A/N~ At last, a long overdue chapter! Gosh, I'm so good at these late chapters XD
Okay, seriously, I must apologize for the long update. Now, I've got a job and I'm being led away from writing stories until when I'm free, which is like late at night and weekends. But even then, I'm still busy on weekends... Regardless, this story will go on!
Reviews:
DB-19:
Nah, man. I haven't watched Kamen Rider, so I wouldn't be aware of what you told me XD
Another round of thanks for the following users;
summer490, Redder45, KlonoaFan64, dragonbane522, , Cyrus the Dragonhog,WerewolfMazuko117, coquianbal, DB-20 (I'm assuming this is you, DB-19?), captain marvolus, Cure Anime and Cylon One.
Now, that's a whole lot of people who've added my story to their lists! But, frankly, I still need to update more frequently. I'll do the best I can for those updates, but I need to focus on work too, so bear with me.
Anyway, hope you'll enjoy this next chapter!
Chapter 9: Who Let the Cody Out?!
~BLAKE'S POV~
Beacon Library,
Beacon Academy,
Vale,
Remnant,
The answer… was always there. No question can be complete without one. It all matters on how long and how much you know that can influence your speed in solving them. But the question I was faced with was definitely impossible to solve at this time.
"Hmmmm…" I paced around the library, almost losing my patience over the new troubles were facing. Nothing had ever forced me to stand up and walk around when I would usually just sit down quietly at my table as I silently read my research books.
Ever since that monster first appeared in Forever Fall, I felt that it was something that none of us had ever seen before. When we faced the creature head on, I felt the usual sense of curiosity and fear of the unknown over what we had never seen before. This was clearly something that we did not know at all, not even its motives as it just disappeared out of thin air; into a dark purple warping beam that zapped it out of our sights.
From that moment on, we knew we were going to deal with some ravenous force that we were totally unaware of. Frankly, though, right now, as I went through the library, it would appear that no one had ever seen such monstrous abominations like that thing either. For years, the only abominations we have been fighting against were the deadly creatures of Grimm. All of them were similar in their colour schemes; black bodies with white and red skulls and glowing yellow eyes. The creature we just saw was nothing of the sort, looking more like some living wrecking ball with limbs and a hideous face. It was unlike anything I have ever read in any form of media, not even in my wildest of fantasy novels.
As soon as I entered the library, I looked through all the books I could find; biology books, books about the creatures of Grimm and books on ancient science and history, every book I felt was necessary to find the leads I needed to identify our mysterious monster. Okay. Of all the…twenty-five books I've read so far, nothing about some monstrous creatures with such abnormalities other than the Grimm.
Unfortunately, sometimes I get too distracted, in the worst ways possible. I clenched a fist at some of the other monster books I've read, and to my greatest fury, I came across some disturbing and completely aggravating content about including the Faunus as one of those 'disgusting and dangerous critters' that the world needs to avoid. Disgusting and dangerous? Have these clowns been looking in the mirror lately? Pathetic. If I had my way, I would have come over to their houses and… ahem, smacked the sense out of them.
No. That wouldn't be me. At least, the me that I am now.
Ignoring the ugly comments and the unsuccessful search for answers not progressive, I decided to finally stop my research. I got up from my chair and took the big pile of books from the table to begin the daunting task of returning them to the shelves. There was just nothing I could find that fit the description of what my team and I encountered in the forest. Whatever that monster was, it had some form of intelligence, judging by how it was able to speak basic English at us.
Whatever it was that we fought against, I certainly hope it wouldn't be around until we were ready to fight it, or whatever force it was working under.
I certainly understood why Ruby wanted to jump into the action, for the sake of the people around her. She wasn't very much aware of what this unknown threat could do, but she, at least, had some initiative to act. However, the timing of her response to the danger was just too soon. Right after the Breach, we had to be put on break by the headmaster himself, testing our obedience in the midst of rebuilding and preparation for the Festival coming soon. Ruby had to jump to the scene right after we were given our orders to stand down, so I could also relate to Weiss and Yang for trying to stop her.
I refused to say anything, just to find which side I would take. At least, that was what they expected me to do. In truth, I was only trying to formulate what to do at my own behalf.
Speaking of the brief suspension, I was kind of sceptical by the decision, to be honest. Wasn't Ozpin himself who decided to bend those rules for us? Then, all of a sudden, he then chose to keep us down in our rooms until a given time. Not really a punishing amount of time, but certainly nothing to feel relaxed about.
Either way, if the time would come when this unknown threat would emerge, we had to be prepared. So far, none of the books in the library were of any help, at least, not as far as I looked. The day was still fresh, but I didn't have time to stay for long. There were some other activities I needed to complete at Beacon, including some of the term break homework Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port gave us all to do.
As much as I wanted to stay and research some more, I couldn't risk getting obsessed with my efforts on gaining the upper hand over our unknown visitors. I'd gotten myself tired and weak after my own over-reliance on stopping my old comrades and Torchwick before the Breach. If Yang ever found out I was being all studious and driven to study too much, she'd give me a really bad time…
So, with great reluctance, I put away all of the books I took (and yes, that meant all the thirty-seven books I overloaded onto the table) and placed them back to where they belonged. It was a miracle I memorized all of their original places in the shelves, or the librarian would be having me blacklisted from ever coming back; student or not.
I exited the library to find my way towards the next transport to Vale. It was by time I got some proper food to fully replenish my lost energy from reading all of those books and banging my head every time I couldn't get the answers I needed.
The answers… The answers were out there. I just needed some leads to follow on and fix the pieces of the puzzle together. But if I were to find clues and other means to getting closer to my goal, then it'd have to be anywhere else than the city. Unfortunately, Beacon had a very tight security system to ensure that its students were present and accounted for, and not playing hooky against the orders of Professor Ozpin.
It was only a matter of time before the suspension was lifted, but who knew how long it would take until it was too late. I thought to myself if we would have enough time before anything bad would happen. If there was a chance to get the answers I needed, then would it have been wise to actually follow Ruby to wherever she went?
