This chapter didn't wanna cooperate...several things had occasionally went awry, and despite all that the chapter just kept getting longer. I humbly thank my beta(EmperorLuffy) for being patient with me and my absolute nonsense. But I think that we've finally, finally, found that decent point where we can actually get this out. Given the chapter title, something about this struggle feels fitting.
Let's begin this one with gusto.
It was a rather quiet morning for the Red Riding Hood Build, with Jaune being up and early, a bit more than the norm. Already having a decent idea on what to make for everyone, he headed off to the kitchen in order to get started. He pulled back the curtains on the kitchen windows and bright rays quickly flooded the cookery, leaving him drenched in morning sun. Feeling energized, he headed to the fridge to get started only to hear a chair grinding on the tile behind him as someone sat down at the bar counter.
"Cinder?"
He turned and glowing eyes met his. "I heard you were on your way to the kitchen. I arrived here first."
"That eager to see me, huh?"
"What?! N-no! You f-fool! I-I was merely hungry and-"
"Relax, I was just messing with you." Jaune laughed. Cinder grumbled and turned from him. She ground her teeth, hoping he couldn't see what was burning on her face. Though it didn't stop her heart from thumping in her chest. The sudden fear that he'd realized the truth was strong. "Well, since you're here, I guess I can start with you while I'm at it." Jaune proceeded to get to work, materials already being laid out as Cinder was quietly standing by. "Now, while I'm busy, why don't you tell me what's been bothering you?"
"What do you mean?"
Jaune sighed. "I've been paying attention to you. You've been going on missions but outside of that you haven't really been engaging with anybody in the Guild. You avoid eye contact with the others and when no one's looking your shoulders slump, and you hang your head and stare at the ground like you've given up on something."
Cinder blinked in surprise, shocked he was paying so much attention to her. Though for reasons she couldn't explain this made her quite happy. She soon shut those thoughts down and grumbled. Every instinct screamed at her to keep her mouth shut and deny it, she had no reason to share her feelings with a human...but this was Jaune, perhaps he would understand. She leaned forward in her chair, crossing her arms on the counter and rested her head on her forearm for a moment before she turned up to look at him. Her once fiery draconic eyes now seemed like a dull ember as they stared into his ocean blue ones. "...Is there any point to me being here, Jaune?" she said, looking him in the eye. She normally hated sounding weak or unsure in front of anyone but with Jaune she felt she could make an exception. He was her greatest enemy for a long time and somehow that made her feel closer to him than anyone else in the Guild.
Jaune turned towards her once he heard her tone of voice take a turn for the vulnerable. "Where's this coming from?"
Cinder shook her head. "It's been on my mind for a while...since I came here. I'm a Dragon. My presence will become a burden soon enough. That is what destiny has decided for me. If you continue to keep me here, great harm will come to you." She raised her head a bit and looked down at the table.
Jaune stopped his preparations and sighed, setting everything to the side. He dusted off his hands and turned around to give Cinder his full attention, immediately realizing how serious she was about this. "Cinder, there's no problem with you staying here. None at all. You've been doing your part. Honestly, you've been putting in more effort than we expected. A burdensome person wouldn't have even tried." Jaune scratched the back of his neck. "Not only that, but great harm? Cinder, look at all of us. We're the kind of group that's always gonna wander into trouble despite our best attempts to sometimes try and avoid it. I've long accepted that going into this life. Great harm is going to come to us whether you're here or not. And quite frankly, I'd rather you be here. It'll be easier to deal with whatever comes our way with you rather than without you. If we all waited solely on destiny to tell us what we need to do and how to go about it, we would be waiting forever."
Cinder blinked slightly as she lightly toyed with a few strands of her hair. "Even still..."
Jaune rubbed his chin as he tried to think of something else, then an occurring thought came to him after a moment. "I don't think those kids you met thought you were a burden either. They seemed really comfortable around you, once they got past the initial anxiety."
Cinder scoffed at the notion. "Is that so?" Ignoring the way her tail began to sway at the words.
"I'm being serious! I mean, fire isn't always used for attacking other things you know. When you gather around fires in order to keep warm. Campfires not only provide a bit of light in the dark, they also keep people warm." Jaune nodded. "Children like gathering around you because, well, you have a very warm presence around you when you're calm."
Cinder rolled her eyes at that, though began to linger on the thought as she curiously latched onto it. "Do you really think I'm warm to be around?" Her tail was lightly tapping the ground now.
"Well, yeah. When you're relaxed. Obviously when you're angry and aggressive the flames lash out and try to torch anyone and anything that offended you. But when you're just hanging around?" Jaune hummed as he had a hand on his chin trying to think about it. "I think of a campfire or a fireplace. Crackles and snaps, a warm and flickering light, that feeling of everything around it being safe and cozy in the middle of the night. I didn't really think about it before, but after getting more used to the two of us being on the same side and not at each other's throats, that's kind of the feeling I get when I'm around you. A warm and comforting presence. When you feel like giving it off, obviously."
If he was being honest, it was a similar kind of gentle comfort that he felt around Ruby, but in a different way. A gentle warm breeze during the day, dancing with flurries of rose petals. And lighting up the night with her radiant silver eyes akin to a starry night sky. It didn't drive away the darkness, she enriched the more comforting aspects of it with her presence.
Realizing he was somewhat getting away from himself, Jaune then chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Anyway, that's kind of how I feel. When you're able to take a step back and relax, your presence becomes much warmer and more comfortable to be around. Children love being around your warmth. I really love that warmth and comforting vibe you give off, it shows you've grown a lot from the time you used to try to kill me. I feel like we actually get along now and honestly? That's enough for me.
By the time he had finally taken a breath, Cinder had lowered her head, finding her feet to be more interesting at the moment. Suddenly deciding it was best to keep her face hidden away, if the heat she felt from her cheeks was what she thought it was. Her tail rapidly smacking against the ground. She's never been told something like this before, not with such sincerity.
"I-Is...is...t-that so...?"
Her tail smacking had gotten so rapid that she was beginning to leave a dent in kitchen floor. A glass that was nearby began heating up within her vicinity before ultimately shattering from it. The heat radiating off of her was starting to turn the kitchen into a sauna. She was feeling woozy, attempting to steady herself against the counter to balance herself, only to gasp as she burned right through it, melting the edge off and nearly slipped off her chair onto the tile. It was all a bit of a blur.
Jaune had managed to catch her in his arms before she collapsed on the ground, his high defense rendering him mostly unaffected by the sheer heat she was letting off, managing to prevent serious burns. His arms were around her shoulders with his hands resting on her stomach and lower back respectively and Cinder could practically feel the steam blowing and whistling from her ears as she was helped back to her feet. In no time, the heat on her face only became brighter and warmer as she kept her head down and her face hidden away in his chest plate. Involuntarily inhaling his scent.
Being a Dragon, Cinder naturally had an incredible sense of smell. She had always been able to recognize his scent from afar but she had never been this close to it before. Jaune smelled...nice. To say the least. There are other words she'd use to describe it but actually vocalizing them, even mentally, might cause her mind to shut down at thinking such shameful thoughts. Where normally you'd expect a Knight to smell of blood, guts, dirt, and grime from various battles and the carcasses of slain enemies, Jaune smelled like well roasted beef, delicious baked sweets, and everything in between. Cinder found herself getting lost in it. She was struck with an overwhelming Draconic urge to bite his neck. Not to kill, but rather to scar his flesh with her teeth, ensuring he bore her mark. To wrap her tail and wings around him, pin him to the floor and meld her scent with his. To claim him as her own. The Dragon within her roaring for domination!
Then, the most potent and prominent scent she caught off of him, stopped all of the building inferno within her with as much effort as blowing out a candle.
Ruby's scent.
Alongside Jaune's own wonderful aroma, the strawberry gumdrop scent of Ruby Rose was strongly present. Reminding her of who this male really belonged to. This very striking, sudden reminder pierced a hole right through the fog, enough for Jaune's voice to reach her again.
"Hey! You okay? You were silent for a moment there and you nearly fell! I'm gonna have to fix some of this later...are you feeling alright?" Jaune asked, concerned about her extended silence.
