Author's Note:
Dwarflandia is a fake place and honestly shouldn't have been used.
Team RUST gets some development, might as well talk about them.
Aldin is based on japanese swordsmiths who forged legendary weapons. Color is azalea (a manly magenta color). Semblance is irrelevant cuz he's not a huntsman and it doesn't relate to his work.
Sylas is based on the paladin. Historically, its used in imagery for knights of the round table, so giant dude in armor wielding a claymore can be viewed as a myth. His color is green for the base of the azalea plant. His semblance is undaunted, while active he can be an unstoppable force or an unbreakable wall.
Undine is based on the water spirit Undine. Her color is ocean blue. She can dawn water clothing(a mix of noelle's valkyrie dress from black clover and a nerfed version erza's requip magic from fairy tale.)
Side note: Tyrantulas die because Fire + armor shattering/weakening = death.
Chapter Two: Teamwork
"Dear Father,
I have enlisted the help of a huntsman, Alister Ronin, and a huntress, Elena Vizier, to realize my goal of proving myself a worthy heir to the family. Melody is in good health and I am doing my best to keep her safe. I've been making sure to eat three meals a day as promised. As team RELM, we are making steady pay and our team is slowly but surely gaining a respectable reputation. I've been training everyday to harness my aura. It's only a matter of time before I unlock my semblance.
Your Son,
Lucas."
"You call that aura control?" Ronin hits him with an education stick. Melody tries holding back Ronin, but he reappears behind Lucas and bops him.
"Nana Ronin could do better and she's dead!" Ronin rants.
It's been a few days after the mission. With their weapons in the shop, Ronin and Elena can't exactly go on missions unarmed. Lucas wanted to train his aura at the local gym in hopes of unlocking his semblance, but he's always struggled with it, even at the academy. Ronin is far from merciful, Melody is still training herself to handle Ronin, and Elena just sits in the corner reading her book. As far as she's concerned, she has always had her semblance, due to it being hereditary. She can't exactly help someone figure out theirs when she was essentially given hers. She reads the erotic tales of Fifty Shades of Dust, Dustier and Dirtier. Melody blows her whistle at Ronin, yanking him off of Lucas.
"You're in for a time out." Melody scolds. She points at the corner. Ronin kicks the dusts under his boot in frustration, muttering profanities to himself as he walks to the corner. Melody helps Lucas up from his fetal position.
"Are you okay?" Melody asks. Lucas nods.
"From the top." Melody takes a deep breath. Lucas imitates.
"A huntsman's semblance is a representation of themselves. Not how the world views them, but how the huntsman views themselves. It's a psychology manifestation of who you are." Melody says.
"I am Lucas Lumina, son of Lucius Lumina, heir to the Lumina fortune." Lucas says. Melody karate chops his head.
"No. That is not who you are." Melody scolds. Lucas rubs his forehead.
"It's not?" Lucas questions. Melody shakes her head.
"Then who am I?" Lucas asks. Melody sighs.
"If you can't answer that, then you will never unlock your semblance." Melody says.
"It's cuz he's a wimp!" Ronin blurts. Melody throws her shoe at Ronin.
"You are in time out. Good noodles stay quiet." Melody scolds. Ronin grumbles in frustration, punching the wall as he turns back towards the wall.
"Just take it slow. Do the exercises daily to hopefully find yourself." Melody says. Lucas nods in agreement.
"That should be enough for today." Melody says. Ronin scowls at her.
"Maybe for you Altesians. No one shed a drop of blood today. You can't call that training." Ronin says. There is a lot to unpack there, but Melody isn't a psychologist. She just knows from observing him today that he was in all likelihood abused as a huntsman in training.
"Do you need another time out?" Melody asks.
"No." Ronin pouts.
"No what?" Melody questions.
"No, Miss Valkyrie." Ronin barks like a trained dog. She gives him his jerky treat. Melody had emptied her squirt bottle from punishing Ronin's bad behavior. Everytime he said something abusive, she gave him two squirts in the face. Every time he said something constructive and helpful, he received a jerky strip. If he was really abusive, she would use the nuclear option of sending him to the corner. If anything, today was more about conditioning Ronin not to be an ass during Lucas' training. Melody smiles to herself at her good work. Lucas and Elena follow Melody like baby ducklings following their mother. Ronin is the defiant goose, who was kidnapped by the mother duck. They head back to the hotel to grab some lunch.
Elena has her nose deep in her book, occasionally nibbling on cantaloupe and apple slices. Ronin is pouting at Melody as she hums to the ambience music. Lucas mindlessly pokes at his spaghetti and vegan friendly meatballs. Elena recommended him to get it, but they smell funky, causing him to lose his appetite. He is mentally preoccupied with the self help questions Melody posed during their training session.
Are you a cat or dog person? Would you help an old lady with a mystery bag of white powder cross the street? Who are you as a human being? His answers reporting his family biography were and are incorrect in regards to answering these questions. He doesn't have a strong sense of self, thus a lack of a semblance. He has to become confident in himself and not rely on his gadgets to fight Grimm. Melody plops a vegan meatball in his mouth. She moves his mouth with her hand to force him to chew. The meatballs really are terrible. It snaps him out of his mental funk.
"They're good, right?" Elena asks. She has that innocent glimmer in her eye. Lucas nods with a fake smile. He hasn't the heart to rain on her parade, unlike Ronin.
"They suck." Ronin says.
"You suck." Elena pouts at him.
"No fighting, you two." Melody scolds.
"Ronin started it." Elena mutters.
"You forced those meatballs on Lucas. He clearly doesn't like them." Ronin says.
"No, you're just being a jerk." Elena denies. It's not like her father, a meat lover, gave her the same fake nods of approval. Great, another child repressing some kind of childhood baggage. Melody sips her tea to calm herself down. She is not crumbling under the pressure of being the only adult in their team. She is not just like her mother for being a doting and suffocating person. These three are not her sister Rhapsody.
Team RELM, the team of people with psychological baggage.
"Hey, if it isn't Ronin." A bald huntsman gives him a handshake.
"Bander! How are you doing?" Ronin greets.
"Pay is good. These escalated Grimm counts and the abnormals will have the high brows paying us through the nose." He laughs.
"This is my team. We just got back from a mission recently. The Xerxes Village Mission I think." Ronin brags.
"Shut up. You were that crazy huntsman who took out that horde of Beos in an instant. It's blowing up all over YouScroll." Bander says. Ronin glances at Lucas.
"That was cool. I couldn't help but film it." He says.
"Yeah. That was me. I would have added more style if I knew other people were going to see it." Ronin tries to be humble but fails. Elena nudges him in the rib.
"Right. This is Elena Vizier. She was responsible for the clip. So technically, she was the mother who gave birth to the clip." Ronin chuckles. Elena jabs him in the arm.
"Is that so?" Bander glances over team RELM.
"I'm Melody Valkyrie."
"Lucas Lumina."
"Pleasure meeting Ronin's team. I'm sorry to disturb your meal, so I will be taking my leave." Bander walks away, snagging a cookie or three from the dessert station.
"He was my mentor at the academy. He quit after I left school, saying that what they did to me was 'wrong', so he went back into the field." Ronin casually explains. Elena doesn't bat an eye at the comment, but Lucas and Melody didn't know that Ronin was a delinquent on record. They did deduce such was the case through his behavior.
"You mentioned that you were part of a team prior to this." Melody probes.
"Ronin was the cool leader of Team RUST. They were a dark horse in the Vytal Festival. But man did they take out some good teams." Lucas gushes. Ronin swims in the praise, smiling like a bashful maiden. Of course, Melody already knows this, but it's more helpful to get Ronin's perspective of his time in team RUST. Elena is the only one who doesn't seem interested or impressed by the conversation.
"I never watched the Vytal Festival." Elena says casually. Her teammates just stare at her. It is the international pass time. How could she not watch such a holy event? It's not like she doesn't have a scroll to watch it on. It is a conscious choice to not watch it every two years. She doesn't even know of the greatest huntsmen plays caught on film.
"You are watching this right now." Lucas shoves his scroll in her face. Ronin stands next to a silver eyed girl. That must be Tabitha. For a silver eyed girl, she doesn't do much to hide her identity. In the video, she's exuding confidence and openly taunts the opposing team. In the video-Ronin is calm and collected as usual. His teammates play a passive role in hyping up the crowd. Sylas is wearing paladin armor and a claymore and Undine wears a battle dress, wielding a trident. The two terrains are forest on RUST's side and mountains on TEAL's side. Ronin looks over her shoulder.
"That was round one of the Vytal Festival. We almost lost that one. Sylas and Undine got knocked out early. Tabitha tried to bring it back by herself, but I was covering her blindspots." Ronin comments. The fight starts after the horn. Tabitha rushes into the fray. Sylas tanks a stray sniper shot aimed at Tabitha, knocking him out. Undine was being overpowered by an assassin looking huntress. It became a two versus four.
"Ronin and Tabitha retreat into the forest. Their point guards run in blindly. Ronin ambushes them using his semblance, which wasn't documented until this fight. No one saw it coming." Lucas narrates. A one versus two with Ronin having all of the advantage. It wasn't unnoticeable, but can be easy to miss. Ronin had used his semblance to shadow travel Tabitha to the other side of the ring, right in a favorable range against a sniper.
"Whoa, when did Tabitha get there?" The announcer asks. Tac and Elp were taken out in an instant by the she berserker. Just by the footage, Tabitha has massive amounts of aura and not even sniper shots made a dent in her reserves. It could be due to her semblance, but that requires more information. Both of the point guards, Aiken and Nelia, were defeated in the forest, resulting in team RUST's win.
"Onto round two." Lucas scrolls to the bookmarked clip of the next round. Elena found it interesting to see Ronin's performance. She had initially thought his semblance was blatantly overpowered, but there is a tactical element he implements. He uses his semblance to position himself and his teammates in advantageous positions. It's a skill that goes unnoticed by most. It is by definition a non offensive semblance, at least during these recordings. She still remembers him cleaving twenty something Grimm in an instant, which she has yet to figure out how he did it.
"Naturally, Tabitha and I went in for round two. Sylas was still depressed for not tanking that sniper shot and Undine was shaken for losing a fight with Nelia, her rival in and out of the battlefield." Ronin says. Elena watches the clip. It was unnecessarily flashy with how Ronin won, but whatever wins the round works.
"Round three was kind of a merciless beat down. I apologized to my opponent after the match...after he got out of the hospital." Ronin sounds guilty. A one versus one. In theory, two equally skilled huntsmen will have an equal fight, but that was not the case here. Ronin was faster and stronger.
"As a condition for the fight, Tabitha said I couldn't use my semblance." Ronin says.
Quinton attacked, but nothing would hit. Ronin would whittle at the man's aura until he was forced to resign from unconsciousness. He tried attacking Ronin without aura, which was against the regulations. Ronin had sheathed Grimlock and punched the man, knocking him down. He wouldn't give up and rushed at him, each time receiving a blow to the face. The referees had to intervene.
"I was acquitted on righteous self defense. I had attacked him while provoked, but with the correct amount of nonlethal force. If he had chosen to stay down, he wouldn't have been punched as many times as he was." Ronin chuckles.
"So what did you think?" Lucas asks with gleaming eyes. He's watched every Vytal Festival since he could remember how to work a scroll. He takes back his scroll.
"It was good." Elena says.
"Try amazing." Lucas corrects.
"I've seen better." Melody says.
"Yeah, me too." Ronin admits. Lucas sputters.
"This was THE best Vytal festival of all time." Lucas says.
"In all honesty, I pulled two hat tricks and that won those fights." Ronin says.
"That's what makes it so great." Lucas says.
"But as a team, we didn't see much of Undine and Sylas. Tabitha was definitely a capable fighter, but even she would have been outmatched had Ronin not supported her in the way he did. It's got nothing on Willow's Vytal showcase." Melody says. She had always looked up to her senior. Melody got all the headpats.
"That's because you're biased." Lucas says in a huff.
"And you're not?" Melody questions. Ronin hands her his scroll. They watch Willow's Vytal Festival for sake of argument and to tune out Melody and Lucas' bickering.
They return to the hotel room after lunch. Lucas hides on his side of the bed, pouting at Melody. He refuses to accept Ronin isn't the coolest person alive, but Melody dismantled his delusion logically and ideologically. Lucas being a sore loser doesn't help the situation. Ronin lays on his couch bed watching people getting hit in the crotch. He chuckles to himself. Elena tries to read her book, but her mind drifts back to Tabitha and Ronin. They were a complementary pair for sure, but there is no doubt that he harbors unresolved feelings for his ex after being ejected from his team. It may be a sensitive issue, but Elena believes it is best to address the issue. Perhaps a reunion of sorts…
Ronin and Elena's scrolls chime. Their weapons are ready for pickup.
"It's mission time." Ronin says, jumping up from his bed.
"We'll be going to Aldin's Smithery." Elena announces to Melody. She waves them away as she tries to apologize to Lucas.
They leave. A thirty minute walk later, they enter the shop. Low and behold, Tabitha Azalea is at the teller desk. Ronin waves at her casually. Elena just stares at him, confused and dumbfounded.
"Here you are, Alister." She says, handing him his weapon.
"Thanks, Tabitha. How're Sylas and Undine doing?" Ronin makes idle chit chat.
"They are dating, which is a big step for my brother. Dad's away at a convention, so I'm stuck watching over the store. He handled your equipment before he left just this afternoon. He knows you need to get back to work." Tabith says.
"Tell him thanks for the good work." Ronin says. Tabitha notices Elena hiding behind Ronin. Tabitha is 5'6 and much more...womanly in comparison to Elena. Curvier and more well endowed in the chest department. Elena is self conscious of her A cups.
"Elena Vizier, right?" She says with a customer service smile. Elena nods.
"I haven't seen an heirloom of this quality in quite a long time. My father had to contact his master to work on it with any level of competency." Tabitha says.
"I'm sorry for the trouble." Elena says.
"No, that's a compliment. It's rare to see a family treasure these days. Everyone wants a transforming sword, but nothing beats the quality of sturdy and rigid weapons." Tabitha says. Her silver eyes are filled with confidence. Without meaning to, Elena used her semblance on Tabitha. Horrible visions of the future flood her mind. She winces in pain.
"Are you okay?" Ronin and Tabitha ask in unison.
"I'm fine. Just a headache." Elena says.
"Alister, be sure Elena gets to her place safely." Tabitha winks.
"She's my teammate. The four of us are sharing a hotel room." Ronin says.
"He sleeps on the couch, separate from my bed." Elena panics. She didn't want Tabitha to think there was anything indecent occurring in their living situation.
"I know Alister wouldn't make a move on a girl without her consent. I dated the man for a year. I should know." Tabitha says.
"I concur with her statements." Ronin agrees. She places her hand on his.
"Please be careful on your next mission, whatever it may be. The word around town is that the Grimm are increasing in rank and number." Tabitha says.
"We will." Ronin says, latching Grimlock back to his hip. They leave after their farewells.
Elena and Ronin walk back to the hotel.
"Why haven't you and Tabitha gotten back together?" Elena asks.
"She wanted to know why I left the team. I couldn't tell her the truth, so we've parted ways on that front. I would love nothing more than to get her back, but not if it would put her in danger." Ronin says.
"What do you mean?" Elena asks.
"I can't tell you either, Elena. You're involved in this too, even if you don't realize it." Ronin says. He stops them from walking forward.
"Tighten your hood." He says. Elena obeys. A hooded man appears from the alley.
"Al, Al, Al. I finally caught you. Have you reconsidered our offer?" The man asks.
"I can only say no for so long. So why not another time?" Ronin quips.
"You're not protecting Aldin's brat from anything. Just tell us what we need to know and you won't have to stay away from her any longer. Our Lady has guaranteed her safety."
"Tempting, but anyone who knows anything about her is that she only keeps her word until a better offer comes along. You couldn't get anything out of me before. You won't get any information now or ever." Ronin says. The man sighs.
"Act out while you can. I only came to see if you had a change of heart. You know if she shows up, she isn't as likely to be merciful. As your previous brother in arms, this is my last offer of making peace. The next time we show up, it will be for blood." He says.
"I appreciate that, Azrael. Just make sure not to get on her bad side. I wouldn't want you to die except at my hands." Ronin says. The man disappears into the alley. Elena shoves him.
"You fucking work for Salem?!" She storms off.
"I can explain." Ronin says.
"No. There is no explaining your way out of this. I knew it was a mistake to get involved with you. Mother always said never talk to strangers. She was right." Elena walks faster.
"My father worked for her and as a way to get out, he did a task no man could. The number of bodies he buried that day were uncountable." Ronin says.
"That's the plot of Jaune Wack." Elena argues.
"Fine. Yes, I did work as an intern for her. But, I defected." Ronin says.
"Did you? It seems more like you have a weird fetish for silver eyed girls." Elena says.
"That's...not entirely untrue." Ronin admits.
"You're unbelievable." Elena walks off.
"I know why you came to Haven." Ronin says. Elena stops.
