Chapter four: Ice Queens and Crosshares
Ren sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose and shutting his eyes. "Any real advice?" he asked, glaring at me. I chuckled, letting out another puff of smoke before inhaling, the edge of my cigar nearly lighting up my face. "Just be cool… so act normal." I said. Ren gave me a small smile before he got out of the car, shutting his door and taking the keys with him. I waited a few seconds before I got out too, shutting the door and walking up next to Ren. Ren just clicked a button, locking the doors on the car. We both walked towards the doors, and I started taking in my surroundings a bit more. The club was in the fancier part of town, that much was clear, and it wasn't like Junior's club, just a simple building downtown. This one actually had windows… they were covered and blacked out granted but, they had them.
The doors to the place were simple really, just one-way glass doors, no bouncer in sight. "What is with clubs in Vale and not hiring bouncers?" I thought. I mean, I wasn't complaining, but still, it didn't make much sense. Me and Ren walked through, and the first thing I noticed? The temperature. It was freezing compared to outside, easily a dozen degrees colder (fahrenheit, not celsius if it weren't obvious). Ren either didn't notice or didn't care, as he went straight towards the bar, as did I. Ren sat down at one of the stools, smiling slightly at the woman behind the counter. I pulled out a chair next to him, looking at the bartender. She was a few years older than us, or maybe a lot more, I couldn't really tell, that flowing white hair made it hard to discern age. She was wearing a black shirt with a white sweater-vest, a dark-blue bowtie around her neck. I let my eyes trail down, her shirt was a button-down, the top two buttons opened above her best, exposing a slight bit of cleavage. It was actually a fair amount, but considering the size of her chest, she likely had plenty more to show.
Further down I saw that she was fairly skinny, with a small midsection, granted, she also had rather wide hips, and quite a large rear at that. She was pretty, that much was obvious. "Can I get you two anything?" she asked. I looked back up, a small smile on her face, piercing blue eyes meeting my own deeper ones. Her voice was mature, almost harmonic, and smooth too. "Why isn't she singing?" I thought, as I saw a stage in the center of the room. I shook my head, "We're under-" "I'll take a glass of brandy." I heard Ren say, cutting me off. I looked at him oddly, but the bartender just nodded, smiling at the two of us. "Man of simple tastes huh?" the woman said, quickly reaching beneath the bar and grabbing out a glass. I looked back at Ren, leaning in closer, "Ren! We're both seventeen for Oum's sake! We shouldn't be drinking!" I said. Ren sighed, leaning over closer to me, to the point our foreheads were almost touching. He held up his hand towards the bartender, "Why are you so uptight about this? I've done much worse than drink. Aren't you the one that chain smokes cigars?"
"What're we whispering about?" I heard the bartender say, her chin resting on Ren's hand. I nearly fell backward as Ren jumped back a bit, coughing and playing it off. I tried to but, there wasn't a chance I could do it as well as Ren. "How'd you hear us?" I asked, leaning my elbows on the table, crossing my arms as I normally did. The woman giggled, sliding the glass of brandy towards Ren, who gladly took it. "I was preoccupied, not deaf. Not to mention I was, what? Three feet away?" she said, giving me a small smirk. I looked off to the right, a light blush tinging my face. "You aren't concerned?" I asked, not moving my eyes from their place on the floor. I could easily hear the smile in her voice, "Not anymore I'm not. That busty blonde girl that comes here sometimes changed that a long time ago." she said.
I turned back to her, my eyes a bit widened, "Wait, was her name Yang Xiao Long by chance?" I asked. The bartender lost her smile, her eyes widening like mine. "Oh you… are you one of her flings?" she asked, sporting a puzzled expression. Ren chuckled as I felt my face burn a bit brighter. I shook my head, "I'm a detective, her sister hired me to find her. We're looking for Weiss Schnee." I said. The woman let out a sigh, assumingly of relief. She moved the bottle of brandy back away from her before she spoke again, "Thank goodness. I was getting tired of escorting drunk teenagers looking for her. Cost me too much damn dignity…" she said, muttering the last sentence as I saw her, likely subconsciously, rubbing her rear. I shook my head, "Nevermind that, where's Weiss?" I asked. The woman shrugged, looking off towards the stage.
