Hiding behind a garbage can Akame waited, she was getting angry now, whoever was following her didn't take the bait that she left, they just wanted to watch her for now but she wants content to wait, vanishing into the darkness she felt the gaze on her vanish as well, waiting for a few moments she saw someone in a brown cloak move along a roof on the other side of the street, beginning to follow them, Akame watched her pursuer as much as possible, they seemed to be searching for her.
A few minutes passed as Akame followed her stalker, they seemed to be searching for her, finally deciding to move in she quickly crossed the distance and reached her target, Akame drew Murasame and held it to the back of their neck
"Who are you? And why are you following me?" Akame questioned, the person didn't answer they just raised their hands, Akame watched them closely waiting for them to react, they vanished in an instant, Akame leapt forward her instincts screaming for her to move, rolling to a stop she swung behind her causing her foe to dodge away
"Akame Branwen, someone has paid for your death." the woman greeted, she had a pair of straight machetes in each hand, she had long purple hair and piercing green eyes, her outfit was reminiscent of a the uniforms that members of the imperial fist temple wore, with the exception of armor plates on the joints and chest
Akame didn't respond she just lowered into a fighting stance, the woman let out a chuckle
"If you think you'll be able to kill me? I'll just have to show you why they call me 'the Assassin killer'."
"It seems you're bad at your job if people have a name for you." Akame commented with a smirk
"Unlike you murderers, I kill your kind with the intent of ensuring you suffer. That's why people hire me!" the Assassin killer explained, she looked proudly up at the city above them before quickly looking back at her foe who was gone, looking down she caught sight of Akame, barely blocking the strike with her blade it flashed purple, Akame maneuvered her blade back and landed a cut on the woman just as she landed a cut on her, both leapt back as their Auras shatter, Akame went on the defensive immediately, blocking the flurry of attacks coming her way, backing up to the ledge of the roof
"I see you're at the edge of your life. Let me free you!" the woman shouted as she stabbed at Akame, parrying the strike Akame threw her off the roof, as she fell her machetes broke apart into a pair of whips swinging one at her, it latched and cut into her ankle while yanking her from the roof, with a gasp Akame fell, the woman landed on a balcony and Akame fell past her, grabbing onto the bladed whip Akame pulled as hard as she could dragging the woman off with her while saving her leg, slamming into the ground Akame rolled onto her feet and yanked the sectioned off blades from her ankle as she did so the woman slammed roughly into the ground and gasped in pain
"Just die." she ordered as she struggled to stand coughing up some blood
"You seem closer to failing your mission than I do." Akame commented as she stood "You broke my Aura just as I broke yours. How did you manage that?"
"Ha... I guess it doesn't matter now that were both out of Aura... but you'll die wondering." the woman growled as she threw a knife at Akame who dodged it and drew Due Process, aimed it at the woman and fired, placing the gun back in its holster Akame began to search the body for any information on who hired her she found an encrypted note on the body, pocketing the note, Akame vanished back into the shadows fleeing the crime scene
(o)
Ruby woke up to a feeling of dread, she didn't know why but she felt like something was off, sitting up she looked around the camp, Ren and Nora were sleeping, Jaune was just woke up and was trying to go back to sleep, and Qrow was sitting against a nearby tree, everything seemed fine, until Qrow began to cough, standing from her sleeping bag she walked over to him
"Uncle Qrow? You doin' okay?" Ruby asked as he continued to cough, it grew more painful to listen to as he hunched over for a few seconds before relaxing, looking at his hand Ruby saw it was coated in both blood and an unknown purple liquid that she assumed was poison.
