(AN: Sorry for the long wait. I recently got longer job hours to go along with future preparations for summer semester classes and the current spring semester classes, and it's been taking a pretty big toll on me. I hope you have a great day and enjoy the chapter, :).)
Argus was bustling as morning rolled in. It was fairly early, as workers entered stores and restaurants to open up their businesses for the day. It was relatively cold, with the bright sunlight just starting to warm up the city. Argus didn't experience much snow due to the city being on relatively more level ground, as well as being closer to the coast and not as close to the snowy mountainous terrain that the Argus Limited passed through.
Team RWBY, Maria, and Qrow sighed as they walked away from the locked gates of the Argus Military Base, all of them clearly pissed off as they were so rudely turned away from the airfield of grounded Manta Airships nearby. "Sorry," Maria said, not at all sheepishly as she walked alongside Ruby. "It gets pretty tiring dealing with Cordovin for so long. Still, I don't think I've ever seen that stickler so wound up before. Usually she's just annoying."
"Well, getting an airship by asking is definitely out of the question," Blake sighed as she stretched her arms tiredly. It wasn't very easy to forget that Blake wasn't much of a morning person, especially after such a long time separated after Beacon. "I don't think she would have said yes anyway. But something definitely seemed off."
"What do you mean? It all looked pretty normal...for a military place anyway," Ruby asked, looking over to her cat Faunus teammate in confusion.
"The whole base. Mantas on constant air patrols. Soldiers being sent on early patrols. Ever since the CCT in Haven Academy was destroyed, everyone's been paranoid. If the CCT was gone, Atlas should be trying to spread its forces to focus on reestablishing connection. But instead they pull back?" Blake asked. "They're cutting themselves off, and I don't like it."
"That's right," Weiss said, sighing and rubbing between her eyes. "Though it's likely they may be trying to protect their borders. Either way, we can't do much now. We need to come up with another plan. Not that I wanna go back." She frowned. "I went through a lot to leave Atlas in the first place."
"Well, we do have to go to Atlas anyway if what Ozpin says is true," Blake said. She was one of the few who still had trouble wrapping her head around Ozpin's situation - specifically his immortality and reincarnations. The first thing she'd blurted out when things were fully explained was to ask a question whether Ozpin wrote the "Man with Two Souls" series, which he confirmed he did not.
"I don't know..." Ruby said. "Is there any other form of air travel that we can use to turn back?"
"You heard Cordovin, any and all interkingdom travel was cut off," Weiss said. "And I thought I could bribe another ship captain to sneak us aboard."
Ruby turned to Yang, who was uncharacteristically quiet throughout the whole encounter. Ruby did show some concern for her sister, but there wasn't much she could do about it, not until Markus was back safe and sound, anyway. "Yang, any ideas?" she asked.
"I dunno," Yang grumbled, clearly in a bad mood. "I wanna punch that smug old lady in the face and steal an airship right now."
"Hah, now we're talking!" Maria laughed as she waved her cane.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Weiss asked as she finally addressed Maria. The woman had decided to tag along with them, which was an odd thing on its own, but Ruby had started hanging out with her more and more while saw her less and less. "I notice Ruby's been talking to you...a lot."
"Oh, yeah. Remember the whole silver eyes thing? Apparently she had silver eyes too," Ruby explained excitedly. "Markus found her and we started talking."
"But...you don't have eyes," Yang said before she received a smack in the butt with Maria's walking cane. "Ow!"
"Wow, remind someone of their disability, that'll go just great," Weiss remarked sarcastically.
"I...sorry, I'm just distracted," Yang said, feeling sheepish. "I didn't mean to-"
"We're all worried about that boy," Maria said, waving a hand casually as they walked. "But the most we can do is come up with a plan with a clear head. You all skipped breakfast, after all."
"Fine," Yang mumbled. "But right after we eat, we try something else."
"How?" Blake asked, shrugging helplessly. "Unless we just steal an airship, we have no way to get back out there."
"Then we steal an airship," Yang said casually, making Weiss gape at her in disbelief. "What else can we do?" she asked.
"Something other than crime! Against Atlas, of all things!" Weiss shouted. "Ugh, this is going to be such a pain."
"Coming up with ideas?" Ruby asked.
"Not just coming up with ideas, no, making sure any plans you make don't involve you trying anything that will get us arrested!" Weiss retorted before she turned away and blinked. "Pyrrha?"
