Chapter 19. Here's where it gets exciting!
'Hey guys, how's it hanging?' Sun called through a mouthful of noodles. The five members of Team RRWBY approached the two boys. Blake glared at the blond, and he swallowed his noodles with a nervous grin.
'YOU LEFT US TO FIGHT THAT THING! ALONE!' She hissed at the blond boy, and he held up his hands in surrender.
'Hey hey! I knew you could handle it, and you did! So everything's fine, right?' He feebly attempted to justify, and Blake punched him. The blond tumbled off his stool, and Neptune smiled down at him.
'You okay man?' He asked, as Sun stared up at the sky.
'Yep, I'm good.' He replied, eyes spinning. Jaye sat down at the stall.
'Dumplings, and a bottle of sake.' He told the stall owner. The old man nodded, zipping off to fetch the requested items. The girls glanced over at the boy.
'Aren't you underage?' Weiss asked, and Jaye ignored her, as the owner placed the bottle down in front of him.
'Yeah, I thought that too. But apparently he's nineteen.' Yang interjected, and Sun shot up.
'Cool dude! Can I get some of that?' He asked, and Jaye barely glanced at him.
'No.' He replied instantly, downing a small cup of the sweet drink, sighing in satisfaction.
'Aww, you're no fun.' The faunus boy pouted, crossing his legs on the stool. The girls sat down, chatting, and they ate.
'So what now?' Sun asked. Jaye glanced at the monkey boy. Yang, sitting next to Jaye, leaned in on their conversation.
'Now we check the subway systems I guess. There aren't really any in Vale, so I'm kind of stumped on where to look.' Jaye replied, spinning a chopstick in hand. 'We're going to have to figure out ways to get outside the kingdom to look around, and we can't do that while attending classes.'
'So what do we do?' Yang asked, leaning over the table, crossing her arms under her chest. Jaye ignored the sight, crossing his hands in front of his face.
'Mmmm…No idea.' He finally said, picking up his chopsticks. Yang glared at him, and he shrugged, picking up a dumpling. 'I mean, it's not like I can cut class for a few weeks and go searching. The only place that ought to have a subway system is the Mountain Glenn to the southeast, but I don't have a way to get there without the school's resources.'
'Well, so much for that idea.' Yang sighed, stealing one of Jaye's dumplings. He glared at her as she popped it into her mouth, grinning at him.
'Well either way, there's nothing we can do now other than to watch out for more White Fang activity in the city, and find an excuse to get outside of Vale.' He finished, putting down his chopsticks. He paused, glancing behind him as he poured another cup of sake.
'Something wrong?' Yang asked, and he hushed her with a look.
'Act like you don't notice anything.' He breathed, sipping from the cup. Yang looked at him, confused, and glanced backwards cautiously. The other members of their group didn't seem to have noticed anything, and she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. A movement and a glint of steel caught her eye, and she realized too late that it was a knife hurtling towards them. She flinched as the knife thudded into the wood of the short wall in front of their booth, where Jaye's head had been. Jaye spun out of his stool, drawing his weapons, as a cloaked figure darted out of the shadows at them. Yang recognized the purple cloak from the bar, and her eyes widened as a pair of swords; a katana and a wakizashi, clashed into Jaye's shield.
'Indigo! What are you doing!' She yelled, cocking Ember Celica. The others had finally noticed what was going on, and had drawn their weapons. Yang started towards the cloaked figure, currently engaged in a deadly dance of blades with Jaye.
'Stay back! All of you!' Jaye yelled, and Yang halted in her tracks. Jaye tossed his shield over his back, drawing his second sword, and spun into a series of rapid strikes. The cloaked figure evaded them effortlessly, striking back in between the blows. Watching the two fight was like watching a deadly dance, both parties in perfect sync, and Yang was stunned for a moment. She shook her head, clearing it. This wasn't the time to be standing around. She darted at the cloaked figure, cocking back her arm.
The person noticed her, and disengaged from Jaye, flipping out of the way of her punch. Yang charged, loosing a barrage of strikes, hitting nothing but air. She blocked a few sword strikes, countering back with a spinning crescent kick, and felt her legs go out from under her as the figure swept her pivoting leg. She hit the ground with a grunt, and rolled out of the way as the swords came down. She spun onto her feet, and crossed her arms to block as the figure darted forwards. Jaye dashed in front of her, deflecting the strike, wedging his blade against the aggressor's. Sparks flew as the edges ground against each other, and Jaye ran his sword forward along the opposing blade, stabbing at the cloaked figure's chest. The fighter backflipped out of the way, pausing as she landed. Yang stepped forward angrily.
'What's your deal Indigo? Why are you attacking us?' She yelled, and Jaye stuck his sword out to block her.
'That's not Indigo.' He said shortly, circling the figure. Yang looked at him, confused, and stared more closely at the figure. Only then did she realize that the figure was too bulky to be a woman, with broad shoulders hidden under the cloak, and the emblem holding the purple cloak to the figure's shoulders bore a different symbol. It was two swords, crossed, emblazoned in red on a circular badge tying the cloak to his shoulders. The swords he was carrying were different too, with red handle wrappings instead of purple. The figure darted suddenly, dashing at Jaye. Jaye raised his swords, deflecting the blows, but the cloaked man shot right past him. Jaye turned, slashing, but he was already out of reach and dashing straight at Yang. Caught by surprise, Yang could only cross her arms in front of her as the figure slashed, desperately deflecting the blow. He spun his cloak into her face, and she leaned back to avoid it, only to see a foot hurtling towards her stomach too late. She took the spinning back kick hard, landing on her back and skidding across the floor. The figure bore down on her, swords raised. He placed a foot on her chest to stop her escaping.
'This girl. You care for her. I wonder how you'll react if I kill her.' He spoke, his voice sharp and cold like a knife's edge. He raised his sword, the tip pointing at Yang's throat, staring at Jaye.
'Yang!' Jaye yelled, dashing towards them. He was too far away, he wouldn't make it in time. He raised his hand to throw his sword, but before he could, another cloaked figure darted out of the shadows. A purple-wrapped katana clashed into the figure's red one, knocking him off Yang. Standing protectively in front of the blonde, Indigo pulled her hood back, drawing her wakizashi with her free hand. She paced slowly to where Jaye was standing, her eyes not leaving the cloaked man. Jaye electrified his blades, spinning them in his hands. Indigo paused next to Jaye, and the two, without so much as looking at each other, darted forwards in unison. They spun, twirling their blades in a symphony of strikes, working in tandem with each other. To the others that were watching, it was like clockwork. The two fighters were in perfect sync; Jaye and Indigo fought like they were one, never getting in each other's way, never missing a beat, and their combined barrage of strikes overwhelmed the cloaked figure.
Indigo swung her sword in a diagonal slash, whilst Jaye cut at the cloaked man's legs. Backflipping out of the way, Indigo's blade missed his body by a centimeter, and he sprung backwards several times. The attack seemingly failed, they paused for a moment, before the man's cloak fell apart, the cloak and hood dropping to pieces on the ground.
'You don't deserve to wear that cloak.' Indigo spat venomously, pointing her sword at him. The man looked up, stepping forward into the light, finally revealing his face. He had short black hair, cut into a high fade, black eyes, and pale white skin. He was dressed in combat clothes, with a simple dark red long-sleeved jacket for his top, black pants, and dark red shoes. He had red bracers on his forearms, loaded with dust cartridges, and his Katana and Wakizashi's sheaths were strapped to his waist. The handles of his swords were dark red, with his symbol repeated on the blade collars. The swords had triggers on the handles, and the handguard of the sword was a short double ended gun barrel. All in all, the figure in front of them reminded all present of blood, not fresh blood, but blood that had been there for some time, not quite turning black, but turning ominously dark.
'Why are you getting in my way, Indigo?' The man spat, and Indigo spun her swords into a high guard.
'Because you're a madman. I won't let you hurt Jaye. I swear it.' Indigo stood between the two, glaring at the blood-red man.
'Your eyes won't save you, you know.' He warned, a dangerous glint in his eyes, and Indigo narrowed her eyes at him.