"No... this is an... unfortunate..." Qrow answered deliriously before falling limp with a sigh, Ruby immediately began to pack up her things and shouting for everyone to wake up
"Wake up! Wake up! Wake the hell up! We're moving now!" Ruby called as Jaune stood
"What's wrong?" he asked as he rubbed sleep from his eyes
"Qrows' dying, we have to get moving towards Mistral, quickly." Ruby swiftly informed as she finished packing, Jaune looked over to Qrow who had fallen over from his sitting position to lying on the ground
"I'll make a stretcher." Jaune said as he quickly stood and got to work
(o)
Yang continued to pour over the map Esdeath gave her, she wanted to memorize each area that she was going to, trying to find the area that Raven was camping at, Esdeath said that she destroyed most of her raiding force so who ever she would have to fight would fall quickly, with the exception of Raven herself, but that one can be dealt with without fighting.
"When do you leave?" Raven asked from behind her
Turning towards her Yang spoke "Three days, I'll be leaving to fine Ruby soon."
"And your mother, that's part of Masters plan too." Raven added earning a hum from Yang she clearly didn't want to talk about her
"It'll hurt her more than anything else to see you now." Raven added with a smile
"She was never there for me, so if she hates that I serve master Esdeath than she should have thought about that before leaving me alone!" Yang quickly snapped earning a knowing smile from Raven
"Master?" was all she asked earning a raised eyebrow from Yang
"Yes... yes... yes! Master! She deserves it! She's far better that Raven ever was! So she deserves such respect and more!" Yang quickly reaffirmed she gave up on resisting what was shouting at the back of her mind, she wanted to praise Esdeath for all the things she had done for the people of Atlas, Vale, and for herself but her pride kept her from doing that, Raven laughed heartily earning a glare from Yang
"Congratulations! You found our reasoning. Master Esdeath has given both me and Anna purpose, and now she has given you purpose too." Raven explained as she clapped Yang on the shoulder "Enjoy this feeling. You'll never feel any better than serving Master Esdeath." Raven added earning a smile from Yang, she expected gloating and teasing, but she was welcomed... maybe this was the right choice
(\_/)
Qrow forced his eyes open and he stood, looking around he didn't recognize the city he was in, it was overgrown and demolished, but he felt the urge to walk East, so he did, he walked... and walked... and walked, for what felt like weeks maybe even months, he couldn't focus on anything but walking right now, its like he couldn't think of anything but putting one foot in front of the other, no matter how difficult it became he walked
(o)
Qrow twitched and groaned, Ruby wanted to take the pain from him, she wanted to suffer for him, but she couldn't, she was going to have to watch him suffer like this for a while
"How much farther?" she asked looking over her shoulder to Nora and Ren
"No clue, sense we lost the map we don't even know if we're heading in the right direction." Ren answered causing Rubys anxiety to worsen, she was so angry at herself and at Qrow for not telling her, Ruby let out a growl of frustration as she stopped walking
"Nora take this end for me." Ruby ordered, Nora walked over and took Rubys' place, Ruby jogged a few feet away from them and knelt placing her hand on the ground, quickly inhaling Ruby felt the ground beneath her force itself upward launching her into the air, while she was hanging in the air she looked around, but couldn't see anything resembling Mistral. Plummeting back to the ground Ruby let out a sigh
"I couldn't see Mistral. We have to get moving quickly, find... I don't know! Something." Ruby quickly beginning to panic, Ren reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder, both losing their color briefly Ruby then began to breath slowly become calmer by the second
"I'm sorry guys... its just... I cant lose him." Ruby said as they began moving again "He was always there for me, and now he's like this because of me-"
"We get it Ruby, this is important." Jaune waved off happily earning a smile from Ruby
"Thanks." was all Ruby said, walking slightly ahead of the others she began to smile in what felt like months
(o)
"So... Leone, what do you think we should do?" Ghira asked as he read over the documents, Leone, Ghira, Blake, Sun, and Kali were sitting in Ghiras' office all of which were taking the information with ease
"I'm no expert on plans or anything, but I do know that if Adam really plans to attack Haven, they gotta be ready to put him in his place." Leone answered cracking her knuckles
"I can send a messenger to the headmaster than. Blake-" Ghira began but was cut off by Leone
"Actually, can I take the message? Not that I don't trust your runners, but I can also fight." she asked raising her hand
"That seems like it would be for the best." Ghira agreed with a sigh "If you believe your abilities outshine theirs you are welcome to go, but then there's the issue of Sienna, she wont trust the word of a human, even with my seal."