The other three girls and elderly woman turned to see Pyrrha crowded by several people outside a restaurant, no doubt fans and old friends. RWBY and Maria made their way to the restaurants, when the crowds finally began dispersing. Pyrrha sighed as she found herself free of claustrophobic circumstances. "Hello!" she said, a weak grin on her face when she saw team RWBY.
"I'll be inside if you need me," Maria said briskly as she walked by Pyrrha and entered the restaurant. Ruby looked back to the people walking away, a few looking back at Pyrrha as they left the area. "So...fans, huh?" she asked.
Pyrrha sighed. "They're annoying, if you'll forgive me for being frank," she admitted. "I'm just not in the mood to deal with them, but I can't just tell them to bugger off, no matter how much I wish I could."
Yang chuckled lightly at Pyrrha's somewhat tame words. "Look at you, P-Money," she said. "Acting like a naughty girl and mouthing off." Pyrrha flushed for a second before pouting.
Weiss just rolled her eyes at Yang's tendencies before sighing. "How was your reunion with your family?" Weiss asked as she crossed her arms, while Blake and Yang went inside.
Pyrrha sighed. "Not so well..." she said. "My mother has been rather kind, and it was very heartwarming to see her again. But father...not so much."
Weiss shook her head sympathetically for her friend. "Was he livid?" she asked softly, knowing the answer already.
"Quite so. He scolded me for being selfish and allowing our family name to suffer while I was off gallivanting with my friends," she said. "He wouldn't allow me to explain my situation either."
"I see," Ruby said, her fist clenched with her expression showing that she was fuming. Taiyang Xiao Long was the best dad ever, even with the amount of pain he'd gone through. To think a father would scold his daughter over their status rather than care about his daughter's safety and happiness was downright evil in her eyes. "Can I talk to him?" she asked.
"No, you may not," Weiss said. "What else did he say?"
"He banned me from leaving Argus," Pyrrha said before her saddened expression morphed into one of anger. "And he wants me to break up with Jaune."
Weiss and Ruby were clearly shocked. "You won't...right?" Ruby whispered, worried for her first friend.
"No!" Pyrrha cried, clearly horrified that someone would think that she'd end her near perfect relationship with Jaune. "I refuse to! I told father that and...he ended the argument. I went to bed later."
"He didn't hit you?" Weiss asked quietly.
"No. No, he didn't," Pyrrha said. "He never has. His way of punishment has always been with words, and..."
And they were effective.
Weiss was all too familiar with verbal abuse with her own father, and it sounded like Pyrrha's father was one to do that as well. She couldn't say she was surprised, especially with her status as the "Invincible Girl", and the face of so many merchandise items like clothing, cereal, and much more. He was likely worried about the income his daughter brings in more than her actual safety or happiness.
Frankly, it was very despicable, absolutely repulsive behavior.
"Well, we can deal with that on a full stomach," Weiss said, swallowing her anger, knowing how cranky everyone was in the morning. "For now, we should eat breakfast."
"You're right," Pyrrha said as she looked down for a second. "Is Jaune..."
"He's coming over," Ruby said, waving her scroll in her hand. "I just texted him. Said he'd be a few minutes out, once he gets out of his family's grasp."
"Have you been able to contact Markus yet?" Pyrrha asked worriedly. "It's cold out there, and it's been over a day"
"No, he's still not remotely close to Argus. And the military base won't lend us an airship to let us search for him," Ruby said sadly. "I'm not sure if there's much else we can do..."
"Not surprising," Weiss said tiredly. "I don't mean to undermine our situations, but it's still rather cold out here and I'm starving."
"O-oh! Sorry," Ruby said as she dragged Weiss inside, Pyrrha following them inside the restaurant, where Blake and Yang were discussing plans during their own breakfast, Maria sitting across the table.
"Hey you two," Blake said, having turned to see the three girls approach them. "Is everything alright?"
Ruby sighed. "It will be," she said. "Things will get better."
They had to.
- in the wilderness, a few hours later -
"So what's it gonna be?"
At once, we retaliated. The both of us knocked out the bandit who'd taunted us before, the overwhelming power of two heavy strikes breaking his aura and his consciousness. As he flopped to the ground, I kicked the hammer in the air towards one other bandit, though she dodged and lunged.
Emerald began slashing at a few from the right, and I swept aside several from the left. Many of them went down, but got back up almost immediately, rushing me from multiple directions at once. Jumping back in the snow, I pulled out all of my neural Dust and formed it into a long and very thin pole, swinging it around and knocking back several more bandits.
