Rook: Not much I can reveal that won't spoil most of the story, but a little bit of something to give you an idea, not all of Salem's lackeys will be on her side when things start to heat up.
Chapter 9:
"Nora! Wait up!" Ren called out.
"Sorry!" Nora said, unlatching her hammer from the cable, dropping down to the floor.
Ren slid up behind her, doing the same.
"Thanks for waiting." Ren said. "Hat Kid should be here by now, after blowing the horn for us."
"I wonder how blowing the horns makes the cables move?" Nora asked.
Ren shrugged. "Who knows? It's quite a wacky world our friend lives in."
"And a beautiful one." He added, taking in the familiar crisp air. "This place is very wonderful. Imagine...a world without Grimm."
Nora gave him a look. "It would be a very boring one."
Ren chuckled. "I suppose it would."
The sound of metal-on-metal caught their attention. They turned to see Hat Kid come down the line. She stopped at the end, doing a front flip before landing.
"Well. That's the whole crew. Ready then, Hat Kid?" Ren asked.
Hat Kid nodded. She pointed to one more line, leading to a tall structure in the distance. She then ran over, grappled to it, and slid on the line over to it.
"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Nora exclaimed, dashing over and following suite.
Ren shook his head and smiled. He approached the line and put his weapons over the line like a zipline, and slid down to the two girls, who had already gotten to a small cliff.
He detached his weapons and free fell to the wall of the cliff. Stopping his fall by digging them in, he made his way to the top.
"Well, this is very nice. Thank you for taking us on a little field trip." Ren said. "Mind you, we already had one a couple of days ago, but I would say it went much further south than this has." He noticed that the two girls were staring upward. He raised an eyebrow.
"What's so…" He then looked up and gasped. Standing in front of them was a massive windmill, overlooking the cliff face.
"Amazing!" Ren exclaimed.
"It's enormous! We could fit all the people in the world with it!" Nora exaggerated.
Hat Kid looked at the two and smiled, before climbing up the ladder leading to the floor level of the windmill. The trio made their way up, then to the massive front doors.
"Well, looks like it's open for business." Ren observed, walking in. He looked around.
"Wow. The view from inside is even more impressive." He said. "Nora, come look!"
"Ooh, I want to see!" She exclaimed, running in. "Woah! It's like a clock tower!"
Ren looked over to Hat Kid. "I'm assuming we're going to the top of this tower?" He asked.
Hat Kid nodded. And so, they began the climb to the top. Jumping over massive gears, climbing up wooden pathways, occasionally stopping to rest, and dealing with pesky Alpine Mad Crows that kept pestering them.
At one point, Ren made his way into a storage house for grain, finding Nora sitting there with a mouthful of it. He gave her a look of concern and disappointment. She gave a weak smile and offered him a handful. Ren shook his head and moved on, leaving her to finish it.
"Soo...Ren?" Nora asked, creeping up behind him.
"Yes, Nora?" He replied.
"Umm, when do we get to the top?" She said.
"Well, I think we have about…" Ren began, scanning the above floors. "...I'd say four or five more."
"Cool." Nora replied. "So...How do you think they run this windmill? I mean, it's so big, it must have like, giants running it or something."
"My guess is that the goats do the hard labor, and the nomads deal with more technical stuff." Ren answered, jumping onto a spinning gear.
"You think I'd be good at running a windmill?" Nora asked.
Ren gave her a look. "You looking to retire from being a huntress already?"
Nora frowned. "No, it's just...You wanna have some career options available in case it goes south."
Ren shook his head slowly. He knew Nora was just rambling again, and could feel himself getting more empty inside from answering her questions.
Above them, Hat Kid whacked away a couple of crows with her umbrella.
"Looks like we're almost there." He said, jumping to a wooden ladder. He climbed up the ladder and stepped onto the next floor.
They continued onwards. Ren would occasionally look behind to check on Nora, who would almost always be right behind him.
