Rogue Huntsman
Acquaintances
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Reinforced concrete cracked and shattered under the impact of my boots, webs of rupturing asphalt rushing across the battlefield to quiet the miserable displays of back and forth combat along the docks.
This was hardly even a scuffle.
White Fang members and students alike grew separated by upturned stone, the docks splitting under my aura to keep the fighting at bay as I walked a clean pathway to Roman at its center.
His weapon had already discharged in the face of Suni Wukong, took me too damn long to even recall the monkey's name, but the bristling flare careened off to the side and diverted into the ground.
The lingering traces of a rifle's gunshot echoed across the docks as a fluttering red cloak draped heavily over the ground behind Ruby Rose. Smoke softly flickered from the end of her scythe's barrel, bleeding sister still in her arms.
Her bullet struck the end of Roman's cane and saved Suni the trouble of paying her entry fee to the afterlife.
I'm impressed she was able to fire so accurately with that many tears cluttering her eyesight.
"Oh, is that you Little Red?" Roman called, swaying his cane off to the side as he placed his free hand on the top of his bowler cap, giving her entry a momentary bow, "I didn't see you over there."
"Give it up Roman!" Ruby called back, keeping her scythe's barrel trained on his chest, "Y-you're surrounded!"
"Am I?" Roman wondered, glancing around to meet the imposing faces of several clusters of upturned asphalt. He was encompassed in a fragmented, circular ring of broken ground.
His men were all groaning on the docks out of his field of vision. The kids had some fight in them, I'll give em that.
"I suppose I am, but oh wait~" Roman's eyes finally fell onto me as I made my way between the split mountains of stone, "Backup seems to have arrived just in the nick of time. Good to see you, Niro."
He made a swift bow to me, flipping off his black hat for merely a moment before twirling it back into place.
"Roman," I greeted simply, stopping just a meter shy of his suit-clad form and putting up a muffled field around us, stifling our words with silence to any onlookers.
"Awe, don't have anything else to say to an old friend?" Roman asked, snugly fitting his cap back into place before gesturing around him, "It's been far too long, kid. Where's the enthusiasm, the pizazz, the emotion?"
"Never needed it unless drinks were involved," I responded, slipping my hands into my pockets as I lifted my gaze to reveal my eyes, "I'm here on business."
"Of course you are," Roman sighed, brushing down the shaft of his cane with his gloved hand to clean it of clinging dust, "Let me guess, you got roped into this joint business venture too. Am I wrong?"
"I'm nothing more than a neutral third party who holds a temporary interest with both sides of the exchange," I elaborated, pulling one of my hands out of my pockets now and withdrawing my scroll, "I'm on nobody's side."
"Freelance, huh? Not many have it in them for that line of work," he replied, taking a step away from an exhausted Suni on the ground and toward me, crumbled stone crunching beneath his gleaming shoe, "I won't lie, having you as an ally would make my job a hell of a lot easier, but not having you as an enemy is good enough."
"Views of necessity are subject to change. But for now, you know where I stand," I returned, taking a step to the side as the two of us met in the field of cratered rock, out of sight of the others.
"She won't be very keen to hear you aren't taking sides in this war right now, but I'm a man who enjoys many things. I certainly enjoy living, so to that end, I won't question your judgment," Roman said, stopping adjacent to me and twirling his cane into his grasp, "What business brings you to my heist?"
"I trust this meeting won't fall on her ears?" I asked.
"My lips are sealed. She won't hear it from me," Roman replied, but his carefree eyes soon hardened within the accents of his black eyeshadow, "That doesn't say she won't eventually find out. You've been inactive for a few years now. Your sudden activity in the network is raising curiosity… and attention."
"I have that covered. It's a necessary sacrifice, after what's come to light," I said, waving off the aggravating eyes of those who cared to pay attention to me and shifting the dock's stone to obscure us further.
Suni was kicked out in the process.
"A lead involving your old man?" Roman asked.
I nodded.
The crime lord before me took a step back and cast his gaze to the side, letting the tip of his cane fall to rap against the brittle ground, "No wonder you're back on the radar. How long's it been?"
"Nearly five years since I inherited The Black Stallion," I replied.