Some managed to duck and jump, forcing me back even more. Whoever these people were, they were clearly no slouches in combat. The neural Dust was recalled and I drew Wilt at once, having forgotten that I had this weapon.
This would've been the second time I fought with another weapon other than my neural Dust, recalling the first time I fought a bunch of White Fang goons at the docks with the sword I got off of one of the them . I immediately swung Wilt, blocking the warhammer of one of these bandits, before kicking low at a woman wielding two cleavers. The cleavers went flying as she violently impacted a rock. That's when I saw it.
Aura flaring and breaking as she slumped to the snow.
These bandits had their aura unlocked. That made them ten times more dangerous. Then again, one kick and smack was enough to break it. And while they were good fighters, they were not as good as some poeple we've fought in the past, three times as dangerous as these guys. Three and a half if I was being generous. I closed my eyes for a split second longer than a blink as I activated a particular semblance I had in mind.
Still, even with my semblance active, this situation put us at a slight disadvantage, their numbers being a big obstacle to fight through. Emerald was backflipping off a rock as she grappled two bandits and sent them flying in the air, before sliding back upon blocking a two handed mace from a particularly buff Faunus woman, who joined her warhammer wielding companion.
I knew I had to give these thugs a proper fight if we were to make it out of this unscathed, so I couldn't afford to just break their auras. Kicking the bandit with the warhammer back, I hardened my aura thanks to the semblance I thought of, before dashing forward with the help of my neural Dust, barreling down the Faunus woman with the two handed mace. Her aura broke thanks to my body weight smashing into her, as well as my knee that subsequently embedded itself into her face as I leapt over her toppling body. My aura flared at the impact, but I didn't feel it being affected at all.
Wilt was an incredibly high quality weapon in both durability and sharpness. It carved through the wooden pole of a spear, before shattering the machete of another bandit who tried to get the jump on me from behind. Flipping back, I drew out Blush and fired a few bullets at the closest bandits. Two bullets broke one's aura before a third bullet sent another one stumbling. I didn't fire too much as bullets were bound to be hard to come by, especially in this cold wilderness, so I quickly dealt with those two before backflipping immediately after.
Another bandit rolled under me with a shortsword and swung at my exposed back as I flipped, only for his blade to bounce off. He made a confused yelp before I kicked him back upon landing. Two throwing axes impacted my shoulder, my aura flaring up but deflecting the ranged weapons with no issue. Dashing forward, I slashed Wilt across the closest unarmed bandit - having expended his axes toward me. I broke his aura immediately before swinging back with the buttstock of Blush, shattering what little aura the sword wielding bandit had when he tried to rush me from behind again.
These bandits had some skill and aura unlocked, but many of them still went down too easily. It was incredibly simple to see that these people didn't have any sense of aura training, likely only knowing how to engage it in a defensive manner. Not that they knew any way to strengthen and exercise it.
Another went down as I headbutted one bandit after dodging his attempt in trying to strike me with a cleaver. My aura flared once again from the impact, but didn't waver whatsoever. I didn't waver either, going completely on the offensive as my aura just tanked everything these guys had to throw at us.
I'd taken down half a dozen bandits by now, and Emerald was in no need of my assistance, having taken down a few more than I had. Still, it couldn't help to be a bit more violent. As I swung with Wilt, I pulled out several tendrils of neural Dust, slamming it into the last few bandits that were still at range. Three more bandits who ducked rushed me, only for Emerald to shoot one and knock him out immediately.
"Mine!" I yelled on instinct, and I sent all my tendrils flying at them, sending the last two thugs into the treetops with pained grunts, shaking off all the snow that had gathered on top of the trees.
As soon as the ambush had started, it had ended, things finally going quiet. Soon, all that was heard was the soft wind and the occasional birds chirping far in the distance.
Emerald scoffed as she sheathed Thief's Respite, me doing the same with Wilt. "That wasn't even a challenge," she said.
"Yeah, well. We're just that good," I agreed before my aura shattered, hitting me with a wave of exhaustion and sore limbs. Emerald immediately rushed to me and hauled me to my feet, allowing me to lean on her for support.
"What was that? Did one of them-" Emerald asked in worry.