Finally getting to the second-to-last floor, the trio held on to one of the Windmill's massive turbines, riding them up to the top floor.
Ren peeked into the open window. "Yep, it's here."
Nora peered over his shoulder. "Oooh! Shiny!"
Ren's eyes widened. "Nora...No."
Nora sighed. "But Reeeeeeeen!"
"Nora." Ren said, a little more serious than he usually was. "These are very, very powerful objects."
Nora looked down. "Sorry."
Hat Kid picked up the hourglass out of a pile of hay. She placed it in her hat and looked back to the two.
"I suppose it's that time." Ren said, checking his scroll. He was going to miss the team meeting with Jaune and Pyrrha if they didn't make it back soon.
Hat Kid nodded and took out the teleport keychain. In two flashes, they stood back in the streets of Vale.
"Well, that was a fun little hike. Thank you, Hat Kid." Ren said, bowing to the child.
"Yeah. I should probably go rinse the hay out of my hair." Nora added. "See you around, kiddo."
Hat Kid smiled and tipped her hat. They walked away, leaving her standing there. She looked around. There was a lot of people around, stands selling stuff, and decorations lining the streets. It seemed as though there was some kind of event happening.
She noticed out of the corner of her eye an orange glow. Looking over, Hat Kid came face-to-face with a Dweller! How did it get here? She looked at the snake-like creature moving through the streets. No one seemed to pay any attention to it for some reason. Her eyes widened when she saw it was moving towards a fruit stand.
Hat Kid didn't know whether it was because they loved it or hated it, but when Dwellers came into contact with fruit, they turned it into a time-bomb for some reason. She needed to act fast, or the entire stand would go up in smoke.
The Dweller possessed a small green apple. When nobody was looking, Hat Kid snatched it, and ran for the docks.
Only to run right into four familiar teenage girls.
"Hey, Hat Kid." Blake said, noticing the child. "Whatcha got there?"
Hat Kid wasn't sure she had the time to explain. It could go off any minute. Without a second's notice, she chucked the apple into the water.
"What the-?" Yang asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Did you just throw an apple into the water?" Weiss said. "That's extremely wasteful of you. You should appreciate the amount of-"
Hat Kid held out a hand, motioning for her to stop. She then pointed to the place in the water where the apple landed.
Team RWBY leaned over the dock to take a look. The apple had turned a very angry bright red and was bloated beyond recognition.
"What did you do to it?" Ruby asked.
Hat Kid pulled out her umbrella and held it out over the four. In a flash, the apple exploded, and a light spray of water landed on the umbrella, preventing them from getting drenched.
"Did that apple just explode?" Yang said.
"Do all apples do that in your world, Hat Kid?" Weiss asked.
Hat Kid didn't respond, as she was deep in thought. The Dweller shouldn't have gotten here. So how did it? Did it get here through her keychain? If so, how did it get on the ship or to Alpine Skyline? No, there had to be another answer.
She noticed that the team had wandered over to a taped-off shop. There were two men in suits, examining the area behind the tape. She slowly made her way over.
"What happened here?" Ruby asked.
"Robbery." One of the men replied. "Second dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle."
Hat Kid walked over to the tape beside the four girls. Blake gently picked her up so she could see the scene better.
"That's terrible." Yang said.
"They left all the money again!" Another man observed.
"Yeah." The other man said. "It just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much dust?"
"I dunno, an army?"
"You thinking the uh...White Fang?"
"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."
Weiss scoffed. "The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates."
"What's your problem?" Blake asked.
"My problem? I just don't care for the criminally insane."
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Blake stated, setting Hat Kid down. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."
"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!" Weiss exclaimed.
"So then they're very misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."
Hat Kid wasn't really paying any attention to the conversation, instead pulling out a handheld version of her favorite game, Corgi Quest 7: The Leashes that Bind.
"Blake's got a point." Ruby added. "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy me and Hat Kid ran into a few months ago, maybe it was him?"
"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal." Weiss said, crossing her arms.
Blake flashed a glare.
"That's not necessarily true." Yang told her.
"Hey! Stop that Faunus!" Someone yelled. Hat Kid jumped, nearly dropping her handheld.
The five friends rushed over to the dock. Standing by the dock, they noticed a blonde boy with a tail on jump off of a boat and rush off.
Hat Kid was a little taken aback by the tail, but then reminded herself that she spent her days with movie-making owls and bipedal goat men, so this was nothing new.
He stopped at a light post and hung on it from his tail. Hat Kid guessed that he must have been part monkey or something, because he started eating a banana.
"You no-good stowaway!" A man from on the boat shouted.
"Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" The boy shot back.
One of them walked over to him and threw a rock, which missed its target. The two men from the crime scene approached him. "Hey!" One of them said. "Get down from there this instant!"
The boy responded by throwing a banana peel at his face. He laughed, before running up the docks, right past the four. He winked at Blake as he passed, before rounding the corner with the two men behind him. Hat Kid's hat went nuts. He had a Time Piece!
She jumped up and down, drawing Team RWBY's attention, before activating her Scooter Badge and racing off after them.
"Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition. And there it goes." Yang joked.
"And the kid." Blake added.
"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss shouted, before dashing after them, followed by the rest of the team.
Hat Kid sped past the two men.
"Hey! Kid! You stop that man, we'll buy you some candy or something!" One of them yelled.
Hat Kid gave them a thumbs up, before pulling out her Hookshot Badge. Activating it, she shot her umbrella right at the boy's tail, sending him back.
"Hey! Woah!" He shouted. The boy was now side-to-side running with her. She gave him a smug grin, plucked the Time Piece from his pocket, and released the Hookshot.
"Thank you!" She said, turning around and speeding back.
"H-Hey wait! That's mine!" The boy yelled back. He turned around.
"Stop in the name of the law!" One of the men shouted, running at him.
"Daw, forget it." The boy said, rolling his eyes and jumping out of the street onto a building.
"No! He got away!" She heard Weiss cry as Hat Kid sped back over to the group. She saw that Weiss had collided with a girl in orange hair and a green dress.
She pulled up and flashed a cheeky smile while tossing the hourglass in her hat.
"Nice steal, Hat Kid." Ruby said.
"Yeah, nice ride, too." Yang commented. "Maybe I could race you on my bike sometime."
Yang looked over to Weiss and the girl. "Uhh, Weiss?"
Weiss noticed the girl, immediately getting off her and standing up.
"Salutations!" The girl said, smiling but still not getting up.
"Um...Hello." Ruby greeted back.
"Are you...okay?" Yang asked.
"I'm wonderful. Thank you for asking." The girl replied.
There was a pause as they all stared at the girl who was still on the ground.
"Do you...wanna get up?" Yang asked.
The girl seemed to snap back into reality. "Yes." She quickly jumped off the ground and onto her feet.
"My name's Penny." The girl introduced. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby."
"I'm Weiss."
"Blake."
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?"
Blake gave Yang a nudge. "Oh, I'm Yang."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Penny said.
"You already said that." Weiss stated.
Penny blinked. "So I did!" She turned around and eyed the small child with the hat. "And who is this cute little munchkin?"
"Her name's Hat Kid." Ruby told her. "She's cool."
Hat Kid tipped her hat in a form of greeting.
"Well, sorry for running into you." Weiss said, as they started walking away.
"Take care, friend." Ruby added.
Penny looked at Hat Kid, who tipped her hat again, before Hookshotting over to the four.
"She was weird." Yang said.
Weiss nodded. "Now, where did that Faunus riffraff run off to?"
"Is it just me, or did it start getting really cold?" Ruby asked, scooping up Hat Kid, as she liked to be carried.
"What did you call me?"
The group stopped. Penny was right in front of them.
"Oh, I'm really sorry." Yang said apologetically. "I definitely didn't think you heard me."
Blake crossed her arms tight. "It feels really brisk. Like, really."
"No, not you." Penny said. She walked over to Ruby.
"Ohohoh. It is really cold." Yang remarked. "I should stop wearing shorts all the time."
"You." Penny said, leaning in to Ruby, who leaned back while still holding Hat Kid.
Yang suddenly noticed the area around them get extremely dark. "Uhhh, guys?"
"You called me 'friend'. Am I really your friend?" Penny asked.
"Ummm…" Ruby said, looking Blake and Weiss, who were shaking their heads and waving their hands in a definite "no". She then looked over to Hat Kid, who hadn't really been paying any attention, who flashed her a thumbs-up.
"Guys?" Yang said again, eyes wide as plates.
"Yeah, sure. Why not?" She replied.
Both Weiss and Blake fell to the ground.
"Sen-sational!" Penny exclaimed. "We can paint our nails, try on clothes-"
"EVERYONE!" Yang shouted. "Can we please pay attention to the fact that we're in the pecking VOID?!" She immediately covered her mouth and her face turned red.
"Yang, did you just say the 'p-word'?" Ruby asked.
"S-sorry, but look!" She said, pointing.
Blake recognized the purple-black that had formed around them. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
"What?" Ruby asked, looking at her.
"Err, nothing. Just feel like this is going to be another headache." Blake replied.
"WHY HELLO THERE!" A booming voice shook the area. Everyone except for Hat Kid and Blake huddled together with plate-eyes, shivering.
A purple mass snaked out from the darkness, on its front was a yellow face like that of a jack-o-lantern.
"You didn't forget about me? Did you?"
Blake rolled her eyes and put a hand to her forehead. "How could I forget."
"Good, good."
"Blake, you know this...thing?!" Weiss asked.
"He calls himself 'The Snatcher'." Blake replied. "I call him annoying."
"Oh, no need to get so fresh with me, young lady!" The Snatcher scolded. Maybe you've forgotten who's got you in on some contractual obligations. Which reminds me…"
The Snatcher leaned over to come face-to-face with Hat Kid.
"Subcon Well's looking especially dirty, and well, you signed a contract saying you would clean it...so...you know."
"We delivered your dumb stolen mail to your minions last week. Why can't you just give us a break?" Blake asked.
"Break? Ahaha. Aha. AHAHAHAHAHA!" The Snatcher cackled. "DON'T make me laugh."
Blake crossed her arms. "Why don't you just do it yourself?"
"Because then your friend will have no chance of ever getting her precious Time Pieces back, or her soul!"
"Hat Kid doesn't have a soul?" Ruby asked.
"Oh, yes. I forgot. While your here, let me give you another contract." The Snatcher said. He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Hat Kid.
Hat Kid examined the contract.
At this point, the three other girls had just decided that the situation was expectedly unexpected when it came to Hat Kid's world.
"So, what are you doing in Vale?" Yang asked, feeling the need to derail.
Penny, who seemed to be unfazed by anything happening. Looked to her. "I'm here to fight in the tournament."
Weiss walked over. "Wait...you're fighting in the tournament?"
"I'm combat ready!" Penny answered, saluting.
"So basically you just need to go across the bridge to get there."
"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part." Weiss said.
"Says the girl wearing a dress." Blake remarked.
"It's a combat skirt." Weiss corrected.
Ruby slid up to her partner. "Yeah!" They high-fived
"Let me get a blueprint of the manor."
"Wait a minute." Weiss said. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed...rapscallion?"
Blake grit her teeth. She decided to avoid conflict she would look at the contract.
"Enter Queen Vanessa's Manor?"
"The Attic is connected to a stairwell right here." The Snatcher explained, pointing to a blueprint.
"The who?" Penny asked.
"The filthy faunus from the boat!" Weiss exclaimed.
Blake couldn't take it anymore.
"Why do you keep saying that?" Blake asked angrily.
"Huh?" Weiss replied, turning to her.
"Stop calling him a rapscallion. Stop calling him a degenerate. He's a person!" Blake scolded, walking over.
"Well, that's all said and done. You keep leaving the harder contracts for others. Well, who am I to judge?" Snatcher said, stretching his phantom arms.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to a trash can as a trash can, or a lamp post as a lamp post?"
"Stop it!" Blake shouted.
"Woah, what is going on over here?" Snatcher mumbled to Hat Kid.
Hat Kid was also confused. Why were her two friends fighting?
"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time, and he'll probably join up with those other faunus in the White Fang." Weiss stated.
Blake growled. "You ignorant little brat!" She yelled, before storming off.
"Jeez, kid. I dunno what her deal is, or the other one. I'm just gonna go now, see you all later."
"By, creepy ghost." Ruby said.
"I'm not a ghost, I'm a spirit." The Snatcher corrected.
"What's the difference?" Yang asked.
"One's cooler sounding than the other." The Snatcher replied.
"Well then, bye creepy spirit." Ruby said.
"Goodbye! AHAHAHAHAHA!" The spirit cackled, as in dove right through Ruby and phased into the ground.
"Eep!" Ruby squealed. "Okay, that was an unnecessary spook! He didn't have to do that!"
"We should probably go too." Yang said, seeing the two girls standing and arguing.
Hat Kid decided she should go too. She took out her keychain and warped back to the ship.
"Oh, dear! What was that?" Penny asked.
"It's a long story." Ruby said.
Hat Kid tossed her newly acquired Time Piece back in the fuel tank. She decided that now would be a good time to finish the remainder of Snatcher's contracts.
The first job went pretty smoothly, as Subcon Well was easy to find, and a bit too easy to clean. She simply let the water out and watched as the well filled up, sending her flying back out.
Entering the manor, however, was not as easy. A strange shadow in the form of a woman chased her around and just genuinely scared her out of her mind.
Finding the attic, she slammed the double doors shut and blocked them with a wooden board. What did Snatcher want her to do in here anyways? She looked over to the window and saw a Time Piece sitting on a couple of boxes. Grabbing it, she jumped out of the window, using her umbrella to parachute her way down.
She landed and scurried back out of the icy grounds and into the still spooky but much more appealing Subcon Forest.
Snatcher was waiting for her.
"Hey, nice work there, kiddo. That appears to be all the contracts done and done then. I have one more Time Piece for you. Come over to the spot where the toilet used to be when you're ready."
Hat Kid nodded, but then remembered Blake and Weiss. She wanted to check on them to see if they were doing ok.
Hat Kid pulled out her keychain, teleporting back to the ship. She ran over to the TV, focusing her attention on Blake.
She blinked, as she saw that Blake was in her kitchen with the monkey-tailed boy from earlier. Hat Kid immediately jumped up the ladder and into the kitchen. Blake jumped a little off her seat.
"Hat Kid! O-oh, sorry. I know I should have asked you and everything, but I just needed a place to-"
Hat Kid held out a hand to motion for her to stop. She then smiled and ran over, jumping on her lap, before wrapping her arms around her.
Blake seemed a bit surprised at first, then returned the hug. "Good to see you too."
"So, you're the kid who stole my hourglass, huh? That was a pretty neat trick you did, I'll admit." The monkey boy said.
"For the record, they're not yours. They're hers." Blake corrected. "She's collecting them to power her ship so she can get back home."
"You know, under normal circumstances, I'd say you were nuts, but after seeing that I'm on a spaceship, I don't know what to believe anymore." The monkey boy replied.
"It does give you a more open mind." Blake agreed. "So, Hat Kid, since I did invite myself in, would you like any help getting a Time Piece?"
Hat Kid smiled and pulled out her keychain. .
"Put your hand on it, like you did with mine." Blake instructed.
Sun did as he was told, and in a green flash, they stood in Subcon Forest.
"Ugh, this place? Well, I guess it's better than nothing." Blake commented.
"B-b-b-b-blake?" Sun asked, noticing all the ghosts and creepy snakes with masks roaming around. "Where are we?"
"We're in the Snatcher's forest." She said.
Hat Kid gestured for them to follow her. They came upon the area where Blake and Hat Kid had fought the Toilet of Doom.
"S-So, who is the Snatcher?" Sun asked, still visibly frightened.
"He's just some weird spirit who takes souls or something." Blake replied nonchalantly
"That sounds bad!" Sun said, half freaking out. "That sounds really, really bad!"
"Why are you so worked up?" Blake asked.
"I hate g-g-g-ghosts!" Sun said, his teeth chattering.
"Oh, calm down. Snatcher's not that bad." Blake told him.
She noticed a familiar shine on the other side of the arena. "Hey, Hat Kid. I think that's it over there. Weird. No contracts to do?"
Hat Kid shook her head. This one was a freebie. Or at least, she thought it was. She ran over to grab the Time Piece.
"Wait up, Kid."
Blake turned around to see the Snatcher, standing in the middle of the green puddle.
"AAAH!" Sun screamed.
"Shut up!" Blake growled.
"Remember how the old contractor had his head pop off?"
"NO!" Sun whined. "You didn't tell us that! You didn't tell us any of that."
"That wasn't a coincidence. It popped off the moment he stopped being useful to me." The Snatcher continued.
Blake put a palm on her weapon. "Maybe I was wrong about him being that bad." She muttered to Sun.
"You think?!" Sun whisper-screamed.
"And guess who else just became obsolete? That's right. You."
Blake drew her weapon.
"Now that that possesed outhouse isn't bothering me anymore, and all those contracts of yours are tidied away, I don't need any of you around."
Sun, drawing what courage he had left, slowly took out his staff.
"Besides, you didn't think I'd let you keep all these Time Pieces, did you?" Snatcher asked. "They fell in my forest, kid. They belong to ME!"
Sun jumped at the last part.
Snatcher swiped a ghostly hand at Hat Kid, taking her hat and putting it on his head. He let out a sinister laugh, before the atmosphere began to darken untill it was pitch black.
"Time you kids saw what I'm really capable of." He said, his glowing face visible. "Say goodbye to those little heads of yours!"
The darkness subsided, and the arena was closed off in a wall of purple-yellow ectoplasm. Blake and Sun readied their weapons, only to find that they had dissapeared.
"Aw, crap!" Sun shouted. A circle of glowing purple surrounded the floor they stood on.
"Move!" Blake yelled, tackling Sun out of the way in time for a torrent of ectoplasm to explode where they had been.
Meanwhile, Hat Kid was dodging attacks left and right. Snatcher swatted at her and shot ectoplasm every which way. Blake lunged at him, in an attempt to kick him in the face. Snatcher caught it and threw her back to the ground. Sun leaped at him from behind, but instead went right through him.
Hat Kid was a little concerned. Many of the creatures on this world showed they were in a position to be attacked by turning blue.
"You're probably waiting for me to turn blue, aren't you?" Snatcher asked as if he read her mind. "Sorry, kiddo. Blue doesn't suit me. And I guess that makes me invincible, huh? That's too bad! AHAHAHAHA!"
Blake growled and ran over, jumping up with the intent to strike. A torrent of ectoplasm sent her back onto the floor.
Snatcher started throwing containers with a blue substance inside of them, which exploded as they hit the ground.
Blake slowly got up. Her aura was drained. Sun was completley spooked out, huddling in the corner away from all the chaos. Hat Kid was crawling on the floor, a purple circle about to engulf her.
"Hat Kid…" She said weakly. A blue canister missed her, appearing to be a dud, as it had not exploded. She looked at it for a brief moment, remembering what Snatcher had said about blue.
"Hat Kid!" Blake shouted. Hat Kid looked at her, noticing the blue canister. She gathered what strength she had left, and booked it over. Scooping up the canister, she threw it at the spirit with all her might.
The canister smashed over Snatcher covering him with the blue substance.
He stopped all of his attacks and looked at her.
"...Did you just color me blue with my own attack?!" He asked incredulously. "This can't count, right? Surely this doesn't count?"
Hat Kid smirked, before pulling out her umbrella.
"That does it. TIME TO DIE!" Snatcher yelled.
"No. Time for us to WIN!" Blake shouted, leaping at him and giving him a hard punch. Hat Kid followed with a fully-charged Projectile Blast, and Sun jumped in with an uppercut. The three fell down, got up and walked over to each other, everyone catching their breath.
"Nice thinking." Sun complimented.
"Thanks." Blake said. "You alright?"
"Ehh, just feeling glad my head's attached." Sun replied.
Snatcher snaked into the ground, and everything around them turned black again. Blake and Sun's weapons appeared on the floor next to them.
"We'll see how long that lasts." Blake remarked.
A blue glow in the distance caught their eyes.
"I feel...so weak!" The voice of the Snatcher cried.
Blake and Sun quickly grabbed their weapons, and the trio made their way over.
"Please...have mercy." The Snatcher pleaded. Blake narrowed her eyes and readied her weapon. After he tried to kill them? No way! She felt a tug on her shirt. She looked to see Hat Kid who had a pleading look on her face, shaking her head.
Blake looked at the ground. She had to remember that it was more trouble than it was worth to kill a surrendering foe. She looked back up and sighed, putting Gambol Shroud back in its sheathe.
"Please…" The Snatcher continued as the approached.
"HAVE A SEAT!"
Blake, Sun, and Hat Kid found themselves sitting on a wooden bench in front of the Snatcher.
"All these Time Pieces landed in MY forest! They are MY property!" He said angrily.
"No, they're not." Blake countered. "Just because something fell in your forest doesn't mean it belongs to you."
"Speak for yourself…" Sun muttered. Blake nudged him with her elbow.
"Quiet in the back row!" Snatcher yelled. "Now then, let's make a deal, young lady. You get out of my forest, and we never see you again. How's that sound for a deal?"
A contract paper appeared in front of them. Blake examined it.
"Contract: Get out. Terms: Get out, just get out. The following parts of the forest will be available: None of it, get out. Please: Take all your junk and leave." She read aloud.
Hat Kid shook her head. Blake raised an eyebrow.
"Not a fan? Too bad. You don't make the calls around here." Snatcher growled. "Here. I'll even make it easier for you."
He stamped his approval seal on the bottom of the contract.
"Now, all that's left is for you to sign it!" He exclaimed.
Hat Kid looked at Blake, then at Sun, then at Blake again.
"I don't know what other choice we have." Blake told her.
Hat Kid sighed, before taking the feather quill and jotting down her signature. But before she finished the other half, she stopped.
Blake looked at the child. "Having second thoughts?" She asked.
Hat Kid then started scribbling on the contract paper.
Blake leaned in to see what she was doing. Hat Kid had scribbled out the "Get out." And wrote: "Stay and have fun!" She then moved to the terms, scribbling both of them out and writing: "Be nice!"
Blake could hardly contain herself when she realised what Hat Kid was doing. She covered her mouth and tried to breathe normally. She looked up to see the contract again, seeing that Hat Kid had now scribbled out the "Take your stuff and leave." And instead wrote "Be my BFF."
She couldn't hold it in. She burst out laughing.
Sun leaned over and snickered. "My kinda kid."
In secret, Blake envied that childish innocence and forgiveness that Hat Kid seemed to have endless supplies of. She wished the White Fang could forgive the humans as easily as Hat Kid could for a ghost who had tried to kill them.
Hat Kid turned back to the half-signed line below and finished her signature. She handed it over to Snatcher who raised an eyebrow and read it.
"You understand that's not how contracts work, right?" The Snatcher said nervously. "I'm giving you a chance to scram, kid! There's no catches or clauses this time!"
Snatcher thought a moment. "What if I give you your soul back? Will-will that make you leave?"
A purple entity resembling Hat Kid floated over to her, then phased inside of her body.
Hat Kid looked over herself, then back at Snatcher, saying nothing.
There was a pause. Blake had stopped laughing, but was still smiling at her stubbornness.
"Yes? No? Hello? Why aren't you saying anything?!"
Another pause.
"...You're quite the character, aren't you?" The Snatcher said. "And a tough negotiator."
Blake started laughing a little quieter.
"Fine. I'll sweeten the deal." Snatcher relented. He pulled out a familiar shiny hourglass and put it on the floor.
"Here, take my last Time Piece. If I continue to see you around my forest after this, I'll be VERY DISAPPOINTED!"
Hat Kid smiled, and put the Time Piece in her hat. She then tipped it to Snatcher, who floated away. The blackness had faded, and they were standing in the arena, no purple-yellow ectoplasm in sight.
She looked over to Blake and Sun. Blake had a huge smile on her face, and walked over to her, gently scooping her up and giving her a big hug.
"That was the best thing I've seen happen, almost ever." She stated. "Hat Kid, I think you taught me something back there."
She sat down with her on the wooden bench. "See, I don't know if you've figured this out yet, but I'm not...well...I'm not a human."
Hat Kid blinked. What was that supposed to mean?
Blake held on to Hat Kid with one hand and undid her bow with the other.
"See? I have cat ears. Like Sun has a monkey tail. In our world, they call people like us faunus."
Hat Kid seemed to follow this pretty well, which Blake could understand. Cat ears wasn't exactly something she was new to.
"Also in our world, there has been a long history of humans who have done very bad things to faunus, because they are simply faunus." Blake explained.
This Hat Kid did not understand. The Express Owls and the Moon Penguins were long-time rivals when it came to making movies, but the Conductor and DJ Grooves never actually tried to hurt each other.
"I know, it seems silly to you. And to us faunus and humans who understand it does seem that way as well. Which is why we formed an organization to defend our rights called the White Fang." Blake continued. "At first, we were peaceful. But when we changed leaders, the rallies turned more violent, and lots of people were hurt. Soon those humans who oppressed us rallied with us out of fear. Which is why I left."
Hat Kid nodded.
"But you...You showed that something can be won with peace and love, not just fighting. And if more people in the White Fang understood this, maybe they wouldn't be known as a terrorist organization." Blake said. "So thank you."
Hat Kid smiled at her. Sun approached the group and knelt down in front of her.
"Blake's right, kid. A lot of faunus out there who are being oppressed are confused and terrified. If someone like me or Blake gets to them first, they learn to forget and make peace. If the White Fang does, which is more likely, they turn those feelings into blind rage and a need for revenge."
"HEY! Are you still here? Get out! This isn't a bus stop! We had a deal!" Snatcher yelled at them, flying over.
"Oh, heaven forbid we take some time in our lives, you moron." Blake shot back.
"You know, I could just not throw blue stuff at you and then just kill you." Snatcher said in a sinister tone.
"We're going, we're going."
They flashed back onto the ship, then back to Remnant.
Blake, Sun, and Hat Kid looked around them. Men in white uniforms and masks stood in surprise at the three. In front of them was none other than Roman Torchwick. Immediately a barrage of weapons was pointed at them.
"Well this is great." Sun said.
"At least it's not ghosts." Blake remarked.
"Still doesn't change the fact that we might die."
"Don't lose faith in us just yet." Blake chastised. "Hat Kid, you up for one more fight for the day?"
Hat Kid smirked and pulled out her umbrella. Sun did so with his staff, and Blake with Gambol Shroud.
"Let's do it."
Well another long chapter done and done. Sorry it took this long, but I do hope the wait is worth it.