"She's got another performance scheduled an hour. If you want to wait here, that's fine." the woman said, smiling towards me. I sighed, looking towards Ren. He just shrugged, smiling behind his glass. "Don't see what choice we have." I muttered. The woman lightly tapped my shoulder, getting me to turn towards her. She gave me a small smile, "Or, I could always take the two of you backstage. If she's in a good mood… maybe she'll talk." she said. Ren downed the last of his glass, setting it back on the table before he gave me 'the look'. That same one that said 'Do it moron'. It was the one that told me the answer was right in front of me, and I needed to take the opportunity. I looked back at the woman. "Alright miss. Lead the way." I said, standing up. Ren did as well, giving me a look of approval.
The woman stepped out from the bar, revealing that she was wearing high heels, and turned, her hair whipping back a bit. The three of us walked towards the back door, one labeled 'Employees only", of course. She walked in without hesitation, me and Ren following behind. She was walking so quick that me and Ren had to nearly jog to keep up, and we were halfway down the hallway when the door shut behind us. "Weiss is at the far door at the end of the hall. Tell her Ruby sent you if you want a straight answer. I'll be at the bar if you need me." she said. She gave us one final smile before she sped back towards the other door, back to her bar. I turned around, looking at the door before us. It was a normal looking door, except it had an engraving of a snowflake on it, the handle down a bit lower than normal. I looked back at Ren, who just nodded, before I pushed open the door.
Inside, it was like we'd traveled to another world. The whole place was white, clean, and overall… perfect. There was no other word for it, the place was perfect. Everything was perfectly in place, as if someone had taken a ruler and painstakingly measured out everything to be exactly right. "Winter? Is that you?" I heard a voice ask. It sounded like the bartender, but higher pitched, more like a melody than a harmony. I looked around, seeing a figure walking towards us. She was beautiful, not a doubt in my mind about that one, and she looked like she knew it too. She had her nose pointed slightly upwards with an air I'd only seen among royalty in plays and movies, and she walked with the grace of a dancer. She looked almost like a younger version of the bartender, her eyes the same piercing blue, though with a bit more fire in them, and her hair the same shade of bleached white.
She was dressed in a long, white dress, stretching down to her ankles, nearly concealing the high-heels she wore. Around her neck and shoulders was what looked to be a white boa, pure white feathers stretching from one end to the next. She was wearing a bit of makeup, a touch-up of faded blue eyeshadow and a bit of red lipstick making her albino-like features all the more prominent. The only thing about her that wasn't perfect was the scar, long and right across her left eye. She looked down at us… actually up at us, since we were both a few inches taller than her, with disgust. "Ugh, what moron let you two back here?" she said, placing a hand on her left hip. I looked over, seeing Ren reaching for his coat, his eyes hardening. I gave him a look I knew he'd understand. "Calm down and don't shoot anyone." he understood as he always did, sighing as he put his hand back down, content to just glare at the girl.
"Ruby sent us Weiss." I said simply. This got her attention, her eyes widening as she stepped back, "How… how do you know Ruby?" she asked, her eyes darting around nervously. There it was again. Ruby. Blake was terrified, Winter seemed to understand something, and Weiss was nervous. What was it with that girl? "She's my client. I'm looking for her sister. She supposedly went to see one of 'The Ice Queen's' shows. According to Ruby, you're the ice queen." I said. Weiss nearly growled, clenching her fists a few times. She breathed in, then out. In, out, as if trying to calm herself. "That dolt is getting on my last nerve… Yang never came to see me." she said, giving me a look that was more indifferent than disgusted.
"How's that possible? What other 'Ice Queen' is in Vale?" I asked. Weiss's eyes flashed for a moment as she looked towards the door. "That would be me." I heard a familiar voice say. I turned, seeing the bartender standing there, smiling towards us. She walked over, that same, cat-like strut she always seemed to have being incredibly prevalent as she walked up towards the three of us. "Winter. Yang came to see you right?" Weiss asked, looking towards the newly named bartender. Winter nodded, "That she did. It was during one of my more… interesting, performances." she said, giggling a bit at the end of it, an absolutely devious smirk on her face. Ren spoke up, surprisingly, "Sorry but, how do you two know each other?" he asked.
