Read AN at the end for info
I DO NOT OWN RWBY…That is all.
*Echrome is pronounced Eh-Crow-meh
The Vale Zen Gardens were a beautiful place in the spring. The Sakuras would bloom and rain the pink petals commonly associated with life and love. But spring had since past and the air ran still through the death branches of the Sakuras. A singular figure stood at edge of the fountain that ran in the center of the Sakura ring. He was wearing only a white t-shirt and black pants. His hazel eyes held seemingly no emotion. His brown hair lay completely flat with a streak if orange on his right side back by this right ear. A scar lay vertically under is left eye: soft, but noticeable. In his hand he held an orange Triangle, a carved piece of Eosphorite. Another figure dressed in a dull yellow collars shirt and Khaki pants walked up behind the first figure by the fountain. His black hair was cut almost militarily short and had almost evil red eyes; the color of his eyes conflicted with his calm demeanor though. His pace was quick enough to show urgency, but slow enough to not disturb the individual he was approaching.
The collared individual spoke first, "Echrome…It's happened." Echrome Eosphorite turned around and spoke slowly and deliberately, "How long ago, Titanite?"
"Seconds just got called by Junior."
"Leave it Terrance, Son of a gets what's coming to him." Terrance was a back-up bodyguard for Junior at his club, but today was his off day. He did this job well and solely the bodyguard job, no illegal activity for him. Echrome was a hunter, not the Grimm hunters, though he tried very hard to get into Beacon, he didn't pass the teamwork portion, as his fighting style involves a lot of separation from his teammates. He also failed the class portion of the exam by one question; this saddened him to no end. No, his style of hunting involved the animals that were still wild to the region that could be used as food and for fur. He and his brother run their father's Hunting Store, " The Spirit of the Hunt." Near the edge of town near Junior's club.
"Why do I help you again?" Echrome asked.
"You exactly why, you've had a crush on her since you met her and she then got dragged into a fight with Melanie over the protection schedule." Terrace explained.
Terrace had known Melanie and Miltiades for a while, the three of them dropped out of their enrollment of Beacon for Various reasons before first year initiation. Terrace to support and be with his sick family who had now past away some six months ago, leaving the family business of a restaurant to his son once he became of age 21, of which he was 19.
The Malachite Twins had a different reason: Divorce and Finance. Their parents got into a nasty divorce and spent all the money that would have gone to their huntress education on the court fees and everything else. They now lived at Terrace's home, as the Bodyguard business does not pay well to teenage dropouts.
"Hey, that's cold, but we need to go, try calling Miltiades, see if she is okay." Terrace nodded at Echrome's request and ran with him to the car.
Terrace nodded at the back seat and Echrome got in to find him gear still there from the last incident at the club. His chest piece, which consisted of a silver sleeveless plate with a space for the triangle jewel from earlier and his L96A1 Sniper Rifle: Classic and Efficient.
"No answer." Terrace said as he pulled the grey SUV in front of Junior's club to see the club smoking, the window's broken, Junior broken on the ground, and two teenage girls, one in a yellow shirt as well as brown nearly everything else and one girl in a red robe with her hood up, chatting in front of the club. As Terrace emerged, Black Katana drawn into it's revolver state with his pale yellow armor with the symbol of a sun with a diagonal line slashed through it, the girls looked in there direction.
"Who the hell are you?" Terrace asked as Echrome lined up a shot on the yellow-haired girl from behind the SUV.
"Yang, who are they?" Ruby asked as Echrome loaded his .308 rounds into the chamber of his rifle. The .308 rounds he used were not the dust-coated wannabe rounds used by most guns in this world, these were professional hunting rounds, used to finish conflicts and hunts in a single shot, accuracy permitting.
"No idea sis. You more of Junior's henchman like the other idiots in there."
"Was no one protection duty today?" Echrome asked through the radio.
"Today was Miltia and Melanie's day…" Terrace said.
Ruby turned and faced the sniper and saw the Eosphorite shard in his armor and spoke, "Gemstone? Is that you?" She said tilting her head, which took her hood off.
"Sakura…" Echrome whispered, his voice soothing and filled with pleasant memories of older times. Then the sounds of shattered glass rustling distracted Echrome as Miltiades dragged her bloodied form out of the club. Her red dressed was torn in several places. Her claws were okay but the hands that carried them were red and bloody, she had a severe cut above her right eye, from which a small glass shard still protruded. "Mil!" Echrome cried in a mixture f fear and concern. He dropped the rifle and ran over to Miltia, and lightly grabbed her shoulder before setting down Miltia at a wall, "Crystalline Sphere." Echrome said as he dropped the Eosphorus shard to he ground and a sphere of the same material appeared over him and Miltia.
"Miltia, hey, Mil stay with me here." Echrome, who spoke with great worry and concern, which to Miltiades sounded like fear, tore some rags from his shirt and primitively bandaged Miltiades' wounds as he spoke again, "Mil, Which color did this to you?" He said as he held back a tear from his eye, she was injured for just trying to live and one of those girls had the gull to try to take it away from them…
Miltiades placed her hands on his wrists and brought them back and forth like he was punching, then it clicked, Goldie had wristband of a gold color, they must be for a boxing fight style. As Echrome lowered the sphere, Melanie walked out of the club on her own two feet but was bruised from her fight earlier. Junior also woke up and said while pointing at Yang, "Get her, she destroyed my club." I stepped in front of Miltiades, "and hurt two of my friends." Echrome said in high degrees of anger as he turned to Ruby, "Walk away Sakura, you do not have to be involved in this conflict. For it is between Blondie and us." He said as he refashioned the Eosphorite to his chest plate.
Ruby looked shocked and insulted, "You want me to walk away as you beat up my sister! No!" Ruby Deployed Crescent Rose as Echrome ran and slid behind the SUV for his rifle. Yang readied Ember Celica and Terrace started collecting…something into his open hand as the motioned for the gas to twirl in his hand.
Melanie was the first to strike at Yang's side as Terrace rushed Ruby with several quick slices and jabs to force her on the defensive. Terrace sliced at Ruby's midsection and sliced part of her robe on the lower edge as she used he semblance to gain distance. Ruby switched the initiative and used crescent Rose to cause Terrace to avoid the large sweeping arcs that was the Reaper Scythe's destructive path. Terrace shoved the hand that had all the gas to the ground, shrouding the nearby area in mist. Ruby started panicking and she was not used to only relying on sound for her target's location and set about to swinging randomly, making her and even easier target for the slices that were coming from Terrace, weakening her aura greatly.
Meanwhile with Yang though, she was having an easier time with Melanie, who was dispatched a second time and landed unconscious next to Miltiades. Echrome then took his shot as Terrace laid down his mist. However, the mist also distracted Yang and the shot bounced and rang off of Ember Celica, leaving a small dent and a scratch. Echrome left the rifle and spoke "Crystalize." Armor appeared along the contours of Echrome's body but leaving the joints open for movement but also attack. Terrace had nicknamed the armor he used Crystelia. Echrome was strange; he could replicate the crystal that was on his chest armor plate, a crystal hard Eosphorite material. That was his semblance. He carried several of these crystals with him and had even more at his home.
Echrome called a pillar of Eosphorite from the ground and slammed into Yang's stomach, knocking her away as another came from behind; she eventually slammed her fist into the ground shattering the Crystals away. By that time, Yang was again red-eyed and on the aggression, but pillars of crystal continued to impede her progress and sometimes even striking her as she pressed on, but when she wound up striking him, a crystal sphere would again protect him as he continued to put range between himself and Yang for his Sniper rifle.
Yang had had enough and started raining fire charge shells at Echrome until the unthinkable happened: one of yang's shots went wide and struck a car driving by on the road. Echrome dropped his rifle and all his defenses in order to use to crystals to make sure the car was safe fro the wild shot. Unfortunately, Yang had stopped caring at this point and as soon as the car stopped safely, Yang was on top of Echrome and boxing the living snot out of his head and shoulders until he was sprawled out on the pavement, unable to move much. Terrance noticed this and began to finish his fight with Ruby, until Ruby used the sniper feature on her scythe and hit Terrance square in the head causing his to go flying.