"Nope," I said as I looked up, smiling. "Used a semblance. Tock's." Mentally, I thanked CRWBY for coming up with such a useful and convenient ability, even if it was part of the reason why Maria was blinded. "Invulnerability. It lets me be invincible for a minute. Heh, the fight didn't even last that long."
"Tock?" Emerald asked. "I think Salem mentioned her once..."
"Yeah, she was recruited. A bitch and one hell of a fighter. It's hinted that Cinder replaces her after she's killed," I said, groaning at my sore arm. "Ow, all that moving hurt."
"Old man," Emerald teased before she stuck her leg out behind her. I heard an impact and an "Oof!", and I turned around to see that one bandit - a stocky black haired man - had attempted to catch us from behind with a knife. How did I not hear that?
After setting me down, Emerald went over to the still conscious bandit. "Who are you?" she asked harshly, shaking him by the shoulders. "Why did you attack us?"
"P-piss off!" the bandit snarled as he was shaken up, before yelling in pain as Emerald headbutt him hard, the sound of a wet crunch coming from his nose at the same time. He lay on the snow, clutching his broken nose, as Emerald stood back up. "Well, we can just kill these assholes and go on our way," she said.
I wasn't sure if she was serious or not, but on the off chance she wasn't, I drew Wilt for that extra intimidation factor. "Yeah. Kinda inconvenienced us with this ambush of yours," I said as I spun the red straight edged sword in my hand. "I mean, if you had guns, we probably would've been held back even more."
"Y-you're kids. You don't have the guts to murder," the injured bandit laughed, sounding very nasally thanks to his broken nose. I was about to rebuke when I noticed his gaze. It wasn't on me, it was on my sword.
Adam's sword.
I could use this.
"You know who this belonged to?" I asked. I wouldn't get an answer as I held up the blade and answered my own question. "Adam Taurus. Leader of the White Fang. A stubborn man who has a higher kill count than almost everyone in the world. And I killed him."
More like he got himself killed trying to kill me, but these bandits didn't need to know that.
"Did you honestly think you stood a chance against us?" I asked as I approached the thug, who was still defiant but also looking rather worried now. "So I'll ask again, why did you attack us?"
"Darren, just answer the question," one bandit lying down nearby, a Faunus woman with floppy ears said. She sounded scared, no doubt having heard of Adam. "He's not kidding!"
"I...fine. We were out on a raid, coming back to camp when we saw you. Thought it'd be easy pickings, until you come out and spawn fucking octopus tentacles!" the bandit with the broken nose, Darren, said. "There, you happy?"
I sheathed Wilt. "Very," I said before turning to Emerald. "What now?"
"We kill these bozos and keep going," Emerald said. I sweat dropped at her blunt answer, finally realizing that she was serious about killing them. "We're late enough as it is."
"W-wait!" the Faunus woman said. "W-we're all too weak to fight you again, can't you just go?"
"She has a point," I said, the bandit's eyes widening in shock and relief when I agreed with her. "Killing them is a waste of time. Aura takes a while to come back, so let's just go."
"If we let them live, then they think we'll have gone soft. Then they'll attack again," Emerald said. "And I'd really rather not hold back if it happens."
"Em," I sighed as I flattened my caracal ears against my head. "Come on..."
Emerald looked at my pleading face before gritting her teeth and looking away. "Ugh, fine!" she said. "But if more come, I'm killing them."
"Sounds great," I said before I heard maniacal sounding laughter. We turned around to see Darren laughing as he got up, still clutching his broken nose. There was blood on his neck and shirt.
"You think you can just walk away?" he cackled. "We're the Bloodlust Tribe! If you think we'll stop just cuz you ask, then you have another thing co-"
He was cut off when I used Blush to fire Wilt at Darren, handle first. He went out like a light as the sword spun in the air, before I pulled it back with a tendril of my neural Dust, sheathing it quickly and cleanly. "Seriously it's like he's asking for us to kill him...anyways, see ya," I said, leaving the bandit Faunus woman to faint as we walked away from the scattered unconscious bodies around the area.
"You know, we could've used Raven's portals to get back to the others," Emerald said.
"Yeah, well...these jackasses made me use up my aura before I could remember," I mumbled. "Now that's another twelve hours to wait."
Emerald chuckled. "Jackass," she snorted as the two of us continued on our way through the forest.
- Argus, lunchtime -
"So we're in the same boat, huh?" Jaune whispered as he and Pyrrha cuddled against each other at a bench in the park.
