Ch34: Family Visits
(Sunday, Y+1, M+4, D+26)
I wake up with a groan and the first thing I notice is Neo laying on her side, resting her head on my chest. I check the time on my scroll, it's 8:46. I should get going, it's going to be a long day.
"Neo, wake up. We're going back to Beacon today." I say, tapping her shoulder.
'"Uuugghhhh. Five more minutes."'
"I'm getting up." I say, sitting up. Or, rather, I try to. Neo rolls onto me and prevents me from sitting up.
'"No. Bad pillow."' I just sigh.
*Bamf* I appear standing next to the bed as Neo snaps her head to stare at me, an evil glare in her eyes.
"C'mon, get up." I say, holding out an arm to help pull her up. "Just a sec." I say, grabbing my black bullet and stabby/slashy-thing resistant undersuit, my greatcoat, weapon belt and my HUD glasses. I bamf to the bathroom and quickly change, before bamfing back. "You ready?" I ask, grabbing the duffel bag full of my armor and equipment. I sling it over my shoulder and hold out my hand. "Hey Dad! We're going back to Beacon! See ya!" I call out as Neo places her hand in mine.
"Alright, see you later." I hear Dad reply, over the groan that I assume is Qrow suffering the aftermath of a ludicrous amount of alcohol.
"Hang on Neo." I say.
*Bamf*
"IVAN!" I shout as we appear in The Cave a split-second later.
"Five more minutes." I hear him groan from his hammock. I sigh, and pull something from my greatcoat. I pull the pin and cook the device for a second, before tossing it towards the hammock. The freeze grenade detonates, freezing Ivan in place in his hammock. "I'll give you ten." I say, walking away in slow motion, through the remains of The Cave's door. "C'mon Neo, you've got to make your peace with my sister. I don't want to wake up every morning to the sound of Yang punching through a solid metal door." I shiver, remembering a beatdown that started with an absurdly strong woman bashing her way through a metal door. 'Yeah, don't want that to happen.'
'"Do I have to?"'
"If you do I'll take you out for ice cream."
'"Hmmm… Deal."'
"C'mon then, daylight's a-burnin'."
'"Alright."' She jumps up on my back and hangs on.
I chuckle and start walking.
We make our way to the dorms and enter the building.
"Hey look at this Dove! It's Kurt, what a mutt. Who's that slu-" I hear Cardin say to Dove as he sees me.
*chack* In one swift motion, I draw Marxman and unerringly point it at a point right between Cardin's eyes without even turning my head. "You have something to say Cardin?" I ask him. he remains silent. "Don't be shy, I won't bite." I say, not even bothering to turn my head. He remains silent. "I thought so. Watch who you insult next time, they might not be as merciful as me." I say with a smirk, holstering Marxman and going on my merry way.
'"You're so sweet."'
"You're welcome. It helps that I've dueled him with a shovel before. And won." I say with a smirk.
We make our way up the stairs, to the Team RWWBY (but not for long) dorm.
*Knock Knock* "Special Delivery for Miss Rose!" I say with a deeper than normal voice.
"Yay!" I hear Ruby shout from inside, along with the noise of her running to the door.
She opens the door and sees me. She looks confused, then happy, then a bit confused, then happy. "It's Kurt!" She says, successfully completing a short-range tackle-hug.
"Yeah, it's me. Can I come in please?" I ask, (unsuccessfully) attempting to pry Ruby's arms from my torso. She lets me go and opens the door, letting me in. I see the rest of the team staring at me, and then at Neo, and then at me and then I'm staring down gun barrels. "Wonderbar. Ficken wonderbar." I say annoyedly. Something feels off. Almost like something's missing. "Could you put those away before someone gets hurt?" I ask, still annoyed. The girls lower their weapons, but do not stow them.
'"Is it safe yet?"'
"Wait, can't you-" I pause for a moment, tapping Neo. She shatters. "You little coward." I say under my breath, "It's as safe as it's going to be Neo." I call out, she (hesitantly) walks into the dorm from the hallway. "Coward." I mutter. She glares at me. I glare back.
"Umm. Kurt? Why is she here?" Ruby asks, while Weiss and Blake (barely) manage to hold Yang back.