'We'll see about that.' She shot back, and the man darted towards her. Deflecting his blows, Indigo retaliated with a series of wide cuts, forcing the man back. Jaye shot around from the side, sliding a blast of ice underneath the aggressor, freezing the ground beneath him. The man seemed to hover above the ice, flipping out of the way of the ice as it shot upwards, freezing everything within the circle ten meters high. He darted around the pillar, kicking off it to increase his speed, and smashed into Jaye, knocking him to the ground. Jaye rolled back, kicking him off, and spun to his feet. He ducked the follow-up slashes, and retaliated back. The man sprung off apparently thin air into a side flip, spinning over Jaye's attacks and slashing, catching him in the shoulder. He pulled the trigger of the sword, and a gunshot rang out, blasting out from the rear barrel to increase the power of his slash. Jaye spun from the force of the blow, extending his leg in a spinning back kick, catching the man in the head. He spun through the air, suddenly halting in midair, two small glowing red circles beneath his feet. He stood sideways in the air, pacing around Jaye, the pads beneath his feet disappearing and reappearing with each step he took.
Indigo spun in, slashing the pad off his foot, making him fall sideways. He spun into a side flip, landing on his feet, and grunted as Indigo swept his feet out from under him. He froze sideways before hitting the ground, the pads back on his feet, and retaliated, running in a circular motion till he was fighting Indigo upside down. She was being continually pressured, as his strange fighting positions awarded him continuously changing angles to strike from. Jaye cut in, kicking him out of midair, sending him crashing to the ground. The man spun to his feet, creating distance between them, the frontal barrels of his swords extending. He pointed it at Jaye and Indigo, firing at them. The two evaded the bullets easily, but the man rushed in again, managing to outpace the two and kicking them back with a split kick. They skidded back into the group of onlookers, and the man stood, watching them with a smile on his face.
'You can't win Damian.' Indigo sheathed her swords, stepping sideways into a quick-draw stance, her hand hovering over the handle of her katana. The man, Damian, grinned at her.
'Really? I'm not even fighting for real yet.' He goaded, and Jaye changed out his dust cartridges.
'Well, he IS taking on the both of us and hasn't really taken much damage yet.' Jaye admitted, earning a glare from the auburn-haired woman. They returned their attention to the smiling man, who was nonchalantly twirling his swords. Without warning, he darted towards them, and Jaye raised his blades to receive the attack. Before Damian even got halfway however, a masked figure warped between them, receiving the attack on a pair of claws. All eyes widened as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and the masked man broke the blade lock with Damian.
He wore light red combat clothes, bordering on orange. He was wearing a simple orange, sleeveless vest, black pants, and orange shoes, with some armoring over the shins and knees. Bracers were strapped to his arms, with four claws extending out of the bracers over his fingers. There were small gun barrels protruding out of the top of the bracers, and the dust cartridges around his forearms seemed to be primarily ice and fire dust. An orange hood covered his head, while a simple eye mask covered most of his face, making him unrecognizable.
'What the heck? Who's this? Why are so many people showing up all of a sudden?' Jaye groaned to himself, raising his swords, preparing to fight. The masked fighter, however, darted towards Damian, slashing with his claws. Damian evaded the blows, retaliating back, but the masked man vanished, reappearing instantaneously in flashes of vermilion. He struck quickly and consistently, Damian managing to evade most of them. Catching the black-haired man by surprise, he knocked Damian back and into a wall.
'No way. Is that who I think it is?' Blake squealed, and the others started in surprise at the look of immense excitement spreading across her face. The usually dark and brooding girl was, for once, visibly excited by something, and was practically bouncing on the spot.
'Well, he seems to be on our side.' Jaye commented, glancing at Indigo. They dashed into the fray, and the three released an intense barrage of strikes, sending Damian through the wall. Damian grunted in pain, climbing back through the hole as his aura fortification fizzed out. He noted the heavy disadvantage as the three fighters approached him, and he grimaced.
'Well, I'd love to stay and carry on the fun, but I'm out of time. Be warned though, the next time you see me, things will be a whole lot worse for Vale.' He said, grinning at the three. Slashing his blade in the air, a dark red portal opened beside him, and he stepped through. Jaye made a break for the portal, diving at the mouth as it closed, missing it by an inch.
'Dammit!' He yelled, picking himself off the floor. Indigo made a sound of annoyance, sheathing her swords. The masked man sheathed his claws, retracting them into the bracers, and relaxed his shoulders. Jaye approached him slowly, swords still in hand.
'Who are you?' Jaye asked, and the masked man turned to him. 'I only know one person who uses claws like those, and can teleport like that. But you're not him. He's been dead for years.'
The masked man simply stared at him quietly, not saying a word. Jaye raised his sword, pointing it at the mask.
'I won't ask twice. That thing's coming off.' He cautioned, and the man cocked his head to the side, studying him for a moment. Raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, he reached up to his head, tapping behind his ear.
The mask shifted, unfolding, and retracted behind his neck, a pair of scarlet eyes appearing, blinking at them. As they watched, he flipped his hood back, revealing spiky red hair, and a pair of orange fox ears unfurled on top of his head. A massive grin spread across his face at the looks of shock and disbelief Jaye and Indigo were giving him.
'Kamina?' Jaye's voice cracked as he stepped forward, dropping his swords. Indigo stood on the spot, frozen, staring wide eyed at the redhead. The man, Kamina, grinned broadly at them.
'The one and only. Miss me?' He said, and Jaye tackled him to the ground. He got up, kneeling over the fox boy, throwing punches down on him as Kamina laughed, shielding his face with his arms.
'WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! IT HAS BEEN TWO GODDAMN YEARS, NOW YOU JUST SHOW UP LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED?! WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?! I THOUGHT YOU DIED IN THE DUST MINES YOU PIECE OF LIVING SHIT! DON'T SAY SHIT! YOU A PIECE OF SHIT! I'M GOING TO KILL YOUR SMUG ASS RIGHT NOW YOU GODDAMN ASSHO–' Indigo grabbed the furious boy by the armpits, dragging him off the laughing faunus. Jaye kicked and yelled as Indigo dragged him, and Kamina got to his feet laughing even harder. Weiss held up her hands, shaking her head in confusion.
'Okay wait, stop. There are a whole bunch of questions that need to be answered. Right now.' She said, rubbing her temples. The others nodded in agreement, quietly watching the fox boy stifle his laughter. Weiss raised a finger into the air.
'First of all, who was that guy that attacked us? Second, who is she?' Weiss asked, pointing at Indigo.
'Third, who is he, and how do you all know each other?' She finished, gesturing at the fox boy and the still swearing Jaye. Indigo patted him on the back as Jaye breathed, reeling in his temper. He glared at the fox boy, jabbing a finger at him.
'You're going to give me a damn good explanation as soon as this is over.' He demanded, and Kamina grinned at him.
'Sure thing boss.' He answered cheerily, tipping his fingers in a mock salute. Jaye glared at him, flipping him off. He cleared his throat, turning to face the group of befuddled people.
'Well, whatever. First of all, this is Indigo. Indigo say hi.' Jaye told the group, placing a hand on Indigo's shoulder. She raised a hand in greeting.
'Hi. I'm Indigo Hanazawa. Age is a secret. My blood type is B positive, and my hobbies include martial arts and music. Umm…what else?' She pondered, placing a finger on her chin thoughtfully. Jaye slapped a hand across his face.
'Indigo, this is not a dating site.' He said, and she blatantly ignored him. Her face lit up as she remembered something.
'Oh yeah! I'm an information broker for the Faction. You guys don't know what that is but that's okay. It's basically this huge crime syndicate that runs majority of the kingdoms from the underground. It's pretty hardcore.' She stated flippantly, twirling a finger in her hair. 'I met Jaye, Kamina, and Damian, the guy that attacked us just now, when we were in the Faction together. We were a team.'
'Don't say that so casually. That stuff is supposed to be a secret!' Jaye groaned, dropping his face into his hands. Indigo continued ignoring him.
'Well, I think that just about sums it up. Any questions?' She asked, and the astounded group shook their heads mutely. Jaye groaned louder, and Indigo elbowed him in the stomach. She glanced around, her eyes settling on the fox boy.
'Oh yeah, I almost forgot. This is Kamina.' She said, patting the redheaded faunus on the shoulder. The fox boy grinned, stepping forward to greet them.
'Sup. The name's Kamina Vermilion. I am a fox faunus, as you can see.' He wiggled his ears, earning an "awwww" from Ruby. Blake stared, wide eyed and mouth agape, at the faunus. She looked just about ready to pass out from excitement.
'I'm eighteen, I don't know my blood type, and my hobbies are martial arts and licking myself.' He joked, noting the disgusted look on Weiss's face. 'I'm kidding, relax princess. Err…what else? Oh, Jaye and I have been best friends since we were fifteen.'
'Well, it's been two years, but as far as I can remember this bastard was the biggest prankster around. He really only did it to the Schnee family though.' Jaye interjected, patting the fox boy on the shoulder, glancing at Weiss. 'Don't worry though, Ice Queen, if he does anything to you, you have my wholehearted support in murdering his dumbass,'
Weiss flipped her hair, glaring at the fox boy. Kamina grinned back at her, winking, and she made a sound of disgust. Jaye turned serious.
'On a darker note, that guy who attacked us is called Damian Roth. As far as I know, he's still an assassin working for the Faction. Why he's targeting us is anybody's guess, but what worries me are his parting words.' He told them, and Yang placed a finger on her chin.
'What did he mean by "things will be a lot worse for Vale"?' She asked, and Jaye shrugged.
'If anything, he's probably referring to whatever the White Fang's been up to. Considering they actually got ahold of the mechs, that means the Faction's probably in on this. It's hard to believe Torchwick or the White Fang had the connections to get ahold of stuff like that.' He reasoned, and Indigo nodded.
'That's the most likely scenario. Plus I'd been snooping around for more information regarding the White Fang's movements recently. That might've tipped them off.' She interjected, crossing her arms. 'That could explain why Damian was sent to kill us.'
Blake shook herself out of her stupor, stepping forward.
'That still doesn't explain why he'd agree to kill you in the first place. If anything, he seemed happy about it. If he was your teammate before, I find it hard to think money alone would suffice.' She argued, and Jaye gave her a hard stare.
'No. It wouldn't. Money wouldn't be enough for him. Only our blood in his hands would be a fitting payment for him.' Jaye spat, kicking at the dirt. The girls of team RRWBY looked at him quizzically, and he turned away.
'There's a good reason why he'd do it. But it's not something that you need to know.' Indigo cut in, taking Jaye's hand in hers, and Kamina nodded in agreement. 'Some things are better left unsaid.'
The four girls glanced at each other tentatively, turning wordlessly back to Jaye. He refused to meet their eyes, and Indigo shook her head. Sun couldn't take the atmosphere.
'Anyways, now that that's all cleared up, our food's still sitting there. What say we get back to eating huh?' He said, trying to lighten the mood. The girls murmured in agreement, but Jaye turned away, pulling his hand out of Indigo's grasp.
'I'll head back first. Get back safely.' He called to the girls, and he started his bike. Without waiting for a reply, he turned his bike towards the road, making for Beacon Academy. He felt his bike jerk as someone landed on it, and he glanced behind him to see Indigo on the back, wrapping her arms around his waist.
'Don't leave me behind AGAIN.' She scolded, and Jaye smiled apologetically. He heard the sound of another bike, and turned to see Kamina roll up next to him.
'Ready to go partner?' He asked, grinning at Jaye, and Jaye glared at him.
'You still owe me an explanation you know.' He shot back, and the fox laughed, kicking his bike into gear.
'If you beat me to Beacon I'll tell you everything!' He called back over his shoulder, and Jaye sped after him.
'You annoying son of a bitch.' Jaye cursed at him over the radio, smiling to himself and watching Kamina's back as they sped down the highway. He felt Indigo's grip tighten over his stomach as she snuggled into the crook of his neck, and for the first time, he felt a little bubbly on the inside. He wondered what that feeling was, like his heart was jumping in his throat, and his stomach was fluttering. It was vaguely familiar, yet it escaped him.
'I'm so happy the three of us are back together.' He heard Indigo whisper in his ear, and Jaye smiled. He finally remembered what that feeling was. It was something he hadn't felt in a long time.
'Yeah. Me too.'
And that's the end of this chapter. This is basically Jaye's reunion chapter and his story is getting revealed. FINALLY. I feel like it was a long and arduous road to get here even though it's only been a few weeks. Anyways, I'm not done, more exciting shit is coming up, so stay tuned. School is killing me, but I'll find time somehow.