~NRK~
They spent the next two days, Thursday and Friday, going to work, learning more about the CCT Net, and training.
Come Saturday, the entire friend group plus Marrone were traveling to Ireed's workplace with quiet conversation between Obito and Sienna.
"Atella's planning on increasing our territory," Sienna whispered to Obito who frowned but nodded. "She's worried about the other gangs becoming a big part of all of this," she frowned as well as he sighed.
"I figured but it's sadly not something we could fathom yet."
With the cart in his and Perry's hands, and all the females on the top of the cart with Marrone, they were quite the spectacle as they rolled up to Ireed's sewing shop.
When she saw them, Ireed raised the biggest eyebrow as Sienna grinned while waving.
"Hey, mom," she said as Marrone popped up from behind her.
"Hey, mom!" He beamed brightly as his mother smiled a bit.
"Welcome, I know, I know," she said as Obito and Perry stopped pulling and placed the cart down. "Um, well, the others 'round have been gettin' excited by the food," Ireed blushed as Obito nodded. "But… t-there's been some bad business here, too."
"What?" Derry frowned. "I don't understand, what is it?"
"A-A gang," the woman whispered as the group's eyes widened before narrowing. "T-They said somethin' about new owners."
"... Hmm," Obito inhaled deeply. "Sie."
"Yeah, no, we're beating their asses," she said as he nodded.
"Did you see how many of them there were, Mrs. Ireed?" Obito asked.
"I-I think there were… eight of 'em…" The woman considered her memory. "A-And they had guns."
"... Hey, uh, Ito? Crazy question," Sienna blinked with interest. "Did you want that sniper rifle back?"
Obito blinked. "Wait, hold on-"
"Atella has it."
"No, I don't want it," he declared flatly as Perry snickered.
"Well, I mean, we're workin' on long range, aren't we?" He told the younger male who huffed.
"Perry, I know I want the same thing but you're asking for a lot."
"It's all about good vibes. So, when are we bustin' some heads?"
~NRK~
They'd chosen to hide the cart underground while leaving all their ingredients in the sewing shop with Derry before searching for the upstart gang.
"Ya know?" Perry began to say, pulling at his uniform which had the 'Kamui' symbols taken off. "These are pretty nice ideas for a gang uniform."
Aster blinked, feeling her clothes. "I-I guess, well, since Obito could make 'em bigger," she looked like he was a saint.
"I just had to buy some more patches and stuff, it's honestly not that great," he said despite Sienna's gaping expression. "... Sienna, come on."
"Nope, this is a new one, Ito, where the hell has this been all our lives?" She asked him as the group scaled a building's walls to stand on its roof, Obito's eyes peering out into the distance.
"I've always been able to do this, what? Did my own clothes come from people who donated in the past?"
"I mean… Yeah, I guess I always thought you just got 'em for f-free, not saying anything, ya know!"
He rolled his eyes before they locked onto something in an alleyway half a mile away. "Found our dear gang," Obito told the group as they blinked at him. "Half a mile ahead, they went into that Poppy's Diner."
"Seriously, how good is your eyesight?" Perry asked. "And, also, you'd be a sick sniper with flaming bullets."
Obito snorted… before considering the idea. "... Wait… That's actually an amazing idea, Perry," he said with a widening smirk. "I can just snipe people with good enough control, good work."
"... Well, if ya wanna give me your admira-"
"Ignore him," Aster hip-checked the glasses-wearing lizard. "Let's go."
"Damn, woman," Perry sat up, glasses hanging sideways on his face. "Those hips should be registered in a traffic zone."
"Hush!"
Chuckling at the two, Obito and Sienna led the way towards their most likely first-ever gang conquest.
"So, what happens if we beat 'em here?" Aster asked the two while Perry hung off the wall. "Like, do we get street cred? Um, resources? A good place to eat?"
"It'd depend on the gang," Sienna said. "Besides, we don't want to be known yet, it'd cause way too many problems, trust me."
"I can imagine," Obito said. "Think about the possible attention we'd bring upon ourselves if we came out right now, Aster, it'd be a ridiculous amount of eyes on our backs."
The bear Faunus shivered. "Alright! I get it!" She shivered again. "S-Still, they're eating, aren't they? Do we just attack 'em?"
"We can't pay for those damages," Obito said. "If anything, and I'm assuming a lot about them, they're causing trouble for the owner so we can either get them out without too much damage to the store or get him to guarantee we won't be the ones paying for said damages. We'll build up a personal reputation while not having to worry too much about finances."
"Sounds complicated," Sienna winced. "Oh, man."
"Sorry."
They hurried down the street towards the rather large diner and found the hypothetical situation to be true.
A window broke as a chair slammed through it, the group skidding into view to see the eight wannabe gangsters causing chaos in the area.
"Seems like that'll set ya back, fake ass," a young woman said as she dropped the cashier at the counter. "Grab all the shit you can, guys! We've got a haul!"
The seven goons causing trouble all grinned.
"Let's hit 'em!" Sienna hissed as Obito's eyes narrowed before he held up two fingers. "?"
The two digits were dragged through the air to his side, a trail of flames fading out of view behind them.
'A bullet,' Obito thought as he raised his burning fingertips.
"Power Breathing has two forms like Flow Breathing," Vine said. "Extension of, and projecting, Aura are of similar principles but different rhythms," he explained as Obito nodded. "To Extend, you need a full steady breath. That becomes easier in time and will allow you to change your breathing without so much as a thought."
"I see and projecting?" Obito asked.
"That requires something a bit simpler," the student smiled. "You just need-"
'Sudden bursts of breath!' Obito thought.
He hissed out.
And the flaming points shot off his digits before slamming into the side of the head gangster's head.
"H-Huh?" The woman dropped to the ground, two burning pockmarks sitting on the side of her noggin, burnt hair left in their wake.
"Attack," Obito declared simply as Sienna's pupils dilated.
Her first target had been one of two people attacking the windows.
The two turned just in time for her to clock one before she kneed him right in the nuts.
The man fell like a sack of wet potatoes before Sienna jumped back onto a table to dodge a swung chair.
"You bitch!" The woman who attacked her growled before throwing the chair and reaching for a gun on her thigh.
Sienna had already dodged the chair before swiping up a plate off the table beneath her.
The gangster screamed bloody murder as it crashed over her face, leaving her gripping at bloody eyelids and cheeks.
Giving the Faunus enough time to dropkick her in the forehead.
"Hmph," Sienna looked around, two of the gangsters currently being fended off by a struggling Perry and Aster.
She ran after them before nearly being blindsided by a gunshot, something, a feeling, a sensation, bouncing off her forehead and bringing her movement to a halt.
"Tch!" She heard from her side and Sienna's eyes narrowed before she lunged at her new opponent. "Die, bitch!" The male gunmen growled as he took several more shots at the charging Sienna.
'I-I can kind of see them!'
Sienna hadn't had Aura for a long time, not compared to Academy students or even the older members of her gang, and so she was sure she hadn't fully 'gotten' it, yet.
Now? She felt her body hum as she dodged in and out of gunfire before appearing below the gunner who choked.
Her leg then swung around and found itself right in his nads.
"Hurgf?!" His throat constricted while his stomach rebelled, twitching as he hit his knees before falling unconscious a moment later, Sienna smirking at him before going off to help her in-need friends.
Meanwhile, with Obito, his fist found the chest of one of the gangsters before glowing bright orange.
An explosion of flames sent the woman flying back and through a trio of tables before the former shinobi ducked a slashing knife and breathed in slowly.
He stomped between the knife-wielder's legs before his Earth-imbued palms slammed into his chest, sending his assailant flying before Obito's form lunged up and ran along the roof with enough speed to appear above the still flying man.
His Sharingan blazed before his hands sparked yellow.
The man was sent down before cracking the floor, bouncing before settling into an unconscious lump.
Obito's form landed moments later, his eyes narrowing as they swept over the diner before locking onto a running figure heading towards the door.
He raised his hand and flames pooled around his now-pointing two fingers.
