A.N. (8/23/20) - There were many ways I could've taken this chapter. Honestly, I'm not 100% happy with this chapter, but it's good enough I guess.
Chapter 19 - Misunderstanding
-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-
"Move!" Rin didn't bother with seeing if Roman reacted as she pulled Crocea Mors out of its sheath and blocked the attack. The clash between their weapons let loose dozens of sparks flying in the air, and Rin gritted her teeth as she pushed the attacker back.
The attacker swung at her from a different direction with his giant ax. Rin pulled the sheath of Crocea Mors and used it to block the attack.
"Tsk," the attacker jumped backward for a moment. Before Rin could take the chance to catch her breath, the attacker kicked her in the stomach with a great amount of force.
"Guh," Rin's feet dragged across the ground as the pain started to spread.
"Rin! Are you okay?!" Ana's voice sounded worried.
"I'm fine Ana. Don't worry about me, just make sure to keep an eye on Cinder."
"But—"
"No, forget about me! If she escapes, then it'll take forever before we get another chance." Making up her mind, Rin yelled out, "ROMAN!"
Rin saw him through the corner of her eye appear. Rin risked looking in his direction for a second.
"You okay kid?" The man was eyeing the enemy warily, his cane Melodic Cudgel in his hand. Neo was next to him with her parasol ready and Junior with his strange missile launcher gun deployed. Huh, looks like Roman got help.
"Get her out of here! I'll hold off this guy while you bring her to whatever hole you can throw her in."
The attacker snarled and dashed forward, but Rin blocked his way. Another clash of weapons and sparks met them. "Go!"
"Way ahead of ya boss. See ya later." Nodding to Neo, the girl bowed as their group suddenly exploded into glass shards. From her bond, Rin could feel that Ana was slowly moving away from her, hopefully following Neo. The attacker watched in frustration as the others disappeared.
"Who are you?!" Rin asked, keeping her voice deep and intimidating. Rin's mind quickly ran over the possible candidates of who this could be.
The attacker was dressed in a White Fang outfit, complete with mask and uniform. That didn't really say much except that Rin couldn't tell who was attacking her. It was still possible to guess from the build that the attacker was a man though, which limited the possibilities greatly.
Then again, there's the rare possibility that he was cross-dressing too.
Still, his frame wasn't bulky enough to be Reinhart. Not crazy enough to be Tyrian either. And too aggressive to be Watts.
The man didn't answer as he pulled back his ax to take another swing at her. It was one of those slightly large axes that could work with one hand or two. Rin blocked the swing by deflecting it at an angle with Crocea Mors, taking the chance to use the sheath as a club to strike the man.
The move barely did anything, as the man seemed to ignore the attack. Rin may have conditioned herself with a little Huntsman training, but this man put her efforts to shame. Rin could tell that this man was at least Huntsman level - and not one of the weak ones.
'Dammit, I'm not used to Jaune's sword.' The weapon Rin primarily trained in was a sword that was a lot smaller than Jaune's weapon. Even then, Rin honestly wasn't that skilled in swords anyways.
Jumping backward, Rin held her hand forward with her palm facing sideways. Black and red energy gathered before her as she rapidly fired multiple Finn Shots at the enemy.
An unbelievable counter occurred as the man managed to knock away the balls of energy headed towards him with his weapon. The deflected spells flew off randomly and instead crashed into the surrounding furniture, causing explosions and large amounts of property damage. The man's masked covered most of his face, but the uncovered portion showed that the man was smirking.
"Heh, nice try. Damn, didn't expect one of Junior's men to be so good. Still can't believe you managed to get away with the fire bitch." said the man. Rin frowned. Why did that voice sound so famili—
Her eyes widened.
"Qrow?! Is that you?"
The man - Qrow - frowned at her words. "Do I know you?"
"It's me, Rin." Ripping off the wig on her head, her hair fell down around her shoulders to the shock of Qrow. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Wait, Rin?! You're working with Torchwick?" Rin continued to stare at him while Qrow tried to process the situation. "Wait, that means you're the one who took out Cinder. How did—"
"Stop!" Rin yelled out, Qrow's mouth shutting up. "Explain, now!"
Qrow looked at her with a bit of confusion on his face but eventually began to explain.
