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I am making no money from this.
Chapter 35: Almost Normal
Team CLIR were currently in their dormitory, spending their last night at the academy for an uncertain amount of time in relative peace and quiet, attempting to mentally prepare themselves for their third and final mission of their second year. Their dorm was situated several floors below where the first years resided, more a matter of which dorms became available as students graduated than actual planning and though Team CLIR had spent most of their first year studying at Haven Academy in Mistral while competing in the Vytal Tournament it still bore several signs of their personalities. The beds were arranged at right angles to each other, Corvid and Iris having bunk beds along the rear wall while Lux and Rusty shared a bed, this gave them all a good view of the large flat-screen television mounted in the opposite corner courtesy of Lux. Beside the bunk beds was the stand which held the teams' weapons; the Omega wing taking up the vast majority while Iris's mace had to be rested against its' side to prevent tipping the entire structure. Closets, draws and a writing desk were forced haphazardly into whatever space was available around the perimeter of the room almost as an afterthought, the draws being littered in several knick-knacks that originated in Menagerie, gifts to Iris from her father. The walls were covered in a plethora of technical drawings and movie posters. Rusty's seemingly sole contribution was a small collection of photographs of the team ranging from snaps taken on his dates with Lux to a selfie Corvid had taken as they returned from their first mission as a team to a news article covering the first round of the Vytal Tournament which used a picture of the four of them standing victorious. If anyone asked Rusty simply said that his team was his family.
"Wanna call it a night or are we gonna try and marathon the trilogy?" Corvid asked as the credits began to scroll on the movie they had been watching
"Probably smarter to call it a night" Iris shrugged
"Which means she won't" Lux snorted, turning to face his partner from where he lay with his head on Rusty's lap
"Ass-hole" Corvid shot back with a good natured grin "I just can't believe how fast this year's gone"
"I know right" Iris chimed in "So who's doing what for the summer? I might be away for a few weeks" her eyes seemed to dart to Rusty a moment after she spoke, seemingly realising that it may have been a bad subject to bring up considering his home life
"I'm gonna be hanging with my twink of a partner and living a life of Lux-ury" Corvid smirked
"You're not the only one" Rusty grunted, confirming that he was in fact awake and hadn't fall asleep during the movie "Shall we tell 'em darlin'?"
"Tell us what?" Corvid eyed the two suspiciously, scanning their fingers for a ring that hadn't been there before and finding none
"I spoke to my parents about what life's like for Rusty in Vaccuo….they said they can't in good conscience let him go home to that. So Dad offered us part time work over the summer with the company and Rusty's gonna be staying with me"
"Wait, wait, wait" Iris's face morphed into a wide smile "You're moving in together?"
"Well we don't have our own place yet" Rusty noted "But close enough"
"Aww that's so sweet" she leaned over and ruffled both or their hair before turning to Corvid "Come on Corey I thought you'd have something for this"
"I know I feel like I should" she shrugged "You could say I'm getting Rusty….though not as much as Lux will be all summer"
"And there it is" Lux sighed, his words drowned out by the sound of his team-mates' laughter. Corvid was eventually distracted by the feeling of her Scroll vibrating in her pocket, removing the device and opening it her steely grey eyes seemed to light up
"From Celadon?" Lux asked upon seeing her expression
"Who are you and what have you done with Corvid Xiao Long?" Iris teased
"Oh fuck off" Corvid had expected the jokes from the moment she told her friends she was dating someone. Her forte was purely physical relationships, something she'd enjoyed several of while in Mistral but what was happening between her and the waitress was different and Corvid was finding herself very far from her comfort zone and enjoying every moment of it. She just stared at the text message notification for a few moments, torn between annoyance that Celadon was working tonight and thus unable to spend the last night before Team CLIR were deployed with her and a giddy feeling that the self proclaimed heartbreaker was utterly unused to at the idea that she was thinking about her. The latter emotion soon fizzled and died like embers in the rain when Corvid finally opened the message, expression becoming more distraught with every line of text until finally reaching an equilibrium of blank stunned silence
"Corey, you okay?" Lux asked, realising that something was wrong "Corey?" she was vaguely aware of Iris moving beside her and reading the message over her shoulder before gently pulling her into a hug
"No….I don't even….Damn. Corey I'm so sorry, do you wanna-"
"No it's fine" Corvid cut her off before hopping off the bed in search of her boots and making a point from hiding her face from her friends as she fastened them "No really I'm fine, it's better like this"
"Little lady it sure don't sound like it" Rusty made to rise from the bed he shared from Lux only for the purple haired teen to place a hand on his chest
"Let her be….Corey y'know we're here if you need us right?"
