-If there is nobody to help
you might as well help yourself.-
"If your wondering, thats not his normal staff." The teacher was still wondering why this stranger was asking about his top student. Could he be from the Military? No. He was to casual of a person to be military. Although, he defenently knows the boy, or at least he did before he changed his name. Maybe an old family friend? No, Sachen saw him when he came in and didnt react. Oh, what was his name again? I think it started with a V. Eh, who cares, he'll be gone soon anyway, I hope. "His staff is in his locker, its considerably lighter that the one he is using now."
"Training with a heavier weapon is a great way to bulid speed and strength. How long has he been doing this? Nevermind, wherever he is, he has a long way to go before he reaches his goal."
"Oh, you know what his goal is? He hasn't even told me that, and I've taught him almost everything he knows. Well exept for whats in that book of his. Anyway, would you mind telling me what his goal is?"
"Thats not for me to tell."
"Fair enough." Ugh! What I really want to know right now is why they let you in this school. Only people who are immediate family, or on official buisness are alowed in, and I doubt that you are either.
"Well I had better be off. Lots of things to do in Atlas today." The man left without waiting for a response.
Thank God. Its about time "Hey Sachen! I think thats good for today. you should get some rest."
"I get why your concerned, but im fine."
"With the way you train, I'm suprised you can even stand. Get some rest, maybe give your classmates some tips?"
"Fine, but if they want to get better, they need to train harder." Sachen said in a way that made his classmates flinch. They all knew how hard he worked to get where he is. Normally he was nicer but when he was focused on a fight, he could get mean. He did apologize when he cooled down. 'I don't apologize if it means nothing' he'd always say. Probably why may of the childeren in the school considered him a friend.
After school, his mother picked him up. She wanted his help getting groceries. They lived in a rather bad part of town, and he was an excellent body gaurd. When they got to the store, everything looked fine. There wasnt anyone else shoping at the moment. They didn't mind that, the less people in the store the better. Sachen went straight for the meats. "Hey mom, this ham is on sale. Oh, so is this chicken. Eh nevermind, packaging is ripped."
"You should probably go let the shopkeeper know."
"Will d-" he cut himself off as he looked toward the counter. He saw three men, two obviously carrying guns in thier coats, the other with a medium sized black bag. Could they be any more obvious? Well, I'll wait to see what they do. "Mom," he whispered "get down, stay out of sight." He crouched, following his own advice. The three men looked around the room. The one with the bag, and one carrying proceeded to go to the counter, the other stayed at the door. The counter and the door being about six yards apart. Sachen was almost directly center, but the choice was clear. Get the shopkeeper out as fast as possible. We had the only close parking spot that was close, and with the guy at the door, they must have a car down the street. I might be able to get all four if the one at door runs. Oh? Looking at flyers before you rob him. How odd.
"Hey." It was a womans voice. The one holding the bag was a woman! "You should put the money in the bag. Now shouldn't you love?" The tone of her voice was suductive. Her body language changed to suit. Now why would sh-
"Yes, I should." The clerk said. He sounded like a robot.
"You went to hard on the poor guy." the man with her said as the clerk reached for the bag. That was enough, Sachen reached for the staff on his back as the mount lifted it up out of his jacket. In one smooth move, unfolded it and used a blast of air dust to launch himself over the aisle toward the robbers. "What the?" The man was rightly confused but reacted quickly, reaching for his gun.
I can take the shot, just have to make sure this hit knocks her out. Sorry, but today I'm not gunna underestimate you. The man had his hand on the gun an was pulling it out of its holster when Sachen started to spin midair. The air coming from his staff didnt seam to alert the woman. He spun once before one end of his staff made contct with her head, he continued and struck her again with the other end. BANG! The shot barely missed the tail of his jacket. Landing on the ground beside the unconscious woman, Sachen looked up to see the man's next move. He redirected the gun at Sachen's face. He could have attacked the man avoiding the shot entirely, but he chose to show him just how much they had messed up. As the man pulled the trigger, Sachen focused his semblance to his hand, reached up and made his palm the bullets destination. Another bang, a mild pressure, some smoke, and the look of pure shock told Sachen he had the edge. The man at the took a couple steps toward them before jumping into the air to land a punch. Why not your gun? But hey, your form is great! To bad I want this to be over quickly, I would have blocked your hit. And ya know, two birds with one stone is always better. He crouched a bit, swung up and with the help of some dust put the end of his staff between the mans legs as hard as possible. In the same movment came down on the man still shocked, hitting him on the head, using the other end of his staff to propel the man in the air onto the other. Both men hit the counter with a thud. It was over.
"Mom stay there, I think they have a driver, he might show up." He went to the store front, but nobody was coming or going. "Okay, maybe not. They must have planned to get away on foot. Well, you cant allways be right." He then walked over to the shopkeeper who was still filling the bag, and smacked him.
