Ugh... I'm sick. Sick sick sick. Coughing nonstop, and every cough hurts like hell my stomach and upper chest. Plus these days have been busy as hell. So yeah, work + sickness = not a great way to keep my updates up. Eight days is what it took me to write this. But the problem? I wrote this is two days. The first and the eighth. The others, I just couldn't.
Anyway, I have a new poll on my profile, for Demonic Redemption's pairing. And now, onto the story. I've wasted enough time being sick to delay any further.
The sun shined over Orlén, giving it a brief respite from the light but incessant rain that had drowned the morning. The streets were full of puddles, but at least the rain had washed off part of the dirt that had accumulated on it. On the walkways, few people shuffled by, most of the adults being at work and most of the kids being at school. The traffic was to a minimum too, as normal during late Tuesday mornings.
The building's gutter dripped water on the walkway, giving the impression of it being still raining to those watching the windows from within the local. The rain had drummed against the roof all night, but for those sleeping at the hotel it had been a calming sound rather than an annoying one.
The restaurant part of the Everclear Paradise was mostly empty aside from a few tables. At one, a lone elder woman sat, enjoying her coffee after a quick breakfast, ready to take on the road once again. In a corner ate a small family of four – two men with a boy and a younger girl so similar they could've passed as twins. The children's sleepy eyes spoke much of how late their breakfast was.
The last group was a larger group of seven people fitting in a table for four, and probably the weirdest group that had ever passed through that town. A blond boy with nondescript grey pants and shirt too big for him sat beside a short girl with brown and pink hair and a similar colour-themed outfit. On the other side of the blond there was a tall Faunus with two black horns sticking out of a mess of red hair and a strip of black cloth over his eyes. On the other end of the table sat a man with orange hair and jade eyes, sided by a short girl with red-tipped black hair and silver eyes, and a boy with grey eyes and hair. Between the girl and the Faunus sat an older version of the silver-eyed girl, though much more starved-looking.
Each of them was holding a cup of coffee, though with various amounts of milk and sugar, from the Faunus's blackest possible blend to the girl's overly-sugared one.
"So," began Roman, hating the cliché ice-breaker but not knowing any better way to start. He had tried, like everyone else, he had really tried, but his mind hadn't supplied him any better start. "What's the topic for today?"
"No idea, Grimm Boy said something about splitting up yesterday," shrugged Mercury, waving at Jaune with his cup. "So I guess he should be the first one to speak, am I right?"
"Yeah you are. But honestly, I'm surprised none of you thought about this before." The only blond of the group took half a sip from his coffee before continuing. "We got Summer out of the labs. Adam too, though we didn't know he was there. Mission complete, everyone can go home. There is no need for all of us to stick together – especially because we stick out like a sore thumb. Some of us are already wanted for crimes – and I'm only refraining from saying all of us because of Summer. There's no point in sticking together any more now that ours goals have been reached. I thought you would've been the first to catch up and leave."
If the criminals were disturbed by his words, they didn't show it at all. Mercury kept twirling the coffee in his cup without a care in the world, Adam's only reaction was to drink a little bit of his own bitter beverage, Neo was smirking as usual, and Torchwick continued to stare at him as if waiting for him to go on.
The two Roses had quite the different reaction. Summer seemed to try to speak while drinking, resulting in a coughing fit and teary eyes – though the latter maybe weren't related to the cough. Ruby slammed her cup down, spilling it all over the table, and stood up in shock. "No!"
When the rest of the patrons looked her way, she blushed and sank back in her chair. "W-We can't split up… Mum's not home yet!"
"Sorry Little Red, but I don't think that having her escorted home by a bunch of wanted criminals is the best idea," Roman snarked with a smirk. "So we can split up. We'll put you two on a train and pam! Our mission is over."
"That would actually be the best course of action," Taurus agreed in a soft, rumbling voice as he placed his empty cup on the table. "We have all different goals. There is no point in sticking together any more."
"Unlike you, Bullman, some of us were using this mission as a way to stay under the radar," Roman retorted with an edge in his voice. "I thought it'd take longer, not that we'd be done in a couple of weeks. For my part, I'm waiting for Blondie to come up with a follow-up mission."
"Watch your tongue, human," Adam spat back, immediately angry, placing his hands on the table as if to rise from his seat.
"Stop bickering, you two," Jaune snapped. "It is true that this took less than I thought, but that's a good thing. Sending Ruby and Summer home is also the best course of action, but I never said you had to split up too. You can work together if you wish."
Everyone stared at the boy in a deadpan. "I worked with you only because it was the only way I'd survive," replied Taurus, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't plan on continuing to stand the presence of these humans."
Mercury huffed, exasperated. "Seriously, what's with all the edginess? I get you don't like humans, but being all moody and dark all the time is not gonna solve the issue."
"What do you know about being subjugated?!" Taurus yelled in a furious whisper.
"A lot, but that's none of your business. Let's just say that I wasn't born with metal legs," the grey-haired assassin shot back with equal bite, tapping his right knee. "Point is whining about it is not going to change anything. Either you shut up and take it, or you shut up and rebel."
Adam snorted. "I was the leader of-"
"And I think that's enough details for everyone involved, given where we are," Torchwick smoothly cut in, making a show of looking around. The other patrons weren't even looking their way, but Roman was paranoid sometimes. Not like Jaune could blame him. Only the knowledge he had three people way better than him at perception kept him from constantly looking around to check potential threats. "We all know who you were, Bullman, you don't have to state it out loud for everyone to hear."
As Taurus settled down again, Jaune slowly exhaled through his nose. "I didn't mean start making a scene, I meant think of what you're gonna do. Roman, Mercury and Neo can't exactly go back to Vale, given they have a mysterious common ex-boss who wants their heads. Adam, I'm guessing you want to go back to your organization, but if you've been dethroned and imprisoned once, I doubt it'll go much differently the second time around. Summer and Ruby aren't really in this mess, so they can leave without consequences. So, what are your plans?"
"I'm not just leaving you like that!" Ruby immediately spoke up. "You helped me save Mom, I need to repay you!"
"I am with my daughter on this," agreed the older Rose. "We have to repay our debt. Please, let us help."
"That's stupid," Mercury snapped bluntly. "We already have professionals on our asses if what Red says about her uncle is true, plus a bunch of Beacon idiots, only because we have the girl. I have no fucking idea why she's so damn important, but there's no way we're keeping such a hot potato. Besides, it's not like we need more fighters."
"I agree with Mercury, if you two return home safely, maybe they'll stop chasing after us. They haven't caught us yet, but that's still a very big possibility," nodded Jaune, ignoring the two women's protests and turning to the others. "What about you? What do you plan on doing now?"
"No idea," shrugged the young assassin. "I ain't really got anything to do, to be frank, aside from staying away from the bitch."
"Same," added Torchwick, and Neo nodded.
"I will take back my organization from the hands of that human bitch," spat Taurus.
"Wait a second, you four all had the same boss?" Ruby asked, surprised.
"Yes, though it's better if you don't know about her. Hopefully, she's dead by now," grumbled Mercury, finishing his coffee with one last gulp. "She got roasted by Roman, and then we sicked a professional Hunter on her while we ran. She should be dead by now. But she was a real bitch. Always threatening to kill you if you didn't obey, always on your ass, control freak, also a dumbass idiot who thought that death threats were a good way to keep her followers loyal, and who thought everyone else was dirt under her heels."
"Sounds like a horrible boss," noted Jaune. "How did she last that long?"
"She didn't last long at all," scoffed Torchwick. "Barely two months."
"Okay, that's just pathetic." Everyone cracked a little smile at that fact. Even Taurus was entertained by badmouthing his former oppressor.
"So what about you, Blondie?" Roman asked as soon as silence reigned again. "What are your plans for the future? You can't exactly go back to living a normal life after working with someone like me."
"I wasn't planning to. Even if Ruby and Summer try to keep the fact I'm a Grimm secret, sooner or later it'll come out, no matter how much they try to contain it. And when it does, I'm in big trouble." Jaune drained his own cup and set it back on the table. "But, if I'm with you when it does, I'll be harder to find, so I'm probably going to stick around and help you doing whatever you'll be doing."
