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.

(Mistral.)

Desmond hummed and cracked his neck. He waited for the pair of clothes he bought.

"Ok, it's a fitting room, not a runway," Desmond muttered while leaning on his cane. "You can come out soon as you're done," Desmond stated while he cracked his back and hummed.

Desmond waited for Neo to exit the fitting room. He sighed before Neo finally exited the room. Neo hummed and gestured to her outfit.

"Well?" Neo asked as Desmond rested his cane on his shoulder. She wore a chocolate brown coat that started right below her shoulders. He could also see it had pink inside of it, two brown shoulder straps, and twin grey button seams.

Desmond noticed Neo had a grey scarf around her neck, there was also a white, grey three-piece top-like vest that was strapless and exposed her hips. Neo also wore chocolate brown sleeves with pink trim along with white funnel cuffed gloves with grey button detailing.

Desmond held back judging the white belted pants and white and black splatted boots with cutout detailing. Desmond also noticed an ice cream key chain which caused him to roll his eyes and look to the side while rolling his hands.

"You look like the mistress of a Vacuo Combustion Dust owner." Desmond snarked only for Neo to playfully push him into the dressing room. "Ok, that was just rude," Desmond muttered from the inside of the room.

"Seriously, these pants suck… Neo, did you pick all this crap out?" Desmond questioned only for Neo to bang the door with Hush. "No need to get snippy, sweet tooth, I'll be out in a second," Desmond stated before opening the doors.

Desmond now wore a fedora-style top hat with ocean blue trim. He also now wore a whitish black long coat that reached slightly below his ankles. Green trim lined the inside of the jacket with a pin depicting the symbol on his cane. Desmond also wore 2 rings on each hand. Neo picked out one from each kingdom. He also wore greenish-black boots, although these had a firework-like the design on the sole. He wore white gloves with the back cut open.

His coat displayed the same jack o lantern symbol on his cane. He wore a blueish white shirt under that. Desmond adjusted the tie before deciding to rip it off and wear a blue scarf.

"This is way too fancy for my tastes," Desmond said as Neo rested Roman's hat on her head. "Nice look at least," Desmond said before patting her on the head.

"Hmm." Neo hummed while she and Desmond turned to the entrance of the store. Desmond forbids Neo from stealing anything or robbing the store. Desmond didn't want to steal things from a nice store. He was a thief, not a monster.

Desmond hummed and looked to the side before tapping Neo on the arm gently with his cane.

"Time to go, pay the man at the counter," Desmond said which caused Neo to pout. "I don't care if you look at me like that. You're not stealing anything. We fight other bad guys; we don't steal from nice people. Neo, we have a thing called 'standards.'" Desmond said as Neo sighed and walked off to pay for the outfit. Desmond watched the woman as she turned back to Desmond with puppy dog eyes.

"NO…. CRIME." Desmond ordered as Neo pouted and walked up to the cashier. Desmond didn't like how the girl seemed to always prefer to handle things with violence. It was like she got amused by the suffering of others.

Then again? As far as Desmond knew? Neo was no sociopath; she cared a lot about others and was far more willing to help people if she felt like it.

Neo rocked on her heels while the man behind the counter looked at her. Neo smiled and waved only to look back at Desmond.

Desmond leaned on Melodic Cudgel, amused the girl was waiting for the chance to do something. They had a war to win with the spiders.

Desmond walked back to the door as Neo turned to look at him. Desmond patted his newest friend and partner on the head. She frowned at this and then quickly seemed to perk back up at the drop of a hat.

The duo left with their change. Desmond tucked the money into his pocket and leaned Melodic Cudgel on his shoulder.

"You can't solve every issue by hurting people," Desmond stated before starting to twirl the cane in his hand. "We aren't here to kill people just because you think it's easy." Desmond pointed out while cracking his neck.

"That clerk could have been working for the spiders," Neo stated to which Desmond hummed.

"And he very well could just be a guy doing his job who has no idea who the hell they are," Desmond responded.

Author Note

Phew, another chapter is done! I want to point out that Desmond and Neo will be fighting soon. The next chapter will also be in 6-8 weeks and will show Desmond and Neo planning their next move. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: Neo is 900 words Thursday. Raven 900 Sunday. Penny 900 Tuesday. Ruby 900 Sunday. Yang 900 Saturday. Cinder 900 Monday. Weiss, Tock, Saphron, Willow, and such are unknown yet.