"It's a long story." I say, sighing, before I proceed to explain how I met Neo and what happened the night after the Breach. "And then when I woke up, Ivan decided to take some pictures. And you know what happened after that." I say, after quite a long explanation.
"But why were you sleeping with her?" Yang asks through clenched teeth, having been persuaded to sit down on her bed.
"I was too tired to argue. I'd just fought off at least two small armies that day so I was kinda tired. All I cared about was going to sleep. And then you decided to punch my door down, so I didn't really get much time to explain." I say, still a bit annoyed.
"Where were you?" Weiss asks. "We spent most of the day looking for you."
"I went home. Dad and Qrow say hi by the way." I say. "Don't blame me, you're the ones who didn't think to call." I point out.
"I-uh, ummm. Shut up." Weiss stammers.
"But yeah, we went to Patch and had a day on the town. We walked around, saw a movie and went to dinner. It was actually quite relaxing." I say.
"Sounds like quite a date you two had." Blake says with a slight smirk.
"Yeah, it was nice." I say.
"You WHAT!" Yang shouts, the room getting uncomfortably hot.
"Yang. Do try not to set the room on fire, that would be most… unpleasant." I say flatly.
She and I stare each other down before she finally cools off.
"As I was saying, Ozpin accepted her to Beacon along with Ivan. On a related note: Ozpin will likely be making an announcement tomorrow. And on an entirely unrelated note, Neo and I are a thing now." I smirk, picking up Neo and hugging her. "She's actually quite nice when you get to know her." I say, before setting Neo down. "Neo?" I ask, pointing to Yang.
'"Can't you just tell her?"'
"No, I can't." I say to Neo.
'"But she's your sister."'
"Yeah, and you're the one that fought her." I say.
'"*Sigh*"' She visibly sighs. She slowly walks over to Yang and smiles nervously, writing something down on a nearby slip of paper and handing it to my sister.
Yang sighs. "I still don't like you." She says.
"C'mon Neo, we've still got to get a few things to do."
"Like what?" Ruby asks.
"Well, Neo needs a school uniform, a scroll, a few odds and ends, some more clothes, and a weapon." I list off. "Most of that stuff could probably be found at her place, but if Torchwick or the White Fang know where it is, that may not be safe." I add offhand. "So we must be off. C'mon Neo." I say, as we walk out. We walk to the Student Assistance Office to pick up Neo's school uniform and scroll. After that, we make our way to The Cave to design Neo a new weapon. When we arrive, I see that the door has been replaced, with a message taped to it. I've taken the liberty of reinforcing this one, Ozpin. The note reads.
"How nice of him." I say, opening the door. "Ivan, you awake now?" I call out, before looking around and seeing him shivering in the corner, a blanket wrapped around him.
"Poshel na khuy, mudak." He stutters, soaked to the bone.
"Are you alright pal?" I ask, getting concerned. He looked like… 'Kurt you fucking idiot. You didn't unlock his aura.' "Shiẞe. Ivan, I'm sorry buddy. I forgot to unlock your Aura. I'm just gonna do that now, if you don't mind." I say, rushing over to him and pulling him into a standing position. I place one hand on his temple and the other over his heart.
"What are-"
"I'm unlocking your Aura. Quiet. Just focus." I tell him, as we both close our eyes. "We are the shield that guards the innocent. We are the sword that slays the foe. We are the best of friends and the worst of foes." I search within Ivan, trying to find the spark that is his soul. It's actually quite an interesting experience, virtually impossible to describe with any accuracy. "We do not die in vain. We are the light in the darkness, we are warriors." I recite the invocation of the warrior with determination, as I find the spark and pulse some of my Aura into it. I open my eyes. I'm glowing a deep blue color and Ivan is glowing maroon. As the glow dies down Ivan stops shivering and stands a bit more steadily. Suddenly I feel tired, very tired. "Woah." I say, stumbling a bit. I grab onto Ivan's shoulder and use it to steady myself. "Sorry, that took a bit out of me. But the good news is that you've got an unlocked Aura now. I am going to take a nap now." I say, managing to trudge over to my hammock. And fall face-first into the floor. "Ow." I mumble, managing to stand back up and climb into the hammock.
Neo walks up and stares at me for a second. I smirk and make room for her. She climbs in and I drift off to sleep, holding her close.
[An hour and a half later]
"Well, that was a nice nap. We should work on your weapon Neo. Wouldn't want my girlfriend going out to fight the Grimm unarmed." I chuckle, climbing from the hammock with Neo.
'"Sure, I guess."'
"Alright. What do you want?" I ask, walking over to my drawing table and laying down a sheet of planning paper. '"I want another parasol. I know how to use one already, so I'll stick with what I know how to use."'
"I think it would be best for you to carry two weapons: a parasol like your first one and another weapon, maybe a small shotgun or a carbine. Maybe a high-caliber SMG."
'"I want to work on my parasol first."'
"Your wish is my command, my dear." I say with a smirk. "But you could borrow something from the armory if you want to. That is, until you get your own gun."
'"How long should it take to make my parasol?"'
"It should take maybe two or three days depending on how much free time we get. You'll have to do some of the work as well, in order to form an Aura-bond with the weapon."
'"Oh, so what I'm hearing is that I get to spend three days in a hot, sweaty room doing manual labor."'
"Do you want a weapon?"
'"Good point."'
"So, you want to-"
*Red like roses fills my dreams*
"Just a sec." I tell Neo, answering the call. "Hey Rubes. What's going on?"
*"Hey Kurt, Dad and Qrow called, they're arriving soon. We're at the landing pads."*
"Alright Ruby, we'll be right there." I say, hanging up. "My dad and uncle are arriving at the landing pads soon, along with the other visitors for the tournament. Hang on." I say, pulling Neo up right next to me.
*bamf*
"Hey girls, we're here. When does everyone arrive?" I ask the girls, stepping from my usual cloud of smoke.
"Five minutes." Weiss says a bit icily. She's still quite a bit angry with me.
"Thanks." I say,turning to look out over Vale. In the distance I could see easily a dozen airships coming in from pretty much every direction, all about the size of the airships that took us to Beacon. "Yeah, I'd say that's five minutes." I say offhandedly, as we wait for them to arrive.
'"Why are all of these people coming so early? The Vytal Festival isn't for a while."'
"Because they want to see their friends, family and fellow hunters. Plus it's a nice excuse to run around playing tourist for a while before the big crowds come in." I say, idly twirling the C-100 between my fingers. "So, Neo, do you have any idea of who exactly was in charge of Roman and his operation?" I ask.
'"Some lady named Fall. She didn't give me much else other than the time, pay, job description and location."' 'Good.'
"Did you get a good look at her?"
'"Good enough to recognize her."'
"Good. I've got the feeling that we're going to run into each other again soon." I say, as the airships draw nearer. "I'd say they're a good klick, klick and a half out."
Soon the airships are docked and the boarding ramps open, allowing the various passengers to exit their airships. I quickly spot Dad and Qrow getting out of one, a smaller intra-city flight.
"Dad! Qrow!" Ruby shouts, zipping over to them and hugging the pair. Yang walks over to say hi in a more… sedate manner. What interests me more, however, is the expression on Weiss' face. She is so surprised and confused that it's almost overwhelming. I shake my head a bit to clear it.
'"Is something wrong Kurt?"' Neo asks me, looking surprisingly concerned.
"I'm alright. I'm not sure what's up with weiss though." I say, watching as she just stares at one of the transports, a rather large, expensive one that appears to be Atlesian in manufacture. She just stares at it, trying to process. "Vale to Weiss. Anyone home?" I ask, walking over to Weiss and waving my hand in front of her face.
"Wh-wha?" She mumbles, staring. "Hey! Stop that!" She finally breaks out of her trance and gives me a cold stare. Blake finally looks up from the book she's been reading.
"Are you alright? You spaced out there a bit." I ask, actually a bit concerned.
"What's she doing here?" Weiss asks almost silently, the only reason I could actually hear her was due to my wonderful enhanced senses.