"What happened?" The shopkeeper asked as he shook his head. "All I remember is these three walking in then just red fuzz." Sachen's mother explained the past few seconds the dazed shopkeeper. "I sould call Vinnin. Mayby he can take better care of them than the police."
"Thats the sceond time I've heard that name in the past two days. Who is he?" She was normally like this, so curious, although somtimes the questions annoyed Sachen.
"He says he and his associates are here to help from siturtions just like this. I dont mind, the police don't do much around here anyway."
"Maybe someone you should talk to Sachen, if you really want to do more that that school can offer you."
"Well, I dont know if he want kids working with him. But hey, if you hadn't stopped them, and me, I would have lost alot. I'll take half the price off whatever you get. So finish shoping. For now, I should tie these three up." With that Sachen finally relaxed.
When they got to their appartment, Sachen's mom told him she had some business to take care of so he'd have to put everything way. After all, managing the appartments isnt easy. After putting all the groceries away, he put a pot of water on the stove to boil. As he was going the his seemingly endless types of tea to try figure out what to drink, he heard a knock on the door. Must be one of the tenents looking for his mom he thought. When he opened he saw a man about his size with black hair and bright green eyes. "May I help you?" He wasn't a tenent and his mom said nothing about a visitor. He did seem familiar, allthough he couldn't place where he had seen him.
"Are your parents home?" The man was nice in his question.
"My mom should be up in a minute. Shes the manager of this buliding."
"Oh, thats convenient."
"Yes. Well would you like to step in?"
"If it won't bother your mother, some parents dont like strangers in the home with their kids."
"No, my mom wont care. She knows I can handle myself."
"Ah, combat school im assuming?"
"Yes. Would you like a cup of tea? I have a pot on the stove."
"Yes, please. by chance do you have any Mistral High Mountain Oolong?" The man asked jokingly.
"So, you have a taste for not so common teas? I'll make you some." Sachen's reply took the man back.
"Yes, I had a freind who introduced me to it. We went to Haven Acadamy together. Talk about an odd team leader."
Sachen saw through his humor, mentioning he has fighing experience, my fathers favorite tea, he's here to talk to me. But what about?"So, what did you want to talk to my parents about?" He asked as he was getting cups.
"I wanted to purchase this appartment." This took Sachen back, maybe the man was just bragging about being a Huntsman.
"Well I can't help you there."
"Yes, but you might be able to help me with something else."
"And what might that be?" So there was something. The tea was finished. "Here." He handed the man his tea and gestured to the couch in the center the the living room.
"My team mates and I have come here to help 'clean up' the streets in this neighborhood. You, are in combat school, probably to help save the world. And by looking at you I can tell, your not a scrub." The man was starting to brighten up. "So, you wanna get a little extra practice in, help me and my team mates, and do some good for the world?"
"Isnt vigilantism a crime?"
"Eh..Only if you get caught, and have you seen the police around here? Id expect this kind of behavior in Mistral."
He definitely uses humor to dwon play thing but, "Hmm, you have a point." The mans offer was certainly temping, finally something good could come from all the training and drills. This could be nice, but what would my mom and Mort think?
"You had better talk with your mother before you go an join a criminal organization." a sick sounding voice came from behind them. There was a very tall blond man leaning on the wall "Just dont get seen, I dont want you to come crying to me when you cant get into Atlas Academy."
"Oh your home?" Sachen was just as suprised to see his step father as he was to see him sick. He'd lived with him for 4 years and not once seen the man so much as sniffle. "Are you gunna be ok?"
"I'll be fine, Its you I'm worried about. Now be quiet so I can get some sleep." He said as he left to his bedroom.
Sachen looked back at the green eyed man sitting beside him. "He makes a point joining the mafia would probably get me noticed by someone."
"Well, if it means anything, I have a friend in vale who can get you some.. uh.. well technicaly fake transcripts for Beacon Academy. He does it every year for kids who cant otherwise get in for one reason or another. That is if you want to go to Beacon."
"I can get into Beacon on my own." Sachen scoffed at the idea that he would need fake transcripts. If all the academys exepted the same level of student, then he was sure to get in. After all, his teacher said that his classmates would get in no problem and he had done everything he could to rise to the top.
"Yeah, I thought you'd go the honest way. Well forget I said-" The door opened and Sachen's mother steped in. She had taken longer than he thought she would have, it must have been serious. She didnt see the man in the livingroom, as she went directly to the kitchen.
"Sachen, you would never guess what happened today." she yelled from the kitchen.
"Sshhhh dad's sick and trying to rest." It wasnt uncommon for him to call his stepdad 'dad'.
"Sick? Wow. I should get him somthing. Anyway, you know Lucy, on the first floor. Her ex broke into her house to day and totally trashed it, when whe got home he was still there going through things. Apparently, he was getting proof that she was chea-" she stoped talking as she walked out of the kitchen "And who are you?"
"I'm somebody who may be able to help with Lucy's problem. My name is Vinnin."
