Remnant: Angel of Death

Chapter 5: Day off.

The doctor gasped after unwrapping the bandage around Azrael's torso. The bruise on his side was dark purple, almost black, and it went from his third to his eighth rib; after inspecting through touch, no radiography was needed to know that three of them were broken; fortunately, the auscultation revealed nothing out of the ordinary. A thing to remark was his tolerance to pain.

The doctor was a brown-haired green-eyed dog faunus. The man was of average size and complexion nothing to remarkable, his skills were noticeable, the faunus had followed the protocol and treated him with respect. If Azrael had to calculate his age, maybe the late twenties.

"Sir, may I know how did you get injured?"

Saying the truth might get him in trouble, if he remembered right, hunting Grimm without being a huntsman was illegal but as long as he collected the reward. Even if there was no way in which anyone could recognize him without his gear besides the brawler blonde and friends, he was not going to take risks.

"I was trying to change a light bulb, I fell off and hit against the railing."

"Did you visit a doctor before?"

"No, sir. I have some medical knowledge."

The doctor looked around his office. It was exactly what you would expect of a doctor's office, with the comfy stretcher, desk, a place to see his radiography, a drawer with medical supplies and a weird device that Azrael guessed that was to gauge aura. Neopolitan was sat leg-crossed on the chair beside the desk.

The doctor nodded before taking out his Scroll to show his patient the radiography.

"Your fifth, sixth and seventh ribs have fissures. None of the is completely broken-"

"Odds of developing a pneumothorax?"

The doctor remained silent for a second, patients usually had no idea about traumatic injuries but this one seemed to know. Any impact that has enough force to fissure the ribs could potentially cause a pneumothorax, a medical condition caused by air getting in the space between your lungs and chest which prevented the lung from expanding. This condition was pretty usual on people with fractured ribs.

"Your ribs are not totally broken but you should not make great efforts."

"I understand. Splints and tightly wrapped bandage to prevent further damage due to movement, right?"

The doctor should not be surprised, he showed up in his office with the treatment already. "That's right, instead of a bandage, I can give you a brace, it's more comfortable and you won't need to stretch to adjust it."

Azrael who was in underwear and sat on the stretcher, had problems focusing both due to the pain in his side and the pervert staring at him. Neopolitan was not even trying to be subtle, she was devouring him with her eyes but also paid attention to the doctor's words.

The doctor scanned his patient's body. Before putting his Scroll back in his pocket, he tried to gauge his aura but he didn't detect anything which was weird considering that even people who hadn't "awaken" it showed something in the scanners. The medical treatment of internal injuries was basically amplifying the patient's aura to stimulate rapid healing avoiding surgical procedures if was possible.

Before talking, he folded his arms. "May I know the nature of your scars?"

The scars were hard to notice but if you paid attention and didn't get distracted by his tattoos, the scars were small yet deep and were present on his lower back and abdomen, if the doctor had to guess, they were caused by claws and knives.

"Vacuo, sir. I have been stabbed before."

Of course that it was a lie, he had not set foot on Vacuo yet but that kingdom and region was famous for its ruthlessness and the struggles to survive outside the main city. If he remembered well, Vacuo had an unspoken rule: "If you can survive you are welcomed."

"I would like to perform a complete check-up if you don't mind."

The doctor didn't believe him, damn it.

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Azrael and Neo walked calmly through the streets of the city of Vale, they had no destination at all so it was just a stroll. For Neo, that was one of the few times she could hang out with him without worrying about a mission and was the fact that he was not geared up was refreshing. She was pretty curious about him. What does he do while not hunting Grimm or terrorizing crime lords?

She looked at him analyzing his clothes. A black dressing vest, dark purple button shirt with the sleeves rolled up, black dressing pants and ankle-high boots with belts. She noticed the small dagger camouflaged in the buckle of his brown belt. His dark hair was slicked back as usual.

Neo on her part, wore a white sleeveless blouse, brown pants and white high boots with heels. She used her semblance to change her hair to black and eyes to green since she was still a criminal and couldn't take many risks. Her natural hair and eyes were easily recognizable which would make her an easy target for assassination attempts, that without considering that she could be easily linked to Roman Torchwick's crimes. Her parasol was also easily recognizable so she left it in the cabin.

"So," he said to attract her attention. "Are you going to follow me all day?"

She nodded.

"Don't you have matters to attend to?"

Her head shook.