"Yeah of course" neither Lux or Rusty knew what the message had said but both of them could make an educated guess and Corey's false cheery tone was more unsettling than any amount of crying would have been. Corvid busied herself by attaching her hefty gauntlet to her left arm and pressing the series of commands that would remotely activate the Omega Wing; the drone which was finally fit for action came online and hovered several inches above the teams' weapon stand before following Corvid who was making for the exit, its' turbines running almost silently, having been improved as well as repaired
"Just heading out for some air" more of the false cheery tone
"You sure? We're shipping out tomorrow" Iris reminded her, Corvid merely shrugged
"Not tired" her words had barely left her lips before she left the dorm and began stalking along the corridors with her aerial drone following her. Eventually she turned her attention to her scroll and swiftly closed the message which she had no desire to read again. Hands trembling slightly she typed out a message of her own.
'I could use some company. Wanna hang out?' she stared at the text and realised she wasn't exactly sure to whom she would be sending it. Perhaps one of her old flames who could interpret 'Hanging out' as they pleased; the idea was quickly dismissed in favour of someone she thought may actually be able to lift her spirits. Felix.
Arctus and Diamond made their way through the neon lit streets off New Vale, the night sky illuminated by countless decorations celebrating the upcoming centennial festival in addition to the regular glow of the sprawling metropolis; in the week since their attack on Rhodium Torchwick's drug shipment the weather had improved somewhat; the night air was still cold but it was no longer raining on a near constant basis and while Diamond still used the temperature as an utterly unnecessary excuse for closeness to her partner and boyfriend Arctus found the climate enjoyable, warmer than Atlas yet not the clammy heatwave of New Vale's summer.
"Not a bad shift, happy for Chartreuse as well" Arctus noted, simply to break the silence. Diamond merely hummed in agreement, the young woman in question was a former militia fighter in Vale's defences during the war, barely sixteen years old at the time; she'd been offered a job as a cook on a ship which took regular voyages to Menagerie and would be leaving the Mercy Foundation; the other residents would miss her but all were glad to see one of their own getting their life back on track
"Dude it's awesome. I really hope everything works out for her" the Bear Faunus felt a sudden urge to kiss her so he leaned down to do so, heart beating a little faster when Diamond stopped him only to give him a sly wink and lead him down a small and disused side street between two of the gargantuan tower complexes, walls covered in graffiti and nay security cameras that had ever existed having long since been removed
"We haven't had any time alone all week" she answered in response to excited yet slightly confused expression, wrapping her arms around his shoulder while he gently pressed her back against the wall
"We've got time before our flight" she breathed out huskily before pulling him into a slow yet intense kiss which coaxed a low rumbling growl of pleasure from him as he returned the kiss, hands trailing upwards from her hips beneath her tank-top
"Thought you didn't want us to be 'that' couple" Arctus teased as they broke apart momentarily
"Dude shut up, or we can stop if you want?" Diamond teased back before curling her fingers in his shaggy hair and kissing his neck, gasping as his fingers brushed against a sensitive spot on her spine. The moment while enjoyable, was brief, Diamond stopping suddenly leaving the Bear Faunus more than a little frustrated
"What's wrong?"