"What's who doing here?" I ask, looking in the same direction as her, and spotting someone who looked surprisingly familiar stepping from the large Atlesian transport, along with a small crowd of fancier-looking people. behind her are two figures wearing light gray hard-plate, full-body, combat armor with blue accents and markings. Both wore full-face helmets with rather large, black visors taking up most of the front of the helmets. Both carried high-caliber bullpup ARs with some sort of underbarrel launcher along with rather large pistols, combat axes, and a rather impressive number of grenades and combat knives. "I have no idea who those two are, but I already like 'em. finally, people who understand a proper kit." I say appreciatively.
Apparently the other passengers appreciate this, however, as they tend to stay as far away from the pair as they possibly can. The sole exception being the woman they appeared to be escorting. The woman and her guards make their way over to us, I look to the side to see Qrow staring at them, slightly agitated. As the group approaches us, I can tell that the woman in the lead that, now that I think about it, looks a lot like Weiss. 'Waitaminute! Winter! That's who she is! I think she's Weiss' cousin.'
"Winter? What are you doing here?" Weiss asks.
"I'm here to see my dear sister and her team participate in the Vytal Tournament." She says, in a way that makes me think that that's not the only reason she's here. The escorts, on the other hand, keep their heads on a swivel, constantly watching the crowds. And, suspiciously, me. In response, I stare back at the leftmost escort.
'"Are you having a staring contest with somebody wearing a helmet?'" Neo questions a bit amusedly.
"Yes, I am." I reply, causing the others to look at me with anything from confusion to a look that practically screams are you crazy. I just continue to stare down the helmeted person.
"Are these your teammates?" Winter asks Weiss, looking at me, Neo and Blake.
"Kurt and Blake are. My other two teammates are over there." She says, pointing us out, before gesturing towards Ruby and Yang, still talking to Dad. Winter turns to look at them and I notice that Qrow has left. 'Strange.'
"And what about her?" Winter asks, referring Neo.
"Actually, Weiss was sort of wrong when she said that I'm on her team. Apparently tomorrow Ozpin will be announcing the creation of a new three-person team. Team K(rak)IN, to be exact. But, to answer your question, Neo's my teammate/girlfriend." I say, smiling widely, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer.
'"Hey!"'
"What?!" Weiss almost shrieked. "When were you going to tell us?!"
"You remember when Yang punched down my door?" I question.
"Yes."
"Well I was planning to tell you an hour or two later that day, but we all know why that didn't happen." I turn to Winter. "Now, what I'd like to know is who-" I catch a glint of light from one of the roof of a nearby dorm about three-hundred feet away. I catch a glimpse of a person holding something in a crouching position. 'What's that- SHIẞE.' "SNIPER!" I shout, drawing Marxman and bringing it into a two-handed grip, pulling back the hammer and flicking off the safety. Winter's guards quickly push her down to present a smaller target and move to block her from the sniper's line of fire.
*CRACK CRACK CRACK*
I fire off three shots, more in the hope of disrupting the sniper and scaring them off. The figure appears to jerk back a bit and slump over. "Holy Shiẞe. I got him. Just a sec, I'm gonna check it out." I say, quickly sliding a fresh mag into Marxman.
*bamf*
I reappear on the rooftop, Marxman held at the ready. I quickly spot the sniper, what looked to be a female Leopard Faunus, if her tail was anything to go by, dressed in a White Fang uniform, with her back to an HVAC, grasping a bloody wound just below her right shoulder. "Sooo. how're ya doing?" I ask, almost cordially.
"Who-who are you?" She asks, obviously in a good deal of pain.
"The guy who shot you. Duh. Who were you trying to kill?" I ask.
"Why should I tell you?"
"Because I asked you kindly."
"Hah! You naive human, why would that-"
*CRACK* I place a round right next to her head. "Because if you tell me, you'll have a much higher chance of surviving."
"I'll tell you nothing."
I calmly walk over to her and press my boot sole into her wound. "Who. Were. You. Trying. To. Kill." I demand, pressing harder with each word.
She shouts in pain. "The Schnee. I. Was trying to kill the Schnee."
"Which one?"
"The taller one. But you'll do too." The edges of her mouth curl upwards in an evil grin. I see a red dish-orange glow in her palm. 'Blast Dust crystal.' I grin in return.
