unaware of her sudden change, her gaze seemed much more focused than usual, her gaze focused on her handiwork.

By semblance alone (her golden gaze aglow), she shaped one end of the stick into a sharp point, then placed the point over a flat hunk of wood. "By means of friction one can raise the heat where the stick collides with the board into and ember, as the rapid collision of the two surfaces produces increased heat." Star begun twirling the stick wildly, drilling the flat hunk of wood with the stick until a small fire formed. Placing the board beneath the wood pile in the pit, Star stood upright, one arm outstretched before Ciena, gesturing her back away from the pit a small amount. "This is the exciting part, however, it must be done quietly."

"If you condense a gas rapidly into a tight space it will rapidly gain heat. So by using my semblance to cause a star implosion, rather than explosion, I can provide the heat and fuel required to successfully fuel the flames to a self-sustaining level." In a quick motion, Star shoved an open palm in the fire's direction, following up as she snapped her fingers with her other hand. A small flash of light and the fire seemed to burst to life. A quiet, rather sweet smile formed on Star as she sat down relatively close to the pit, her eyes now glowing with the reflection of the fire, rather than the usual semblance glow. Practically silent, she watched the flames dance about, a subtle joy in her expression.

Ciena didn't show any sign of being impressed, and merely, tossed the last of her dry sticks into the flame, "Well at least you won't freeze to death a night." She replied with an unamused tone, "Though the cold isn't what kills out there. Nor is it the inability to kill grimm. It's common to die from giving up, or losing your mind." Ciena looked up from the fire and looked at Star seriously, "I'm sure you could blow up all the faunus you like, but I can see from a mile away that you're broken, and people who are broken are dangerous."

Sure enough, something in Ciena's words stung. Though star kept her gaze on the fire, her expression turned somewhat more serious than usual. A somewhat slight frown, Star spoke somewhat somber. "I don't know what you take me for, or what ya have against my kind. Maybe you have your reasons or whatever. I don't have anything against you. But you don't gotta treat me like a lesser being just cause I don't have animal parts. Your sister acts harsh but at least she doesn't treat me like a second-class being." Star sighed. "I'll do fine. If I haven't given up by now, nothing will make me. And I've already lost my mind." She gave a slight glance over toward Ciena. "Of course I'm broken. Everyone's broken somewhere deep down. Maybe some more than others. It's not like I enjoy the idea of being stuck around you either, ya know. The pet jokes got old after the first time."

"I didn't say that because you're a human." Ciena replied, calmly and casually looking into the fire again, "I said that because you aren't broken deep down at all, you look like someone who is broken at the surface and desperately tries to make up for it with fancy tricks and false self-confidence." Ciena's next words were cold, "I don't trust you to not hurt my only friends. Especially since you are someone who truly believes every person in this world is broken, and openly admits to having no sense. It isn't just the human part of you, it's the you part of you."

Star rolled her eyes somewhat defiantly. "You don't know anything about me past the surface, that's your problem. You don't have the slightest clue what I've been through, what I've done, or what's been done to me." She shook her head. "Maybe you'd have other friends if you weren't such an insufferable jerk. Just a thought." Standing upright, Star began stretching, tensing up every muscle in her body one by one. "If I wanted to hurt your friends, or you, I'd have done that from the start. And honestly the only one I'd want to - if I even did, which I don't - is you. And that's just because of how you act."

"If you really think my confidence is false, you're sorely mistaken. A mistake you'd regret in battle." Star yawned for several seconds, rubbing her eyes afterward. She pulled her weapon from behind her, sitting down by the fire with it, pulling out a small multi-tool from her pouch and tweaking the weapon with it. "I don't hate you for the Faunus part of you either, but you yourself. So far anyway." She gazed back at the horizon for several moments before returning to her weapon. "If you don't even wanna be civil with me, whatever. I'm not gonna sweat it because the little brat calling me 'human' instead of my name doesn't wanna be friends."

