So...it's been a long while since chapter 20. Just over three months since the last chapter. My excuse was that college made me super busy, and well, it did. Lots of stuff happened that I won't go on about here, since this is an author's note, but I wanted to at least let you guys know that I do hate that I ended up not writing a chapter for so long. These chapters used to be uploaded every Sunday, with some variation, such as chapter 19 and 20, and were supposed to be shifted to every other Sunday, but that clearly changed.

Anywho, I am back and I am alive. I want to make time for this story again, mainly because I really have been wanting to get back into it. Also, this chapter is kind of short compared to most of the other chapters (just about 3.5k words or so) in this story, but I did kind of write it in three days or so. That's all I want to say here, so without further ado…

I hope you enjoy the (very late) chapter!

Chapter 21: The Underbelly

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.(Chapter Start)

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August 2nd

Friday

Light Rain

It was fifteen minutes to five when Blake and Azura made it to Junior's club. The rain gently fell upon them, slowly making the sweatshirts they wore with the hoodie up more wet. They were a few buildings away in an alley, speaking to each other.

"Right, let's just go over the plan again." Blake said.

Azura nodded swiftly.

"I'll be right here, waiting for you to exit the club with Neo leading. When that happens, I'll be tailing from the ground while the two of you make your way to Tukson's shop, where this is supposedly happening. Only engage if it becomes a trap, but otherwise remain cautious. I'll be far enough to remain hidden, which means that it'll take longer to help you if things go south."

Azura nodded again. "Yeah, that's the plan. If it fails, and I do not exit the club in ten minutes, you'll come in to investigate. Just don't be dumb and get yourself in danger just for me."

Blake rolled her eyes. "I'll do it, no matter what you say."

"Right. Well, wish me luck!" He says, a smile on his face.

Blake smiles back. "I don't believe in wishing someone good luck." She takes the black ribbon out of her pocket and holds it out with both hands. "I do, however, believe in good luck charms. Give me your arm."

"Are you sure?" Azura asks. Despite his question, he holds his arm out anyway.

She wraps it around his wrist, just over the snake bracelet on his wrist. Tying it neatly, Blake finally responds. "I'm trusting you to come back with it."

Azura stood in silence for a moment before nodding and growing serious. "I should get going."

Blake nods, turning to lean against the wall. Azura walks away from her, towards the entrance of the club. As he made it to the entrance, he looks at the bouncer by the door. The poor man looked terrified.

"I assume you were told the reason for why I am here?" Azura asked.

The taller man nods. "Of course, sir."

Azura raises an eyebrow. "Sir? We are in no position to do this. Please, we're both here for a reason. You to get paid, and I to find something out. No harm will come to you."

The bouncer doesn't reply, but shifts to the side, allowing Azura access to the club. As he stepped through the entrance, he heard Summer speak to him, her voice soothing any paranoia he might have about this situation. The only other person who knew about this, other than Summer and Luna, was Blake. He trusted Blake, but he had to admit to feeling nervous without the others knowing where he and Blake had gone.

He glanced down at Blake's ribbon, remembering what exactly he was here for, and took a deep breath as he stepped out of the hall that connected the main entrance and the main dance floor. The beat was loud and the tempo fast, but he didn't have time to be distracted by it.

He approached the bar, with Junior standing behind it like he usually did, his suit perfect and clean. As Azura stepped up to it, he saw Junior's eyes widen in surprise, taking in his appearance.

"Well, that's a new one. You become a runaway again? You even have a new look."

Azura shook his head. "Not this time. If I know the person that's here even a little bit, then you already know why I am here."

Junior narrowed his eyes, looking over the crowd for the moment, before leaning across the bar. "You mean that little psychotic partner of Torchwick's?"

Azura nodded, no words needed.

The man sighed. "I don't even know why you agreed to anything. Look, you want me to send the Malachites with you?"

Azura shook his head again. "This agreement is between me and her. Anything that we speak about it sworn to stay between us."

Junior rubbed his forehead, sighing again. "Look, it's not my job to stop you. Just...be careful, you hear? I can only help you so much."

"Of course. Will you feel better if I come to talk to you after?"

Junior sighed, but nodded. "Militia has a soft spot for kids like you, so yeah, it would make me feel better. If only to give her an answer."

Azura tilted his head. "Kids like me?"

Junior chuckled, nodding his head after looking around, as if looking for someone. "In her words, 'I cannot believe that kid is so dumb! How the fuck can someone be so gullible?!'. Despite how angry that may sound, she's honestly just worried."

Azura blushed, scratching at the back of his head. "Oh, well, that's nice of her to worry. But, I need to do this. I can't just not do it."