"It seems so," Pyrrha said, nuzzling her head under Jaune's chin. "Who knew we had such sheltered childhoods?"
Jaune had more or less received the same treatment from his father since he last saw him at Beacon. While the rest of the family had more or less stopped trying to force Jaune to stay away from his friends and remain at home - they still wanted him to remain away from danger, but they also accepted his wishes - Nicholas Arc was still just as stubborn and defiant as before, not above raising his voice and using harsh words to scold his son.
"Heh. Dad was so mad when we saw each other again," Jaune whispered. "He actually tried taking Crocea Mors from me to get me to stay home."
Pyrrha looked down to Jaune's waist, smiling at the weapon still snugly holstered to his belt. "I see that you still have it," she said.
"Yep, I pulled it back," Jaune said, a hint of pride in his voice before he looked down, his smile going away. "Then he nearly hit me. Mom had to step in and make us cool ourselves off."
"And then what happened?" Pyrrha asked quietly.
Jaune sighed. "Dad apologized. He said he shouldn't have been so rough, and that he was just so upset that I never contacted him for months. Then the CCT went down and they were all worried out of their minds." He looked up at the sky. "They missed me, is all."
"I'm assuming this means he finally accepts your decision and allows you to choose your life's path?" she asked.
Jaune let out a short humorless laugh, though it sounded more like a huff. "I wish. Dad still wants me to stay home," he said. "Same with mom. Though mom isn't as forceful."
Pyrrha brushed aside some of her hair, a few strands that had blown over her eyes. "My father is kind of the same. He barred me from leaving Argus. And...well, he wants me to focus on my career."
Jaune's face darkened. "Is your career all he talked about?" he asked.
"Yes," Pyrrha said. "He said...that I was a fool to leave and travel on foot. He thinks you're all bad influences and he wants me to...to..." Pyrrha froze up, realizing what she was about to say to her boyfriend. "T-to end things with you."
Both were silent for a few tense moments, and Pyrrha dared to look up at Jaune. Jaune's expression was both angry and fearful, but she knew him well enough to know that he wasn't mad at her. But that didn't stop the jolt of anxiety when he spoke up. "A-are you going to-"
"No! No, Gods no!" Pyrrha cried, quickly shifting to sit on his lap and pepper his face with kisses, heavily intent on dispelling any doubts he had. "I won't ever break up with you just because of my father! I love you too much for that!" she said after about twenty pecks on his cheeks and mouth. Jaune's face had gone blood red from the sudden shower of affection Pyrrha had gifted him.
Pyrrha's face didn't go red, however. A dead serious and defiant expression remained on her face and Jaune realized how serious she was, how much she really cared for him and-
Jaune blinked. "Wait, you love me?" he whispered.
That broke Pyrrha's concentration, and her face went bright red as well as she finally processed her own words. "I mean, that is to say..." she stuttered. She continued to stammer in embarrassment for several minutes on end before she slammed her head into Jaune's chestplate, groaning. "Just kill me now."
"W-why is that bad? Do you not love me?" Jaune asked, thoroughly confused.
"Of course not!" Pyrrha cried. "I was...I was just not that ready to admit it so soon." She leaned against Jaune, her expression all droopy.
"Well, I love you too," Jaune said, and Pyrrha felt her heart soar. "I have loved you ever since we started going out."
"You aren't just saying that?" Pyrrha whispered, her embarrassment going away, leaving a shy expression and a pink tint to her cheeks. 'Adorable' was the first thing that came to Jaune's mind upon seeing her face.
"Why would I? You and I have been through thick and thin together," Jaune said. "Why should I not mean it?"
"Because...oh, never mind," Pyrrha said before she slammed her lips into Jaune's face, a passionate and long make-out session beginning, regardless of whether they were in a public area or not.
Neither of them noticed Yang watching nearby, having been walking by with Blake. The park was a pretty spacious area, filled with plenty of trees and bushes. Yang and Blake were on one of the looping paths, which went back around the benches some distance away. Yang didn't see much, but a head of red against a head of blonde didn't leave much to the imagination.
"Yang? Are you alright?" Blake whispered, hand on her shoulder. Yang just sighed and kept walking, Blake's hand sliding off before she moved to keep up.
Normally, Yang would've come over and started teasing them, or snapped some pictures or recorded a video, but seeing Jaune and Pyrrha only reminded her of Beacon, specifically the life she and Markus had. She remembered the days when they'd cuddle. When she would pin down the cat Faunus and play with her ears. Her heart felt pained as she remembered the sensation of Markus rubbing his head against hers affectionately.
