"Markus!"
I woke up with a jolt at the shout. The voice sounded so close yet somehow distant at the same time. My head had an absolutely splitting headache, and all my thoughts seemed to be foggy, not letting me remember where I was or what was going on. Why was my head feeling so terrible?
"Are you alright?"
Turning towards the voice I finally registered that I was in a small, yet homely kitchen, seated at the table with what looked like breakfast adjacent to a woman and larger man reading a newspaper.
The man across from me was much larger than the both of us, with slicked back black hair and a full black beard, both starting to gray and showing their age, with deep blue eyes that were focused on the paper in front of him.
The woman was lithe, with a messy bun of brown hair and equally brown eyes with glasses atop them, and skin as pale as my own. She had an inquisitive expression on her face, one that made me feel rather...scrutinized. Sighing as I recognized that look, I looked down awkwardly.
"Y-yeah...yeah I'm good I think I just didn't get enough sleep last night...mom," I mumbled, yawning tiredly.
With an exasperated yet fond sigh my mother shook her head and looked away. "Honestly, Markus, how are you going to start off your next school year right if you're falling asleep already?"
Still nursing my head, I frowned as bad memories of the place ran unbidden through my head. I remembered the many lunches I spent alone in middle and high school when I wasn't being terrorized by one of my fellow students.
"Markus, will you wake up!" A muffled voice echoed.
Focusing back on my mother, I see her waiting expectantly for a reply while eating her breakfast, looking as if she hadn't said anything.
"Was it maybe dad?" I thought as I glanced at the man, but he didn't seem to be affected. "Better not let this become a habit or let it affect any of your grades," my father said to me in a voice that broke no arguments, while he stood and folded his paper.
Looking down I couldn't keep the frown from forming on my face. It was rare enough that my father was ever home from work, so by all accounts any day that he's back should be a good day, and yet...
Before my thoughts could go any further I felt a large hand rest atop my head, ruffling up my long hair. "Come on champ, I've got the day off so I'll drive you there and once you get back we'll hang out. How's that sound?" my father asked with a small smile and his hand still on my head. Unable to keep one off my own face, I happily agreed and went to go get ready, before being stopped by a surprise hug from my mother.
"Don't get up to too much trouble, you hear me young man?" My mother said to me as she gave me a tight squeeze. Why did I feel so...so emotional? I couldn't help the sob that nearly broke out of my throat, and I coughed.
With teary eyes and a warm chest I returned the hug. "I...I missed this..." I thought to myself as I slowly sank deeper into the hug. "You better hurry up now before it's too late, I love you sweetie," my mother said as she broke away from the embrace.
"I love you too, mom" I smiled before turning to head to my room. I nearly tripped as my ears rang, the headache returning in full force. Stumbling to my knees, I clutched my head and groaned.
"Get up dammit!" Whirling around, I tried to find the source of the voice. Seriously, where was that coming from?
"Markus...please..." The voice continued to cry out, a familiar voice. It sounded...sad. Why did it sound so sad? "Don't make me leave your ass with the bandits after you made me switch sides. Damn you..." The voice once again said, as I suddenly felt hands shaking my shoulders.
"Bandits? Switching sides? What sides were there?" I thought a little deliriously. "That almost sounds like some plot in a movie or book," I thought amusingly to myself. Continuing to look around as my body continued to shake, I spied my mother's crystal collection hanging off the wall in the hallway. All different shapes and sizes, with a wide variety of colors.
But what really caught my attention was the green one...emerald, I think. I saw green. Then red.
"Get up."
Almost instantly my memories of Remnant returned with a vengeance for blood. My time at Beacon, the battle at the docks, the train crash, the destruction of both schools, the White Fang. I remembered a blonde girl hugging me tightly, before her lilac eyes were overshadowed by a white and red mask.
I remembered the crash of the Argus Limited, of sleeping in a cave, and fighting bandits, before being beaten by one and then blacking out. Before I could remember anything else, something hard struck my cheek, bringing me back to the land of the living. As I fell back, my house was replaced by...a tent?