"Well at least you can understand the obvious." Ciena replied, frowning and closing herself off from further dialogue.

A long silence followed the conversation, and all that was heard is the crackling of the fire in the dead winter air. Eventually Zierra and Esraella wakes up to join the two of them, Esraella snaps tiredly and causes a larger fire in the pit. "Can't wait to go back home, I hate this weather." She said in a grouchy tone.

"Mm, morning," Star spoke absent-mindedly to the two as they approached. A lot of her attention was on her weapon. By now, her star-shaped sunglasses were on and her multi-tool was tossing small sparks off of her weapon. "Just a few finishing touches, I'm ready to go otherwise. Don't suppose ya slept too well, considering how different our homes are... Hmm... Done." Putting the tool away, Star latched her weapon onto her back, rising to a stand. "If ya guys wanna take a few to wake up, that's fine too. We do gotta sneak onto a ship. No way in hell they'd let me leave knowingly when I'm supposed to be bed-ridden."

"It shouldn't be too hard, though if things go bad, we can just use you as a hostage." Esraella said tiredly, sticking her hands in the flames, "Steal the ship, get it to menagerie, and then ditch it in the ocean or something, easy as pie."

"Maybe not ditch it in the ocean," Star replied, clutching her backpack's strap. "Maybe we could give it to the people of Menagerie. 'Least then it's not gone to waste." Star glanced up at the sky once more. "The sun is rising as we speak. It'll be light out soon enough. We should go soon if we want a chance to get away without being seen."

"Yeah, nobody will question why faunus have a human ship." Ciena mumbled, rolling her eyes and standing up, "Though I agree, the faster we get this done, the less time we have for things to go wrong."

Zierra, having fallen back asleep, was picked up by Esraella who stretched, "Ciena, Star I want you two to pack the camp. Star, your cloak should be inside, you'll recognize it, Zierra and I will go scout, Ciena can sniff us out." She looked at the two of them with stern eyes, "Better not go and kill each other, otherwise I'll kill the survivor."

Star nodded, stretching for a moment and grinning at Esraella. "See, I like that attitude! That's why you're my favorite-- oooh!" Already beginning packing, Star immediately found the cloak, pulling it out and examining every nook and cranny. "Oh dayum! This looks badass!!" Star couldn't help but smile widely. "Zierra might be catchin' up though, this looks sweet!" Star eagerly donned the cloak. The golden trim looked absolutely stunning on the black cloth. While very soft and surprisingly light, it somehow felt very durable despite that. It really was magnificent. It fit her form quite cozily.

"Feels like it could take a lot of my density without wear and tear too. Can't wait to test it..." As the two left Star quickly packed up with Ciena, though with a cheeky smirk she nudged the remaining Faunus. "You may hate me but you agreed with me on somethin'!" Chuckling, Star threw a bunch of the luggage on her back, and with glowing eyes she picked up in density, allowing her to carry a lot of weight with ease. "I'll get ya to stop hating me eventually. Somehow. I'll get back to ya on that one."

Ciena rolled her eyes and sighed, "I'm not looking for more friends." She said as they walked, "Don't ruin the mission trying to befriend me or impress me." They met up with Esraella and a still sleeping Zierra, who were lying in the snow, watching the cargo ship intently.

Esraella put a finger to her lips to signify quiet, as twelve guards stood around, as well as a human team from the school. The team consisted of a man holding a scythe, a woman holding a flamethrower blade, another man who had spider-like robotic appendages, and finally a girl with nothing at all. The guards watched as faunus "workers" filled the cargo bay.

Star spun her weapon out of its resting place into bazooka form and went prone, peering through the scope to more closely examine the situation. Her aim moved over to the team of four in front of the warehouse. "Wait... I've seen then before. I know those guys… They're definitely a powerful team." Folding back up, Star tucked her weapon away, glancing over to the trio; namely, Esraella. "So, how are we gonna do this?"