"They're sisters, isn't it obvious?" I said, raising an eyebrow at him. The two girls looked at me in, if I was right, shock. "How did you know that?" they both asked in unison. I smiled, holding up my right hand as I let out a puff of my cigar, of which I'd nearly forgotten about at that point. "Simple. For starters, the two of you look nearly identical. Second of all, your voices are almost the same, Winter looks like an older version of you Weiss. Finally, even though you seem to have different mannerisms, the similarities are still there. The way Winter grabbed Ren's brandy and the way Weiss moved her hands around were almost the same." I said. Winter smiled, walking to a nearby couch and sitting down. Granted, the room we walked in did have two of those. It looked more like an apartment to be honest.
"Impressive work. Now, tell me something you couldn't possibly have known." Winter said, smirking towards me. I couldn't help but smile as I looked down at her hands, "You were married once, six to eight months ago. It was an abusive bastard whose favorite brand was brandy." I said. She flinched back, her eyes widening as she covered her left hand. "How the hell did you know that?!" she asked, even Weiss and Ren seemed shocked. Weiss since she'd never seen me before and Ren since… well, I guess he'd forgotten a few things about me over the years. "Simple, the deep tan lines on your left ring finger. They've spread to a large area, but the skin around it isn't slightly wrinkled, meaning that you didn't have the ring on for long. There are slight indentations on the tip of your finger, meaning you couldn't get the ring off fast enough. When you touched the Brandy to get Ren's drink you nearly flinched back, and your fingertips were white with how hard you were clutching it. Based on your personality I'd say he also kicked the bucket recently." I said.
Winter blinked twice, then nodded, moving her hand behind her back. "You're right. I'm… impressed would be an understatement. Nevermind that, you aren't here to impressive us, you're here for Yang right?" she asked. Me and Ren both nodded, that was our job after all. "Well, Yang asked me about the White Fang. I haven't the slightest clue why but, that's her business. I told her I didn't know anything about it, though, I pointed her in the direction of someone that might know a bit more." she said. I nodded, looking over at Ren. Ren was simply watching the two girls, his eyes having the same, casual look as they normally did. "Well, who?" he asked. Winter shrugged, her eyes showing a sense of strange detachment. "I don't know. She only goes by a code-name. 'Cross-hares'. If a faunus looking to get away from the White Fang, Roses, or even Schnee's on occasion comes to me, I send them to her… well, except for the Schnee one's, they don't come to me obviously." she said.
I nodded, the three biggest crime families in Vale. The Rose family: Ruthless and efficient, killing machines to put it simply. The White Fang were just ruthless and horribly misguided faunus rights activists. The Schnee's? Money launderers… that was about all they did, but they did fund the Rose family. "So… what? She runs like a gang-protection service or something?" I asked. Winter nodded, sitting down and laying her hands in her lap. "Yes. If Yang wants the White Fang, she'll go to her. You'll find her here." she said, reaching behind her and pulling out a slip of paper, taking a pen from the table before she wrote down what I guessed was an address. She tossed me the slip of paper, me catching it before I looked down. "129 Railroad Way? An abandoned warehouse… of course." I thought.
I nodded to Ren, who seemed to get the message, walking towards the door. "By the way detective. When you see Ruby, tell her to come down. It's been far too long since I've seen her. Oh! Also, tell her to wear the Ladybug ones, she'll know what I mean." Weiss said, her eyes flashing with something I didn't recognize. I shrugged, nodding back to her as me and Ren left without another word. When the two of us got out to his car, finally, I extinguished my cigar in the back, tossing it out the window and deciding against lighting another one. "So… where are we going?" Ren asked, starting his car again. I looked down at the slip of paper, and quickly showed it to him. He nodded, pulling out and heading towards there, pulling the top back up on his car. "Jaune… something's off about Ruby, you know that right?" Ren asked, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.
"Yeah. Blake was terrified the moment I mentioned her name, Winter understood something, and Weiss seemed nervous. Something's not right with that little girl." I said, looking out at the rapidly passing streetlights. I shut my eyes, trying to think of a reason, any reason, why Ruby would be an issue. Could she be a cop? No, why did I even think of that one? She's too young, and I could tell a cop when I saw one. Maybe she had a lot of influence? Her Dad could be a crime boss. Maybe… No, that didn't make sense. "Jaune… you've got that look on your face again." Ren said. The 'look' he was referring to, was the look I got when I was deep in thought about a case. At least, Ren said I got the look, I didn't look in the mirror when I was deep in thought about things. "Trying to think why Ruby of all people would get those kind of reactions… Ruby Xiao Long, what're you hiding?" I said, muttering the last sentence.
