Ruby awoke with a start, sitting up she looked at her nightstand and saw that it was just past 4 in the afternoon, she thought back to the dream she had. It felt so real, her telling her mother, and her mom actually believing her... she shook her head and got ready for the day.
As Aurum got ready she heard her scroll ping, grabbing the small device off the counter she read the message from an unknown number, found one. next? Aurum grinned and sent a message back Which one? Waiting only a few seconds she got a reply Pink She let out a small hmm, and sent a reply Keep tabs, let me know location in 2 days, don't get spotted, All she got in response was 10.
Nodding to herself Aurum put her scroll away and continued with her day.
Walking out into the Employee lounge Aurum was greeted by Theodore, "Ah there she is, you sure did sleep quite a while, sadly I had other business to attend to this morning so I had to get up early. How are you feeling?"
Aurum simply gave a small smile and replied, "I'm feeling okay, I had a weird dream, but that's about it... we head back to Shade tomorrow right?"
Theodore nodded and said "Yes, we board the airship tomorrow night for an overnight flight back to Shade, then we have 3 days off and its back to getting ready for the students to come back from break. Why do you ask?"
"Just wanted to make sure, I have some things I want to take care of here, and I'd like to be sure about when I'm needed back here. Anyways I'm gonna take off into the city, I'll see you later tonight okay?" Aurum said while walking away.
Aurum walked down to the air docks and waited for an airship, taking one into the city, she set out on her mission.
Aurum stepped off of the airship into the cold desert air with a smile on her face, she had set her plans in Vale in motion, and now she was going to set her sights on her home for the past year.
Saying farewell to Theodore and Rumpole, Aurum walked to her apartment and changed, she was well known in Vacuo, a downside of teaching at a huntsman academy, but no matter. She had planned for this, She quickly changed clothes and contacts, she then braided her hair and put on a dark green handkerchief and cloak. Casting an illusory spell on her scythe she made it appear as if it was just a green painted sniper rifle with a bladed bi-pod, she then set off into the city.
Aurum had plans to stop Cinder's plot to take down beacon, though Cinder was surely only a teen now, she still had time to stop Beacon's fall. She had been gaining contacts in Vacuo ever since her arrival, doing odd jobs for the right people led to having people to call whenever you needed something.
Walking into the bar, She found who she was looking for, in the corner was a gruff looking man with a patch that looked like two snakes trying to eat each-other surrounding a diamond on his overcoat. Looking up as she approached she asked, "You my contact?" to which the man replied "Gemstone?"
She nodded and said, "Emerald, you?" the man replied while giving Aurum an envelope "Onyx, here's your info, the kid's a street rat, lives by stealin' from passers by and sellin' their stuff. Don't know why you wanted her so bad, but that's the job. I've got feelers all over Vacuo for the other 2, you want them to be found anywhere else, you'll have to find another crew. Anyways, you got your pay?"
Aurum nodded and pulled out a blank card. Handing it to him she said, "That's the full payment, but that card is inactive. Once I get what I need I'll message you, then it'll activate and you'll have your money."
The man nodded and the two parted ways. Walking out into the alleyway that the bar sat in, Aurum opened the letter and read the document inside, along with inspecting the photos. Nodding to herself she took off to find her target.
Approaching the alleyway Aurum was very cautious, she hoped that the girl was still here, and was willing to talk. She needed only to get lucky, for one coin-flip out of 2 being heads was her odds, Thankfully, lady luck was on her side as she entered the alley, and sitting there, behind the dumpster, was a small girl with brown hair, and tattered rags for clothes. The girl was asleep, Aurum was very careful as to be as quiet as possible while entering the alley. Once she was sure she could stop the girl if she tried to run away, she shook her shoulder.
The girl was very startled, and immediately jumped up and into the corner of the wall and dumpster. Aurum simply sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, the girl cowered away from it but Aurum simply looked her in the eyes, Pink and brown. This was her.
Aurum spoke softly, "I'm not going to hurt you, I want to help... the streets of Vacuo are no place for a small girl like you... how would you like some food?"
The girl had a look of fear in her eyes, and clearly did not trust Aurum one bit, and so Aurum tried slightly harder, keeping one hand on the girl's shoulder, both to try to comfort her, and to stop her from running, Aurum reached into her pockets with her other hand, and pulled out her snacks that she always kept on her. Three chocolate chip cookies.
Aurum handed the bag to the small girl and said, "Here, try one, they're my favorite, they always make me feel better."
Eying the bag of cookies, the girl cautiously reached out and grabbed one, she then broke it in half, then she broke one half of in into halves, making two quarter cookie pieces, she then reached out with one quarter in her hand and shoved it in Aurum's face.
Aurum let out a small chuckle and bit into the cookie piece, chewing and swallowing it with a smile on her face.
Satisfied, the small girl bit into her cookie piece and her face instantly lit up, looking at the woman who had given her this delicious food, she no longer had a scared look, but a curious one. She tilted her head, blinked, her eyes swapping color, and tried to speak, but all that came out were a series of coughs. She then looked back to the woman and tried her best to make a confused face at her.
Aurum smiled as she saw the girl try to communicate without words, She had always wondered why she didn't speak, and now she knew.
"You want to know why I'm helping you right?" Aurum asked with a smile, the girl nodded and Aurum said, "Have you ever heard of a Huntress?" The girl nodded, "Well I am one, Quite a famous one actually, and helping people is my whole job, it's what I love to do. So I saw the cutest little girl sleeping in an alley on the streets of Vacuo, and I thought, that's terrible. And so I helped you... but I'm not done yet, do you want to sleep somewhere a bit warmer, maybe not in an alley behind a dumpster?"
The girl fervently nodded, and Aurum led them back to her apartment where she let the small girl sleep on her bed while she changed clothes and made up a meal for her, after finishing up changing she waited a few hours and made some breakfast food, even though it was well past noon.
She woke up the small girl sleeping in her bed, who eyed her curiously as she sat up, Aurum smiled and said "I made some food for you if you want, I don't know how much sleep you got, but you probably shouldn't sleep the whole day away."
Aurum handed the girl a plate with eggs bacon and some toast. She then handed her some silverware. The girl looked at her plate and the silverware in her hand with confusion, looking up to see the Woman who had taken her off the street sit down at the foot of the bed with her own plate and silverware, she watched intently as the Woman used her silverware to eat the food, Seeing what the silverware was for, the girl mimicked the woman and used her silverware to eat as well. As soon as she got a mouthful of food, the woman across from her asked her a question, "What should I call you?"
The girl was very confused, she had never been asked for a name, and she didn't remember ever having one, so she simply shrugged.
Unsatisfied with a non-answer, Aurum said,
"Well your eyes keep changing color between pink, brown, and white... So I think I'll call you Neo."