Alright. Been a while, sorry for the dead time. This one's with Crow and Yang, as you might have been able to guess.
Speaking of Crow, that last Season of the Chosen cutscene (and indeed the whole season in general) was great. Caiatl utterly destroying that Psion gets me laughing every time. I also think that RWBY Vol 8 was pretty good overall. But, I digress, as usual.
Anyways, we're officially over 20,000 words, plus 50 follows, so that counts for something, right? Here goes the next chapter.
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Yang woke with a start. Even after her resolution to get the team back together, the memories of the battle, the nightmares of the moment she lost her arm, hadn't lessened in the slightest. Neither had the nearly overwhelming desire in the back of her head to just give up, wait around, and let somebody else avenge those who died at Beacon Academy. But when she thought of her sister, she was ashamed of that part of herself. So, she pushed ahead.
She stretched, and flexed her cybernetic arm. She had all but completely gotten used to it by now, but that didn't make her any less angry. It had been one day and one night since she and "Crow," as he called himself, had boarded the ship. Though there weren't that many rooms available, they had been allowed onboard immediately after how they had saved so many from the Grimm. Crow had insisted that he didn't need a place to rest, but Yang wasn't about to turn down a chance at a good night's sleep - she got so little of it as of late anyways.
She walked outside onto the deck, and saw her new acquaintance leaning on the railing near the front of the ship, looking ahead. They were scheduled to arrive in Kuo Kana today, and judging by the fact that the ship was moving at a good pace, they could arrive at any time now.
The strange man seemed to notice her without looking at her. "Did you sleep well?"
Yang looked at him, sizing him up. She still had no idea why this person had offered her his help, but until she had reason to doubt him, she wouldn't say no. However, That didn't mean she wouldn't keep an eye on him though. "Yes. Did you sleep at all?"
"No. I don't really need much of it."
Crow just…. didn't act normal. He was clearly not all that good with social interaction, which was something she could excuse - she had met plenty that acted more socially awkward than him over her years of huntress training - but there was something about him. Plus, he still hadn't taken off his helmet. He had initially claimed it was because he was a Faunus, but… well, she was almost sure there was something more to it. Did he have some kind of scar or deformity? Was he some sort of criminal, on the run from the authorities and hiding his face, afraid someone would turn him in if they saw him? Well, couldn't hurt to do some light prodding.
"You do know that nobody will attack you for being a faunus in Menagerie, right? If anything, I'm in more danger than you are."
He sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know what you want from me. I'll take it off soon, okay? I just think you can never be too careful."
"Yeah, I get it."
Yang totally did not get it. Huntsman generally didn't wear full armor like he did, as their aura was enough to protect them from most attacks, and plus, who was going to attack them onboard the ship? Crow was a strange man, and his excuses were just as out of place as he was.
She decided not to press the issue further.
A few minutes later, their destination was in view. A port on the island of Menagerie, a haven for the faunus given as a "gift" after the war. Of course, the only reason it had been given as one in the first place was because it had little real value to any of the four kingdoms, and they wanted all of the faunus who were demanding independence and equal treatment out of their way.
The ship made landfall minutes later. Kuo Kana was larger than Yang had initially expected, though she didn't know why; she doubted that many people, even faunus who desperately wanted to escape oppressive societies in the kingdoms, would want to live in a place that was undeveloped.
As the passengers exited the ship, some of them made gestures of thanks to Yang and Crow. They had still done a great deed in defending the town, and though the ship had made some other stops on its journey where people had left and boarded, a few of the people had been on the ship the whole way.
They walked down the ramp and onto the docks, and out into the town. Yang looked at Crow, then gestured to his head. He seemed to get what she meant, and he slowly and hesitantly removed his helmet.
Well, he didn't have any sort of scars or deformities, and he didn't look half bad either. He had a sharply defined face with yellow eyes, and dark hair pushed to one side hanging at nearly shoulder-length. He definitely wasn't any criminal that she knew of - because if he had been, she'd have recognized him immediately.
Because his skin was a shade of blue, something she'd never seen or heard of before in her entire life.
She assumed that it had to simply be some strange and rare faunus trait, but some part of her still wondered if he had been experimented on in a lab or something. Crow did seem generally fearful of people, and that could explain his behavior.
Still, she thought it would be disrespectful to comment on it, so she left her thoughts unsaid. Clearly though, many shared them, as the man got a few strange glances from the denizens of the settlement. His eyes swept across the environment as well, not as if he was looking for a fight, but just taking everything around him in carefully.
"So," he said, "Who exactly are we looking for?"
"Blake Belladona, a teammate of mine." Yang also looked around, searching for the faunus she had come here to find. "Cat faunus. Dark hair, yellow eyes, likes to wear black."
