Niren Argent
Niren stood against a pillar in a large circular room and listened to the three men sitting at a table in the center of said room, he wasn't too certain if they sat on a dirt or stone floor but none of the three seemed uncomfortable by that fact. "Figures Aries and Mordred would be fine with it." Niren thought as his eyes continued to scan the walls, he had been brought along by Aries to act as security so that he wouldn't have to bring a large number of Maleficar with him, "Mordred must have had the same idea." He thought as he once again took notice of Malacci and Percival standing at attention on either side of Mordred and Aries. He was the only one who stood apart from the conversation, his face covered by the helmet he always wore when on the job.
Niren had kept Gungnir strapped across his back as he was certain nothing of note would happen, despite the fact that Ghira Belladonna was likely capable of throwing the five of them across the room given his size and experience from the time he spent as leader of the White Fang. "When will they finish this nonsense?" Niren asked himself mentally, looking up at the skylight, wondering what he would have for dinner, he had been left bored by the constant back and forth between Ghira and Mordred, Aries had largely stayed out of the conversation, interjecting and answering as needed.
Niren once again shifted his gaze to the rest of the room as the argument took yet another turn against Ghira, Niren kept himself from sighing once again as he resigned himself to several more hours of no compromise.
Kasumi Aster
Kasumi fussed with the gauntlets around her arms, making sure that she had them properly secured, the leather straps had become fairly worn out recently and Kassandra had told her she would replace them, she made certain to check her leg and shin guards as well. "Kassandra did excellent work." She thought to herself as she finished strapping them on and stood up to put on her black and purple knee length coat and strap her blades across her hips.
"Hey, Kasumi Adam wants to talk with you." Kassandra said as she entered Kasumi's tent. Kasumi took note of Kassandras armor, it was a well made steel breastplate coupled by shin guards and bracers, she wore a simple yet sturdy pair of jeans to complete her equipment. Across her back sat her massive roundshield and in her right hand was her spear Leonidas, in her other arm was the rather ancient looking helmet that Kassandra had told Kasumi she had been in her family for quite some time.
"Of course he does." Kasumi said with a sigh as she put her long hair up into a rather messy ponytail and put on a mouthless noh mask that had been painted dark purple with black lines around the eyes and left her tent with Kassandra in tow, as well as two of Kassandras own soldiers, both of them wore armor similar to Kassandras, minus the crest that Kassandras helmet bore on the top. "I don't like this Kasumi, these guys are too excited about what they've done." Kassandra said as they walked through the camp belonging to Adam Taurus and his cell of the White Fang, they had been recalled to Anima to answer for what they had done at Beacon and he had managed to convince Sienna to let them raid a train depot that would be expecting a large shipment of Dust in only a day. Kasumi and Kassandra had been sent to assist and ensure that no more innocents were killed by Adams vendetta.
Kasumi took a moment to look around to ensure no one was watching them before responding, the noh mask on her face keeping her expression of distaste hidden as she replied "That is why we are here, should things get out of hand we are to eliminate Adam and his forces. No exceptions." Kasumi never broke her stride as Kassandra responded with a simple "Hm." The two women and their entourage crossed the camp to the large tent in the center that Adam had been using to plan his attack.
Kasumi stopped three feet in front of the tent's entrance while she took a moment to compose herself before requesting entry, her usual calm had been left back at the White Fangs headquarters from the moment she had been given her orders. She felt some joy in that her mask kept her features hidden from sight, it had given her the air of a woman who was cold and calculating and a barrier between herself and the world.
"Kasumi." Adam Taurus said with a nod of his head, Kasumi was unable to see his eyes beneath his own mask but she could tell he was in no way pleased to have the two of them assisting him in his task. Kasumi simply responded by placing her hands on her thighs and bowing, keeping silent the entire time while Kassandra simply nodded to Adam.
Kasumi took a moment to look at the map spread out on the table before them, there was a long line marked in red ink with several locations circled. "The tracks and stations it should be stopping at." She thought as Adam silently waited for her input. "How do you plan on taking the train?' Kasumi asked after a while, unsure of whether he planned on simply striking at one station, or having his forces board at several and stopping the train at a later stop.
"I've had several teams board the train as passengers and crew, I plan on them stopping the train at the midway depot here." Adam said while tracing the path of the train from its last stop to the depot he had in mind, Kasumi noted that the depot was close enough to their camp to quickly move their forces to occupy it. "This plan will not put too many innocents in danger, I trust?" Kasumi asked before Adam had a chance to continue, she had already been able to figure out the gist of his plan and was satisfied that it was relatively low risk compared to other targets they could hit.
Kasumi watched Adam raise his head and nod. "So long as they don't resist you have my word I won't have them killed." Kasumi was silent as she judged his response, he seemed serious about that promise, likely fully aware by now that the support given to him by their master came with a heavy handed warning. "Very well, tell me what our role shall be." Kasumi replied, nodding her head in acceptance.
Kasumi stood at the station and watched for the train to arrive, her nerves being calmed by the sound of blankets of rain sweeping over the station and trees surrounding it. Adam had gone to seize control of the depot while she and Kassandra had been sent with a group of ten or Kassandras men, the rest remained at the camp to ensure that the curious and Grimm did not attempt anything.
"I do not like this Kassandra." Kasumi said, feeling worried about the limited number of forces they had been told to bring, on the train there would be at least forty members of the White Fang and her force only was the only one made of people she knew would not betray her.
"Neither do I, but if they try to betray us I can take them all on, you know that." Kassandra replied, smiling and wrapping an arm around Kasumi's shoulder, "I know that Kassandra." Kasumi replied, once again glad to have a mask on as she felt her cheeks warm up.
Kasumi stood like that for a time until she could hear the distant sound of a train coming towards the station and she and Kassandra separated to go and let their forces know to get ready to board the train. "Remember, we are to kill no one unless we are attacked, there are supposed to be very few passengers on this train save for our own allies." Kasumi said as they all stepped out into the rain as the train slowed to a halt and the doors opened with a soft hiss.
"Now, we see if Adam is truly in his right mind." Kasumi thought as she waited for her allies to board and noticed the large grey car with the familiar logo of the Schnee Dust Company on it. "At least we have the right train." She said to Kassandra as she stepped on the train and out of the rain, watching her men spread out through the car they entered into and the one ahead of it.
Kasumi took a seat in a booth next to Kassandra and decided to try and get some rest before the train reached the depot. It would be several hours before then at the least, assuming the train did not run into bandits or Grimm along the way.
"Ma'am, Vidar is reporting two armed individuals in the car ahead." One of Kassandras men said quietly as Kasumi had just gotten seated. "Very well, I shall speak with them." Kasumi replied, feeling a headache coming on from the development.
Niren Argent
Niren held back a yawn as he walked down the now mostly empty street towards Belladonna's residence, Mordred had asked him to meet him there for a round of negotiations. "Hopefully he has me say something instead of acting as a warning again." Niren muttered to himself, as he looked up at the sky, gazing at the shattered moon rising over the roofs of the rows of buildings.
"How peaceful, if only I could truly feel safe." He thought to himself as his thoughts began to trail away from the meeting ahead and more towards the idea of returning to the inn he and Talia had been staying at and spending his night in bed, peacefully sleeping with Talia in his arms.
Ever since Niren had been told he had the freedom to move about as he pleased he had felt the eyes of several informants and potential assassins on him and Talia, he knew none would attack unless ordered and even then, he sincerely hoped they valued their lives over the White Fang. Those feelings had caused him to use roads that, while being still packed during business hours had fewer people on them, so that if anyone tried to attack him, many people would see it play out. He was also able to spot any would be attacker or pickpocket.
Niren held back yet another yawn as he finally reached the home of Ghira Belladonna and showed the guards his ID, taking note of the two Knights standing across from two more guards at the entrance to the actual building, Niren crossed the courtyard quickly, not liking the amount of open space. "Too many positions for a sniper." He thought as he walked up the wooden stair and once again, showing the guards his ID.