"Some men I knew sent the Grimm to your parents' home that night. Every Grimm attack since was meant to lure you here. It was my father's job to capture you, but he refused. I was sent here in his stead to capture you, until I met Tabitha. I was reassigned to find out as much as I could about the silver eyed warriors. Even though I was reassigned, I still had to look out for you in case you did show up in Haven. That's why I recognized you when we met." Ronin says. Elena wipes her tears on her sleeve. Everything up to now was nothing more than a manipulation to lead her into a trap. Despite her mother's teachings, Elena wasn't able to be free of Salem's grasp. What an idiot she was to think she could escape the immortal being responsible for the death of many of her ancestors. She breaks down crying, trying to run away, but Ronin catches up to her.
"If I wanted to turn you over to her, I already would have." Ronin says.
"What's stopping you from betraying my trust?" Elena asks.
"Your semblance lets you see the future. Gleam my intentions to your heart's content." Ronin t poses in surrender. It was true that for what she's seen of Ronin, he holds no evil intent. Mischievous, but not evil. She takes his hand, pulling him in for an embrace.
Their faces are inches apart.
"You're in my bubble." Ronin teases.
"This is the most accurate way to see your future." Elena says, blushing. Her eyes glow blue as he stares in her eyes.
Ronin's future is filled with many battles. Images of who and what he's fighting is a blur. One image is clear in every vision. He's fighting to protect her from whatever is coming after them. She runs out of aura. She faints in his arms.
"Elena?" Ronin's voice trails off as she loses consciousness.
Elena was a single child of the Vizier family. They operated three neighboring villages as leaders. Morrigan and Argus raised her with the knowledge of a leader, but with the history of the silver eyed warriors. On top of that, Morrigan passed on her knowledge of the Foresight semblance. By age twelve, Elena had surpassed her parents' expectations and completed their lesson plan of sixteen years. One night, the Grimm attacked and destroyed the village. She's been on the run for five years, never staying in one place for more than a week. To learn that her last five years was nothing more than a trap laid out for her was humiliating. It meant her mother's sacrifice was in vain. She feared being caught by Salem's forces. She can't help but project Ronin as being the entity that haunts her dreams. Elena is so tired of running. She retrieved her mother's necklace, but she was going to return to her destroyed home and commit suicide to end her suffering. Nothing was keeping her in this world, so why stay in it?
She was alone. She had no friends and her only living family was her grandmother, who disowned Morrigan years ago, before Elena was born. Elena doubts that her grandmother would want to see the spawn of her disowned daughter. In her view, she's all alone. No one can convince her otherwise.
Elena woke up. Ronin sits in a chair by her bedside, snoozing away. Lucas and Melody are asleep. It is two a.m. She's been unconscious for ten hours. Aura exhaustion will do that to any huntsman or huntress. She shifts in her bed, waking Ronin. He cracks his sore neck.
"You remember anything from our sweet embrace?" Ronin teases.
"Not much." She lies.
"Did you see me betraying you?" Ronin asks.
"That remains to be seen. For now, I will trust you." Elena says.
"Fair enough. I'll do my best to not betray that trust." Ronin says. He pulls out his scroll.
"I signed us up for a mission. It's a simple extermination mission. In and out, we make bank. One more mission before our contract as team RELM expires." Ronin says.
"How does your semblance work?" Elena asks.
"If I tell you, then that would take away the mystery." Ronin teases.
"You were responsible for capturing me. As reparations, tell me." Elena says.
"The source of my semblance is fear. Every time I go under or use my semblance to sense or paralyze things, I need to experience intense emotions of fear to activate it." Ronin says.
"Fear? Wouldn't that make you-"
"A Grimm magnet. Negative emotions attract Grimm, so every time I use my semblance, I draw them in. I try to use my semblance minimally, but once the hordes come in, it doesn't matter, so I can let loose. I think I was responsible for luring those abnormals. I'm just glad I have teammates I can count on." He says.
"I see." Elena says.
"You're taking this better than Tabitha did." Ronin says.
"Comparing me to your ex?" Elena quips.
"She panicked. To be fair, so did Sylas and Undine. I was going to tell Lucas and Melody, but I can't bring myself to do it. I'm afraid they'll leave." Ronin says.
"The mighty Ronin is always scared. That sounds like a bad punchline." Elena says.
Ronin laughs.
"My dad had a similar semblance to mine, but it relied on his rage and his semblance was more powerful than mine." Ronin says.
"Your semblance is strong for tactical maneuvers and supporting your team. It's not that your semblance is weaker, but it just has a different application." Elena says.
"You're the second person to tell me that." Ronin says.
"Who was the first?" Elena asks.
"My mother." Ronin says. Elena blushes. Not even Tabitha told him that. Ronin stands up from his chair. He walks over to his bed.
"We should get some rest." Ronin says.
"Thank you for taking me back to the room." Elena says.
"You were heavy. I thought my back would break." Ronin teases.
"Are you calling me fat?" Elena pouts.
"If the scale tips." Ronin says. Elena throws a pillow at him. He returns fire. Their commotion wakes Lucas.
"Shhh...I'm trying to sleep…" Lucas pops up like a zombie and then lays in his bed, snoring before long. Ronin and Elena try to have a pillow fight as silently as possible. They eventually fall asleep after tuckering themselves out with the War of Feathers. Ronin was relentless, but Elena won in the end. Ronin fell asleep beside Elena.
The next morning, Elena and Ronin shared a bit of an awkward moment. Elena laid on him. Her soft and warm body snuggling with his. She smelled of vanilla. Ronin smelled of manly Huntsman Musk, the same as her father's cologne of choice. She felt safe in his muscly arms. Elena realizes this indecent display and pulls away. They were still clothed, so her innocence was safe. But this only makes her suppressed feelings for the huntsman more sentient in her mind.
"You like him don't you?" Her subconscious teases. Her ego and superego beat her id with a set of metaphysical baseball bats in denial.
"Shut up!" They scream in unison. She pinches her cheeks to snap herself out of her mental battle. Ronin awakens from the noise. He scans his surroundings. Elena is sitting at the side of the bed trying to recollect herself, but her cloak is draped over Ronin. He deduces what happened.
"That explains the warm vanilla marshmallow in my dream." Ronin quips. Elena turns tomato red. She was that warm marshmallow snuggling with him. She darts to the bathroom in embarrassment.
She takes deep breaths to calm herself. Elena's read many books and this is that one plot line where two people from enemy clans fall in love and defy the odds or die trying. Those are her favorite to read! Calm down, you are a huntress who doesn't need no man...with chiseled abs, a great sense of humor, and a hug of security. She slaps her face to calm down, but her redness won't decrease because Ronin is a triple threat.
Elena frantically brushes her teeth and combs her bed head to calm herself, but to no avail. Ronin knocks on the door.
"Elena, I gotta pee." Ronin hops like an ansty child.
"One more minute." Elena says.
"I won't last a minute." Ronin whines. The door opens. Elena is back to normal. Ronin pushes past her and closes the door behind him. Elena hides in her cloak. Her only safe place in this cruel world. She nibbles on her stash of cuddle bear gummies to calm her nerves. She barely managed to compose herself for a few seconds. Any longer, she would have introduced Ronin to Tsundere Elena. That girl is a moron who acts irrationally and calls people she likes idiots. Elena hates her.
Lucas awakens from his Power Huntsman theme song alarm. He shakes Melody awake. They get out of bed. They do yoga stretches in unison. Well choreographed, fast paced, and creepy. No two humans should move that well in sync, despite constantly arguing. Ronin exits the bathroom refreshed and his bladder cleansed. He shouldn't drink that much water before bed. Melody takes the bathroom next, pushing Lucas out of the way. Her bladder needs to come before his. He hops outside the bathroom like Ronin as he waits.
Ronin goes through his routine of equipping his armor. First his iron boots, then his chestplate, and lastly his gauntlets. They were pretty banged up from whenever submerged into his shadow. His gear is back up to par. He straps Grimlock on his hip. He would wear a helmet, but he doesn't like the thought of getting his skull crushed like a tin can. Elena stashes many of her dust crystals into her staff and waist pockets, before slipping on her cloak. Her staff disappears within. The two are ready for the mission. Melody leaves the bathroom refreshed. Lucas pushes past her, ejecting his bladder before it explodes. Melody changes into her Atlas uniform. Her spear is strapped to her back. She reaches for her armor, but Lucas still wasn't done fixing it. She slouches on the bed. Melody hates fighting without her suit.
"Are you okay?" Elena asks.
"Peachy." Melody mutters. Lucas leaves the bathroom with a second wind of energy.
"Alright, who's ready to fight some Grimm?" Lucas pumps his fist in the air.
"Get ready. We're leaving in twenty minutes." Ronin scolds.
"We're going to be late because of you." Elena scolds.
"You guys are no fun." Lucas gets changed. He slips on his modified gauntlet and laser sword. He reaches for his utility belt, but three of his gadgets aren't ready for this mission, prompting him to leave it. He does hand Melody a metal backpack. It beeps and blinks ever so mysteriously.
"That'll suffice for this mission." Lucas says. Melody groans as Lucas drags her along.
Team RELM heads out. They board airship forty two. Their destination is the mining town of Dwarflandia. The main reason the mission was posted was because Grimm had overrun the mines. They needed to make their livelihoods safe again. Simple enough. Or at least that's what the mission description said it would be.
The airship had to make a delivery in Dwarflandia, so RELM got off the ship like civilians. No landing strategy needed. Lucas seemed especially disappointed. The people weren't dwarfs per se, but they were about Elena's height. She was shorter than the national average, so she wasn't alone in the presence of the Dwarflandians. Lucas, Ronin, and Melody were like giants wading through the crowd of unemployed miners. Being miners, they had burly physiques and merlin beards. The airship left after it made their delivery. Another one would return in a few days to pick them up.
"Huntsmen! We have awaited your arrival." The village chief of five feet approaches. He hugs them, which was uncomfortable due to the difference in height. For Elena, it was like hugging her grandfather. He too smelled of coffee.
"Let me show you the way to the mine." This NPC chief reads from his script, prepared by his wife. At least it was a warm welcome. They follow him to the caves.
The entrance is massive. Dust Crystals can be seen glinting from within. Spider Grimm creep about on their webs, dangling from the ceiling. They are the size of wolves.
"May you succeed in your mission. In case you grow weary of battling, we will provide a warm meal to reinvigorate your fighting spirit." The village chief bows.
"Thanks." Ronin says. Elena jabs him in the side.
"We appreciate your hospitality." Elena bows. The chief returns to the village with his wife. Team RELM starts the mission off by igniting the spiders. Elena uses her staff like a flamethrower. Lucas switched the mode on his gauntlet to spew flame dust. Twenty three spiders faded whilst charring on the ground They made their way into the mineshaft. Each of the four paths led to a different dust quarry. Elena was getting bad vibes. She saw images of the ceiling falling in on them. Ronin places his hand on her shoulder.
"We're going to be fine. If things get hairy, I'll just shadow travel us out of here." Ronin says. Before she would have felt reassured, but now that she knows how his semblance works, it only means he's just as scared as she is. Her hero. Lucas pulls out a flashlight, checking the four paths.
"We should clear out the Grimm tunnel by tunnel." Lucas deduces.
"Or we can each take a tunnel and report back here." Ronin jests. Anything to lighten the mood.
"Haven't you seen any horror movies? Splitting up is the worst thing you can do." Lucas argues. Elena is hit by a drop of saliva. She looks up. An Arachne Grimm is on the ceiling. It screeches. Spiders can be heard from within the quarry tunnels. The Arachne spews web on the exit. Elena tries to burn it, but it causes the webbing to solidify. They're trapped. Lucas blinds the Arachne with his flashlight. It squeals in pain as it retreats within the cave. They have to deal with the Spiders first. Melody hates spiders. She's curled up in a fetal position, hyperventilating. Ronin defends her.