"Fine."

Their first stop was a book store, Tukson's Book Trade. As soon as they got in, the owner recognized him and greeted him which was answered with a simple, "greetings". The owner was a faunus with black hair and yellow eyes, it was easy to miss that he was a faunus but Azrael saw his contractile claws once. This faunus was Tukson a former member of the White Fang who deserted to have a peaceful life, as long as he kept behaving, Azrael didn't care.

Neo simply waved her hand at him and went with Azrael who had gone the shelves.

She found his reading choices fairly interesting, most people only knew Neo as Roman Torchwick's right hand and criminal but in the past, before beginning her criminal life, she attend to a school for women of the high-class and she was instructed in multiple areas such as dancing and literature. That is the reason why she immediately identified the book Azrael was reading. It was kind of strange watching him read "The Woman In The Tower" but there was something special about him enjoying something so mundane.

Anyone who got to know Azrael rapidly noticed his apparent obsession with his job that was according to his words, killing monsters. Most of the time, he never put his gear aside unless the situation required it and that was as rare as finding a Beowolf in the middle of the street during daytime. He was always so worried and focused on something, it was relaxing seeing his eyes shine with each word and forget all of his concerns.

Maybe Neo was just thinking too much about because of the boredom.

"Why do you not pick a book?"

He separated his eyes from the pages just before the princess started her plan to use letters as a distress call. His suggestion was made because he knew how boring was simply staying with someone who didn't have initiative to start a conversation. Curious enough, she picked up a book named "The Man With Two Souls".

One hour was the time they stood there, doing nothing but reading. In the end, both of them bought books; he was grateful about the paper bag, he had no excuse ready to answer if someone questioned him about buying "Ninjas Of Love II".

The sun had just reached its highest point, for a moment he was tempted to go back to his cabin and play that videogame about the white-haired monster slayer; that would be his tenth playthrough and he had the perfect set of armor to combine melee combat with magic and had mastered the card game that existed inside the world of the videogame; rarely any videogame was able to make you a gamble addict but that one was more than capable of do so. He was eager to destroy his opponents with the northern deck and gain a lot of money to pay for an upgraded armor.

But as eager as he was, Neopolitan, that lovely walking ice cream, was still with him. There had to be something to do in that city. Maybe she would like to the carnival but there was none in Vale, then to the cinema. What kind of movie she liked? Highly violent? Romantic? An Ice Cream documentary?

The small woman pulled his arm getting him out of his head. Alright, he could admit that he sometimes sounded like Alice who talked to herself often in the Wonderland. What attracted Neo's attention so violently was an ice cream shop recently opened to the public after renovating; he remembered now, that was Neo's favorite place. The tables inside the shop were full, their only choice would be to take a sit outside, but the tables were so exposed; many blind points, the odds for a surprise attack were high.

Neo pulled his arm again this time excitedly pointing at the establishment. Any resistance he had against the idea was vanquished as soon as he saw her pleading face, too much for his heart.

After reluctantly buying and taking a sit outside, both of them were eating. Three balls of ice cream; the one on the left was pink, the one in the middle white and the one on the right was brown served on a bowl-shaped cookie. Neo was quite voracious with her dessert, picking ice cream on small portions that were put into her mouth in rapid succession; in a moment, one of the ice cream balls was devoured.

He began to eat too enjoying the silence and Neo's company, quite often, he looked over his shoulder checking that no one had sneaked behind him. The people was walking around minding their own business; couples holding hands, teenagers taking their pets for a walk, a faunus and a human child playing tag.

Neo tapped his arm attracting his attention. Through sign language she wondered the reason why he looked so gloomy; he kind of zoned out while looking around.

"It is nothing, Neo. Just wondering for how long peace will last."

Azrael chuckled at her commentary. She would like the peace to last at least until she finished her ice cream.

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Patch.

With a last push, Yang closed the door of the shed not without saying goodbye to her bike first.

She had just gotten to her home. Despite of his injuries, Azrael took her to the city and then to an airship to Patch. Curious, she took her Scroll out of her pocket and checked the messages just in case. Frankly, she was quite eager to get any information about her mother; normally, she wouldn't trust a stranger but Azrael proved to be reliable enough not just promising her that he would take her to her mother but cheering her up when they found the corpses. Just thinking about it made her stomach shrink and head dizzy; thankfully, his words were present too.

She sighed and opened the most recent message.