The runner tripped as soon as he was hit in the back of the head, hitting the floor and crumpling like a bunch of brittle snow.
"Hmm," Obito turned back around to see Sienna's grinning form, Perry and Aster gasping behind her with flushed faces.
"W-We beat 'em… Oh gods," Perry said, heart running at miles a second. "That's… fighting gangsters?" He asked Sienna who rolled her neck with a hum.
"... No, usually, it's a lot tougher than them," she whispered as the scant few people in the diner poked their heads up from their booths or the cashier/owner came up from behind the register. "... H-Hi?" Sienna hoped the man wasn't openly racist to people who helped him.
"Sir, I hope you're fine with these individuals being taken care of," Obito said as the man swallowed before standing up and coming around to them. "We'll be taking our leave," he told him simply, gesturing to the door for the others.
"A-Are you a gang, too?" The man asked nervously as Obito raised a brow, the rest of his group blinking in confusion. "Is this… a deal?" He hissed out in concern.
Obito shook his head before taking his leave. "We're not involved, just get the police."
The group left after that, hurrying down the sidewalk and away from watchful eyes, the sounds of sirens reaching their ears.
"I guess someone called them already," Obito said as Sienna nodded, the group going around a building before scaling the walls to reach the roofs. "Follow me, we'll take a back way to Mrs. Ireed's job."
Jumping across roofs opposite of the sewing shop, they dropped down an alleyway before slipping into a series of passages that had them soon crossing a street.
"It's a good thing we had these," Sienna whispered, touching her white bandana which was currently hiding her hair and ears, her tail curled around her waist like a belt. "I mean, our faces were still seen but it's something."
Obito nodded as they walked before going down a street two blocks down from Ireed's shop.
"So, how'd you guys like it?" Sienna asked her friends seriously as they shivered. "I don't want to scare you guys but that was nothing compared to the 'big leagues'," she said, twitching her fingers.
"I-I don't really get it," Aster admitted. "Call me weird but that felt way scarier than I feel like it should have."
"We've fought people while having Aura before," Perry admitted to the confused Obito. "But this… this felt different," his shoulders sagged. "I felt like I was in serious danger."
"It's because it's not some random scrap," Obito said as Sienna nodded.
"You're now feelin' like you're gonna be in worse trouble if ya lose which is true," she added on as the two groaned. "But if we're gonna fix this shithole, we have to get stronger."
"Is there, like, any way to always be at a higher level?" Aster whined as Obito sweatdropped. "Come on, there has to be, like, a powerlevel spot somewhere."
"Well… I can't say there's not an insane method to getting stronger," Obito rubbed the back of his head as all three Faunus's heads snapped up. "Well, I mean, if you want to just constantly fight Grimm on your own until you collapse, that's the best way."
Sienna's eyes narrowed at that while Penny and Aster paled.
"Nope!" The two stated in an instant as Obito smirked.
"Right."
'Is that true?' Sienna considered it all. 'If we were to have to gain as much power as possible, we'd have to do that?' It made sense, kinda?
She watched enough random anime at Aster's house to see characters saying 'near death' experiences made you stronger. Sienna had always wondered if that was bullshit or not.
'But Obito doesn't watch that stuff,' meaning he said it rather coincidentally, no? "..." If it came down to it, they had to win.
~NRK~
That evening, after they made the most of the rest of their usual work hours, Obito had been ready to pull the cart when a familiar figure had landed from above.
He hummed. "Vine," he said, turning around with the others to see the supposed 'Vine'.
"Dude, you're mad pale!" Marrone declared as Ireed sweatdropped while Vine smiled.
"It's genetic," he told the boy before approaching Obito's group. "So, is this the… inner circle you spoke of?" Vine asked as the group saw him.
Sienna blinked in as much surprise as her little brother had. 'He IS pale as fuck!' What the hell?!
"Everyone, this is Vine," Obito said as the Academy student nodded. "Our trusted path to protecting our futures. And these, Vine, are my comrades."
"Huh," Perry grinned. "Kinda like that."
"He speaks well of you all," Vine said with a smile. "I figured I'd come by to offer some of my time today, Alfons, unfortunately," he frowned. "Isn't here today and neither was Katrina."
They all frowned save for Marrone, Obito nodding as he gestured down the sidewalk.
"Can you stay for a bit of time?"
~NRK~
Vine smiled pleasantly as the group found their way into the Khan home, Obito cooking for them while they all sat at the dinner table.
Them all and Mr. Moreno who looked at Vine with suspicion and concern.
"..." The tiger man grimaced before looking at his youngest, the boy currently sitting in the seat next to him and humming some random tune he likely picked up somewhere. "... Hmm," he grunted before ruffling his hair, much to Marrone's confusion but glee.
"Sup, dad!" He grinned and Moreno hummed.
"Work," he said succinctly. "What about you? Especially with them going to work?"
"I go and play with Fifi!"
"... Who?"
"Fiona," Obito said simply as he placed a cover over the stew he was finishing. "A sheep girl with a goat grandmother and a bear mother."
"..." The man's face twisted in deep confusion as Derry grinned cheekily while Sienna snickered. "... Right… I don't get your weird science."
"Apparently it's random between two far-apart species."
"..."
"Different animals."
"Hmph," the man drank from his smooth wooden cup before looking down at the yellow liquid in confusion and slight suspicion. "What is this?"
"Pineapple," Perry said as he drank his without hesitation, gaining the man's confusion if not interest. "Obi and your wife make a mean drink."
"... Not alcoholic?"
"Not a bit! Though, well…" Perry leaned back and looked at Obito. "Can you spike drinks like this?"
"Of course you can, you can spike anything," Obito said as he got some wooden bowls out of the newly-fixed cabinets of the kitchen, the entire area's brand-new brown color something Moreno found pleasant.
And slightly guilt-building despite knowing that the boy… Obito had likely done it without being asked.
"So, like, water?"
"Yes but, in the context of spiking, you'd want the liquid's taste to be unnoticeable. It'd be impractical to do it with water outside of some drugs."
"Oh, right, roofies," Aster made a disgusted face. "Ugh."
"You haven't had… issues, have you?" Obito asked with narrowed eyes.
"Some bastards have eyed me up before but nothing crazy like that, besides, I don't usually go places without Sie and Pears around," the bear Faunus said with a hum. "It's just not that safe down here, ya know?"
"I do and it will change, in time, we just have to get stronger… and done," the younger human among Faunus said as he took off the pan's cover.
The smells hit Moreno and he burned a bit as the table's stomachs growled.
"Just in time, it seems."
"I got the sauce!" Marrone declared as he jumped down from his chair and hurried to the fridge. "Bro… how many sauces?"
"It's two, squirt," Sienna said as she got up and walked over, grabbing the not-that-cold-to-her glass containers full of two different kinds of liquid sauces, one of them being more viscous. "... What is this?"
"Soy sauce and duck sauce," Obito said as he stacked 50 freshly-made dumplings on a large platter. "Traditional items to go with this Mistralian dish."
Bringing all the things over, Obito quickly went back before bringing over several wooden plates from the cabinets.
Sharing eight dumplings for each plate, with Sienna getting ten on hers, Obito demonstrated by dipping one of his dumplings in the soy sauce before eating.
The others followed suit, choosing either of the sauces, before eating with pleasant responses.
"Hmmm!" Marrone blew on his food before quickly eating it. "A-Ah! Hot! Hot!" He kept blowing out hot air as Obito rolled his eyes.
A raised hand, and a slight bit of effort, had a cool wind blowing over Marrone's food, cooling it for five seconds before Obito stopped, looking a bit strained.
"It's that hard?" Sienna asked him as she moved one dumpling from her plate to his own, getting a raised brow from her human step-sibling. "You gotta bulk up, dude."
Obito grunted but didn't deny it. "... Very well. Also, yes, mixing elements besides Earth and Plant is difficult. I'm doubly-exposed to them inside my being," he said as the teens and Marrone nodded while Moreno blinked.
