Russet was never the greatest, she wasn't the nicest, neither was she the best looking.
But she knew damn well how to fight people- this many could attest to after trying to mug her and her friends during the weekly pub crawl she'd used to have with them before she joined the Fang- probably a mistake in hindsight, but she couldn't exactly turn back now.
She'd been here for the last three years, she couldn't exactly change that now could she? You just don't leave somewhere like that, it just isn't done.
But that has only vaguely something to do with what she was doing now, what was she doing?
Listening to someone instructing her and an entire room of White Fang members on how to arm bombs.
She already knew, but a reminder was always nice.
The man on the podium -Mint Sanders if the board by his side was to be believed- started to move on to a new subject, gun maintenance, then was interrupted by a loud squeak.
Nearly the entire room -Mint included- turned to the door.
A man who couldn't be any older than his late teens, it was only after the few seconds of silence she noticed the green thing by his side.
It was small, it's most prominent features being the three spike-like protrusions on it's head and the roses on its hands.
How interesting.
The important part was he was definitely not a member of the White Fang and looked nothing like a Faunus.
"Shit".
Well, she wouldn't have been able to say it any better in his position.
The room turned into a maelstrom of white and grey movement as the better half of everyone in the room arose from their chairs and started to scrabble towards the boy, out for blood.
That was what a depressing majority of recruits were like sometimes.
Then again, with the way things were going it wasn't exactly unexpected.
She waited for the rooms exit to clear before leaving at a sprint.
It didn't take long for her to realise who was following her.
"Well hello sweet cheeks!" came the most aggravating voice she had ever heard in the history of her life and hoped would just die, leave or just cease to exist entirely.
Either option was fine by her.
"Gren, shut up" was the only response she could think of.
The git stressed her out very easily- it was like his entire reason for existing was to push her buttons!
Gren quickly wiped some hair out-of-the-way of his amber eye, the entire mop on his head that was his hair threw itself back as he chuckled, full of mirth.
She did her best to ignore his inane rambling as they both continued to run towards the crowd.
Russet found herself in for a surprise when she turned the corner.
There were a lot of bodies just laying around.
Her face hardened, quite a few of them didn't look like they were breathing.
The pile just kept growing and growing, at some point Gren had been left behind, he was probably doing something to help the wounded.
That doesn't matter right now.
She ran as fast as she could, following the trail of bodies until she found the few that remained running, only six, they were dropping when the plant monster thing on the running mans back absorbed? Sucked in? It was doing something weird, it was pulling yellow orbs of light from the ones following him.
When the orbs left them they just collapsed.
'What type of semblance is that?' she mused, uncertain about engaging, then steeling herself as she got her chance.
Roughly, in the back of her head, she realised that the alarm had gone off.
None of those in pursuit remained standing anymore.
Russet activated her Semblance, the steel below her stretched out like a springboard and threw her forward.
Her Semblance was simple, it allowed her to take a 'grip' of a material in an area and shape it to her will, interacting with it, using it as obstructions or extra platforms.
Once, she'd even used it to scale an office building.
But using her Semblance on too much material or on something too far away tended to strain her or just tire her out too much to properly use.
Knowing this, Russet had began to use her Semblance more as a weapon of engagement or binding in combat, something to distract a foe or inconvenience them.
It was also great for escapes.
Russet, close enough to the man and the plant monster to activate her Semblance safely, 'gripped' a piece of the steel floor and used it to trip the man up, sending his monster hissing and flying off of his shoulder.
She took her advantage, everything around her just sort of turned into a haze as she took the mans arm and shoved it behind his back.
The plant monster leaped into her field of view, almost immediately she 'gripped' a bit of the wall and slammed it against the beast, sending it careening back into another wall, hissing all the way.
"You Fucker!" came a loud voice from below her, startling her as she turned to the man.
'His eyes... that can not be natural' she thought to herself as the twin, glowing green orbs stared into her soul.
"Only cowards wear masks" came his voice, not exactly calm, but far less venomous or evil sounding.
The thoughts that the sentence conjured forth though... they gave her pause.
She frowned at him, about to open her mouth to tell him to shut up, only for it to not come.
All she saw was black.
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I awoke in a medical bed, a wet towel placed on my head and a minor headache blazing a trail of mayhem through my brain.
"Did anyone get the name of that truck?". I asked no one in particular- only to get an answer from an unlikely source.
Gren's voice and face showed concern as he popped into her vision, his mask off allowing his rather large, grey and droopy extra dog ears to hang over his face like twin spades.
"Hello, Russet. Here, have this". His voice was shaky, a little panicked as he forced some gruel into my face, waiting for me to take it from him.
I obliged, only feeling how famished I was after I had already begun eating.
"So", I asked between my rapid consumption of the oaty meal, "what happened?"
He paused for a moment, seemingly unsure of how to respond.
"Um well", he paused for a moment, sighing, "The... human, went through the base running, when we gathered the bodies of those his... pet", he said the word with distaste, as if it was the elusive pebble that had been stuck between his shoe and toe for the last month, "effected, we found most of them living and well after rest but..." He had gone quiet, no you don't do that to me Gren, stop!
"But what Gren?" I made sure to convey how little I wanted bullshit from him at that moment.
"Over ten percent of the new recruits died today Russet... I just, I don't know how else to tell you". He was saddened by this, I could tell from the way his ears drooped in that way they always did and the dip in his lip.
"Wow. That's... ". I said, not having anything else to say from the shock.
There were around fifty recruit today so more than five had died from that madman's rampage.
"Well, at least you're still here, that's all that matter right now". He said, patting my back as he did so.
He didn't look happy, not at all.
"There's something you're not telling me Gren". I could see it in the way he fidgeted, he was never a good liar.
"Coral was one of the ones that died".
Oh.
Oh my god.
Coral was his little sister, she had been determined to join the Fang ever since he had... He looked like a kicked puppy.
That man...
"Is he dead?" I asked, feeling very, very ang- yeah, no this isn't anger, this is fucking rage.
"No, Roman's gone and picked him up, there isn't really anything we can do to him now".
The downtrodden way he said it... he just seemed so lost.
I don't like that one bit.
I pulled him in for a hug, stroking his hair as he just broke down.
"I'm telling you now, I will do something about this. I don't care if Roman has taken him as his own little toy, I don't care if the fucking council of vale decides he's a fucking saint, I will get him, do you hear me?"
Gren said nothing, he only hugged harder.
I will come for you boy, and when I do you better be ready because when I do not even the gods will be able to stop me.
No one gets to hurt my friends.
No one.
