Summary/Disclaimer: Time for another chapter of A Lingering Ember. Enjoy the 900- word chapter. I don't own RWBY, Monty Oum, and Rooster Teeth do.
(Vale.)
Neo sat on a broken car while Desmond commanded a half dozen or so of Junior's thugs.
"I told you, move that crate there, not there! I swear, Junior probably doesn't hire you for your brains…" Desmond yelled before he looked over to the window of a store.
"I swear I'm surrounded by idiots…." Desmond muttered before he turned to look at Neo who blinked.
"You know I meant them, I was talking to them…" Desmond said, Neo shrugged before Desmond continued to look into the window.
"I thought when most of Vale got trashed, most of the stores went with it. I can see some awesome hats in there… Uh…" Desmond said, Neo looked at the henchmen and considered jumping down.
Then she heard the shattering of glass before she turned to look at Desmond, he had swung Melodic Cudgel through the glass.
He had a sliver-rimed, black and red hat on the barrel end of his cane which he flipped onto his head before looking it over in the glass shard remains of the window.
"Hmm, pretty good if I do say so myself," Desmond said, inspecting himself, and then he looked at Neo.
"What do you think, sweet tooth? Do you think it's too much? I mean, I want another opinion…." Desmond asked, Neo blinked and looked at the man in a new light.
Maybe he was more like Roman than she thought. She smiled and gave a thumbs-up, Desmond smirked and patted her on the head before he walked to the bullhead which was getting ready to leave.
"I'm keeping it then… C'mon, we have the stuff to do in Mistral and we have a long flight ahead of us…" Desmond stated, he offered his hand to Neo who accepted it, he pulled her aboard.
"Step on it, we're burning sunlight!" Desmond yelled while 3 bullheads, Neo and Desmond's bullhead being one of them.
Neo sat on the edge while Desmond leaned on his cane and considered closing the door before deciding to allow her to relax on the door.
"You know, I wonder what's going to happen in Mistral…. I have no idea what's going to occur when we reach Mistral…" Desmond muttered aloud to himself, he turned to look at Neo before a strong gust of wind whipped at the hat she wore.
She gasped as it flew into the wind before Desmond fired the grappling hook of Melodic Cudgel at it. Neo looked terrified before the crook of his cane snagged the hat.
It flew back into the bullhead before Desmond caught it and put it on Neo's head again, he patted her head again.
"Keep a tight hand on it, I'm not going to get lucky like that again… I can barely aim this thing, to begin with… You good?" Desmond asked, Neo looked at the hat before hugging it to her chest tightly and nodding.
"You want me to close the door or you good?" Desmond asked, Neo shook her head and then turned to look out the door again.
Desmond said nothing, crossing his arms while he rested his cane on the floor and sat down, he had been standing for hours.
"I don't mean to pry… But I'm guessing that hat you got there belonged to someone special, right? You're hugging it like it's the one toy you got for the holidays… I'm going to guess that person isn't among us anymore?" Desmond asked, Neo said nothing, she nodded a little, and Desmond sighed.
"Well… I'll make sure to keep an eye on your hat then… Everyone lost something in Vale, I lost my parents and my team… I can understand losing someone… You just keep the hat on tight, I'll try and catch it off." Desmond stated, he leaned on the door with his cane and tapped it on the ground.
"I like this cane, it's pretty cool… I just wish there were easier ways to finish off people… I mean, you can shoot people, but besides that…. I need more training with it…. Eh, I got plenty of time in Mistral to do that…" Desmond muttered before he looked at Neo.
"I might have said this before, but you're a damn good fighter for someone using an umbrella, where did you learn how to fight like that? I don't know much of Vale… But I do know Junior's bodyguards are no joke… And you made them look like mincemeat… They could barely touch you… What did you do to learn how to fight like that?" Desmond asked, Neo was silent and looked out and into the wind.
"Ok… You can tell me another time… But I want to know, you aren't a student if you can fight that well…" Desmond said, he pulled his hat over his eyes and started to sleep.
Desmond fell asleep a minute later, deep in thought.
Author Note
Phew, another chapter is done! I apologize for the short chapter; the next chapter will be longer. I also want to point out I don't want to use Cinder as a villain because it would be too predictable. The next chapter will be on Sunday or so and will show Desmond and Neo in Mistral. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!
