Ruby sighed, they had been walking for a while now, looking over to Jaune who was tracking their location on the map she spoke "Do you have any idea how long until we reach the next village?"
"No idea, it looks like this area was pretty prone to villages rising and falling within weeks of each other." Jaune answered as he held the map out to her, taking it she looked over the past few areas they had been in, true to his word it had at least two villages they had already passed through and they didn't even know
"How old is that map?" Nora asked as she walked along a stone fence that once signaled a property line or maybe an old building
"It was back when uncle Qrow and Mom used to go on missions, so at least seventeen years old." Ruby answered earning sighs from the other three members "Yeah I know, but since the CCT's are down we cant just download a map off the internet." Ruby defended
"Yeah, but I kinda expected that you would at least have an up to date map in your house, your whole family are huntsman after all." Jaune commented earning a scoff from Ruby
"Yeah, my dad, who is a teacher by the way, would need to keep an up to date map for all those missions he goes on, and uncle Qrow never really used maps he has a great sense of direction, I got one too, but I'm only good with Vale, we're too far away for me to put my skills to use."
"Well that would be helpful." Nora commented earning a sigh from Ruby
"Yeah... yeah it would." Ruby grumbled as they continued
(o)
Blake swung at Sun but her hand was stopped by Leone catching her wrist
"There's no need to beat the kid, he said he has something to show you." Leone said causing Blake to sigh and she yanked her arm away
"What do you two want? I finally got a chance to reconnect with my family, so what?! What do you want to show me?!" Blake questioned glaring at the two of them
"I was talking with your mom earlier and she said something weird 'bout the White Fang-" Sun began
"Okay, no. I'm not here to fight the White Fang I'm not here to fight anybody-" Blake interrupted before getting interrupted herself
"You might not want to fight anyone but the spy over there seems to say that the fang want another bite from you." Leone commented as she leaned on the railing to blakes' left, looking past her Blake caught sight of a woman hanging onto the side of one of the trees nearby, Blake took a small step back and Leone sighed as she heard the trees rustle as the spy ran
"Amateur hour huh?" Leone asked as she leapt up onto the railing and chased after the spy, Blake quickly followed leaving Sun standing alone
"Whats going on? What was that noise?" Kali asked as she came out from inside
"There's a White Fang spy that's currently being chased down by Blake." Sun answered casually
"Aren't you going to help her?" Kali asked clearly concerned by his casually nature
"Meh, Leone went with her so I'm sure it's fine." Sun waved off, Kalis' eyes quickly widened as he spoke
"Go after them now! Leone doesn't stop when it comes to things like this, and if she kills a White Fang member here of all places that would only reflect poorly on us and her." Kali quickly explained and pointed after them, Sun understood and rushed after them
(o)
sliding under a pipe Ilia stood and looked around, she couldn't see Blake or the blond she was talking with, with a sigh she turned only to be greeted by a heel slamming into her jaw sending her into the pipe she slid under, quickly standing her mask fell apart, Blake was standing where she once was
"Ilia..." Blake muttered after seeing her eyes, letting her pigment return to normal she knew that it was pointless to keep concentrating on keeping her color changed
"You should have just stayed-" She began but a pair of hands rapping around her throat ended her statement, reaching for her blade she found it missing
"Well, well, well, aren't you a cute chameleon." Leone growled as Ilia began to gasp for air
"Leone stop!" Blake shouted as Ilia began to panic and claw at the fingers around her throat and kick back at her
"You can hide from the fang all you want but they'll just keep coming after you again and again, at least shes got a lucky end. Getting the life squeezed out of her by a cute bitch." Leone growled with a grin that reminded Blake of Esdeath
"LEONE STOP!" Suns voice came as he landed behind her, Ilia was beginning to lose consciousnesses as this point "Blakes' mom said so." he added, earning a growl from Leone as she let go and shoved Ilia to the ground who began to cough and gasp for air