Junior shook his head, chuckling again. "Figured you would say that. Look, just come back to me when what you are doing is done. For her sake, and well...I think I know what'll happen."

Azura frowned at his words, but accepted anyway. "Yeah, I'll be back afterwards."

"Good. She's upstairs, kid. I don't want to hear a fight start up there, got it?"

Azura nodded. "Thank you, Junior. She'll play nice."

Azura walked off as he heard Junior say one last thing, more to himself. "She's clearly intrigued by something he did…"

He had already figured as much, but Summer clearly still felt uncomfortable with the idea.

"And I should be! That girl is dangerous. I have no doubt that we could easily fight her, but you'd resist. I know you would."

"Course I would. You saw how she acted in the dorm. She would've killed us, and we wouldn't even know it."

Summer sighed. "Whatever. Just be careful."

He took notice of Militia's gaze on him, but continued moving on his way up. He only had a few minutes before he would be considered late. He made his way up the second floor of the club, the music dulling and becoming more of a background noise as he did so. Once he was up there, he could see Neo looking at him, leaning against a table, her arms crossed over her chest, while Lily floated behind her. She nodded her head to a seat, sitting down in the other one.

Azura sits down, focusing on Neo. After a few moments, he asked the only question he truly had. "So, what is it that we are looking for?"

Neo looked at the stairs, as if waiting for someone to be there. After a few moments of silence, she slides the scroll over to him. He picked it up and read what it had to say.

"We have the next hour to go over to a specific shop, run by Tukson. The guy runs a bookstore out of a poor district in Vale, mainly for a backup plan. He's a bit of a higher up in the White Fang and he's going to get a talking to today. It's supposed to be a secret, but I have my ways to get info."

Azura nods and slides the scroll back to her as he speaks. "So, we're going to see what happens, basically?"

Neo nods, typing up a response and showing it to him. "That is correct. I do not plan to interfere with it at all. It is smarter to lay low for this."

Azura nods, easily agreeing with her. "So, should we get going? It seems to be a pretty big thing that'll happen."

Neo shakes her head, typing up another response for him. "It is better to wait. Perhaps we can get to know each other." She smiles smugly after seeing his raised eyebrow.

"You try to kill me, and now you want to get to know me?"

Neo shrugged, and Azura sighed. "Well, why don't you start with what you know about me?"

After a few moments, Neo shows her scroll to him and he speaks as he reads.

"My name...age...weapons...how I fight...possible ideas on how my semblance works...okay, not as much as one might think."

Neo rolls her eyes, showing him another message.

"What's with the ribbon from the kitty? Got a girlfriend?"

Azura licks his lips, thinking on how to play this out.

Summer's voice pierced into his thoughts with her bit of advice. "Careful what you say here. Don't just go and say no or yes, but give an answer with substance. If you want my advice...say yes. It'll be easier to convince her that way, since it'll make more sense for why the ribbon is there. Just my thoughts."

Azura smirked slightly, bringing up his eyes to look at Neo and respond. "Not exactly, no. She just...well, she wanted to thank me for helping her at the docks."

Neo blinks, as if not expecting a serious response.

Azura leans back in his seat.

No further conversation occurs as they sit there and wait.

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.(Line Break)

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As Azura followed after Neo, hopping from roof to roof, he could feel Blake's ribbon brushing against his arm as Summer spoke to him.

"She was trying to probe you for answers. Good one on getting her to stay quiet."

Azura sighs as he runs, enjoying the lack of rain now, then responds. "I didn't try to get her to stop talking, but it was much easier than having to give answers to those kinds of questions."

"Agreed. Much better that way." A moment of silence, then she speaks again. "What do you think we'll find?"

"I don't know. It'll be bad, I feel. Something is obviously going to happen, but I don't know what."

"Worst case scenario, it's a trap."

Azura didn't respond, stopping next to Neo and crouching down as he saw her do the same. Narrowing his eyes as he looked over the roof of the building they were on, he took notice two people walking into Tukson's bookstore, but they had masks on, and their clothing was hiding any other traits.

"A shady bunch…" Azura muttered.

As the door closes again, Azura feels Neo nudge his arm and he turns to look at her as she gets up and moves to jump off the building to the ground about ten feet below, landing gracefully. Azura nods to her, then makes his way down the building.

He catches a slight notice of Blake, but ignores it as he follows after Neo. They push up several buildings, then Azura finds himself stopped by Neo. He steps back, going against the wall, then a scroll is pushed into his face.

"Silence from here on out. We have to get closer. And no semblances. They'll know."

