merendinoemilano : yeah, these past few chapters were almost exclusively people talking, so I understand it's a bit slow x)
Vinicius Henrique : Thanks for all your reviews, I always take the time to read them x). This time, you actually had me check back my earlier chapters, and I need to point out that Ruby does already know that Neo was Karma Rouge, and that Yang hid it from her. I realize I might not have explicitly put that in, but in chapter 31, when Ruby and Neo have a heart to heart, Ruby does mention that Neo used to kill criminals before then. Also Neo never allowed Ruby to tell her team. She said "Can you be sure they won't try to directly go for Cinder and ruin our chances to kill her?", and that was the condition for Ruby to tell her friends. Ruby knew they would, but she still was thinking of telling them, trusting them.
When Neo opened the door, she was half surprised to see people there.
Half, because she had expected Ruby to be curious about what would happen to her.
Surprised, because the rest of her team was also there, and they all looked awkwardly at her like they didn't know what to think.
She also noticed Oscar and Penny, but knew neither of them resented her. Mostly because Penny was too naive to resent anyone that was trying to fight on their side, and because most of Oscar's opinion of her would come from Ozpin, who would always welcome with open arms whoever could help him against Salem.
"Well, uhm… I'll be going," said Yang, "I need some time to think."
"Me too," added Weiss.
Seeing Blake, Yang and Weiss leave confused Neo even more. Why would they stay in the first place if it was only to leave as soon as she came out?
Ruby didn't even try to stop them, instead focusing on Neo.
"So, you're officially with us now, right?" she asked.
Neo simply nodded, a small smile forming on her lips as Ruby was awkwardly fidgeting trying to find something else to say. It was Penny that came to her rescue.
"Well then, should I bring you to a tour of the refugee camp?" she offered.
"Refugee camp?" asked Ruby as the four of them started moving.
"Vacuans aren't really… keen on outsiders," explained Oscar, "So we made a camp for the Atlesian refugees, outside the city. That's also where all the Vale Hunters will be lodging."
"Why outside of the city?" asked Ruby, "wouldn't that make it harder to protect them when…"
"Vacuans don't like outsiders," repeated Oscar, "making the refugees come inside the walls would only create more problems."
Neo made a small chuckle, knowing that Oscar was putting it lightly, and it was more likely than any Atlesian refugee that would have tried to get inside the city would have ended up mugged down to their underwear.
"But what about the Hunters?" asked Ruby, ignoring Neo's chuckle, "How are they supposed to help protect Vacuo if they can't even get inside?"
"They can go inside," precised Oscar, "But they can't draw their weapons unless it's in self-defense. Besides, they aren't even here to protect Vacuo."
"What?"
"Officially," amended Oscar, "Vacuans would never agree to needing the help of an outsider, so officially Vale's Huntsmen and Huntresses are here to protect the Atlesian refugees, not Vacuo."
"That's…"
Ruby kept walking, having a hard time wrapping her head around the Vacuans' line of thinking. Eventually, she seemed to give up trying to make sense of it.
"Then," she added, "What if we see a crime going on? Can we still intervene?"
"No," answered Oscar with a sigh, "The police takes care of handling the crimes, Hunters only intervene when there is a difficult case and the police department issue a mission for capturing some particularly strong criminal."
"That's stupid!" exclaimed Ruby, "We are supposed to help people, how can we do that if we just let crimes happen under our noses?"
"I know it's frustrating," said Oscar, "Jaune has been quite on edge lately because he was arrested for 'disturbing the peace' after stopping a mugging, but this is how things work in Vacuo. Ozpin tried to explain it to me, but I've never really managed to understand why it was important."
Ruby's scrolled buzzed, and she noticed a message from Neo, who was doing the explaining.
Vacuo's underworld is a tight balancing act. There are many gangs trying to own the place, and not enough cops to stop them all. Instead, they pay close attention to who gets arrested and when to ensure the gangs always keep each other in check. One wrong arrest at the wrong time can spark a gang war across the entire city.
Ruby was speechless, letting Penny and Oscar read the message while they made their way out of the city. They walked all the way to the refugee camp before Ruby spoke again.
"I… still think we should try to stop them," she said, "If the police can't do it alone, then maybe if we all work together…"
She was interrupted by Neo forming a spear of ice out of nowhere and pointing it at her throat. It surprised Ruby so much that she jumped back a few steps.
Neo broke the spear and typed something on her scroll before leaving them and going further into the refugee camp. It was so fast that no one out of the other three had gotten out of their surprise.
Don't try it. You'll do more harm than good.
Ruby looked at the message with some slight confusion. When a second one came, she realized why exactly Neo had such a serious look when she had pulled the ice spear out on her, even though she usually always kept a snarky smile while in a fight.
My job is to take care of any dangerous element that threatens the status quo. And that includes foolish kids that think they can do better where generations failed.
Contrary to what Ruby might have thought when she had first followed them, Neo wasn't here to spend some time with them. No, she was here because she wanted to make sure she could find and get rid of Tyrian and Mercury before they became a problem for Vacuo as a whole.