Cinder snapped out of her trance and sputtered incoherently at the closeness between them. Her Dragon instincts faded as she was brought back to reality. Tail still wagging and whipping about, before she cleared her throat and turned before turning away. Her hands sliding down his arms to rest in his palms has her heartbeat finally began to return to normal. Refusing to allow him to see her face as she felt her whole world would unravel if he looked at her right now. She straightened her posture, attempting to regain control of herself. Despite the fact that her attempt at a scowl to simply blow everything off, only resulted in a shaken pout. "N-Nothing's wrong, I'm fine. Everything's fine. You saw nothing. I never slipped, it never happened." She failed to notice however, that her hands were still in his.
"If you say so..."
Ruby was humming along, skipping towards the room with the intention of asking Jaune to make something sweet for her to eat. Her boyfriend was reliable like that. Able to make whatever she craved. She truly adored him for it. She tracked him by scent and knew exactly where he was headed.
Wolves possessed an extraordinary sense of smell. Imagine simply inhaling and being able to tell who has passed by and how long ago, what sex they are, where they've been, what they've eaten, what mood they're in etc. This was how impressive an ordinary wolf's sense of smell is. Ruby Rose being a Mythical Wolf, her nose was exponentially moreso. Which was why she didn't use it often. Who wanted to smell that much all the time?
As she came upon the path to the kitchen, Ruby couldn't help but notice the kitchen door swinging half way open. She stopped in the middle of the hallway short of the doorway and sniffed the air. Her wolf senses picking up the familiar scent of her Guild mates. Wondering what Jaune and Cinder were doing in the kitchen at this hour, Ruby silently stepped towards the door.
Over the next several minutes, Ruby would watch events unfold that turned her world upside down. Ruby gasped at the sight with her hands over her mouth.
Bearing witness to the the subtle way Cinder touched and clung to Jaune as he caught her. Jaune's hands sliding across her back. The way she tried to bury her face in his chest. The mad blush across Cinder's face that made her as red as the Red Riding Hood Guild logo. However, the thing that shattered Ruby's sense of reality was the smell. There was no avoiding the distinct aroma that wafted into her nose. Ruby knew the truth. Cinder wasn't just embarrassed. She was releasing powerful pheromones of a certain kind. The kind of scent one exhibits when a creature has found a potential worthy partner. Which means Cinder wants to...
Ruby felt her heart felt stutter and stop. Grasping at it as a cold shiver crawled up her spine. Eyes rapidly widening, she stepped back a few times, almost collapsing as her knees suddenly grew weak, before silently dashing away with a burst of rose petals without a word. Her hands still over her mouth, the only thing she could hear at the moment was her own thoughts.
Is this really happening...?!
Off to the side, Penny was dutifully working on modifications to her magitek swords within her workshop, particularly their enhancing cutting ability. Though after finishing up, eyes flashed briefly, and she immediately turned towards the entrance of the Red Riding Hall.
"Another friend has arrived!"
The door to the halls slowly opened, and someone slowly stepped forward, one boot first.
"Hello!"
Ruby and Penny turned towards the sound of the familiar voice. Cinder wondered what the commotion was about, as it appeared that a new arrival had come to the Red Riding Hall. And the first two striking things that she saw from said entrance was the long crimson red hair tied up in a neat ponytail, and the green eyes. And after a better look at her, one could see her wearing a black form-fitting tightsuit and various pieces of golden armor with red borders strapped to her suit. Somewhat bringing things together, a crimson sash was neatly and tightly wrapped around her waist. There was a certain atmosphere around her, for how she's about as impressively physically fit as Yang, with a statuesque figure to match. Alongside this was this sort of warm and welcoming aura to her, except, while Yang's was bright and sunny and boisterous, this woman was more graceful, subtle, and refined. It was immediately obvious that she too, was a warrior. A rather beautiful one at that.
It didn't take long for the greetings to begin in further earnest.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby and Penny exclaimed in unison, practically flying towards her with open arms. Pyrrha was quite quick to catch them both in a hug, impressively without being pushed back an inch despite their combined dash.
"Ruby, Penny. It's good to see you both." Pyrrha chuckled at their energetic greeting. "I've returned from my own solitary mission, and I've dearly missed you all." She gently sets them both down. "I take it the guild's officially begun running, for I've already heard quite a few things about you being in activity."
"Yeah, we did. Hope you don't mind that too much, I figured I could trust everyone to be able to make it back as soon as they were done with their own business." Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Of course, Weiss made sure to give me an earful over my eager hastiness."
"And perhaps I should again, just in case you forget!" Weiss exclaimed to her, scoffing as she folded her arms and turned a warmer glance to Pyrrha. "Hello, Pyrrha. Glad you're well."
"Likewise, Weiss." Pyrrha returns the smile her way, which somewhat gets her a bit flustered as she hastily turned away. Pyrrha then caught a look towards Blake in the middle of reading one of her books. "Have things been going well for you too, Blake? I heard you ran into the Beast Fang recently."
"It's true, but we were able to chase them off. I wasn't able to capture them, however." Blake muttered while flipping through another page. "I'll get them eventually. They can't escape me."
"So intense." Eyes eventually fell upon Oscar, and she smiled sweetly while waving to him. "Are you doing well, Oscar?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Pyrrha. Our regrouping is taking much longer then expected, so it's nice to see you're here too."
"Likewise." Then Pyrrha turned her attention towards Jaune, who had just finished with setting down several packs for the day. She smiled warmly towards him. "Jaune."
"Hey, you made it! Good to see ya, Pyrrha!" Jaune exclaimed cheerily, as they both moved towards each other to embrace a gentle and warm close hug.
Cinder's eye twitched slightly.
"It's nice to see you're well Jaune." Pyrrha pulled back and nodded. "I know it hasn't been all that long, but I did miss everyone during my solo mission. Although it seems that I managed to beat Nora and Ren here, since I don't hear or sense them."
"Yeah, they haven't shown up yet. You definitely beat them here quite easily." Yang rolled her arm while clapping Pyrrha's back. "You've definitely kept us waiting, champ!"
Pyrrha sheepishly smiled. "I might have been able to get here sooner, but I've come across an entire Grimm horde happening across a town when their guardsmen were injured from a previous attack, so I had to fend them off all by myself, in order to protect the people inside. It was quite a long and arduous battle."
Yang smirked. "And obviously ya won that battle, right?"
"Of course."
"Haha!" Yang guffawed while clapping Pyrrha's back several more times. "Epic as always, Pyrrha!"
Pyrrha clasps her hands with a soft smile, though she briefly hears Cinder scoff behind her, peripheral vision revealing she's folding her arms.
"I gotta step my game up if I'm gonna be half as awesome as you."
"Please Yang, don't underestimate yourself. That isn't like you." Pyrrha smiled back with a nudge to her shoulder. "You've plenty of feats of your own that I'm not quite able to match."
"Only barely. But that's alright, cause we've all got our own stuff we're awesome at" Yang whistled while she spun on a heel and gestured to Cinder. "Anywho, lookie here at our new recruit! Cinder and Pyrrha, meet each other. No need to worry about who's prettier, I promise that you're both beautiful."
"Hello there!" Pyrrha waved to her in greeting. Cinder looked towards the other woman, as everyone was gathering around her in greeting. And after a moment of thought, emotionlessly returning with a wave of her own, with little to no heart in it.
"Yo, Pyrrha. Since you're back, how about we go out for an expedition to sharpen up your adventuring within a group?" Yang smiled while sliding an arm around her shoulder. "I wanna see you in action again, and after that, you and I can have a one on one battle sometime."
"That would certainly be a battle. As for the expedition, we'll see. Not that I'm averse in accepting."
Cinder raised an eyebrow slightly, and turned towards Ruby. "They seem more invested in their sparring than the others tend to be."
"When it comes to combat strength and skill, especially the martial kind, Yang and Pyrrha are amongst our best. They're two of our heaviest hitters overall." Ruby clasped her hands behind her back and tipped back and forth. "They tend to enjoy their one v ones more than any of us when we're training, so they have quite a bit of a friendly competitive spirit between them." Ruby sweatdropped. "Unlike you and Weiss, which is, uh, not quite as friendly."
"There is no competition to be had from that Schnee. I am her superior."
"You're making lofty assumptions with paltry evidence." Weiss frigidly grumbled in annoyance.
Ruby shrugged in a 'what can ya do' manner before clapping. "Alright, gang! Another expedition is set for us, Penny will debrief us on the way, so let's get ready to move out!"