Esraella drew out the area in the snow, using leaves as guards, "There's twelve guards total that I saw, not counting the human team. I couldn't see inside clearly, so there may be more than four in there, but I know these four guards on the sides and the back are not in sight of other guards, and should be easy to deal with." She drew a ring around the warehouse, drawing lines to the leaves, "Ciena, I want you to dig us under and make tunnels that resemble this. We can use Zierra's scarves to time a collapse to allow the four of us to quickly and quietly take care of the guards. Then we move in from the back and take the guards out inside the facility. I counted at least eight faunus workers inside, so we can likely use them as support in taking out the last few guards. That leaves the team, which, being humans, I doubt they can pose any real issue to us in a 4 on 4 fight." Ciena was already looking at the area, calculating the distance she would need to tunnel in each direction, while Zierra slowly began to wake up.

Star nodded quietly. Even like this they'd recognize me... She couldn't help but feel nervous. This was a huge step. She never quite imagined she would be attacking members of her own land. She couldn't quite sympathize with most of them, slavery and all, but... This was still betrayal. "Somewhere deep down they deserve this for treating them like that..." She muttered. With a hefty sigh, Star nodded. "I'm ready."

"Star, I'm counting on you to not mess things up." Esraella said seriously, "Those are humans down there, and frankly I'm being incredibly generous in the amount of trust I'm giving you, do you understand?"

"Don't forget you're talking to one," Star responded bluntly, though followed it with a sigh. "They are my kind... But that doesn't mean I agree with what they're doing." She sighed. "You have to understand. I may not be able to come back because of this. I may no longer have a home to return to... I'm betting a lot on you guys too. I hope you know that." She turned her focus to the team of four again. "So... The guy in the red and orange has a scythe and he can control his own momentum. The chick in gray with the sword controls fire. The guy in green and white with the robo legs can manipulate technology. The red and black chick... I'm not super sure. She's always been discreet about her abilities."

"Noted." Esraella said with a nod, "I'd prefer not to fight them if we don't have to especially since I have a feeling that your style of fighting can damage the ship or the faunus workers down there. So I absolutely need you to try your best to subdue yourself. No prideful show-offy business."

"I gotcha." Star agreed quietly. "I'm just not good with this kinda quiet stuff. But it needs to be done."

Ciena dug into the snow with her hands and touched the ground, pushing down onto it and creating a deep hole into it. Esraella went down after her, holding a flame to light the tunnel, and Zierra waited for Star to go through before following. Zierra put a hand on Star's shoulder before she went in and smiled, "If anything happens to my friends, Ciena and Esraella aren't the ones with enough heart to tear you apart." She was pleasant in tone and expression, but her words were colder than the snow.

Star glanced back for a moment but continued nonetheless. There was a bitter chill that ran across her skin that wasn't coming from the chilly weather. "I know words aren't enough, but I'm on your guys' side... I just hope I can prove that." Halfway caught up to Ciena and Esraella, Star glanced back one more time to add, "And thank you for this cloak... I don't think I've ever worn something quite this beautiful. I'd like to see your process sometime, your work is astounding." Quickly catching up to the rest of the group, Star looked around at the tunnel they were moving through. In her silence she took a moment to admire the neatness of the cave walls. Whenever it came to semblances, it always managed be be cooler than any alternative.

Ciena stopped and pushed up at an angle, "For her." She said referring to Star.

Zierra handed Star two scarves, "The brown one is for opening the entrance, the yellow one is for your semblance." She said, unchanging in her polite demeanor.

Star nodded her thanks and watched the three continue on past her. After a few moments of silence, she looked down at the scarves. The yellow one made her shift uneasily. I can't use this... My powers would totally give us away. And they're counting on me... But if stealth goes south..... No but the Faunus here are stuck in the mix... If I do use my power I've gotta keep it small. After a couple moments of thought, she folded the scarf around itself and tied it into a headband. Then, holding the other scarf to the tunnel ceiling, she closed her eyes, taking in a few deep breaths to prepare herself for what was to come.

The trio got in their positions, each of them ready. Zierra waited and then signaled each scarf to trigger, fading away and causing the four tunnels to quietly crumble away, dropping snow and dirt inside harmlessly. The trio acted quickly, Ciena pulling her victim into the ground, Esraella and Zierra crawled out and choked their into unconsciousness, pulling them into their holes without a sound.

Star quickly leapt out of the hole, behind an unaware guard, as expected. One quick draw and swing of her weapon and he was out cold. Sheathing it quietly she made her way around the back of the warehouse, meeting up with the nearest of the trio by the back entryway. A quick nod was all she greeted with as she sidled up to the entrance, ready for the next step.

There were two guards watching four faunus lift boxes off shelves, and on the other side of the warehouse were two more guards and four more faunus. Esraella held up a wait sign to Star, and she slipped in with Zierra, holding the mouths of the guards and dropping them as they slowly pass out. The faunus workers turn around in surprise, and they glow in joy when they see two faunus helping them. Esraella put a finger to her lips and mouthed 'Keep working', and Zierra did the same. She signals Star and Ciena to move up, but when they do, there's a crash on the other side of the warehouse. One of the faunus apologizes profusely, but the guard sounds angry, and the noise of violence echoes in the warehouse. Zierra and Esraella stop the faunus workers with them from moving forward, and Ciena waits as well, despite the cries of the faunus being punished.

Despite the nervousness and tense air of the situation, that joyous glow on the expressions of the freed Faunus warmed Star's heart and she couldn't help but smile somewhat. Although a sudden, loud crash echoed throughout the entire building, in stark contrast to her prior feelings the boom of smashed cargo caused Star to completely freeze. Moments seemed to last for ages and a cold panic overcame her for a brief moment.

Smack!

Star's eyes immediately locked into that noise. Mixed in were a Faunus' cries and the guard's enraged shouting. The words, Star couldn't make anything out. Everything blurred together and--

Smack!

Eye twitching, Star was frozen. Unconsciously her hand was already reaching for her weapon. If this kept on for much longer the Faunus might--

Smack!

Star snapped, her grip tightened on the handle and her eyes burned brightly with her hair, her entire aura seemed to flicker and gleam in a golden glow, and with an enraged cry, she thrust herself at the guard at lightning speed, tiny explosions popping behind her and propelling her forward even faster. With a quick twirl she planted her weapon with plenty of ferocity across his face, flooring him instantly and sliding him noisily across the floor with abnormal velocity. He slowed to a stop several yards from where he stood, and Star took a guarded pose between the beaten Faunus slave and the remaining guard inside the building.

Just like that, Star's senses flooded back to her all at once. She was highly disoriented for that split moment, as her glowing aura seemed to vanish and she very quickly glanced around to find answers. A dented, cracked line in the floor between where she stood outside to where she stood currently was more than enough to tell her she messed up. The remaining guard shouted to alert others, and Star let out an upset "Shit!" as she immediately realized she'd blown their cover. Though the consequences couldn't be thought upon, as trouble was already fast approaching.

Ciena acted fast, taking the guard out with a lethal strike instead of a more subtle one. The faunus workers ran to the back of the warehouse as guards began to funnel in. Ciena glared at Star and she, along with her two friends ran forward to confront the guard. "They're going to take off!" Ciena said, putting her hands to the ground and creating a ring of stone to trap the ship, she had to channel the hold, otherwise it would crumble.
Zierra stood close to Ciena, protecting her while Esraella rallied the worker faunus to help fight.

Star, mentally beating herself up, sighed in a defeated agreement when she caught Ciena's glare. I messed this up, bad... I... I have to make it up. We can't miss this chance! Star glanced around, quickly analyzing the situation. Ciena was unable to move, Zierra protecting her. Esraella was on the other side, pulling together the workers to help them fight. Eight guards were incapacitated, four remained outside, though not for long; and of course, the team of huntsmen outside, sure to come in after the ruckus soon enough. Got it.

Star rushed over to Esraella to hurriedly speak. "If the workers can quickly take out the guards outside - two faunus to one human each - that'll leave us and the huntsmen team. After the guards are down have two or three workers board the ship and take out the pilot so Ciena can release her grip on the ship. Then it's the four of us against the four of them, but we'll have the faunus helping us so we'll be at an advantage. But that team… They're very formidable; we can't underestimate them." Star spoke very quickly, her mind clearly running at high speeds. Her eyes scanned Esraella's expression awaiting a response, knowing the time they had before theyll needed to do something was wearing very thin.

Esraella had a worried look on her face as she showed the collars on the workers, "They'll get fatally shocked if we leave without finding their key…" She said, leaving the injured faunus with her friends, "If they fight before we find the remote, we could end up losing all of them…" Esraella was visibly stressed and grit her teeth, and then took a breath, "Star, I'll need you to cover me while we get the remote, once we get that, then things can swing more in our favor."

Star's expression seemed to match equal worry, though she nodded agreement. "I hope we have enough time... But I've got your back." Star rested her bat over her shoulder, quickly sticking a star pin to the front of her cloak and placing her free hand over it. "Let's go fast, please."

Esraella used her scarf and created a wall of fire to discourage the guards from entering. "We should use the tunnels and circle back around, I'm pretty sure the controls would be kept on the ship. We can take out the pilot and free Ciena as well."

Star nodded, and headed for the nearest opening to the tunnel, glancing back at Esraella. "You first, I'll follow right behind." She glanced back at the warehouse. "One of those huntsmen can manipulate fire... I hope that wall will work long enough."

Esraella showed her scarf that was whittling away, "We have until this burns away." She replies, hopping in the tunnel and rushing through it to the original hole atop the hill.

Star followed suit, picking up her pace until she climbed out of the hole they'd approached from. She squinted at the situation below once more. "I have an idea that could land us right through the pilot's window from here, but you'll need to ride piggyback and hold tight." She quickly folded and tucked away her weapon, kneeling slightly. "I know I don't deserve it but please trust me on this."

"Are you going to cause an explosion?" Esraella asked suspiciously.

Star nodded. "Behind us. I can launch us both straight into that window, I'm sure of it. The explosion can be invisible, far enough that the noise won't carry all the way there, and won't harm us." Star glanced back, a careful eye on the deteriorating scarf. "I've been practicing, I can get the trajectory right. Please, we need to be quick, or the others and the workers will be in danger!"

Esraella shakes her head, "Sorry Star, but I can't just trust you when there's this much at stake. We're going to run for it and get in without any explosions."

"Uuggghhh." Star groaned. "I already fucked it up, I can't risk them and we're running out of time. I'm launching, I'll take out the pilot and check for any guards as silently as I can from the driver's seat down toward the boarding area, you start from boarding and work your way up, we'll find the remote faster that way, I'm not waiting any longer!" Star readied, then quickly and quietly launched herself off at a high velocity toward the ship.

Angle is perfect, trajectory good, thank fuck. Now just ready and... crashing through the window she took the pilot by complete surprise and wound up surfing him into the next room, quickly knocking him out with a bat swipe. She quickly checked the unconscious body for a remote, to no avail. Suddenly Star found herself choking, no longer touching the ground. "Gkk!" Star hacked out in surprise, struggling to break free, but the guard's grip was unmoving. Thinking quickly, she blasted directly in front of her face, knocking her and the guard backward and, as she was lying above the guard she began to rapidly pick up density, crushing the guard beneath her until she heard bones beginning to crack.