"Fine, but you owe me." Leone growled as she tossed the weapon she took to Blake "You three have fun, I'm gonna go get something to drink." Leone finished as she leapt from the roof and vanished into the darkness below
"What is wrong with her?" Sun asked as he went to grab Ilias' wrists but was brutally head butt Ilia who then rushed Blake who jumped back dropping Lightning Lash and grabbed Gambol Shroud swinging at the girl as she caught her weapon and made a hasty retreated the two quickly giving chase
(o)
Leone sat down in the alleyway, a large bottle of Sake in her hand staring at the building across from her she let out a sigh as she took a drink
"You know... I may have spent most of my time alone... maybe too much... Qrow? Are you still out there? And if you are... how long will it take me to get to you?... hell I don't even know if this is the right world." Leone conversed as she drank "Ha... planets... my biggest worry used to be where to drink and how many heads I had to crush... that and boss getting mad at me... Lubbock spying... and Tatsumi always needing big sis to show him how its done... I guess I got fewer worries now... now that I can look back on it all." Leone continued now she stared up at the shattered moon, wishing things had changed, wished that she could have done something to prevent her death... probably crushing that bastards head a lot quicker would have been a good idea "Well... no second chances after this one... gotta make it count." Leone finished as she stood wiping away the tears in her eyes and began towards her bungalow
(o)
Weiss walked down the hall, she was preforming tomorrow and today was her day to enjoy herself, Maria was following close behind her, she made sure to give hints to the woman hoping to coax her into this very situation
"Maria?" Weiss asked as they walked
"Whats up?" Maria asked they passed by a few other servants who waved and went on their way
"I was wondering if you would be involved with the staff at the show tomorrow." Weiss answered earning a hum from Maria in confusion "I'd rather do something... fun after the show." Weiss answered the confusion with a suggestive statement causing the woman to blush
"We... well I... might be working the greetings crew... so... I'll be free after your show." Maria answered awkwardly she clearly wasn't prepared for this situation
"Good! Meet me back stage and we can 'talk' about your employment." Weiss hinted with a wink as she turned into her room pushing the door open "Until then... get better about your staring." Weiss added causing the woman to blush again, entering her room Weiss stared out the window then down at Myrtenaster drawing it she held the blade up to the scar hidden by her clothes staring at the tip of the blade Weiss felt the sensation of the blade ripping through her skin over and over again, she knew she could do it again, with a sigh she turned to the case on the far side of the room walking up to it she pushed it over and opened it, it was filled with all the different tools she collected to fight Esdeath with, after the battle though she quickly learned that other than Qrow, Raven, Ozpin, Ironwood, anyone would be struggling to keep her from killing them, she missed Yang, they had talked only a few times and even then they are brief given her situation
"I hope Ruby is okay..." Weiss said to her self as she she shut the case and walked over to her bed and lied down
(o)
Yang was tired, the reports she was reading were so boring, the forth years were done and almost all of them applied to Esdeaths' army, give the fact that she has two new airships and a third on the way she accepted all of them, she quite literally has the most powerful army in the world right now, and these reports were becoming stale, they were the typical mission reports; squad went here, killed these Grimm, came back, shes been signing off of these for almost three hours
"Yang." Ravens voice came from the doorway, looking up she let out a sigh
"Yeah?" Yang asked as she signed off on another report then rubbed her eyes
"I'm going clubbing, you wanna come?" Raven asked earning a tired look from Yang
"That seems like fun... but I'm so tired." Yang muttered as she rubbed her eyes "So Esdeaths' given you a night off? Or is she going with you?"