Yang started up her motorbike and picked up ruby. Echrome reached for his sniper rifle and took aim at the retreating figures. Echrome reciting the three rules off game hunting posted in his store, "Be Respectful, Be efficient, have a plan for every game." The shot rang from his sniper rifle; the gas tubing was hit by the bullet, not so that the bike would explode, but enough so that the bike would in repair for a while and cost a lot of money.
After the shot, Echrome passed out on the hood of the SUV. Terrance stood back up after getting owned by the sniper round to the face. He picked his Katana that had landed on the pavement after he had been flung by Ruby. Terrance went over to Echrome and saw that he was out cold, but stable. Terrance decided to check on Junior after who claimed he was fine while holding his head. Terrance pulled headache pills out of his car, which junior took immediately for the pain, and walked towards the Malachite sisters. Melanie had nearly recovered by this point while the covered, while Miltiades has slipped into unconsciousness as Melanie sat at her side to prevent a worsened condition.
"Terrance…" Melanie started, "Why does this have to happen to us…why?" Now Terrance hated calling her by her middle name but it got her attention, "Lazuri."
"Stop calling me that!" She screeched, but Terrance continued, "Life will always be tough for us, but we made it, didn't we?" Terrance got up and held out his hand, "We have been a group for nearly a year now, you, me and Miltiades. Now Echrome has entered the fold."
Melanie waved her hand as a signal for him to continue. Terrance picked up Miltiades a placed her with Echrome in the back of the car that he drove. "I was going to ask Echrome today before Junior called me…I want to try the tournament circuit…all of us." Terrance pulled out a pamphlet for the Vale City Circuit, more commonly known as the Wild Card circuit. The tournament was the week prior to the Vale Festival and the Vytal Fighting Tournament. The tournament was mostly for people who wanted a good match on the side and maybe for the grand prize, though no one usually had the guts to use it. The grand prize was 50,000 lien and the usually always-vacant seat in the Vytal tournament: the wild card slot.
"But we don't have…you wanted to get Echrome Eosphorite to join us?" She said his full name as she spoke with confusion.
"Yes, but we would use your middle name for the team name." Terrance teased.
"Why!?" Melanie all but shrieked.
"Because of a small amount of research I did yielded an interesting fact: Melanie Malachite, Miltiades Malachite, Terrance Titanite, and Echrome Eosphorite…We are named for metals found beneath our feet and the fountain for stability…in theory at least." Terrance joked as he realized he hasn't really spoken to Melanie in months at least.
"So, team METL then?" Melanie deduced…
"Only if he wants too, I will not drag him with us…though I wish he will, cause it would mean the world to us if we won."
Terrance and Melanie sat in silence as Junior ranted on his phone about the attack and other stuff. No doubt they will probably be fired soon, but Terrance was okay with that…for he had his friends, no…his family, back with him. They would persevere with or without Junior and his stupid illegal nightclub…and he was okay with that as he double-checked that Echrome was in fact passed out.
Terrance snickered as Melanie took a drink of water, "So you know that Echrome has the hots for your younger sister right?" Melanie promptly spit the water out and looked at Terrance with the "Are you serious" look on her face.
Terrance yet out a laugh with neither Melanie nor himself had heard since they left Signal academy: a good honest, joyful laugh.
*My GOODNESS! The words would not even stop, I wrote this whole chapter while getting over my writer's block for ROMA Chapter 3…which will be out by Friday I swear! I can swear that because I had only about a couple hundred words to re-type because my idiot brother got a virus on my computer and corrupted the original…sorry bout that folks.
**Probably a one-shot unless people want more, if no one interested, then I will leave as is, but wanted to give a sense of life to Melanie and her co-workers, which I dreamt up because there was no way that the Malachite sister can guard him ALL the time.
Hope you enjoyed. Golden Fires out.