Roman shook his head slightly and reached over, placing a gentle gloved hand on my shoulder before giving it a squeeze, "Kid, even we couldn't find his killer. That incident's been buried in every way imaginable by both the council and the kingdom's officials. If you've finally found something… I don't blame you for pursuing it."
His hat dipped for a moment as he nodded to me, eyes meeting mine in an understanding veil of shadowed emeralds before he let his hand fall.
"But that's all personal business," he continued, turning away for a moment as he walked a few paces to the adjacent wall, "You wanted to meet with me on terms of official business."
He held out his arms as he turned around, sliding on his heel to face me once again before letting his cane rest against his shoulder.
"What does Niro Ezdeil require of Roman Torchwick?"
"I hear you've been siphoning the city dry of its Dust," I started, getting a proud nod from Roman in return.
"Yes, that would be me. It's a painstaking business, but worthwhile for what's ahead."
"I'm not interested in your plans, I just have a request," I continued, gaining his full attention again as I pulled up the screen of my scroll and showed him an image of the Maestro family symbol, one of the wealthiest families in Vale.
The crest was that of a shattered golden jewel. It's glowing hue emitted bolts of electricity, each strand tearing into the borders of the jewel's shell and shining in a reflective pale yellow to stand out from the gold background of the gem.
"Ah, the Maestros, the renowned family to discover one of the largest sources of Lightning Dust ever recorded," Roman replied, placing a swift hand under his chin as he met my eyes, "What business do you have with a wealthy family such as them?"
"My interest lies less on them, and more on their achievement," I explained, closing my scroll and pocketing it, "The location of their findings has been kept under secure guard ever since it was found. I'd like to know exactly where it is."
"Can't you sense it with that Semblance of yours?" he asked.
"If I knew what I was looking for, then I'd be able to pinpoint my goal. But as it stands, I'm only chasing a rumor right now," I said, returning my hands to my pockets as I turned away, "Figured with your interest in Dust, this wouldn't be too far out of your way."
"It won't be…" Roman sighed again, running a glove through his hair after taking off his cap, "But this is the Maestro family we're talking about. They come from a long line of prodigy musicians and conductors. Their newest fortune through Dust was one of the most obscure events to happen in the last century. I'm not saying I can't get this intel for you, but it won't be easy. I'll need compensation, especially since this is out of reach of your girl's information network."
"Call it a favor for a favor," I offered, voice retaining its lax state as I pitched him something he couldn't refuse, "You do something for me, I do something for you. It's a favor you can call in whenever you want, and I'll do whatever it is, within reason."
Roman's eyes practically lit up, almost overtaking the dark eyeshadow brimming their bright shades of green, "You have yourself a deal. I'd have to be insane to turn down a favor from you."
He reached out his hand and I took it firmly into my partially gloved one, confirming our contract with a shake of the hands before separating.
"I'll give you a call as soon as I get the coordinates," Roman concluded, fitting his bowler cap back onto his head before turning fully away, "For now, I believe it's time I flew the coop. Docks will be crawling with cops any minute now, judging by the sounds of those sirens."
Beyond the cracks of our bordered off meeting place, low howls of police sirens echoed out into the night air from somewhere deep within the cityscape.
It seemed the explosions and gunfire attracted the attention of half of Vale's police force.
Firing gatlings guns into pavement and brawlers would do that.
"Be seeing you, Roman. I'll be keeping an ear out for your call," I replied, giving Roman's form a small nod as he walked away.
"Don't forget about that favor you offered, kid. Destiny might have it that I'll be calling it in real soon. We'll see," Roman responded, giving me a wave over his shoulder before he slipped out of some recently opened cracks of our entrapment and disappeared.
"Favors are something I never forget…" I muttered.
A few moments later, one of the bullheads descended from the sky and landed behind a stack of containers, picking Roman up inside its central compartment before taking off.
His and one other were the only two remaining bullheads to make it out of the confrontation unscathed.
My business here was done.
The upturned pieces of the docks soon sunk back into the ground, residual dust quickly kicking back into the air before slipping back inside the cracks I previously ripped up.
Before long, the entirety of the docks was back to the way it was before I landed.
Oh… right… someone was bleeding out.
I made my way over to Ruby and Yang, the blonde's unconscious frame cradled in the reaper's arms with crimson blood pooling out around her knees. Its potent scent of iron permeated through the air in droves, enough so to bring any straying attention straight to the half-sisters.
As solemn as that was for Ruby, it only proved to wrap a small battalion of other students loosely around their spot on the ground.
Only one cast their glance up to me.
And that was Ruby herself.
All around her, a soft green glow overtook the shadows of her bangs and swept around Yang's weak body. A circling glyph of swirling motifs and symmetrical designs shimmered to life, emitting a resonating ring as the two within its grasp glowed the very same hue.
"That's the third one…" Weiss breathed out slowly, aura dwindling into the red.
For someone who stayed back for that whole fight, she played a surprisingly prominent role with her supportive glyphs throughout the whole endeavor.
"Is there anything you can do?" the reaper asked as I approached, Weiss's energy fading away as she used up the final remains of her accessible aura to try and heal the girl in Ruby's arms.
Do I look like a healer? Do you want me to twirl a staff, fan out my glowing wings, and heal your sister's wounds with a potent tether of golden light?
No, that was Anoel's job, or even Skyla's.
I don't save people… I can only hurt them.
Instead, I kept walking forward, more and more eyes soon falling on my silent form as I knelt down. Dipping my right knee into the warm liquid seeping into the stones of the dock, I scooped Yang into my own arms and stood.
"She'll be in Beacon's infirmary wing, rightmost building on campus from the gate, room 37."
And then I was gone before they could blink.
Anoel spent the rest of the night and the following day trotting through town, slipping through back alleys with her wings to find a suitable location to lay her trap.
Three museums down, two armories, and finally, the Valean Treasury.
She walked up to the treasury at dusk, staring up at its black metal gate and watching it bristle with high voltages of electricity.
The pathway to the front columns and foyer was guarded by several automated watchtowers with live guards patrolling the yard and stone walkways. Cameras were installed on every corner, every wall was outfitted with mechanical sentries, sensory lasers strung together in every entryway, and even the building itself had a magnetic disruptor that acted as a shield to prevent any external electrical signals from reaching anywhere past its outer gate.
The treasury itself was all guarded by watchful AI androids and target-marking cameras. All sensory systems within the building were upped in every way, marking up the rooms themselves and the treasures inside with a web of invisible, moving lasers and heat sensors.
It was the perfect place for who Anoel had in mind. This place was so tantalizing… it was impossible for her to pass this up.
With that thought, Anoel slipped inside and made her way to the most valuable object in the entire Valean Treasury.
An incredible gem rested before her eyes, glistening under the dim lights of its display case at the center of a circular, gold-embroiled room.
A fist-sized emerald, easily worth over 3 million Lien, unmarred and flawless in its bulletproof encasement.
This was the most secure display out of the rest of the treasures on show, let alone in storage.
Anoel opened the encasement, readjusted the pressure-sensitive plate beneath the gem to offset it with an additional few milligrams, and slipped a small cardstock note into place right beneath the gem itself.
Then she left.
By the time she finally planted her note, the day was gone and night fell across the city again. She made for Niro's bar once she left the main gate.
With that in place, she sent Ray's cousin a short text about a certain building's security entering a very rare window of maintenance for the next half-hour. If she was quick about it, she'd be able to get her hands on one of the most valuable treasures in Vale, if not the most valuable.
It was the perfect bait, but it wasn't just to reel her target in. Anoel hadn't seen that girl for so long now… She wanted to catch up, now that she knew she was in town.
But what was the use in that if she didn't test her skills first? A thief losing their delicate touch? That was unheard of…
The head info-broker dipped down the street to Niro's bar and strolled in, the bar itself alive and bustling, despite it being so late in the night.
Yesterday's incident at the docks was easily ignored now, all new intel still feeding into her scroll about the event from her information brokers across Vale just filtered uselessly away.
The other ranks in the network could deal with that right now.
She waited there for an hour.
One of the downsides of having fire coursing through your veins was the inability to intoxicate yourself. With all its enviable perks and subtle immunities, it sickened Anoel sometimes when she couldn't dull her senses…
Even by the smallest margin. It would make things easier if she could.
The info-broker sat there, swirling a cool, icy glass around on its bottom edge and staring into its dark, amber hue.
She watched as a potent mixture of bourbon, whiskey, and water gently lifted against the edges of her glass and chimed with the soft clinking of freshly submerged ice, barely a sip taken.
Several more glasses of the same variety sat empty to her right, close to the center of the dimly lit booth table she waited in.
Any bustle and talk outside of her immediate senses were pushed out of her mind, her eyes having slightly lost their subtle brightness in the wake of yesterday's hack.
"Hey, Turq! Go stand by that dartboard!"
"What for?!"
"Here! Take this apple with you!"
"What the hell am I supposed to do with-"
"Don't worry, it'll be fun!"
Or rather, she only pushed out the less entertaining portions of her surroundings. The dull chatter of Niro's regulars didn't pique her interest like it usually did. Instead, she found herself waiting in a small bout of impatience.
"You'd think she'd be quick about a find like that…" Anoel muttered quietly, letting the bottom of her glass fall flatly to her booth's table before stealing a sip from its glistening rim.
The atmosphere of the room fell on deaf ears once more… save for the high-pitched shriek of someone across the room, then the thud of an apple.
"She's lost her touch," Anoel lamented.
A soft echo of sirens filtered through the walls of Niro's bar, nothing unlikely with where The Black Stallion was built.
Downtown western Vale wasn't the place for happy go-getter workers or residential families. This was the district for under the table trading and trafficking of goods and information. Mainly, though, it just served as the focal point for Vale's information network.
Something she herself heads and maintains, especially with its connections to the other three kingdoms.
"My eye!"
"I told you you'd be fine!"
The sirens were getting louder, screeching through the closed door of the bar's front face as Anoel turned and watched the glass windows rattle.
Police cars slipped by her field of vision, rushing down the dark street outside in dashing blitzes of blue and red lights.
"Damn, think a robbery just went down?"
"Nah man, no one's dumb enough to try that with the new security measures on the market."
"New AI droids finally got instated?"
"Only for stuff worth protecting."
"Ah, so like your mother's panty drawer?"
Another shriek slipped out into the quieter atmosphere of the bar as several more roaring engines passed the establishment's windows.
Anoel could only pick up her glass again as she tipped it into the passing lights from outside, "Well, at least she found it."
The long line of pursuit vehicles seemed to pick up pace and quantity, rushing by in even faster blurs before Anoel quirked a delicate eyebrow and turned her attention back to the front window...
"Oh… there she is…" only to see the window to the right of the door crash inward, shattered glass scattering across the floor.
Anoel waited a few moments before she gave the floor by the window a small, expectant wave, setting her drink down with her other hand.
A 5'5 heat signature finally stood up and brushed itself off, shaking strands of short hair out of its eyes before moving toward the bar.
Her heart rate was running rampant… and Anoel just watched as the invisible girl's diaphragm shook with labored breathing.
Fallen glass soon fit itself back into place behind her, floating and reforming the once broken window, but going entirely unnoticed.
"You couldn't have used the door?"
"Sorry, Niro," the heat signature returned, slowly decloaking as she strolled her way to the corner stool.
The girl's invisibility silently melted away as she took her small strides, a stark white duster coat now appearing in the light of the bar, enveloping a tight t-shirt of the same color. The article's tails flowed to the middle of her thighs, lapping against her legs as she came into view.
Distressed, faded blue jeans flashed across the way, letting lilac, high-top canvas shoes pad along the wooden floor before Anoel watched Niro rest his arms on the bar's countertop.
"Thirsty?" he asked, shining lime green emeralds glancing to the opalescent pink eyes of The Black Stallion's newest entry.
"Water," she replied quickly, brandishing her response with a small nod.
He nodded and fetched a glass from the shelf behind him, sliding a drink of quickly filled ice water across the table to the girl at the corner.
She smiled her thanks and tipped the glass up, downing its entire contents in just a few short seconds.
"Thanks."
"Use the door next time."
The girl licked her lips and slid the ice-filled glass back, pushing away from the bar, "Noted."
Those opalescent eyes fixed themselves on the furthest corner of the room as the girl made her way across it, slipping past whispers and staring gazes to make her way to her acquaintance in its booth.
The chatter in the room finally returned to normal as she left the other residents behind and made it to Anoel's side.
A fluttering piece of paper soon dropped to the table in front of the info-broker smirking up at the shorter girl.
"Cute love letter, maybe you should add some little kisses next time," the girl spoke, dropping her hands to the holsters running around her waist and unbuckling them.
"Little symbols never beat the real things," Anoel replied, sliding into her circular booth and pushing aside her drink, "Did breaking in really take that long, Lylac?"
Lylac dropped her holsters to the cushioned seat beside her as she slid in, light reflecting off two bronze six-shooters resting snugly inside them.
"No, but the three mile sprint to get here did."
"Weird, you always seem to have a lot of stamina in bed. Can't get in a few runs every once in a while?" Anoel asked, leaning back into the rounded booth's corner as she let Lylac press into her side.
"I think we both know that running from cop interceptors and the casual business we get to behind closed doors are two very different things, Ano," she stated, wrapping her arms around Anoel's own.
"They're both healthy and give you a nice workout, Ly," Anoel replied with a small smirk, "And they're both fun on several levels."
Lylac smirked in response, "Can't deny that, but it's still a pain in the ass. Especially when there isn't any kind of getaway vehicle."
Anoel shrugged and rested her hand on Ly's thigh, "I'm not really into that, but try lube next time."
Ly chuckled in return, "Very funny, Ano. But those cops really were relentless."
"Not as relentless as I can be," Ano replied, smirk curling across her lips.
"True… but I'm not into that kinda kink either. Don't get me wrong, I love backdoors into security, but not that kind of backdoor."
"You're not alone, I tend to avoid it. I'm not that adventurous either," Anoel rested her cheek in the palm of her hand, letting her eyes fall to Ly's slightly tanned skin and glistening cleavage pressed into her arm, "Looks like you've been in Mistral."
"Needed a vacation. We'd been working nonstop for months, figured we could use the break."
"Six years wasn't enough of a break for you?"
"Those years have been hell. I wouldn't exactly call it R and R."
"I suppose not… looks like you've been pretty busy," Anoel sighed, letting her slim hand wander down to pull Ly's legs up and lay them across her lap, "But… you two could've remained hidden for as long as you needed. What brought you back onto the grid?"
"Necessity. I'm sure you already know of the piece by now? Beacon's impossible to break into unnoticed, even for me. If there was any kind of other method, I would have figured it out by now." Ly's head rested against the padded back of the seat before rolling onto Anoel's shoulder, relaxing into the new position and taking full advantage of her new access to Anoel's slender neck and collarbone.
The info-broker let out a short breath and tilted her head away, revealing more of her pale skin and giving the girl free reign, "What makes you so sure the piece is in Beacon? You've been misled before by false leads…"
Ly distractedly danced her lips across Ano's porcelain skin before pulling back for a moment, "That's because my uncle told me himself."
"Orion himself, huh?" Anoel closed her eyes and let her hands explore the two lithe legs nestled overtop her own, "I suppose that's why Ray was so quick to join Beacon."
"Trust me, even with that knowledge, it was still a challenge to convince him," Ly replied, voice falling into a mutter as she nipped Anoel's collarbone, "As stubborn and bone-headed as his father ever was…"
"He doesn't fall too far from the Chroma tree, anyone can see that," Anoel said, nuzzling Ly's soft, blonde hair for a moment before leaning away, voice growing low, "Especially when something piques his curiosity…"
The lilac tips of Ly's hair swayed as she turned to face Anoel directly.
"What's he done now?" she asked in a groan, raising an eyebrow.
"He hacked my little sister."
"Little-Ano?"
Anoel nodded.
Ly pinched the bridge of her nose before brushing her hair behind her right ear, turning her head away for a short moment, "When I told him to make at least one friend, I didn't think he'd choose something as stupid as this…" she sighed, "What's the damage?"
"Nothing too severe, just rattled. He played the Sentinel card on her, and since she doesn't know about that whole grain of truth yet, it hit her pretty hard," Ano replied softly.
"I doubt he would raid any of her data, much less take her money. Though, if any data was taken, he would have long since deleted it. Sparrow has been someone he's been rather merciful towards, in comparison to the others, at least."
"How many copycats has he come across?"
"You want specifics?"
"It'll save me from prying," Anoel returned.
"Too many. A little over 200 if the AI's information is accurate. Every single one of those poor bastards stripped of their reputation, money, and other essential things needed to survive."
