BIRDS OF A FEATHER...
It's been three days since Roman's heist failed, and I've been spending those days cleaning up the tracks he left behind, throwing the police's scent off course. It's also been three days since my employer- or rather, employers have spoken to me. I imagine they'd be panicking by now, not being able to talk to me at all but… they don't seem too hung up about it.
"It's not the fanciest of places, but for our operations, it'll do. I hope of that's alright with you Cinder?"
Roman bowed sarcastically. He lifted his hat up and looked at Cinder with a smug look to which she barely paid any attention too. She carefully scanned her surroundings, calmly examining every inch of the warehouse her eyes was able to snag. Finally, she put her hand on her hips and returned Roman's smug look with her own.
"It'll do for now. Any word on our pest problems?"
Torchwick sighed at Cinder's remarks. He leaned against the table with a map of Vale pinned into it, then crossed his arms.
"You're talking about that huntress and ah… little red right? Unfortunately-"
Before he can finish his sentence, Cinder lifted her hands close to her face and arrogantly examined her nails, cutting Roman off.
"That question wasn't meant for you."
Of course not. It was meant for me.
"How long have you known?"
Both Roman and Cinder looked up at the beam near the warehouse's roof, and saw me kneeling down, with my robe hiding most of my body. Torchwick looked surprised, but Cinder on the other hand- far from it.
"It took me a minute, but I eventually found out. Impressive, to be able to hide your presence for that long."
I jumped down from the beam, stretching my robe in the process, allowing me to glide down and land gracefully on the hard concrete.
"Glynda Goodwitch. That's the name of the huntress that tried to cut your escape a couple of days ago. As for little red..." I glance at an annoyed Roman for a second before continuing on. "Ruby Rose."
Cinder looked at me, unsatisfied.
"Goodwitch. Yes, I know who she is. Ozpin's personal maid. This Ruby Rose, she's important because?"
"Ozpin recruited her personally, two years earlier than most people. It might be irrelevant now, but it could a problem later, no matter how small." I quickly responded.
Still unsatisfied, Cinder pried further.
"Anything else? May I remind you that you lost contact for three days, if all you have for me is information that I already know, and a name of a random girl that MIGHT, might be a problem then-"
I know it's unwise to cut someone like Cinder off mid sentence, but I find it insulting that my reputation is being questioned when I myself is not yet done talking.
"Blake Belladonna, daughter of the Belladonnas, the former leaders of the White Fang, just enrolled at Beacon Academy. She was missing shortly after Sienna Khan took over, and now here she is. I wonder how her presence might affect our employees?"
I tuck my body away inside my robe and started walking circles around Roman and Cinder.
"Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Corporation is also enrolling at Beacon. Pyrrha Nikos. Star athlete, considered as one of the best up and coming fighters in all of Remnant is also heading to Beacon Academy, along with a list of students who are planning to move there in the upcoming months because of the Vytal Festival…"
I stopped myself a few feet away in front of Cinder. I could feel the intensity, the fire that's igniting her soul through her amber eyes, even through my owl mask. To say that the whole ordeal was intimidating was an understatement, but I refused to look away nonetheless.
"Is that good enough for you?"
Cinder chuckled, satisfied, she turned around and walked across the hall and placed her hand on one of the dust filled barrels.
"All this information in three days? I take it back, I apologize for underestimating you. I'm happy I'm getting my money's worth with you OWL, but this information is useless unless we go in further… pursue it deeper… intimately."
One can sense the maliciousness in the tone of her voice, even from a distance, and it is enough to send shivers down the spine of even the most hardened individuals, including myself.
"Understood."
My feelings aside, I know what Cinder is trying to say. All we have are dots in a map that can lead in any direction. In order to make the right turns towards our- her- destination, I need to connect the right dots together. Nikos? Belladonna? Schnee? Could be all three, could be none of them, maybe it's Rose who offers the most straightforward path. For now, it's doesn't matter, in the future? Yes. But navigating through people takes time, an investment my clients are obviously willing to make, or rather, an investment they're willing to pay, and if money is involve, then it's an investment I'm willing to make as well.
In other words, my next course of action is infiltration.
Torchwick, Cinder, and my eyes met and a short silence between the three of us followed after. I took it as a sign that business for today has concluded and I start to walk away, but not before…
"By the way Torchwick, how paranoid are you that you're willing to go to extreme lengths to cover your back."
Roman looked confused, so I open my hands, and extended my arms to my right side. I slowly dragged my fingers while I walked off, as the space beside me began to crumble, revealing Neo who I assume was using her semblance to create an illusion that hid her presence.
The look of shock in both Neo and Roman's face will never get old. Reactions like these are the small things that makes the risk that comes with the job worth it, but their reaction was to be expected, what caught me off guard however was Cinder's laugh and what she said next.
"Paranoia? This coming from a guy who makes it a habit to be overly cautious and observe his prey more than he needs to." Cinder looked at me and Torchwick then looked down on the concrete, amused with the situation she just witnessed.
"Birds of a feather flock together."
