"I'm going to lay down a couple of ground rules before we arrive and I want you all to know that if you do not follow them, I will fail you for this mission, and it will not look good on your report card by any means. The most you'll be able to get is a "C" for hands-on training. Sure, it's passing but again, not great," Coco told them. "Everybody ready?"
"So tired…" Eliana groaned half asleep as she leaned on Neela's shoulder. Titus and Ilia sat on the bench across from them, Ilia's fingers danced across the screen of her scroll as she pounded out another message to Vin and Titus jotted something down on the paper lying beside him, presumably the report he had yet to finish for Winter. "Neela, you can just repeat the rules back to me later, right?" Neela laughed.
"Sure," she agreed. Eliana gave a content sigh and cuddled closer.
"Good," she responded.
"First off, I don't want any of you going off on your own at all. No matter what the situation is. If you have to go to the bathroom and Titus is the only teammate nearby at the moment I want him to stand outside of that door and wait for you," Coco told them. "Mistral, in general, is a nasty place and the people have very little respect for one another. Even less for those that have nothing to offer in return, all that matters to them is money, it's the only thing that they'll listen to."
"What's number two?" Neela asked.
"We will be camping in the woods to save us the money of having to get a hotel room. With that comes several things. For starters, one person will have to stay up and make sure that there aren't any Grimm or tribes coming up on us to attack us or steal our stuff. We'll take it in shifts so that everyone gets an equal amount of time sleeping and keeping a lookout. The other issue this might bring about is the inability to charge your scrolls," Coco said. "Though I don't approve of them, you can use Dust powered chargers if you have them. If you don't, you'll have to wait until we go into town the next morning to charge them, just something to think about."
"Anything else we should know?" Titus asked looking up at her.
"We'll be deep in the Mistral kingdom, a couple of miles away from Shion Village which is really more of a tourist trap than anything else. We received a signal from a scroll saying that they had been chased around the village and through the countryside of Mistral for months without any help from the local government, a group of bandits that had set up in Kuroyuri are to blame. The settlements themselves this far from the capitol don't have huntsmen or huntresses, so they usually try to avoid conflict if possible. That's where we come in," Coco said.
"This seems like Haven's jurisdiction. Why are we here?" Titus asked. Coco groaned.
"I feel like I'm having the same conversation all over again, look," Coco told them. "Doesn't matter why. This is our mission and we are going to complete into the best of our abilities." She smirked at them as she moved towards the cockpit. "But don't forget to enjoy yourselves." She sat next to Neo and she nodded to her coworker. Neo gave her a knowing look of question. "As long as we don't venture too far to the east I'll be fine." Coco looked at her hands.
"You think these guys will be as hard to take down as Stardust?" Eliana asked stirring slightly.
"Hard to say," Titus said. "I'm sure they'll be more rigid and rugged, they've had to survive in the wilderness, not to mention that there are far more Grimm in the country out here than in Vale."
"You ever been to Haven?" Ilia asked Titus. He shook his head.
"I'm guessing that only Eliana has out of the four of us," Titus guessed.
"It's beautiful!" Eliana declared. "Dad didn't take me very often, but I loved going with him, even just to visit the police station." Eliana jumped to her feet and swung her arms up. "There are hills and swinging bridges everywhere! Stairs that'll take you wherever you want to go, though we typically avoided the lower levels. Pagodas, bathhouses, all of that sort of stuff."
"Why did you list bathhouses?" Ilia asked.
"Have you ever seen a bathhouse?" Eliana asked. They all looked at each other and shook their heads. "Exactly." She sighed. "Sometimes I really miss it here, but then I think about the fact that if I hadn't left, I never would have met any of you." Neela smiled as Eliana plopped onto the seat next to her and the PA lit up.
"We're about to make our descent, you kids hold on," Coco called out as they slowly made their way for the earth, Neela looked out the window behind her, noting the large trees and flowers that densely blanketed the landscape. The best way to describe the area was rainforest with a touch of swamp, the land seemed marshy but beautiful at the same time, the clearing below them looked absolutely ideal for a picnic. Titus pointed something out to Ilia and she shoved him, drawing loud laughter from him as she pounded on his shoulder. Neela felt a warmth in her. This was her team.
The warmth slowly evolved into a sense of wonder and excitement as the airship touched down and Neela quickly made her way to the opening, stepping off onto the moist earth, her shoes being pulled in ever so slightly. Before they had left that morning Coco had informed them that they were meant to leave a few days earlier than they had, but they'd been delayed due to a large storm that had blown through the area, making it too dangerous to try and fly anywhere near the overgrown countryside. Neela crouched for a moment and touched the earth, rubbing the wet soil between her fingers and smelling it. Everything was so different than it was back in Vale, and this was the furthest East that she had ever been from home. She had always known that Remnant was a vast and amazing place, but despite having already seen Atlas, she had still never pictured it being so seemingly endless.