"She gives me plenty of nights off. But if she did come she wouldn't have any fun, and everyone wouldn't leave her alone. Trust me I 'forced' her to come once." Raven answered piquing Yangs' interest
"I'd like to hear about that." Yang said perking up as she stood
"I'll tell you all about it then." Raven said as she rapped her arm under Yangs' shoulder keeping her steady "But first lets get you to bed, you got pissed at me for staying awake for 72 hours, but you've been awake for 83 hours." Raven snarked as she kept Yang from falling
(o)
Esdeath stared at the photo next to her bed, it was an image of Ruby, feeling the place next to her she wished that she forced Ruby to sleep with her more, getting up from bed she walked over to her mirror and stared at her self, wearing nothing but her underwear she placed her hand over the mark on her chest, it felt that Ruby was right behind her, it was calming to say the least
"Oh... Ruby..." Esdeath moaned sadly she walked back to her bed and lied down closing her eyes she let her mind wander to Ruby she felt the urge to leave and find Ruby again, staring out the window Esdeath stared at the five airships that belonged to her hovered nearby, Rolling over Esdeath placed her hand over the mark again, it was the only thing she could do to bring any amount of pleasure to her anymore.
(o)
Akame walked up to the massive gate leading into the city and looked around, there was a small booth near the front with a man sitting inside, his features were obscured by a leather helmet, walking up to him Akame spoke
"Hello." That earned his attention quickly sitting up he cleared his throat, this man would be dead many times over if this were the empire but she had to keep reminding herself that people here have experienced a wonderful eighty years of peace and that it would take time for them to get used to war once again
"Name and ID." the man said as he rubbed his eyes
"Akame Branwen." Akame answered as she pressed a button on the side of her scroll presenting her huntsman license, she then handed it to him he looked afraid but still took the ID, Akame sighed, this was going to happen a lot more around here wasn't it? After a few moments he spoke
"A few questions miss Branwen. First; do you have any weapons hidden on your person?"
"No." Akame answered as she held up Murasame and Due Process showing both to him, he nodded slowly and wrote something down on his report
"Next, you were taught at beacon academy correct?" he asked continuing to read over her ID
"Yes." Akame answered robotically
"Alright, what is your purpose of visiting?" he asked finally reaching a real question
"Work." Akame answered again in a robotic tone
"What is your duration of staying?" he asked next as he closed her scroll
"Indefinite." Akame answered earning a sigh from the man
"We'll be watching you miss Branwen. I'm sure you can understand our suspicions given Ravens' reputation around here." He said earning a nod from Akame
"I understand." Akame said as she took her scroll and walked towards the gate that was now slightly open, after entering the gate Akame began to make her way down, father told her that most of the seedy business takes place either at the very top or at the very bottom and it was easier to reach the bottom then the top, and she needed to get rid of that report on her.
(o)
Yang opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling... this was her room but something felt off, sitting up she looked around, everything looked fine quickly standing she reached for her arm and plugged it back in then turned around and finally realized why something felt off, Raven was lying in her bed
"Mornin'." Raven greeted as she threw the covers off and stood, Yang immediately looked at that very interesting floor she had
"Where are your clothes?" Yang asked as she turned and stared out the window of her room
"I told you last night, I don't wear clothes when I sleep. You said and I quote 'Small boobs are funny, I want a good laugh.'" Raven answered "You they ripped my shirt."
"Was I drunk?" Yang asked covering her face as she turned red
"No, but you were really tired. Now then I need to get new clothes, and you're gonna get them." Raven said earning a raised eyebrow from Yang
"Why? You can get them now, cant you?" Yang asked as she looked back to see Raven in her underwear
"Sure, I'll just walk across the ship in my underwear." Raven said as she walked to the door "I'll tell everyone how forceful you were with me last night too." she added
"WAIT!" Yang quickly said pulling Raven away from the door "I'll be right back... don't touch anything."
"Oh please, you ruined my clothes, I'mma look around all I damn well please. You owe me that much." Raven snarked dryly as she began to fix Yangs' bed
"Fine as long as you clean whatever you mess up." Yang agreed as she walked out into the hallway
(o)
Reaching Ravens' room Yang pushed the door open and entered, it was... surprisingly similar to hers, it had a few knickknacks around the place but the thing that caught her eye was a picture frame on a glass case, it had three individuals in it Esdeath standing almost a head taller than the other two, Raven as the shortest, and the third was only who she could assume was Anna, she was almost as tall as Esdeath but her ears made her much taller, her gray hair was long and her eyes seemed to pierce the very soul it was just a picture but she felt alive, walking up to the photo Yang looked closer at Esdeath, she... she really didn't change at all, it was like she was the same person her whole life
"You know something funny?" Esdeaths voice came from behind her, jumping and spinning around Yang dropped into a fighting stance
"When did you get here?!" Yang asked as she caught her breath
"I was in here before you walked in unannounced." Esdeath corrected with a smug grin on her face
"WHY are you here then?" Yang asked correcting herself
"I got a strange message from Raven, saying 'Yang is an ass.' then a minute later she said 'please come to my room.' so... what did you do to her?"