A pair of hands slammed me against a soft wall. "Wake UP!"
I screamed as the house vanished. Emerald's terrified and furious face right in front of me. A hand stifled over my mouth at once, and I nearly choked at getting cut off. The two of us squirmed on the sheets as I panicked, though a smack on the cheek from Emerald ended that real quick.
"Stop!" Emerald shouted. I shut up at once, my breathing loud and heavy as I attempted to calm down. Is this what a panic attack was? I don't think I ever got scared this much in my life. Emerald let go of me when she saw me calming down, and sighed. "Jeez. You're alive," she stated with a clear sigh of relief as she leaned back. "Calm down before you get a heart attack."
I was caught up in the weird dream I had. Why was I at home? Was it at home? Mom...no, I should not be focused on that, especially since dreams could be random as hell for no real reasons. I had to get my thoughts back and focus on what was going on right now. I turned to Emerald as I attempted to compose myself.
"What...happened?" I gasped, as I tried to get my breathing back under full control. Emerald didn't answer, likely waiting for me to regain my composure. She was missing her jacket, and her bruise was healing rather quickly. "Last thing I remember, I...uhh..."
"You got shot," Emerald said as she sat down next to me, arms around her knees, which were bunched up. She looked pretty relieved when I woke up, and I felt rather flattered for her concern, which should have concerned me because I already knew how much Emerald cared about me. Maybe that headache was worse than I thought. "The woman we fought brought us here. You had one of her arrows in you when I woke up. It was pretty bad."
"Huh? Woman? What are you...h-hold on," I said as I tried to remember. I remembered trekking through the woods, the fight with the bandits, my talk with Emerald after, and the second fight with the woman. I remembered some of what had happened right before blacking out, and I immediately began to check my body for anything different.
A bandage was wrapped over my left shoulder and under my left armpit, over a particularly painful part of my chest. I was shot near the heart, which made me sweat when I realized just how close to death I'd come. This was the third time that feeling had come in, the first time at the Breach and the second time fighting Adam. My jacket was gone, like Emerald's, and I had my blue shirt under it. The bandage and the area on my blue shirt where it hurt was stained red, the blood having dried.
My prosthetic arm was out in the open as well, and I realized it was dented and scratched all over. Other than the slit that Adam's sword had made right through the hand, there were several scratches and sheared off bits of metal from the elbow and forearm. It seemed even more damaged than I remember, and I don't remember taking any sort of punishment this harsh to the arm. Not that it was truly severe, since I could move and flex it as if nothing were wrong. Still, the sudden amount of damage I had on it was rather...unnerving, to say the least. "Did a Beowolf try to gnaw my arm or something? Or..."
"They tried to steal your arm," Emerald said, not missing a beat. "Once they found out you had one of those super expensive robot arms, they tried to tear it off you. Then they tried hacking it to bits."
"Why isn't it then? Hacked to bits, I mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in clear confusion to Emerald's words. I looked back at my arm in concern.
"Hah, they can't," Emerald laughed. "Apparently along with hating guns, they hate Dust. They're just dinky knives trying to cut through metal designed to withstand Dust attacks. Then they tried to stab you."
I flinched at that, and Emerald spoke faster before I could say anything else. "They didn't, the lady who attacked us told them not to. One still tried, but she knocked him out and kicked him out."
I noticed that my belt and backpack were gone as well, and I sighed. Looking around, I saw the interior of a tent, which had nothing inside it other than a floor of furs and a pillow. "Are we prisoners?" I asked, despite already knowing the answer to that question.
"Yeah," Emerald said as she leaned back, unfolding her knees and lying on her back while on the furs next to me. "Said that once you woke up, we'd be put to work." That line most definitely didn't concern me whatsoever.
"Hold on, work? What kind of work?" I asked nervously before a bright light hit me in the eyes, preventing Emerald from saying anything more. The tent flap was pulled up to reveal the woman who captured us walking into the tent. "You..." I said, once my eyes had adjusted to the light.
