"Are you sure she's here?"
A pair of eyes scan the right side of the bar thoroughly. A second pair takes note, opting to scan the right.
No dice.
"Uh... yeah? That drunk guy outside sounded pretty sure he'd saw her. Have some faith, Weiss."
Yang Xiaolong's response was peppy; intended to re-secure confidence. As she delivered it, she continued to scan the various groups of patrons littering the bar, holding her scroll at eye level studiously. Weiss Schnee was having none of her optimism, though, as she gave up er own search and instead locked eyes expectantly with her blonde-haired partner.
"She's not here." Weiss interjected, leaning in closer to take her own pee at Yang's scroll. "Besides, are drunks really the best source of information?"
On the electronic device was displayed a picture of a young woman. Gray, messy hair partially covered her face, leaving only one of her eyes visible. That one eye was adorned with heavy bags, making her overall look quite disheveled.
Weiss scoffed at the sight, though she tried to hide it.
"You know, I can kind of see why she- Hey!"
Yang had pulled the scroll away, putting out of the reach of the shorter Schnee. Stomping on the ground in frustration, Weiss pouted.
"I was looking at the suspect!"
Yang smiled victoriously. "You don't get to complain about my sources, drunk or not. I was working the crowds outside, trying to get information... you were just following me and pouting."
Weiss rolled her eyes, pouting again. "I don't like places like this."
"Tough." Yang replied, simply. She relinquished the scroll, handing it over to her partner. "Ask around. I'm gonna see if they'll let me get a drink."
"Fine." Weiss groaned, grabbing the scroll roughly. "Wouldn't surprise me... I doubt a backwater place like this has any regulations."
"And that's why I do like places like this" Yang winked, before walked towards the bar, leaving Weiss to her own devices. Or, device, rather. Looking down at the scroll displaying their target, she sighed. It was time to mingle with the... locals.
Looking around at nearby tables, the immediate sight of leering and most likely intoxicated men turned Weiss off from pursuing that option any further. Instead, she decided to grab a passing waitress, who looked friendly enough. The faunus, her tail wiggling in surprise at being yanked at the sleeve, turned with a sour face. Upon seeing the interceptor, though, her expression softened.
"O-oh, hey. A new face!" The waitress piped out, brushing some hairs out of her face. "Sorry, thought you were one of the, er, rowdy regulars. What can I do for ya?"
Weiss returned the smile courteously, before showing her the scroll. "I'm sorry to bother you, but have you seen this woman?"
The waitress' eyes narrowed in confusion, as she studied the image. While she 'hmmd' in vocal comprehension, Weiss was a bit distracted by the girl's cat tail, which swayed left and right playfully all the while.
"Y'know, I think I did see her up at the bar." The waitress nodded to herself, clearly satisfied with her careful introspection. "I work the tables, so I don't always get the best look at folks up there, but I'm sure I've seen that face. Hard to forget, really."
The waitress looked around, past Weiss to get a good look at the bar, clearly to confirm her suspicion. Weiss turned around to see for herself. The only thing evident over at the bar was that Yang already had the bartender wrapped around her finger, alongside a few other men entrapped by her... eye-catching qualities.
"Hm, guess she's not there, anymore. That, or I'm goin' crazy!" The waitress joked merrily, still leaning around Weiss. She almost lost balance, in fact, nearly dropping the drinks she was carrying onto the floor. "Sh-sheesh! Sorry, I better get back to work or I'm gonna get totally yelled at! Good luck!"
Weiss couldn't help but smile at the woman as she scurried away sheepishly. It was a brief respite from her bad mood, but it was brief. Soon enough, she found herself continuing her search around the bar, strategically avoiding the eyes of the more sketchy patrons.
Eventually, Weiss wandered not-so-innocently over to the women's bathroom. She was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic, navigating carefully around the tables and chairs... not to mention the drunks. It was a good opportunity for a respite, not to mention to freshen up a little bit. Upon entering the lavatory, however, she was met with the disturbing combination of rank, unidentifiable smells, as well as the sound of violent vomiting emanating from one of the stalls.