"What if she isn't Ruby Xiao Long?" Ren asked. I gave him an odd look, "Oh haha Ren, real funny." I said. He looked at me when we got to the red-light, his eyes hardened and his face dead-serious. "Jaune. When was the last time you saw me pull a prank or even tell a joke?" He asked. I blinked twice, slowly looking away from him and back towards the road. "Riiiight. Okay, what's this theory on her then huh?" I said. The light turned green as Ren drove off to the right, heading into the less lit place of Vale, fewer streetlamps, fewer houses, and more industrial buildings than any other part of the city. "Maybe she took her mother's name? Or Yang took her mother's last name, or… you know, something like that. Maybe… Maybe she's part of some big-time criminal empire or something." he said.
I sighed, "I don't think it's anything like that but… yeah, I think we should be keeping a closer eye on her." I said. Ren nodded, his eyes focusing on his destination. We rode the rest of the way in silence, and after awhile, we came across our destination. It was an old warehouse, abandoned for a long time by the looks of it. Me and Ren got out of the car, him locking it again. I didn't blame him, I didn't trust this place anymore than a hungry hobo in an all you can eat buffet. I placed my hand in my jacket, grabbing onto my gun, Ren doing the same, as we walked forwards, heading towards the door to the warehouse. I noticed that, on the door, was a sign, "No trespassing, private property." I muttered. Ren nodded, walking up towards it. He quickly reached into his jacket, pulling out a screwdriver and a bobbypin.
Not thirty seconds later he had the door opened, it swinging open noiselessly on it's hinges. "We're in." he whispered. I nodded, walking in behind him and silently shutting the door. It was dark, but there was enough light from the windows outside to see by, so we just walked on, heading towards the door on the other side. Ren leaned down, getting out his bobbypin again, only for a pair of pure white eyes to greet us through a slot high-up on the door. "The hell you doin' here? We're closed!" they said, about to shut the door back. "We're looking for Cross-Hares." I said. The door opened not a second later, a man ushering us in. He was dressed in a patched up three-piece suit, a bright red tie around his neck, the same color as his hair. His skin was darker than most I'd seen, but his most notable feature had to be his eyes. They were pure white, not even a pupil, just pure white, like someone had taken an eraser to his eyes.
He ushered us in, "She's downstairs, teachin' some punkass kid a lesson." he said, chuckling lightly as she shut the door behind us, sitting back down on a chair next to the door. Me and Ren walked down a short hallway, into what looked like a large room. This room had a large, stadium like area, the edges surrounded by wire fences with barbed-wire at the top. There was a staircase leading down, blocked off by a small gate. The ring was lit up by spotlights on all sides, and in the center… was what looked like a brawl. Me and Ren opened the gate, walking down the stairway. There was a woman and a man… and it was obvious the man was losing. He was a bit taller than me, his hair dark brown and styled in a crew-cut. He had on some tattered pants, his shirt gone, exposing his muscular physique. He was in bad shape, his face bloody, and the way his arm was… yeah, I was pretty sure it was broken.
When we got to the bottom, the woman jumped onto him, straddling him for a few seconds before she started wailing on his face. "DON'T! MESS! WITH! ME! WINCHESTER!" she yelled, separating each sentence with a punch to the man's face. I coughed, trying to get the attention of the woman in front of me. She stopped her assault on the man, turning around, brown eyes meeting my blue one's for a split second before she turned, picking up the man's head an inch before slamming it back to the ground. "Don't forget who's boss around here." she whispered into his ear, something I just barely heard. She stood, walking over towards us with a cat-like stride. She was dressed in a pair of bloody brown pants, stretching down to reveal her bare feet gliding across the concrete floor, a bit of brown nail polish on her toes. Above her waist she was wearing a small brown bra, really just a strip of cloth across her breasts, not doing much to cover her.