"Yep, me. Come on, brats," the woman said smugly as she tugged both me and Emerald to our feet, pulling us out. The outside was revealed to me, which mostly consisted of tents and small portable houses built out of trees and tarps, as well as some actual small houses. There were large three meter tall wooden posts that made up the walls, a sort of primitive fort with several sheet metal platforms serving as walkways, supported by pillars or even some of the houses close enough to the walls. Several people with bows and arrows walked about, guarding the walls.
At the edge of what was basically a walled up village in the woods, was a large wooden stable with dozens of horses, as well as a small set of farms and trees next to the stable. I wondered if they had barns for animals and whatnot. Perhaps we could find one to escape with, presumably at night. My arm was yanked harder by the woman, having accidentally slowed down to look around.
Counting the houses and tents, there were dozens to well over a hundred people living in this place. These weren't just bandits, they were more or less an actual village, and a rather hostile one at that, especially since we were attacked so viciously by one of them. It was likely that the group of people we fought much earlier originally came from here. Which probably meant that this was the Bloodlust Tribe, which the guy from earlier had mentioned.
Looking ahead, I saw the woman had her multi-shot crossbow folded up on her back, and I pondered whether I should try and snatch it. Though, it was unlikely that we'd make it out of the village alive, especially if any of the many people here had their auras - or Gods forbid, any kind of semblances - unlocked. Plus, the chances of actually stealing the weapon off of the woman's back was a risk in itself, since I had no idea how truly skilled she was, and I wasn't about to risk my life or Emerald's.
The woman led us through the thick of the village, where several people walking by stopped to stare at us. Many of them looked at me curiously, or darkly - likely seeing a victim to exploit, or an outsider to bully. Emerald got much more lecherous looks, many of the men and teens leering at her chest, as well as her hips and exposed stomach and sides.
I couldn't help the flare of anger from all the looks that Emerald was getting. And I definitely couldn't help the need to lash out when one of the particularly big and older guys reached over and smacked Emerald on the backside with a rather filthy laugh. Emerald turned and almost lunged at the man with a rather angry growl, but the woman just grabbed her arm and forced her back on our original course.
Luckily, no other incidents occurred and the people left us alone soon after that. We reached what looked like a massive house, similar to how Raven's tent was much more lavish than the others in the Branwen Tribe. We were stopped rather quickly after that, and the woman forced us down to our knees.
"Hey, boss! They're here!" the woman with the multi-shot crossbow shouted once we were on the ground.
After a few seconds, the large door flew open, and a tall woman walked out. She was almost as tall as Hazel Rainart was, and she wore mostly black clothes. She wore black pants and black boots, with a black coat lined in white, with a gray coat that outlined an impressively athletic and relatively attractive figure. She had long brown hair tied in a ponytail, though her bangs covered her eyes. She had relatively light and flawless skin, except for a small slash shaped birthmark on her neck, which seemed to be browned skin rather than the pink remains of a scar. Her lips were dark, and her eyebrows were very thin.
The large woman's clothes looked oddly civilian - a bit wealthier than civilian - for a bandit, especially since everyone else dressed so differently. It was kind of like how Raven mostly wore clothes of Asian style, while everyone else looked like they came from a biker gang.
"So, we're prisoners. What do you want?" Emerald asked.
"I want to know what two huntsmen children are doing here in the middle of nowhere," the leader said as she stepped down, walking towards Emerald and me. Her boots sank a full inch in the snowy ground with every step, showing just how much body mass she had. She walked around me and made to walk between me and Emerald.
"We were on the Argus Limited. A bunch of Grimm attacked and killed people, so we had to cut the train loose. The Grimm and us were left behind, and we got derailed," I explained.
"The train," the woman said as she pondered for a second. "So you chose to doom yourselves in order to save others. How very...annoying."
"Yeah, we don't expect bandits to understand," I said.
"However, you two defeated several of my people," the large woman continued, not even registering what I said. "You two are clearly powerful. Even if you use those...heretical contraptions."