"I'm scared of you. I never thought I'd say that, but I'm scared of you."
The idea of Markus, terrified of her, still sickened her. But it was something that she knew she deserved. She wasn't sure if things could ever be fixed, or if she could ever move on. The last thing she wanted - anyone wanted - was to feel miserable and regretful for the rest of her life.
She looked up at the sky. "I hope you're alright," she thought to herself.
- middle of nowhere -
Emerald finished stuffing the lukewarm half burger in her mouth before belching. "How long until we get to Argus?" she asked.
"Dunno," I said as I yawned, walking alongside Emerald while holding my burger, having not eaten as fast as her. "But my legs hurt way too much...and my aura is still way too low to use any semblance."
"Want me to carry you?" Emerald offered.
"Yes, please," I whined as I leaned on Emerald, only for her to spin out and leave me lying in the snow. "Meanie." I didn't miss how she stiffened when I leaned on her, and I tried to ignore that pang of awkwardness.
"I only asked if you wanted me to carry you, I never said I'd say yes," Emerald countered as she held my burger, having caught it right as I dropped. All I could do was grumble as I got up and brushed myself off of any snow that had stuck on my person.
"Sorry for asking upon my beloved friend for assistance when I needed it most," I said, hands in my pockets. "Can I have my burger back?"
"I think the real question is 'Can I feed you your own burger,' don't you think?" Emerald asked as she held out my own burger in front of me. Growling, I lunged for it, only for Emerald to sidestep me. We rinsed and repeated for a few minutes before she managed to get the drop on me.
By that, I meant she tripped me up and dropped me on my back whilst pinning me down with her body. "Now say ahhhh," she said, her expression clearly showing her trying her hardest not to laugh. Seriously, leaning on her was too much but not this?
"Come on, lemme u-OOMPH." I found myself with a mouth full of a relatively cold burger, courtesy of Emerald. We struggled for a bit, before she managed to force down my own food, feeding me in her own awkward way.
Emerald was smiling as we fooled around, even though we were in no situation to spare time . I couldn't help but realize that she didn't smile this much, not even in the original series. I mean, she did, but only to maintain her cover as an innocuous student at Beacon.
And the way she was pushing the food down my throat suggested that she was distracted - I choked a few times when she didn't slow down, which should've angered me but instead only left feelings of concern.
"Hey, Emerald," I coughed out after she finished force feeding me. "Are you alright?"
"What do you mean?" Emerald asked after she let me get up to my feet.
"I mean...you've been different lately. Like you're distracted," I said. "Is everything okay?"
Emerald blanched for a split second. "What are you...I'm fine!" she said, chuckling nervously as she brushed some snow off of her knees. "I'm just...oh, fine, you already know anyway, don't you?"
"Know what?" I asked, willing to listen.
"About the stuff I did for Cinder. I...I attacked the Fall Maiden. I'm part of the reason she has those magical powers. I'm part of the reason that Beacon's gone," Emerald said, turning away from me. This was something I didn't see coming at all, much less now. They never covered what she did while working under Cinder after she changed sides, so this was something that really caught me off guard.
"Yeah. Amber," I mumbled as I looked away. I could hear Emerald's gulp and I quickly turned back to face her. "I mean, what happened in the past isn't going to change, you know. Plus I think it was, what, years ago?"
"Still...now I feel like the unluckiest piece of shit in the world," Emerald said. "Born into a shity life of being poor and having to steal. Then I get roped into murder and being used up like some tool. And the worst part was that I believed all of it was gonna be good for me!"
"Hindsight is twenty twenty," I said as I came over and patted her on the shoulder affectionately. "But at least we're both alive, and you're not on the wrong side of this whole thing anymore. That's more than what can be said for most."
Emerald sighed. "Alright," she said. "Yeah. Yeah you're right. Just thinking is all."
"I get it. I really do," I said. "You feel like you've been screwed over from the start. Even when you had Cinder-"
"Please stop talking," Emerald said. She just sounded tired, and just like that I felt my attempt at comforting her dwindle away. Coughing awkwardly, the two of us continued our walk.
It wasn't long before Emerald spoke up again, using a different topic. "You know. If you just used your semblance this morning, we would probably be at Argus by now," Emerald said.