"I got an idea," Mercury spoke up. "Red and Red go home to Daddy, and we help Bullhead here take back the White Fang. At least we'll have something to do, some fighting hopefully, and it'll be like spitting in Cinder's face, don't you think?"
"I'm all for it," nodded the only blond of the group.
"Ugh, not exactly what I envisioned myself doing, but it'll be entertaining until I get proof Cinder's dead and I can go back to Vale. Count us in," sighed Torchwick. Then he turned to the Faunus of the group. "Though it mostly depends on Bullman here."
"Stop calling me that, human," spat the man before calming down and frowning. "The White Fang doesn't need any dirty human helping us, but I am not in the White Fang any more, and I understand that just walking back in will only result in a fight breaking out. As much as agreeing to this disgusts me, I fear I have no choice… but I will leave if you don't follow my orders."
"Stop ignoring us!" Ruby snapped. "We are coming along too. We just need to let our family know we're okay, but we'll help you!"
"Ruby, your family hasn't seen Summer since ten years ago. Do you really think they're just gonna be satisfied with 'knowing she's okay'?" Jaune asked rhetorically. "And if you do meet them to prove it, do you really think they are going to let you two go? With criminals? In a potentially highly dangerous mission? I don't think so."
"I…"
"It wouldn't be fair to them," continued the boy. "They don't want to risk losing you two again. Once has been enough. And while this mindset is not fair to you, if you run away with us they're just gonna come after us twice as strongly as before to find you and bring you back – possibly alongside our corpses."
"Like we're going to let them," Summer growled darkly, shocking her daughter. "You saved my life, Jaune, in more than one way. I need to repay you. And while helping you take back a terrorist organization-" She ignored Adam's protests. "-is not what I thought it'd be, I'll gladly do it if it means I can repay my debt."
"And I'm not going to let you get in danger without me!" exclaimed Ruby, glaring determinedly at him.
Then Torchwick began to laugh, soon followed by Neo's silent snickers and Mercury's loud guffaws. Even Adam had a fist pressed against his lips to try to smother his amusement. Finally, the thief mastermind managed to calm down enough to address the three of them, who were rightfully frowning at such a display of wicked amusement. "Oh by Dust that was freaking hilarious. 'I'm not going to let you get in danger without me!'," the man mimicked Ruby's squeaky voice and roared in laughter again. "Oh that was priceless. So, so, so naive…"
"I'm serious!"
"I know and that's what makes it so damn funny!" the thief shot back immediately.
"Okay, okay, okay, let's be serious now," Jaune cut in before turning to Ruby. "I understand you want to help, but-"
"No buts," Summer cut in. "We want to let our family know we're okay, but we too are coming along."
"If you really want to help, you'd help us more by just going home," Jaune continued, ignoring Summer's interruption. "We don't need more fighters, but what we do need is to stay under the radar, and that'd be kinda hard if half of Vale's Hunters are searching for us because Ruby is with us. And if they catch wind that you are with us too, then they'd search twice as hard."
"I don't care!" the woman snapped. "You saved my life over and over for almost a decade, and I will stand by you, because that is what is right!"
"Jeez, I noticed you had the hots for him, Red, but chill…" snorted Torchwick, and soon the conversation degenerated to a point of no return.
/-/
"Yang, your mother is a bitch," Weiss repeated for the fourth time.
"I know."
The two of them were sitting side by side at a table in a far nicer place than the one Raven had dumped them in, and none less than Qrow Branwen sat before them, a highly alcoholic drink in his hand an a closed Scroll in the other. Medicine for him and a threat for them, respectively. Neither of them had requested anything when the young waiter had asked for their order, nor when the same guy had brought the Hunter a large bottle of clear Atlasian Vodka and a glass. Not a shot glass, a normal glass Weiss was sure shouldn't have been used to drink such a super alcoholic.
The place they were staying at, the Ray of Sunshine restaurant, was leagues apart from the dingy local Qrow had been drinking at when they had arrived. The white tiled pavement was clean, though not polished to a mirror, and the waiters were all respectable-looking people, all dressed in the same unisex blue and gold uniform. The walls were adorned with bright paintings of orange suns and azure clouds, matching the colours of the tablecloths, which were embroidered with small twisting golden lines – the rays of sunshine, Weiss guessed easily.
As opposite to the whole local around them, Qrow Branwen was not bright and happy. The man was scowling at them and Weiss had to admit she felt more than a little intimidated by the drunk at the moment.
"I'm going to recap everything you've done so far. Try to follow me without breaking the law, okay?" he spoke up once he had gotten a few sips of alcohol in his body. Weiss shrank at the jab, but Yang barely seemed to be affected, staring right into the man's eyes. "After Ruby disappeared, you were allowed to subtly search for hints. In a show of comradeship I was not expecting from a team such as yours, you all went to Hei Xiong's club and, instead of discreetly asking for information, you tore up the whole local. Then, by a stroke of luck or maybe bad luck, given how it ended, the very people you were looking for walked into the club, and you immediately engaged in combat. You all lost and you're lucky they didn't bother killing any of you. Then, after you were harshly lectured about discreetness and explicitly told not to get involved any more, you went and injured seven innocent civilians – who also happened to be close relatives to the guy who kicked both your asses, and is probably really pissed about it if he knows."
Qrow stopped just enough to take a swig from his glass before continuing. "After being fairly and rightfully punished, you then decided to avoid your punishment and escape, joining my sister's bandit tribe. Before you lie and deny, we had security cameras in your dorm at the time, and I can recognize one of my sister's portals when I see it. So, you joined a tribe of cutthroats and thieves to get your freedom. I don't know what you did to repay Raven – but I doubt it was something good. And now you are here. Is there something I missed, or did I get it all?"
"I am doing this for Ruby," Yang replied with a stony expression.
"Winter and I were on this case already."
"Well, you weren't doing such a great job, now were you?"
"Did you do any better?" At her silence, Qrow snorted. "Thought so. No, I'm not getting any lead, but this might change soon. You instead? You got nothing, and wasted everything. You do realize that your careers as Huntresses are over no matter what you do? And that you both will probably spend half a decade in prison because of what you've done?"
"Not if we find Xiao Long's sister," Weiss managed to say despite her nerves, years of being taught how to properly act being the only thing keeping her from showing her anxiety.
"Not if you find Ruby, but honestly, do you really think you can just find them like that?" Qrow snorted derisively. "Grow up, children. You aren't invincible, and you aren't infallible."
"So what now?" Yang asked, ignoring his latest remark. "You gonna force us back to Ozpin or what?"
"I don't have time to properly drag you there, and anyone less than myself would only end up beaten to death by you two once you decide to run away again. I'm not saying you will avoid punishment, but for now, you're gonna stick by me until I can tie you up with a nice bow and gift-mail you back to Ozpin." Qrow's glare narrowed as he stared at Yang specifically. "I thought you'd be better than your mother, firecracker. So far, you've proved me wrong."
"What is that supposed to mean?!" Yang burst out, slamming her hands on and through the table, shattering the wood with easy and making all other patrons look at them in worry and fear.
"You use violence to get whatever you want, and you live by the rule of the strongest. If someone's not strong enough to beat you, you can walk all over them. Isn't this exactly what happened at Xiong's Club, twice? Or what happened at Signal? Or what happened every time I got a complaint from a student back when I was professor, telling me you were tossing them around whenever you got in an argument?"
"Those little bastards snitched?!" exclaimed Yang, with her eyes taking the now familiar to Weiss red tint characteristic of her Semblance and anger.
"They told a professor like they should've. Now, I know you're not a bad person – but for how long, if you go on like this?" Qrow emptied his glass and placed it back down. "How long can you go having it your way by force, without becoming like your mother? You must be contained. And that's what Tai and I are gonna do as soon as we find Ruby again. No more missions for me until your first impulse in an argument is to solve it verbally instead of with your fists."
Yang's eyes narrowed, and that was when Qrow decided to play his last card. It was a dirty trick, sure, but hopefully it would cool down the girl's anger temporarily. "What would Ruby think, if she knew what you've done?" As predicted, the blonde froze in her attempt to speak. "What would she think if she knew that her big sister became a bully, a criminal, maybe even a murderer? Do you really think she'd be proud of you?"
Yang's hands clenched into fists, and for a second Weiss thought she'd cave and admit she was wrong. However, her hands remained clenched, and her glare intensified. "It doesn't matter what she thinks. What matters is that she's okay, and right now she's not okay. I don't care what she thinks as long as she's okay, even if she has to hate me."
The old Huntsman held her gaze for a long second before sighing and closing his eyes. "Damn it, I usually leave educational speeches and all that shit to Oz, now I know why." Opening his deep red eyes again, he fixed them with a glare. "I got errands to run and places to be, and I don't trust you to come along. We'll meet again here tonight at seven, no later. If you're not here, then I'll have to find you and drag you back, delaying even further Ruby's rescue."
The Huntsman rose from his seat waved a waiter over, taking out enough Lien bills to pay for his drink and for the table. Before he could leave, though, Yang spoke up again. "Hey, I never caught the name of this place."
Qrow snorted and didn't even turn as he walked out of the door, before calling over his shoulder, "Well, ladies, you're currently in the lovely town of Orlén, Jaune Arc's former hometown."
/-/
"So~"
"So…"
The two silver-eyed women glanced at each other awkwardly, having finally run out of topics to talk about. The sun was nearing the horizon, and the silence between them was heavier than lead. The room was almost empty aside from them, and a young trio of friends eating in a corner, their comrades having left a few hours earlier.
Jaune had gone for supplies, being known by the shopkeepers he had been the best choice. A disguised Torchwick had been accompanied by Neo and Mercury to get them all new clothes – Jaune had offered to cloth shop as well, but the fashionable thief had been all but horrified at the idea of someone other than him choosing his clothes. Adam was upstairs, resting in his room, and it made sense given how he couldn't take his blindfold off, and thus appeared more than a little suspicious.
That left the two women all by themselves, and they surely hadn't complained about it. It had given them the time to talk and to play catch-up for the ten years they hadn't seen each other. At first it had been tentative, slow attempts at conversation, but after a while it became more and more natural to keep talking. Some subjects were carefully avoided, like Summer's sufferance and Ruby's mourning, but others were addressed directly – like how Ruby was doing in school, or how much she'd grown since last time, or how the rest of the family was doing.
Infallibly, the conversation lulled back into silence as the two of them just sat at the table, avoiding eye contact, and just as infallibly, Ruby eventually found another question bouncing around in her mind.
"Mom… did Jaune really save you that many times when you were prisoner?"
Summer Rose didn't answer right away. Her eyes looked far, far beyond the girl in front of her, far beyond anything in the room, gazing into another time and place. A small, forlorn smile opened on her face as her eyes dulled. Only then she answered the question with as much honesty as she could. "He did. Maybe he does not know he did, but the White Glow saved me from desperation and hopelessness many, many times. Without it, I wouldn't have survived, I am sure of that."
Ruby looked down at the table and traced the lines of the tablecloth with her finger. "Yet another thing I can never repay him for…" she breathed softly, going almost unheard even by her mother.
"But we are," said the woman, placing a supporting hand over her daughter's. "We are helping him help the others."
"I didn't mean it like that," replied Ruby, shaking her head. "Jaune doesn't think I owe him, or you do. He thinks he's just doing what was useful to him, and that we shouldn't thank him for that."
"Ah, but it doesn't matter what he thinks, what matters is that we do owe him," smiled Summer. "And we will try to repay our debt, won't we?"
The younger silver-eyed girl nodded slowly, a tiny smile coming to her face as well.
"So, you like him?"
The sudden question caught her off-guard, causing her to choke and sputter denials as she turned as red as her namesake. Summer's slowly widening smirk wasn't helping, either. "W-What?! No! Ew! Of course I-I don't like him!"
"Someone sounds in denial~" the woman sing-sang mercilessly, feeling the exhilaration of motherly teasing for the very first time. It was almost addicting. Yet another wonderful thing Sadist and Cold had taken from her.
"Mooom! I-It's not like that!" protested the poor blushing girl, waving her hands around while at the same time trying to pull her hood over her face. Glaring balefully at her with one single silver eye, the girl grumbled in protest. "Stop teasing me…"
"Oh come on, he's really nice, and not bad in the looks department either, though he could use a haircut and some more flesh on those bones," Summer continued evenly. "And he's certainly a caring person-"
"Not for us."
Summer's speech halted at the gloomy tone of the girl's voice, who lowered her eyes to gaze at the floor. "What?"
"You said he's a caring person. Not for us. He cares for his sisters and no one else. We have no place in his heart," the girl explained sadly, a depressed expression settling on her face. And that wouldn't do, because Summer knew better.
"He does care for you," she said softly. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have stepped in to save us from the Deathstalker. And furthermore, he wouldn't have gotten angry enough to transform. You said the only other time he did was when his sisters were hurt – and then again when we were hurt. I believe this means he really cares for us both."
Ruby pursued her lips, deep in thought, before she energetically nodded. "Yeah, you're right!" she beamed happily. "He cares for the both of us!"
Summer's heart ached slightly, but if it was to make her daughter happy, then she'd gladly ignore her own feelings. Maybe going back to Tai was still possible. Maybe too much time still hadn't passed… even if it had been a decade since last time she had seen him.
It was just a matter of ignoring her feelings for a short while still.
/-/
Adam Taurus didn't relish the fresh air brushing against his blindfolded face and rustling through his unruly hair, nor did he enjoy the thrill of adrenaline as he jumped high over the gaps between the roofs, landing light as a feather without a sound, wasting no time as he immediately began to run again. The people in the streets were too busy to look up as his shadow passed over them, and the sun had long since dried the roofs' tiles, making it easier for him to keep running without slipping.
As he ran, the Faunus couldn't help but inwardly snort. Working with humans had never been on his wish list, and would never be, no matter how skilled or useful they could be. He still didn't know how to feel about the Grimm boy. He had lived most of his life as human and still looked human, but technically wasn't human any more. Torchwick, Black, the little assassin, and the two women were definitely human though, and he wouldn't be caught dead working with them. Not even to take back the White Fang.
He knew it wouldn't be easy, but his whole life hadn't been easy, and he had powered through it nonetheless. He would learn from his mistakes, and take back his position with subtlety.
He frowned. The three criminals would've been a huge help in that regard.
Immediately, he mentally smacked himself and shook his head. He didn't want to work with humans as a principle. It wasn't that the humans were useless.
If anything, the opposite. With them, it'd be much easier to ascend once again to leader of the White Fang.
Once again he had to berate himself for even just thinking that. Humans were his enemies, no matter how useful they were. His eyes narrowed. Especially Black and Torchwick, those two racists…
'Even though they, as opposite to most, didn't use those nicknames to insult me,' his mind treacherously told him. He shook his head again to chase away those traitorous thoughts, and in doing so, he caught a flash of white standing out in the flow of passer-bys.
He froze, and slowly turned. 'I don't believe it… here… of all places…'
A Schnee.
His hand instinctively closed around Wilt's handle, gripping it tightly.
A curvaceous blonde was walking right next to the Schnee, talking and gesturing animatedly, saying something about a girl named…
Taurus's grip doubled.
If they were looking for the young girl, they were looking for the whole group. Torchwick had blabbed about a group of teenagers they had 'fought' at a club, including a blonde and a Schnee, both of which had been strangled into unconsciousness by the Grimm boy. Taurus was torn between despising him for not having killed the Schnee, and being grateful because he now had the chance to do it himself.
His eyes, hidden under the cloth, never left the duo as he began to crawl back to the hotel.
Ouch ouch ouch. Coughing hurts. Everything hurts, actually, and yes I'm taking medicines.
So~! (cough cough ouch ouch) There was a lot in this chapter. Qrow's burn, and not from the alcohol, the group's conversation - which we still don't know how it ended, so we don't know if they'll send Summer and Ruby home or not. What am I saying, of course they decided to send them home, the real question is am I gonna allow that?
...Probably not. Not feeling merciful today, not ever.
A little bit of romance never hurts, especially if then we have Edgelord Sociopath Adam Taurus's PoV immediately afterwards! (cough cough cough ouch ouch ouch... exclaiming stuff hurts too... )
And with this cliffhanger, I close the chapter.
Until next time,
Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh
PS: cough cough cough cough...