Three weeks passed, and I found myself on an airship destined for Beacon Academy. Hijacked of course. Flight time took a couple of hours because of the roundabout route that we took. One can argue that it was longer than what it needed to be, but caution is what kept me alive in this profession, and I haven't found a reason yet to stop my admittedly tedious habit. My pilot, at least, doesn't seem to mind.
"10 minutes till we arrive. Time to put on your disguise, Neo."
At the drop of a hat, Neo's outfit changed into that of an airship pilot's uniform and her hair's split color turned black, the same with her eyes.
"..."
Neo looked up to me while I stood beside her, she may be mute but it's easy to tell what she's thinking right now. Seeing as there's no real reason to hide this part of my plan to my peers, I answered the most likely question that's bugging her mind.
"Ozpin. My information about him was right." I reached in and pulled my notebook out of the pouch attached to my belt and turned the page to Ozpin's profile. "Every year Ozpin invites talented, but less fortunate individuals to Beacon Academy. Orphans for example, and he offers them a home inside the school dormitory so that they can be groomed into hunters and huntresses to 'protect' the people of Remnant."
Neo sneered at the idea of Ozpin's goodwill program, almost sickened by it.
"There's a couple of people on the list, but the slots are limited."
I wave my hand in front of me, and a list of names popped up on the cockpit's glass.
"So I had Cinder take care of the other individuals while I hacked my way into adding myself on the list. My sources say Ozpin never actually visited all of his prospects so I shouldn't raise any suspicion."
I pointed my finger at the middle of list where my name was located.
Seemingly impressed, Neo smiled, but something about her expression tells me she had more questions, though I'm not entirely sure whether it's hers or Roman's.
"You know, for someone who can't speak, you ask an awful amount of questions."
Expecting her to be offended, Neo simply nodded and shrugged her shoulders, probably used to idea of being ridiculed as a mute.
"I know the Academies function on a team system. It'd be wiser to come to Beacon during the Vytal Festival with Cinder and her posse, but that fourth person role is better filled by someone who can conveniently disappear at a moment's notice, and be able to actively change their role. Meaning you Neo."
She raised an eyebrow at me, amazed at the revelation I just told her while I continued my explanation.
"At this point in the semester, teams would have been filled, and the faculty would have no choice but to let me wander from team to team till a slot opens up, which is what I'm after anyways. And if they do put me on a team permanently, I'll manage."
Me and Neo's eyes met soon after.
"I wouldn't be too worried about it. After all, like Cinder said: 'Birds of a feather flock together.'"
As soon as the ship landed, I took off my mask and robe, packing both into my bags and changed into Beacon Academy's god awful uniform. I walked down the airships ramp and immediately noticed a good number of curious students, waiting to see who was arriving at Beacon Academy this late in the semester, so I played my part: a brand new student, half-nervous, half-excited.
"I guess this it cousin, on to bigger and better things!"
I turned around and gave Neo, who conveniently changed her disguise into that of a young woman who look like she lived in poverty all her life, a big hug.
"…"
With a convincingly realistic saddened look on her face, I bid Neo farewell. I flashed a giant smile at her, slung my bag behind my back and ran as fast as I could towards the school entrance. However, it wouldn't take long for me to hit my first roadblock.
Literally.
"OWW! Watch it buddy!"
I was too busy acting all enthusiastic that I forgot to mind my surroundings and bumped into one of the students.
"I-I'm sorry, wasn't really paying any attention there. Ahahaha."
When I looked up, I saw something I never expected to see. It was the sight of woman with a skin so fair, she looked extremely delicate, but the image of her long golden hair emanated nothing but pure confidence and toughness, so much so that it was almost intimidating. Her lilac colored eyes, was absolutely breathtaking, and the look she gave me paralyzed me on the spot. And her smile. Her carefree smile, was the prettiest smile I ever laid eyes upon. Looking at her beautiful face made feel so warm, it almost felt like I was melting.
"Hey, HEELLLOOO?" She waved her hand right in front of my stunned face. I tried to talk back, but my mouth was dry. I imagine it would be, now that I realize my jaws were hanging this whole time.
"Are you okay there bud?"
She asked. Still reeling, I somehow managed to gather enough of my composure to cough up a reply.
"Y-y-yeah, YEAH, yeah. I'm good… uhm, y-you?"
She stood up the same time as me. She bent forward and dusted her knees, completely ignoring my stutter.
"Yeah I'm fine. Peachy. You new? Haven't seen you around before."
It took me a minute to answer back, even longer to realize that I was staring at her. Not that she minds at all.
"Hmm?"
I couldn't tell if it was actually happening or not, but I'm fairly certain that I'm blushing, so I instinctively looked away.
"Yeah, professor Ozpin's goodwill.. something, something… program… ahehehe."
She leaned in close to my face, with a curious look on hers. She stared at me for what seemed like an eternity till she finally pulled herself back. She casually placed her hand on my shoulder and flashed the brightest and biggest grin I've ever seen in my life.
"Cool. Well, I'll see you around new kid. Try not to bump into anyone else while you're walking around."
And with that, she was off.
"Sure..."
A gust of wind began to blow in my direction, brushing against my skin, sending shivers down my spine. My gut tells me it's a sign, and in all my years of being in this profession, that usually means trouble was in the horizon... but this time around...
It feels different… it feels… warm.