"Yeah, well...I kinda wanted to have a walk first," I muttered, already regretting my choice to hold back. "And...well, I did wanna talk with you."
"Why?" Emerald asked.
"To be frank, I'm worried about you," I said. "You act kind of weird even when nothing's going on. Like awkwardly. Why is that?"
"I'm not awkward," Emerald said. "I said I wanted to stop talking about-"
"It's not about Cinder. It's about...well, if I'm making you uncomfortable or not. I know I've been kind of pushy. I just wanna make sure you're fine. But if you don't like that-" I said.
"It's not that. It's...it's hugs," Emerald said. I blinked when she said that.
"Ummm, elaborate?" I asked.
"Hugs. You know? Cuddles, patting on the head, the shoulder," Emerald said, looking down nervously.
"Why is that the problem?" I asked curiously.
"That night. When we cuddled while you were crying like a baby-" Emerald explained, ignoring the subsequent "Hey!" I said. "-I felt kind of...weird? Like high?"
"High? Like drugged high?" I said. "Wait, I didn't do anything, did I?"
"No! Just...well, I liked it. Too much. And it felt weird so..." Emerald looked like she was about to swallow a lemon. "So I kinda...thought if I ignored it, then I wouldn't get those weird feelings again."
I was about to say that this wasn't normal before I remembered her upbringing. She grew up alone on the streets, stealing to survive, with an inability to make friends because of what she had to do to survive and the very real threat of being backstabbed. Then she was picked up by Cinder, who was no doubt an absolute bitch of a human being who treated Emerald like nothing more than a peon.
Despite Emerald's loyalty, Cinder never showed gratitude other than minimal praise. And now Emerald was exposed to actual friends and being shown actual positive behavior and physical affection?
"Emerald. I think you're touch starved," I said.
"What?" Emerald asked, completely floored by the term I'd just said. I didn't blame her - I didn't know the term existed until recently, before I was thrown into Remnant.
"You never had actual physical affection before, and now that you've had it, you can't get enough of it," I said. "You had your first hug, now you want more."
Emerald went bright red in embarrassment. "S-so I'm going to be like that brat Ruby? Always hugging her friends?" she gulped.
I tilted my head in confusion. "Is that so bad?" I asked. "I like hugging you. It lets you know that I'm still here for you."
Emerald tensed up, and the blush on her cheeks darkened. "Are...are you serious?" she asked.
"Yeah, I like hugs-"
"I meant about the touch starved thing. Is that real?" Emerald whispered, crossing her arms nervously.
I smiled. "It is..." I said. "As weird as it sounds."
"Why is that a thing? And why me?" Emerald asked.
"Because affection is a good thing. And you never had it. So...your body wants it now that it's tried a hug," I said.
Emerald grinned, still blushing, but no longer being overly awkward. "Then I claim you as my hug pet. You hug me whenever I desire. Me and no other," she said in a fake posh tone. "Is that clear?"
I raised an eyebrow. "You're stealing my hugs from everyone else?" I asked.
"I'm a thief, aren't I?" Emerald asked, and I couldn't help but smile. That smile didn't last as Emerald leapt up and jumped down on my shoulders. "Now carry me," she said as she straddled the back of my head.
We fell over with a big "Oof!" as I tipped over from the extra hundred or so pounds on my upper body. I couldn't say that I was against touch starved affectionate Emerald, especially given her background, but it was a bit jarring to get used to.
Then again, Emerald was the type who took what she wanted. In a way, it was kind of flattering to think about. Still, the last thing we needed was a distraction, especially with my aura still recharging. We stopped fooling around and continued our journey through the snow. We didn't exchange much else in terms of words, especially since our talk did exhibit some sense of awkwardness at the end.
It was a comfortable sense of awkwardness, but still awkward nonetheless. We kept walking, following the trees and the mountainside where the Argus Limited ran. "How long until your aura is up?" Emerald asked. "I'd rather use a portal than keep walking through the middle of nowhere."
"Well..." I pulled out my scroll and checked my aura levels. It was still around halfway full, which frustrated me, since it was already anxiety-inducing being alone in the wilderness. It didn't help that the cold was slowing down my recovery by a moderate margin. "Not nearly enough."
"Can't you do it now?" Emerald asked.
"I can only hold it open for a few seconds with full aura," I said. "If I try it now, it'll either close right away, not open at all, or cut you in two if you try going in."
Emerald blinked. "Yeesh," she said. "How long until you're at full aura then?"