"I can say I lost my tail." Leone answered casually
"Sienna isn't an easy woman to lie to, and if she finds out there will be hell to pay." Ghira warned earning a laugh from Leone
"Its not entirely a lie, I'll be leaving tomorrow. Blake walk with me." Leone said as she stood and walked out of the room, Blake quickly stood and chased after her
(\_/)
Qrow reached a large forest, the trees were unfamiliar to him, walking into the forest he looked at the massive trees Qrow felt at home walking backwards Qrow watched the trees leaves quickly change from green to red
"Huh..." was all Qrow got out as he spun back and caught sight of a building, a large building just looking at it he felt at home, walking up to the door he knocked and waited, the door opened and a beautiful woman with short white hair and piercing purple eyes pulled the door open
"What do you... want..." she trailed off seemingly distracted by something, but her voice was familiar, extremely familiar
"Najenda?" Qrow asked causing her eyes to widen a bit
"Qrow?!" she questioned in return looking him up and down
"How... no, where... no, what happened to you?"
"What do you mean?" Najenda questioned crossing her arms
"Your arm is there... and so is your eye." Qrow answered gesturing to her limbs
"You're lucky you're good looking." Najenda scoff "Otherwise you wouldn't have much going for you." Najenda added as she withdrew a cigarette from her coat pocket
"Where am I anyways?" Qrow asked looking around at the red trees
"Welcome to the most boring place in reality." Najenda answered with a sigh "Honestly, there's nothing to do, no conflict, nothing."
"Sounds boring for you, the general without a war."
"Yeah... me and Lubb tried to live normally for a while, didn't work out. Seems we can only be together if something is going wrong." Najenda added earning a chuckle from Qrow
"You mean you can only function with a partner when the worlds at stake."
"Ha. Ha." Najenda said as she turned and walked inside "Get in here, I'm sure Chelsea will be ecstatic to see you." Qrow followed after her entering a large room with a few seats and a couch
"Not sure of that, I was the last person she saw... and I failed her." Qrow answered as they walked into the kitchen
"She doesn't see it that way. She has made quite the collection of drawings of you."
"Why is everyone I know crazy?"
"I don't know, maybe it's 'cause you're crazy too." Najenda answered earning a laugh from Qrow, as Najenda sat down on the counter of the kitchen while Qrow leaded on the table
"Yeah... yeah... that makes more sense than everyone else being crazy." Qrow answered as he looked at his hands, he then began to play with the rings on his fingers "I... need your help, I know you probably don't wanna think bout this right now... or ever again, but Esdeath... is alive."
"I figured... she's too stubborn to stay dead." Najenda said as she crossed her arms while swapping the cigarette to the other side of her mouth, she then sighed and stood
"Esdeath as you probably know is a monster, she is too smart for her own good, you just have to wait and watch, she'll eventually overextend her reach, that's when you should strike."
"Clearly you haven't met her on Remnant yet." Qrow snarked earning a nod from Najenda
"Then show me." Najenda ordered, walking up to him she placed her hands on the sides of his head and closed her eyes
"Um-"
"Quiet, now mimic my movements." Najenda ordered both stood like that for a few moments, Qrow raised his hands and placed them on the sides of her head, he suddenly could feel memories flooding from deep in his mind
'Wow... and I thought I was traumatized by her.' Najendas' voice echoed
"Well that's saying something." Qrow scoffed
'You don't need to talk, you just need to think.' Najendas' voice echoed again, but it was obvious that she was smiling
'Didn't know that, I do now though.' Qrow thought
'Yeah... can you stop thinking about Leone and me fucking, while flattering it makes gathering info on Esdeath difficult.' Najenda answered but suddenly felt her thoughts raise from her own mind
'And you're thinking of fucking me. See I can do it too. What would Lubbock think.' Qrow snarked but felt a hard strike to his crotch with a groan he felt his legs give out
'Me and Lubb tried, we can work for a while but... it's just surface... he still goes skirt chasing, and no amount of punishment could fix that.' Najenda answered as Qrow slowly recovered 'There, I think I have everything.'