"Alright Team NITE! Let's establish camp!" Neela declared trying to rally the other's off of the airship. Eliana was next off, stumbling slightly on her landing and falling into Neela's arms. She looked up at her best friend. Neela blushed. Damn her and that adorable smile! She helped Eliana stand and waited as Titus and Ilia stepped off of the ship as well, followed by Coco who cracked her neck and her shoulders, setting down her bag for a moment as she looked around. It looked the same as Ruby had described it. Neela pointed across the clearing to a few berry bushes that lined the edge of the forest "Titus, you can drop the bags over there." He looked across at her for a long moment.
"Why do I have to carry them all," he inquired.
"Because you're a gentleman and you're the only male here," Ilia told him.
"Hard to dispute that logic," Coco said. Titus looked at the bags and scooped them up.
"Whatever," he groaned. The women watched as he lumbered over, as a testament to his strength he wore two of their backpacks over each shoulder. Coco smirked as she looked the three girls over, their expressions making it quite obvious that they were more or less impressed with Titus's show of strength.
"And none of you want in on that action?" Coco asked them. They all turned and looked up at her. Neela glanced at Eliana before returning her sights to Coco. She blushed slightly and Coco chuckled under her breath, it was far too easy to tease these kids. Ilia snorted, removing her butterfly knife and twirling it in her hand, letting it dance across her fingers. Coco flipped her hair out of her face and stretched once again, letting her own sack drop to the ground. "Fine, I get it. You all would much rather worry about becoming huntsmen and huntresses for now."
"Titus isn't my type, even if he didn't have a brother complex going on," Ilia told her, her eyes focusing on her knife.
"I heard that!" Titus shouted.
"Good!" She called back. Coco opened the sack, removing a smaller satchel inside and leaving the larger bag lying open on the ground. Eliana peered in and reached her hand in, pulling out the rods and hooks. She dug deeper into the bag, opening it completely and holding it up to her face, peering in. She looked back at Neela before looking up at Coco.
"Professor Adel?" Eliana asked. Coco laughed, shaking her head.
"We're not at school Elli, you don't need to be so formal. Call me Coco," She told them. Titus returned to them and took the bag from Eliana. He began rummaging through its contents, noting something missing as well.
"What is it, Iliana?" He asked. Ilia snapped her knife closed.
"Did you just combine our names together?" Ilia asked him. He looked up at the two of them from what he was doing.
"…Yeah… That was weird." He replied with a shrug. "Weird slip of the tongue I guess." He dropped the bag onto the ground, a flashlight and book of matches jumping out and scattering across the ground. "Mrs. Adel, we would appear to be missing the canvas of the tents themselves."
"Again, Coco will suffice," she told him.
"I'll stick with what I'm comfortable with," Titus informed her. She chuckled as she picked up the bag and triple checked it, the sun starting to rise from behind the mountain range off in the horizon. She put the bag back down and lifted her purse, starting towards the path. They watched her for a long moment before Neela began to follow after her.
"Coco?" She called out.
"This trip isn't all fun and games. Sometimes as huntsmen and women we have to learn how to adapt to a situation. Consider this your first lesson for the day. We'll just have to sleep under the stars. It'll get cold tonight though, I recommend the four of you decide on who's collecting firewood and all that," Coco called back, continuing down the path towards Shion.
"But where are you going?" Neela called again.
"You guys aren't the only ones with a mission, I'm meeting an informant. You kids have fun!"
The scruffy looking bartender with a mountain man beard looked up only for a moment from drying the mug in his hand as the doors of the pub were thrown open and Coco stepped in, flashing him a smile as she let the door slam behind her and she sauntered across the room to the bar, every man taking a moment to admire the view before returning to their previous activities. Coco set her bag on the floor, leaning her elbow on the bar and looking the owner up and down until it became awkward and he set the glassware down. He cleared his throat, looking around the room and moving to her ear.
"Are you looking for trouble Coco?" He asked. "You know that I can't give you any more information on anything, people around here are still bitter about the last time, She has eyes and ears everywhere to this day. Can't believe that they're coming back, I can only imagine what the Neo-Salems have in mind for an end goal this time." He stood back up straight and reached under the counter for a shot glass, pouring her whiskey and sliding it across to her. "I might be in trouble now just because you brought your sorry ass back into the kingdom."
"Chipper as ever I see," Coco said. She slammed the whiskey down and shook her head back and forth. It burned, but it was always the best he had to offer. "How are the wife and kids, Garnet?" He chuckled and shook his head as he poured her another shot.
"They're doing really good, but if you don't make this visit a short one they might end up fatherless," he told her. "You know that I can't do half of that crazy shit that you do."
"Relax, if anything, you're even safer with me in here," she reassured him as she took the new shot and presented him with a picture. She choked it down and gasped contently. "You recognize her? The picture is a little on the old side, but she's got a face that's hard to forget."
"What did this one do?" He asked looking at the picture of Emerald.
"I need her help actually," Coco replied handing the glass back. Garnet shook his head and pushed the picture back to her.