Everyone readily agreed, whilst Cinder was in the middle of tying up her scarf. Pyrrha moved towards her with a smile and a friendly wave. "I look forward to working with you, Cinder. Let's both do our best!"
"...Hmph." Cinder scoffed, as she walked away without further acknowledgement her. Pyrrha blinked at being completely brushed off, placing a hand on her chin and tilting her head.
Did I do something to upset her?
Ruby and Jaune led the way as they were headed towards their latest expedition spot, with Ruby having a hand over her eyes as she scouted the area from where she stood. Jaune also looked ahead once they've confirmed the location, with the rest of the guild following behind them for the moment. Several windmills surrounded by lush green fields of flowers could be seen all across the city, with the largest of all of them sitting within the center having six blades that currently weren't spinning, although the rest of them were. Ruby lightly rubbed her chin while getting a light look at it, wondering why this was. Looking down at the streets below, she could see that quite a few less people were going out and about than usual. Not that this place was always hustling and bustling, it tended to be a lot quieter than the capital city of Vale. But it was a lot quieter than usual. Hazier too, which involved a light fog having descended upon the city.
Cinder looked on ahead, gently tightening her scarf around her neck while observing the city ahead. A gentle breeze could be felt across her face, causing both her hair and her scarf to wave alongside it. She pushed some of her hair away from her face while said breeze felt rather nice and relaxing. Swirling winds that gently pushed at the windmills and were giving them power. It seemed that wind in this area was quite common and constant, though not enough for it to be uncomfortable. It was a refreshing breeze that gave a serene vibe that she could probably relax to.
"Reached destination: LightWind." Penny raised her hand with a bright smile.
"I can see-and feel-how it got its name." Cinder hummed while gazing upon the cityscape. "It feels like I place I could take a refreshing nap to, and not be bothered."
"Kick up your feet and relax. I know, right?" Yang smiled while lightly nudging Cinder's shoulder. The latter scoffed and turned away, which only made Yang smile wider and nudge her some more. "Ouch! I know we're in a literal windy city and all with this cool breeze, but that doesn't mean it won't hurt when ya give me the cold shoulder like that. Ya need to warm up a little."
"I provide plenty of warmth by myself, for myself." Cinder deadpanned, then demonstrated with a brief pulse of heat. Yang rubbed her chin at this, before she chuckled and shrugged.
"Fair enough." Yang rolled her arm with a grunt. "Alright, sis. What's the sitch?"
"From what's been laid out to us, people have been disappearing for a few months now, and the frequency has jumped over the course of several days. And some of them show up looking dead and drained." Ruby narrowed her eyes as her cape fluttered around her. "We gotta get to the bottom of this, before it gets any worse."
Blake noted as her tail whipped about, ears flicking. "I hear something...that way!" No one even asked why, they were already intent on following after Blake once she began dashing off towards the source of the sound.
"Damn brat! You didn't reach your quota!" A taller woman spat as a young girl in tattered clothes was collapsed on the ground, nursing her injured cheek as she teared up.
"I-I'm sorry! I tried my best! Really I did!"
"Trying your best doesn't mean squat if nothing comes from it, you worthless runt!" The woman growled as the girl flinched away from her. Something manifested in the woman's hand as she raised it above her head. "Failure to meet expectations is met with lashings. You know how these go, and yet you didn't do your part. That's unforgivable."
"N-No...no please...I'm sorry. I'm really sorry..." The young one whimpered as she covered her head.
"Your apologies are almost as worthless as your eff-"
The sound of something smashing into the ground forced the girl to open her eyes in shock. And she was indeed shocked by the sight in front of her.
Pyrrha had pounced into the fray, her shield having been thrown at the assailant, slamming into her stomach hard enough to knock her into the ground with a powerful slam, due to it also feeling significantly heavier all of a sudden. It soon returned to her hand with a wave, before she placed it on her back on her way to addressing the girl. "Are you alright?"
The girl looked at her in surprise, still in disbelief at what she just saw. Though remembering she was asked a question, she nodded quietly. "U-Uhuh.."
Pyrrha moved towards the girl to get a better look at her. She was indeed in tattered rags that barely qualified as a little dress, but she noticed something else; the girls right eye was almost completely black, with white pupils. Paired with that, there were ethereal black glitchy tendrils emerging from her back, cautiously waving about in uncertain fright. Not to mention her skin was a certain kind of pale, with several black lines appearing in her veins.
Blake recognized these features well.
A ghoul?
The girl whimpered as she nearly fell forward, with Pyrrha quick to catch her from falling over. "I...I'm hungry...so hungry...b-but the others said that I'm n-not allowed to eat until I do what I was supposed to do. B-But I didn't..." She shook her head. "I-I did bad...bad girls don't get to eat...that's what they said..."
Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at the implications, but she shelved them for now. Tending to the little one in front of her was more important. She gently held out her hand for the girl to hold, pulling up her sleeve. "Take some of mine."
The girl seemed surprised at this. "W-What? B-But I can't! I'm not allowed! Or they'll-"
"It's okay. It'll be okay. Nothing's going to happen to you while I'm here." Pyrrha reassured softly. "You need to regain your strength. I have plenty to spare and it's easy to replenish, so you don't have to worry about me."
The girl blinked for several moments, looking Blake in the eyes, then down to her hand. With a brief sigh, the girl took hold of Pyrrha's hand, and then placed her mouth on her wrist with a cute little 'hom'.
And just like that, Pyrrha felt some of her Aura gently leaving her. She felt slightly woozy from the initial few moments, but otherwise didn't flinch as she allowed the girl to feed for the moment. As she did so, she could see the blackness around her slowly turn to a slightly healthier and smoother, bright pink color, and the black veins in her skin just as slowly disappeared. Once the girl finished, she released Blake and allowed herself a moment to sigh with sweet relief, though she still looked a bit worried.
"D-Did I take too much?"
"No, you didn't. I barely even felt it. I'm fine." Pyrrha reassured, as she lightly patted the girl on the head, who soon pushed forward and nestled her head into her bosom. Pyrrha soon caressed the back of her hair as she gently hugged her. "Me and my friends are here to help."
"Friends? Help?"
"That's right." Pyrrha nodded with a soft smile. As if on cue to prove her point, the rest of her friends bad arrived on the screen. And after observing the crater the woman made after Pyrrha bashed her into it, it wasn't too difficult for them to guess what had happened. Though, Cinder briefly scoffed for a bit at how easily and swiftly Pyrrha dealt with the first threat. "Do you know anything that can help all of us? I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me something. But if you don't feel like you can, then that's alright. I won't force you."
The girl hesitated to speak for a brief moment, though felt safe within Pyrrha's embrace and the cushion of her ample bosom. She lowered her eyes as she tightened her hold on Pyrrha. It didn't seem like she could recall the events herself, or seemed far too troubled by the events to try to explain them properly. Pyrrha continued to gently caress the top of her head, her eyes twitching as she heard Oscar move towards the woman she knocked out in a single blow.
"We don't have to bother her if she doesn't feel comfortable. There's another way to find some answers." Oscar offered as he tapped the Long Memory on the ground four times, and a circular orb formed in front of him. "Penny, I'll need some help to stabilize this, will you give me a hand, please?"
"Of course!" Penny raised both of her hands as a technomagical glow around the orb, and it slowly expanded until it briefly burst, becoming a cloud of green particles that soon began to show something within them. They was glitchy at first, before they expanded further and formed a more stabilized and easy to see cloud of energy. "Chrono Echo manifested!"
Cinder nearly asked what that was, until she was startled out of it as an image began to manifest within the middle of it, and began to play out events, events that have played out within LightWind.
"You've gathered quite a bit of humans this time. It looks like you're not entirely worthless. Way to perform somewhat competently for your superiors."
The ghoul children whimpered as they were pushed away. They were only allowed a small bit of Aura to absorb, enough to leave them able to move without completely passing out and turning into mad beasts out of desperation. They barely managed to stumble along as their older peers completely absorbed all of the Aura of the people they captured.
"All you have to do is keep doing what you have to do. Keep doing your jobs, and you won't starve and go mad. That's all you have to do. Your contribution is important. And so long as you do that, you won't wither away. You can trust your superiors in this regard."
The children whimpered before they stumbled along. In several images, some of the children were looking despaired, seeing the completely withered and bloodied bodies of their families after having lost themselves to madness, and left them completely alone in the world, leaving them little choice but to turn to their Alphas for sanctuary, no matter how lowly they looked down upon them. It didn't matter to them how they were mistreated, just so long as they weren't left alone to fend for themselves. To fail to survive by themselves, against others who would see them dead simply for being Aura-absorbing ghouls.
"Fortunate that you're so compliant. You've all become so mature and understanding, taking responsibility. You've yourselves to blame for being homeless and alone. Allow your superiors to guide you properly." This was told to these children without any hope, despite the fact that they were the ones who held them back in isolation for long enough to be driven to those depths of desperation.
Images of these ghoul children being dangerously starved, then setting them onto their families and killing them from absorbing their Auras dry, which left them stewing in their guilt, only having these people left to go to...
The Chrono Echo soon dispersed, and everyone's eyes were wide with shock at the events that unfolded. Though it was quickly replaced with urgency, as they gathered around.
"No wonder this city's been so quiet. Someone got the bright idea to progress with this shift little scheme." Weiss muttered with frustrated, narrowed eyes.
"They're exploiting these kids,.after they pushed them to kill their own families out of desperation. That's even more shitty than if they had killed them with their own hands!" Jaune outraged.
"If the kids kill their own families by their own wills, even if they were boxed into it, they'll of course sink into severe self loathing." Cinder muttered calmly, though the crackling fire in her hands was anything but. "To them, they see no way out this situation because they don't have the ability or confidence to survive on their own...and the resources to contact those who do, have been compromised."
"They've stolen away their futures..." Pyrrha narrowed her eyes.
Ruby rubbed her chin and closed her eyes, despite her Aura briefly pulsing in indignation. After a bit of thought, she turned around towards everyone. "Alright. Given what we saw in those images, there's bound to be a bigger space within those windmills than they appear outside. Chances are high they're hiding their captives in them. Children and all. Were gonna go save them."
"We'd beat divide up our efforts so we can complete all of our objectives efficiently." Weiss began to draw Myrtenaster. "We'll take care of the three sub-windmills. The main one is bound to have their leader within it, due to them having the highest concentration of Aura via absorbed the most of it from their captives and subordinates that bring them substantial amounts of it."
"That's right. We'll know exactly which ones which. Strike all of them at once, don't give them a chance to counter." Ruby nodded softly. "Altogether now, everyone. Let's go after them!"
There were no rejections to this, as everyone had their equipment prepared. Cinder and Pyrrha in particular narrowed their eyes towards the target of their building wraths. "These creatures. Targeting the weak like this..."
"...No. It's not that." Pyrrha gently shook her head. "These ghoul children are much more powerful than they seem, a possible reason they're being used to gather Aura in such large amounts."
"That's preposterous." Cinder scoffed in disbelief. "These children are powerful and that's why they're using them? That's backwards. Those with immense strength and power are the ones who use those with little of either. Because they know there's nothing they can do to stop them." Cinder clenched her fists. "They'll hoard everything for themselves while everyone just withers away, because they can afford to do so from where they stand."
Pyrrha softly sighed, noticing their friends were already going on ahead. "Those with great strength and influence aren't immune to being exploited. Those without them are often ignored and thrown away like trash. And those with so much of it? They're envied, feared, isolated, persecuted, and preyed upon. They'll be used by others because they have so much power, not in spite of it."
"What are you saying?"
"Victims aren't always weak and powerless. Sometimes it's because they have so much that people will victimize them, use them, exploit them for their own ends. More often than not, they're manipulated because they have something the manipulator doesn't." Pyrrha rubs her arm with a sigh as she looked to the side. "It becomes a vicious cycle that's difficult to escape from, once you truly realize you've been trapped in it."
Cinder shook her head. "What you're saying...it doesn't make any sense. People are victimized because they're less fortunate. If they were more fortunate, these kinds of things wouldn't happen to them. Those born with a better life, a better environment, better talents, better anything, tend to be significantly better off than those that haven't been born with those things. They're so high up that they're impossible to reach, and from how far up they are compared to everyone else, nothing can touch them. No one can reach their greatness. Destiny has favored them. They can't be touched by anyone..."
Pyrrha once again shook her head. "You have a point in some regards, Cinder. But things change. Just because someone was born with a better life than others, doesn't mean it's going to stay a better life. Being blessed with things others do not have, doesn't spare them possibly losing those things themselves due to extreme hardship. Having all of those things only means that, in terrible circumstances, they have that much more to lose." Pyrrha gently rubbed her arm. "Fate can deal you a bad hand just as easily and quickly as a good one...no matter who or what you are, or what you were born into."
"How would you know about that?"
Pyrrha briefly went silent at that, before she pushed her hair away from her face and began moving onwards. "...We should get going. Our friends need us." Cinder raised an eyebrow at this sudden change in demeanor, and she realized that she was dodging the question.
"...Tch." Cinder grumbles as she eventually follows after the others. Not like it mattered what her answer was. She simply couldn't believe it either way, because it just doesn't seem plausible. People who were born with a poorer life tended to need to struggle and suffer in order to climb themselves out of despair. Someone who was born with gifts, talents, and all the love they could ever want or need, didn't need to do any of those things. They had everything they needed to succeed. They would never be seen as a burden to anyone.
Someone like Pyrrha. Beautiful, powerful, talented, trained, beloved.
People like her have it better than everyone, because fate dealt them a better hand. They didn't need to suffer or struggle, because they already had everything they could want or need to help them thrive through life. Fate doesn't put someone so high up on the pedestal just to knock them back down. It wasn't possible for the world to build someone so high up in life, gifting them with so much and so substantial to the point where they'd never have to seriously work for anything, only to take it all away and leave them with nothing. Even knocking them down off of the high peaks and watching them crash into the cold, harsh, filthy, unforgiving ground for good measure and full disrespect. The world giving people like Pyrrha so much, truly letting her enjoy and appreciate it all, only to snatch it away later and laugh?
That was too pointless and cruel for even herself to fathom. Especially to someone like Pyrrha, who also seemed like a sincerely kind and caring person with how her friends spoke about her despite how much something about her personally annoyed Cinder. She didn't believe it was possible. Such a thing simply doesn't happen to the more fortunate, nor the strong. It was because they were born with these better fortunes, talents, and strengths, to have it all right from the beginning, to be so high above everyone else from the word go, that hardship never manages to reach them. It didn't make sense for those things to make it all the more certain for them to be victimized, because those very gifts are supposed to protect them from hardship. Those aspects ensuring the exact opposite? They became not blessings...but...burdens?
It can't happen, that simply didn't sound right or natural. It NEVER happens.
...
Right?
Meanwhile in an expansive space within one of the windmills, was what appeared to be a circular shrine of sorts, with a malevolent symbol glowing on the floor. Several creatures were gathered within the space, and plenty of people were being shuffled around them in mechanical shackles they tried in vain to break free from. There were several whimpers echoing throughout the space, while others stayed defiant and were shouting at their captors to release them. Some were more in the middle, having accepted their situation but refusing to give their captors the satisfaction of seeing them broken up about it. Beaten, but not broken.
Of course, this barely mattered to their captors, as they pushed along one of the other prisoners within the massive windmill. And after a brief tumble, someone stood before then with a smile.
"Ah, here's another one for the taking." They smiled while tapping the person's head with a finger. Said captive gasped and groaned in pain whilst they felt nearly all of their Aura drained to near emptiness, leaving them weak in the knees and barely standing up, the color starting to leave their eyes. There was a sigh as the person pulled back with a pleased sigh. "So tangy...alright, I'm done with this one."
"W-What do you me-AAAAGH!"
Their captive yelled out in agony as the person standing next to the lead held out their hand, and the captive found themselves slowly, painfully drained of their blood. This continued for a moment, until they've fallen over dead, reduced to a dried husk. The person held up the orb of gathered blood, that was flowing bright red with an energetic pulse, and turned towards their collaborator.
"Another fine offering."
Yao looked exhausted and completely done with today as it is, sighing in annoyance as he reached up his clawed hand to inspect how much it was covered in blood. With a growl, he clenched it and then towards the five dozens of people he had just ruthlessly gored with them, as several others next to him began taking in the blood from their corpses and shaping them into portable orbs. Their bodies dried up into husks after that.