Elena chars a line of Spiders, while Lucas chars another. The Grimm overwhelms Ronin while he tries to protect Melody. He's been bitten several times. He normally would have been able to dodge their assaults, but they went after Melody, not him, so he had to jump in to prevent her from getting hurt. His reflexes are slowing and his vision is blurring, making it easier for him to receive more bites. Elena and Lucas incinerate the spider, getting them off of Ronin and Melody. Elena is forced to reload her red dust, she didn't bring enough. At this rate, she was going to run out. Lucas is in a similar boat. He's already on his last cartridge. Ronin collapses from the venom, but Elena catches him. She uses earth dust to block off the entrances. Lucas sets up camp while they figure out how to deal with these Grimm. They sit around a fire. Good thing Lucas learns how to use spark rocks from those tutorial videos Melody said were pointless.
"I'm sorry. I've always hated spiders. They're just so creepy and those legs are so hairy. Don't get me started on the pincers." Melody says.
"I think it would be smarter for you to return to the village." Elena says. Ronin is out cold, his breath is silent. The medicine will take some time to counter the poison.
"I don't know how to say this…" Lucas stammers.
"You're a liability. Ronin was our only way out of here and you incapacitated him." Elena speaks harshly, in part because Ronin was hurt because of her, but Melody also exhibited a weakness no huntsman should have.
"Elena, don't be so harsh." Lucas scolds.
"No, Lucas. She's right. I'm holding you three back." Melody mutters. The tunnels quake. The earthen wall thuds. It seems they have guests. Elena uses her semblance to discern which cave will collapse. She incinerates the Grimm breaking through the red dust quarry. She seals the entrance with earth dust. The gears in Lucas' head turn.
"We can take red dust from the mine to reload." Lucas says.
"There are a lot of Spider Grimm in the quarries. You'd have to be insane to go in there with just two people. We need at least an army. The only reason our current position is functional is because we are using the tunnels to our advantage. The second we throw that advantage away, we're dead." Elena says.
"We lose that advantage when we lose our red dust. We have to fight to keep fighting." Lucas says. Elena glares at him. He does have a point. She just doesn't trust Melody to defend Ronin by herself, but she only has one crystal of red dust left.
"In other words, we have no choice but to go." Elena says.
"Melody, I know you're scared, but stay at the entrance. Use your semblance if we get in a bind. Spiders can't handle high frequencies. It will stun them for a few seconds, giving us time to get back here." Lucas says.
"I-I'll try." Melody stammers. They are dead if this goes wrong and Melody isn't coming to save them. Elena thinks. They venture into the caves. They can see the goal, the red dust. But the chittering of spiders echoes from the tunnel, making it impossible to discern the spider's location. Their weapons are at the ready.
"Which tunnel did the Arachne go into?" Lucas asks.
"The blue dust one I think." Elena says. As if by instinct, she pulls back Lucas just as webs fly past his face. Spider Grimm squirm as they are ensnared by their leader. The Arachne crawls through a hole. Her element of surprise was thrown away, so she flees to prepare another trap. The Spiders glare at them. Elena draws her sword. Lucas ignites his red gleaming saber, loading his last red cartridge into it.
"We have three minutes before this runs out." Lucas says. They charge in. Lucas breaks through the swarm, cleaving five at once. Elena picks off the Spiders attack from beyond his range, piercing them in between the pincer and in their thorax. Spider reinforcements replace the fallen, but there is a moment to reach the red dust. Lucas and Elena go for it. Elena reloads her staff with red dust, incinerating the onslaught of Spiders. Using raw dust instead of cartridges has its advantages. She reloads her staff with the red crystals faster than the Spiders can attack. Lucas hordes everything he can into a bag. He doesn't want to return to this quarry. A screech from the Arachne echoes from the other tunnels. The Spiders stop coming, but Tyrantulas crawl in their place.
"Don't waste any dust on these guys. They are immune to fire." Lucas warns. He zips up his bag. Elena and Lucas make a run for it. The Tyrantulas give a terrifying chase. They are the bigger and faster brothers of the Spider Grimm. They are smaller in size, but their legs are more toned, granting them higher agility. Lucas follows Elena into the tunnel. He unleashes sonic blasts from his gauntlet. Their armored hides resonate. It seems they have some level of resistance to sound. A Spider trips Elena and Lucas follows. The Tyrantulas close in on them. A horrid screech reverberates from the entrance of the cave. The Grimm's armor reverberates violently, causing it to crack. One by one they explode in a poof of dust. The sonic blast shatters the red dust, igniting it and unleashing a violent explosion, dusting any stragglers. Lucas and Elena exit the tunnel and seal the cave just in the nick of time. Melody is on her knees. She's sweating. She gives a shaky thumbs up.
"Lucas. Elena. I got your back." She says with a quivering voice. Lucas hugs her. They would be dead if she didn't intervene.
"Thanks…" Elena mutters. She was too harsh earlier. She should have had faith in her teammate. Melody pulls her into the group hug.
"Spiders are really scary. I don't want to do that again." Melody says. They laugh. Fair is fair. They can't expect a person to confront their phobia twice in one day. Melody sits by the fire to calm down. Lucas and Elena take stock of the dust they collected. Lucas has a dust refinery certificate, so he gets to work on filling twenty cartridges of dust. Elena takes the remaining twenty crystals, trying to fit them in her pockets. They reinforce the doorways once more before taking a break from the mission. Elena hadn't noticed it, but Ronin's body had been steaming. Not because he's hot, but his body is emitting water vapor. She doesn't know everything about him, but even then, this isn't related to his semblance at all.
"Elena, want some food?" Lucas offers her a ration cracker. She nibbles on it. They are always salty, which she doesn't like. Elena takes a swig from her water canister to wash down the cracker. Melody and Lucas eat their fill.
"What's the plan?" Lucas asks.
"We have to take out the Arachne. It seems to be commanding the others. We move once Ronin regains consciousness. Until then, we hold down the fort." Elena says.