The sound horrified Star and she quickly released her semblance's effect, climbing off the incapacitated guard only to stop on her knees, coughing and hacking for air, her face nearly purple as she struggled to breathe. She shuddered as the noise echoed more in her mind. I... I can't do that again. I shouldn't have done that... I... Her struggled gasps quieting gradually, she slowly rose back to her feet. She turned back to the guard, her pained squirming and whimpering made Star feel sick. I... Have to check for the remote...

Esraella ran after Star, and upon seeing her in trouble, had no choice but to use her semblance to launch herself into the window. "I should've let him kill you." Esraella growled, looking down at her, finding the remote on the hip of the guard. Unfortunately, the people outside were alerted to the sound of Esraella's fire, and she went to the panel to close the cargo bay. Esraella glared at Star, "Stay in here and open the bay when it's safe." She said, hopping out the window and sending a flare into the sky to alert Zierra that the workers were free.

Star coughed, finally regaining a normal breathing pattern, though her heart skipped erratically. She glared right back at Esraella, though as the door closed it disappeared into a sorrowful frown.

"Natalie," a voice echoed from a shadowy corner in the cargo bay.

Star jerked her head toward the voice, and from the dark corner stepped out the scythe-wielding huntsmen that was outside just moments before. "Wha--"

"You think I'd forget that cute little cheek tattoo, babydoll?" He smirked, stepping up uncomfortably close and lifting her chin, a gesture that caused an immediate flinch. "Come on babe, don't tell me you forgot about me? Come on, say my name." Star turned her head away silently, visibly agitated. The guy's demeanor quickly turned aggressive, and he scowled as he spoke again. "If you don't your friends are fucking dead, Nat! SAY MY NAME!!"

Star glared. "If you fucking touch them I swear I'll knock your head clean off, Shawn!!"

Shawn smirked, backhanding her with enough force that she slid several feet across the cargo bay. "You've changed, Nat. You're not the girl I loved. And now you're a traitor too?" As he approached he kicked Star in the stomach, immediately undoing her attempt to get back up. "You sympathise with these animals, our ENEMIES!"

Star clutched her stomach coughing as she forced herself to stand through the pain. "Humans are animals, dumbass." She retorted. Shawn threw another swing at her, but this time Star caught his hand, clutching it very tightly in place. She looked up at him, her eyes gleaming brightly from the shadows of her hood. She tightened her grip further until his hand began snapping and popping, and as he shouted in pain she threw his hand away and watched him clutch it, wincing. "My name is Star, they're my--" She hesitated for a moment. "I'm helping them. Even if they've been jerks they're still better than you, better than these slave-drivers and stupid, corrupt assholes!!"

Shawn flipped his scythe around taking an immediate swipe at her throat, though she swung her bat against it, deflecting the slash. "You're grown stupid, such a shame. You can't see the potential in our growth as a race!" Star smashed his chin immediately after, and as he flew he suddenly slowed to a stop midair, and launched himself at Star immediately. She smashed his fingers while they were wrapped around the scythe handle.

Star flipped over to bazooka mode, then froze. Damn it! No explosions, or I destroy the ship. She flipped her weapon back and the two charged at one another ready to swing.

Esraella managed to get a surprise attack on two of the guards trying to get in the ship, throwing her boomerang out as she charged the first one, fatally wounding him with fire, and the second one getting knocked on the head with the returning boomerang. Ciena rested on her knees, regaining her strength as the final guards and the other 3 human hunters stood in a circle, as they were surrounded by the faunus workers, Zierra, and Esraella. Esraella frowned, "Drop all your weapons and lie down as we tie you up, and we'll leave you in the warehouse where it's warm."

The one with the mechanical spider legs grinned and put his hands on the back of his head, standing on his two feet, "If you do that, then we won't bury you in the snow, we'll give you a nice comfy cell to rot in." He waited for a response and shrugged when there wasn't one, "Well, bloody snow isn't the nicest scene."