"Where are our weapons, by the way?" I asked.
The woman chuckled. "You may have them back if you answer this next question honestly. Do you believe in strength?" she asked.
Emerald and I blanched in confusion. Emerald was no doubt just confused, but I was feeling more than just lost. Was this another Raven Branwen? Or Cinder? Did she believe in power? What was this woman's angle here?
Thinking for a few minutes, I sighed and began to answer.
- Argus -
Pyrrha backflipped over Nora's hammer, the wide swing being slow and unwieldy to her, yet fast and lethal to others. Pyrrha had trained with her team for months on end, both during Beacon and during the trek to Mistral. Despite the situation, Pyrrha had improved. All of RWBY and JNPR did.
Ren deflected the throw of Pyrrha's javelin and slid under it before the red haired warrior could thrust again. After landing, Pyrrha deflected several of Ren's shots and dashed for Nora, who was in the air after having leapt high in order to slam her hammer down with as much force that the momentum could provide.
Pyrrha's sudden shield throw interrupted that momentum and sent Nora toppling backwards, slamming into the wall. Pyrrha had just caught her shield again before the impact of a heavy sword sent her sliding back several feet. Turning, the four time Mistral tournament champion saw Liya swinging her weapon with a single hand, the large buster sword spinning as she rushed Pyrrha before she could finish sliding back.
Pyrrha deflected the heavy blow before spinning around the next, struggling to keep up with Liya's fast attacks. Not many knew this, especially since so few people ever saw Pyrrha and Liya fighting, but Liya was one of the few who could keep up with Pyrrha in terms of fighting skill, with strength probably greater than Yang's in order to handle such a large weapon.
It helped that Qrow used a similar weapon, and Liya had picked up several tips from the elite huntsman, increasing her weapon skills. While Pyrrha used to match Liya in terms of combat, she was now struggling to keep up. Despite the fact that people would either start loving Liya more for putting Pyrrha on edge, or losing followers herself, Pyrrha basked happily in the fact that finally sank in for her - she was finally having a good and enjoyable fight.
Liya grinned brightly under her mask as she performed a corkscrew flip, swinging her weapon downwards and slamming the massive blade into the ground. Pyrrha backflipped twice as Nora and Ren went in for the kill. Quickly putting her shield on her back, Nora's Magnhild slammed into it, saving her aura - and quite possibly her spine - before landing, floor spinning and knocking Nora down just as Ren performed a spinning kick, his feet mere centimeters above her flowing red hair.
Pyrrha then pulled out and slammed her shield up into Ren's face, mirroring how she took out Russel when she fought all of team CRDL at once. Ren didn't go down after that, easily recovering and rolling back to his feet after the harsh impact. However, Nora rushing back in forced Ren to jump back, dodging the wild swing the shorter redhead pulled off, Pyrrha quickly jumping back in turn, before she flew right into the brunt of Liya's unwieldy yet powerful swing.
Pyrrha slammed into the wall with a loud "crunch", and Liya took advantage of the opportunity provided, slamming her sword down and finishing off the Invincible Girl's aura in a single heavy blow, a massive cloud of thick dust exploding from the impact. The shimmer of red aura shattering was visible in the slowly dissipating dust, as Liya sighed, pulling her sword back and putting it away before holding out her hand to the fallen champion to take. "You alright?" she asked.
Pyrrha took the hand and got to her feet as Liya hauled her up, leaning on her fellow Mistralian classmate and one of her best friends. "I'm alright," she said as Liya dusted her off. "That was such a fun match."
"Yeah," Liya agreed before adopting a smug grin visible even beneath her mask. "I beat the champion," she sang. Pyrrha giggled and elbowed Liya lightly in response, the two of them laughing as Nora and Ren came over. "Well you did have the help of Ren and Nora, it's shouldn't be that surprising" Pyrrha replied mirthfully once they were all together.