"What?" The man asked without a thought as Sienna rubbed the back of his head.
"Okay, so, like this, dad," she said. "When Ito's using his powers, he's also feelin' 'em. It's like lighting a match and letting the fire come close."
The man's face shifted in understanding before he blinked and looked at the living room. "So, he's always hot?" He asked, confusing the group.
"Huh?" They all uttered.
"... Ya just said he feels the things he's doin'," he clarified with a huff. "What 'bout the one in that there room?"
Obito blinked before his head mechanically turned around to look at the living room.
"... Oh my God," he said in shock before he cupped his chin. "... That might be very useful, Mr. Moreno, I just got an intense idea," Obito said with a smirk as he looked at his black arm. "I need to see if I can't pop one more of those orbs out," he told the others as his step-father, pretty much, rubbed the back of his head, looking a bit bashful.
"What did ya… figure out?" He asked.
"You were right about me not really feeling that one," Obito said with a look of concentration. "The thing is, I can control everything about it but it's not as powerful as it would be if it came from my main body," the human explained as Marrone tilted his head.
"Ya can do that?" He asked and Obito nodded.
"... As a matter of fact," Obito cupped his chin. "I can make it do whatever it can with just a command," he realized. "I don't need to monitor them, I just need to make it do something and 'set' it to that task."
"Oh, it's kind of like a clock once you put in batteries," Derry said as Perry and Aster gasped.
"Dude, that's crazy useful, right?!" They said in unison while Sienna grinned.
"It sounds like it could be a totally crazy super weapon," she said as Obito nodded.
"What would ya do with it, bro?" Marrone asked as Obito hummed.
"Ideally, meaning in the 'best case scenario', Marrone," the boy nodded rapidly. "I'd like to make it truly autonomous, capable of thinking on its own," he explained as the others blinked.
"... Uhh, how?" Perry asked as Obito shrugged with a hum.
"I sadly don't know, I'm not sure what the process would be," he explained.
"Mmm," Sienna tapped the table's surface. "Well, for now, why don't ya just try and make another of them?"
"I think so as well."
~NRK~
Three hours later, Obito groaned in his bed, Sienna holding his shoulder as another one of those black orbs, smaller than the previous, sat above his black shoulder.
"Y-Yo? You good?" She asked him as the others looked on in worry.
"H-Huh?" Obito hissed as he sat up shakily, looking to the world like he'd just had the world's worst kind of sleep. "O-Ohh…" He held his head, his flushed face but visible veins making the sight very concerning. "What happened?" He clenched his eyes shut but one cracked open to see his smaller-than-normal orb. '... A limit?'
"You started shaking," Derry said as she came over with a wet towel and laid it over his forehead. "Then you got a fever followed by a giant chill. What the hell happens when you do this? And you did this alone last time?" She frowned at him as Sienna shot Obito a look.
A look he regretted seeing. "When I'm creating more of those things," he began as Marrone snuck over with a look that had the older male ruffling his hair weakly. "I basically… I guess, I condense all my elemental powers into my core, into my soul, once more and have it sprout another orb of them," Obito frowned as he looked at the orb beside him, the power following him as he moved.
"It's been three hours, man," Perry said as Obito winced. "Yeah, uh, you might not want to do that again."
"It's three times longer than last time," Obito grimaced as Sienna frowned deeply.
"You can't keep doing that," she told him. "We were just practicing while you were out but you can't miss out, either," the tigress declared as he sighed, holding a hand to his head before laying back down.
"You're right, I'm sorry."
"No problems, besides, you've got another one of those things despite how small it is."
"Dude!" Perry perked up as Aster laughed. "That's what she said!"
"...?!" Obito's eyebrow ticked as Sienna burned. "Perry, we will strangle you."
The lizard Faunus's mouth zipped shut as he hid behind their biggest team member who snickered.
Derry huffed but smiled all the same as Marrone giggled.
~NRK~
Sunday morning, there were no second-thoughts on what they'd be doing.
Hefting a large wooden box over his shoulders, Obito and the others hurried towards their new 'home base' with as much secrecy as they could afford.
"I might need to make a secret tunnel," he told them as they did their best to hide in the shadows of buildings in the sunrise's shadow-casting rays. "This is rather obvious."
They lucked out with the boy's sensory skills and made it there without too much trouble.
"So, we've got a 12-pack of energy drinks," Aster counted their inventory, the group in the 'apartment' part of the dojo. "Tons of jerky, a giant bowl for our water, rags, bath soap, extra clothes, power bank things and cords, soup mix, veggies, and a couple of blankets."
Obito, Sienna, and Perry nodded by their large boxes, Obito's being the largest.
"Good, when's that Vine guy supposed to be here?" Sienna asked Obito who looked down at his open Scroll.
"In a couple seconds," the human answered before the group heard a set of knocks against the floor. "There."
Obito tapped his foot thrice before waiting to add another two thumps.
There was the sound of steps before Vine appeared in the doorway.
The entire group had agreed to a specific 'dress code' and so they were all wearing gray hoodies, thick black or white sweatpants, and heavy-duty brown boots.
Wearing beanies to cover their heads, they all nodded as the Academy student looked around.
"This place is rather curious," he told them, putting his own bag of supplies down. "But fortuitous, I believe there's no need for a preamble, let's go and find the training location."
~NRK~
They'd left all their things in an Obito-made hidden box in the bunker before heading out towards the outskirts of Mantle.
With a copy of Obito's personally made map on his Scroll, Vine nodded as they stopped roof-hopping to reach a specific location, the lack of people and/or energy signatures allowing them a great deal of freedom.
And good thing, too, as they looked down at a large sector filled with nothing but unfinished buildings, large metal pipes, tubes, & pillars, and what was basically a snowfield that 'brushed' through half the area.
"Keep an eye out for clues," Obito said as Vine nodded.
"There's no telling if someone hasn't been here," he supported the notion. "Right now, if you're all to make much progress, you need to increase your firepower and creativity, that'll be very obvious and loud in a few of your cases," Vine added as he looked at the nodding Obito.
"I'm basically the biggest problem here," he said to his team. "So, I'll likely have to step farther away from you all or finally make another underground bunker for personal use."
"It's true but, for now, that shouldn't be necessary," Vine said. "Come, let's go to the center of the area and demonstrate."
They went down the building they were on by slipping in through doors, air ducts, or windows, the group finding themselves on the ground level in half a minute before hurrying towards the snow-covered form of a half-built administration building's first floor.
"Hmm," Obito looked around, a small black orb slipping out of his hoodie before it floated above the area and covered itself with fire. '... it's not as strong as the other one,' but it'd be serviceable.
Good to know.
"Hmm," Vine closed his eyes in comfort. "That's your power? Is it the power to produce black energy that can turn into elements?"
"... Basically?" Obito said with a hum. 'That's actually not a bad idea of a cover-up,' it was kind of perfect, actually. "It is, I just never knew how to put it into words," he told the older human before he shed his hoodie and Vine's eyes widened.
Wearing a black tank top without his warmer wear, Obito's completely black left arm was on display.
"... I'm… Is this permanent?"
"Yes," Obito answered with a nod. "All things considered, having my abilities cover for my missing limb," Vine choked. "Works out."
"Y-Yes, I suppose," the man rubbed the back of his neck. "... I guess this won't change matters. Come, no time to waste, we'll go and find the possible Grimm in a couple hours after some practice."
Standing in a circle, Vine had them all demonstrate their progress and was pleased with it.
The five's forms glowed for a couple seconds before falling away, the teens sighing.
"That's fine, do you all recognize anything about your Aura during?" He asked.
"I think I know my max," Sienna admitted, her hoodie on the ground leaving her in a black sweater of Obito's size. "That and I know it won't really work when we're at ma… wait, didn't we just…"
"Yes, you'll notice this," Vine smiled. "During extreme temperatures, your Aura will deplete," the group's jaws dropped as he nodded. "It's why Aura Recovery is important and was originally created in Solitas via Atlas Academy. Being out here will help increase your control by constantly affecting your reserves, it's your job to mind them and keep them at comfortable levels, understood?"
