Roy watched Qrow and his group wind their way through the streets of Mistral's first tier.
His introduction to the rest of the group had been awkward to say the least. He hadn't really been friends with them during his time at Beacon, more passing acquaintances at best. He'd only ever talked to Weiss directly and had only fought against Lie Ren in the Vytal festival tournament. He was actually relieved when Qrow had finally announced that it was time to leave.
Rather than stick with the group, Roy had opted to follow closely behind. Deciding to make a game of using street corners and rooftops to keep himself concealed from the party's view. No one was any the wiser of his presence and the walk to Haven was quite uneventful.
Upon reaching the school grounds, Qrow led the students to the Quad; a large courtyard that led up to Haven's great hall. Two large, cross-continental towers stood along the sides of the courtyard and a small fountain bubbled merrily away in the center. Roy waited until the group to reach the doors of the great hall before swiftly scaling the right hand tower, running up the red support struts and then using the small windows as hand holds.
He finally reached the small observation deck a short distance from the top. His hand on Μόνος' hit, Roy scanned the surrounding area, keeping his eyes peeled for any hint of danger. To his night vision, the area appeared well lit, with the lamps and the light spilling from the great hall appearing as very bright white patches.
He'd barely been keeping watch for a minute or so when he saw movement in the courtyard. A large man wearing a long olive green coat strode across the quad heading for the grand hall. Roy narrowed his eyes and reached for the button on his helmet, set on using the scroll installed to contact Qrow.
"Boo."
he whirled around at the sound of a female voice. As he completed his panicked spin, something caught him in the face sending him pitching backwards over the rail of the observation deck of the tower. The wind whistled in his ears as he fell and he desperately tried to twist his body around as to land on his feet.
He failed, landing heavily on his back and feeling his helmet bounce off the pavement. He desperately scrabbled back to all fours and the next thing he knew, the cold steel barrel of a gun was being pressed into the back of his head.
"Supreme leader!" the same female voice barked, "What should we do with this one?"
A pair of red soled shoes entered his vision, "Well, well, look who couldn't take a hint."
Roy's blood rain cold and the scar across his back throbbed, he knew that voice.
"What should I do with you?" Adam Taurus asked. Grabbing one of Roy's cat ears, he twisted Roy's head backwards.
"Supreme leader?" a deep voice came from behind Roy to his left, "My colleague and I have a bit of...unfinished business with this turncoat."
Adam was silent for a moment, clearly wanting to keep his prey to himself. "Fine, you can have your fun." he scoffed and released Roy's ear.
Roy was yanked to his feet and next thing he knew, a giant fist collided with his head, sending him flying away into the surrounding woods. He slammed into a tree, the impact driving the air from his lungs. His body fell limply to the ground and he struggled to draw the air back into his lungs.
He staggered to his feet, checking his ribs to make sure none were broken. Heavy footfalls caused him to look up at his attacker. Despite his predicament, Roy couldn't help but grin, "W-wow...long time no see guys."
Standing before him were the bull and lemur faunus. It seemed so long ago that he'd broken the lemur's nose and the bull had broken his rib. Despite the time that had passed, the two faunus didn't look very different. The bull was still very, very tall and broad and the lemur was still thin and wiry.
Having regained his breath, Roy stood slowly and faced the two of them.
"I must say, the crooked nose look really works for you." he said with a malicious smile.
The lemur returned the smirk, "I've been waiting to repay you for this." he said, pointing to his nose.
Roy turned to the bull, "and you're here to do most of the work I presume?" he asked, bemused.
The bull gave him a toothy grin and cracked his knuckles. Roy sighed and, with one deft movement, unbuckled Μόνος from his side and dropped her gently to the turf. If he remembered rightly, he had been more than a match for them even back then. She wouldn't be needed. He struck his fighting pose; one hand held out open palmed, the other clenched near his chin.
"Before we get to it," he said, "I would like to know your names."
The bull puffed out his chest and poked his stubby thumb to his sternum. "The name's Pelagius." he said heartily.
Roy nodded and turned to the lemur, "and you?"
The lemur drew a bladed weapon from a sheath at his side. It was about 2 feet long and had a steel barrel running along the top of the serrated blade. He twirled it skillfully, "Ratan." he said tursly.
Roy grinned, "Well, now that we're properly acquainted, I can-"
Pelagius charged, cutting off his sentence. The bull was wearing a pair of metal gloves with two 6" claws curving off of each. He took a wild swing at Roy who swayed gracefully to the side, allowing the bull to charge past him. He straightened up in time to see Ratan charge him, swinging his blade.
Roy deflected or blocked the attacks, using his bracers to maneuver the lemur's nasty serrated blade away from his body. He heard the tramping of feet behind him and sent his foot into Ratan's chest sending him staggering back. Temporarily reprieved from the lemur's attacks, Roy spun to face Pelagius again. Instead of slashing at Roy, the bull brought both of his massive fists down onto the young faunus.
Roy activated his semblance and blocked the blow, the impact driving him to one knee. The lemur took that moment to recover and charged Roy with a yell. Roy waited until the Ratan grew nearer, then, while still keeping the Pelagius' crushing blow at bay, struck out with a back handed blow that sent the faunus flying backwards.
Releasing Pelagius' arms , Roy somersaulted backwards out of harm's way. The bull's strike left a small crater in the ground where he'd just been. Roy charged Pelagius and sent a a kick swinging into the bulls face, it felt like kicking a brick wall. Roy dropped to the ground and swung his fist into Pelagius' gut. Despite a slight "oof" the bull seemed unfazed, causing Roy to rapidly retreat.
Several bullets smacked into his aura, causing Roy to grunt. Turning, he charged toward Ratan who was standing and firing his weapon at his distracted opponent. As Roy neared him, Ratan faked a swipe to the left and the flicked his blade sideways. Roy's aura absorbed most of the swipe, but a few serrated teeth found their way through and nipped at his side. Roy spun and kicked out sending Ratan's blade sailing away from his body.
Ratan hissed out a curse word and stabbed out at Roy, the blade nearly taking the younger faunas' ear off as it shot past his head. Re-channeling the kinetic force in his aura, Roy swung his hand into the lemur's sternum with a yell. As it connected, an odd crunching noise came from Ratan's chest and the impact threw the faunus backwards into the trees and out of sight.
Roy squeezed his fist shut in discomfort; he was ninety percent sure he'd felt bone giving away under his fist. Shaking his head to clear it, Roy turned around to see the Pelagius' claws swinging toward him. He barely dodged the swing and the claws still scored a shallow cut along his ribs. He flipped away and charged Pelagius again. First, he swung his hands into the bull's ears, causing Pelagius to howl in pain. Next Roy swung his hand into Pelagius' throat, fracturing his larynx. The large faunus staggered backwards, clutching his throat and mouthing soundlessly at his opponant. Roy gritted his teeth and rushed the bull one final time. He lept up and swung his fist as hard as he could into Pelagius's cheek. A crack sound echoed through the woods and the bull's eyes turned up into his head. He fell forward like a tree and crashed face down onto the forest floor, out cold with a fractured cheek.
Roy was breathing hard and had bruised his knuckles. Besides that and the cut along his ribs, he was basically unharmed. He suddenly remembered Ratan and ran toward where he'd seen the lemur fall. The young faunus began casting around in the darkness, searching for his fallen foe.
His ears picked up a sound he'd been hoping not to hear; the wheezing gasp of a person struggling for air. He followed the sound until he found Ratan, lying on his back, with blood trickling from his mouth with every gasp.
Roy ran to the wounded faunus and dropped down next to him, "Damn" he swore to himself. He really hadn't meant to hit Ratan as hard as he had, but the damage was done. Ratan was obviously suffering from a shattered sternum and multiple shattered ribs, the wheezing signalling that the damage was putting pressure on the faunus' lungs. Roy slid his coat off, folded it into a pillow and placed it under Ratan's head.
"Come on...stay with me." he whispered.
Ratan's breathing was shallow, sweat beaded his forehead and Roy did the best he could to make sure he was comfortable. He sat next to the lemur and attempted to call for help on his helmet scroll. All he heard was a high pitched buzzing noise and he cursed as he realized the fall must have damaged the scroll components.
A gun barrel suddenly touched the back of his head and Roy stiffened.