*bamf* We reappear a yard above the ground, a few yards to the right of Neo. *thud* "Augghh!" The White Fang assassin screams in pain as she hits the ground.
"What the! Oh, hi Kurt." Weiss says.
"I think I may have captured us a sniper." I say, "Somehow I managed to wing her from about one-hundred yards." I say. "Thank you Mister Colt." I say quietly, Marxman aimed straight at the sniper's face. "Now." I stare at the sniper. "How did you know she'd be here?" I ask, my voice calm and emotionless. The others stay noticeably silent.
"I'll never tell."
"How did you know she'd be here?" I grind my boot into the wound. She gasps in pain. A small crowd is forming around us.
"I'll nev-aaaughggh!"
"How did you know she'd be here? I mean, not even her sister knew she'd be here."
"I'll never tell you, human." She almost spits out that last word.
"Human? Who ever said I was human?" I ask calmly.
"No self-respecting Faunus would save a Schnee."
"I'd like to think that no self-respecting Faunus would stoop so low as to attack innocent civilians, but I guess we're both disappointed." I say, grinding into her shoulder with my boot. "Now, tell me how you knew, or I shoot you in the kneecap." I say, still emotionless, my stare cold.
"He-he said a-aaauuuggghhhhh!"
"Who said?"
"A-Adam"
"How did he know?"
"A spy, he said. A spy in beacon told him." She groans out. I step off of her wound and move a few steps away. "Get up, and keep your hands where I can see them. We're going to the infirmary to patch you up. Don't want that wound to get infected, would we?" I say my attitude entirely at odds with the gun that I'm pointing at the back of her head.
"What?" The sniper asks, confused
"Oh, yeah, one last question. Do you surrender?"
"What?"
"Answer the question."
"Yes, I surrender." She sighs, defeated.
"Good." I say, spotting a small group of Atlesian soldiers running up to us. "You four. Yes, you. Take her to the infirmary, she's surrendered. And would one of you mind making sure that she hasn't got anything lethal left on her?"
"Ummm. Alright?" One of the soldiers says.
"She is to be treated decently, I don't want to hear that she's been summarily executed or treated unfairly. We're better than that." I say, walking back to where Neo, Dad, Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Blake, Winter, and her escorts were located.
"Can somebody please explain what just happened?" Yang asks, a bit confused.
"I spotted a White Fang sniper up there." I point to the rooftop. "I took a few potshots and managed to wing her, I bamfed up and brought her back down here for questioning. Turns out that there's some kind of spy who has info on Winter; the White Fang knew she'd be here and decided to send the sniper out to assassinate her. Fortunately I spotted her before she shot anyone." I say, safely lowering Marxman's hammer and reengaging the safety.
"So, Winter, who are your two friends?" I ask, gesturing to the pair of guards. They turn their heads slightly to look at me.
"They've been detailed to guard me." Winter says, sounding a bit angry.
"We're PMC's sir. Miss Winter is designated as a High Value Asset by our company, so we were detailed to guard her." The guard on Winter's right, now obviously a male, says.
"Yes, they were." Winter says icily. I notice that the Schnee logo does not appear at all on her clothing or on the guards.
"What company would that be, if you don't mind me asking?" I ask, crouching down to police my spent cartridges.
"The Alpha Company sir." The guard on the left says, now obviously a female. "PMC and military tech company. here's our card." She hands me a small white business card, which I slip into my greatcoat
"I thought Winter was-"
"I'm not. Father dearest disowned me." Winter says spitefully.
"Oh, I'm sorry I-" I say, a bit embarrassed.
"Don't be. he's a horrible, horrible man."
"WHAT?!" Weiss shrieks, catching the attention of a few people walking by. I quickly stare them down and they leave.
"I was going to tell you later. When we were somewhere less… public." Winter replies.
"Oh." Is all Weiss says.
"C'mon Neo, we've still got to make you a weapon." I say, heading back towards The Cave to collect the plans.
'"Why don't we just teleport?"'
"Keeps people guessing."
'"Who?"'
"I dunno, but there's probably somebody watching." I say offhand.
'"You're paranoid."'
"Hey, it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you." I crack a smile.