Nobody noticed the dozens of people watching them from the bleachers of the combat sparring stadium. They were at Sanctum Academy, Pyrrha having brought her friends to demonstrate a spar for the sake of old times. She had still been pissed off about her father, as well as Jaune's situation with his own stubborn father, and Liya suggested a fight to help work off all that stress.
Pyrrha suspected Liya was asking because she needed to work off her own stress of Markus and Emerald still being missing in action, but she wasn't about to hold that against her, especially since she'd be extremely scared as well if Jaune had been left behind on the Argus Limited so far away from the city.
Once they left the stadium, they were swarmed by dozens of fans who had been shocked at the sudden outcome of the fight. "You lost?!" a snobby girl cried in clear disbelief. "But Pyrrha Nikos never loses!"
"Yes, well, I have," Pyrrha said dismissively. Ever since she started being around Liya and Jaune more often, Pyrrha had gotten more and more used to being able to stop herself from buckling under pressure, no longer feeling the constant need to please others. "It was inevitable."
"But you're the Invincible Girl!" someone else near the back shouted.
"Not anymore!~" Pyrrha sang as they walked by, and Nora stifled a laugh as they pushed through the disgruntled crowd of onlookers and Sanctum Academy students. Even the teachers seemed speechless, but they didn't appear to be as angry or shocked as the others.
They left Sanctum to celebrate Pyrrha's defeat at a relatively nice restaurant. Pyrrha called and asked Jaune if he could come, to which he replied that the only way he would be able to make it was if he snuck out, which Nora butted into the call to say he should totally sneak out, it was basically dating tradition!
Nora and Ren let Pyrrha know they were going to reserve a restaurant for all of them, while Pyrrha and Liya went to pick up the others. On the way to the hotel the others were staying at, Pyrrha looked over at Liya, who was walking casually alongside her. "Hey..." Pyrrha said, tapping Liya on the arm. "You've been pretty quiet."
"Yeah?" Liya asked, turning to face Pyrrha. She had her mask off, having long since been feeling comfortable enough to show her scar in public. Pyrrha sighed and reminisced over Beacon, when things were much simpler. Shaking her head, she focused on the topic at hand.
Pyrrha cleared her throat and began to speak. "You haven't spoken much since...well, we started on our walk to Mistral. And even now, you haven't really..."
"Hung out with you guys?" Liya said as she stretched her arms above her head, grunting before sighing in relief as the tension from the sparring engagement left her with ease. "Guess I was just...deep in thought," the fellow Mistralian finally admitted.
"Over what?" Pyrrha asked when Liya looked at her, and she flushed. "O-oh. Markus?"
"Yeah. I know he's safe and whatnot, but...I've been thinking," Liya said to herself. "You know how he's been open about the stuff he knows? How he's not from around here, he knows stuff that hasn't happened yet, yada yada yada? Well...honestly, I'm wondering if there's anything he hasn't told us."
"I'm sure they're personal things," Pyrrha said. "He wouldn't risk our lives like that, especially since...well, he told us that...I actually died the last time around. His words, not mine..."
Liya fell back into deep thought for a few more seconds before she spoke up again. "But does he say how?" she asked. "How do you die?"
Pyrrha opened her mouth before tensing up. "I don't think he ever specified..." she said after a moment of trying to recall. "But he was honest. I-where are all these thoughts even coming from?"
Liya looked away. "Well...I'm just worried," she said. "What if he ends up being a bad guy?" she asked. "I know it's unlikely but...some of the pieces just don't add up. All the stuff he knows, how can we know what is changed by him and what isn't changed by him?"
"You think he might betray us? Or that he was never on our side in the first place?" Pyrrha asked, now very clearly concerned.
"I...I dunno. Maybe," Liya said as she looked down. "It's been a rough couple of months. Maybe my head's just all over the place. I really don't want Markus to be a bad guy, especially since..."
Pyrrha sighed. "Do you like him...in that way?" she asked.
"Yeah," Liya said, chuckling. "Dumb, I know. I doubt he's up for another relationship, especially since the last one crashed and burned so badly. Which surprised me - him and Yang clicked very well."