"I second staying here until Ronin is awake." Melody says. Elena's eyes grow heavy. She had depleted more aura than she thought. Lucas lays her beside Ronin.
"Sweet dreams, Elena." He tucks her in.
"You don't do that for me." Melody says in a huff.
"Elena is the backbone of this team. If Ronin's down, she takes on the role of leader. In my book, that deserves a tuck in." Lucas says. Melody pouts. Lucas ignores her and scans the webbing. It's crystalline in nature. Harder than diamond and resistance to heat. It will take some time, but Lucas can break through the wall. It's just a contingency in case Ronin is unconscious longer than their supplies will last. He gets to work.
"We don't have a signal down here." Melody says. More great news. He notices chipping that has worn on the web. What caused it, he doesn't know, but it might have been from Melody's semblance. At least it would be a good use of his companion. She wasn't going to return to the tunnels, so why not use her to break the webbing?
"Melody, can you try using your semblance on this webbing?" Lucas asks.
"You want me to rupture your eardrums?" Melody quips.
"Use non lethal frequencies." Lucas says. Melody stretches. She screeches inaudibly. The webs vibrate. Melody raises it up a half step, the webs start to crack. Melody stops. After a minute, her aura dissipates. She falls on her knees, catching her breath.
"That is one tough web." Melody pants.
"Good try Melody. Just rest up and try again when you recover." Lucas says.
"Not if you don't tuck me in." She pouts. Lucas sighs. Melody climbs into her sleeping bag. Lucas tucks her in. She smiles.
"Nighty Night." Melody cheers. Before long, she's snoring. The crackling of the fire. The warmth in the room. Lucas' eyes grow heavy. Maybe just one minute…
He could have sworn he was asleep for only one minute. Elena shakes him awake.
"Lucas, wake up." She says. He looks at her groggily. It's 9.30 p.m. Five hours passed.
"You were supposed to stand guard." Elena scolds. Ronin snores loudly.
"I'm sorry. I was tired." Lucas says. Elena sighs. Ronin is still unconscious. It doesn't seem like the Grimm bothered them while they rested, but things could have been bad if the Grimm attacked. It doesn't matter now. They're still alive.
"If only we didn't lose him. Things would be so much easier." Elena says.
"You've kept us alive. You don't give yourself enough credit." Lucas says. Elena fluffs Ronin's pillow and examines his bandages.
"That's odd. Ronin's bandages are gone." Elena checks his wounds. All healed. Come to think of it, he's been snoring like normal. A few hours earlier, he was silent.
"I didn't do anything to him." Lucas confesses.
"I'm not accusing you. He must have removed them himself. The Spider bites he received should have incapacitated him for at least another day." Elena says.
"I see what you mean. If he's supposed to be resting, why did he remove his bandages?" Lucas deduces.
"We should check the tunnels." Elena grabs her staff.
"What now? I haven't had my coffee yet." Lucas says. Elena drags him along.
"Just follow me." Elena collapses the earth wall. They enter. There is no sign of any Grimm in the Earth dust tunnel. Lucas takes the chance to harvest the 'free' dust. They check the other tunnels. The same thing. All the Spiders are gone. No Tyrantulas or signs of the Arachne either. They seal up the tunnels as they reenter the camp. Elena scratches her chin in contemplation.
"We might be missing something." Elena proposes. Lucas displays a digital map from his scroll. It shows that they have explored the entirety of the mine. Elena activates her semblance. She sees that the mine is empty and in a few minutes two huntsmen will break through the spider wall. Elena starts packing up her things.
"What are you doing?" Lucas asks.
"Clear the way. Our way out of here will be here-" Metal clangs against the web. Lucas obeys Elena, picking up his belongings. Melody wakes up from the noise. Ronin sleeps through it. A glow of green light radiates from the cracks. A six foot paladin breaks through the wall, accompanied by a girl in a blue dress. Elena can recognize them as Sylas Azalea and Undine Aquarius. The duo scan the campsite. Sylas speaks into his com.
"Team RELM located. Performing extraction now." Sylas sheathes his axe claymore on his back. Undine's dress evaporates into civilian clothing, a blue shirt and jeans. She runs up to Ronin and kicks him awake. He screams as he flies into the wall.
"Sleeping on the job, Ronin? With two ladies on your team, no less. You should be ashamed of yourself for not fighting tooth and nail to defend your teammates." Undine scolds. Sylas holds back his rambunctious girlfriend. Ronin gets to his feet.
"Undine? Sylas? What are you two doing here?" He asks. His cracked skull radiates with steam until it heals. Lucas holds back Elena from stabbing Undine.
"Let me at 'em!" Elena and Undine yell. Sylas and Lucas both hold back their shortstack from fighting. Unironically, Undine is 4'11. Melody ignores the commotion as she sips her cup of joe. Lifeblood is lifeblood. She can't operate without it.
"We were given the notice from the village chief that you had yet to return. We were in the area and thought we could help you out." Sylas explains.
"Really? Thanks. Now I don't have to shadow travel these guys out of here. Also, it would be bad to let the mine remain sealed up." Ronin says. Elena hadn't thought about that. They were on the mission to exterminate Grimm, but it was so the miners could return to their jobs.
"We have to make sure the tunnels are clear." Sylas says.
"No worries. They're clear." Ronin says casually. Elena and Lucas stare at him.
"Even the Arachne?" Elena and Luca ask. Ronin gives them a vibrant thumbs up.
Ronin is truly a mystery in their mind. The shock knocks out Elena. She struggled against those Grimm while Ronin took them all out like it was nothing.
"Elena?" Lucas tries slapping her awake, but to no avail.
"We should return to the village and rest up there." Sylas says. Undine goes limp in his arms. It's her way of communicating she's calm. He puts her down like a kitten. She clings to his arm, nuzzling it.
"Undine, what do you say when you kick people?" Sylas asks.
"Sorry, Ronin." She mutters like a child. Sylas gives her a deserved head pat. Undine is domesticated once more. Ronin carries Elena on his back. Lucas and Melody collect their belongings. The six of them leave the mines.
Back in the village, the four of them are at the inn. Their stay is free, but two king sized beds isn't enough for six people without any awkward interactions or arrangements. Undine and Sylas can't stop making googly eyes at each other, mumbling in sweet talk gibberish. Lucas does inventory of the dust he collected. Melody listens to her tunes. Elena is sleeping on the couch. Ronin munches on spare rations. For the most part, they are done with the mission. Now, they're just waiting to get paid.
"So Sylas, why are you guys here again?" Ronin asks.
"A humanitarian mission to help refugees migrate to this village. We arrived this afternoon. The chief mentioned another team in the mines, but he got worried when you didn't return." Sylas says.
"I see." Ronin says.
"How did you kill the Spiders." Lucas snaps. He's been playing it cool, but he has been racking his brain. At least one hundred Spiders, ten Tyarantulas, and an Arachne commanding them all. No huntsman could take out that many.
"Well, the Arachne broke through the wall, but it was alone, so it was a piece of cake." Ronin brags. Lucas doesn't understand. Only the Arachne attacked? How is that-
"The explosion." Lucas says. They look at him strangely. Lucas shakes Elena awake.
"Ronin didn't take out all of the Grimm. When we blew up the red dust, it took out all of the Spiders and the Tyrantulas." Lucas says. Elena blinks, processing what Lucas was saying. It wasn't her leadership or Ronin's ability that took out the Grimm. It was Melody's semblance igniting the dust. If she hadn't confronted her fear, Ronin would have been overwhelmed, and in all likelihood, they would all be dead. The credit of this mission should go to Melody. Elena faints from that realization. No need to praise Melody just yet.
"Elena!" Lucas shakes her, but nothing will work now. She won't acknowledge Melody's victory, thus she will stay asleep for now. Melody strums an air guitar in the background. She had not heard anything of the conversation, so she didn't realize that fact. Sylas called in their airship, so RELM will hitch a ride with them. But in the meantime, they have one night to kill. Ronin reads from the complementary pamphlet.
"Ooh, they have board games." He says.
"What games?" Sylas eyes glint with interest. He sees his favorite game in the pile.
"Oligopoly." Ronin stares back with an eagle eye gaze. Undine glares back. A cockroach scurries across the floor. The tension in the room increases.
"What was our record again?" Sylas plays coy. He knows their record. Ronin won four times, Undine won three, he won five, and Tabitha won one during their time as a team.
Many tears were shed, especially on Tabitha's end because she wasn't very good at the game. She only won because Ronin, Sylas and Undine took each other out, leaving her as the sole victor. Ronin swore to himself to avenge his dishonor that day. And that day is today. In a moment's notice, they set up the eight sided board. Up to sixteen players can play, but only three will remain standing. The goal of the game is to roll a twenty sided dice to land on properties. Each player can only obtain three properties, but every time they land on a new property, for a set fee, they can either swap for one of their properties or upgrade it into a property they own, effectively duplicating it. A maximum of three players can win, but it is far more common for one person owning three properties to win. That isn't how the game is intended to play, but team RUST was hardcore about this game. Lucas, on the other hand, played the game before with Melody, his mother and father. They weren't the most...capable at the game. Melody tries to get the Cuddle bear property and the Music Ensemble property every time because they have a cute symbol, but they also have the lowest profit turnout. The four of them sit on the bed. Ronin picks the Beowolf character, Undine takes the airship, Sylas the huntsman-entrepreneur. Lucas takes the scroll. Turn order is Undine, Ronin, Sylas, and Lucas. Normally, going first would be an advantage, but the last turn player is given a bonus roll on their first roll to compensate. Undine gets the Schee Clothing Outlet, Ronin gets Aldin's Smithery Works. Sylas gets Atlas Robotics. Lucas gets Schnee Dust company. They all stare at Lucas. He got the strongest property in the game. Not only does it give him money every turn, it can't be swapped unless it's with another Schnee property. Currently, Ronin and Sylas have no hope of stealing it and there remains only one more Schnee company. The game progresses at an appropriate rate. Lucas is leagues ahead of his opponents in terms of money and his influence is spreading across the board like wildfire. Each time he wants to upgrade, you have to spend some amount of credits to do so, but the higher credit spaces can at maximum quadruple the revenue of the property. The small gap in the beginning turns into an avalanche of advantage for Lucas. The trio could barely afford the remaining spaces for upgrades, if they weren't being forced to pay out credits for leasing contracts whenever they landed on Lucas' spaces. In the end, Lucas won in a landslide. Ronin, Sylas, and Undine are depressed from such an overwhelming defeat. Lucas laughs nervously.
"It was just luck." He says.
"There is no such thing as luck." Ronin says.
"You won fair and square." Sylas mumbles halfheartedly. Undine leaves the room.
Lucas feels like he kicked a child based on the air in the room. Melody looks over his shoulder.
"Ooh. Oligopoly. Can I play a game?" She asks. Ronin turns away. Sylas' expression is blank. Lucas clears the board.
"I'm down for a round." Lucas says. He recalls many times in his childhood that he practiced how to roll dice. He always aimed for the Schnee Dust company. Maybe that's why he's never lost a game of Oligopoly to his family. The rest of the night is just Lucas stomping Melody's cute property strategy.
They fly back to Haven. The trio have yet to recover from their mutual defeat. Elena's face never leaves her book. Melody isn't much of a sore loser. She doesn't play to win as the game developers of Oligopoly intended, but if she obtains her favorite properties, she considers that a win. A cloud of depression hovers over Sylas and Undine.
"See ya, Ronin." Sylas and Undine mutter.
"See ya later." Ronin mutters back. RELM parts ways with the duo.