Without moving, his mechanical spider legs darted out and stabbed four of the faunus through the shoulders. They collapsed, screaming in pain as their blood seeped into the white snow. Esraella responded with a quick blast of fire, but the human with the flamethrower stepped in and effortlessly swiped it away. "Lets not get too carried away, faunus. Who do you think have stronger flames? A faunus or a human?" He readied his flamethrower and fired it, burning the area where Esraella stood, causing her to uncharacteristically feel the heat and move. "Your little firewall I couldn't dissipate? Well, these flames work very much the same, you'll burn like the rest of us." He laughed as he forced her to move constantly.

The girl stood there, almost lifeless and unassuming as the guards and the mechanical spider human went after Zierra. She waved her hand and from her bag, and two cloaks came alive. She pulled out a bag of ribbons, cut into three inch strips. She opened the bag and the little ribbons flew out, floating around the field. One of the guards got too close to one, and it exploded in his face.

Trading missed swings, the two exerted themselves, clashing weapons together. Shawn laughed directly in Star's face. "You think you can save them!? Don't you know what they'll do at Beacon when they hear about this? Do you have ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE CAUSED??"

Star low swept his legs and knocked him back but, sure enough, his semblance kicked in and his momentum spun around; he used it to bounce right back at her, clashing once more. "No choice with you..." her hand starting to glow, she threw a hard gut punch with it, dropping him immediately and forcing herself backward, hitting a button on the wall on her way down. She landing sitting up against the cargo bay door coughing and clutching her chest, as the door began opening to the increasing volume of fighting outside.

The guard and the spider armed boy watched cautiously, realizing that the seemingly harmless ribbons floating in the air were risky. The boy smiled and looked at Zierra, "Fancy floating bombs aren't going to stop me from making you stain the snow." Upon not getting even an emotional response from, he grew irritated, "I hate faunus, you're all so filthy and savage." He says, pushing the guard forward, causing him to take the brunt of several ribbons. Zierra watches in horror as the guard collapses, and the boy laughs, "You put them up faunus, why are you so surprised that they worked?" He creeped forward and picked the guard up again, the guard breathing lightly, "I'm sure his body can handle clearing them all." He tossed the man closer to Zierra, causing more explosions. Zierra showed her teeth and growled. The boy crept closer without a care in the world, getting ready to pick the guard up again. Before he threw the guard, Zierra dived in and stopped him, taking the explosion herself, and shaking as she got to her feet. She sidestepped an attempted stab at her from the boy's legs, and discretely attached a ribbon to it. She dashed forward and attached more to the legs. Before the boy realized, his robotic legs were blown apart, and Zierra's cloths pinned him to the snow. She frowned as she punched him hard enough to knock him out. She coughed as she herself felt weak from taking the explosion, and she fell to her knees.

Esraella avoided the flame, trying to keep her distance, but she wasn't in control yet. The pyromaniac roared with laughter as he did his best to burn her alive. Esraella ran until she was behind the human huntress who had not yet moved. The pyromaniac stopped and gave her an angry glare, "Don't ever touch her." He yelled, moving forward.

Esraella took the chance and showed a flame, holding it near the girl, "I bet she isn't fireproof." The pyromaniac moved closer but Esraella moved the flame closer, "Don't test me, I've killed a lot more innocent people than this one girl."

The pyromaniac tightened his fist and dropped his flamethrower, "You think that she's the innocent one of the four of us?" He asked with a grin. Ciena in the back created spikes from the ground to restrain the boy. Esraella put her flame out and sighed in relief. But she felt her body freeze, and begin to move on its own.

The girl had twisted her head to look at Esraella and her face was horrifyingly devious, with a toothy grin. "A faunus?" She asked, "Such a warm faunus is hugging me." She said with an air of ecstasy. Esraella couldn't move on her own, and her arms began to hug the girl closer."They don't let me touch the faunus, but I always wondered what it would be like."

"What the hell are you doing?" Esraella asked gritting her teeth.