"They did. But nothing ever runs perfectly," Pyrrha said, smiling sadly. She remembered Yang's devastation and need for comfort after the battle of Haven, right after she talked to Markus after so many months of silence.
"Yeah," Liya said, her voice quiet and somber. "Thing is, I'm really hoping Markus isn't some bad guy. The worries won't go away just like that - and that sucks, like a lot."
"Now I may be having some doubts..." Pyrrha quietly admitted to herself before shaking her head and clearing her throat. "Look, we just...we just need him to explain some stuff and things will go back to running smoothly. The others have already accused him of being a traitor once, I don't want a repeat of that if possible".
Liya sighed to herself tiredly. "Yeah," she said as she bumped shoulders with Pyrrha. "Yeah, you're right. Just...it's hard to get rid of those thoughts."
"I understand. But things will clear up in time, I promise," Pyrrha said. Liya could only smile, somewhat reassured by the no longer Invincible Girl...the Vincible Girl.
- village in the middle of nowhere -
Markus deflected a knife strike from the bandit before doing a high kick, similar to how Neo would do one. The man was sent flying back from the sudden boot slamming into his chin, and I pinned him between the flat of Wilt's blood red blade and the wall. His aura shattered, and he promptly lost consciousness.
Letting him slump to the ground, I breathed a sigh of relief before turning to see the leader watching, her left eyebrow raised. She was sitting at the edge of the room, which was a dedicated fighting area given the large empty space and reinforced walls. The interior of the leader's house was surprisingly humble. While Raven Branwen's tent was ornate with fancy decorations and designs that were no doubt looted on raids, this place felt more like a camping lodge, built out of wood and sheet metal with basic necessities, with very few aesthetically pleasing things inside.
Jackie, she said her name was. I didn't really know if she could fight or not, since there didn't appear to be any sort of weapon on her person, and she walked pretty casually - unlike how a fighter would normally carry themselves. She had given me Wilt back after I answered, having me go inside to begin this short fight.
"Not bad," the village leader said, crossing her legs in her seat. "You clearly have combat experience, and by the way you carry yourself, you're used to fighting deadlier opponents."
"Yeah...not to sound cocky but...why aren't there any fighters like yours? Uhh, like the crossbow woman?" I asked.
"Her name's Stella," Jackie said as she got up and came over to me, looking over me. I was still wearing a blue shirt, pants, and my boots. So far, she didn't mention anything about my belt or my jacket, and "And she's my right hand. Only those with powerful semblances get stronger."
"That's...kind of biased," I admitted as Jackie walked around me, peering at my boots and pants with a curious expression. What was she looking me over for? "Why?" I asked, deciding not to try and shy away, in case that made Jackie angry.
"Aura is said to be the manifestation of the human soul," Jackie said, getting up and walking. "The power that your aura - and by extension, your soul - creates is a show of your strength as a person. The stronger your semblance is, as well as the type of semblance one may have, the more strength your body and soul will wield."
That logic...made some degree of sense, at least. Even if it had many flaws. "Yeah, no. Any semblance can be trained to be powerful. It's a part of your body, it can be improved just like anything with exercise and training."
"Perhaps. But it's those who start off particularly strong that will flourish," Jackie said. "The one you just defeated has a very powerful semblance, yet you dispatched him before he could utilize it." She didn't tell me what that semblance was, so I didn't ask. "You'll make a fine warrior."
"What, am I supposed to go out and do raids on other people?" I asked, frowning as I looked away. I didn't like the idea of attacking innocents, whether I was being forced to or not. The last thing I needed was to get Emerald and me trapped in the village, unable to see any of the others for a long time.
"Of course not," Jackie chuckled, continuing to walk around me. "You fight for sport. If someone challenges you, you fight them. If you win, nothing happens. If you lose, you submit to whatever they may demand of you."
I shivered nervously as the village leader traced a hand along my collarbone, going up to my neck and stroking my cheek with the back of her gloved hand. "And you won't be able to say no," she said, looking me in the eye. I felt myself relax a little. She didn't look so scary now, and I just nodded to myself absentmindedly. Jackie grinned before letting go of me.