"Yea," the teens said.
"Obito."
"... Everyone, prepare," the male brunette said as they all nodded, looking nervous but determined. "..." Obito raised his hand.
His black power stopped brimming with flames, coming back down to him and allowing the area's temperature to drop quickly.
"Before the cold sets in, activate your Auras," Vine said as his form glowed softly.
The group hurried to do the same with Obito being the only one whose 'approach' remained unseen.
"Are you good?" Sienna asked him, a soft red glow emanating from her form.
"Yes, I can sort of give my Aura a high temperature but not turn it into flames," Obito told her as she blinked. "It's a lot of internal control."
"Huh."
"Good, now, always mind your Aura," Vine said with a clap of his hands, not looking the least bit bothered. "While we do this, I want you all to also try your best to never let your Aura's glow become too bright. Consider it additional but not mandatory training."
"T-That's a lot!" Aster swallowed, shivering a bit. "Oh, this is super sucky."
"Who are you telling?" Perry groaned. "You're not the lizard Faunus."
Aster blushed a bit as he groaned before shuffling over and placing herself shoulder-to-shoulder with her fellow sweater-clad comrade.
Perry sighed in some relief.
Derry kept her hoodie on, not being as 'intense' as the others.
"Apologies, this is rather deep-end training," Vine apologized. "If you wish, you can keep on your coats," he said, his own on the ground and leaving him in a thin black long-sleeved top. "For now, let's focus on Aura Shot. You know the defensive and offensive breathing styles but you also know there are two different 'rhythms' with the second."
"Yeah," Sienna said as Obito nodded. "Me and Ito can kinda do the first or second," she added as she raised her hand.
Red Aura expanded a bit before extending out by a foot, Sienna hissing a bit at the slight rise in chill around her arm.
Obito demonstrated Aura Shot with his Fire powers, finger raising and letting a small ball of red fire explode over a metal pipe, leaving a small dent in it that hissed against the air.
"I'm impressed," Vine nodded. "Can either of you three do these?"
Perry demonstrated a bit of Aura Shot but it fizzled out barely a meter from his person while Aster did a bit of Aura Extension but it merely lifted a centimeter off her palm.
Derry didn't even demonstrate and just shook her head. "Nope, I can only do Aura Recovery."
"That's fine, I'm aware of your situation. So, with this, it's clear that you all have innate talents," Vine smiled before frowning. "Still, this isn't good enough, no offense, those levels of the techniques can barely be considered 'good'," he turned to Sienna. "Sienna, you should be able to expand your Aura to over a meter on average while Obito's Shots have no real power behind them at what is a barely considerable range."
The two nodded at that while Perry and Aster burned in embarrassment.
"No, it's better to know now than never. Right now, your goals are as such," he said. "Obito and Perry need to be able to increase their distance to at least thirty feet with enough power to fully dent that pipe," Vine pointed to the one Obito had originally hit. "And while I did say it'd be better for you to learn Aura Shot, Miss Aster, you and Sienna will need to focus on extending your ranges at least a meter but with a greater goal of reaching three."
Aster burned before nodding. "A-Alright."
Sienna nodded, eyes filled with burning determination. "I won't stop until I can master this."
"Then we'll do our best, dude!" Perry said before shivering some more.
"We won't let your tutelage fall," Obito said with narrowed eyes. "We will get strong."
Vine smiled.
"Alright then will the women follow me," he said as he looked up at more metal pipes. "While we're working on our Extension, you'll also be getting more spatial awareness training," Vine informed them before turning to Obito and Perry. "You both will likely need to find practice hitting the opposing wall with as much force as possible to the point that you can dent it. If you can, please try and teach Derry the method so she can follow suit."
"Alright," Obito said as Vine observed him more. "Ideas?"
"If I were to consider it, would you say fire is your go-to element?"
"... Yes."
"Then focus on that or wind as the Aura Shot's element if you will. Come along, you two," Vine smiled before nodding to Sienna and Aster. "Follow me to the top as best you can and always keep your Aura activated."
Then he blurred away before the five's eyes widened as they found Vine already up above on a I-beam, ten feet above.
"D-Dude, you're fast!" Aster said as Sienna's eyes narrowed.
She ran at the dilapidated wall in front of them before jumping up on it and then jumping off it to reach a beam of the unfinished metal structure behind the unfinished administration building.
It wasn't nearly as fast as Vine had been but it'd shown an understanding of her body that Obito nodded at, the tigress landing a beam two 'floors' lower than Vine.
Aster looked nervous all of a sudden while Perry pat her back with a smug grin.
"Good luck with that," he said with a snicker as she grumbled before using her palm to push him to the ground. "Ack! COLD!"\
Derry giggled at that while Aster made her way out of the building before beginning her climb up the structure.
"Hmph," Obito waved out his hands at the two Faunus, warming Derry and Perry, the latter being very appreciative of it.
"Thanks."
"No problem, now, let's do this," Obito said. "No time to waste if we're to be as strong as we need to be," and he just had an idea. 'I'll have to look into reinforced fabric,' that and just being good at Aura Reinforcement regardless.
"So, Derry, you get this, right?" Perry asked the deer girl who nodded.
"I do, I mean it, I just… Haa, I don't want to get more involved if I don't have to," she sighed. "It's not good to be weak or strong down here, I can feel it, it's just a problem either way."
"So, which would ya rather be?"
"..."
"Perry has a point," Obito said. "Would you rather be capable of running away? Or would being at the mercy of your assailants be better?"
"..." Derry cringed at that. "I know what you mean, I know it sounds stupid, but I…"
"Look, if you're gonna be here, Derry, it'll be super not safe," Perry reminded her. "I know, I know, life sucks ass but if you're in danger, ya should be able to at least run away."
"Then can't I work on Aura Reinforcement?"
Obito cupped his chin. "Honestly? I think you should if that's the case," he hummed as she sighed in relief.
"Ya sure?" Perry asked him.
"Yeah, because it's another skill we don't have someone specialized in while also being the most useful for all of us."
"I guess but what should she do?"
Derry swallowed, looking at Obito for guidance.
"... Then, Derry," he began as she nodded quickly. "Your training will have to be a bit more unorthodox."
"Oh no," she muttered.
"You'll be doing your best to stand over there in the cold and just keep your Aura up while minimizing your usage."
"... Oh," she blinked. "That doesn't sound that bad."
"I mean, I don't want you in view of anyone or out of our view. It's dangerous enough out here and there's still a minute chance of Grimm," she flinched as Obito nodded. "That's all you can do, for now."
"... alright," Derry nodded nervously but with a bit of determination. "I guess I'll just sit over here," she muttered before going off to the side and sitting atop an old icy desk.
She shivered before focusing on her Aura like she'd been, no matter how short, taught.
Perry nodded before focusing on the far wall and taking aim.
He kept letting off shots of Aura Shot while Obito focused on the wall himself.
'I need to get this down,' Obito thought before looking at Perry's focused expression. "... Perry."
"Finally," he said in relief as Obito sweatdropped. "Dude, I've been waiting for you to tell me what I'm doing wrong."
"... You should have just asked," the younger male said. "Anyway, for me, it's just an increase of control…" No, wait, that was too early.
Obito hadn't even figured out how to do those exercises, again, yet.
"But have you tried charging up your Aura?"
Perry blinked at him. "Wait, you can do that?" He asked. "So, what, I just keep on raising it at my fingertips?"
Obito sadly couldn't give him that kind of help. Aura didn't work like chakra.
Had he not had an oddly similar network to his past self, it wouldn't be wrong for the Uchiha to say that he'd currently be pimping himself out for favors and protection.
"... Tell me, Perry, how does your Aura feel? For me, it's not the same. I always feel like mine comes through passageways in my body but we all know I'm not normal."
"... I guess you can, like, call it a big old ball in my gut," Perry explained. "I just pull on it and it fills me up."
