What a pair we make...
By: Reaver17
Chapter 1: Not dead yet
Neo knew she was screwed when she flew off the airship, discounting the fact that she was a wanted criminal, in the center of a currently burning city, packed full of bloodthirsty, heavily armed and only semi-friendly faunus terrorists that hated humans i.e. her, with her only reliable partner currently engaged with a knock-off huntress on a floating metal bucket. The sky through she was currently falling was filled with Grimm, really, really, big Grimm, with nothing to slow her fall but an umbrella/weapon which currently wasn't working out well.
Usually when one thinks about using an umbrella as a parachute they picture a cuddly animated character chuckling and smirking as they float slowly to the ground, add in high wind and a swarm of griffons however and the experience sort of loses it's charm. From the moment that red hooded brat clicked the button on the weapon Neo was assaulted by an angry gust that seemed intent on killing her, the vicious force of nature crashed into the sturdy pink fabric blowing the diminutive thief around like a windsock.
It only got worse from there, the wind picked up even more, quite effectively rattling Neopolitan's small figure as a toddler would do to a small toy, and then she heard the screeching. She couldn't bare to look, she could hear it well enough, that awful, triumphant noise of a dozen Griffons and a Nevermore noticing the small ice cream coloured morsel currently flitting through open air...food.
Neo didn't want to look, she didn't have to really, but she couldn't not. Just like all those movies she'd seen, where that single random thug stands staring down the barrel of the action hero's gun, usually before a cliche one liner. Roman had alway's laughed whenever they'd watched those, What an idiot! He'd say, That's no way to stay alive, DO something you fool, don't just watch without putting up fight dammit! But they never heard him of course, that'd be absurd, almost as absurd as Neo opening her eye's voluntarily just to feed that ridiculous urge to observe the instrument of her death. And oh did she see it, a flock of the winged fiends hurtling towards her, maw's wide open to get a piece of her, the Griffons accompanied by a massive raven-like Nevermore flying amidst its smaller brethren…..yep, definitely screwed.
Neo clung a little tighter to her umbrella her eyes shut once more, waiting for the monster's to swallow her small frame in one fell swoop. Then they impacted with her, and she was dead….okay, no, not really but the impact was enough to knock her unconscious, she thought she was dead.
But the world works in mysterious ways, Neo would never know just how astronomically lucky she was in that moment, that a certain scythe wielding huntress used a certain tactic of firing her rifle downwards to use its considerable recoil to slow her fall, and well, bullet's that big have gotta go somewhere right? And that vicious wind? Just enough to send a single lone shot hurtling just a little bit in the right direction to glance off a certain Nevermore's eyelid. Not nearly enough to kill it, but enough to imbalance it and merely cause it to crash into Neo as well as send it listing into its fellows resulting in a tangle of feathers and claws from which there was no recovery, and so the Grimm and Neo were sent plummeting down to their deaths…..okay, again, not really. They were in different situations, Neo had an aura, the Grimm were not so lucky.
/
"You are a disgrace to your bloodline! You are irresponsible, reckless and you seem to take pride in your uncanny ability to insult everyone of importance who crosses your path!" Wesley had always liked to think of himself as a patient man, it was a virtue after all, especially for a lawyer. But patience runs out eventually, which is why the normally calm and collected man used the extent of his seven foot height to glower down at the source of his stress, his face red with anger.
The stressful source in question didn't even glance in Wesley's direction as he was too busy pouring over the heavy book sitting on his desk, his response showed as much concern as his demeanour "Then call another one of your 'mental health experts', I'm sure that'll will sort me out quite effectively."
Wesley's face turned a deeper shade of red the at the young nobleman's attitude "I am well aware of how you've been acting around your psychiatrists, another example of your ludicrous behaviour."
"Ludicrous you say, whatever do you mean?" the youth asked in a deceptively innocent voice.
"YOU SENT THE LAST ONE RAMBLING TO HIS OWN MENTAL HOSPITAL!" Wesley took a few deep breaths to calm himself and manipulate his complexion to a less furious colouring.
"Did I really? Heheheheh….well he should have been warned beforehand what a complex labyrinth my mind can be, even I get lost in it sometimes."
"I have not the time nor the patience for your cryptic ruminations Jack, you have offended the daughter of a very powerful person." A scowl creeping onto his face, Wesley crossed his arms frustrated.
The look on Jack's face however put Wesley's scowl to shame "I would hardly call that mobster powerful, if he was really so influential as you make him out to be then I wouldn't have to deal with his little girl's feeble attempts to manipulate me just so she can get a chunk of my inheritance."
