Chapter 2: Leaf on the Wind

Rouge looked behind her as she continued to run.
'Darn, some of em' saw me leave. I thought I was able to get away while that Nero guy made a scene. I feel bad leaving that other guy back there, but I couldn't stay. I have to keep out of trouble while in town. Besides, it is my last night here for a while.'

A collapsing trash can revealed that the goons weren't slowing down anytime soon. Rouge was fast, but these guys knew their area. She wasn't sure how easily she would be able to avoid them.

Then, a gust of air started blowing through the alleyway. "Perfect," she said aloud. She reached to the sides of her red overcoat, unclasped two straps holding sections of folded fabric, and pulled outward. The gust of wind filled the two new found sections of fabric, forming a pair of gliding wings that stretched from her wrists to her ankles. Closing her eyes, Rouge bent the moving winds to her will, allowing her feet to lift off of the ground. After only a few seconds, she was airborne.

When she opened her eyes, the ground was far below, along with the amazed and perplexed goons that had been chasing her. A smile spread across her face. 'You guys really had no chance. Haha! I'm soaring to the top finally!'

She hit a warm updraft that sent her up seven stories of a building. She saw many busy office workers wandering around densely clustered cubicles, like a little mouse's maze. One worker dropped a large binder as she floated by. She soared between buildings, allowing her stress to fly away with the wind. There really was no fear in the air. It would always be there to catch you when you fell. It's always moving, soft and comforting, and always changing. Rouge could never understand why so many people had a fear of flying. If you just listen and feel, you can persuade the air to do whatever you desire. You just have to trust your senses and the air around you.

Anyway. She had to start getting her bearings. Why anyone would have an orientation at 3:00 a.m., she had no idea. 'They must drink a ton of coffee.' By flight, she should make it to orientation quite early, if she could only find her way. In the air, things look so different.

Not that it would be difficult to find what was literally given the name 'Beacon'.

And there it was. It wasn't too far from the main city (as a matter of fact it was nearly big enough to be a town itself), so Rouge would be able to make it well before deadline. A few new recruits milled around below, unaware of the girl floating above them. Rouge had to be careful though. Without buildings to stream free air, it would take a fair amount of work to stay airborne. She was a frequent flier, so she wasn't concerned. She also thought it would be a good idea not to cause a scene as she landed. There was no need for extra attention on the first day. In a long slow circular arc, she made her smooth descent. She landed gracefully, with almost no noise at all.

Back at the 'Bleeding Drake', little grace or silence could be accounted for. Auron and his new accomplice were fighting for their lives. It was odd, there seemed to be more and more thugs arriving by the minute. There may have been an upper floor to the establishment where they were all hiding before.

The angry thugs had stopped attacking in waves, as any small group would be easily subdued with swift blunt strikes with the flat side of an axe or the butt of a gun. The enemy would go from full on confidence and cheek in the first second, to pain in regret in the next. By this point, they had moved on to a full blown brawl.

Auron and his friend had changed tactics as well. In the time that the bar junkies had found out that attacking in groups of three-to-four was a bad idea, the pair had picked up their own strategy. Auron would use his close range prowess to strike at foes with the blunt edges of his weapon, disabling them by way of their knees, face, and abdomen. After a solid thrashing, the Bison Faunus would strike from overhead, using his reach to send finishing blows to the enemy. This strategy carried over to the hectic brawl.

Goon after goon threw themselves at these seasoned fighters. They dropped easily, but they were creating some serious breathing room problems, soon Auron and his new ally wouldn't even be able to swing their weapons.

Auron thought fast, 'This is taking too long. We need to clear a path!' His eyes fell on a long rectangular table. 'It might make for some decent cover!'

"Hey big fella!" Auron shouted, trying to be heard over the continuous shouting, "Give me a hand with this table!"

"Gotcha!" The bison man replied. He thrust his weapon into the wooden floor, and placed both of his massive hands on either side of the end of the table. His face changed from grim determination to sheer focus. With a grunt, the large Faunus pivoted the table on its side and lifted it up onto one shoulder. He's carrying the entire table without breaking a sweat! He's even stronger than he looks!

The bison man then swung the table around in a massive arc. Auron had to dive to the floor to avoid the massive attack. The goons weren't so quick, so nearly all of the remaining gamblers were caught by the flat edge of the huge table.

After that massive attack, no more baddies jumped up to fight. They were all unconscious, or at least pretending to be to avoid more pain. The large Faunus looked at Auron sheepishly, "Sorry about that, should have given you a 'Heads up'. My name's Clay by the way." Auron lifted himself up from the ground. "Don't worry about it. I'm Auron. It's good to meet you." He really wasn't worried, that final swipe saved both of them a lot of trouble. Clay breathed heavily. It looked like that final attack took a lot out of him after all. It was understandable. He lifted the twelve foot long table and swung it to hit at least a half dozen thugs at once. How did he manage do that?

Suddenly, the man that Nero tripped appeared from behind the counter. He was holding an ornate-looking revolver in his hands, and had a look of pure rage on his face. He took aim at Clay.

Auron's instincts took over. He dove in front of Clay and tightened his focus. Auron activated his semblance. His body changed its form, his complexion going from the tanned woodsman skin that it was to a covering of jade coloured stone. The mad gunman's revolver fired, sending a custom made bullet straight for Auron. The projectile ricocheted harmlessly off of his impenetrable hide. Auron responded in kind, bringing his loaded gun up to his hip level to return fire.

BACKOOM!

The man flew backward into the doors back cabinets and dropped to the ground. A collection of bottles filled with cheap alcohol followed after him, falling out of the cupboard. He was still breathing. Auron had used a thunder-dust round, so this man wouldn't get up for a long while.

"We best get out of here before someone shows up to find where those shots came from," Auron suggested.

"Fine with me. I have an orientation to get to at 3:00 anyway."

Auron tilted his head to one side, "Really? Well, I guess by now it should be obvious. You're becoming a recruit at Beacon."

"That I am. You look like you'd do well at Beacon too."

Auron nodded. "Already passed the entrance exam. I was hoping to get this errand done before I made the trip over, but I guess my lead got away."

Clay raised an eyebrow. "Who was that Nero guy anyway?"

"Some crime junkie. I was hoping he had some answers. Anyway. I don't want to bore you with my personal life after just meeting me. Let's just head to the academy."

Clay nodded as they wandered out of the ruined tavern. Auron was glad he didn't press further. He'd prefer that his missing brother would not become common knowledge. He was upset that he had lost Nero, but Beacon Academy had many resources that he could use to pick up the trail again.