"Hmmm."
"Don't say anything about lost cat posters. The bad jokes are my job."
Crow shot her a brief look of confusion, as if he had no idea what she was talking about. The moment didn't last long, however, as a loud crack sounded throughout the area, followed quickly by a few more noises and then by general commotion from a nearby area.
Crow's eyes narrowed. "Gunshots." He took off running toward the source of the pandemonium, and Yang was just a fraction of a second behind him. The kerfuffle moved off towards a side street, and the duo followed. As they rounded a corner, they saw a monkey faunus using his semblance to hold back a cart that was rolling out of control.
Sun. Yang had heard that he had followed after Blake, saying that he was "making sure she wouldn't get into too much trouble on her own," or something like that, and now here he was. She scanned forward, and saw two figures darting into an alleyway up ahead. One had to be Blake.
Crow nodded to the cart, saying "I'll get this! You go on ahead." Yang looked back as she passed, and saw Crow drive a knife between the spokes of one of the cart's wheels and into the wood, stopping the wheel's rotation and causing the cart to skid.
Yang blasted behind her with Ember Celica, and the recoil gave her some extra speed that she couldn't have gotten by just running. She reached the alleyway and looked down it, to see Blake facing off against two other Faunus, one of whom was wearing a White Fang mask.
That one seemed to notice her, and she quickly drew her weapon as Yang started to move down the corridor. Yang prepared to dodge whatever attack would be coming her way, but instead the young woman's attack went high, and a pulley system carrying some industrial equipment dropped onto the ground between the two parties. Debris flew everywhere, kicking up dust and obscuring vision. She felt some of the splinters hit her, but they did very little to her aura. Blake looked around briefly, trying to get her bearings, before her vision landed on Yang. Her eyes widened as she noticed her teammate for the first time.
"Uh, Yang! What are yo-"
Sun came darting into the alleyway. "Where is he- Yang?"
Crow walked in behind him. "I assume that these are the ones you were looking for?"
Three sets of eyes turned to him. Yang nodded curtly, and there was an uncharacteristic silence for a few moments. The monkey faunus "Hey, man, I appreciate the help back there, but who exactly are you?"
Yang cleared her throat. "Uh, guys, this here is Crow. Not the same person as my uncle, obviously. We helped each other out in a fight against some grimm, and he decided to help me out. Not sure why."
The blue-faced man smirked slightly. "Your Uncle's name is Crow? Huh."
"Yeah. Probably spelled differently. Anyways, thanks for your help, but I really don't want to keep you tied down to me any longer. And I need to… have some words with my teammate." She glanced at Blake out of the side of her eyes for a second. The faunus seemed to shrink slightly. "Anyway, I -"
Crow silenced her by holding up a single finger. "Hold on. We're being watched."
/
Yang was talking, but Crow wasn't listening.
On top of the building, forward and to the left. Someone's keeping an eye on us.
He held up one finger to stop the girl from talking any further. "Hold on. We're being watched." He looked left and right briefly, then said "On top of a building nearby. Don't make any weird or sudden motions until I do."
"Um… what?"
Crow pulled out Duality, and checked the shells loaded into its chamber. He made as if inspecting the gun to make sure it was in good condition, not as if preparing to fight. "Just act like we're talking normally for a few more seconds. We'll get the drop on our eavesdropper."
The black-haired girl's hand visibly tightened around her weapon which she had just retrieved, a strange pistol-blade combination with a ribbon attached. The monkey faunus also took out something, which appeared to be able to extend into a weapon.
Crow turned around and made as if to walk away, before quickly pulling on his helmet and leaping into the air on his first step. He bounced off of thin air again, and then once more in quick succession, pushing himself towards his intended destination. He then flipped backwards and landed behind his target, a girl wearing a white mask. He'd done a little bit of research on this world with Glint's assistance, so he recognized that the mask marked her as a member of the White Fang. The other three made it up nearby a short time later. Yang and Crow were on one side of her, and the other two had vaulted onto the roof a short distance away, effectively surrounding her.
Crow brandished his shotgun, and the others readied their weapons as well. "Put the weapon down, and we can talk about this," he called out.
The girl seemed to consider for a moment, then raised her own weapon.
/
Illia Amitola was not in a good position.
She looked around for a moment, getting a feel for the situation. Four trained combatants surrounding her. Blake and Sun, plus another Faunus that she didn't recognize. The fourth, though… She recognized the fourth. It was one of Blake's teammates from beacon.
A human.
A plan began to form in her mind. A desperate one, but one that might work.