Classy... Weiss thought, nearly convincing herself to exit as fast as she had entered. That said, the girl swallowed her pride in a bout of stubbornness, and went through with her original plan anyway. Walking over to the mirror and placing Yang's scroll down, she began adjusting her clothing, particularly checking to see if they had been stained by any stray stray droplets of booze. It was an unfortunately realistic concern as she had come to find out as she had patrolled the establishment.
Lo and behold, her usually spotless white dress had been maimed by some kind of... dark ale? The pungent smell wasn't indicative enough to tell, but obviously wasn't a good sign. Reaching down to a nearby sink, Weiss shrieked as the water came out much faster than anticipated, and sprayed out against the dirty linoleum bowl. The front of her dress was wet enough, just enough, to feel on her skin.
Seething, Weiss slammed a fist on the sink.
"FFFFFU-"
Another bout of violent sickness erupted from behind Weiss, in the stalls, interrupting her profane explosion.
Someone's having a rough night... She thought, feeling if only a bit concerned for the stall's occupant. She was a bit too pissed off to engage in any fruitful sympathy, though. Sighing, Weiss turned back to the sink, and continued fussing.
The same still soon produced a click, and the door started opening weakly. The sight drew the attention of Weiss, who spared at least a moment to sneak a peek at the occupant. Part out of concern, and part out of a petty desire to catch glimpse of the trainwreck, she looked behind her carefully using the mirror, though not being too obvious about it.
"Fffuckin... shit." A raspy voice called out weakly, as the person stumbled out roughly from the stall. The girl was bent over partially, hoding her stomach. Her long hair covered her face, and even with her sneaky reflective glance, Weiss could see that the woman's hair still had chunks of vomit clinging to it on one side; the side she had failed to pull back, apparently.
Wow... talk about a mess. Weiss thought, letting an admittedly shameful smirk slip from her lips. Brushing some of her long, frazzled grey locks aside, the woman...
Hold on, that hair... It's the suspect!
Indeed, this serendipitous turn of events forced Weiss to take a moment to blink her eyes and affirm she wasn't crazy... but it was indeed the individual they were targeting that was currently drunkenly righting herself upwards. Steeling herself with a deep breath, Weiss turned around to face the woman with a stern look.
"Excuse me, ma'am. I am Weiss Schnee of the Schnee Dust Company. I'd like to have a word."
The woman, now having fully righted herself, albeit not without an embarrassing amount of difficulty, met her bloodshot eye with Weiss's. The other, just like the picture on the scroll, was currently hiding behind a mass of partially pukey hair.
"Huh?" She asked, stretching her back. "Who?"
Weiss sighed, shaking her head. "Like I said, I'm... woah."
She had meant to go on to reprimand the suspect, but before she could get to that point, the woman had shook her head roughly. Her expression was strained, as she seem to try and shake off some drowsiness. Understandable for a girl in her state, but the fact that the hair usually covering her eye had moved way to reveal a horribly disfigured eye, caused Weiss to slip up in her impending lecture.
"What? Look, you gonna talk or what? I wanna head out." The girl asked lazily, her hair now settled back to its original resting place.
"Your eye..." Weiss replied uncouthly, unable to contain her disgust. "Have you gotten that checked out? It looks... infected."
The woman tightened her lips, her exposed eye burrowing an angry glare into Weiss repulsed expression.
"No, and no, it's not. Not anymore." The girl shouted, getting in Weiss's face. "You ever get shanked by a Beowulf's claws? Dirty fuckers don't leave clean cuts, to nobody's goddamn surprise... prissy bitch. Fffuck off!"
The girl spat as she shouted, as her words were partially slurred for reasons that weren't hard to guess. Already annoyed by her dirtied clothing, the act of having saliva collide with her face made Weiss snap, as she was sometimes prone to doing. Drawing her Myrtenaster in a swift, fluid motion, she threw usual caution to the wind as she placed the tip of her sword recklessly at the girl's throat.
"You're under arrest." Weiss uttered venomously, smirking.
The opposing woman froze up at the blade at first. In her drunken state, however, she unfortunately leaned forward in off-balance surprise. Weiss's weapon pierced the girl's throat ever so slightly, drawing blood. Luckily for the both of them though, the one holding the rapier was sober, and withdrew with the kind of speed and precision only acquired through years of training.
"I-I'm... sorry!" Weiss called out to the woman, as she clutched her throat in disbelief. "I-I didn't mean to-"
The grey hared woman started chuckling, catching Weiss unsurprisingly off guard.