Azura nods, then waits, thinking about why she said that they would know about semblances. Once Neo moves, however, he drops the thought and follows after her. They end up coming up just next to the building, and they could see inside the bookstore. By now, Azura recalled a moment where Blake mentioned a bookshop owned by a Tukson, and he tried to ignore the sadness that pooled in his stomach. He had a very bad feeling about this.

Looking within the shop, Azura could see the masked people talking to a bloody Tukson. The Faunus seemed terrified and Azura felt like his feet were planted to the ground, his mouth dry. He could stand and watch, but could not help.

He hated the fact that it made sense to him that he should stay where he was. With no info on what these people could do, it was better to keep hidden.

Azura winced as he saw one of the masked duo punched Tukson directly in the face. How they managed to break his aura so quickly was terrifying. Looking down, he could see Neo was frowning at the scene. Looking at her with such an expression on her face was disconcerting to Azura. It made it seem like Neo actually felt bad for this Faunus. Which, to Azura, couldn't have been true. He had seen what this girl did to him, seen her expression as she stabbed his shoulder. He had seen her almost lost in a trance as she licked his blood.

And yet, the girl seemed more human to him. That frown could mean anything, but it certainly looked like a frown of disagreement to him. Standing just a few inches to his side along the wall was no longer someone he labeled as an unstable girl who would kill for fun, but a survivor simply living in the world she was born in.

"Azura!" Summer hissed within his mind.

Azura blinked, looking back up to the window. Tukson was speaking wildly, his eyes flicking between the two masked people as he did so. He was crying now, and Azura felt like he was begging for something.

Then, he was dead. A slitted throat.

Azura widened his eyes, shocked at the sight. For someone who had a semblance that blatantly defied death and allowed him to see beyond death, he had never seen someone actually die. He had no grand dreams of keeping people from death, but to see the death first hand was another thing entirely.

He was dragged from his thoughts as Neo grabbed his arm and dragged him away. He stumbled after her, but eventually, his mind caught up with his body, and he started running properly. After they had made it across several streets that were devoid of life, Neo eventually dragged him into an alleyway. They were breathing slightly heavily, though it quickly dispersed as they caught their breath much easier, given training and aura.

"Fuck." Azura said simply.

Neo nodded as Summer spoke.

"Fuck indeed."

Azura looked around on both sides of the alleyway, then up at the roofs. He looked back down at Neo and spoke again. "Are we good? Safe enough, at least?"

Neo stops her own looking around, then nods. She checks once more, then types a response and shows it to him. "Safe. That was the expected outcome, however."

Azura licked his lips. Gone was the idea of the survivor, and in came the chilling lack of compassion. He frowned, thinking of how to respond.

"Yeah. Yeah, I can see that. Those people work for your boss?"

Neo nods again. No words were needed for what that meant.

The stakes were much higher for her than he expected. Alarmingly higher.

Azura sighs heavily, speaking to Summer mentally. "She's in danger."

"Agreed." Summer responded.

"She needs help, Summer."

"Azura…" Summer said warningly.

"Summer, if I can avoid another death like Tukson, I will."

Summer was silent for a few moments before speaking. "Damn it...okay. It would be better to try and stop more deaths. But don't agree to anything too concrete outside of helping."

Azura nods, then speaks softly. "Neo."

The triple colored girl looks over at him, her expression clear.

"I'll help you."

.

.(Line Break)

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Azura put the scroll down and into his pocket as he enters Junior's club, having just finished a call from Blake. After promising to return to Beacon before it got too late, she finally caved in and allowed him to stay at the club. Only after telling him that she would tell everyone else that he would be coming back late.

Azura sighed as he sat in a stool, leaning his arms on the bar counter as he leaned forward. The loud music was still blaring, but he did hear Junior stop moving in front of him and sigh.

"Nothing good, I guess?"

"Yeah."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No."

Junior didn't respond after that, but Azura saw a glass of water be placed in front of him. Azura sighs, but takes the glass and drinks from it. After finishing it, he places the glass down and stares at it.

"You look terrible, kid. You planning on getting back to Beacon at some point?"

"Yeah."

Junior sighs again. "Get to the back. Private bathroom. Wash some cold water over your face and in your hair. Call it crazy, but it helps. With this kind of work, that is."

Azura nods simply, getting up. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Azura moves off to the back of the club and breathes out as the blaring music fades into silence and he speaks to himself, mainly to Summer.

"And thank you for keeping quiet and letting me think."

The gratifying feeling that filled his heart for a moment felt like a silent sign of appreciation. One that made him feel a bit more confident. Luna was floating just behind Azura, seeming unsure of how to act. Azura himself didn't know what to do or say, so he didn't.