"I can't believe you had to go and make me do that. I'm not afraid of getting my own hands dirty, but you really had to go and push me." Yao grumbled as he shook his bloodied morphed paw. "Couldn't just sit still and just accept it. You had nothing going for you in this quiet with anyway, so the least you could have done is allow yourselves to be put to use like this."
"Well, aren't you a busy bear."
Yao's eyes widened, and he swiftly turned around to see that Yang was staring him down, whilst sitting pretty on one of Weiss's glyphs. "Not you again-!"
He wasn't given time to even prepare for what came next. It didn't take much for him to figure out that the woman was furious with him, given how when Weiss eventually launched Yang forward from her glyph like a slingshot, the matters fist ignited with such a blazing inferno that slammed into his cheek, and he roared in utter agony as he felt half of his face badly scorched. He fell to the ground, gutteral roars sounding out as Hang landed on her feet, her fists asking alongside her red eyes.
"You utter brute..." Weiss uttered, a glyph forming on her side and smashing a gathering of antagonistic ghouls attempting to attack her, without so much as looking at them.
"You went way over the tolerance level, Yao. You've already crossed the line trying to kill your only son, but you've officially taken what little ounce of decency you had left and crumbled it further into dust with this shitty stunt." Yang laid out to him, clenching and cracking her knuckles. "Now I'm really gonna have to burn the shit outta you."
"N-Ngh...!" Regardless of his frustrated growls of sincere fear, Yao refused to back down right then and there, lunging towards her as a full werebear again.
Jaune and Oscar, in the meantime, have already taken the time to freeing some of the other prisoners within the windmill. Jaune took Crocea Mors and cut through some of their restraints without a hassle, while Oscar made way for everyone to escape the battle and get away from the to avoid getting hurt. Though he was briefly surprised by some of the ghouls overhead launching themselves at him and trying to slam their limbs at him with Aura-reinforced blows. Narrowing his eyes, he parried some of the blows with the Long Memory before smacking each of them away with well placed, swift hits of his own, while Jaune knocked them all down with a swingle swing of his sword, the Aura cutting wave slamming into all of them and cutting them harshly enough for them to not get back up so readily.
"At this rate, getting these people free should be rather easy. As many as we can, anyway."
"Yeah." Jaune turns around and blocks an oncoming punch with his shield, the ground briefly trembling around him. "In all honesty, though? We've got the easy part. The rest have to handle what's going on out into he main windmill."
"All the more reason we strive for success here." Blake hummed as her shadows spread out and Behan escorting people out of the area. "Things aren't going to quiet down as soon as possible, so we might as well be prepared. However this ends, we have to make sure all the bystanders make it out safely."
Yao gasped in sheer pain as Yang punched him right in the gut. He skidded back as a ferocious blast of fire further pushed him back, before crashing against the wall. He coughed as blood left his mouth, it felt like his insides were scorched with how he was also coughing bits of smoke from the blows sent his way. He neatly stumbled forward as Yang stalked towards him with fierce crimson eyes that weren't at all as merciful looking as they were from their previous encounter.
That was more than enough for him to realize that she was truly furious. He needed to escape. He can't withstand her wrath the way he was right now.
"Get me out of here..."
"Not this time, dipshit!" Yang shouted as she rockets towards him in a burst of flames around her, inching to launch a fiery, explosive punch his way. Right when she did so, something appeared in between them. From the precious few seconds, she spotted someone with heterochromatic eyes and a parasol twirling in their hands. She opened their parasol towards them as she and Yao shimmered like glass. The display confused Yang but not enough to stop her charge, intending to punch right through the parasol to get to Yao.
Except, both of them shattered into pieces like glass. Yang was dumbfounded as she skids across the ground, immediately realizing that her soon to be scorched punching bag has once again escaped her. She grit her teeth and pounded her fists together as her hair ignited in irritation.
"Twice in a row?! Damn it! Who even was that who just saved his ass?! How many allies does he have on getaway standby, huh?!" She grumbled, before shaking her head and redirecting her focus towards helping the captives.
She sure hoped her sister had better luck with her enemies than her.
At the main windmill, Cinder was polite enough to completely bust through the entrance of the room they were mainly searching for. They looked up ahead, and seeing what they did, greatly caused them a bit of distress.
There were people all around the space, collapsed into their faces, sides, backs, and evermore. Most of them seemed to be out of it, barely able to muster up the energy to make a sound of pain. Though as they could also sense, quite a few of them are dead and lifeless, appearing as husks. Alas, there were still several of them left that were able to keep themselves alive.
And sure enough, they were ghoul children.
A few of them were whimpering as they felt the gathered Aura within them sapped from their being, nearly collapsed onto their knees. The one having a hold on them smiled serenely during the process, not laying any mind to how much pain this was putting them through. Several more were whimpering in the corner, knowing they were next, with some of them even beginning to huddle together while trying to remain mostly out of sight. It did little to help them overall.
"You've done so well, lovely ghoulies." She smiled calmly as yet another collapsed onto the ground with a pained cry. "There's no need to fret or cry. You're doing an extraordinarily fantastic job helping your better. You're fulfilling your place in this life perfectly." She lightly released the next one and headed towards a different group, their panic becoming all the more frantic the closer she got. "There's no need to fear, little ones. You've been told many times that this is how things are. No need to fear what's inevitable and necessary, as it's far too much of a burden for your young minds."
"Then maybe I can provide some input on their behalf!"
The woman heard someone chant towards her. Somewhat expecting it, she swiftly turned towards the source, only to find a shield crashing into the bed head. The force was enough to throw her backwards in a loop, before she rights herself and lands on her feet with an aching forehead. She watched as the tossed shield returned to Pyrrha's hand, and she could see that her friends were alongside her and were attempting to help the children beside them. Penny, for her part, attempted to find any source of life signs within them or on them, though she could only sigh and shake her head.
"A lot of these citizens are indeed deceased." Penny muttered sadly.
"As suspected." Cinder narrowed her eyes towards the lead ghoul, whom she could smell more blatantly than all of the others. "She's the source of the haze having descended upon. the city. And I'll bet she behind several other things going on here as well."
"Tch. Someone must have spoken up and spoken out. Oh well, not like it matters. Welcome, all!" She greeted as she eventually descended to the ground, covering herself in a black smog of smoke. "Aella Haze. Sounds like a pretty name, doesn't it?"
Ruby narrowed her eyes towards her as she recalled Blake's message to her, due to what the girl told her. A majority of the captives were dead within their Auras and then their blood completely drained from their bodies, and the children were drained enough to be greatly weakened, while the female ghoul in front of them seemed rather refreshed, with one of the ghoul children collapsing after she casually drained them. It didn't take too long for Ruby to put the details together, and the entire picture had her eyes narrowing sharply with her claws unsheathing themselves, paired with a wolfish snarl.
"Ah, yes. You." The ghoul smiled towards her. "During this little op, we've been given explicit introductions to kill you, little flower. And your friends if we're able. But you?" She briefly turned towards Cinder. "They made it very clear that you're to be left alive. Which, if you ask me, means they have something even worse in store for you."
"What? Someone wants to capture me?" Cinder narrowed her eyes. "Are they too much of a coward to do so themselves?"
"Not cowardly, just busy with important things. Besides, I volunteered myself for this little adventure, and they approved. And so long as I get results for them, I'll be given what I wish." She raised her hand while pointing towards them. "I'll have to suffocate life out of all of you."
Ruby and the others separated as a massive blast of smoke, which destructively exploded in the midst of them, separating them for the time being. Ruby turned around and a wave of flower petals parted the smokescreen that managed to surround her, trying to regain sight of her enemy. And as the ghoul pressed her attack on her, Ruby could get a better feel about the large abundance of Aura she had absorbed from the children, who have been gathering Aura from humans.
An explosive blast of smoke soon impacted to her right, with her barely managing to dodge out of the way. She coughed heavily for several moments; the attacks were a combination of smoke, fire, and ashes. With a hint of a demonic power infused into them. Resulting in the explosive effects the group was being subjected to.
"The way you're using these kids is just awful." Ruby muttered as she pushed out the smokescreen with another whirlwind of roses.
"It's an effective tactic, though. The truly soft hearted won't have what it takes to attack a child, then let their guards ever so slightly down around them, which leaves them exposed enough for us to take advantage." The ghoul swiped upwards as another explosion of sulfur blasts Ruby back before she could reach her. "There's such a strong desire to protect small and seemingly helpless young children, even when trying to do so is detrimental to your own health and goals. I don't have a problem with it, though. It makes keeping them around handy."
"You haven't once thought that they didn't want to do this?" Ruby dashed towards her with a kick, a whirlwind of roses smashing into a spiral of sulfur protecting Aella.
"It's not like they have much choice. Archghouls like me give these ghoul children something to do, somewhere to go, someone to defer to for safety." Aella briefly swiped her hand across. "They will happily hand over control over their own futures, so long as they're not left alone in the world. The prospect is more terrifying to them than anything." Ruby grunted as a whirlwind of sulfur pushed her back, slamming her into the wall. "They're too afraid to see their own futures with their own hands, which is why they're so likely to hand over that control to their betters. Like me. They're honestly very grateful to me, if you paid attention."
Ruby growled at this, until Pyrrha placed a hand in her shoulder, and stepped forth. "In which case, your magic suits you then. After all, smoke tends to obstruct ones view. You've used your influence to obstruct them, placing a smokescreen around people's futures."
"Oh! I like how you worded that!"
As Ruby and Pyrrha confronted her, Cinder and Penny were met with a much wider crowd of ghouls, with a rather bulking one leading the front. Cinder narrowed her eyes as she realized that they were channeling the Aura they managed to absorb from people as well.
She thought she was ready for the first attack, a punch from the bulking ghoul in front. Though she underestimated just how much force he was putting behind the blow, as even when she blocked it with her forearms, she was sent skidding back into the wall behind her, cracking it apart. She winced, looking up as the ghoul tried to slam his fists down on her. She blocked the blow with both her hands, then flashed a ball of fire into his chest, launching him back a few feet.
"Sturdy, aren't you?"
Penny, in the meantime, was met with several attempts for them to slash at her with several claws cutting into the area all over. She swiftly dodged all of them with a green shield surrounding her, then gracefully landing on another blade, stepping on it and rendering them unable to pick it up effortlessly.
"Rather clumsy. Friend Lie Ren is very impressive at utilizing Aura. Maybe he could teach you?" Penny remarked innocently, ducking back as another swipe of claws attempted to cut at her. "Will I have to regard that as a no?" She asked as she jumped over another swipe, kicking one of them into the wall hard enough to break it open. She softly balanced herself on one of her swords, searching around with a hand over her head as she rides on top of said sword, her enemies taking turns attempting to blast her out of the air. It was no use for them, however, for she was simply much faster.
Blinking, she clapped twice as multiple swords manifested around her, charging with green lasers. She snapped her fingers as several beams shots outwards briefly causing her hair to sway as they passed her. They targeted their enemies attempting to retaliate with their own powerful blasts of Aura, clashing with them. Then several more swords manifested and fired off their own beams in conjunction, slamming right into them, knocking them off-balance. The swords then flew all around her and short forth, slashing at them and knocking them into a smoking crater after another blast.
Cinder was knocked against the wall whilst the group of elite ghouls teamed against her. She defended pretty well against a whirlwind that tried to knock her off her feet, but then another ghoul formed several spears of them that shot forth and managed to pierce her sides, causing her to stumbled slightly and fall to her knees. Then, to her brief surprise, a piercing nail shot forth from the ground and stabbed into her shoulders, causing her to collapse briefly.
Several severed hands manifested above her, and each of them shot sharpened nails towards her as of they were blades, and she could sense they were Aura empowered. Though before they could reach her, they were shattered with a swift swipe of her formed tail. She then smashed the ground with her foot, and a massive wave of flames stormed forth and crashed onto them, burning them terribly.
Cinder narrowed her eyes as they each got back up again, before manifesting more hands that shot our nails that had Aura channels through them. This time she not only swiped them away with her tail, she pulled back her hand and tossed a sizable whirlwind of flames that swept them up and harshly scorched them even further. They ended up falling to the ground in smoking heaps.
Yet despite all of that, they got back up again, prepping their magic once more. Cinder fully manifested into her dragon form, and swiped her powerful paw across as it was coated in flames, slamming all of them into the wall and burning them even worse than before.
They didn't get up again, scorched badly enough that despite their resoluteness they simply couldn't continue.
"You lot are rather tenacious, I'll give you that."
On the other side of the windmill spectrum, Ruby and Yang were faced with Aella smiling as she was floating on a cloud of smoke, while also surrounded by magic orbs of air, fire, and plasma.
"These children were never going to thrive without me, anyway. I did them a favor." She launched a spiral of wine towards Ruby, whose own gust of rose petals collided against hers and ended up launching her a few feet away. "It's only natural that lesser people should follow their betters if they wish to thrive. That goes for any other creature who seeks refuge under those better than they are. It's the only way they can live."
"They have nowhere to go because you've completely upended their lives!" Pyrrha jumped into the fray and threw her javelin, the blade soaring quickly enough to blur and nearly hit the ghoul, though she managed a brisket dodge. "You didn't give them a choice or a chance!"
"That's the way things are, sweetheart. Some simply aren't destined to make choices or take chances. All they can do is submit." Aella wielded an orb of smoke on her hand, combined with ash and embers, and launched an explosive missile of it towards Pyrrha, who used her shield to deflect the blow, though it still left her with several burns. She slid across the ground as a glowing orb of plasma nearly managed to hit her. It swerved around her at the last moment, blasting the ground around her. "Shouldn't be too upset if a bit of smoke and mirrors would be enough to send them on this forward spiral. Then they only have to blame themselves." She launched another smile missile towards her, which was further pushed and empowered by a guard of wind. Pyrrha brought up her shield and blocked the blast again, except it was just exploded enough to push her off her feet and send her sliding across the ground.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby called out to her. Though not out of worry, as her eyes were narrowed with decisiveness. "You've got the go ahead!"
"Pah! Go ahead? What does that even-" Aella's eyes widened as she realized some of the objects around her have begun to levitate and gravitate towards her at blurring speeds; it was only through formula a sphere of wind around herself that allowed her to somewhat push them back, and a hint of plasma allowed her to burn through some of them. "What in the world...is this your...?"
Pyrrha eventually pushed herself back to her feet as she lightly wiped a mark off of her cheek with a thumb. She then shifted her javelin into a rifle and shot Aella once, which panicked her enough to deflect with her Aura. "I'll be defeating you in a moment."
"You seem so sure. How?" Aella didn't have long to be given an answer, for even more objects, particularly metallic ones in the area, effectively pulled themselves from where they were and launched themselves towards her at blurring speeds, forcing her to move exceptionally quickly in order to dodge them all. She figured out what the big deal was rather quickly, for each of the objects were coated with an esoteric magnetic energy, and decided that this was Pyrrha's Magnet Magic at work. Which means...
She magnetized me?!
Though she was startled by the display, she managed to regain her composure enough to continue. Swirling sinister smoke managed to separate the two from one another for several moments, and briefly engulf the entire area. Clouds of smoke soon manifested around her and four of them gathered around her. Taking a look at them, she turned around and flung them towards the others.
"Destinies are decided at birth. Both with how you were born, what you were born as, and what you're gifted with. And someone like me is able to see into those futures. And given how you've chosen to live your lives so far, it seems as though your futures are looking quite hazy. You four..." She launched several ashes missiles towards Ruby, Penny, Pyrrha, and Cinder. As well as plasma, smoke, and wind. Each of them managed to avoid and dodged all of them, with some of the attacks mixing together to form explosions of an even worse magnitude. "...Your futures, out of everyone in your little band of friends, seem to be the most obstructed and hazy of them all. If you ask me, it's a decent reflection of how you're likely doomed for failure. Maybe you should quit while you're ahead!"
"I'd prefer we keep going." Pyrrha muttered as she held her hand outwards. Aella's widened as her next wave of attacks were immediately pushed back by a powerful force, and she realized that Pyrrha repelled most things around her towards her target. "Someone like you doesn't get to decide how our lives go. Especially not someone like you. You're not an ideal example of how to handle the envisioning of certain futures."
She deflected a blast of plasma with a forceful push of her shield, repelling it and launching it upwards. She briefly stunned the ghoul with the display, before she shot another round towards her with her rifle. Aella grunted and disintegrated the bullet with a wave of plasma. Pyrrha soon held out her hand again, Aella was surprised as she felt herself being pulled towards Pyrrha against her will. Pyrrha soon readied her shield, seemingly concentrating into it. Then she was smacked across the face with it, and was sent flying back with such powerful repulsive force that she ended up crashing harder against the wall, enough to completely knock it over from the sheer force she was launched. The collision was harsh enough that she ended up coughing blood before falling over on her knees.
Pyrrha landed in front of her with focused eyes. Aella glared at her as compressed orbs of smokey embers and plasma surrounded Pyrrha and she attempted to detonate them around her. Though Pyrrha's power pulsed, she ended up repelling the orbs in different directions and heading them towards Aella at that. The ghoul had no time to undo her attack before they were turned against her, detonating and exploding all around her. Pyrrha landed on her feet, keeping vigilant as she noticed Aella dashing towards her in a cloud of smoke, a blade of plasma attempting to cut at her. Pyrrha immediately parried with her xiphos and repelled the slash, forcing her back to slam into the ground.
She grunted as she expanded her smoke explosion once again, forcing Pyrrha back a few feet. Several plasma beams were sent towards her, and she deflected them with both her xiphos and her shield as she stepped towards Aella. Another orb of plasma appeared in front of her and exploded, with an explosion of smoke and embers exploding right after, briefly obscuring Pyrrha's vision. Noting that she was trying to place her at a disadvantage, she then closed her eyes and pulled back her xiphos, then she slashed around herself and repelled most of the smoke away through a magnetic repulse. Aella was once again repelled, this time skidding across the ground and crashing headfirst into the wall. She coughed roughly from the impact as she was finding it more difficult to stand from the relentless onslaught. Though given how she was beginning to collapse more and more often.
"When you keep trying to obstruct other peoples futures for tour own purposes, you shouldn't be surprised if some of them eventually start fighting back." Pyrrha declared while calmly wiping blood from her lip with a fist. Penny and Ruby were busy to tending to any captives were left. Noticing that Cinder was approaching, Pyrrha nodded to her as she went over to help Penny and Ruby. The dragoness stared at the ghoul as she still tried to keep going.
"One of your magics. You're able to wield smoke mixed with fire and embers." Cinder uttered as she held up a paw, and a ball of embers levitated above it. "How fascinating. I think I'll try it out for myself sometime." She cruelly smiled at her as she extinguished the embers. "Looks like your future is the one that's been obstructed by your own smoke. Too bad for you."
"...N..Not a chance." Aella Haze grunted as she attempted to pull herself up once more, trying to call forth her powers but being too weak to dk either. "I was...getting there. A superior sovereign...amongst ghouls...I can still get there! I can still...make it! I WILL do it! You all...can't stop me...!"
"Oh? Is that a fact? Because looking at you right now, you seem pretty stoppable." Cinder scoffed. "But if nothing else, I'll give you and your subordinates credit for holding to your valor and displaying your strength in the face of a superior creature like myself. That deserves to be pleasantly rewarded." Her grin expands sinisterly. "I'll decide your new fate."
Aella Haze glared defiantly at her. Even once she saw the dragon's jaws beginning to part, and realized exactly what she was about to do when she saw no flames beginning to generate from her maw to torch her right then and there, she didn't flinch for a single second. She simply looked annoyed.
Better a dragon than an inferior ghoul.
"That should be everyone."
Ruby smiled as she carried another child out of the windmill and set her down next to the other groups that everyone managed to find, caressing her head to comfort her. Most of the captives were freed, and the general populace of LightWind began coming out of hiding once they were sure that the threat was dealt with.
"W-What's going to happen now?" Ruby heard the little one ask, and she smiled towards her.
"Things will be alright now. We'll be getting help soon so that this city can begin its recovery. As well as helping everyone else regather themselves so you all can move on from all of this." Ruby smiled while softly hugging the young ghoul. "Count on it."
The others were busy helping with reconstruction wherever they could, and also made sure to provide them the means to help them recover. Yang groaned as she pulled her hair back. "Damn it, man. These assholes really make it difficult to reduce property damage. Now we gotta fix all this shit up!"
"It's the least we can do, for we made up half of the clash." Weiss huffed as several of her glyphs lift the debris out of the way.
"I know, I know."
"There isn't much for us to do. Everyone seems quite hardworking themselves." Blake noticed, seeing the citizens doing what they could to get things back fix their establishments. Once the smog began to clear up due to the windmills beginning to spin once more, cleaning the air of it, everyone could see that LightWind would eventually recover from these difficult times.
In a rather secluded part of the city, Cinder was lying down idly on her side as a dragon, sighing as she was due for a rest. She was feeling a bit lethargic after everything that happened, especially with what she did last.
"And here I thought the rumors were exaggerated a little bit." Pyrrha noted as she was sitting nearby, simply staring up towards the skies. She didn't seem mind simply taking a moment to enjoy the scenery now that the smog was all cleared up. Nor was she all that bothered by the fact that the dragon next to her currently had a visibly stuffed belly, having gorged herself on all of the enemy ghouls that have antagonized the city and tried to drain its residents dry of their Auras and then their blood to further empower themselves, practically feeding off of them without meaningful resistance.
It probably wasn't pleasant being on the receiving end of the experience.
"A powerful ghoul leader is one thing. But her ghoul subordinates increased their strength as well by siphoning the Aura out of others. Thus they became quite powerful." The dragon somewhat bared her fangs a bit with a yawn. "Which was fine by me. I prefer them powerful, as well as large, plentiful and malicious."
"Really? How come?"
"It's proof that I was the superior one in the exchange. A powerful foe yields a greater contribution to the inner pyre burning within me, than a pitifully weak one. You can't sustain a suitably strong fire if the fuel is too weak, too small, or too scarce. It's more sufficient when they're powerful, large, and/or numerous." Cinder closed her eyes. "As for malevolence...people are less likely to raise complaints on who or what foe or creature I devour if the subject is wicked to their core. Specifically targeting and removing them benefits me more, and is more likely to yield further rewards. The more malicious they are, the less likely they'll be missed."
"Also malicious rhymes with delicious!" Penny exclaimed as she effortlessly lifted a roof over her head to place atop one of the fixed structures. Cinder pointed her tail towards her.
"A rather simple way to put it, but she understands. I prefer them formidable and flagitious. If they're immensely so in both aspects, then so much the better."
"You have quite an interesting way of approaching it." Pyrrha smiles while scratching her cheek. "It doesn't cause any harm to you, does it?"
"I've devoured many strong foes and monsters for years. As a show of my dominance, as well as declaring their strength worthy of converting into pyric energy that empowers my inner dragon fire. None have survived the powerful furnace burning within me for long once I've claimed them. Because I'm their superior." Cinder quietly hiccups, laying down on her front, stretching her scaly arms like a cat, calmly lying down.
"So, you prefer when they're vile and challenging." Pyrrha smiled slightly. "We're kind of similar in that way. Powerful opponents tend to be my preferred way of really testing myself."
Cinder simply huffed, but didn't disagree. Then she turned towards Pyrrha once more as she recalled something from earlier. "What you said about the gifted being so exploitable. What do you mean by that?" She narrowed her eyes. "Wait. Let me guess. Personal experience?"
Pyrrha didn't turn her way just yet, still sitting idly where she was. "...People always saw me as someone blessed with extraordinary talent, and a plethora of opportunities. Especially as a warrior of my generation, which I proved in four years of victories in gladiator duels against various wild monsters back in Mistral. People showered me with praise and adoration."
Cinder rolled her eyes, unimpressed.
Pyrrha gently clasped her hands. "Then, when I turned sixteen, I made a choice that neither my parents or peers agreed with, as it endangered their chances of living with luxury. I chose my friends over my career at the time when they forced me to choose. So to preserve their gains, they used my 'downfall' to their benefit, and left me alone to bask in their success."
"...What." That was enough to get Cinder to pay more attention.
Pyrrha smiled sadly. "I was only a means for them to enrich their own lives through my successes. And when I chose to walk a different path, they didn't hesitate to leave me behind with whatever I had left to my name at the time, and used that in order to benefit themselves further. 'Pyrrha Nikos' Fall from Grace.' They made quite the success for themselves after that, and haven't spared a glance my way since." She softly shook her head, her smile still solemn. "I apologized for failing to mean more to them than that."
Cinder could only continue to stare. From what she's hearing, Pyrrha's parents and peers lived vicariously through her to obtain the opportunities that they never had the talent or drive to take for themselves, the futures they were never able to create with their own power and will, due to a lack of either. Not lifting a single finger and letting her do all of the heavy lifting. Then they had the gall to cut her loose when she refused to let them do that to her anymore, and then found a way to benefit from falling from grace and leaving her behind. Cinder truly didn't think that there was any way for someone as gifted and blessed with strength as Pyrrha could ever be exploited by anyone, but fate found a way to bring her down so low despite all of that. Destiny turned Pyrrha's blessings into burdens. She was exploited and used through them, and not seen as a person to love and respect, but to wring dry of everything she had to offer. And when she decided not to take that a anymore, she was thrown away.
Destiny gave Pyrrha all the gifts she needed, placed her on a high pedestal to being the best...only to knock her right back down at her worst.
Why? What would be the point of that? It didn't sound fair at all.
Jaune apparently shared her sentiment, seeing as he was glaring. "Pyrrha, we talked about this."
"I know, Jaune. I don't feel that way anymore. It's been seven years since then, after all." Pyrrha shook her head, though she wasn't able to hide the tear she quickly wiped from her eye. "Nevertheless, it's part of the reason why I wanted to keep going, and how I wanted to strive to do better for myself, have firmer pride in myself, and a stronger grasp over my own future. Ironically, everyone leaving me behind has left me feeling more free than ever." She smiles. "Because I made new friends, and found a new place to belong."
"Definitely." Jaune nodded while patting her shoulder.
"Absolutely!" Ruby and Penny both raised their hands with a cheer.
Pyrrha smiled at them. "It's why I dedicate myself to the Red Riding Hood Guild. Even powerful and talented people can become victims of those who covet those very things, and I refuse to allow my friends to be amongst those victims. I'll defeat and conquer anyone and anything that tries. I'll show everyone the strength and power of self-determination."
Cinder blinked at such a thing, before scoffing again. "Do you really believe in that?"
"We believe in a future where effort AND natural talent work hand in hand to achieve amazing things. You can only get so far with only one or the other." Ruby calmly adds, looking surprisingly mature for the moment. "So long as there are people out there who think sheer effort is useless against overwhelming odds, and people who believe those with natural talents should be exploited and oppressed, things are not going to get better."
"Wasted effort is about as pointless as wasted talent. If you don't give talent a direction or effort a purpose, then there's no use in either." Oscar shook his bead. "Of course, no one is perfect. Some opportunities will be missed despite our best efforts and abilities. But there will be plenty more, especially when you create them yourself."
"The potential is limitless when you combine effort and talent together!" Penny raised her hand excitedly. "Just like magitek, when you combine magic and technology! That kind of thing!"
"Sometimes, perseverance is a talent of its own, and we see the fruits of our labor." Jaune scratched his cheek.
"The power to achieve our desires lies within our own abilities, diligence, and values. A proper balance and improvement of all three will bring forth our true potential." Pyrrha hummed.
Cinder scoffed still, paws shifted forward. "You all sound so confident in yourselves. So certain that you can even control fate."
"Our only limits are the ones we place on ourselves." Pyrrha calmly declared. "Cinder. Do you believe in destiny? Truly?
Cinder blinked for a moment, before she slowly nodded. "Yes."
"Which kind? A destiny that's already been decided for you, or the one shaped by your own determination? If you see a fate that benefits you that's already been decided, will you be able to make it a reality? If you see a fate that you disapprove of and reject, will you have the will to create your own path?" Pyrrha asked. "Do you have an immensely powerful faith in your own strength and ability to do either?"
Cinder...didn't know what to say. She looked at Pyrrha as if she was saying something beyond her understanding. Her currently draconic eyes tried to search for anything beyond, but Pyrrha laid out an earnest question for her. And in the midst of such an earnest question...she didn't have it in her to answer honestly.
Because she sincerely didn't know.
"If we see a fate that we like, we follow it and make it so. If we see one we don't like, we say 'nope', and make sure it doesn't happen." Ruby simplified as she rocked back and forth. "Self-determination is someone everyone has no matter who or what they're born from. But they don't always have faith in it or their power to truly act on it. Do you have faith in your own power, Cinder?"
Cinder briefly pondered over that, before she grumbled and turned her head away. "Maybe there's some possible fruitfulness to that kind of mindset..."
"May those who accept their fate be granted Happiness; may those who defy their fate be granted Glory." Pyrrha quietly chanted to herself, and Cinder felt her Aura pulse and renew itself slightly because of it. Something about those words granted her strength.
"I'm sure you'll come around eventually." Jaune reassured Cinder once she snapped out of her wonder.
As Cinder was simply resting, she found that actually sleeping would have to wait, for the children were upon her. She looked rather surprised as they gathered around her and rested against the dragon body, without any fear in their eyes or their hearts. Sincerely baffled at them snuggling up to the warmth of her roundly stuffed belly, she turned to Ruby, who simply smiled as one of them was lying comfortably on her lap.
"Looks like they like you for making the scary monsters go away. And you're kind of warm to lay against."
"I'm the scariest one here. And I didn't do it for them. I've claimed this territory as my own and proved it via the demonstration and confirmation of my dominance comparison to those ghouls attempting to claim it for themselves. I was the victor, and I helped myself to the spoils." Cinder huffed as she slowly began adjusting her posture, laying suitably on her side. "Their gratitude doesn't mean anything to me." She says, as she shifted in a way for the kids to have more room to comfortably lie against her belly.
"Oh really? Then why do you look so okay with this?" Ruby's smile turned into a smirk as Cinder's head turned away from her in, to Jaune's amusement hence his snicker, a cutely petulant manner.
"If this is their way of recognizing my power, then so be it. I'll accept their worship and their offerings to me so long as they remember who's the one response for their salvation. They're in debt to me now."
"And you're demonstrating that by letting these cute tired kiddies sleep against your warm dragon bod?" Yang points out with a smirk of her own.
"They'll need proper rest in order for them to competently provide me with further repayments. I should be willing to give them that much before they can do so."
"Man, you're really committing to this bit, are ya?"
"In any case..." Pyrrha turned to Cinder with a smile. "I hope we'll be able to keep working well together, Cinder."
Cinder scoffed again, the dragon simply laying down as the kids gathered around and relaxed against her. It wasn't the worst feeling in the world, so there wasn't any use in making a fuss about it.
If there was one core thing she could take from this entire experience, it's that Pyrrha wasn't as bad as she was believing her to be. Her initial dislike was mostly unwarranted. She wouldn't say she liked her just yet, but there was something of a path for them to cooperate.
Meanwhile, a bit outside of LightWind, Yao sighed as he was still nursing the vicious burn that Yang landed on half of his face. With him, the short heterochromatic woman had all of the gathered blood from the citizens up to that point, and handed it to the woman in front of her.
Lady Beat nodded in approval as she accepted the gathered amounts of blood and began its transfer. "This amount of blood from this city should suffice. There might be no more to be gathered from here for now, but there will be time and opportunities later." She turned to Yao. "However, you've failed to retrieve the dragon."
"That dragon snacked on all of the enemy ghouls that fought her and her band!" Yao complained, yelping from the burns on his face. "You seriously expect me to do something against that?!"
"I expect you to be more successful next time, as you've wasted your first chance."
Damn that stupid blonde for sending me deeper into hot water!
Lady Beat paid no heed to his plight, simply opening the blood portal around her and stepping into it.
At least in this regard, things were progressing still. Information was gathered, blood was gathered, and a new perspective as gathered. This operation was perfectly ruled by threes.
It wouldn't be long now.
Repeat, this chapter really didn't wanna work with me...but I persevere regardless of that!
It ain't quite a friendship, but Cinder and Pyrrha are on their way to getting along a little bit better. They've simply got different perspectives on life formed by their experiences. They're quite a bit more alike than either of them realize. Yang does have quite a point about both of them being beautiful, and they're both their own variation of powerhouse.
Ghouls are on the prowl. Some pretty bad, but others are quite decent and in need of help. Unfortunately for the former, Dragon!Cinder has her ways of dealing with sinister foes like them after their defeat to further display her dominance, and this one is probably topping amongst her favorites. This is one of the perks of having a dragon on your side.
The troubles will probably continue eventually, given that Yao is persistent on not getting taken out just yet. Who knows how long that will last, though?
What awaits us next, we'll surely find out.