Sometimes, our team leader was always the one who managed to break through against the odds and still came back victorious. Maybe that was why I didn't let Weiss and Yang stop her from pursuing her objective. Maybe Ruby could find the solution to our current predicament. That girl was always full of surprises, so I wouldn't be any bit surprised myself if she managed to come back with a way or, I hoped, a plan to beat these weird monsters.
Either way, my search for a way to fight these monsters had to be put on hold. If only Tukson was around to keep his bookshop open; he always became an alternative to giving me sources of information unavailable in the Beacon Library. It was truly a tragedy that he was found to have committed suicide. I always found comfort sharing my concerns with the former White Fang member after I was enlisted into Beacon, but now that he was gone, there was an empty feeling inside, both for the loss of a source of information, but also the loss of a friend. Though, I had to question why he would ever think about suicide when he was at the prime of his life. No one had ever threatened him at all, everyone was actually quite fond of him every time they came to visit him.
Unless, he had some dark secret to hide… I had to wonder, but for now, there was only
I hope nothing else would go wrong from now on. The last thing we needed was to have these alien invaders come out of nowhere and cause chaos when we were just recovering from a crisis.
I got down to the city, getting off the transport and immediately searching for the nearest shop and find something refreshing to consume and relax my mind. A cold drink of water and a nice raw trout would do. Or… maybe just a few more fishes to the course… A Simple Wok would have just what I needed, although the main course of their soup noodles was not to my taste.
The Commercial District was just as busy as ever, despite the damage done to the city square by the Grimm attack not long ago. Pedestrians were still walking around with little concern, going to do whatever they had to do for the day.
However, when I got to the city square, that was where the differences laid. I could still see the large open hole on the ground, punched open by our failed attempt to stop the train from crashing through. The wreck of the train my team and I hijacked was not sticking out anymore, removed right after the disaster. A protective energy barrier was enveloped into the very rim of the hole, surrounded by military personnel and construction vehicles as they supervised the repairs to the hole. Doubling the security in the area were extra guards patrolling the surrounding streets, checking for more stragglers who might cause more trouble.
I paid no attention to the site afterwards, not wanting to remind myself of the chaos that came from our failure to stop it from happening. Even after we emerged victorious, the attack had left many people in fear of more possible attacks in the future. If our walls weren't enough to stop the Grimm from attacking the city, then there was no guarantee of a safer society if our enemies could just punch a hole in our streets and allow beasts of Grimm to rampage through.
At least Torchwick was stopped. Many of his goons were captured and the rest were being hunted down as we spoke, so one of our problems had been taken care of. But there was still the White Fang out there. I could only wonder where my fallen brothers had been during the Breach, after being involved with Torchwick for a good amount of time now. I had to worry every night about what they would do next to bring us to ruin.
And now, there was this weird monstrous creature that appeared and disappeared from out of the blue, warning us of more danger that was to come. Until we can find answers to this abnormal situation, we had to be extra wary; probably even warier than ever before.
For now, all is calm and no troublemaker was going to do any more harm to us.
For now…
Two words that really bug me to this day. Nothing was ever over, even nefarious schemes and malicious fools who would do anything to make us vulnerable and leave the city at risk of destruction. The only thing we could do as Huntresses is to ensure that the city and the people around us were safe from danger.
Afterwards, I was just about to turn to the corner of the road where I would end up at the eating place of my choice. I could smell the essence of food being cooked already; more so the aromatic smell of raw fish that tickled my taste buds.
"Please! Don't hurt me!" All of a sudden, my senses tingled. With my cat ears, although tied into the 'bow', I could hear the faint cry of a woman calling out for help. Resisting my hunger for fish, I decided that helping another victim in need was more important.
I ran off from my initial course and headed straight to where the trouble was happening. From what I could pick up, the sounds came from the alleyways in between two shop houses just a few metres away. Yeah, the typical place to get mugged by robbers and assaulted by creeps who'd do anything for their pleasures. From the cries, I could make out the woman in question sounded old and weak. An elderly woman, if my senses were correct; more of a vulnerable target to any scum out there.
When I reached the place of where the sounds were clearly coming from, I quickly hid myself from behind the wall of the right house that led into the alley. I peeked over to find the scene of the crime happening right before my eyes. As I deduced correctly, it was an old woman, wearing an orange cardigan and a cyan dress underneath her. Judging by her grey permed hair, she must have been in her 70's or 80's. And yet, flanking her from her sides, she was being harassed by two younger, but much more conniving men, dressed in black tuxedos and wore red sunglasses.
From their looks, they looked like the same men that were part of Hei Xiong, or as Yang called him, Junior's gang. They were just scorning the woman, staring menacingly into her with gestures suggesting ill will and violence.
"Don't worry, nice lady." I heard one of the men chuckle heartlessly.
"Yeah!" The other one boomed loudly. "No one's gonna hurt 'ya. Except us!"
"Oh no!" The woman cried again, making my heart race with panic over the amount of time she had before whatever terrible things they would do to her. They seemed to be eyeing the red purse she was holding so hard onto. Instantly, I knew that this was a robbery. A simple robbery, but robbery against an innocent elderly woman. Those men were just as sick as any of Torchwick's men; willing to steal off a defenceless person and still threaten to hurt her.
There was no time to waste; when I saw they were about to snatch that purse from the lady, I jumped right out and acted. I leapt over and pounced one of the men, tackling him down to the ground. The thug crashed right into the stoned floor as I rolled away. The other man looked very stunned after my attack on his cohort, backing away from the woman and unable to act against me to save his friend.
"Run!" I yelled at the old lady, nodding right away and scurrying off to safety. The thief did not to pursue her, too focused on my sudden arrival to her rescue. Despite my relief for the woman's safety, I scowled at seeing his teeth being gritted with anger, sinister intent evident just by looking at his face.