"Then, try to do that but only to your fingers," Obito nodded with a hum. "If that's true, you have to manage your 'fill rate' and sort of lean it towards your fingers."
Perry winced as he looked down at his digits before shivering as his glow brightened.
"Dude, we have to do so much right now."
"I know… so just focus on keeping your Aura up and trying to move more of it to parts of your body. Don't worry about anything else, we'll work on this."
The lizard nodded as his green glow flickered on and off.
Obito nodded to that before raising two of his fingers, a trail of flames coming off them as he lined them up.
'We were running in blind more than I thought,' there was so much that needed to be worked on yet Obito wasn't sure where to fit it all in. '... I need to get a hang of all these skills,' if he did, he could just zap the information into their brains.
But he needed to master all of this somehow…
The flames built up, trailing strings of red fire coiling towards the tips of his fingers.
Perry and Derry peered at the phenomenon with interest, the lizard Faunus's eyes widening at the sight of it.
"Reach the other end," Obito told himself before he let the small ball of flames shoot out.
It hit the wall before they watched as it dispersed, leaving behind barely any scorch marks and a dent that wasn't even noticeable.
"It's got no weight behind it," Obito said.
"... Yo, Bito?" Perry called out and Obito raised a brow at him. "Like, can't ya use wind?"
"I can," Obito said as he built up wind around his fingers.
Green wisps of wind energy slowly coil down his right arm, the wind around him tossing up his hair, before forming a smaller ball of shifting nature compared to his fire one.
He shot it and it hit, throwing up winds and snow, before it fully dispersed to reveal no damage.
"But it's also too weak," he said as Derry hummed. "I don't have the power to make powerful winds away from my body."
"... What about mixing them? I mean, you said you do that to make Wood," she said despite her nose scrunching up in confusion. "Which still doesn't make much sense, by the way."
"..." Obito looked down at his hands. 'Mix Fire and Wind?' Of course, Obito knew it'd be an insane combination.
Wind jutsu could push Fire jutsu beyond measure in the Elemental Nations, it was just common sense.
'But the strain is unknown,' which he wouldn't really care about.
They were in danger, damn all of the consequences.
"But it'll both just have no weight or stuff, right?" Perry asked Derry who hummed, glowing a brighter pink while Obito's eyebrows furrowed. "Besides, we blow out fire, Derry."
"N-No, Perry, wait, I know that's how it seems but not all fires just get blown away. Some of them become stronger with fire."
"SERIOUSLY?!"
"We learned this Chemistry! We even STUDIED!"
He looked nervous as her eyes slowly narrowed in on him.
"Perry, you haven't been listening, HAVE YOU?" She growled at him as he flinched.
"Ehh?!" He squealed as Obito rolled his eyes at the feeling of 'doom' looming over their shoulders… Wait.
Ignoring Perry's predicament, he cupped his chin.
'Even if I mix them, it won't do much,' he knew how far these powers could go, most of them anyway.
He could, at max, make earth walls the height and width of a bus, a car-sized ball of weak fire, he could at least use his wind powers to launch himself and one person high into the air while buffering their falls, he could electrify his hands, and create and control maybe three gallons of water.
He'd not pushed Wood that far and the less said about Gravity the better.
'I know it'll likely have resistance to flames and water,' those powers might be next to useless… on their own. 'Mixing them,' he looked down at his hands.
He called to his powers and found a small ball of fire in his left hand while a small twister formed in his right.
Looking between both, he slowly brought the two limbs together before sending the energy into a mix between them.
Red flames lightened into orange and then white as the previous elements merged fully.
'This isn't enough.'
Perry and Derry bickered before stopping as they saw Obito's 'result'.
"Whoa," Perry said as Derry got up before hurrying over. "Dude, that looks painful! Good job!"
Obito snorted at that. "I'm still sure that this won't do enough damage, it also can't be formed fast," he added as Derry stared at the energy in his hands.
"How do you feel?" She asked him as Obito blinked.
"... Actually," he looked down at himself. "I don't feel any of the usual strain," Obito added in surprise before looking confused. "... Why?"
Perry tilted his head before blinking at the younger boy's shoulder. "... Oh! Got an idea!" He grinned as Obito and Derry shot him a look. "If you're not feeling it, maybe you're gettin' better? Now you could maybe make super-fire with that thing!"
Obito perked up, eyes widening as they snapped to the orb by his back.
Was it possible?
He called the object over and considered the method he was trying to accomplish.
'... Did you absorb my excess strain?' He questioned his non-sentient power.
No response, maybe it was automatic if he had one of these things near him?
"I think this thing is to blame," he told the two. "It's likely controlling my bodily downsides."
"Isn't that good?" Derry asked as she turned away from Perry who sighed in relief. "I mean, that means you're without downsides."
"... Maybe," Obito said as he looked down at the orb in his hands. 'But this doesn't fix this…'
No, it did fix that part of his 'situation'.
He smirked.
She let out a frosty gasp before jumping from another of the nearly impossibly-large number of pipes, beams, and half-placed sheetrock.
Sienna grit her teeth as her Aura throbbed around her, glowing brighter, before she jumped on another trio of beams and stopped to hold her hand to her chest.
"You should be mindful," Vine's voice echoed out like it always had for the past minute or so. "Focus on your core, allow your Aura to slowly spread throughout your form, don't let it just slam to the forefront."
The echoes went away, leaving her alone with just metal, ice, snow, and white in her view.
"Tsk, yeah, I get it," she huffed as she closed her eyes and gripped her top.
She glowed a brighter red that came and went slowly, allowing her to let out a long controlled breath.
Her tiger ears perked up and she looked behind her to see nothing.
'Aster's probably climbing still,' she thought.
Before 'something' hit her and she felt a 'thing' down below.
'No, seriously, what IS that?' She thought with a frown. 'I… Isn't that Aster's Aura?' Now that she was feeling it more, yes.
That had been what her friend's Aura felt like, hadn't it?
Then she remembered something Vine had told them only a few minutes ago.
She told him what she'd been feeling.
"Maybe it's my Semblance," she said as he stopped three 'floors' up once more. "Huh?"
"... Miss Khan," Vine spoke, hands behind his back but eyebrows raised. "Perhaps this is a Semblance but I find it highly unlikely," he told her as she stopped while Aster choked on her breath, struggling to get on another beam.
"J-Just ignore me!" She told them as Vine smiled a bit.
His hand reached out and a glowing Aura limb reached Aster even from his spot to lift her onto the beam.
"... Dude, how far can your arms stretch?"
"It's all about mastery," Vine said before looking back at Sienna. "Yes, what I meant is that you're likely gaining the ability to Sense," he added before looking a bit bashful. "I'd forgotten to add this possible ability because I wasn't sure if any of you would get it but it was foolish of me," he bowed to her.
Sienna waved him off, looking shocked but interested. "Hold on, so, like, when I first saw Katrina," Vine sighed but nodded. "Sorry, dude."
"It's fine, continue."
"Right, so, when I first saw her, I was gonna leave and when I turned around, I felt all the hairs on my neck stick up," she said, surprising him even more.
"... I believe I know what you're implying," she blinked. "... I'm curious, how far would you say you were from her?"
"Like easily three blocks."
Vine continued to look at her in shock. "... Sienna, this isn't to disparage you, but your ability to Sense is downright unreal," he told her. "But, if that is the case, use it. Your powers could be just as useful for this endeavor as Obito's."
Sienna's eyes widened. "W-Why?"
"Because you seem to hold an enhanced form of danger perception that even Aura Sensory-types have in only rare quantities."
'So, I can sense danger from far off, huh?' She thought with determination. 'Still, it doesn't help me grow stronger,' Sienna looked down at her left hand and clawed it up.
Her Aura expanded before a glowing red Aura limb extended from it.
There had to be something in this to make her strong.
She raised her hand into the hint of the light above, eyes narrowing a slight bit as sharper winds tore past her.
'...?' She blinked and shivered, jumping as she felt the full-on cold around her. "The fuck?!"