'Did you get the bit about her dating my niece?' Qrow asked causing Najenda to chuckle
"Yeah... don't let them get married. I wouldn't want my third favorite subordinate being brother-in-law to her." Najenda answered as they both opened their eyes
(o)
Qrow opened his eyes and looked around, Najenda was inches away from him
"Sweet, can you get off now." Qrow asked causing Najenda to sigh and slide off of him
"Its so unfair. You are completely obsessed with Leone. I wish I had someone like that with me here." Najenda snarked in a sulking tone
"Talk to Tatsumi I'm sure he'd love to stumble his way through that." Qrow snarked back as he sat up off the table "But why are you so... different? I don't remember you being so... lustful."
"How 'bout you spend your whole life working and denying yourself any pleasure until your job is done... then die." Najenda snarked as she grabbed another cigarette "Cause take it from me, its not fun."
"Well... thank you for your sacrifice." Qrow thanked awkwardly as he began to recover from the strike from earlier
(o)
Leone walked along the waterfront with Blake following behind her, they watched as people swam around going towards their homes or work
"Im going after Qrow. I hope you know that."
"I figured... but are you going to deliver the messages?"
"Of course, I'm not incompetent. I know that this is important, and if this fucks with the work it'll be even harder to get Qrow. So ill do everything I can to put that clingy boyfriend of yours in the ground."
"Hes not my boyfriend."
"Yeah I know, but he was. I can see it in your eyes, every time he's mentioned you have so much regret. You keep asking yourself 'why was I so stupid?' but these things happen." Leone spoke, Blakes' ears drooped at her words because all of them were correct
"Okay... but he just wont leave me alone. I wanted to get away from him, but he just keeps chasing me!" Blake confirmed as Leone placed a hand on her shoulder
"Blake. You're scared of him, aren't you?" Leone asked earning a slow nod from Blake "Good. That means that he knows you're stronger. The more frightened of a person you are the sloppier you are in a fight, he is using that against you. Harden your heart to his words and actions, and you'll find that you're the one he is afraid of."
"What about Esdeath?"
"Esdeath is a completely different beast. Don't worry about her. Let me, Qrow, and Akame worry 'bout that." Leone waved off "Now then, I got a few things to grab from my house then I'll get moving towards Mistral."
"Got it... Leone?" Blake asked earning the womans' attention again
"What if Adam str-"
"You're worrying about the what ifs, that's another problem you seem to be having. Stop worrying about what could happen, and deal with what has happened." Leone added as she placed a hand on Blakes' shoulder "You need to face your fears and stop thinking about the future, here and now is far more important."
(\_/)
"So let me get this straight, all you guys do all day is work, come home, sleep, then go back to work." Qrow summarized earning a hum from Najenda
"That's about right. Yes." she answer, they were sitting in the living room along side the rest of Night Raid, save Mine, Akame, and Leone
"Gods that seems boring. Isnt there anything you guys can do? Like leave?"
"Of course. We could leave if we wanted to. But none of us want to." Bulat answered as he leaned back in his chair "I've had enough fighting for one lifetime." he added
"I don't mean fight. I mean not living the same day every day." Qrow corrected earning a laugh from Najenda "What? Did I say something funny?" Qrow asked coldly
"No, no, but I think I know why Leone likes you now." Najenda answered "You hate normalcy, if the world isn't changing you aren't living. Travel and change, are your normal."