"You are being irrational, your marriage to Azure would be highly beneficial to both sides, the Schnee's would have nothing on you, this is very important to the family." Wesley's tone had taken a softer turn in an attempt to appease the noble, he could feel his breath catch as the young man tilted his head back in consideration, it was working!
That's what he thought anyway until Jack burst out laughing "Both sides? You must be joking, the only person benefitting is my uncle and by extension of employment, you. Sadly this book is a lot more enrapturing than your amusing comedy so I'd like to continue reading and not listening if that's alright with you."
Wesley's face rocketed to a shade of red akin to a bright balloon, Jack found the sight rather amusing but Wesley most definitely did not "You little….this is pointless, you must understand how childish you're acting, you reputation is fragile as it is with you being the bas….with your father's absence. What will others think of you?"
For the first time during their argument Jack lifted his head to regard the man with bright blue eyes "And there lies your mistake Wesley, all this time after all the painfully obvious clues I've given you, you have inexplicably come under the assumption, that I actually care what anyone else thinks."
Wesley was silent for a minute with his mouth open preparing a response before deciding to just give up and leave slamming the door behind him, Jack went back to his reading when a voice from the corner of the room drew his attention "Was it really necessary to make him so angry sir?"
Jack smirked at the figure frowning from the corner "Absolutely, without a doubt, yes."
A heavy sigh "Oh Jack, you never were one for manner's were you?"
"I have plenty of manners." the nobleman responded in a, to his credit, rather convincing facade of disbelief.
"Indeed you do, you just don't like using them very much."
"Hmph…."
/
Neo awoke slowly, her eyes were closed, she could feel the ground beneath her, it felt hard, but comfortable in a way, as if it was molded to her body. As if that one piece of terrain was carefully handpicked, folded, pulled and mashed to ensure a perfect fit for her figure…...then she remembered falling, she had fallen, she was in a crater.
Funny, she fell a long way….didn't she? So…..wouldn't it have hurt? Why didn't it hurt? As these thoughts crossed her mind her brow began furrowing, why didn't it hurt? Hmm maybe her spine was broken, she'd read somewhere that you can't feel the pain if you're spine is broken. Was she paralyzed?
The thought failed to alarm her.
Maybe she should open her eye's? That would make sense, she liked seeing, but her eyelids did feel quite heavy, maybe she could just lay there for a quiet nap, naps were good. Long as one of those birdy things didn't wake her up, or the little doggy one's, they looked different those things did, but they were the same….somehow...what...what's the name?
GRIMM YOU IDIOT! GRIMM!
Neo was snapped out of her stupor her eyes suddenly very eager to see what was going on around her following the belated realisation that she was in a hostile city possibly crawling with monsters that could easily snap up her befuddled and possibly concussed body into their jaws for a light snack.
The thief immediately sat up whirling her head around to see...oops, now it hurt. The sudden movement triggered a wave of agony to flow through her body as her senses finally recognized the pain caused by her fall. She let out an involuntary groan as black spots danced across her vision, she blinked furiously, her eyes swapping through random colours in confusion, slowly the dark blots faded enough for the injured thief to observe her surroundings.
The first thing she noticed was that there was indeed a crater in the shape of her small frame in the ground, she had landed in one of Vales many parks, a large green expanse of trees and pathways, spoiled only by the impact of her fall. There was nobody in sight, not even a stray Beowulf, not that she was complaining on that front, the second thing was the pain now increasing in a single area of her body.
The young criminal stared at her left arm, was she losing it? Or had it always bent at that angle? Something told her it was broken, probably the pain. She gritted her teeth and hissed in annoyance as she poked it with her still functioning arm, definitely broken then.
It suddenly occurred to Neo that perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to just sit there whining about her discomfort. Carefully she stood to her feet, her legs wobbled with soreness but she managed to take a few experimental steps, before promptly falling to her knees and vomiting on the ground in front of her.
"Eeeewww." Neo jolted up to her feet almost falling backwards at the surprise sound of a familiar voice, but was steadied by an arm on her shoulder, she managed to regain her composure enough to see the large red eyes peering at her injured arm. "Damn" Emerald grimaced slightly at the sight of her twisted limb "You really landed on that huh?" slowly she gripped Neo's arm and tightened her grip just enough to make Neo wince "This is, probably going to hurt a lot, just remember it could be worse, you could have been eaten." then she twisted, the last thing Neo remembered was pain as a piercing shriek cut through the air.
Hope you enjoyed, press on of those button thingy's if you feel like it, if not well then it's no big deal, more chapters coming soon!