Child of Grimm Ch. 51
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Derek closed the door to his dorm, and pulled out his scroll. Something seems wrong here. He quickly opened up his scroll, and searched for ASSN. He found them, but all of their files suggested that they had never once seen active duty in the field. They seem strong enough, so what is keeping them here? Derek kept looking through, but he heard a knock on his door.
"Come in," he called out. The door opened up, and team ASSN walked in. "I wasn't expecting you so soon," Derek said as he put away his scroll.
"We like to have the element of surprise on our side," Sal quickly explained.
"Plus we didn't have much else to do," Sarah added in.
"Ahem," Alan interrupted. "Anyway, why did you want to see us?" Derek quickly drew his weapons, and studied ASSN.
"You seem like a strong team," Derek said. "But I have yet to see you attend any form of active duty. Is there any particular reason?"
"Easy," Nor began. "We're strong, but all of us are highly specialized in our particular fields. And all of them happen to be the same one. Our name."
"A team of assassins," Alan finally added in. Derek looked at their weapons, all of them strapped to different parts of their bodies.
"What else do they do?" Derek asked.
"What?"
"I can tell by their design that they do more then then just the functions that you chose to show." Alan smiled, and raised up his bow. He quickly pulled it in half, and the two halves formed into swords. Sal shrugged his swords out from his sleeves, and then flipped them around to reveal the barrels of two pistols. Nor pulled out her daggers, and then grabbed the blades. The hilts each had a single barrel on them, of what appeared to be a pistol. Derek looked over at Sarah, but she shrugged.
"My axes are what they look like," she said. She raised them up, and Derek carefully studied them. She's right. "I know it's not exciting," she said as she raised up her hand. She quickly disappeared, and reappeared behind Derek. "But my semblance is complicated enough."
"How exactly do your semblances work?" Derek asked.
"I can't cloak anything much larger then an arrow," Alan explained. "But if you can't see my shot coming at you, then you can't avoid it."
"I can only go short distances," Sarah said. "Handy in a fight."
"I can become a shadow," Sal added. "It's really not much more complicated then that."
"I split into snow," Nor said. "And other materials. Snow is just the easiest for me."
"Isn't it difficult to disassemble yourself and reassemble yourself?" Derek asked.
"Not particularly," Nor said. "Or at least, not anymore. I really only have to concentrate when I try to put myself together again." Derek pulled out his sword, and started to think. "That would work," Nor said, almost reading his mind. "Try it." Derek turned around, and swung his sword across her stomach. From the cut out, she disappeared into several snowflakes. They scattered, and Derek followed them carefully. They started to form again, and Nor came together in front of him. "See?"
"Impressive," Derek said. "But that still doesn't explain why you wouldn't be called upon."
"Unless Ozpin gets an assassination request," Alan said. "We're not going to be used."
"What about the forest?"
"We got through while barely being seen," Sarah said. "We took some Grimm by surprise, and got in and out of the temple fast." Derek nodded, and looked at them carefully.
"Well, you seem like an interesting group of people. I will be interested to get to know you more."
"Thanks man," Alan said. "It really is cool to finally meet the Child of Grimm. See you around." ASSN left Derek's dorm, and he sat down on his bed. Unless Ozpin gets an assassination request, we're not going to be used. He opened up his scroll, and looked for the footage of their run in the forest. Nothing. All students are on file. I wonder... He quickly searched through the numbers on his scroll, and found the name he wanted.
Hello?
You have reached the Rat, how may I help you?
It's Derek Flame.
Ah, the Grimm Child. What can I do for ya?
A team at my school has no files on them. I want you to look them up. A-S-S-N.
On it. That'll be 4 crystals for my services.
Thank you
Derek put down his scroll, and found four crystals. He quickly put them in a bag, and got ready for a flight to the Rat's nest.
Team ASSN's Dorm
"No way we fooled him," Nor said. "He has to have some clue of what's going on here."
"We don't need to fool him," Alan said. "His guardian said that we would be working with him in the future. If he figures out our real roles, then it won't matter."
"At the very least," Sarah contributed. "We don't have any classes."
"I think that Ozpin will ask us to reveal who we are," Sal added. "Or at least, our role in this school. From what I can tell, our main targets have some conflict with him."
"I'd tell him anyway," Nor said. "Ozpin told us his story. He seems to be someone that you must earn their trust, and lying would only make it worse."
Hidden Complex
"They've met."
"How do you know Xander? I thought it only worked for the future."
"It does, but I can tell they'll have a meeting later on, and it's not an initial meeting."
"Excellent work Xander. Perhaps your not completely useless."
"Next shot I get, you'll regret ever doubting me."
"I sincerely hope so, for your sake."
The Rat's Nest
Derek walked walked in front of the bar, and one of the guards stopped him.
"I'm here to see the Rat," Derek told the guard.
"Name?" He asked.
"Derek Flame, or maybe I'm under Drake Flame."
"A little indecisive are you?"
"Let him in," a thick Italian voice called out. The guard stepped to the side, and Derek walked in. "Ah," the Rat greeted him. "Mr. Flame. The crystals?" Derek tossed the pouch on the table. "Alright." He pulled out his scroll, and sent off a file to him. "These people, how do you know them?"
"I saw them today," Derek briefly explained. "Why?"
"They're... Interesting. I think you'll get what I mean." Derek nodded, and left to return to Beacon. Almost night already? It's been a long day.
Beacon Academy: RWBY's Dorm
The four of them walked into their dorm. Ruby and Weiss sat down on Weiss' bed, while Yang and Blake sat on Blake's bed.
"That was a fun day," Ruby said. The four of them had decided to go out in Vale, and just explore. They went to as many shops as possible, and just browsed. Weiss had more then enough money to buy anything, but she had decided against it. They had stopped by for some lunch, and then left to return to Beacon.
"We've had a good couple of days," Yang said, wrapping her arms around Blake.
"I'm worried about Derek," Blake finally said.
"Come on Blake, don't worry about him right now."
"Still, his whole team is gone." Yang pulled Blake close to her, and just kept her in a hug.
"He's more then capable of being alone," Weiss said. "I wouldn't worry that much."
"Weeeiiss," Ruby said. "We should worry. He's a close friend." Weiss sighed at the look that her partner was giving her.
"We can check on him if you'd like," Weiss gave in. Ruby immediately stood up, and walked towards DRGN's dorm.
Derek opened up his window, and stepped inside of his dorm. He quickly pulled out his scroll, and started to look through the files. Hm. No action in the field. But your videos suggest otherwise. He heard a knock on his door, and he quickly put away his scroll.
"Come in," he said. The door opened up, and team RWBY walked in.
"Hey Derek," Ruby said.
"Hello," Derek greeted all of them. "What brings you here?"
"Just wanted to drop by and see how you were doing," Weiss said. Had it been anyone other then Weiss, Derek might of have thought little of it. But him and Weiss weren't exactly great friends, which lead his mind to one conclusion.
"You're worried that I'm feeling lonely," Derek declared. "Aren't you?" The four girls looked at each other for just a moment too long. "Yes, you are."
"It's just," Yang started. "You had the whole loner thing going on when we met you, but now you seem to always be around your team. We're just concerned on how you're dealing with it." Derek eyed his scroll, and then thought through his answer.
"I really appreciate this," Derek said. "But if you tell my team what I'm about to tell you, it's not going to be good for you." RWBY nodded. "I am missing my team, much more then I ever anticipated. But I have something to keep me busy."
"Mind me asking what?" Blake said. Derek looked at his scroll again, and Blake's eyes followed. "What is it?"
"It's about our new found friends, ASSN. Something seems off about them, and I'm just investigating." Blake nodded, and tilted her head curiously. "So far, none of their story matches up with what they told us." Now all of RWBY was interested. "I'll send you a copy, but right now there is something I would like to do alone." RWBY nodded, and said their goodbyes. As soon as they had left, Derek sent out the files. He walked over to the window, and opened it up. He blew out some fire, and used his semblance to freeze it. He quickly spread apart the flames, and started to fashion the image that he wanted. He blew out some more flames, and then kept up the work. He finished, and admired his work. The image was of a birthday cake, 18 candles, and the words Happy Birthday over it. The one thing I never let anyone know. Just another year of being alive, and nothing that I've ever seen much cause for celebration. He dispersed the image, and walked over to his bed. He lay down, and closed his eyes.
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