"This was such a bad idea Pyrrha." Jaune peeked his nose around the corner of the cramped alleyway. Vale was usually alright this time of year, the Camarilla higher ups were usually in Mistral for their balls and what not. Moonlight lit up the street, as Jaune stared down a small group of vampires, Sabbat if he guessed right.
"I know, we should never have come here." Pyrrha peeked around the corner with him, hugging him gently around his armoured waist. "But at least you are a Huntsman, you can even walk in the daylight. So long as no one sees your fangs no one will think you are a Thin Blood." Pyrrha was a phoenix, who had taken a human shape after falling in love with a young blonde farm boy. Sadly she was immortal and unable to share this with her love, so they had conspired to hunt down a vampire to Embrace Jaune so at least they'd have time together. Only the vampire had been weak and had only managed to turn Jaune into a Thin Blood, clanless with very little power.
Jaune held her hand for a moment then turned to look back at a young hazel eyed man with a tanned complexion and black hair. Unlike Jaune and Pyrrha he wore no armour, instead just blue jeans, black sneakers, with a white shirt and a brown leather coat. He was drawing on the ground with a piece of white chalk, the runes circle had long spirals within it all meeting at a diamond in the middle. "You ready Oscar?" Jaune asked pulling Pyrrha with him as the two moved behind Oscar.
"As I'll ever be, at least I get to draw a circle this time. Ice alchemy is so much easier with a circle." He took a deep breath and glared at the Sabbat vampires, then raised his hands one straight upward and flat palmed and then slammed the other fist into it. "Take this you Sabbat jerks."
The circle lit up blue as water was gathered from the air and then in a great rush of power it turned into icy mist and flew from the circle in a great wave clear across the street skewering the vampires in a sheet of ice.
"Go go go!" Pyrrha shot out of the alley and raced down the street full speed her hair glowing with fire. Jaune was quick on her heels grabbing Oscar by his shoulders and picking the younger boy up and pulling him to his feet.
"I can run you know!" Oscar righted himself and ran beside Jaune, they charged after Pyrrha they could already hear the vampires trying to break free of the ice. With a full sprint they quickly caught up to Pyrrha, at the first sight of an open bar they raced inside the eve and took a minute to catch their breaths.
Pyrrha looked out behind them, she could just hear the ice shattering in the distance. "I think we lost them, but let's get inside quickly." Jaune pulled open the door and they slipped into the bar, it had a flight of stairs leading down into a low ceiling room. On the way down Oscar saw a neon sign in thin pink lettering that read 'The Trip Trap Bar', a old thin grey woman stood behind the bar, her hair came down to her shoulders with a slight wave. Her eyes were blue with lighter blue eyeliner, her dress was very low cut and brown and Oscar could see a blue butterfly over the curve of her left breast. He quickly averted his eyes and stepped up to walk closer to Pyrrha.
Old fashioned slow dance music played, with just a guitar being lazily plucked. The walls were wood painted with a vertical zig zag in light browns. There was a bounty board for huntsmen as well as more old fashioned paper posts or newspaper jobs on the walls as well. In the center was a pool table with everything needed for the game with a low light hanging over it. Booths lined the walls most all empty and at the bar was a man with blue hair slicked back, tanned skin, he wore a leather jacket, blue jeans and dress shoes. Jaune picked a booth while, Oscar looked at the man, he had two gold rings in his left ear, one in the upper half and one in the lob. "He's odd." Oscar said sliding into the booth across from Pyrrha. "I sense magic from both."
Pyrrha looked and pursed her lips, "I think his name is Gren, I think I know him." she pulled her sword and shield off her back in there collapsed forms and set them down beside her. Pyrrha wracked her brain trying to remember where from but came up blank. The emerald eyed woman put her back to the wall so she could see the entrance to the bar.
"I'll go get us something to drink." Jaune walked over to the bar glancing over a number of old photos. He pursed his lips, he had a feeling this was a Fable bar, Fables still existed they were just few and far between. The blonde pulled out his wallet and did a quick count of his lien with a frown. He did have his Huntsman's license but they had been a bit to busy with running from Vampires in this city to work, they had to get back into the countryside. Pulling out a mostly used card he smiled to the bartender, from this close he could see that the blue butterfly tattoo had a tail that seemed to flow up over her shoulder. "A cream soda blueberry, long island iced tea and a rum and coke please." He handed her the card while she eyed him up and down.
"Aren't you a little young to be in here?" The woman put a hand on her thin hips.
Jaune sighed and pulled out his ID and Huntsman's license. "I'm nineteen. The soda is for my younger friend, he won't be drinking."
"Humm." She grumbled and took the card and set about putting Jaune's drinks together. He leaned against the bar and began tapping it his gaze flicking between the blue haired man and the door. His sword and shield felt heavy on his hip, even with his Aura vampire's were fast and going up against one when you didn't know their clan was a bad idea. That's why they ran rather than sticking around to fight, that and while Oscar was learning to be a huntsman he was more the mage type.
"Your soda and rum and coke." The old woman put the two beverages on the worn scruffy bar. Jaune gave her a little smile and dipped his head. "Thank you." He took the two back to Oscar and Pyrrha and whispered as he put the soda down before Oscar. "Fables." He took a sip of his drink, it was heavy on the coke, not that he minded.
"We had just come to the same conclusion." The crimsonette said, looking between her partner and the doors. "At least if the vampires track us they'll get a lot more than they bargained for."