As he made it into the bathroom Junior mentioned, he stopped in front of the mirror and turned the sink on. The sound of the water slowly filled the silence as he stared at himself. One yellow eye, the other silver. His messy hair, a mix of red and white. His eyes looked tired and he seemed pensive.

"Azura." A voice broke through his thoughts and the running water.

He turned and saw Militia standing against the doorframe, her sharp green eyes looking at him, then turned back to look at the mirror again. He cupped some water into his hands and ran them against his face, doing it a few times before shutting the water off and leaning against the sink.

The clinking footsteps of Militia coming up to him made him look over at her and talk.

"Yes?"

She turns the water back on and speaks, any sharpness that should have been there missing.

"Just checking on you. I heard what happened."

"I agreed to help her."

Militia frowns, but remains calm. "We'll get to that later. You have other things to deal with."

Azura sighs, still looking down. "Yeah."

Militia waves a hand to the water, as if telling him to wash his face again. When Azura made no movement to do so, however, she sighed and shut it off.

"Listen. This is something that you signed up for, you know." She sighs again. "Everyone might be treating you nicely cause you're new, but you need to know this. This is a very common thing. Maybe not constant death and bloodshed, but it will get crazy. There is no way to avoid it, and there certainly isn't a thing you can do at all times. Not in this side of the world. The one without hunters and huntresses."

Azura kept silent, simply listening. Feeling a hand rest against his arm made him look over at Militia, a small smile on her face. He smiled back without thinking, then dropped it once he realized it. Militia snorted in laughter, then pats his face. "Don't feel down about this for too long, you hear?"

Azura watched her leave the bathroom, feeling slightly better than before.

"Death...is kinda in the job description of being a hunter. I'm an example of that. Your mother is to."

He looked into the mirror as Summer spoke, and he could see Luna looking from just behind him, the mark along her neck showing her cause of death. He placed a hand on his stomach, closing his yellow eye as he did so.

"A fatal stomach wound."

Azura silently left the bathroom, feeling like he was lighter and dropping to the floor like a heap of metal at the same time.

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.(Line Break)

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Azura stepped off of the airship, staring out at the Beacon tower that stood in the distance. As the small group of students that were also coming off the airship wandered off, Azura looked away from the tower and took notice of a certain Ruby Rose standing there.

Azura started moving, the wind blowing gently as the moon hung in the sky. Once he got close, Ruby spoke, sounding awkward.

"Heya."

"Hey, Ruby." Azura said simply, putting on a small smile.

Ruby steps forward, looking up at him. "How are ya?"

Azura blinks, looking up from Ruby's position. "Fine. You?"

"You know...living. It's uh...pretty cool, y'know."

Azura smirks, chuckling. "What's up, Ruby?"

A few moments pass by while Ruby builds up her courage. "Just...worried. It's nothing to worry about."

Azura looks down at Ruby for a moment. "Don't worry about your worry? Ruby, isn't that a bit...redundant?"

Ruby frowns, pouting slightly. "Shush you! I don't need your...your...your patronizing!"

Azura chuckles again. "Learning big words from Weiss, huh?"

"Hey! I'll have you know-"

Azura lightly tapped Ruby on the head. "That you drink milk. Yeah, I do know that."

Ruby sighs, exaggerating her depressed reaction of slumped shoulders and hung head. She laughs a moment later. Azura smiles at the act, shaking his head. He starts to walk off, and Ruby quickly follows suit.

"Thanks, Ruby. You're a good friend."

He couldn't see her reaction, but her response was more than enough for him, as she grumbled.

"Thank Blake for informing us. Drove me crazy with worry, you know."

Azura rolled his eyes. "You sound like a mother."

Knowing Ruby, she stuck her tongue out at him just now. "Says the one with my mother inside of him."

"Hey, it takes one to know one."

"Azura!"

He laughed softly at the humor of the situation, trying to not let today's events linger on his mind.

He wondered if he would even be alive to regret his decision. Summer's silence told him that she didn't quite know the answer yet.

.

.(Chapter end)

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Some might disagree with the...simplicity around Tukson's death, but I made it that way because I had no other reason for his character, sadly. Just not much plot relevance for him, outside of this moment.

Chapters will likely be staggered a bit more awkwardly than a chapter every Sunday, just to make that clear. I will have a very odd timetable in the coming days, so it's likely that a chapter will just drop randomly now and again for a bit. I will try my hardest to not get back into a three month period of no updates, and it's good to be back to GVLP.

As always, feedback and other such things are appreciated.

Have a good day/evening!