As I thought correctly, he came walking towards me, wielding a black baton to be used to take me out. He whacked the weapon on his other hand, staring intensely at my eyes with the idea of blacking me out very well etched in his mind. I had no time calling for my weapon stored in my personal locker back in Beacon. In fact, I probably didn't even need it. Scum like these thieves were nothing compared to everything I had been through as a member of the White Fang, and then as a Huntress. I didn't need Gambol Shroud to handle such underwhelming crooks, even if I had it with me.
No matter what the odds, I had to be careful. One careless move and even a weapon of such low standards would be the end of me. They were still dangerous men who would do anything just to make their lives so much more satisfying.
I gave them what was coming to them. After I tackled the first thief, I charged for the other, just when he was about to swing that baton at me. I rolled to the ground, missing the weapon with no problem before ending up with a kick to his leg that tripped him down.
I was about to knock the guy unconscious, but then, a powerful knock on my head pushed me off my balance and forcing me to back off. The pain on my head wasn't too bad, just caught me a little off guard. It was still quite frustrating to feel that pain when you least expected it. I turned my head to see that the guy I knocked out first was already standing up, throwing a tin can at me to get me off his partner's back.
Shaking my head, I turned my attention to the other man, not going to let my assumption of these weak little men, unable to match my fighting skills, affect my focus any longer. This time, when I engaged him, he seemed to have put up more of a fight, actually using his fists and rapidly swiping them at me. Too bad he wasn't doing any better at trying to hurt me. All I did was sway my body around to avoid each punch before I delivered a much deserved kick to the face. The crook's body dragged off all the way to the wall, not ending up hit hard, but still out for the count.
Finally, there was his other buddy, sneaking up behind me, thinking that I had no idea he was behind me. Hasn't he learnt that we Faunus have powerful hearing? It didn't matter; all I had to do to end his little shenanigans was to deliver one last punch to his face and the man was also down on the ground. With both men down, I looked at their fallen bodies, seeing if they would rise up and resume their little pursuit on me.
After a few seconds of waiting, they were already squirming in pain, not willing to go on any longer. I sighed, both to relieve my muscles after the little encounter, and for the fact that I found the brawl to be quite pathetic. They fought sloppily and with predictably slow speed, not fast or smart enough to even surprise me. Just a bunch of the usual ruffians around here in Vale. It was almost as if I missed the thrill of fighting real threats like Torchwick and the Grimm. At least they had the power and brains to fight their foes; these two thugs were nothing more than worthless amateurs compared to the enemies I've fought before this.
Deciding to just leave them writhing in pain, I walked out of the alley and looked around for the old lady. Surely enough, when I turned to my left from the alley, there she was, waiting for me as I exited. Her little legs began tip-toeing as she came towards me with a bright smile.
"Oh! Thank you so much, young lady!" She cheered as she came to pinch my right cheek. I resisted the urge to hiss, trying to hide my annoyance and force a fully grateful face. True, I was indeed grateful that she wasn't hurt, but the way she was showing her thanks was almost… aggravating, especially for a cat Faunus like me.
"Erm…" I uttered as I rubbed my cheek. "It was nothing, ma'am." Now that the trouble was over, it was time for me to get my planned meal. After I bowed to bid her farewell, I turned away from the old lady and headed to the stall for my lunch. "Be sure to call the police to come get these thugs."
"Will do!" Immediately, the woman just walked off, waving goodbye and leaving me back to do my usual business. However, as I touched the cheek where she pinched, something didn't feel right. When she pinched me, there was almost this revolting smell that I picked up. Like a decomposing corpse, her fingers just gave off a smell that made me very sick. I didn't know what was it; she looked very clean, with wrinkly, but pure skin. What could have possibly made that pungent odour, I wouldn't know exactly.
It wasn't important. Maybe those goons held her hand and whatever messy substance they must have held got onto her palm. Either way, I was going to move on and enjoy a nice day's snack before returning back to Beacon.
Nothing was going to go wrong today… for now…
~CALVIN'S POV~
Hayley and I have been looking for hours to find a place to stay in. It's already been a day since we came here to this dimension and yet, we were struggling to stay anywhere. All we could do was pitch up the tents we packed up for emergencies like this.
Turned out that wherever we went, everything sold had to paid with the local currency of the planet. Lien, they called it. Nothing like the money we had back home on Earth. I don't know how many dollars would be for one lien, or how many liens would make for one dollar. Or even how many cents and vice versa. Well, nothing much we could do than just let us sleep in our tent and munch on our supplies.
At the moment, we were patrolling the streets for more signs of suspicious activity. But the only things we found suspicious were the people with these weird animal-like features on their bodies. I wanted to ask what the occasion was for these strange people, but Hayley discouraged me, thinking that it might had been rude to inquire about these things on their bodies. So, our eyes were all over the place, looking for signs of Galvanax and any of his cohorts anywhere in the city. We were dropped off by Mick and the Astro Zord, and we began the hunt for the enemy.
So far, nothing unusual happened that caught our attention.
"Man, I wished we stayed in that hotel." I sighed, marvelling how comfortable it may had been if we got to stay in that hotel. "If I knew that some so-called liens were the money in this joint, I would have stopped to get a part-time job. Ain't that right, Hayley?" When I called my girlfriend, I didn't hear a response. I turned to her, finding that she was looking elsewhere. Her face had that worried look on it, letting me know that something was definitely wrong. "Hayley?"
She looked frantic, almost like she had witnessed a tragic event unfold in front of her. One thing I knew from my relationship with Hayley is that when she is in panic mode, it was never any better than a simple mistake or worry. Whenever she was alarmed, something was really wrong.
"Calvin." she spoke to me, still shaky. Then, she told me what was bothering her, but that was also when I saw what was troubling her, sending chills down my spine, too. "Where's Cody?"
"Oh no." Instantly, my reaction was stiff and fearful. Just a few moments ago, Cody was just behind us, following Hayley as any loyal canine would. And then, all of a sudden, he was gone, nowhere to be seen. It was never like Cody to just run off without letting Hayley know. He was always there by her side. And now, out of the blue, he had disappeared without a trace.
"Cody!" Hayley immediately went to call out for him, fearing the worst.
"Cody!" I followed along. I loved that dog just as much as Hayley, and my truck. He was fonder of Hayley, of course, but he was just as sweet and loyal for me, too. I had to find him, joining Hayley to the fray. "Here, boy!"
We went searching for Cody in this big city, asking around for any sign of the dog. Everywhere we went, anybody we asked, but so far, our search was fruitless. We searched for about ten minutes, hoping to find anything that could lead to his whereabouts.
Hayley was already panicking. I couldn't remember the last time Cody ever ran away from her without her knowledge. In this situation, she was already beginning to break down. That dog was just as precious to her as her mom and me. I moved to comfort her, wrapping my arm around her while assuring her that everything would be alright.
"I knew I shouldn't have brought him here." she cried. "You were right, Calvin. This was a bad idea." I couldn't just let Hayley get down on herself so badly like this. Cody was a very brilliant pup, no matter how dire things got, he always had some way to come back and help Hayley when she needed him the most.
I remembered this one time where he was trapped in a deep mud pit back on Earth. We tried so hard to get him out, waiting for help to arrive, but then, by some miracle, Cody was able to hoist himself up using the long rope we used and eventually got back up. That dog was far smarter than we thought, and when we became Rangers, he became a huge help even against dangerous monsters.
"Hey. Don't say that." I hushed her softly. "Cody's a smart dog and you know that. He can take care of himself. I'm sure he'll find us on his own." Hayley began to show signs of improvement in her mood, giving me a small smile for making her feel better. There hasn't been one time where Cody had ever stumbled before. We had to hope that the intelligent wit of that Husky would bring himself back to us in no time.
Still, we couldn't just stand around and wait for him. We had to keep searching for him, even if it meant delaying our objective of finding leads to Galvanax. If we moved around in the city, it would improve our odds in finding Cody.
"Let's just keep looking for him." said Hayley.
"Right." And so, we kept on looking for our dear dog, constantly calling out for him and asking around the city for any whereabouts. Little did we know that our search would lead us to something much larger…
~BLAKE'S POV~
A few liens for a bowl of tuna noodles, sitting idly by while we were still grounded in Vale until further notice. It was all worth it. The tender taste of fish went really well with the slightly salty soup and noodles. Just like that, nothing else to add to the mix but fish, noodles, soup and a pinch of the usual minced spring onions. Sometimes, the simplest of meals can be the most appetizing for people like me.
The meal was appetizing enough to get me started for another round of investigating and surveillance over the growing crisis involving that unknown monster. It was probably best if I returned to Beacon to resume my research there, since Tukson's was unfortunately closed down for good.
After giving the man my pay, I went out and headed my way back to Beacon, expecting my teammates to have settled things out with each other before we could finally move on. I expected my walk back to Beacon was going to be a smooth trip, with no interruptions or bizarre shenanigans to catch my attention, at least for now.
"Huh?" But, just when I was about to leave, I heard something come from the same alley where I saved that old lady. Some loud barking and audible growling, coupled by the familiar sounds of those terrible men up to no good.
"ARGH!" A shrilling scream sounded off, spurring me to action. I assumed that they were messing with someone else, clearly annoyed over something. "Get off me, you mutt!" I quickly ran as fast as I could, reaching to the same alley where I dealt with those fools.
As I got there, I found those same idiots again. This time, to my surprise, the tables have turned. Now, I was seeing them being the targets to some lone dog who had just taken a bite at the wrist of one of the men. Its jaws were clamped shut as the goon tried to shake it off, yelling in pain.
Finally, he managed to release himself from the dog's bite, with the animal landing just a few inches away. It then got back to threatening the two thugs, snarling with anger. I turned my head to the men and I saw that they were about ready to strike back. The man behind the bitten one had a hard metal pipe in his hand, whacking it into his palm in the usual delinquent manner. Despite their growing intent on hurting the dog, the hound refused to give in, still bending its body as it prepared to jump at them.
The mischievous look on the two men's faces told me that they were not going to let it go so easily. It was clear to me that they wanted to hurt the dog so badly, not caring if they were just in its way. That really got me very agitated. To see a defenceless creature going up against the worst of mankind, it reminded me of how much us Faunus were dealing with the hatred and discrimination always in motion within society. These type of people would always assume that animals hold no emotion or care for their lives, that they are nothing more than mere creatures with no sense of sentience.
It was this kind of blind ignorance that I couldn't stand for. So, I had to do something. Gulp as much as I had to, for being a cat Faunus would, I always had a problem with dogs… Ergh, those filthy, slobbery mutts…
But no matter how much I felt about them, they were still innocent animals who didn't deserve to be hurt or worse, just because some humans have barged in their territory. Another thing to consider was whether or not it was even wild in the first place. Maybe it had an owner that was lost and looking for them. I couldn't bear to imagine the sadness inflicted if I let it suffer from these malicious men, the very same men who had just tried to rob off an old lady.
Spirited by the need to protect, I prepared to give these two another round of pain. I was sure that the next time they saw me, they were probably going to learn from their last mistake and came more prepared. It was a good thing I had Gambol Shroud with me, since I had to worry about some random monster on the loose.
I made my presence known, jumping right in to face them before they could hurt the Husky. My blade immediately shifted out of my holster as I prepared to make good work on their faces. Too bad I wouldn't get the chance, though. As soon as they saw me, they immediately flew into a state of panic.
"Run!" And just like that, fearing the worst, they took off, presumably realizing that I wasn't some strong Faunus girl. Well, so much for a second round of action. In the end, all that mattered was that I took care of them and saved the dog.
I sheathed my weapon back into my belt and decided to at least see if the dog wasn't the least in pain by the encounter. But then, that was when my instincts started to fight back. My habitual distaste for the canine kind was starting to force me to look away. I just couldn't take it; I'm a cat Faunus, and the curse of having the behavioural traits of a real feline was the one thing that made me feel ashamed or encumbered by. I did the right thing, but my body was still telling me that it was a dog, a cat's natural enemy.
I took one good look at the dog, and immediately, my instincts kicked in. It stared with its dreadful eyes, glaring right into mine with ferocity. It panted with its tongue out, with those sharp teeth ready to gnaw me apart! Its legs stood up straight, the better to pounce me down with! It continued to stare at me with the intent to hunt me down and shred me up to thousands of bits… And then, before it could do so, it barked, hounding me with that booming, echoing sound of…
Wait a minute…
BARK!
Ergh… what was I thinking? I let my fear of dogs get the best of me. I'm a Faunus, not a real cat. I shook my head, letting go of my horrified state before it could get the better of me.
WOOF!
The second time it tried to call me, I just scoffed, not wanting to do anything with this mutt.
"Don't get any ideas, dog." I groaned with disdain. The dog did seem to get the message and, after a whimper, decided to run away off from the streets and into the big city roads. I swore, dogs were indeed more scared of me than I am them. Ironic, really…
I shrugged my shoulders, deciding that I've already done my part with dealing with the usual lowlifes and moved out of the dirty alleys before more scum arrived. Out back into the bright openness of the city, I trailed my way back to Beacon, feeling like nothing weird was going to ruin the day to study and prepare.
I was just on the sidewalk, just five minutes after I saved that mutt from those thugs. The streets were still calm and normal, without any more signs of trouble from as far as I could see. It felt like it was going to be a smooth trip back to the airship and back to Beacon to resume my investigation on this strange incident with the monster.
BARK!
The hairs on me almost peeled off when I heard that shrieking bark again. I spun around, fists clenched and hand almost to my blade to react. I was about to strike in a second when I laid my eyes on the culprit. Right there, that darn Husky was sitting on the sidewalk in front of me. Again, it stared at me with those eyes and panted, showing its teeth. My skin was starting to creep all over me when looking at this dog. It just sat there, wagging its tail and waiting for me like it wanted me to do something.
Ignoring the dog again, I walked off, leaving it behind. I really didn't want to do anything with it, knowing it could live off on its own.
WOOF!
Another shrilling bark. This time, I was starting to get really annoyed than startled. Again, I spun around to show my discontent. Tapping my foot impatiently, I stared into that dog's eyes and sighed.
"Seriously?" That was all I said before turning around again. I picked up the pace and walked faster to prepare and run. When I turned my head back, that dog was still following me, skipping behind me with its tail up high and wagging.
At that moment, I had to run. Just around the corner, my feet were pumped up and I made the run for it, speeding off before that dog would know what'd hit him. I ran as fast as I could, disappearing off through the roads and past many buildings to shake off that dog.
I was able to run for a good five minutes to another part of the city, looking out for the dog, in case it was following me. After a good few seconds, I paused to catch my breath, relieved that I lost sight of it.
BARK!
"Eek!" I jumped up in frightened again. Right behind, that dog just appeared out of nowhere. I didn't believe it could possibly have followed me all the way here! I ran as fast as my body could take me, and yet, this dog managed to catch up. Very few people or creatures that I knew of could ever match my speed. As amazed as I should be, I was starting to lose my patience with this dog, stomping my foot in frustration.
"Look." I told it with a face that might scare off a few Grimm. "I am not here to make any friends. So, please. Do me a favour and leave me be." Once again, I sped off into the distance. To make sure to get somewhere where it'll never find me, I jumped up the buildings and ran along the rooftops with the same speed. I believe Ruby called it 'parkouring', the way we would jump from roof to roof in a steady pace, based on a few video games she and Yang played. The difference was that I was doing the real stunt with physical strength, not some virtual coding. I was losing my energy from running so much from a mere canine mutt…
So, after another good run, I landed back down on the ground, looking around frantically. At that intersection, I couldn't see the dog for a good few seconds, hoping this would do the trick.
WOOF!
Drats… It was still there! Right behind me, like the last time! I jumped across random buildings, and it still caught up…
"Really…?" I tapped my foot with impatience. I couldn't afford to keep up with the dog for too long. Who knew what it was going to do me at this rate? So, with all that I had, I made one more full run back to do the port to where I could hitch a ride to a Bullhead back to Beacon.
There was no stopping me now. All the way, I ran, jumped, and dashed to the city square where I could take the next transport back to the Academy. Right past the city square and over more buildings, taking in a much longer run towards the airport.
I could have sworn I'd never run that much in such a long time. Not even the worst of my sorrows had made me run this long ever. All because of a silly Husky, of all things… The entire run lasted for about five minutes, with me having run for miles without stop. After escaping within that distance, there was no way even the most capable of dogs could ever find me again. So, I made a complete stop to catch my breath, stopping to slowly breathe in and out and relax my tired body from the long run.
Around me, I could see that there were a few market stalls set up across the corner road, with fewer people to go around the place. The less people saw me in this state the better, and I definitely did not want that dog to catch me. My head turned here and there, scanning for that meddlesome pooch all around the street. My senses kicked in to help reinforce my vision as I felt for its revolting presence.
Minutes of sensing had gone by, shifting through multiple areas of the market and all looked clear. I couldn't feel that fearful presence anywhere. After I sensed around for the dog for a few more minutes, the feeling of ease was slowly coming back to me.
"Phew…" Finally, after running for so long, I escaped my pursuer, taking the moment to relax and rest before continuing my…
WOOF!
"AAH!" All at once, my nerves jumped to the max. The sudden instincts of fear came back to me, crawling over my skin like the cowardly cat I'm always told to be in front of these canines. Surely enough, even after all that running and jumping, that freaking dog is still there, right behind me!
"Ergh… Why do I even bother?" I groaned, giving up at the point of running away. If I couldn't even escape from it for five darn minutes, then what was the point of even trying? My body turned around to finally face that mutt once and for all. I have had it with this dog tailing me everywhere I went, so I had to tell it straight to its face. My face stiffened with disdain, frustrated more than afraid as my habitual instincts were forcing me back with.
"I really don't have time for games, dog. I'm going tell you again, and I want you to remember it." I was about to give it a good yelling to seal the deal, but I wasn't going to get the chance when the dog suddenly got up and turned around, ears perked up and its face suddenly panicked. Maybe it was finally getting the message, and I thought for a split second that it might just run off to leave me be.
Unfortunately, to my dismay, it wasn't being bothered by me. Rather, its attention was being directed elsewhere. Apparently, someone else decided to make my day, and once again, I winced.
Looking at where the dog was facing at, I saw the same men I found harassing the old lady and the dog in the alleys. This time, however, they had much more for me to deal with. Right behind the two men, four more lackeys decided to join the fray, armed with real weapons this time. A few conventional ones, being daggers, clubs and a stun baton, were at hand. They clearly must have learned their lessons last time, and were now ready to take me on through proper means.
"Okay, kitty cat!" The lead man whacked his metal club onto his palm, sharing everyone else's glee in doing damage. "Time for you to pay. Big time!"
Now, I really had to be more serious in this encounter. Gambol Shroud was already unsheathed from my back, holding both the blade and the sheath at the ready. I bent down to defend myself, ready to jump at the moment they came close. The whole line of goons walked forward with their glaring eyes on me. Their constant smug faces didn't waver me, for I had to teach them one last lesson that they'll most definitely regret. I wouldn't kill them, of course, but they were serving just another scoundrel in Vale. There was still no holding back in using my weapons against a gang as violent as these guys were.
BARK! BARK!
Then, all of a sudden, the dog next to me began to bark loudly at them, standing right beside me, as if it wanted to fight too. Despite all my paranoia for the canine kind, I didn't want it to get hurt in this cruel battle. It was already bad enough it got in trouble once from the thugs, but I certainly didn't want it being beaten by a whole group of them.
And still, without a moment of hesitation, the dog raced forward with full fury, growling as it did.
"Wait!" I yelled to it, but it was no use. It kept on running and running. The thugs certainly didn't forget the dog, so they took pleasure on making it their first target. I stood stuneed for a moment, horrified over what might happen next, actually fearful for its life.
The dog leapt forward, causing one of the thugs to swing his dagger at it. But, as it so happened, it managed to jump up and tackled the guy, barely missing the sharp blade from cutting it. Once pounced onto the thug, it began biting his arm that held the knife, making it drop from his fingers and began holding him down in place. As the gangster screamed, I watched the others backed off for a split second, slightly flinching over the surprise move.
That's when I saw my chance. I moved forward and attacked them while they were distracted. Soon, they began to face me, but I was already half way towards them. My blade pointed right at the first guy I fought, swinging my katana at him. He managed to block the strike, just in the nick of time. Then, another one was about to hit me with his club, shouting with ferocity. I denied his attack and gave him a swift side-kick to the face before swinging my katana off the first thug's weapon and swiped another man behind me.
I couldn't focus on the dog, but knowing that I had five men onto me, at least it had the only man left under control. However, I couldn't shake the feeling that it may not last long enough against him. Yes, I could not really get along with dogs, but again, that didn't mean leaving it to be hurt by these cruel men.
So, I had to end this quickly. One of the men swished his dagger at me, slashing from side to side like a hungry Beowolf, ravenous and completely driven to kill. Such attacks were always so predictable, using my speed was pretty much the solid move against the rapid slashes of Grimm claws and opponents with no appreciation for properly focused strikes. Each move got me pushed back until another thug was right behind me. Sensing his presence, I immediately leapt up before he could seize the moment, causing the slashing crook to crash right into him. I then landed down and went for the next thug in sight, swiping him with a spin kick to his head.
To my back, I quickly heard clicking sounds, alerting me to two of the beaten men as they drew out a couple of revolvers. My nerves triggered at the moment they pulled the trigger, with bullets heading right for me. I dodged the shots by blocking them off with Gambol Shroud with great precision. When I couldn't handle the pressure, I jumped out of the way before I could get overwhelmed by the barrage.
Once they were out of ammo from wasting it on me, I dashed up and pursued them, knocking their weapons from their arms before kicking them out of action. Before I could regain my focus, another thug tried to have another go at me with his club, causing me to react prematurely and locked my blades against it. I was then able to swipe the weapon away from me and bashed him with my sheath.
Finally, I noticed that one guy was slowly getting back up, aiming his gun at me in an attempt to score a final blow. He fired the gun, only once… All I did was block the bullet before throwing my katana towards him, being pulled from its cable and knocking away the gun. Afterwards, I swung it again and let the hilt of the sword bang him on the head, ending the scuffle, once and for all.
Once I ended the fight, I then turned to where the dog had tackled the first gangster. To my surprise, the two were still fighting; that dog was still holding on without any problem! I watched them circle each other, with the man trying to aim his dagger at it and the dog's teeth sticking out with a threatening growl.
Then, the man attacked, charging at the husky. The nimble canine was able to jump out of the way and got behind him. The next thing he did was to bite onto the man's jacket and pulled him down. And then, there was the most surprising part of this brief exchange. The dog jumped up onto a nearby crate, towering over the thug who was still pulled down. Next, it leapt up and, with great height, dived down and pushed its front paws down onto him, delivering a powerful kick to his stomach. The man screamed at the top of his lungs after the move.
I stared at the dog with such amazement. Never before have I seen an animal like this dog fight with such intelligence and delivered a powerful blow to its opponent. It just baffled me beyond expectations! Wherever this dog learned how to fight like that, it clearly wasn't anything I've ever seen from a creature in the wild. It had to have learned to jump up from a high point and kick its paws like that from a sentient being.
A master of sorts.
Maybe it wasn't a stray, after all. I couldn't really know what was really going on, but that dog was clearly something special…
In any case, after pulling off that impressive feat, the fight was finally over. I looked around and saw that the men were getting up. They looked like they had used up all their energy, having been pounded around by yours truly. When they were all up on their feet, they started running away, scattering into the streets and, hopefully, never to come across me again.