Of course, she knew that Rumpole had told her to get used to Vacuo again while she would check with her informants, but Neo also figured out one thing. Currently, there was one place that was completely outside of Rumpole eyes and ears, and that was this refugee camp.
Neo freely skipped her way through the camp, looking left and right for anything suspicious. Maybe she could even find her weapon with a bit of luck.
She really wasn't worried by being recognized. In fact, since Mercury and Tyrian had left long before the final fight, then they may still believe that she was on their side.
Seemingly wandering aimlessly, Neo made her way through the camp while meticulously paying attention to every single tent, making sure that her presence or actions didn't raise any questions.
She was a bit too confident, however, and that she realized when she met someone around a corner. A young tall woman with white hair.
Name : Winter Schnee
Age : 23
Level : 20 (100%)
Class : Duelist [You fight with two weapons, a long sword and a short sword, and are specialized in one on one fight]
Path : Loyalty [You have decided to fight for Atlas and its people, and nobody can tell you to do otherwise]
Destiny : None
Title : The General [With the last general dead, you were promoted to protect and lead the people in his place]
HP : 14/14
AP : 129/129
STR : 18
CON : 14
DEX : 23
INT : 11
WIS : 14
CHA : 12
Semblance : Glyphs [You can create glyphs that can be enhanced through Dust, and most importantly you can summon creatures of grimm you have already vanquished]
Status effects :
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transferred to your aura]
Defenses:
AC : 26
For : 26
Ref : 28
Will : 23
"What are you doing here?" growled Winter.
Neo quickly understood that she wasn't welcome, and most importantly that Winter still thought she was an enemy. Quickly, she reached to her scroll to try and prove they were allies, but Winter didn't give her the time.
She drew her sword in an instant, stabbing straight at Neo who was too surprised to dodge. The blade hit her square in the chest, forcing her to take a few step backs as her aura suffered from the hit.
- 22 AP
Recognizing that she wouldn't be able to survive this fight if she wasn't trying her best, especially since she didn't have her weapon, Neo left her scroll in her pocket and instead activated the Dust in her outfit. A series of icicles flew towards Winter, who wasn't expecting it in the slightest and was hit by most of them.
- 27 AP
Winter shook off the attack took out her short sword before slashing at Neo, who avoided the strike by taking a step back.
Then, Neo quickly dove under Winter's guard and swept her feet, making her fall.
- 11 AP
As she was falling, Winter summoned a wave of mini nevermores that pecked at Neo, who ignored them as she took out her scroll and showed it to Winter, her other hand keeping the Specialist down while ready to create an ice spear should she attempt at attacking again.
- 12 AP
Winter did not attack again though, as she was instead shocked at what was on Neo's scroll.
As it turned out, Theodore had given Neo a Huntress license in case she ever needed it, something that Neo had found out while on her way to the refugee camp when trying out her new scroll. Even better, her status as one of Shade's staff was clearly visible on the license.
Now that Winter was calmed down though, Neo stood up and freed her, before dusting off her clothes.
Much to her dismay, Winter had no choice but to accept that Neo was now part of Theodore's staff. She had to admit that she was surprised, as she had believed that Theodore would never allow Neo to work for him again, but it would appear that she had been wrong.
"Why are you here?" she spat out.
Neo rolled her eyes and simply walked away, not wanting to talk to her at all, but she was held back by Winter grabbing her arm.
"Let me be clearer," said Winter, "I am the one in charge here, so if you do not have a very good reason to be here, I will kick you out."
Neo puffed, but nevertheless answered Winter's question by showing her the pictures of Mercury and Tyrian.
"They're not here," said Winter, "Now leave."
Neo scoffed and did just as much, about to continue checking all the tents, when she felt Winter's grip tighten.
"I mean leave the camp," added Winter, "You are not welcome here."
Neo glared at Winter with all her might, but the now general did not budge. Eventually, Neo yanked her arm away and started walking back towards the exit, not without asking first about her parasol.
"Glynda has it," answered Winter, "Which you should be thankful for because if it had been in my possession I would've scrapped it."
To be continued on February 12th
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 18
Level : 21 (37%)
Class : Illusionist [You add both your Intelligence and Dexterity modifiers to your AC and to Dexterity or Intelligence based attacks as long as you can still cast illusions]
Path : Me, myself and I [You live for yourself first and foremost, no matter what pain you might cause others]
Destiny : All for one [Everyone can die, if it means you get to survive]
Title : The Gamer
HP : 11/11
AP : 76/110
STR : 12
CON : 11
DEX : 20
INT : 23
WIS : 13
CHA : 17
Semblance : The Gamer
Status effects :
Gamer's body [Your body follows game-like mechanics. You can restore 1/4th of your total HP (rounded down) by resting 15 minutes. You can only die if your HP reach 0 and you fail your last breath]
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transferred to your aura]
Words that shouldn't be said [Your last words almost caused you to lose your life. You cannot talk until you overcome your trauma]
Defenses:
AC : 29(34)
For : 22
Ref : 28
Will : 25