The door opened and Niren was allowed inside, he no longer wore the armor he had earlier and instead had elected to wear a simple dark grey shirt and black slacks, showing the scales that covered patches of his arms and his neck, as well as the number of scars he had gained from his line of work. The servant who greeted him looked relieved to only need to take the weapon from his hands and set it on a rack opposite from them.
Niren began to head down the hall towards the same room he had spent his entire afternoon in and noticed a few more Knights who he simply nodded at. Niren finally decided to yawn as he quietly entered the room and addressed Mordred. "I would prefer to be in bed by now Mordred, what is so important that you called me?" Niren rubbed one of his eyes after it started to blur from the tears that had formed from him yawning. "My apologies, Malacci was busy with other tasks and while my men are decent I would prefer to have someone skilled in here with me while I speak to our host." Mordred replied, Niren noted that he seemed to be in a much better mood than when he had left him earlier.
"Did something come up in the last few hours?" Niren asked, when he left Mordred was trying to figure out the logistics of his plans with Malacci and seemed increasingly annoyed with some problems.
"You could say that. Turns out the White Fang is already making itself into a problem for my men already." Mordred replied, shaking his head with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Then this is to be a warning then?" Niren replied, keeping it simple given that he was likely only there to observe and intervene if needed, while he did not have Gungnir he did keep several knives and daggers on him. "Shame that servant didn't do a very good job of searching me." Niren thought to himself with a soft chuckle.
Mordred nodded and Niren simply took a place standing next to him as they chose to wait for Ghira to hear them out. Niren once again yawned and bit his cheek to stay awake, he had been exhausted from the amount of interaction he had with people earlier and truly wished to go to sleep.
"Greetings Ghira." Mordred said as Ghira entered the room, Niren only offered a small bow followed by a yawn. "Keep it brief please." He thought to himself as the large man took a seat across from Mordred.
"This is about the fights in the markets I take it?" Ghira asked, taking Niren by surprise with how quickly he cut to the matter Mordred wanted to speak about. "Yes, I would appreciate it if you could help get the White Fang on the island to leave my men alone until we are ready to leave. There is no need for further violence between either of our factions." Mordred replied, his face stony as he asked for a simple favor.
"Might be a tall order given how we've all interacted with each other in the past" Niren thought as he recalled several instances of combat against the White Fang. "They aren't all that bad, they just aren't a match for Vanir and I at this point, the grunts aren't anyways." Niren wasn't proud of the number of people he had killed over the years, however in many cases he did not have the luxury of leaving survivors.
"And If I'm unable to convince them to keep their men under control?" Ghira asked, his eyes narrowing in spite of the fact that he knew Mordred's response to his question.
"Then we will take matters into our own hands, in the areas outside the settlement, and should that fail my comrade here can and WILL show them the error of their ways." Mordred replied while motioning at Niren with a hand, Niren couldn't help but smile slightly at the implication that he would begin to drown the White Fang in their own blood.
"Please, there is no need to jump so quickly to something so horrific. I will speak to the leadership here tomorrow about keeping things calm." Ghira replied, his eyes no longer narrowed and instead widened in shock at the casual nature in which Mordred suggested full blown war on Menagerie.
"Thank you, I will be on my way then." Mordred replied cheerfully as he stood and bowed, turning to leave after giving Niren an approving nod.
"I bid you a fair evening sir." Niren said quickly, once again bowing slightly to the man in front of him before turning to leave the room and return to the inn he was staying at and get some sleep. "You as well young man." Ghira replied as Niren left him in the room.
Vanir Argent
Vanir was well aware of the number of individuals who had just boarded the train being rather worrisome, there was too many for it to just be a large number of tourists given the fear the still gripped parts of Remnant following the Fall of Beacon and despite their best efforts to hide their weapons and armor, Vanir's ears could hear the rasp of metal on cloth and could smell the Dust from their weapons like fresh rain on pavement.
"What's the plan?" He asked Lirril, who had been checking her weapons ever since he alerted her to what his senses told him about the would be trainjackers with a simple jab in the stomach, Vanir hadn't made any movement for his own weapons given their size and the fact that neither blade would work well in the train. "Gonna have to use my fists and anything I can grab off these guys." He thought to himself as one went into the car behind them.
"We might be able to work something out with whoever is in charge, lets try being diplomatic first." Lirril whispered as she loaded magazines of lightning Dust bullets in her weapons. Vanir chuckled as he made sure the joints on his right arm weren't rusted, and the hidden blade was in working order. The energy beam was something he would test if needed.
"Yeah, sure lets see if the White Fang wants to make this train jacking a clean one like the last few." Vanir replied, louder than he knew would make Lirril comfortable. He was right in his own comfort zone however, as he could feel the tension in the air about to snap before the door to the next car opened softly and the train began to move once more.
Vanir looked up from his preparations and saw two women standing in the aisle silently, Vanir grunted and jerked his head towards Lirril, letting the two of them know that she would be the one to talk to.
"I thank you for taking the opportunity to speak to us before either of you went about causing trouble." The woman wearing a Noh mask said as she placed her hands on her legs and bowed to the two of them, Vanir noticed the larger woman standing next to her wore armor that reminded him too much of Lucas.
"You have my thanks for not causing trouble as soon as we left the station." Lirril replied, she motioned towards the seats across from her and Vanir. "Please have a seat." Lirril said, business like in manner, and not letting them know that she was in fact terrified, Vanir found himself trying not to laugh as he loaded a fresh set of thermal clips into his arm as moved the metal up to vent the small amount of heat that had built up, this drew the attention of the two women who had now taken a seat across from them.
The shorter woman let out a small cough as the four of them sat in silence for a while, Vanir couldn't tell what was going through anyones head other than his own, and Vanir was very much ready for a fight. "Perhaps you should consider the odds you face right now my angry friend." The larger woman said, Vanir looked at her and saw a smile on her face.
"I like these odds." Vanir said simply, popping his neck as Lirril and the other woman continued to stare one another down and let the tension build up, Vanir decided to break that tension himself. "So, what do you two want?" He asked, his preparations complete and his count of the White Fang in this car alone finished. He and Lirril would be outnumbered here and likely in the other cars as well.
"We only want to tell you that there is no need for you two to fight and die here." The mask wearing woman said, her voice was calm and meant to assure young people that this take over wouldn't be violent, Vanir couldn't help but laugh at that. "We'd like to trust you, but after Beacon trust isn't something we can just give to the White Fang." Lirril said before Vanir could speak, he looked over and saw her eyes had narrowed and her straight face had been replaced with her angry face, Vanir felt a tingle run down his spine as he realized how serious Lirril had gotten.
"Beacon was not our doing." The masked woman replied, her voice quiet and full of regret as she cast her eyes down at the floor. "Too bad for the White Fang that you guys took out the CCT, you could've said that after Adam Taurus dropped Grimm into the school and city and started killing people left and right." Vanir retorted, lifting his chin and sneering as he spoke.
"We're trying to give you a chance to keep this from getting worse! Aside from you two there are only automated defenses meant for Grimm on this train. Please, for the sake of the other passengers stay out of our way while we take what we need and let you go in peace." The larger woman said, slamming her fist on the side of the seat she was sat in.
"Give us your word then." Lirril replied softly, Vanir turned to look at her and then at the women across at him. "You have my word, if anyone tries to kill an innocent,they will be dealt with." The masked woman replied before she stood up and left.
Vanir put his feet back up and yawned before speaking to Lirril "So, how much do you wanna bet one of them fucks up when those two are out of sight?" He asked as the rest of the White Fang in their car began to leave one by one, moving to the cars ahead. Lirril let out a small sigh before once more picking up Chirada and Suprana and replying "They'll start trying to rob anyone the moment those two and their men aren't in the same car as them." Vanir let out a dark chuckle as he put his legs back down and sat up straight. "So when that happens we just gotta make sure we don't kill them unless we have no choice." He said, a smile playing on his face as his eyes turned gold and his Aura flared up, He saw the green flash of Lirrils own Aura as well.