"Well I'm going to do my best to enjoy this moment." The girl said, pulling out a knife, "I was told life is short, and enjoying the little things is always best, though I know you wanted to make my life shorter. I can't accept that, and it hurts me that something so enjoyable wants to kill me." Esraella was unable to even talk at this point, as the girl looked at her knife, "I want you to experience that feeling with me, that feeling of dread, then I'll know for sure someone relates to me for once." The girl hummed for a bit, trying to decide which of Esraella's friends to control to kill her. Her eyes settled on Star, who was standing in the doorway, the only one that wasn't preoccupied.

Star's entire body locked up in place. Her eyes immediately darted to either side in a panic. She tried to speak, but only choked gasps came out. Her heart raced very unevenly, and all her senses spiked in alarm. Her body began walking against her will, approaching Esraella and the woman she recognized but couldn't figure out exactly. "Y-you--"

"Natalie? Are you friends with these Faunus?" The girl asked with a look of perverted glee. "You're so lucky." She said as Star took forced steps forward. "You had such a renowned father, but why isn't he in the record books anymore? Is it because he lived a short life? He did his best to make people enjoy life."

As Star finally stepped close enough, the girl placed the knife in her hands, "So few truly do respect life." With a rapidly shaking hand, Star was forced to grab and wield it, the woman gesturing toward Esraella. "I've seen his pictures. You look so much alike." She giggled, nestling her head in Esraella's arms, "Seeing you now, it really makes me sad, you must really miss him."

Her face genuinely showed sadness, though not of empathy for Star, rather a twisted disappointment. "A father lost, and you try so hard not to be like him… but I know how to make you feel better!" Her expression turned cheery and innocent. "You'll feel so much better when you see him again. Of course, I still need to teach this faunus to enjoy life, but you, I want you to enjoy it too! What better way than to embrace the Pulsar namethan to follow in his footsteps?" Star uncontrollably turned to face Esraella, knife hand at the ready. The girl snuggled up to Esraella whose expression was filled with rage. "Such an easy life you must have had Star, to be here, with faunus like this, while I wasn't even able to touch them."

Star's eyes widened in realization and her eyes immediately teared up. "N-NO!!" Star cried out before her entire body stiffened and the girl's control tightened.

The girl's smile, while such a tender expression, only caused shuddering cold. "It hurts you so much, but that's good. I know it hurts now, but you'll be so much happier having that looming sense of dread, you'll be so much more grateful for your life!" She grabbed Esraella's hand, gently "And don't worry faunus, I know you didn't get the chance to enjoy life, but your legacy could live on."

Star trembled violently from head to toe, every muscle and fiber failing to resist. Her knife-equipped hand pulled back, and Star's cries came out muffled and suppressed, her face reddened as tears flowed down either cheek. Her eyes were forcefully locked into Esraella's and her arm suddenly thrust forward. She let out a stifled scream and mentally jerked at her hand as hard as she could, but it wouldn't stop. The blade sunk directly into Esraella, right beneath her ribs. Esraella screamed loudly as the blade entered her, and the girl relished in the noises. "It feels so much less lonely." She says blissfully. "Don't worry faunus, I'm here, you're not dying alone." The girl felt a pain in her gut, and looked down to see a spike of earth just pierce her. Ciena weakly lying in the snow nearby, tracks from where she dragged her body forward. The girl's hold on Star and Esraella faded, and she fell forward into the red snow.

As quickly as her mobility returned, her mind fell apart, and she dropped to her knees. Tears fell endlessly from her eyes and she let out one last scream, loud and distraught as it echoed far into the distance before she collapsed to the floor beside Esraella, eyes open and crying still, though they were dull and glazed over. Lifeless and empty. The thud of them both hitting the floor followed only with silence for several long moments, as flocks of birds nested in nearby trees simultaneously fled from the sound.

The uninjured faunus who watched from the safety of the warehouse now walked out and began to help Star, Esraella, and the others onto the ship. There was nothing but the sound of crying from Ciena and Star, while Esraella struggled to breathe.

​

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