Last time when she had been confronted, wounding Sun had been enough for her to escape. She didn't particularly like hurting her fellow Faunus, even ones that weren't strong enough to do what was necessary for their kind, though she would do it immediately if she had to. But she had no such reservations about using violence against humans. Anyone who did would not be likely to join the Fang in its current state.
So, she would wound the Blonde human and escape, using her companions' worry as an opening. It wasn't perfect, but it might work.
Illia raised her Lightning Lash.
/
Their opponent raised her weapon at Yang. Crow reacted instantly and instinctively.
A spread of pellets burst from the barrel of Duality. The young woman facing them stepped to the side slightly, but a few of them still hit her. Her aura flashed briefly but did not break as it absorbed the shock of the impacts. Then the hunter immediately started moving to position himself between her and Yang, intending to block the attacks from their opponent.
She let loose a flurry of dust rounds at Yang, who was poised to jump forward. Crow was already dashing in her direction as the White Fang agent fired; The first round whizzed past him and smacked into Yang, and there was a small flash of lightning before it was absorbed by her aura. Crow was able to intercept the rest of the rounds. The first one impacted against his arm, and he took a few more shots square in the chest. The rounds broke his shields but, for the most part, did very little damage to his armor.
This had all happened in moments, and, clearly not fully registering the change in the target she was attacking, the opposing faunus' weapon extended, it's point striking Crow directly through the gut. She had to let up on her attack immediately however, as their two allies had started attacking her from behind, and she had to shift her attention to ward off their assault.
Crow fell to his knees, clutching his abdomen. Yang, recognizing that their attacker was occupied, rushed over to him. She grabbed him by the shoulder. "Crow! How badly are you hurt?"
He gasped weakly, then replied with "It's nothing. At least, nothing compared to how mad I'll be if you let her escape after I did that." He fell onto his hands. "Go!"
The girl stood back up, clearly concerned, but it didn't stop her from joining the fray.
Thank you, Crow thought to himself.
Light passively amplified a Guardian's healing abilities, but worse wounds would sometimes require the touch of a Ghost. The wound he had sustained was a bad one. Though it probably wouldn't kill a mortal if they got immediate medical assistance, it was still bad enough that it had probably cut through some of his internal organs. Thankfully, medical assistance was but moments away when one was paired with a Ghost.
Glint did exactly what they had agreed to do in situations like this. He appeared only for a brief moment, as close to the wound as possible, and emitting light to make sure that his shell wouldn't be visible to anyone who didn't know what to look for. This, he hoped, would make his healing ability seem more like a quirk of his aura than something magical.
The pain faded, and he pushed himself up and looked back over at the fight.
His three allies were clearly getting the better of their one opponent, and because of his expected status of "out of the fight," she was not paying much attention to him.
Unfortunately for her, it was rather difficult to keep a Guardian down for very long.
He raised Duality, keying it's single-fire mode, and threw a single slug into her back, right between the shoulder blades. Her aura broke, and she stumbled forwards and fell to the ground, unconscious.
Once again, three sets of rather confused eyes looked over to him.
The monkey faunus - Sun, was it? - spoke first. "Didn't you get stabbed? When I got hit by that thing I wasn't able to fight for a little while."
Crow pulled off his helmet. "My … aura … is strange. It's weaker than most, which is why I wear this armor. However, It comes with very strong regenerative properties. I'm not really sure why, but that's how it is." It was an excuse he had come up with after doing a little bit of research on Aura and Semblances. It might be suspicious, but it was the best thing he could come up with.
Yang spoke next. "But I saw your aura absorb all of those dust-infused bullets. How weak can it be?"
Crow tapped his breastplate. "Not aura, barrier tech in the armor. Handy to have."
The three faces looking at him were obviously still not entirely convinced.
Crow sighed. "Come on. We should probably take her somewhere, to question her. I'll answer more questions later."
/
A little bit of a shorter chapter than usual, but not too bad.
Some responses:
HaloEmblem - Yeah, that will definitely have to come up eventually. He's obviously not normal, and nobody can keep secrets forever.
TheDungeonGuy and Boshwa - Glad you guys like it.
Rebiele - Yeah. *(No plot details, but some thematic spoilers for what I'm planning to do eventually follow)* - If you've noticed, our two new lights in this story are kind of in opposite positions. One is someone that, like, people would rather be the same as the person they were before, and the other is one that people would really rather NOT be the same person. The sort of cognitive dissonance created by that, and kind of what it even MEANS to be "The same person" are gonna be a big part of what i plan on doing with this story's themes. A lot of that's a little ways out though.
Anyways, reviews are always appreciated as always. See you next time.
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Edit: I screwed up the formatting, which probably made this chapter read like shit. I fixed it now, should be a little bit better.