"I may have ruined her clothes and slept with her." Yang answered failing to stop herself from answering truthfully
"Well, whatever helps you two sleep at night." Esdeath waved off as she began to the door
"NO! NOT... not sleep like... sex... I mean... like literally sleeping next to each other." Yang quickly corrected wiping the image from her mind
"Oh... well then I have a request." Esdeath began as she turned back towards Yang, who felt very small for some reason
"Y-Yes?"
"Don't ruin anymore of her clothing." Esdeath ordered "Now I'm assuming shes in your room, for sending me on this wild goose chase I feel she needs punishment." Esdeath added as she walked out, while that seemed unfair Yang made no attempt to stop her, as she usually would. Turning back to the photo she stared at it for a bit longer, then her eyes turned down a bit farther to the case it sat on, through the glass she could see a pair of repeating pistols seemingly gathering dust, smiling at them Yang grabbed the clothing that were lying on the bed she exited the room
(o)
"So you know her?" Leone asked as she took a swig from the bottle in her hand
"Her name is Ilia, shes not like the rest in the White Fang... she... she needed something to get her mind off her parents, and well... the fang was there." Blake answered after she took a swig from her own bottle
"Sorry... big sis got a little carried away, I was so dead set on clearing away the problem as quickly as I could that I didn't stop and consider..." Leone trailed off as she leaned against the wall
"I guess I understand, with all the stuff that's happened to me over the past few months... it makes more sense than it should." Blake laughed out
"So, what was it like... during the fall, I keep going over it in my head but I cant really think what I would do in that situation apart from kill as many Grimm as I could." Leone asked as she played with a silver band around her ring finger, strange, she didn't notice it before
"It was... chaos, too much happened too fast. When Penny died I knew worse was to come, and Esdeath only helped that along." Blake began as she stared at the wood beneath her "After we set up defenses around the tower me and Yang ran off to try and save people or stop the White Fang. I ran into Adam... an old... 'friend' Yang tried to save me but... she lost more than I did... she probably hates me." Blake finished as she looked back to Leone who was muttering to herself "Leone? Are you okay?"
"Yeah just... problems that I forgot about." Leone waved off as she went back to playing with the ring on her finger
"Are you married?" Blake asked changing the subject and hoping that she didn't hit any nerves
"Not yet, but we will be... if I find him." Leone answered vaguely
"How do you... how would you know if who you're looking for wants to marry you?" Blake asked earning a scoff from Leone
"You serious?" Leone scoffed again "He is absolutely obsessed with me." Leone said confidently as she took another swig from her bottle
"I... I made many mistakes in the past... especially when it came to relationships... how are you supposed to know that he loves you if he doesn't even know you." Blake questioned again, this time trying to keep her thoughts off Adam and her stupid mistakes with him
"We know each other... but I don't know if he is here." Leone said vaguely "I kinda jumped the gun by getting this." Leone added "So tell me about your teammates, I'd like to know more about the person I'm working with now." Leone avoided
"Ruby Rose was... confusing... it was probably because she was being pulled around by Esdeath most of the time, add in the fact that she had to deal with... a kind of mind control... Esdeath could exhibit some control over her, and over time the control grew. I didn't get to learn about Ruby very much. But I know she is extremely powerful, and when she is angry she is scary." Blake began as she looked up at the sky "Weiss Schnee wanted to improve herself so much, it was really inspiring, she made every effort to improve herself, I think she increased her arsenal tenfold during her time at Beacon alone. She was strong-"
"Why do you keep doing that?" Leone asked as she stood and leaned on the railing of the deck
"Doing what?"
"You keep referring to them in past tense. They aren't dead, so don't talk like they are." Leone answered as she crossed her arms
"How would you know?" Blake asked as she stood herself
"You said Ruby was under some... mind..." Leone began but was quickly distracted by something
"You okay?" Blake asked after Leone stopped moving all together, in the blink of an eye Leone was inches from Blake who attempted to jump back but was quickly held in place by Leone who was surprisingly fast
"Where is Qrow." Leone ordered her eyes had a mix of relief and fury in them
"Le- Leone... are you..." Blake began
"Answer the question. Now." Leone ordered the fury burning brighter in her eyes now as her killing intent began to burn, it was worse than Akames' it was like Esdeaths' but seemed to be more animalistic
"I... I don't know!" Blake yelped giving into her fear again "Last I knew he was on Patch!" Blake quickly answered "But that was over a month ago." Leones' grip loosened and she let out a growl as she turned grabbed the bottle she was drinking from and threw it on the ground and let out a scream of rage
"DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!" Leone raged but quickly recovered and sat on the wood of the deck
"Why are you so angry? You don't seem to be in a rush-"
"I have spent almost a HUNDRED YEARS suffering through purgatory, hell, hordes of creatures that Hell spat out and you think I wasn't in a rush?! I could go on and on with how many times I failed to break the barrier between here and there!" Leone raged causing Blake to take a few steps back "I hate the fact that I was beat here by Esdeath of all the fucking people!" Leone growled as she sat down and covered her eyes "I wanted to take a break before going to look for him and Akame... I think I waited too long."
"I mean... how old are you?"
"Nineteen, I'll be twenty in four months." Leone answered after a few moments of silence
"You do know Qrow is like... forty. Right?" Blake said earning a sigh from Leone
"Yeah, I know. He was forty-six last time I saw him." Leone said as she uncovered her eyes and stared into the distance "I don't care if he's older than me by so much. He is good looking, he's a fun person to drink with and he's powerful, he was always uncompromising and he cared far more than he let on. I had no reason not to pick him as my mate." Leone explained she seemed to get lost in thought "I just want to sleep with him again."
"I'd rather not be the person you talk to about that." Blake quickly said earning a laugh from Leone
"I mean sure that's a plus, but I was talking about sleeping next to him, he has a nice smell and I miss how warm he is." Leone corrected as she quickly recovered from her laugh
"Wait how did you know that I know Qrow and Akame?" Blake asked after going over their conversation in her head
"I can influence and read peoples minds to a degree, the clearer the image of me the more influence I have, but I have no problem reading the minds of individuals. It could also be used to do something like this." Leone explained as Blake felt her legs give out causing her to drop to the ground
"That's... useful." Blake commented as she felt feeling return to her legs
"Yeah but I cant just freeze a person in place with that, it takes a lot of concentration especially in the middle of combat, the most I can do is make a person slow down a bit and subtle things similar to that."
"Cant you just force someone to think about you more?" Blake asked after recovering
"Nope, a persons thoughts are out of my control, but I can break other peoples control over another." Leone answered, Blake nodded at that as a question began to form in her mind
"Could you-"
"I already freed you from whoevers' control you were under." Leone interrupted "It really wasn't that hard, whoever they are they have a really weak will. They have a form of superficial control. It can be broken easily if a person has a will strong enough."
"If that's true than how did she control Yang?" Blake questioned scrunching her eyebrows trying to figure that out
"If she is a strong willed person she might not have a true domineering personality. It could be a front that she puts up so people depend on her, making her feel stronger." Leone explained casually, Blake on the other hand felt even worse, Yang was probably destroyed by her running away if that were the case
A/N I don't have much to say here, other than I have a bit of a hard time writing for Leone, I find it easy to write for Qrow, Akame, Esdeath and the few servants she has, I feel that says a lot about me and it says nothing good.