"Nah... it's cool. This little cut ain't nothin, for me." The woman shrugged and laughed, as she looked at her hand, palm tinted slightly from her blood. "That crazy weapon, tho... you're a huntress, right?"
Glancing down at her weapon, Weiss shrugged herself. "Uh... yeah? Why?"
"Nothin'... people like you just save my butt a lot, ya know?" The woman laughed again, placing her hands on her hips. "It's cool. Bein' a huntress, I mean."
"Thank... thank you?" Weiss sounded out, feeling a bit vulnerable at her sudden friendliness; not many bled from the neck with a smile.
"What's yer name?" The woman asked, grinning.
"Weiss... Schnee?" Weiss answered, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "Like I said before... from the Schnee Dust Company."
The woman's grin maintained itself for a moment, though soon enough it faltered with an appropriate drunken delay. "Ohhh... Oh, shit. So you know..."
"Yes. I know." Weiss replied carefully, though feeling a bit guilty. "Grimm Magnet."
Weiss had figured the title would strike a chord, and it certainly did. The woman's prior grin was now completely gone.
"Could ya avoid using that name, here?" The woman asked, frowning bitterly. "I came here to avoid that name."
Though still feeling a sense of guilt towards the wounded, vulnerable woman, Weiss steeled herself appropriately. In the name of family.
"I know. You fled from Vacuo... after destroying a Schnee dust refinery."
The accusation, blunt in it's delivery, caused the girl to narrow her eyes angrily. "I didn't destroy it."
"I tracked you all the way here from Beacon, down to this small village. I have extensive intelligence reports from both Vacuo authorities, and the company of my namesake. You don't think I know about your record? What you're capable of?" Weiss warned, renewing the grip on her weapon. "You're... you're under arrest, to face trial in the... the SDC Tribunal B-board of... what? Why are you looking at me like that?"
'The Grim Magnet' now had a deadpan look on her face, clearly unimpressed with Weiss's officiality. "Look, I'm well aware what you and yer dumb company want from me, alright? I'm not gonna try anything when a goddamn huntress has her sploosh-shooty weapon sword thing pointed at me? No thanks. Can we just leave this fuckin' bathroom? I dunno, get a drink? It stinks in here... no thanks to me."
The girls casual surrender, not to mention her casual profanity, left Weiss feeling deflated. Her shoulders relaxed, alongside with her grip. "F-fine... whatever."
"Kay', lessgo." The woman drawled, turning towards the door. "Oh, by the way... if yer gonna be keeping me hostage and what not, can you just call me Smo? I hate that dumb name... Vacuo hicks piss me off."
"Smo?" Weiss repeated, tilting her head. "Is that... like, short for..."
"It's short for fuck you, it's my name." Smo chuckled, smiling eevily. "Can we please just go get a drink?"
Just as the woman turned to exit yet againm though, Weiss cleared her throat forcefully.
"Smo?"
"Yeah?"
...
"You should probably clean that puke out of your hair, first."
Weiss, with Smo in reluctant tow, made her back to the bar with the expectation that Yang would still be there. It was an accurate guess. The blonde girl was sitting next a small group of enamoured young men, as she seemed to finish off chugging her second schooner of ale. Slamming it down next to the other, the men cheered happily.
"Yang!" Weiss hissed out, trying her best not to attract her harem of men. "Yang Xiaolong!"
The effort was fruitless though, as the whole group of drinkers turned expectantly to the grating call. Yang initially wore her trademark smile upon seeing Weiss, but her eyes turned to saucers when she saw who she had with her.
"Woah, you found the Grimm Magnet?!" Yang called out, back to smiling. "Following you without a hiccup, too... Nice going, Weiss!"
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah... look, can we leave? We've completed our objective."
"Aw, cmon... I was just starting to have fun! Can't we stay for another drink?" Yang pleaded, winking cutely. "Pretty please?"
Groaning, Yang facepalmed. "Why are you even drinking? We're on a mission..."
Yang shrugged. "A mission from your dad, sure... doesn't affect my GPA. I'm just alooong for the ride."
"Glad to see you're taking this seriously." Weiss remarked with obvious sarcasm.