"You may go back to your friend. She has the same offer herself. Just offered and explained by Stella," Jackie said, dismissing me to the door. Without much else to say or ask, I left - not willing to hang around such a tall person likely capable of killing me with her bare hands. Not that I'd make it easy...
...but she was the leader for a reason. I wouldn't be surprised if she could take on every fighter around, especially with her philosophy of the strongest semblance being the strongest in the village. I left the house, where Emerald and Stella were waiting. Emerald was glaring at the ground, and Stella was more or less minding her own business lazily. When the door slammed shut behind me, Emerald looked up and saw me. "Markus!" she cried.
I walked down the steps to the snow, just in time to receive a jumping hug from Emerald, making me stumble as I wrapped my arms around her back. "Are you alright?" Emerald asked.
"I'm fine," I said as I finally regained my footing. "She had me fight someone before telling us what we'd do." Emerald let go, her eyes narrowed and clearly suspicious, and I took that as a cue to continue my explanation. "She wants us to basically be gladiators."
"Gladiators? What are those?" Emerald asked.
"Basically fighters for sport. If anyone wants to fight us for shits and giggles, we have to fight them no matter what," I said. "And if we lose...the winner gets to use us."
Emerald winced, obviously knowing what kind of stuff people like bandits would force them to do. She looked at me, specifically up and down at my body, and I couldn't help but feel a little cowed at her stare. "Uhh, what?" I asked.
"Umm...there may or may not be a chance that you may have it worse than me," she said, peering back to Stella. "She may or may not be...extreme, from what she bragged to me."
I peered at Stella as well, and I could physically feel my skin pale as Stella eyed me, much more lecherously than anyone else from before ever did when staring at us. That little bite she did on her lower lip did nothing to ease my worries as Emerald spoke up. "She said the next time she beats you...she has plans. I'd be careful if I were you."
I really wish Emerald didn't tell me this. "Great..." I whimpered, knowing I was going to be in for the fight of my life sometime in the future. Stella led us back to the tent we were in before, and we were surprised to find Blush, as well as Thief's Respite waiting for us, alongside a small box. However, there was no ammunition - no doubt trashed by Stella given how guns weren't looked favorably upon here. I wondered how these people survived without Dust as well, before remembering that people on Earth typically didn't need any Dust to live.
Sighing, I hooked Blush to my belt and sheathed Wilt, while Emerald took her own weapons and holstered them. "So, what do we do?" Emerald asked once Stella was gone, as well as making certain that nobody else was here to listen in on them.
"I guess we cooperate with these guys for now," I said as I sat down, Emerald joining me moments later. "The leader talked a bit. Apparently the way the best are chosen are by who has the best semblance. So I think our best chance is to keep our semblances hidden."
"And how do we do that?" Emerald asked, her hand scratching her chin.
"Your semblance works on one person at a time, right?" I asked quietly. At her nod, I continued to explain. "Use it on your opponent to make him or her miss a few strikes here and there, just enough to tip the scales in battle. Subtlety is the key."
"How about you?" Emerald asked.
"I'll keep it subtle as well. There's a semblance that lets me copy other fighting styles, so-" I began to say.
"Oh. Velvet's?" Emerald asked. At my inquisitive expression, she flushed. "When looking for the Fall Maiden, Cinder had us research every female student in the school...Scarlatina was a prime candidate given her abilities."
"Makes sense. Originally, You and Mercury scoped out Pyrrha and her semblance. That's actually kind of what got her killed," I said. Emerald flinched at what I said, and I sighed. "That was before, this is now. No wait, not before. It never happened here."
"If you say so," Emerald said, and I mentally punched myself in the face. Why did I bring up what she could've done? I already knew she was trying to get over being used and abused along with getting pulled into such horrible things because of Cinder. "Sorry..." I whispered.
"It's fine. We should probably focus on plans to-" Emerald said before we both heard a yelp and a whine. Those sounds were later followed up by the sound of laughing and jeering, and the two of us peeked out of the tent to see what the commotion was.
To our shock, it was a somewhat large dog lying on the ground, with two bandits walking away from it and laughing all the while. The dog looked like a Samoyed, with a thick coat of very unwashed dirty tangled fur.
"What the fuck?" Emerald hissed, clearly furious. I was angry too - animal abuse was one of the most despicable things a living being could be capable of. Though, I was surprised to see that Emerald cared so much. Guess she's an animal person like I am.
Once those two assholes were gone, Emerald and I grabbed the dog and carefully carried it to our tent. The dog was breathing shallowly, almost as if it were tired, rather than injured. "Is he alright?" I asked as I went to check that no one had seen or followed us into the tent.
"How do you know it isn't a girl?" Emerald asked as she checked the dog over, looking for injuries, before blinking. "The dog has its aura unlocked."
I came over, to which Emerald pulled aside some of its fur. A particularly nasty cut in the center of a patch of discolored skin was shown, and I saw that the cut was...closing itself up, extremely slowly. Was this how someone's aura healed wounds? It more or less surprised me since I'd never actually paid attention to how wounds were healed with aura.
"What do we do?" I asked as I rubbed the unconscious canine's head, pained at the soft and shallow breathing it gave. I don't think taking care of a dog was ever something I planned on doing, especially now of all times.
Emerald lay down next to the dog, not too close, but close enough to rub its side as she let out a quiet sigh. "We survive. Until we can come up with a plan to get the fuck out of here," she said.
"Hey!"
I turned to see a bandit, someone with a two handed cleaver, pointing at me. "I wanna fight you!" he spat. Sighing tiredly, I looked at Emerald, who only shook her head in exasperation. Holding onto Wilt and Blush on my belt, I left the tent to fight.
- in the air, a few hours from Argus -
"Are you sure?" Harriet asked, clearly sounding rather exasperated. "We should be fighting, not looking for those brats."
"The general said they would come in through Argus. So that's where we'll look. With everything falling apart in Atlas and Mantle, we'll need their help," Clover said as he looked out the window of the command tower, along with Marrow and Vine. Outside the window was a massive flight deck, with two rows of Manta airships all lined up from bow to stern.
The airship was a brand new one, from unknown origins. It deviated completely from the sleek and angular Atlesian warships in use today. The ship appeared to be a massive block, with the top deck home to over sixty Mantas, as well as a large bridge tower built on the side of the main deck off an extension. On the aft of the ship were two large fins, with the sides host to four massive engines, two on each side.
Under the exposed flight deck was a lower hangar deck, with the bow an open maw for more Manta airships to fly out. The sides of the ship had several small half-circled parapets lining the port and starboards of the flight deck - each parapet housing a fully enclosed single-barreled gun turret. The main bridge tower also had two gun turrets on top, as well as two twin Dust cannons in front of and behind the tower.
It was a drastically unconventional design, but Clover was surprised when he heard that the ship was an overall success, especially given that the standard Atlesian Aerial Battleship could only carry a squadron of six Mantas and dropships, whereas one of these brand new ships could carry up to twenty times that number. General Ironwood and the Defense Committee had mentioned that the design was meant to fill the roles of both an aerial ground support vessel and an emergency evacuation vessel, which was what other ships of the class were doing back at Atlas.
Clover's thoughts were interrupted when someone called his name. Turning, a tall man in an Atlesian uniform handed him a clipboard, which the leader of the Ace-Ops took and read. "Gear up, team. We reach Argus in an hour," he said, as the four Atlesian specialists left the bridge to get to a Manta on the deck. Finishing reading the report, he nodded to the uniformed man and walked out to join the rest of his team on the main deck.
(AN: And so, Ironwood sends the Ace-Ops to pick up the main cast.
Also, the new airship isn't like the Insight Helicarrier Markus ripped from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Think of how an Izumo-class Destroyer looks, but with the aft fins of an Atlesian Airship and the four engine units of the Helicarrier.)