Sienna looked down at her body and noticed no Aura to be had, none at all save for the one around her left arm.
'Did I do this on purpose?' But what was the point? "... Hmph," she raised it at a distant beam and let out a steady stream-
It shot out and latched on, her eyes widening in shock.
"No way!" She felt excitement fill her body before Sienna's eyes narrowed in determination. "He did it so easily,' the tigress thought, remembering how Vine could do this even without Extension but did so with such ease.
She held onto her arm before allowing it to retract with but a thought, shakily flying through the air before landing on the snowy beam.
"Y-Yes!" She squealed a bit as she stopped stumbling. "T-That's one way to do it."
"It is," came a voice from her right, startling her before Vine's hand steadied her shoulder. "Hmm," Vine raised a brow at the embarrassed but proud Sienna. "You've found some manner of way to increase your ability to use Extension but I'm noting the downsides."
Sienna did as well as she shivered a bit. "My Aura's gone?"
"... No, I believe it's so thin that you're feeling more of the area's effects," he considered, touching her shoulder. "I can feel your Aura's thinness, it's almost impossible to differentiate."
Sienna considered his words. "It's almost like what you wanted us to do?"
He shook his head. "No, I simply wanted you all to have finer control, this is something else," he told her before shrugging. "But you're developing, it's fine to take things at your own pace. Perhaps, you'll learn to partition your Aura better in time and will learn how to do this without issue," Vine smiled.
Sienna grinned.
~NRK~
An hour later, they all reunited with differing reactions.
Aster gasped against the ground on all-fours while Sienna huffed a bit and Vine smiled.
Though, that all came to a halt as they found a shaky-looking Perry and Derry with a hissing Obito.
Hissing, as in, his entire form was easily redder than it used to be, skin flushed and hyperbolically boiling with blood.
But he looked accomplished and they could see why.
The human-sized holes in the nearby buildings, not the one they were currently in, were telling of the type of effort he'd put in.
"Dude, what the fuck?!" Sienna choked while Derry and Perry chuckled nervously.
"Um, yeah, h-he got an idea," the lizard Faunus said nervously. "But it's kind of insane how rough doing it is," he added as Sienna hurried over with a frown.
"What do you mean?!" She asked as she slid by Obito's slightly grinning but closed-eyed form. "...?!" Sienna's eyes widened.
At the burnt flesh on his exposed lower-right abdomen and bicep.
"What the hell?"
"... Did he push himself too far?" Vine asked as he came to a stop by the seemingly unconscious young man's form, Sienna brushing Obito's bangs to the side to see his trembling eyelids. "What exactly have you come upon?"
Obito's eyes creaked open before he groaned.
"A painful discovery," he said as he saw Sienna's concerned expression. "... Dammit."
~NRK~
Resting inside one of the nearby buildings, Obito's form hissed more and more as he continued to use Flow Breathing.
The blue glow coming off him had lit up the slightly dark area constantly as the others ate while they watched.
When he finished his ten-minute process, he groaned while looking down at his twitching hands.
"What happened?" Aster asked as she bit into some beef jerky. "Dude, you hurt yourself, what the fuck?"
Sienna nodded, sitting the closest to the harmed boy as he slowly closed and opened his hands.
"I was mixing elements," he told them as they all blinked. "Vine, you may not know this, but I can use seven elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Plant, Electricity, and Gravity."
"... I see," Vine frowned. "You mixed Fire and Wind, didn't you?" He asked before blinking in confusion as Obito shook his head.
"Yeah, no, it's crazy," Perry said. "He mixed three of 'em but that little ball of his can't do that while takin' his damage," he bit into his jerky as the three not-in-the-know looked at him in confusion. "So, he has to take the damage. It doesn't even work like the one in their living room."
"... Yeah, uh, can someone who's better at explaining things explain it?" Sienna asked flatly as Perry just continued to eat his food
Derry rolled her eyes before explaining the situation more efficiently.
Afterward, the three balked at the flat-on-his-back Obito.
"You added Gravity?" Vine asked in surprise and some awe. "I'm assuming you studied."
"Yes," Obito said as a layer of water sprouted out of his skin before rising above him. "I needed to learn more about my differing powers but Gravity was the one I knew the least about on usage," even with the information on the Rinnegan.
Madara had been thorough but Obito only knew of a few things he could have done with it before his research.
Flight was possible, attraction and expulsion of gravitational forces was as well, but that's it. He didn't have the Rinnegan.
Obito only had Gravity powers.
"I needed to experiment while we were here, too, so I only really got that one move down," Obito said as he raised one of his hands. "But it was worth the effort and pain, I learned some things about my powers that'll be good going into the future. Though, I realize that mixing from the orb also adds a painful, but lighter, strain," he added as he finally sat up fully.
"Still, you literally burned your own skin," Vine said with a frown as Obito nodded. "That's dangerous."
"I can do two full shots before my own powers' strain becomes dangerous to my own body," the younger Mistralian admitted. "It's not wrong for me to say that that's a finishing move or a desperation attempt. I can't use that in the middle of battle yet."
"Still, you got a fight-ender," Sienna said with a grin as Obito smirked. "Besides, what else did ya learn?"
"When they're near me," Obito began. "Those black orbs I can create, they can act as substitutes for the strain and will take it instead of me, that's the caveat. They can only do one thing at a time but that 'one thing' is more limitless than I ever expected," he chuckled as her tail raised in confusion. "Right now, I've got more ideas but they all likely won't make it for our fight."
"Well, at least one of us got something big," Sienna admitted as he raised a brow at her.
"Are you sure?" Obito asked as she blinked at him, his eyes shifting once more and surprised her. "Perhaps it's just me but your Aura looks more complete than it usually does," he told her as she blushed while Vine's eyes widened.
"Wait," he spoke up as Obito rubbed the back of his head.
"Yes, for lack of a better word, consider me as having a two-part Semblance," Obito said as the older man just gawked at him. "Now, back on you, Sie, what exactly happened?"
She blinked before her ears flickered. "Well, I apparently got some kinda sensin' skill," Sienna told him. "That and I'm apparently super rare or something."
Vine regained his wits and recomposed himself. "What she means is that she has a rare ability even within her rare ability," he explained. "Being able to sense with Aura is a hard-to-attain ability but within it one can gain an even higher sense of the skill, Danger Perception."
Obito's eyes widened. 'Like Sage Mode-users,' that was beyond good. "That's incredible," he said as Sienna blushed some more, tail wagging as controlled as she could. "That's likely going to be useful for the rest of our lives."
She burned but nodded. "I-I kinda get it, I mean, knowin' when I'm feeling danger whenever I'm not lookin' sounds crazy good," Sienna admitted. "Still, I don't have a crazy move and stuff so…"
"It's not like you can't develop one," Obito said as she blinked at him. "... we need to just get stronger, fine-tune our control, gain combat experience, and use everything at our disposal," he told them. "We have weapons, possible Semblances to Awaken in you three, and the chance of getting something more," he explained. "Right now, at this very moment, we're stronger than we ever were before, don't forget that."
Perry and Derry blushed a bit, looking bashful while Aster looked embarrassed and Vine smiled.
Sienna felt the weight of his words thrum in her blood and send shivers up her spine… but she grinned.
"You're right," she said proudly as Obito nodded, turning away from her with a bit of a mumble. "We've got skills and stuff that we never did before! We can do this!" Sienna nodded with excitement.
"Hmph," Obito rubbed at his right cheek, feeling some rising heat in it. 'I'll need to master my recovery skills,' he told himself with a nod. "Give me a bit of time to recover and we'll continue. What do you believe is the next best step, Vine?"
"More simple training," the pale man said. "An hour isn't enough…" Vine cupped his chin. "If I could have it my way, I'd suggest three more hours of effort before an hour of rest but since we're doing our utmost to make the most of our time… two hours and we'll rest for another before going to find a Grimm."
The five's eyes widened before Obito and Sienna's own narrowed as they nodded.