"I dunno, I'm kinda in her camp..." Smo remarked, though avoiding Weiss eyes, and thus her unimpressed glare. "A drink or two wouldn't hurt..."
Weiss sighed, and was about to relent, but was cut off by the imposing shadow of the bartender, looming over her from the other side of the bar.
"Hold on, missy." The grizzled man remarked, looking suspicious. "Yo, Amber!"
Clearly at his beck and call, the waitress from earlier came skipping over. Bowing slightly at him, and then the other customers, she sent the bartender a charming smile. "What's up, boss?"
The bartender took a moment to think, before leaning on the bar with a quizzical look. "This girl over here is saying that girl is the, uhh, Grimm Magnet. Didn't you say something about that earlier this week?"
The waitress looked concerned. "Uh, yeah. I have family back in Vacuo... they say there's a woman who attracts all sorts of Grimm wherever she goes. Caused a lot of deaths... wait, hold on, you mean... that's her?"
The waitress pointed at Smo, who looked more than a bit uneasy with the situation. The bartender, meanwhile, grunted in comprehension. It wasn't a happy grunt, either. A few nearby men got up from their seats, staring at Smo with cold eyes.
Crap... this isn't good... Weiss thought, worriedly. She's not gonna stand trial if she doesn't make it out of here alive.
"Um, gentleman..." Weiss began, glancing worriedly at the few men now closing in. "There's been a bit of a misunderstanding here with my blonde friend here. This isn't the Grimm Magnet, she's just-"
"Look, Whitey, I think I speak for the whole town when I say we're not about to take any fucking chances with no Grimm Magnet, even if it is a joke. It's a sick joke. You think a place like this can survive a major Grimm attack? We may keep our walls manned... our moods in check...but if that fuckin'girl right there is a natural disaster waiting to happen, then I don't want her in my bar, and I sure as hell don't want her in my town."
The crowd of men joined in themselves, yelling obscenities at Smo, who currently had her dark eyes locked on the cricket board floors of the bar.
"Cmon, fellas..." Yang wanred, walking into the middle of the hazing. "I get the reservations you guys have with the girl... but you really think this kind of angry mob situation is gonna help the whole Grimm situation? Let's all just take a deep br-"
"How about you and yer city slickin' posse get the fuck outta this town, instead. Out by the hour, or I call the guards." The bartender doubled down, staring angrily at Yang.
Yang, more than a bit typically fiery in her reactions, went to give the guy a piece of her mind. Smo, however, had other idead, as she yawned loudly, drawing in everyone's attention in with ease.
"The guy's... right, alright? I shouldn't be here; I'm practically a timebomb. Let's split before shit goes south." Smo said, yawning.
"You split before I put you outta yer misery, bitch." The bartender spat back, glaring. "I'd be doing the whole world a favour, too."
"You'd also be interfering with the intended justice of the Schnee Dust Company, and the Kingdom of Atlas by extension." Weiss called, out, stepping defensively in front of her hostage. "I highly doubt a... a dumb peasant like you would-"
"GRIIIIIIIIIM! Grim at the gates!"
...
The yelling, terrified voice cut through the bicker in the bar like a hot knife through butter. That is, before the realization of the bartender led to an explosion of anger not often seen.
"I fucking knew this would happen, I should have killed you when I had the-"
The seething words of the man, ones that commanded attention in the room the moment they began, were cut off by the booming sound of Yang's Ember Celica cocking into action. Soon enough, it was followed by the chambers of Weiss's Myrtenaster spinning to life.
"I know you got a lot of hot air to release there, big fella, but trust me... when the dust settles here?"
Withdrawing a pair of shades, Yang placed them decisively on the bridge of her nose.
"... the only thing you'll be releasing is a big fat apology."
Sighing, Weiss shook her head. "It's night outside, Yang. Why are you putting on shades-"
"Rule of Cool! ..also I'm a little tipsy!" Yang shouted, cackling, before bolting towards the door of the bar. "Cmon, Magnet! It'll be easier to kill these bastards with you drawin' em in!"
"Not a bad strategy, I like it." Weiss smirked, following Yang with her own decisive strides. "Cmon, Smo!"
Caught off guard at first, Smo eventually found it in her to smile:
"I like it, too. Schnee." Smo laughed, following the pair out of the bar, and into the fray.