I sighed, sliding my katana back into the sheath before locking it on my back. These days, after all I've been through, I couldn't help but feel, as a first, bored… I don't know. It's probably a symptom from my first mission as a Huntress, that fighting a large horde of Grimm and facing my former comrades at Mountain Glenn gave me some sort of drive to do more, putting me in a position where I would feel almost empty without some action.
Or who knows? It could have been a side effect from joining a dysfunctional team.
Well, none of that mattered. Junior's boys were put in their place and they already fled. The dog and I were finally left alone, which was kind of awkward… Once again, I was standing right next to my worst enemy… who was my newfound ally? I fell confused on what to do with the dog. My Faunus instincts were clashing with my warm conscience over how to thank the animal for helping me. I couldn't decide how to react for a solid minute, leaving the dog to stare at me quietly while wagging its tail expectantly.
Finally, I shook away my fears and decided to do something about the dog. Putting up with my anxiety, I bent down to greet it. My skin began to crawl the closer I got to it, making me feel a little jittery inside. But by now, I thought to myself, reminding me of how much fear I had to endure compared to just looking at a Husky. I had so much else to fear than being haunted by an animal, much less one that actually helped me fight off one less thug to ease my battle against the rest. I had more to thank it for than to loathe.
"Ugh. Fine." I sighed, defeated. Yet, I hesitated to say more. Somehow, I had the feeling I was going to regret it… "I guess I should… Thank you." And then, it happened. The dog got up, happy as it could be, and jumped up to me. It caught me off guard as it landed its paws onto me, licking me with its sandpaper tongue and smothering my face with its slimy drool. I was almost about to let loose a scream and faint, only to withstand the disgusting gesture with a bit of strength.
"Okay! Okay! Get off!" I pushed it back to the ground, landing on the ground on its paws. After wiping my face, I glared at it for one second before I took a deep breath, regaining my tolerance. I had so much more to do to control my own fears of these mutts. Great, now I had a dog for a friend. Couldn't get any worse than that, right?
Just then, as I looked at the Husky, I noticed something on it. Inspecting it closely, I saw a red collar around its neck. That confirmed my suspicions that this dog had an owner, knowing that it was able to fight like no other dog I've ever seen, except maybe for Zwei, Ruby's own dog.
"Hold on." I reached for the collar, noticing the golden pendant dangling from its neck. "You've got a collar." I took a look, wondering if there was something I could find that might lead me to whoever left their dog out here in Vale. From the shiny golden plate, a few words were inscribed onto it.
Cody
If Lost, Contact Hayley Foster…
The rest of the description was a strange code of numbers that Blake wasn't too familiar with, not even in terms of Scroll usage. I still made out the fact that the dog had a name and his owner's was right there as well. There was only one thing to do. Go to one of Vale's police stations and inform the authorities to help locate the owner.
"Well, whoever this Hayley is, she must be worried sick about you, huh?" Cody whimpered, ears lowered down. Why would the owner just leave her dog around to roam the streets like this? At first, I couldn't help but grimace at the idea of abandoning the poor dog. Yet, I sensed its sadness, coming off as a genuine feeling of concern and loss, like he had just been separated rather than abandoned. So, with that in mind, dare I say it, I was going to help this dog, Cody, reunite with his owner. "Come on, then." I told him to follow along and the two of us walked casually away from the alley and out in the open, in search for Hayley Foster.
She had to be worried about him right now…
~HAYLEY'S POV~
"We've looked for ages now." I groaned. At the same time, I was just desperate for a sign. Cody had to be around the place, looking for me right now. Even in school, he would always find a way to find me and we would head off together right at the very end of school time.
What I still didn't get was why he ran off without telling me or Calvin. He would never leave me without barking at me and showing me where he would go. In battles against Galvanax, he was always there to make sure I didn't get hurt. He was as loyal as any good dog would be. So why did he run off?
I hoped he didn't get kidnapped or anything…
"We can't give up." reminded Calvin, standing right next to me with a hand on my shoulder. "You said so yourself."
"I know, I know." I grumbled, still anxious. "Let's hurry up and keep looking." I didn't pay any attention to my boyfriend, more worried about Cody than anything else.
"Great." I heard Calvin complain. "We are sent to a huge city we've never been to, and we've lost Cody." Afterwards, we continued to search for him, sure to look all over the city if we must. I just had to find him somewhere. I wouldn't leave the planet until I found my dear dog again. He was like family to us, and family always sticks together, no matter how far we were.
We looked around for half an hour later, searching other parts of the city for signs of Cody, but everywhere we looked, our dear friend was nowhere to be found. Only more people and their animal costumes… I didn't want to disturb anyone, but it was kind of weird to see people wearing these features like it's an everyday thing. Was it a festivity? Was there some sort of event being held to make use of these costumes? It wasn't my place to judge how people lived around here, so Calvin and I decided to remain silent about it, to avoid any attention on ourselves.
But we would find out the purpose soon enough…
At that point, I saw a couple of people at a local store, looking at the cashier after buying some snacks. They both had animal features, too, with a pair of dog ears for the man, and a fox tail and ears on the other woman. Then, right behind them, a few normal human boys came into the store and started laughing at them. They began pointing their fingers at the poor couple while snickering at their sadness.
It was a terrible thing to see; being bullied by people just because of what you look like or who you are. I've seen that happen a lot at school, with kids having nothing better to do than tease or bully others because they are different.
"How horrible…" I sighed, catching Calvin's attention, too.
"What do you think they're bothering them for?" he asked.
"I don't know, Calvin." But, I did have a good idea why they were being teased about. It was obvious to me that the animal-like parts on their bodies were more than just costumes or accessories. Even more interesting, they seemed to take great offense over those boys' taunts, as if their doggy ears meant something special to them. It was then that I realized that those ears were not just any fake piece of clothing. They were real ears! If the harassment didn't make it obvious enough, their ears actually bent downwards, just like Cody would do when he was upset at something.