"Your iced tea!" Came from the bar in a wore old voice. Jaune nodded to his love and retrieved his drink before sitting down beside Pyrrha. He walked over' noticing Oscar frowning as the mid teen uncapped his soda. "What's eating you Oscar?"
"How long are we going to stay here? Can't you two pick something from the board over there so we can leave? I know I am just a mage but being in a city makes me nervous, I mean this is Vale. We've got the Camarilla, Sabbat and the Independents all fighting over one city. I even heard from those Independents we ran into yesterday that Cinder Fall is the Prince of Vale. We really should get going, you're a Thin Blood and I don't think I can fight against her." Oscar whipped the condensation from his bottle before taking a sip.
"There is no way a Camarilla Prince will come down to fight, not even for a mage." Jaune said working on his drink in small sips. "Plus she's probably just a Venture, you know boardrooms rather than the front line."
"We will just stay a little longer, then Jaune and I will check the board before we leave and then we'll make a run for the inn." Pyrrha reached out and squeezed the youngest of their parties shoulder. "Don't worry so much Oscar, we've been in worse situations."
"That does not make me feel better Pyrrha." Oscar took a longer drink the bubbles going up his nose, he coughed a little and rubbed his nose. He stretched his legs testing them, making sure the water hadn't bothered his prosthetics.
Pyrrha caught his grimace and asked in a worried tone. "How is your leg?"
"Kinda stiff, I'll try and dry it out tonight but we might need to visit my mechanic." He reached down and rubbed the scar tissue around the metal connecting point. Automail was great and sturdy in the extreme but he was still growing and his leg wasn't feeling quite right anymore.
Jaune looked over to the board and pointed. "Look that ones right around Fort Verdant, the Xiao-Longs' are always there this time of year. We can get a bounty and fix your leg at the same time."
Pyrrha gestured for Jaune to move, he got up letting the tall woman out of the booth and sat back down to finish his drink while Pyrrha looked at the bounty board. She pulled out her scroll with one hand and sipped her drink with the other. She held it up and connected to the board, the job was a 'search and destroy' for the Emerald Forest around Verdant. The risk level was high however Taiyang Xiao Long and Yang Xiao Long had already taken the bounty, that reduced the risk level significantly. Pyrrha thought on that for one more minute and seeing as it had only been taken a day ago. There would be plenty of Grimm for them all and having the Xiao-Longs' around would help them protect Oscar. She took the job adding the team name OJP to the job, walking over in her high heels she finished her drink and returned it to the bar.
When she returned to the booth Jaune and Oscar finished their drink and got up as well. Jaune gave Pyrrha her weapons and took the empty cup and bottle back to the bar. The three headed back out the way they came Pyrrha taking point extending her staff as she went. She peered around each corner and seeing no vampires gestured the coast was clear and lead the way into the street.
Both boys did the same check she did, Oscar extending his magical sense and coming up with nothing. Letting out a collective sigh of relief, they walked down the paved street. Oscar looked up at the fragtured moon, for the humans Vale was a nice city. For the supernatural community it was a battleground, located so centrally every major supernatural group was trying to lay a stake in it. Currently it was a war between the Camarilla and the Sabbat, the Independents were much quieter about picking their territory. Still he stuck close to Pyrrha and Jaune, Pyrrha hit hard and fast, Jaune used his Aura to enhance hers and stood as Oscar's vanguard, it took time for him to cast and he needed protection while he got ready.
They saw a few other vampires on the way home but they had the well fed and groomed look of Camerialla agents. Oscar even sensed a few ghouls, but those were also busy no doubt doing jobs for their vampire masters. He shook his head sometimes he hated being 'Awakened' sure it gave him a bit more kick then the average mage but he hated his magic sense.
They worked their way back to the inn, a large place located on the main road north out of Vale. Pyrrha and Jaune nodded to the manager, while Oscar trailed behind. One the second floor they split up, separated only by a thin wall.
Oscar closed and locked his door behind him and sighed at the small room with it's single bed, his backpack sat on the end. He walked over and pulled his chalk out of his pocket, and pulled his bag open. Fishing out his chalk pouch he put the chalk he used earlier that night back in the pouch and set it down on the bed. Reaching into the bag he pulled out a brown book and sat down with a flop on the bed running his hands over the well loved binding. He heard two bodies fall onto a bed through the thin wall and then soft cries and moans that signaled Jaune and Pyrrha were celebrating surviving another day.
"Well at least they are having fun." Oscar rolled his eyes and smiled, then set his book aside and pulled off his boots. He pulled off his pants and looked over his right automail leg, the prosthetic started about ten centimeters above his knee. It mimicked the human leg closely the segments roughly matching the human muscles. The ankle and foot unit was segment to allow for a human range of movement and it even had toes to help him with balance. He wiggled said toes, little pin pricks of pain raced up his leg. He pursed his lip, that meant he had grown, that the nerves were changing and that he needed an update. "Aww man." He flopped back into the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Stupid law of equal exchange."
He got back up and moved back the bed and pulled open his little magic book, he had read it hundreds of times but sometimes the pages changed so he kept rereading it. He didn't mind the sounds of his companions, they had tried to find a vampire to give Jaune eternal life. Oscar was a little happy it hadn't taken, he was pretty sure Jaune would miss some of the perks that came with a beating heart, bedroom games being a big one. Near an hour later, the sounds stopped and Oscar shut off his light to sleep.