"Qrow. I'd rather not end up with another Esdeath." Tatsumi added earning a sigh from Qrow
"Yeah, but that's why its fun. You shared a bed with a monster. How many people can say that?"
"Most people would say beautiful woman." Lubbock mumbled earning a strike in the arm by Najenda
"Sorry, force of habit." she apologized not sounding sorry at all
"Alright... if you all wanna lead a life of... boring, be my guest but I need to get back to doing other stuff." Qrow commented as he turned to the door
"And where are you gonna go? You're still alive, but the distance field doesn't work on you anymore. You should have died once you got a few miles, so why are you still... technically alive?" Najenda asked as she stood
"I don't know, maybe its 'cause I'm a badass." Qrow answered earning laughter from everyone including himself
"That's a good joke, perhaps its because you're poisoned? Your body is dying, but you're not dead yet." Najenda guessed earning a hum from Qrow
"Most likely, I don't feel poisoned though."
"It depends on the poison, as well as the lethality, if its artificial you should get things like stomachaches, and headaches. But if its natural you'll probably feel dizzy and queasy. Then there paralysis poisons, obviously you wont be able to move or anything like that, but the rules still apply; artificial: aches, natural: nausea." Chelsea answered as she stood and placed her hand on his wrist, then on the side of his face "Its not paralysis poison, you should have a fever if it is. Like a really high fever." she added but she didn't let go of him "Your pulse isn't going crazy like artificial poisons either, so you have a natural lethal poison going through you." she still didn't let him go
"Kid." Qrow comment poking her upside the head, causing her to jump a bit
"Oh, sorry! I didn't... see you guys later, I gotta go, 'kay by~!" Chelsea quickly said as she turned red and bolted from the building
"Does she seem a little different to you guys?" Qrow asked turning to them
"Looks to me like she has a crush." Lubbock said earning another punch from Najenda
"Slipped." She said as he whined, Qrow sighed and sat down on the couch
"Lubb, I'm no expert but you really need to get boss over there on a leash." Qrow whispered to him
"If anything he'd be the one on the leash." Najenda said causing both of them to look over to her "You cant whisper about me two feet away and think I wasn't listening." She added
"Good work Qrow!" Lubbock growled as he stood and bolted, Qrow watched him Run and waited for Najenda to chase him... he waited quite a while... looking over to her she was staring at him
"Oh..." he voiced "Tatsumi, can I ask you for a favor."
"Nope. You helped Leone chase me down, you're on your own here." Tatsumi answer earning a sigh from the older man
"Why must you do this to me?" Qrow asked as he sprinted after Lubbock
(o)
Ruby placed her hand on the side of Qrows' face, he seemed happy... he seemed very happy, they stopped briefly to recuperate and try and figure out which way to go
"Ruby! We need to discuss something." Jaunes' voice came from in front of her
"What is it!?" She called back to him, as she began to jog over to him, looking at what he is staring at it was a sign pointing in two different directions
"Dammit." Ruby growled "Okay... Qrow cant make it through the mountains, so we'll go to the town; Kuroyuri. Ren you take Nora through the mountians' and see if you can find a village of some kind, or Mistral itself." Ruby quickly answered "Now move." Ruby ordered as she went to grab Qrow
"We cant split up! Were safer together-" Jaune began, Ruby snapped listening to him speak
"WE DONT GET THAT LUXURY JAUNE! SO SUCK IT UP AND HELP ME!" Ruby raged at him, her rage caused everyone pause as they stared at her "I... I'm sorry... I... we'll talk about this later." Ruby began to apologize but quickly waved off the conversation entirely as Jaune move to help her, they then continued to walk in silence as Nora and Ren jogged off towards the mountain
A/N I might not be able to keep up my typical pace. A chapter a week seems to have become a harder task than normal, I'm not gonna stop working extremely hard to get chapters out on time but I might have a harder time keeping the pace up.