Alright here we are with Chapter 3 Everyone. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. And dam… I don't know if over two thousand views in 2 updates is considered good but wow. At least people seem to be interested in the story.
Reviews:
TheRealCactcoos: You better believe that this would screw up the cannon timeline. That's hopefully what will happen should I ever get there. As for ideas, just pm me or leave a review.
Eccoolasice: That is a very valid gripe to have about this story and I have only 2 reasons why there isn't more suspicion from cinder. 1: she's only six and has only just found someone who treats her like a human being so she has become very clingy rather than distrusting and 2: that's not really the dynamic I was going for in this story. