Chapter 34: Arkanaz
The group walked along the path as with Victor in the lead holding the map in front of him. He was just making sure that they were on the right path and not going in the wrong direction. Blake walked next to him and questioned "So where are we heading?" Victor replied as he folded up the map "Arkanaz. Not exactly a small town, but it isn't big enough to be a city."
"So it's a town."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
Victor stuck the map into a pocket on his bag and put his arm around Blake. He pulled her close, like he always did and felt her head rest against his shoulder. The group was surprisingly quiet for it to be mid-day. They reached the town to fins it was very peaceful. It was similar to Stonewall, but no wall around the city.
The city had a large wooden archway for the entrance with a small fence along the outside. "What do you think keeps the Grimm from attacking the city?" Ruby questioned as they walked through the archway. "Who knows?" Pyrrha replied. "How do many of the towns in the forest survive? Each have their own method." Victor looked around to see people milling around the city, not even paying attention to them. The group approached the center of town to find a large statue of a black samurai.
(For a visual, it looks like Silver Samurai from the Wolverine) The statue looked like it was made of a black metal and stood with a sword stabbed into the ground. Victor couldn't help but be mesmerized by the statue, it felt like it was staring back at him. "Ah! It appears we have visitors!" A frail voice proclaimed. Victor looked to his left to see a small old man bent over a cane walking towards them. He was bald and had a long white beard with light blue eyes.
He made his way next to Victor and replied "I see you have taken a shine to Ronin." Victor questioned "Ronin?"
"Yes, the black samurai before you. He watches over the town, ever waiting a master to teach him."
"A statue waiting a master? That makes no sense." Victor thought. "What brings you to our town, if I may ask?" The old man questioned. "We are making our way to Mountain's Shadow." Victor answered. "We simply seek a place to stay for the night and to restock on supplies. We also need to do a little research."
"Then we may help you along your journey. There is a general store that can help you with supplies, there is an inn just down the road and if you follow me I can help you with your research."
"Thank you sir."
Victor turned towards his group and ordered "Teams JNPR and RWBY. Head to the general store and grab everything we need. My team, Sun, and Grey go to the inn and get us a place to stay for the night. I'll go with the old man and gather intel." Everyone agreed except for Yang, who proclaimed "I'll go with you to help with the research. Don't want you getting lonely." Blake immediately stepped up and added "I'm going too. It'll go by faster if there are more people are there." She then hooked her arm around Victor's waist and pulled him close. "Okay, that's a little weird." Victor thought as he followed the old man with Blake and Yang. "Why is she keeping me this close? Why did she come with me? She couldn't know… could she?"
They followed the old man to an old book store and looked around. "May I ask you on what you are researching?" The old man questioned as he walked behind the counter. Victor replied "Books on Grimm. Ones from ancient times that haven't been seen for a long time."
The old man walked over to a shelf and reached up to grab a book. He pulled it off the shelf and handed it to Victor. "I'm guessing you ran into a Dark Rex?" The old man questioned. Victor opened the book as Yang questioned "Would it happen to be really big with a big head full of teeth?"
"That is exactly what a Dark Rex is. Go to page 87 in the book."
Victor flipped to the page and found a picture of the beast that attacked them before they made it to town. "It says that this Grimm died off hundreds of years ago, right around the time of man's existence." Victor proclaimed as he read from the book. "Indeed." The old man confirmed. "But many Grimm of old have been emerging, ever since the Draco revealed themselves." Victor flipped through the book until he found a section about Dracos. He read from it, but most of it was stuff he already knew.
"There is one thing about Dracos that many don't know." The old man exclaimed as he walked towards the back. "Please follow me." The three followed him into a back room which held a large skull that Victor recognized immediately; Draco skull. "This was removed from a Draco many years ago during the time of my great great grandfather. He said that the Dracos were a powerful race of Grimm, with abilities that would over power the greatest of huntsman and huntresses." The old man went on. "He said that Dracos could even resurrect other Grimm. Organize them into fighting forces. Today's Grimm are feral compared to those of the past." Victor approached the skull and stared into the eye sockets. "So this is what will sit on my front lawn soon." Victor mumbled to himself.
He stared into the skull until he felt a hand intertwine with his. He looked over to see Blake with a concerned look in her eyes. "At least we know a little more about what we're dealing with." Yang proclaimed to break the silence. Victor turned to the old man and proclaimed "Thank you for the information sir." The old man smiled and replied "Not a problem young man. Why don't you hang onto that book? It'll do you more good than it will me."
"Again, thank you sir."
The three walked out of the book store and walked around town to see if they could find the inn. Victor noticed that Blake was really clinging to Victor and standing in between him and Yang. They found the inn and saw Trevor waiting for them. "We've got some rooms for us for tonight. We got enough for two to a room." Trevor updated. "Here's the key to yours and Blake's room. I just assumed that you two would be staying together." Victor took the key and proclaimed "You assumed correctly. Thanks."
He walked with Blake to their room and dropped their bags. Victor removed his blood stained shirt and inspected the bathroom. "They have a shower." Victor sighed. "Thank god." He stepped in and started to wash the dried blood off of him. He let the water run over him and thought "Does Blake really know what happened between me and Yang? If she does… it looks like my relationship is screwed."
O00000O00000O
Blake sat on her bed and pulled out a book as Victor walked into the shower. She read for a bit until Victor walked out of the shower with a towel around his waist. She tried to stay focused on her book, but still ended up staring at her boyfriend. She watched him until he grabbed a pair of boxers out of his bag and then dropped his towel. Blake felt her face turn red and she buried her face into her book.
She was able to restrain herself from looking and heard Victor laugh "I was almost positive that you would have looked." Blake replied "Some of us have more self-control." She was shifted aside and Victor climbed into her bed. "Are you saying I have no self-control?" He whispered in her ear as he pulled off her bow.
"I'm saying that I can keep myself from looking at you while you are changing, while you can't."
She felt his lips press against the side of her head as he wrapped his arms around her. She closed her book and turned to kiss him when there was a knock at their door. "Come in." Victor proclaimed. The door opened and Yang walked in. "Mind if I use your shower?" Yang questioned. "Grey is hogging ours and won't give it up." Blake shrugged and replied "Sure."
Yang walked into the bathroom and the shower started. Blake leaned back and Victor started to kiss the side of her head. She felt him pull her close as he started to kiss her cat ears. "Victor." Blake whispered. "Yang is in the bathroom." Victor chuckled "She's busy. She won't bother us." Blake let Victor continue with having his fun and positioned himself over her.
He started to kiss her and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Blake was enjoying the moment until she heard Yang's voice reply "Could you two seriously not wait for me to leave?" Blake broke the contact and looked around Victor to see Yang standing in the doorway with a towel wrapped around her. Blake immediately grabbed Victor's face and kept him staring at her. "Yang!" Blake barked. "Get out!"
"I'm going." Yang laughed. "Just use protection you two." She heard the door close and Blake exclaimed "I'm going to talk to her." She practically pushed Victor off of her and walked out the door. She saw Yang walk into her room and Blake promptly followed her. She caught the door just before it closed and walked into Yang's room.
She saw Grey sitting on a bed and she exclaimed "Hello Blake." Blake nodded at her as Yang turned towards her. "What's up?" Yang questioned as she started getting dressed. Blake crossed her arms and gave her a very unhappy look. Yang finished getting dressed and proclaimed "What? Is this about what just happened? What did you want me to do? Let you two know I was walking out?"
"I want to know what your thoughts are about Victor." Blake proclaimed. Yang raised an eyebrow and replied "I think he's a cool guy."
"Anything else?"
"Not really."
"Do not lie to me Yang. I saw the way you looked at him after the Dark Rex attack. You have feelings for him."
Yang looked away and sighed "Okay Blake. You caught me. I like Victor." Blake felt the ping in her gut since she didn't want to be right. "Blake, I'm not going to do anything to steal Victor from you." Yang proclaimed. "I know," Blake replied "because if you do, then you will have to deal with me at my worst. If I see you try anything on Victor, I will not hesitate to knock you on your ass. Understand?" Yang nodded and Blake walked out of the room.
She returned to her room to see Victor laid across her bed with a book in his hands. She saw that he was reading Ninjas of Love, not exactly one of her best books to read with people around. "Where did you get that book?" Blake questioned as she walked over to him. She tried to snatch the book from his hand, but he caught her wrist and pulled her onto his chest. "I found this on your bag. This… is a pretty explicit book here." Victor commented.
Blake felt her face grow red as Victor commented "I had no idea that you read books like this." He set the book down on the nightstand and flipped her so he was positioned above her. He lowered himself and whispered to her "I don't think I'm doing a very good job of making you happy if you have to read books like this." She felt his hand slide up her side and start lifting her shirt. She smiled as she ran her hands along his bare chest.
He removed her shirt and dropped it onto the floor. "How far do you want to go this time?" Blake questioned as Victor kissed her neck. "I think I'm going to give in to your advances." He whispered to her as his hand slid to her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss, letting him take control.