~NRK~
Three hours later, the six found themselves farther out into the Mantle edges and looking down from a high-rise store's roof.
There, sitting atop a leaning roof, were a pair of them. Of GRIMM.
"D-Dude," Perry shivered at the sight of the creatures currently skulking in the area. "T-They're scary as fuck," he whispered as Derry and Aster nodded with pale faces.
The Grimm in question were feline in design, following the design of an old world animal by the name of a 'Sabertooth', with powerful-looking bone skulls with foot-long fangs.
They were big, easily taller than the average person if they were standing up on their hind legs, and slightly muscled with powerful-looking abdomens and legs. With bone ridges running down their spines into a long bony tail, a ribcage-like cover for its chest, and icy bone scales along its hips and shoulders, the creatures emanated a dark haze that seemed to hide them despite how little came off.
"W-What the fuck? And people fight these things?" Aster asked as Sienna frowned, looking down at the two creatures with slightly trembling hands before clenching them shut and stilling her heart. "O-Oh no, Obi, seriously?!" She whispered hotly to the youngest among them.
The one who looked down at the creatures without a hint of fear as the creatures' heads perked up, his Sharingan blazing as they memorized the entire form of the animalistic beings of destruction.
"Calm down," he told them as the group sans Vine flinched. "Everyone here knows what a Grimm's main thing is, if you fear it any more you'll draw them to us," Obito said simply, face neutral as they choked, Derry swallowing in horror.
"T-That's true," she muttered as the human boy kneeled down on the roof with Vine coming to stand at his side. "... H-How are you so unbothered by this?" Derry felt like she was gonna leap out of her own damn bones and yet here was Obito looking like he didn't feel any of this fear.
This boy who was younger than she by a good two years, in the recent month, who was more scarred, abused, and pained than even she had likely ever been.
Perhaps this was just part of all of that, a boy who'd lost the feeling of fear from likely being drowned in it from a younger age than she could ever find justifiable. With said 'age' being '0'.
Vine was also of a similar mind but he observed his fellow human and came back with an odd sense of 'control'.
Obito Uchiha did not fear these creatures, he did not see them as threats, he likely saw them as nothing more than stepping stones to power to gain.
A possibly dangerous mindset Vine worried for but felt wasn't necessary, at the moment.
He'd see what he was like during the upcoming combat.
Sienna just crouched down next to her step-brother, eyes going from the Grimm to him with an almost imperceptible bit of shame.
"It's not wrong to feel fear," he whispered as she flinched. "This is, despite our numbers, always going to be a fight for our lives. Grimm don't feel mercy, they do not feel kindness, nor do they make deals with those clearly weaker than them," Obito's eyes slowly narrowed. "They're beings the world will literally be better without. They aren't necessary, they save no one, protect nothing, and provide no benefit to the way of life as we know it."
"They are pests."
The words seem to ring in her ears as she looked away from Obito to those things, the Grimm.
To the ones he called 'pests'... and the more she repeated his words, the more she let out a hissing breath.
"You're right," she whispered to him as his eyebrows eased up a bit. "It's just freaking terrifying."
"I know 'fear', as long as you don't let it control you, you can do anything."
She huffed at that, looking a bit embarrassed, as Obito snorted, startling the others.
"What's our next move?" He asked Vine who nodded with closed eyes.
"What do you all wish to do as we speak?" The Academy student asked them, alarming the group a bit. "While I will tutor you in the ways of learning skills, you must find the courage to attempt combat."
Obito nodded to that while Sienna focused on the Grimm.
"W-Well, y-you guys have this!" Derry squeaked in a higher octave as Obito sweatdropped. "I-I'll just stay up here! Safe! With Vine!"
The Academy student blinked. "I suppose fear does unite us, at times."
"Alright, come on, guys, what are we doing?" Sienna asked with a snort. "Anybody got any plans?"
"C-Can't we just bum-rush 'em?" Aster asked nervously as Perry rubbed the back of his head.
"Maybe we should ambush them?" He offered. "It's certainly better than just jumping down there and yellin' 'hit me!'," the male Faunus said sarcastically.
"It's a good idea," Sienna said. "... but should we?" She asked with a frown as Vine raised a brow while Obito hummed, the others choking.
"S-Sie, come on! These are Grimm!" Aster whispered in horror.
"But we're supposed to get stronger. How are we gonna know where we stand if we ambush these guys?"
"We don't have the time to be employing stealth tactics, not on a creature that's likely too-dumb to even know what we're remotely doing," Obito said. "It'd just be a waste of time that we could do on our own back at that field."
The two Faunus looked nervous while Sienna stood up.
"I know how this looks but we're fine together, you guys know that Obito's got a bullshit move now and I'm good at fighting," she told them with a grin as Perry and Aster looked a bit sheepish. "Besides, Vine's right here."
"I am," the student said with a smile.
"See?!"
"Alright," Obito stood up as well. "Let's roll," he said as the icy breeze hissed off his form before being repelled by green winds. "Who's going to be the ones fighting them directly?"
Sienna nodded. "I'm heading down there," she told the group while Perry swallowed before Aster stepped up.
"A-Alright?" She wheezed, shivering a bit. "Godsdammit."
The others nodded, the six of them moving down the sides of the store before rushing towards the Grimm.
With Sienna and Aster rushing the down the middle of the snow-covered street, Perry and Vine following beside them on a broken-up sidewalk, and Obito carrying Derry in a wind ball atop a series of buildings, the Sharingan-wielder kept his eyes moving around the area in case of 'problems'.
Derry, meanwhile, felt her face erupt into three new kinds of red and white. 'T-This is different!' She thought, carried in Obito's arms but towards danger leaving her senses in a frazzled state.
As they reached the two roaming Grimm, Obito's eyes narrowed as he set Derry down and the two of them watched from the open top floor of an apartment complex while Vine and Perry waited behind a broken salon's glass windows.
The fight had begun.
Sienna felt a hint of fear once her and Aster gained the Grimm's attention.
The red stars for eyes that emanated from the darkness of their eye sockets locked onto them, their hackles raising.
She grit her teeth and remembered Obito's words, these creatures weren't allowed to live, they were monsters.
They'd driven the world onto the brink and needed to be destroyed.
She allowed her Aura to rise to full strength before raising a brow at something odd.
The Grimm's heads snapped to her and Sienna frowned at that as they slowly began to circle her and her friend.
"Y-Yo, Sie!" Aster swallowed nervously as she hefted her knuckle-dusters while Sienna's chain was… placed back onto her hip. "Uh, bad idea?"
Sienna raised her right hand and focused. 'Keep it all into one place but don't give it all up,' she'd barely had any control over this little 'technique' but she could usually call on it.
So, when her right arm gained an enlarged Aura limb with sharp claws, she grinned.
"I need to get better at this," she told her fellow Faunus as the Grimm stopped and prepared to pounce. "Attack!" Sienna declared as she lunged at her own Grimm opponent.
Aster flinched before scrambling to the side to dodge her pouncing feline enemy. "YIKES!"
Sienna did her best to ignore her friend's squeal, slamming her clenched Aura fist into the Grimm's head as it lunged at her.
She struggled with it, the force in the sabertooth creature's headbutt not small in the least… but she growled before stepping down and in to bring her fist down around and then back up into its chin.
It flipped, flopping back onto the icy road as she grinned.
"Keep attacking!" Obito shouted at her as her head snapped to his grimace. "Turn around and block!"
Sienna's eyes widened as she did, raising her 'Expanded Limb' to block the quickly-recovering Grimm's jaws.
"Fuck!" It pushed her down and as it did, Sienna's now sky-facing vision saw a glowing white ball of flames building by Obito's fingertips. 'Don't become a weak link!' She thought with a growl before pulling her legs in and kicking both up.
The Grimm was sent off of her into a small tumble that it recovered out from as Sienna got back to her feet with a growl, tail bristling.
"Bring it, fucker!" She roared at it as it roared back before galloping towards her. 'Calm down and take it out!' Sienna thought as she flexed her clawed-up Aura. "I've also got claws, you bitch."