"Not soon enough. It's the damn cold that's slowing things down," I said. "I'd say around...one and a half to maybe two hours?"
Emerald groaned, and I pocketed my scroll. "This is boring," she mumbled.
"Yeah, I hear you. Especially after those bandits. I swear if we get attacked again, I'll..." I stopped talking. Turning around, I felt my ears twitch as I surveyed the treeline. No, it couldn't be.
"What is it?" Emerald asked. My eyes widened, and I tackled Emerald between two trees. Several loud "thunks" and "thwips" were heard, before it finally stopped. The two of us sat up at once to see several arrows embedded in nearby trees. A few were even on the ground mere inches from our feet.
"Not bad!" a female voice snarked. The two of us got up, me drawing Wilt while Emerald pulled out Thief's Respite at once. Behind us was a woman atop one of the tree branches, several meters up in the air.
The woman was tall, wearing an open brown overcoat and a gray collared shirt. She had faded blue pants and black boots, with a belt that had several pouches and what appeared to be several cylindrical objects hanging off of them. She had another belt on the leg of her left leg, which had several arrows attached to them. She had short black hair and dim blue eyes. Her skin was somewhat tan, and she had a long scar on her cheek, starting from right under her right eye all the way to the back of her ear.
In her hand was a strange weapon, a rifle-looking weapon that had the barrel of what appeared to be a ten barreled Gatling gun. Each "barrel" had what appeared to be the curved shaped limb of a bow, giving the weapon the profile of a spiny flower from the front. And judging by the arrows, it was a crossbow. A ten-shooter crossbow, to be precise. At the center between the "barrels", was a large sword-like blade. It reminded me of Nebula's crossbow on steroids.
The woman chuckled before she dropped down from the tree branch, landing in the snow with a loud "thump" before standing up. Emerald and I fanned out at once, slowly moving to her flanks as she clicked a button on her weapon. The crossbow's front popped open, and a ten tube cylinder slid out. The woman pulled another cylinder off of her belt and reloaded her weapon, a click being heard before she shut the front of the weapon. Pulling back the bolt of her weapon, the limbs pulled themselves back as well, the sound of wood lightly creaking being heard.
"Some of our scouts went missin' after a raid. Found them beaten to hell. Guess I know who did that," the woman said as she spun her front heavy weapon with ease. "So, who are you?"
"Two lost people trying to get to Argus," I said. "What's it to you?"
"Just curious. After all, you're in bandit territory," she said. "And we don't take kindly to people beatin' up our own."
"They attacked us first. And we didn't kill anyone," Emerald said, aiming both guns at her. The woman turned and saw her weapons, before she frowned.
"Guns. Disgusting weapons, only fit for cowards," she growled. "How dare you bring them here!"
We didn't get a chance to say much else before she whipped her weapon around, firing two bolts that Emerald dodged with ease. She immediately fired two shots, both of which impacted the woman's aura. But she all she did was stumble.
I flinched as Emerald cried out in pain and shock. Two impact points had sent Emerald's aura flickering, and the woman cackled. "My semblance makes me invincible to your attacks!" she said. "You hit me, you'll only end up hurting yourself!"
Deflection semblance? This was going to be a pain. I didn't have much time to think about that as the unidentified woman lunged at me, alongside three more crossbow bolts. I sent them all away with the flat of Wilt's blade, before dashing forward. The woman leapt back without missing a beat, dodging a swing before I rolled, partially sliding on the snow and swinging my feet, hoping to catch her off balance.
My kick flew true, and I was able to knock her down. Despite the landed blow, my own aura still flickered from the deflect - though only a little was extinguished in the attack. Despite that, I saw an opening in her defense - she can still be knocked down, and while that may not provide any openings for attack, it would definitely limit her offense and help me figure out a way to work through her defense.
The woman jumped back to her feet and fired again, the bolts missing before she closed in, swinging her weapon. I dodged back with a backflip, just as Emerald filled in my place, swinging Thief's Respite. Again, the woman let the blows land, and Emerald flew back, crying out in pain. Her cry was cut off when the woman fired several crossbow bolts point blank into Emerald's gut, shattering her aura.
"Em!" I yelled, making my way over to her before I was forced to step back after a bolt from the woman's crossbow cut me off.
"Tsk tsk," the unidentified woman mocked. "Children never learn." She turned to me before she leapt towards me. I swung Wilt, ready to counter, before everything went black.