It was plain as day that these two poor people needed to be left alone, and those boys were not helping. Just then, what they did next really pushed me off my limit. As they came close to the girl, they played with what looked like a bushy fox tail coming out of her back, making her feel even more uncomfortable as she hid her head into her partner's chest. And all they did was laugh at them…
That did it!
"Hayley? Where are you going?" I didn't listen to Calvin. All I could think about was teach those bullies a lesson. I stomped my way towards the scene, angrier than I've ever been in a long time. Those boys were going to have a little taste of some White Ranger power!
"Hey!" I yelled, causing everyone to turn their heads to me. Good. Just what I needed.
"What do you want?" said one of the boys.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Can't you tell?" the second boy pointed at the two's ears, mocking them further. "They're Faunus! They should be treated like the pests they are!"
"Yeah! They're animals. Every one of them."
"That's not fair!" Calvin joined in. "How could you say that to them, when they haven't even done anything to you?!" It was always nice to have a boyfriend as devoted to good as he was.
The couple began to retreat to our side, Calvin bringing them out while I deal with the three smirking troublemakers.
"Why do you want those freaks anyway? They've done nothing but make trouble around here." retorted the third boy.
"And what kind of trouble is that?" I fired back with my arms crossed. They all looked at me like I was not updated in the latest news. Frankly, that was very much true, since we were from another planet… But what mattered was that if that poor couple was ever dangerous, they would have done something to us by now.
"Haven't you heard what they did a month ago?" I shook my head. Honestly, I couldn't say anything about what ever happened, since trying to lie wouldn't give me much else to work with.
"How could you not have seen any of the chaos that happened?! The Grimm, the mechs, the White Fang?!"
"I… uh…" My voice almost stuttered, hearing about these things that I never experienced before.
"Well, let us remind you. Those Faunus freaks became part of a terrorist organization and opened a big hole in the city and let those monsters in. Lots of people got hurt because of them. They deserved to be punished!"
"So, let us have our fun and make these creatures deserve their treatment." Their hostile reactions to the couple were really horrifying to hear. Just because of some organization, they had the gull to blame every one of their species. I've fought tons of bad guys back on Earth before, but this was on a whole new level.
Not even Galvanax had the guts to make me this mad before. Not even the Kudabots could make me so disgusted about anyone before. These creeps, the true creeps, were the very thing we Rangers strive to fight against. So, I had to do what I must as a Ranger.
Fight with the right means to show them…
"Listen, you disgusting jerk!" Before I could show them, I suddenly saw Calvin storming right past me and grabbed the middle boy by the collar. If you thought I was mad, then you haven't seen what Calvin was like when he was angry. When people push him too far, he would let them have it, and we would band up to show people what we really thought about them… together.
"These two people have done nothing but become ordinary citizens who want to live a proper life. And if you think they should be punished for whatever crimes happened here, then I think you better get your brains checked!" The boys shuddered at how angry Calvin was. To be honest, so was I. Again, I've seen Calvin get revved up against a few bad eggs, but never like this! I could feel his frustration building up inside of him, sharing my own disbelief towards their ignorance. "So, if you know what's good for you – and let's face it, you don't – then you better leave this place before I call the authorities."
"And don't think about fighting us, because we've dealt with people worse than you." I added, keeping them shut for a while. If force was needed in the matter, then we'd have no choice but to defend ourselves. It might get us caught, but it was well worth the struggle to defend innocents. A moment later, they seemed to take the hint that we meant business and decided to back off, leaving us be.
"Come on, guys." told the larger boy, turning their backs on us and left the area. "Any friends of the freaks can't be talked to." They brushed past the couple outside and kept walking away for the streets. Calvin and I watched half-heartedly at their departure, relieved that they were gone without any confrontation. I guess that was the reality of such 'big boys' that they always seem to be tough, but don't really put up much of a fight.
That's for the best, I guess. We avoided trouble from the local authorities, and we helped a pair of helpless citizens along the way. It was all well worth the risk…
Now that the mess was cleaned up, we went to check on the couple, still holding onto each other after such a terrible incident. They looked at us, giving us soft but thankful smiles.
"Th-thank you for protecting us." said the girl with the fox ears.
"No problem. It's what we do." laughed Calvin.
"If only others had bravery like yours… other than the Huntsmen, of course." the dog-eared boy told us. As they walked away, Calvin and I looked at each other with a question in our heads.
"Huntsmen?" Calvin pondered. I shrugged my shoulders.
"Maybe they're like the protectors of this world. Like us protecting Earth." The word 'hunt' was sure to tell us that these Huntsmen were strong warriors like the Power Rangers, or maybe some army dedicated to protecting this world from evil forces or something.
I wondered, if these Huntsmen were powerful enough to be revered as protectors, then maybe they could be of help to us against Galvanax, or whatever native monsters terrified the people of this world.
But I digress. We needed to focus on the mission; keep a low profile and only result to Ranger power when absolutely necessary. If we ever meet any of these Huntsmen, then we should do our best to explain the situation and tell them what was going to happen.
Okay, enough of that now. Cody was still out there, doing who knew what and was probably looking for us right now. Calvin and I continued our search, about to move when we heard something else in the distance.
"AAHHH!" Once again, a call for help. Darn it! We were supposed to be looking for Cody and now, we had to help someone out again. I was getting impatient with the distractions that were putting us off our search. But alas, I couldn't feel worse by ignoring the fact that someone was in trouble, and he or she needed our help.
"Come on!" Calvin shouted. I nodded and, together, we ran to find out what was going on. My mind was still on finding Cody, but my heart told me to do the right thing and help someone in dire need of our assistance.
Cody would understand. He's a great friend, and I'm sure he would be fine for now, but I had to get this thing done so I could find him.
"Hang in there, Cody… We'll find you soon."
TO BE CONTINUED…