"Grimm" her tone was suddenly deadly serious
"What?" the answer didn't make sense to Arctus, they were inside the Kingdom's walls and Grimm had no business being here. The two of them broke apart, Arctus following Diamond's gaze while she silently withdrew Lex Talionis. Arctus's eyes widened in shock, scurrying along the opposite wall with its' clawed feet cutting into the surface while it sniffed, seemingly in search of an entrance was a Plague-Bearer; the rat like Grimm was as long as his arm without including it's barbed whip like tail and sported a the spiny bone carapace common to all creatures of Grimm and oversized fangs which prevented its' mouth from closing
"Shoot it" Arctus, breathed out
"I don't know what's on the other side of that wall, I don't want to risk a stray shot hitting someone on the other side….get it off the wall for me" the Plague-Bearer against all odds seemed to be ignoring them, though this changed when the surface beneath it was engulfed in the glowing white of one of Arctus's Glyphs, severing the clawed tips of its' digits and sending it crashing to the ground below. The Grimm thrashed and shrieked in protest before tearing off as fast as it could on its' mutilated feet, a trio of Shot's from Diamond doing nothing more than pockmark the ground as it weaved around them
"Damn it. Come on!" she motioned for Arctus to follow her before sprinting after the Grimm
"Want to me set another Glyph up and box it in?" he offered
"No!" Diamond called over her shoulder "I wanna see where it runs to!" the pair of them chased the Grimm through the abandoned side street, following the light of its' four beady glowing eyes until it managed to make it's way out into a more open street, the two Hunters close behind until Arctus roughly grabbed Diamond's shoulder; a truck that had been about to hit her swerving, tires screeching and narrowly avoiding a collision. The silver haired sniper returned the verbal abuse hurled from the drivers window before frantically scanning the area for any sign of the Plague-Bearer
"There it is!" Arctus barked as the sound of tearing metal reached their ears, the Grimm had managed to use their momentary distraction to begin voraciously chewing through a manhole cover and begin forcing its' body through the hole
"I've got it" Diamond answered calmly, a single round from Lex Talionis bored a hole through where the monsters' spine would be, the bullet burying itself in the tarmac as it exited. Collapsing her weapon and replacing it under the sash she wore over her shoulder to cover her ammunition supplies she turned to Arctus
"What do you think Big Guy, wanna go check down there?"
"No" Arctus shook his head and thought for a moment "We tell Goodwitch. If anything it's just something we missed on our last mission that's found it's way to the surface" Diamond pursed her lips before conceding the point, the chances of Team FADE managing to exterminate every single Grimm that had managed to find it's way into the tunnels beneath the Kingdom alongside the Minotaur and Rat-King they'd faced were slim
"Okay" she then withdrew her Scroll and saw the time and simply clutched Arctus's hand, leading him sprinting in the direction of the Bull-Head terminal they needed to be at.
Felix stepped out into the brisk air, seemingly impervious to the chill as he made his way along the yellow brick road which paved the thoroughfare between Halo Academies' campus and its' own dedicated airship terminal; his eyes adjusted quickly and easily to the darkness allowing him to pick out the details of the golden statues lining his path, all of them students of Beacon who had fallen in the war; Felix knew many of their names and stories courtesy of his family. Making his way towards the airship terminals he looked for any sign of his sister who had asked to meet him here, eventually spotting her as the gleam of the overhead lights was reflected by the glossy black surface of the Omega Wing as it hovered beside her while she sat on a bench with her head down
"Hey Sis!" he called out as he approached, she didn't look up and instead merely waved. Felix shrugged this off and took a seat beside her, giving her aerial drone a grin which displayed his large canine teeth
"Sweet you managed to finish it, so what's up?"
"I'm shipping out tomorrow just thought you'd wanna hang….besides I was gonna ask if you wanted to test it out with me but there's no flights heading into the city" a quick glance towards the nearby electronic screen confirmed that she was correct, the only flights arriving at the terminal for the rest of the night would be returning to their hangars afterwards. Then Felix noticed that something seemed off with Corvid's tone, her voice was stuffy as if she'd been crying
"You okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine why wouldn't I be?" her words were punctuated with a sniffle and Felix turned and paid proper attention to her for the first time, realising that tracks stained her cheeks where tears had fallen
"Corey what's wrong?"
"Nothing, seriously I'm-"
"Come on for Oum's sake Corey it's me you're talking to" Felix gave her an exasperated sigh and Corvid slouched and remained in defiant silence for a few moments before speaking
"Fine" the word was spat with a bitterness Felix was unused to hearing "I was dating someone okay"
"Okay?" Felix waited for her to continue
"That coffee shop we met Mousey at, the waitress there, the cute one. She's called Celadon, she's a couple years older than me and she's awesome….It was going great, I was actually gonna ask her to come and meet you and our Mums when I got back from this mission"
"Whoa" Felix breathed out, he'd never known his sister to actually treat dating as more than casual fun, then the fact that she was speaking in the past tense registered in his mind and the dots connected themselves in his mind, his instantly becoming soothing "Oh no, sis….what happened?"
"She broke up with me" Corvid answered bluntly "By text"
"Text? What the- Nah who the fuck does she think she is? Fuck her she's not even worth being upset about. I bet she drinks pumpkin spiced latte as well" the Lion Faunus demanded indignantly, getting a watery laugh from Corvid
"I knew you'd know what to say. Read this" with that she withdrew her Scroll and opened the offending message which Felix proceeded to scan
'Hey I know this is a bad time but I think we need to have this talk. I'm sorry Corey but I don't think I can do this. I know that tomorrow is only a training mission but I've still been worrying myself sick thinking about everything that can go wrong. I know that being a Huntress is your dream and I'd never ask you to give it up but the missions are only going to get worse and I can't spend my whole life worried about if the person I'm dating is going to come home safe. I'm so sorry but I'm not strong enough for this. You deserve better and I hope you find happiness Corey but I don't think it could ever be with me'
"So she wanted out as soon as things got hard" Felix growled handing Corvid her Scroll back "Her loss. You'll meet someone else" Corvid merely shrugged
"Maybe, honestly I gave the whole dating thing a try….I don't see the appeal. Think I'll stick to casual"
"Hey do whatever makes you happy Sis" Felix shrugged, Corvid reached up and ruffled his dirty blonde mane
"Thanks"
"Do whatever makes you happy except touching my hair, don't do that" he grumbled
"You'd be lion if you said you don't love it really. So now we've got my tragic love life out of the way, what about you and your buff redhead?"
"Corey you are such a bitch sometimes y'know that right?" Felix sighed, getting a laugh from her
"Of Corv….Okay yeah that one was bad"
"And nothing's happening with me and Helios, despite what you told our Mums"
"But you like him" it wasn't a question
"He's….I mean….Look I don't know Corey, he's good looking yeah and I like hanging out with him but I'm not gonna ask the guy out just 'cos he's there"
"Hey you do whatever makes you happy bro" Corvid shrugged turning his own words back on him. The two of them sat in peaceful silence for a while, neither of them exactly sure how long, before Felix spoke up
"So you're shipping out tomorrow?"
"Yeah, last one of the year" Corvid confirmed "In theory it's gonna be a few weeks. I don't know any more than that"
"In theory" Felix sighed
"Grimm don't work to a schedule" Corvid shrugged "Hopefully I'll be back for the festival though"
"That's gonna be Team FADE's mission" he noted "All the first years are working security detail"
"Oh I am gonna embarrass you so bad" Corvid assured him with a devious smirk, the two of them shared a soft chuckle which slowly died down allowing Felix to give his sister a quick glance
"You gonna be okay Sis?"
"Yeah" she sighed "Yeah I'll be okay. It sucks, I liked her a lot but it Cela-don't matter"
"So you still wanna test the Omega Wing out?" Felix nodded in the direction of the academy "We can use the training area"
"Sounds like a plan" with that Corvid propelled herself off of the bench, the Omega Wing silently following her, Felix following suit as something occurred to him
"Wait….I'm not target practice right?" the lack of an answer was unnerving "Right? Hey Corey-" as the two of them left neither of them saw one of the last Bull-Heads of the night approaching in, it was perhaps for the best as Corvid may have been laughing with her brother but so soon after a breakup she was in no mood to deal with Arctus and Diamond as they left the craft hand in hand and giggling amongst themselves.
Eagle made her way along the secluded corridor in a floor of Academy between the parking lot and the control rooms operated my an unseen staff who operated the aerial platforms massive anti-gravity engines, she and her team-mates were quite possibly the only students who knew that Halo Academy had it's own small on-site detention facilities. It had been a week since Ren and Nora had begrudgingly allowed her to continue her previously secretive meetings with the captured Hellion Eudialyte though this was her first time returning to the Dragonfly Faunus's cell. Homework seemed to have increased drastically this last week and Eagle suspected that Aunt Nora may have had something to do with it, the redhead could be far sneakier than most people suspected when the need arose. As she walked, humming to herself she looked back on the week; the continued lack of progress in the search for her mother was disheartening but she'd stayed true to her word and not taken matters into her own hands any further. Things had returned to almost normal with the exception of the inexplicable strange looks that Felix had been giving her, she'd caught him staring at her wearing an almost worried expression several times but had thus far been unable to get an explanation from him; instead he assured her everything was fine and asked is she wanted to come to Patch with him the next time he visited his parents.
"Doot Da Doot!" Sentinel chirped, bringing her focus swiftly back to her surroundings. She'd reached the end of the corridor, Hellion's cell barely a dozen feet away
"Wait here" she patted her companion on his gleaming metallic cranium and closed the distance between herself and the bars, noticing that Ren had in fact managed to get a security camera installed
"Um, hey?" Eagle received no response, then she caught sight of Hellion sat beside her small bed, cross legged with her hands clasped in front of her while her head was slightly bowed. The blonde unconsciously chewed her lip as she took in the sight of the Dragonfly Faunus. Hellion's previously wounded wing had fully regrown though the attack she'd suffered in prison had left a scar which drew attention to her collarbones, her bust was slightly larger than Eagle's own and while she lacked Eagle's impressive musculature her arms were well defined, something made all the more noticeable by the tattoos adorning her left arm from the elbow to the shoulder and guessing from what her prison issue vest revealed, extended onto her chest a little as well.
'You stop that' Eagle mentally chided herself, annoyed at just how susceptible to a pretty girl she was; but the fact remained that whatever severe complications existed, Hellion was distractingly good looking
"If you want something then take it, staring will get you nothing little canary" a smoky voice taunted and Eagle's cheeks coloured as she realised Hellion had caught her looking at her for what was probably far longer than was polite; she rose to her feet pushing deep purple hair out of her face, light brown skin coated with sweat and jade eyes regarding Eagle
"What were you doing?" Eagle asked, trying to shift the focus away from her own embarrassment
"Meditating" Hellion answered simply "Focusing my Aura as much as this collar allows"
"H-how have you been?"
"Imprisoned" she cast her eyes downwards, seemingly unable to meet Eagle's gaze as her wings shuddered; when she next spoke her voice was a harsh snarl "Your book was stolen, some pretty Hunter with long hair, glasses and a scar on his face. If I see him again-"
"Um, that's my Uncle….he actually bought me that book in the first place" Eagle was torn between being amused and flustered at the range of expressions Hellion's face went through before settling on a mildly annoyed scowl.
"Then I'll let him keep his hands" she huffed out, sounding less like the battle hardened fighter and experienced raider that Eagle knew her to be and more like she was sulking
"Thanks" she chuckled "Did you at least enjoy what you managed to read before it was confiscated?" Hellion's only response was to turn away completely, wings almost buzzing which Eagle was beginning to realise gave a clear indication of her mood
"Hellion?" the raider hissed something out, syllables rushing into each so fast that Eagle was left blinking confusion
"I'm sorry I didn't hear-"
"I said I can't read!" she spat before taking a deep breath "Not in your language anyway"
"Oh" Eagle was left struggling to process the information. All four Kingdoms and the Faunus homeland of Menagerie had spoken the common tongue, based on the language of lands that had become Vale for so long that the records were almost lost to time; the only real indications of a time when this wasn't the case were those academics who studied the old languages and the fact that almost all towns and cities across Remnant were named in their respective Kingdoms' native language, as were many airships. Then Eagle realised with a start that she had actually heard Helios speak in his native tongue on more than one occasion
"I'm sorry" she gasped, explaining hurriedly "I didn't realise, I've only met one of person from the Anima tribes and they've never mentioned having problems so I-"
"What tribe are they from?" Hellion turned to face her again, expression equal parts curious and apprehensive
"Um, well his name's Helios Nikos if that helps?" Hellion's eyes widened
"The first son of the Nikosi is here?"
"You've met?"
"No" Hellion shook her head "His tribe are Mistral's lapdogs. They enforce the Kingdoms' law where they have no right, fortunately they never venture into the North. Though the stories have reached us….is he as skilled with a blade as they say?"
"I haven't seen him lose once all year" Eagle admitted. Hellion nodded silently, seemingly expecting as much
"But, um, would there be anywhere I can find you books in your own language?" Eagle asked, hoping to lessen how much of an idiot she currently felt
"Not that I know of" Hellion sighed "All of my people, most of the tribes in fact, can speak at least two languages but we don't all learn to read as children the way you do. I can read my own language fairly well but the only one of people left who can read the common tongue is Onyx. His father demanded it of him"
"But you're missing out on so much" Eagle was stunned, the idea of illiteracy was something she could barely imagine
"Books can lie easier than people and carry just as much bad news" the raider shrugged with a frown
"I'm gonna teach you" Eagle stated bluntly, puffing her chest up
"What?"
"I'm gonna teach you to read. Maybe books can lie, but there are so many stories out there that you've never had the chance to experience, that's just not fair so I'm gonna change it….if you want me to that is?" she looked sheepish as she finished speaking, Hellion stepped forwards and leaned against the bars of her cell, eyes twinkling with mischievously
"Little canary you are something to see when you get passionate" there something in the way she said the last word that made Eagle's heart skip a beat "I'd like that"
"R-Right, O-okay" Eagle stammered out "I'll be back when I can" with that she turned and all but fled the cell to hide the fact that her freckled cheeks had flushed crimson, Sentinel trundling after while Hellion's soft laughter reverberated through the corridor.
Rhodium Torchwick woke up with a start, though he was not one of the Kingdoms' most feared for criminals for nothing and instincts that had been honed over years of violence took over immediately as he leapt out of his bunk and threw a wild spinning kick, feeling his heel connect with something solid and hearing the thud of someone crashing into a wall he lunged back towards the bed and frantically pulled the improvised shank he'd made from two razor blades and a toothbrush from his pillowcase and advanced on whoever had managed to enter his cell unannounced; halting only when he heard a familiar voice
"Rhodey! Rhodey it's me….fuck!" the redhead came to a stop and reached for the light switch, the sight that greeted him was that of his cellmate slumped against the wall holding his cheek
"Tricky you dumb fuck, what're you doing?" he demanded while pulling the Weasel Faunus to his feet
"Was doing the rounds" he slurred out, reaching into the waistband of his prison uniform and producing several unmarked envelopes which Rhodium knew would be filled with Lien. His crew were slowly taking over New Vale Correctional Facility, cell block by cell block and Rhodium routinely sent his cellmate out after the wardens had enforced lights out to collect payment for the various forms of contraband that was being smuggled in on a daily basis, usually though Tricky managed to perform the task silently
"So what the fuck did you wake me up for then. I swear you wake me up then you better have brought a hooker in here 'cos somebody is sucking this dick"
"I spoke to some of the guys in Block D-M 10" the Weasel Faunus held his hands out as if this explained everything, choosing to ignore Rhodium's comment as he knew that the redhead most likely was not joking
"And? If you don't get to the point I'm gonna crack your fucking skull" Rhodium complained as he took the proffered envelopes and stuffed them, alongside his shiv in his pillowcase and flopped down on his bunk, fiddling idly with his Aura dampening collar. Tricky remained standing almost to attention as he continued
"Well one of the guys in there, he brings in shit that's not really worth anything y'know extra smokes, better food than the mess hall slop, that kinda shit. Well he's got a cousin who went away to college in Vaccuo who sent him these"
"I swear to Oum Tricky if you woke me up for a candy bar-" Rhodium fell silent as a small stack of photographs was dropped onto his chest
"We found 'em boss. Want me to call it in and have 'em dealt with?" Tricky sounded eager and pleased with himself.
"No" the redhead breathed out, a truly frightening smile crossing his face "Heading into Vaccuo and having people on witness protection whacked isn't gonna be worth the time or the effort. Get a copy of these made, send 'em to the mutt himself and make sure he knows who sent 'em" he made to hand the pictures back, taking one last look and committing the faces of the individuals depicted to memory. It had taken months but determination and persistence had paid off, he now knew where narcotics officer Brindle Bordeaux's wife and children and he planned to use that information to great effect.
Amidst the long abandoned and bombed ruins of the Exclusion Zone Phobos doubled over clutching its' skull in attempt to make the incessant demands of the unseen voice stop, the Alpha Beowolf found itself haunted by the constant barrage of demands to 'Come home to mother' more and more as time went on, yet was unable to act as long as the wall that kept the Grimm at bay still stood
"NO MORE!" Phobos shrieked as it lashed out a wall crumbling beneath its' claws, issuing a tortured and enraged howl that seemed to rend the air itself with its' intensity. Shaking its' head in an attempt to clear it the Grimm stalked towards its' destination, shoulders hunched and clawed forelimbs sagging enough to carve narrow gouges into the ground. Eventually Phobos reached one of the largest buildings still standing in its' domain, the faint residual traces of several emotions that permeated the place suggesting that it had once been a residential area; Phobos scaled its' damaged walls using empty windows and the remains of fire escape stairways to clamber to the roof and survey its' domain. The spawning pits from which more Grimm were be constantly being birthed remained hidden from the eyes and weapons of the Kingdom and the hordes had grown larger than they had been even before the Kingdoms' bombing runs. In the near total darkness of the Exclusion Zone Phobos could pick out the glowing crimson of the eyes of other Grimm and its' fanged snout formed something approaching a smile. Hundreds of Nevermore, Griffins and other winged nightmares lay in wait, roosting until the time came while thousands upon thousands of Grimm lurked through Phobos's domain, ready to be formed into the hammer that broke down the Kingdoms' walls.
"Soon" the Alphas' moment of pride was interrupted by something scratching at the back of his mind, a smaller Grimm whining for attention through the connection Phobos' shared with those under its' command. With a snarl the Alpha leapt from the roof of what had once been an apartment block, claws tearing into the surfaced of the wall to slow its' momentum; upon reaching the ground it sprinted in the direction of the contact, confronting a far smaller Beowolf with bone armour around its' cranium that seemed to be cracked and distended emerging from a hole that had burrowed into the ground
"What?" Phobos snarled the word slowly and meaning was forced into the lesser Grimm's mind before and answer was forcefully torn from it. The Beowolf had been part of something Phobos had been privately calling 'The chain of minds' upon finding the first barricaded tunnel into New Vale scouting parties had been sent to every corner of the Exclusion Zone in search of others, several had been found and Phobos had put its' forces to work clearing several paths into the Kingdom, this presented a problem, Phobos's influence did not extend far enough to prevent the Grimm from acting on their base instincts and savagery, ruining its' carefully laid plans. The answer came in the form of these weak Beowolf Runts that seemed to be able to act as rallying point, Phobos left one of them in each of the tunnels and channelled its' will directly into them which in turn forced the rest of the Grimm into obedience. The current problem that Phobos had been summoned for however was that one of the Grimm had been killed inside the Kingdoms' walls, a Plague-Bearer that had been burrowing upwards. The Alpha growled in annoyance before simply gripping the smaller Grimm and hurling it back into the tunnel
"Keep digging!" Phobos reasoned that it didn't matter, the plan was too far along and roots had been allowed to sink far too deep. The Grimm horde was almost ready, all that remained were a few key components and Phobos's vision would be ready to implement.
It had started out as a mere hunt, but as Phobos's mind and understand developed a new word suggested itself, one that seemed far grander and more fitting.
Phobos was planning an invasion.
Authors Notes:
So that week hiatus didn't happen. Mainly because right after I said it ideas started occurring and I haven't managed to find a new job yet, so I've had free time.
Now this seems like mainly a filler chapter but the next chapter is gonna be the lead up to the finale of first year and this sets up a few things. You'll see trust me.
Also I think next chapter is actually gonna work out as being pretty Team CLIR centric which I'm sure some of you will love.
Anyway let's summarise:
Thought the description of the organised chaos that is the Team CLIR dorm added a little touch, since the bunks that Team RWBY and FADE have aren't the standard and teams get a lot of freedom in decorating.
Something good and pure for Lux and Rusty.
Vulnerable Corey….because as bad ass as she is, she's still human.
Diamond Dust being typical horny teenagers, 'cos why not.
Grimm inside the Kingdom itself, only a small one but if you think this is anything other than a very bad sign you don't know my writing.
Arctus's guess was reasonable, but mistaken.
"I bet she drinks pumpkin spiced latte as well" if your siblings don't roast your ex like this then you need new siblings.
See there's a reason that Hunters end up with other Hunters so much, Celadon showcased it here; a lot of people can't handle the stress of that relationship.
"Do whatever makes you happy except touching my hair, don't do that" He is so Yang's son.
Felix was indeed the target practice.
People forget just how sneaky Nora can be.
Felix hasn't said anything about knowing she's Qrow's daughter but he's acting weird and Eagle's started to notice.
There hasn't been enough of Sentinel this volume.
Eagle will always be a useless lesbian.
Even Hellion thinks Ren is pretty, because we are ALL Rensexual.
So the Frost River tribe can't read, with the exception of Onyx, which is ironic because he was originally intended to be based on Tormund Giantsbane for Game of Thrones but he's grown into his own character.
Helios and the Shadow Cadre have never met but they've heard of each other.
So Eagle is gonna teach….if she can stop being flustered and distracted for like five Oum damned minutes.
Two razor blades and a toothbrush, that's how you make a prison shank.
Rhodium truly is a pleasure to write.
Of dear oh dear, Rhodey knows where Brindle's family are; and Rhodey "Fucking hates cops"
Phobos is still hearing voices, this is still set up for a much later story arc (To be fair everything about Phobos is proof of concept for something in third year)
Phobos has something like the Tyranid Hive mind from 40k and is using other Grimm as Synapses, it's acting as a more rudimentary version of Salem's control but it has nowhere near the area of effect.
Phobos has decided it's time to either go hard or go home.
Thank you to Araniladin, SumoSnipe, FleetOfWarships, FluffyFirefly, Unstoppable Cyborg, Arkanes Shippou, ShadowAlex2000 and CanadianCavalier for their reviews on the last chapter.
Yeah Arctus and Diamond were always gonna get back together, I just didn't want them to be a couple that has never had an argument or disagreement.
Glad to see people liked the return of Gangrel (It won't be the last time we see him in this arc)
I try and make my interactions as real as possible and without blowing my own trumpet too much I think it's one of my stronger points.
Oh Eagle is still useless, it's just more focused now instead of being "Oh fuck every girl here is so pretty"
Well Arctus still has his sword, though he made need to practice with it to get used to the new weight and he still has his Glyphs which he can use as a ranged weapon if needs be.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.