Anoel sighed in annoyance, "Couldn't he have just piggybacked her post history? She owns that whole blog of hers, after all. Would it have been so hard to just trace her account info through there and find a link to her scroll?"
"I think the issue has something to do with the fact that A: He's lazy and doesn't like to pry if it isn't of immediate importance, and B: Beacon's network rests on a whole other grid. He'd need access to that before he could trace it so easily."
"So hacking her was just for the kicks and giggles of it then…" Anoel brushed her delicate fingers up the jeans of Ly's inner thighs, gently caressing the fabric there, "He's inherited too many traits from his father. It's uncanny."
"I won't deny that he probably did it for fun," Ly gasped softly, letting Ano spread her legs apart, "but Ray wouldn't have done it if he didn't deem it so 'necessary', as he puts it. No doubt you know of his 'abnormality'?"
"You mean that thingy in our heads that gives us the urge to please ourselves with other women?" Anoel gave a sly smirk as she grazed the pads of her fingers over Lylac's pants zipper, "Of course I do… if only his kinks at least spanned somewhere beyond technology and hard-drives. I swear, he gets off from hacking into anything he can get his mind wrapped around."
"You're not wrong, but it's a little bit more complicated than that," Ly pointed out, letting her left leg fall from Anoel's knees and locking its ankle around the info-broker's own.
"I know, but nothing changes what happened."
"I won't disagree with you there, he needs to be more careful. Playing with fire is most definitely going to get him burned." Lylac spared a moment to offer a playful wink in Ano's direction.
"Hmm, funny," Anoel stole a chaste kiss from Lylac's cheek before letting her smile fall, "I've already given him my first warning."
Lylac's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, eyes registering a moment of worry before she blinked the thoughts away.
"I assure you that your second one won't be necessary, knowing you like I do, you're scary when it comes to Little-Ano. Chances are that he's now just going to avoid her like the plague. And you, for that matter."
"You and I both know that I'd rather he keep his distance from Arex, but he's already contracted her for a job. I don't like getting between my sister and her interests. Until that's done and over with, I have a feeling I at least won't be seeing any of him for a while."
"Six years of hiding gifts one with many talents, most of which associated with staying remote. She'll get the money, no problem, but if she's after a face-to-face conversation, she's gonna be out of luck."
"Arex always prefers scroll transactions over physical meetings anyway, so nothing lost there. Even high-ranking official contractors have never seen her face."
Lylac chuckled, "That makes two of them."
Anoel let Ly's soft chuckle tickle her ears as she glanced across the room, casting her eyes over a sea of onlookers to catch Niro busily working away to tend to several more patrons, "Care to let a girl buy you a few drinks?"
"Well, I wouldn't say no. It's been a long night, after all," Lylac's hand dove inside her coat pocket before pulling out a fist-sized green gem, "Will this be sufficient payment? I have four of them already."
Anoel glanced to the glittering glass stone and smiled, "It'll do. Niro likes anything of that color, but he'll accept it either way for payment. Would you be willing to make your night even longer for me?"
She… had several more questions they never touched on yet.
"My apartment needs cleaning, but I suppose it can wait," Ly sighed, letting the gem rest on the table before climbing fully into Anoel's lap, straddling her.
"Need any help with that?" Ano asked, glancing up into Ly's eyes and letting her sit back once she got comfortable, "Cleaning can be a hassle."
"Only if you're offering, but I doubt it would get any cleaner with us there together," Ly replied earnestly, reclaiming Anoel's neck again as she leaned herself into her acquaintance's body.
"I'm offering, and I'm sure we'll figure it out. We have all night to."
Lylac is created and owned by 'HydraFlow', and his collaboration with this chapter helped map out her entire dialogue with my character. So, he helped write that last scene, information-wise. Several of the actions were added after the matter.
Hope it wasn't too heavy.
On a side note, casually downplaying things is fun, and has become one of RH's key styles. Way too much of that took place this chapter XD.
I see no problem with that.
Oh, right, Roman was a thing. Yeah, he knows Niro. They have history.
For now, Favorite and Follow.
I look forward to seeing REVIEWS for this. You'll be introduced to a LOT of concepts of mine. Feel free to give me your thoughts.
Cya XP