She was covered in a glaze of sweat, which, considering she'd just turned the man's face into pulp, that was to be expected. She let out a breath as she walked around us, grabbing a white towel and quickly wiping herself down, tossing it over her shoulder a moment later. She leaned down, grabbing, oddly enough, brown sunglasses and a brown beret, tossing them on before she smirked towards us. "What can I do you boys?" she asked, walking towards us. I looked off towards the unconscious, or dead, I couldn't tell, man. "Uhh, what was tha-" "He broke the rules. He got punished by me. That's what happens around here if you disobey." she said, cracking her knuckles. Ren looked over at me, nodding. I coughed, "Nevermind that. Are you Cross-Hares?" I asked. She smiled, bowing at the waist, looking up at the two of us over her sunglasses.
"Yeah, real name's Coco Adel if you don't mind." she said, standing back up, pushing her sunglasses back on her face. I nodded, looking around, "Alright Miss Adel, what is this place?" I asked. She chuckled, walking towards the stairs. "This is my Fight Club. Care for a round or two~" she asked, winking at me. I shook my head, "I'm more for gun combat myself." I said. She giggled, pushing down her sunglasses a bit. "I didn't mean in the ring~" she said. I gave her an odd look for a few seconds… then I felt my face explode into blush, the moment I figured out what she meant. "O-Oh… Uh, I'll pass." I said. I could tell Ren was just dying of trying to hold in his laughter. She let her smirk settle back into a smile as she walked up, "Come to my office, then we'll talk." she said. Me and Ren silently followed her, but Ren decided to speak up this time. "You planning on taking her up on her offer Jaune?" he asked, giving me a small smirk.
I looked away, "Of course not." I said. He shrugged, turning back forwards as I did as well… then I looked away as I noticed that, if I looked straight ahead, I was staring right at her ass. "You can look if you want boys, I don't mind~" she said, winking back at us. Ren shrugged, still walking up the stairs with that stonewall expression he always had. "Why you ask? You plan on doing it?" I asked. He frowned, shaking his head. "Oh, I've got someone much better, you know that by now." he said. I nodded, looking anywhere but right in front of me… which was actually getting surprisingly hard to do. For Ren… it wasn't that hard. After all, he had a girl of his own already, so resisting Coco? Not that hard.
When we finally got up the stairs, Coco lead us through a door off to the left of where the white-eyed man was. Inside, there was simply a desk, two chairs in front and one behind, and a few filing cabinets. The Coco sat down behind the desks, propping her feet up on top of it before she turned to us, pushing her sunglasses down on her face. "So, you're the two looking for Yang-a-Rang huh?" she asked. I felt my eyes widen a bit as even Ren seemed to freeze up for a second. Coco just laughed, "Oh please, did you honestly think I wouldn't find out about you asking so many questions? You haven't exactly been discreet about looking for Yang." she said. I looked back towards her, leaning in towards the desk. "Can you help us Coco?" I asked. She yawned, reaching into her desk and pulling out a nail file, taking the time to make her nails look better as she spoke with us.
"Yeah, I can. Good ole Yang-a-rang was one of the best of us. Was good in a fight, for a drink, and one of the best escapists." she said. I gave her an odd look, "Sorry, what?" I asked. She giggled, sitting back down and tossing the nail file behind her, it landing perfectly in the nearby wastebin. "Sorry, but you don't know what I'm part of do you?" she asked. I nodded, Ren doing the same, she'd kind of told us. "You're the owner of this fight clu-" "Wrong." she interrupted. Ren and I glanced at each other, then back at her. "Then what are you a part of Coco?" I asked. She frowned, leaning in close and placing her hands on the table, looming over us as I got the sense something very serious was about to happen. "What I'm about to tell you is strictly confidential. What I say, can not leave this room. Understand?" she asked. We both nodded, both of us used to keeping secrets by now.
"We are known as many things. By many names, and by many people. Some see us as saviors, others, as villains. We are the shadows that cling to the walls at night, we are the walkers that protect the remorseful, and punish the guilty. Our mission is simple. Those that disobey the Rose family, the White Fang, the Schnee family. We get them out, we keep them safe, and ultimately, our goal is the elimination of all of them. We are the seekers of justice that do not seek any reward but a crime-free Vale. Surely you've noticed the condition of the city detectives?" she asked. We both nodded, no need for words there. We'd seen the hell the world was becoming, it wasn't that hard to tell. Though, I did have to ask one question, "Still… why did Winter call you Crosshares?" I asked. She smiled, "That's but a codename. All members have them. We are known by one title among our members, the most closely guarded secret we have." she said, then she stood, smiling down at us.
"We are known as Beacon."