}-{
~One Hour Ago~
Qrow had a simple mission.
"Keep an eye on Cinder Fall."
Simple enough, easy to understand.
'Yeah, sure thing Ozpin. Not like you're telling me what she looks like or how the hell I'm gonna find her. Great, just give me another vague mission why don't you.' Honestly, the man could've waited till he took a break. After all, he had just finished delivering Amber to Atlas where James took her into his custody - getting the entire Ace Ops on guard duty - when he received the message from the big man himself.
He knew who Cinder Fall was of course. But all he knew about her was that she was one of Salem's agents and that she was a ravenette dressed in red. Not exactly a detailed description for him to go off of.
Of course, that was when he accidentally found himself involved in some kind of White Fang operation. Funny thing really, since Qrow wasn't exactly planning to do so.
See, the thing about working as a sort of secret agent is that he had contacts. And the best contacts were always those you met with daily.
Thus, Qrow often got a lot of info by visiting Junior's Club once in a while. And it helped that the man was a mean bartender himself. It was inevitable that upon his return to Vale, he would fly towards the man's bar. Drinking on the job came hand-in-hand when working with Junior.
So imagine his surprise when he landed on a nearby roof near the club and noticed a large group of White Fang storming into the bar.
"Huh? What d'ya know, looks like things aren't going so well for the gang. What'd they do, piss off a Faunus customer?"
Qrow chuckled for a bit before he finally noted how many weapons they were carrying. And the fact that they were cordoning off the streets. And the fact that most of them were wearing masks. And the fact that these particular members didn't look like the usual pissy protestors that Tukson usually dealt with.
"Aw shit, they're the real deal." Cursing a bit, Qrow shifted to his crow form again and flew closer. Seriously, Semblance? Taking away his drinking time as well? Can you be any crueler?
But getting back to serious matters, what exactly was a platoon of White Fang grunts raiding Junior's Club for? He didn't know what exactly they were planning, but if they were gonna don on full terrorist gear, then that's exactly how he's gonna be treating them.
Hiding near them, he eavesdropped on a pair of two grunts talking to each other.
"We've secured the area. Now we just need to wait for the humans to come to finish the deal."
The other grunted. "I don't get it. Why the hell are we even listening to them?"
"Orders from up high. Apparently the two of them can help further the cause."
"Really? Those two?"
"Hey, I know they don't look like much. But you should've seen what they did when the first appeared."
'Come on, stop playing the pronoun game,' Qrow thought with a little frustration.
"Still doesn't make sense. S'not like we can just pick a Faunus rep to hire the human criminals."
"Yeah, but Torchwick's apparently pretty picky with his customers."
The second guy blinked. "He's racist?"
The first guy waved his hand in denial. "Nah, that's not what I meant. The guy only trusts a few offers, don't take jobs from those he thinks is shady. It's why he's hard to hire."
The other masked Faunus continued to grumble. "Still irks the hell out of me that we're gonna be working with Torchwick of all people."
Torchwick, huh? That's... pretty much exactly as Rin said would happen. So Salem really is on the move. Not like he didn't believe the squirt before, but now that he saw some actual proof. Or at least, the hint of proof.
On the plus side, this means that Cinder's probably involved in this. Score! Damn, his luck is turning up pretty good today.
...he did not just think that. Argh! Better act before his natural luck kicks in.
Shifting to his human form, he jumped the nearest White Fang.
"Hey, what th—"
Qrow punched him hard and knocked him unconscious. Turning to speak to the other grunt, he quipped. "Sup, fellas. Getting ready for a fun night out? I'm also here for the club."
"Huntsman! Kill him."
And that's what he gets for being cocky. Great, now the whole group's after him.
"Woah, didn't know there was a masked convention around here." Dodging a few bullets, he dashed towards the stockier of the grunts and slashed at them. Aura check, great. High probability that everyone else has Aura then. Still, better use the flat of the blade when possible. After all, it's not like he's going for the kill here.
Qrow dodged another bullet and quickly charged in to knock out the shooter. Breaking the grunt's gun with his hands, he sighed. "You know, you guys should really invest in something better. I hear there's a sale down the street next to the Dust shop."
The lead Faunus ignored him. "Keep firing!"
Okay, the gunfire's getting pretty loud. Better wrap this up before anyone else notices. Moving to another shooter, Qrow kicked him, knocking him out, and used him to propel himself and speed towards another grunt. To be fair to the grunt, he managed to draw his sword out and slashed at Qrow before he was knocked out.
Drawing his blade over his back, he blocked a couple of shots. "How exactly did you guys think this was gonna end? You're not exactly Huntsman material. Heck, my baby niece can probably take you all on by herself. Then again, that's not saying much."
"Kill the Huntsman."
"If I had a Lien for every time I heard that..." Wow, that's a depressingly high number. He could probably buy a new Scroll with that kind of dough. Qrow really needed to stop getting into these situations. As the remaining grunts charged for him, Qrow simply jumped into the air and waited for everyone to crash into each other.
Falling to the ground, Qrow thumped the remaining grunts all on the head with the flat of his blade, knocking them all out. Landing next to the bodies with a graceful landing, Qrow bowed to an invisible audience.
"Thank you, thank you. I teach lessons every weekday. Literally, in my case."
One of the bodies groaned and Qrow kicked the guy's head to knock him out.
"Now, let's see what's going on inside why don't we." Going to the door, Qrow grabbed the handle and gave it a twist. "...shit, the door's locked. Hey, any of you idiots got the key?!"
Obviously, nobody answered him. Great, now he's got to search the bodies if he wants to get inside. And seeing how may bodies there are...
Qrow looked up and a thought came to him. Shifting to his bird form, Qrow flew up to Junior's roof and found an open vent that hopefully leads to inside.
"Cawww~" Slipping into the opening, Qrow moved in.
It took Qrow several minutes to navigate the maze-like area, and several more once Qrow got into a couple of detours. Pretty sure he's also found a way to sneak into the girl's restroom. Make a note of that later, never know when that kinda info's gonna be useful. Oh hey, look! There's a 'call me' graffiti scribble. Better memorize that number too.
Okay, he's lost. Where the heck is everyone?
Dropping into another room, Qrow found a lone White Fang grunt playing around on his Scroll. Contemplating his next course of action, Qrow quickly shifted to his human form.
A hand suddenly covered the grunt's mouth, muffling his screams. Choking the ambushed grunt and cutting off his air supply, Qrow whispered into the man's ear. "Ssssshhh, sleep."
Hey, he saw someone do that before in a movie. Give him a break.
Lowering the unconscious man to the floor, Qrow stripped him of his shirt and mask and donned it onto himself. Grimacing for one moment, Qrow took a look at his weapon and sighed.
"You're a little bit obvious compared to normal weapons." Qrow hid his sword behind a couple of crates and picked up the White Fang grunt's own weapon. "Sorry, bud. But I'll come back for you later."
Now, totally disguised as just another grunt, Qrow walked brazenly around the club and found where everyone else was.
Let's just sneak in where everyone is. Qrow walked to where the rest of the White Fang were and stood around and waited for something to happen.
Ugh, now that he's this close to her, Qrow could see that Cinder - at least Qrow assumed so, based on the description he was given - was quite the scary one. Sure, she's pretty. But definitely dangerous. Even Roman's nervous dealing with her, even if the man has a good enough facade to fool most others.
Let's not do anything drastic for now. Just watch and see what she's planning with the criminals of Vale.
}-{
Really, his luck was something today.
Qrow hid behind a corner and quickly changed to his bird form again. The suited goon chasing him passed him down the hallway, and Qrow let out a sigh of relief.
Damn, that trick of his is gonna get old eventually. Luckily, his clothes shifted along with him. Otherwise, the goon might've noticed the random pile of clothes on the ground.
That still made Qrow confused how that worked, even if the answer was probably magic bullshit.
Qrow sneaked back into the room and watched as the rest of Junior's goons chased after the remains of the White Fang.
Who would've thought that Cinder would actually fail in negotiations with Roman? And then Qrow had the satisfaction of watching her get taken out in one shot by some random nobody with a weird Semblance or something.
That's the thing with Aura. Even if they're a total lackey, anyone can have a Remnant-shaking Semblance if the odds are in their favor. That's why you can't underestimate anyone, less they manage to surprise you.
But even though Qrow knew that it was still kinda surprising that Junior had someone in his ranks with an ability that powerful.
Qrow looked at the unconscious body of the red-dressed woman. A feeling of disgust passed him momentarily. This was the woman who wanted to kill Amber. And someone who willingly allied herself to the Queen of the Grimm. And according to Rin, someone who would have caused the downfall of Vale.
Somehow, things were going in their favor and it looks like things probably won't go down that route anymore. But as long as she's loose, the possibility is still there. And there's still her little friends out there.
No, she needs to be taken to Ozpin.
Roman and the guy that took out Cinder were currently talking next to her body. Moving closer to them, he quickly ducked under a table with the tablecloth hanging over the sides was able to catch their conversation.
"Now you're just flattering me."
"Too obvious?" Roman asked, getting a laugh from the other guy. "So what now?"
The man hummed and thought. "I guess we clean up. I'll get rid of her discreetly, make sure she doesn't cause any more trouble."
Shit! They're planning to kill her. While the bitch probably deserves it, we need her to tell us about the others in Vale. According to Rin, she's supposed to have two other lackeys and a sort-of partnership with Adam Taurus.
'So we can't have her killed yet. Ozpin would want to have a word with her.' But how was he gonna play this? Torchwick was here, and his goons aren't something that Qrow wanted to handle while dealing with the flamboyant thief, even if they all weren't as competent as that one who took out Cinder.
Then again, it's not like he needs to defeat them. All he needs is to get Cinder out of here while she's unconscious.
Qrow quickly shifted underneath the table and grimaced as he prepared the borrowed weapon in his hand. Not exactly his preferred choice, but good enough for now.
"Gotcha. Do you want me to—"
The table exploded as Qrow charged out.
}-{
"And that's what happened," Qrow concluded.
Rin rubbed her head as it tried to digest Qrow's stupidly convoluted explanation. Seriously, what were the odds of something like that happeni— right, Semblance.
"What are you even doing here?! I thought you were supposed to be taking care of Amber! And what's with the stupid disguise."
"I moved her to Atlas just a few days ago. I've been spending the last few days tracking Cinder." He paused for a moment. "And fuck you! My disguise is perfect."
"You dressed as a White Fang grunt!"
"Hi, Pot. I'm Kettle, and I'm black!"
Rin rubbed her forehead to soothe the headache she was having. "Okay, so why the hell did you pick a fight with me?"
"You said you were gonna get rid of the body discreetly!" He raised his hands. "And you looked like one of Junior's guys. I put two and two together."
"What?" It took a moment for Rin to get it. "You thought I was gonna kill her and throw her in some river?" Rin asked incredulously. "I was just gonna take her to Ozpin, you idiot!"
He blinked at that. "So wait, this was all just one big misunderstanding?"
The two stared at each other in silence for a moment. The sounds of the ceiling light falling made them aware of the large amounts of damage the two caused around the club. Rin herself sat down on the ground, rubbing a particularly nasty bruise that just started to form.
After a while, she spoke. "Qrow, I hate your stupid Semblance."
"Me too, kid." He sighed, plopping down on the ground next to her. "Me too."
So this was the first real long-drawn-out fight scene I've written. Previously, I mentioned that I was worried about writing action sequences because of my lack of experience in the matter. The problem is that I find describing fight scenes extremely boring in comparison to watching fight scenes. That's the inherent difference between written works and visual works. Luckily, I discovered an amazing trick to avoiding describing action sequences.
Quips.
That's right, dialogue is always more interesting when you're compensating for the lack of visual entertainment. Compared to movies or even manga, a novel isn't exactly that great with action moments. Movies, manga, comics, etc are more visually appealing while still able to express a story through written content. The only way to combat that advantage is by entertaining the masses with words alone but at an equivalent enjoyable level. Thus, comedy through quips and one-liners.
Initially, I planned for Cinder to escape Rin's grasp so that Cinder would plan for the unexpected factor that was Rin. But honestly, there's no viable reason how Cinder could escape with a Servant keeping watch on her. She's not a Maiden, not even a half-Maiden. And her teammates aren't here with her.
Honestly, this whole chapter kind of got out of hand. I'm not really satisfied with how this came out, but I don't really know how to make it better. But that's what you're getting, so deal with it.