"Relax, blondie. Just took this fool to a clinic, he will be fine just needs rest."

Well, that was a relief. She honestly got a little worried since he fought alone against a Goliath. During that fight she was knocked unconscious but woke up moments later just to fight against Beowolves; the forest was infested and she took longer than she would have liked to back Azrael up. It was a miracle that all he had was broken bones and not a squished body.

She got into her house, a two-stories large cabin with a red roof. The location was perfect to have a quiet and peaceful life, getting to the town was not hard, a mere 15 minutes walk. That her house was in the middle of the woods could be considered a bad idea but there were little to no Grimm in the area, Yang's father, Taiyang Xiao Long, took care of clearing up the area once a week.

She went straight to the kitchen and pour water in a glass. As the refreshing liquid went down her esophagus, she wondered why the house was so...quiet since she arrived, the only one who greeted her was Zwei, her cute dog.

Her lilac eyes wandered all over the kitchen, a box of flour for cookies activated her brain cells. With the battle in the forest, the excitement of fulfilling her first, although unofficial, job as a "huntress", the possibility to finally find her mother and the bloody scene that made her understand what happened to most people who was not lucky enough to live in the city or have their aura awakened. She could understand why her father never told her about the dark side of being a huntsman, no one wants to stomp their children's dream, quite the opposite, a parent always tries to make their children follow their dreams.

Yang sighed heavily already knowing what day was it. That day, the tomb of her mom was visited by family and friends. Damn! If she hurried up then she could be there for her little sister.

Her feet didn't move. She knew herself; as soon as she got there, she would cry. Yang couldn't allow herself to look weak in front of her baby sister, she had to be strong in front of her.

With a heavy sigh, she served food on Zwei's bowl and headed upstairs to take a bath and change her clothes.

Once she was in front of the shower and, obviously, without her clothes; Yang turned the water on and waited the usual thirteen seconds for it to get warm. During her wait, she wandered back to Lower Cairn.

It was kind of disturbing for her to have enjoyed fighting the Grimm after what she saw. She was a thrill-seeker, everyone knew about it and if she could have fun while helping people around then it was better, but that her desire for thrill felt greater than her desire to help people was worrying. Yes, she got angry at the Grimm and made them pay for what they did but she enjoyed the fight, the adrenaline rush maybe a bit much.

Yang stepped into the shower and let her thoughts flow as the warm water ran across her body.

She went to Junior's club to get information about her mothers location and she got it bit not from the person she was expecting. Azrael knowing her mother was a big surprise but a welcome one since that meant that she was a step further to finally get some answers.

Now that she finally was relaxed, she could remember the fight at the club. Azrael took Junior by surprise, he took care of his henchmen from afar and just got closer once Junior was barely able to stand up and he did the same when they had to take care of the Vacuan Riders; in fact, the only person she saw fighting in close quarters was Brigid.

She was not dumb, she noticed Azrael's lack of aura. During the fight in the forest, his armor and weapons got damaged and dirty which meant that he had no aura shielding them. To think that a man was able to fight a pack of beowolves, a Boarbatusk and a Goliath without aura was just amazing and kind of scary.

That just made her want to have a friendly fight against him. However, the good impression she had of him was due to his words when she saw the corpses of the people who was unlucky enough to be a Grimm's victim.

"Someday I'll be the fire of hope for someone, huh? I think I already was so to my baby sister, being the same for other people shouldn't be bad though."

Yang remembered part of Azrael's words while scrubbing her body.

Now with a clear image of the gory scene, something that seemed was going to torment her for a time, she inevitably thought about her sister. Ruby was more innocent and purer of heart, if she were to see such a scene...It would be just too much.

No, as Azrael had said, huntsmen often encountered scenes like that; if she was going to be a huntress her emotions had to learn how to keep calmed. Again, Ruby was her main concern, being a huntress was a harsh path filled by bodies and creatures of darkness. Unless Ruby decided to drop Beacon, she will witness a lot of death.

As much as she would like to make her sister to drop her dream, that would be hypocritical. Ruby had to learn some things by herself and decide by herself but that didn't mean that she was not going to be there for her.

After dressing up, she went downstairs and waited for her family to arrive. A couple of minutes passed but the person that crossed the door was not the one she was expecting.

"Uncle Qrow!"

Yang put aside her Scroll and rushed to hug him, it was a brief one but enough to calm her down.

"Whoa! You've missed me, firecracker?"

Qrow Branwen, a man maybe in his mid-30s with grayish black, spiky hair, red eyes and a poorly shaved beard. He was tall raising to 1.83 meters. He wore a gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants and black dress shoes that were accompanied by a tattered red cloak. He wore rings on his fingers and had a crooked cross-shaped necklace around his neck.

"Kinda," she answered after breaking the hug.

"Where is Ruby?"

"She went with dad to visit mom's grave."

"Oh, it's that time of the year already."

Qrow walked to the nearest couch and laid on it not before taking Harbinger, his sword-scythe-shotgun, off his back. He was visibly tired and his hair was messier than usual.

"You look tired," commented Yang while sitting on the couch next to Qrow, Zwei jumped onto her lap instantly.

"I just took care of some Grimm on my way here," he explained while going for the flask in his pocket. However, he noticed how Yang made a subtle microexpression at the mention of the monsters, such a reaction was rare on her.

He normally wouldn't care since Yang was a strong young lady that smiled at danger, someone who was stubborn enough to achieve any goal, just like her mother, but if he put the hug and the microexpression together then he could get to the conclusion that something happened. Qrow was not sure but checking on her wouldn't make any harm .

"Hey, are you alright?"

Yang looked away not wanting him to notice. "Kinda."

Qrow fixed his position with a grunt and got closer to Yang. It was weird to see her so down, as her uncle, he felt the obligation to cheer her up or at least listen to her problems.

Elbowing her slightly roughly, he inquired. "So, what's troubling your mind?"

She promised to keep Azrael's identity a secret...Wait, she could talk about Azrael as long as she didn't describe the man under the helmet. Besides, Uncle Qrow have known her since she was a baby and could easily tell if she lied or made things up; her only option was telling the truth by making a big summary and keep most details for herself.

"Well, I was in a nightclub and met a guy, he and I went to his cabin to-"

"Wow, slow down, kiddo. Did you get a boyfriend and went to third base so fast?"

Yang's face turned completely red, that comment took her with her guard lowered, therefore, dealing a critical hit on her. However, her shame didn't last long.

As her fist came in contact against Qrow's arm, she quickly clarified the situation. "He is not my boyfriend and we didn't have sex."

"Alright, alright, sorry," Qrow rubbed his shoulder. Yang was quite strong even her not serious punches hurt. "Gotta admit that the way you put it-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Wanna hear or not?"

He raised his arms and told her to continue. Both of them knew that they had limited time before Taiyang and Ruby's arrival, frankly, Yang felt that her Uncle was the only person she could talk about what happened with.

"We went to his cabin, we dined there and then we went in the morning to help a village with a Grimm problem. I-We, We were supposed to get there and rescue as many people as we could but that didn't happen. When we got there, all of them were dead, one of them had his guts out and another one had half of her body crushed and the other half sliced. I-I don't want to-Let's just carry on."

Qrow frowned, she obviously was keeping details for herself but she was telling the truth. He would have preferred her not to watch the goriest part of being a huntsman so early but there was nothing he could do now. While she was not panicked, he could tell that she was remembering the scene with vivid detail judging by her descriptions. To reassure her, he caressed her head.

"Uncle Qrow?"

"I am listening."

"Is normal not feeling nothing?"

Qrow folded her hands and leaned forward, that was a rather hard question. People tended to react different to death, some people would get furious and try to make the culprit pay, other people would cry and scream and other people would feel sick but no emotions afterwards or simply been filled by a rageful justice upon seeing death of innocents, try to avenge them and then not "feeling" a thing; Yang seemed to be the latter.

"It's complicated. That doesn't mean that you're a bad person; unless you have any...bond, the death of others causes...eeh...limited reactions and impacts on us. Fear, anger, sadness, they are normal ways to respond to what you saw, as I said, as long as you don't have any bond with the ones who died, they will always keep being someone you have never known. Listen, watching such a scene will always have an impact on us, the first time is the strongest. You are taking it like a champ, firecracker."

"I guess I will get over it eventually."

Yang petted Zwei, the cute dog could sense her sadness so he licked her face trying to make the sadness disappear. Taking the chance to distract her and get answers, Qrow inquired.

"So, are you going to tell me more about the guy of the club?"

His distraction worked, her face got red again and her red eyes sent a death glare that was only comparable to that of his sister. Yang felt defeated and decided to answer.