The moment it got close, it jumped at her, mandibles pried open to reveal an enormous jaw only to be socked in it and grabbed by glowing digits.
Sienna brought the creature down, cracking the road and rushing towards it.
When she got in close, the tigress's clawed Aura limb came back before coming down in a swipe at its windpipe.
The blow was efficient and deadly as she carved through resistance before bringing her hand back by her shoulder.
The Grimm convulsed for a bit before going limp, eyes going out as it slowly began to crumble into black motes of light.
She gasped rapidly, eyes wide and watching the creature dissipate with some rising excitement before she flinched at the sound of struggling behind her.
Sienna turned on a dime to see not only Aster fending off the other Grimm but Perry as well, the bear Faunus slamming her knuckle-dusters into the Grimm's abdomen as Perry choked it out from behind.
She sighed in relief as, on one of her last three blows, Aster's fist sent the Grimm into what hell it came from, the animal going limp and crumpling backwards on a yelping Perry.
"Y-Yikes!" He shrieked scrambling out from under it as he and the wide-eyed Aster watched it dissipate into nothingness. "D-Dude, what the fuck?" Perry stuttered as his chest kept heaving, rising, and thumping with his own heartbeat. "T-That's fucking scary, you good, Aster?" He asked her immediately as she fell on her rear, looking pale but none-the-worse for wear.
"Are you all fine?" Vine asked as he came up to them from the side, eyes narrowed as he checked on the three Faunus with a sigh of relief. "I hope this is a good lesson to you all about just how terrifying fighting Grimm are," he told them as Obito and Derry came down, the human boy putting the Faunus girl down as they hurried over.
Obito's eyes went from the on-their-butts pair to Sienna who rubbed the back of her head, looking bashful.
"... Good work," he told her as she blushed before grinning. "Though, you might want to pull your Aura back to normal," Obito said as he came over and held up her non-Aura-limb-covered hand.
The scratches on it were apparent along with the bit of bruising on her palm from the rough ground and cold temperatures.
Sienna winced right then and there as she noticed it, looking a bit embarrassed. "Dammit."
"It's not bad, this was likely your first time, right?"
"Yeah but I need to be stronger than this, I literally almost let that thing walk all over me."
Obito hummed before shrugging. "You still won, you just need to get more experience, conquer your fear, and learn your abilities more thoroughly," he smirked as she huffed. "You did kill it without much issue, too, I'd say you did pretty well."
She blushed a bit as she felt his fingers on her own, gripping them back a bit with a happily wagging tail. "Y-Yeah? Well, thanks, I guess that means a lot c-coming from you," Godsdammit her heart nearly crushed her sternum with how hard it was beating!
Obito raised a brow at her flushed features. 'It's likely the cold,' he could imagine that her body was working triple-time right now. "Hmph, what do you think about them, Vine?" Obito asked as he let go of the mentally whining Sienna's not-injured palm, the young woman's Aura back to normal.
"... They're a bit rough around the edges," Vine said but his eyebrow rose at the grumbling but blushing Sienna and the curious Obito. 'It's likely not my place to intersect,' he nodded. "But they're workable, Ms. Khan is clearly stronger than her fellow Faunus and more combat-wary, she also did her best to work with her newest skill to make the most of it, it's admirable."
Sienna grinned bashfully.
"Ms. Rose," Aster burned. "I won't disparage you for feeling fear, it's only fair, we're all mortal," Vine said with a calming smile. "You did your best and still killed the Grimm with some assistance from Mr. Katt, it's fine. Besides, Grimm in Solitas are known to be a bit more sturdy compared to their other-continent counterparts."
"W-Wait, seriously?" Derry asked as he nodded.
"The Grimm who survive in Sanus aren't to be trifled with. Despite their low numbers, these Grimm have adapted more than those in even Vacuo whose particular types outweigh the similar-variants from other nations. For example, there are Ursa and Beowolves here who've adapted."
That was worrying but also a bit flattering, a bit.
"So, what's next?" Sienna asked as her blood calmed down.
"I don't suppose you'd mind looking for more, Mr. Uchiha?" Vine offered Obito who nodded.
"Not in the least. If anything… allow me to handle the next two," he said as the others choked.
"Yo, hypocrite much?" Sienna told him with crossed arms and a raised brow, tail bristling in irritation.
"Not so much," Obito said with a grin as she blinked, huffing even as she blushed some more. "Most of you haven't seen my new technique in action," he added as she perked up.
"... Oh, shit," she realized where he was going with this.
"I see, you'll do one long-range and another close-range," Vine said with a nod. "Very well, shall we continue?"
"Lets."
~NRK~
Finding the next two Grimm had been, in a fortunate way, a 20-minute endeavor.
"We might not be able to find many here," Vine said as Obito allowed his right hand's point and middle finger to burn, bringing the two digits up in a familiar arc of red flames. "Which is fortunate, generally, but likely won't give you all too much experience."
Obito was sure they could figure something out. For now?
He had a technique to demonstrate.
Sienna raised a brow at the red flames on Obito's fingers becoming covered in a purple energy shell? "So, this is your Gravity power?" She asked him as he nodded.
"You all may want to step back," Obito said as he stepped back with his back foot, widening his stance, as his left hand's black fingers came up to his pointering ones, the ball of flames growing as a familiar small black orb left the back of his top. "This is rather destructive even around me."
Wind picked up around each black finger before he 'pinched' the ball of flames that grew white and crackled with flames, elongating slightly as Obito's 'pulling' hand did its job.
The boy's skin grew a bit flush as his Sharingan blazed.
"Hamaya." (Demon-Dispelling Arrow)
He 'released'.
The ones of their group not in the know jumped as the rooftop cratered around Obito's feet, the explosive wind from his named technique throwing back all their hair.
"The hell?!" Sienna and Aster shouted as Vine's eyes widened, flashing yellow for a mere moment.
He was beyond impressed before the arrow hit.
An explosion the size of a car covered one of the two other 'Sabyrs', Vine's bestiary name for them, and threw the other one off its feet.
When the explosion ended, it left a smoking crater and one less Grimm in the world.
Obito's hissing form jumped off the roof encased by swirling winds before he was already behind the last Sabyr that cracked its claws against the icy street with a growl.
A whistle left his lips, gaining its attention, before it growled at him and pounced.
Obito breathed in slowly as he activated his Earth powers 'defensively'.
And then brought his fist down into the literal skull of the Grimm, bringing its form crunching down into the stone earth.
Its form trembled as he put his foot on its shaky head.
Sienna gawked as his foot crushed its head and the ground around where it'd just been, the white glow around his legs and arms telling her he activated some kind of power.
"What the hell?!" She balked at her step-brother's nonchalance at it all. "D-Dude, I know I've fought more than he has in his entire life! What the hell is all of this?!" Sienna uttered and flinched at a feeling rising in her gut.
"That was sick!" Perry said with a grin as Aster's mouth dropped and Derry blinked in surprise. "Like, yo! This should be easy!"
It should be, Sienna was glad about that fact… but felt her cheek twitch as Obito looked down at the scattering Grimm bits with a look of apathy, eyes staring at the upward flying motes with no emotion.
'What the hell is wrong with me?' She thought as her core rebelled. '...' Her cheeks didn't redden.
They didn't twitch even as they all made it down to his level but she knew she felt some rising revulsion at her own self at a thought.
She'd be cashing in a 'favor' tonight.
~NRK~
Second chapter in a row before I try and accomplish some things I hope I can do in a timely manner.
I have WAY too many stories running right now and yet a few of them are literally almost done so I'm hoping I can push through and finish them.
The noteworthy three are: This Changeling Life, Uzumafia, and A Deadman's Fairytale Ending.
I hope I can make it through them, I still like them so it shouldn't be difficult.
Ciao. See you guys in the next one, hell, Deadman's next chapter is literally almost 14k words long so it shouldn't be too long, I hope.
~NRK Out~