"Don't move." the female voice hissed, "Give me one good reason I shouldn't blow your head off right now."
Roy made sure to stay stock still as he replied, "Well, I'm trying to save your comrade, I'm the only one that can make sure he gets the help he needs...need I go on?"
The gun barrel shifted slightly "well? Why aren't you calling for help?" the voice asked.
"Because someone…" Roy stressed the word "Damaged my helmet communicator when they knocked me off the tower."
A small thump came from his right and a scroll slid into view. Reaching slowly over, Roy swept up the device and started punch in the numbers for the Mistrali emergency service.
"Thank you" he whispered, before the operator picked up.
The call was relatively short, with Roy detailing Ratan's injuries and requesting an emergency vehicle at his location. Having finished the call, Roy slid the scroll back to its owner. "There, they should be here any-"
his sentence was interrupted as a horrible gagging cough racked Ratan's frame. Blood spewed from his mouth and he began thrashing.
"No!" Roy cried. Jumping forward, he hastily undid the fasteners on Ratan's uniform. The lemur's flailing fist collided with his head and he saw stars,
"Whoever you are!" he barked at the girl, "I need you to hold him down!"
The girl ran forward and held Ratan still while Roy placed his ear against the Lemur's chest. His heart sank as he heard a horrible gurgle coming from Ratan's lungs.
"No no no NO!" he yelled, slamming his fist onto the turf. He desperately gripped the dying faunus' shoulders, "Come on Ratan, stay with me!" Ratan eyes locked with Roy's, they were frantic and scared.
"Yes! Keep looking at me, come on!" Roy encouraged.
Ratan let out one last rattling breath and stop struggling. Roy watched in horror as the light slowly drained out of Ratan's eyes, leaving them empty and sightless.
"No!" Roy cried shaking the lemur, "No no, Please NO!"
He released Ratan's lifeless form and crawled backwards away from him.
"Y-You killed him." the girl stammered.
Roy raised his blood stained hands in front of his eyes, "I….I didn't m-mean too." he almost choked on his words. The lump in his throat made it hard to speak.
Turning towards the girl, he finally had a chance to see what she looked like. His eyes found her feet first and what he saw really took him aback.
Her feet where just like wolf feet, except larger and set in a way so that she could stand upright. Her legs were wrapped in linen wraps up to her knees and above this were a pair of brown trousers. Her torso was wrapped in a tattered black shawl, under which she wore a black compression shirt. A large sniper rifle was slung over her shoulder; the weapon was almost a full foot taller then she was. Leather bracers adorned her lithe arms and fingerless gloves covered her hands. The girl had been wearing a mask, but had discarded it in her rush to Ratan's aid. The girls eyes were a vibrant shade of ice blue and her hair was grey with brown highlights.
Just like…."Lunaris?" he asked dumbfounded.
The girl looked at him, recognition dawning in her eyes
"R-Roy?" she gasped. Fear flashed across her face, "But You killed….Why…?" she began backing away from him.
Roy jumped up and reached out to her, "No, please!" he begged, "I didn't mean…."
"DON'T TOUCH ME MURDERER!" Lunaris yelled.
Turning away, she scooped up her mask and ran into the woods. Roy tried to follow, but his legs turned to jelly and he slid to the ground. It felt as though all the energy in his body was draining away, leaving him unable to stand. His gaze found Ratan's corpse once more and suddenly his heart began to beat faster and faster.
"I...didn't…."
His hands were shaking and a cold sweat had broken out on his forehead. He clutched his chest as he began to hyperventilate, breath rushing in and out of his lungs faster than it ever should. Black spots danced across his vision and he struggled to slow his breathing, but to no avail. His body felt foreign to him, like he was a passenger on some terrible ride.
"Mean...to..."
His body could take no more of the frantic rush of breath and his consciousness faded to utter blackness.
Wowee! sorry for the delay with this chapter, my editor had a slew of overnight shifts, Anywho old characters and a new character! I will admit that of all of my character designs, Lunaris Lupis is still my favorite. Did you enjoy the chapter? I hope so! we have a couple more chapters before the ending and I hope you'll stick around!
Until next we meet,
-Ar3mRising.