"He's a man of few words, kind of cold but funny, intimidating, fearless."

"Oh, you are head over heels for him already," joked Qrow with a grin. "I should get a tuxedo for the wedding already."

"You jerk!"

Yang's mood had gotten better but at the cost of his shoulder.

"So? There's anything else?"

"Hmmm. He kind of talks weird. Now that I remember, he likes to drink just like you."

"Re-"

The doorknob of the main door turned. Qrow picked his sword up by instinct ready to take a shoot at the intruders.

"Your sister should have arrived already," said a familiar voice on the other side of the door.

Qrow and Yang locked looks silently agreeing to not talk about the "I met a guy in a club" to either Tai or Ruby.

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City of Vale.

Azrael and Neo had gotten into the CCTS tower to make a call.

The Cross Continental Transmit System was a way to communicate with people all over the world almost instantly through the use of radio waves and several relay towers to make communication possible. The four pillars of the CCTS were massive tower-like buildings with several floors and areas destined to be used by Beacon students.

However, in the city of Vale there were small buildings that were built with the intention of serving as extensions of the CCTS for the public use. In one of those buildings, Azrael and Neopolitan were sat in front of a desk watching the holographic screen that it projected.

Azrael had already prepared mentally for the interaction with his friend, Mike.

"The royal guardsmen are ready to fight most threats thanks to me."

Azrael kept silent patiently waiting for him to end. He had the hunch that there was something that was going to irritate him but that sensation was normal while talking with Mike.

"Do you remember the tigress that was in love with you? Well, I have her right here."

"What is she doing in Menagerie?" he answered not caring for correcting that stubborn man.

"Don't worry she is crazy for you. In fact, she came here wanting to hire an instructor but I was busy so I just tossed the ball at you."

"What?" Oh boy, his hunch was correct.

"Oh, and I think that is about time for you to get laid with the ice cream or the tigress or both. I know you can, I have faith on you."

"I think that it's about time for you to stop irritating me with the topic."

"Come on, brother, Neo. You practically are a married couple already. How is possible for none of you haven't shared an intimate moment in that cabin?"

A coordinated middle finger from both of them made Mike chuckle.

"See? You live together, go out together, have dinner together and even insult together."

"Just shut up, would you? What is the matter with Sienna?"

Mike laid back on his chair and looked to the ceiling trying to remember, he was faking it obviously. While putting the tea on the table, Kali Belladona waved her hand at them which was reciprocated.

Mike crossed his arms before answering Azrael's question. He was certain that Azrael was going to rip his arm off and slap him with it but that was the kind of sacrifice a good friend does.

"I already told you, she wanted to hire an instructor but I am busy so I told her where to find you."

"Busy with what? Mating season?" Azrael replied about to take the first ship to Menagerie just to kick his butt.

Mike grabbed his chest as if he had just been stabbed. "Is that the image you have of me?"

"Brother, if you were a faunus, you would be a bunny. How many children would you have if it weren't for your infertility?"

"You son of a bi-"

Out of nowhere, Kali's hand smacked the back of his head. Azrael and Neo smirked, both of them would have laughed their asses off if they were not in a public space.

"Language, young man," scolded Kali.

"Madam Kali, how have you been?"

Kali's face poked out from one of the corners of the camera. "I've been fine. By any chance, have you seen Blake?"

"No, I have not. Did she run away?"

"Kind of."

"Do not worry, I know where she might be. By the way, this lady at my side is Aurora."

"Oh," she laughed nervously. "Where are my manners? My name is Kali Belladona, pleased to meet you."

Neo simply waved at her.

"She is a mute," he clarified. "If I get any information about your daughter I will tell you."

"Thank you."

Kali disappeared and he could swear that he heard the voice of her husband and...Sienna's. His friend Mike took the word once he was left "alone".

"The tigress is here. Hey, Si-"

"Gotta go."

Azrael ended the call abruptly earning a rose eyebrow from Neopolitan.

"Where do you want to go?"


Another concluded chapter.

My headcanon is that team STRQ is at least 38 or 41.

If we use Yang's age as a guide and assuming that they graduated from Beacon Academy at the age of 21 and Raven got pregnant of Yang shortly after then they are 38 and if they took their time then they are at least 41.

Question. What color comes to mind when you say Stark? I have no idea why Ozpin selected it.

Thanks for reading, wish you a wonderful day, dear reader.