Vanir began to rapidly tap his foot on the floor while he waited for the first sign of trouble. He had already decided his weapons for any fighting here would be his fists and whatever he could pick up from his enemies, by now however the wait was getting to him.
"Calm down will you? Not everything has to be a fight you know." Lirril said, exasperated and leaning her neck against the seat.
"I'll calm down when we either reach a station or they decide to screw up their own trainjacking." Vanir replied, clenching his mechanical fist on his knee and sniffing the air.
He saw Lirril scowl at him from the corner of his eye before she responded, hek new whatever she was about to say might start another one of the arguments that made up about half their casual conversation.
"Weren't you the one who said taking the train would keep us out of trouble? Something about a stab wound being uncomfortable?" She said, her tone soft yet also trying to get a rise out of Vanir, who only chuckled at the poor luck that the train they had boarded for free in exchange for providing protection from Grimm was also the one that had been hijacked by the White Fang.
"Wasn't expecting the White Fang to sho-" Vanir started to reply before being interrupted by the sound of a gunshot, muffled by the sound of the train on the tracks and the storm that had started to grow worse. Vanir put his helmet on and smiled underneath it.
"Gonna be a fight after all, you want me to take point?" Vanir asked as he and Lirril stood and he rolled his shoulders.
"Of course." Lirril replied as both the door leading into the car opened and their targets entered, Vanir leaped forwards and took the first of two out with a blow from his right fist to the throat, the sound of Lirrils weapons briefly filled the car and two thuds followed shortly after, along with the sounds of two people groaning from the electricity flowing through them, Vanir had already grabbed his second target by the collar of their uniform and had slammed their head against the doorframe.
"Looks like they're expecting us." Vanir said as he let the body slump to the ground and began to check out their equipment, nothing in particular stood out as useful for him, their guns weren't to his liking and neither were their swords.
Lirril carefully stepped over the two bodies in the doorframe and handed Vanir one of her guns, as well as a few mags. "Keep up, we need to make sure they haven't killed anyone yet." She replied, Vanir slid the mags into one of his pockets and stepped out of the car.
Vanir and Lirril stood on both sides of the door to the next car and checked inside. "Four hostiles, and looks like two casualties. I'll take the left if you take the right." Vanir said, Lirril nodded and the both of them entered the car after Vanir kicked the door in, taking another faunus out who had just entered the cAr from the one ahead of it.
The five faunus dropped quickly, Vanir kept an eye on the door leading into the next car while Lirril checked the two bodies they had seen from outside.
"These...aren't passengers." Lirril said, Vanir's ears twitched at that as he took a second to look over at the two dead. "What the?" Vanir said before a bullet bounced off the side of his helmet and he pulled the trigger on Lirrils gun, the faunus who had taken a shot at him dropped to the ground beneath the train as they had been standing between their car and the one in front. Vanir winced as he heard a bump underneath him.
"Damnit." He said as he took cover with Lirril and finally looked at the bodies. Both of them looked similar to the larger woman who had spoken with them just a while before.
"Looks like friendly fire, think they might have decided to pull a Beacon?" Lirril asked as she leaned out from behind the booth, checking for anyone coming up on them. Vanir shook his head. "No clue, lets just take care of anyone between us and the engine." He replied, handing Lirril her gun back and picking up the weapon that were near their new boothmates.
"These are nice." Vanir said as he gave the sword a few swings and checked the balance of the spear, the blade was a simple short sword while the spear was expensive looking, with a large head covered in engravings.
"Admire them later please!" Lirril shouted as more bullets began to fly down the car towards them, after a moment she was able to lean out and return fire. "Two down, one more with a rifle, near the back of the next car." She said as Vanir nodded and jumped over the booth and into the aisle, charging to the next car before the last enemy could aim at him.
'Duck!" Lirril shouted at Vanir as the faunus pulled the trigger and a spray of bullets barely missed Vanir who had dropped to the floor just a foot away from the faunus, He heard the snap of Lirril returning fire and then the thud of another victim of her stun rounds.
"Keep moving!" Vanir shouted as Lirril caught up and the two of them began to rapidly clear cars, careful to avoid hitting anyone who wasn't trying to shoot or stab them, eventually they came to a halt in one car that had no one living inside.
"What the hell?" Vanir asked, looking at at least ten corpses strewn across the car. Sporting either exit wounds from bullets tearing through them or blade and spear wounds. "They killed each other?" Lirril asked, coming to the same conclusion as Vanir.
"Looks like it, see if you can't find a scroll or something, no way this was an accident." Vanir replied checking the pockets and ears of several bodies while Lirril did the same.
After finding nothing Vanir moved to the front of the car to check for anyone in the next. "Bastards didn't even leave passengers alive." He grumbled as he returned to Lirril, who had been checking her gear.
"Next cars clear, probably the same for every other one at this point." He said, a frown forming on his face as he thought about the possibility of two groups of supposed allies turning on each other.
"Why?" Lirril asked, standing up and waving her hand at the carnage around them. "No clue." Vanir replied, turning to leave the car and continue to advance until he found whoever ordered the slaughter.
Kasumi Aster
Kasumi dodged the thrust of a blade and watched its wielder drop to the ground with blood running from a wound to their torso, Kassandra had run him through with her spear and bashed another faunus with her shield while Kasumi blocked another attacker with one blade and stabbed them in the side with the other. She and Kassandra moved in perfect sync, carving a path through Adams' men as they advanced up to the car they had been planning on stealing.
"Do you think the others are ok?" Kassandra asked after the last hostile fell, one of Kasumi's blades lodged in her throat. Kasumi went to retrieve her blade before responding.
"I can't say, several groups have yet to respond. The Wolf and his ally are also on the move, we should hurry before they reach us." Kasumi flicked her blades and slid them back home into their sheathes, Kassandra simply grunted as she hefted her weapons and moved to the exit to the car.
The next car was the one filled to the brim with one final shipment of Dust that was bound for Argus, the plan had been to steal it before there was a chance of any authorities getting involved. "Though for us, the mission was also to keep an eye on Adam, to make sure he still adhered to the path the White Fang currently walked." Kasumi thought to herself as she took a breath and grabbed the door handle.
"DOWN!" Kassandra shouted before forcing Kasumi to the floor and covering the two of them with her shield, just as a hail of bullets tore through the door and part of the wall. "Is he insane? Firing bullets next to so much Dust?!" Kassandra shouted over the cacophony of splintering wood and metal bouncing off metal.
"It would seem so, Take them." Kasumi calmly replied, forgoing the use of her blades and instead rushing forwards once the bullets ceased, she changed her course as Kassandras spear flew past and impaled one of the three gunmen, while Kasumi herself dropped into a slide and took the legs out from another before standing and delivering a roundhouse kick to the third, a savage grin playing across her face and she heard the sound of her kick snapping her targets neck. The other gunman had regained his footing and raised his rifle at Kasumi, only for Kassandras shield to slam into him and knock him off his feet again.
"Hold Kassandra, he might know something." Kasumi said, her emotions coming back under her control once more. "Fine, wish you'd let loose some more though, I love it when you go wild." Kassandra replied, Kasumi could tell she was smiling at Kasumi's display.
Kasumi sighed and turned to face the gunman, who was struggling to breathe every time he tried he coughed blood and there was a faint rattling noise. "Damn it." Kasumi cursed before kicking the faunus in the head, killing him and ending his misery.
"To Adam then?" Kassandra asked as she bent down to pick up her shield and strap it back onto her arm, not phased by Kasumi's actions. "Yes." Was all Kasumi said before heading further into the car.
So I wanted to try writing a longer chapter and ended up getting sick with a disease that we all know and hate, hope you enjoyed my incredibly late post.