"Haven't seen her," Garnet informed her. "And I don't forget the faces that come through here." Coco bit her lip. She knew that Emerald was taking care that they never find her, the girl had always been afraid of the consequences of her initial actions helping Cinder despite redeeming herself later on. But Emerald was in the area, Coco had done more than enough tracking to determine that much, she wondered how long the girl was able to hold an illusion now, and on how many? Coco heard steps approaching her from behind and she lifted her purse, setting it on the countertop.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" the man asked. She turned around to face him, he didn't seem familiar, and he smelled like booze which was usually a bad sign.
"How many brawls you normally have in here?" Coco asked leaning back towards Garnet.
"Adel…" He started.
"She said you'd be coming back this way eventually," the man egged her on. "She said that you huntsmen and huntresses all think that you're better than us and that you'd return to make sure that the job is finished." He smiled, stumbling towards her slightly and she pushed him back. "Coco Adel, right? Think you did the right thing killing our only chance at her resurrection. Were you scared? Does what Salem have to offer frighten you?" Something seemed off about this man. This wasn't just drinking and the stereotypical Salem complex talking… this seemed like Dust intake. She gritted her teeth, she knew that things had gotten bad, but she never expected that using Dust as an illegal substance had reached this far. The man's eyes flared red, fire burning behind them and Coco smirked.
"There's five of them," Coco told Garnet.
"How can you tell?" He asked. She tapped her sunglasses.
"Trust me," she assured him. She prepared to make the first move. This is going to come with a lot of paperwork when I get home. "Do me a favor and pull the trigger on the top of my purse."
"Why do you have to do this every time?" Garnet asked.
"What fun would it be if I didn't?" She asked. He pulled the trigger, her purse transforming on the counter and she leapt up onto the bar behind her, driving the man back with a hailstorm of bullets until he slammed through the door and out into the street. She flipped it back into its purse form, leaping down and smashing another one of them in the jaw as they all rushed in. "Must be a pretty small dosage that they took if they're this weak." A blast of gravity energy threw her back and she executed two backflips, kicking a table over in front of her and using it for cover.
"Do you know what kind of bounty is on your head?" The first attacker asked as he stormed back in. He threw a left jab that she batted away, swinging up with her left hand and nailing his cheekbone with her purse. She lifted her leg, placing it firmly against his chest before kicking him back, allowing the next to run in. She blocked an attack with her purse, the man drew his fist back allowing Coco to close the gap quickly, head butting him before flipping her gun back out and aiming at the men.
"I've got a pretty good idea, yeah," She replied. "How about all of you leave here right now if you want to leave under your own power and not in a body bag." A few of the men shared a glance, leaving as the men that had taken gravity and fire stayed behind, the two clearly more vested in the fight than the others. "You two aren't the brightest, are you?" She opened fire, her bullets meeting a gravity force field as she slowly moved in, the first man forcing her back with fire and she reached back, grabbing a stein and nailing him in the temple with it. He finally strayed, Coco leaping forward as she chose to use her purse once more, the gravity thug leaping back, leaving his friend to be smashed in the chest, plowing through several tables before coming to a stop against the wall.
"You're gonna get it!" The last man standing threatened. "Just go back to Beacon before we're forced to use Her true power." He deserted the bar, beating feet and not stopping for a moment to close the door behind him. Coco blew the stray hair out of her face, glancing at the Neo-Salem that lie unconscious and she approached Garnet once more.
"That could have gone better," Coco said. "These men didn't even have auras, I'm surprised that Salem would use common men that can't possibly serve her higher purpose."
"She'll allow anyone to help that's willing, that's what made her dangerous," Garnet reminded Coco. She never severed ties with anyone, they might one day be of use, even if it's in a way such as this." Coco looked at her shaking hands. "They've put a fear back in you, and something tells me that it's exactly what Salem wanted. You ruined her plans, and now she's going to give you hell for being back on her turf."
"This is hardly her turf," Coco told him. "I've seen that place, now that… Is hell." He shrugged and stepped back, putting another mug away and pointing towards the north end of the building.
"Head up the road that way," he told her. "There's a church, or temple, or whatever the hell the people are calling it these days. Father Rivers can help you find who you're looking for, if she's had a troubled past, I have no doubt that she may have confessed to him at one point or another."
"How do I find that out though, isn't there some kind of confidentiality around all of that?" She asked him. He chuckled before heading for the back room.
"This is Mistral, Coco," he called back. "Everything can be bought for the right price."
Fun fact about Titus accidentally saying Iliana. It was the first name I suggested to my co-creator for Ilia who reminded me that we already had an Eliana. We were going to have a running gag going that Titus frequently mixed up Neela, Ilia, and Eliana, but it was forgotten and dropped until we came across this scene which is half of the earliest concept scene I wrote after the opening character focused introduction chapters.
Coco's looking for someone, but do they have what she needs? Next week, Chapter 74 - Overkill!
A big thank you to Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy!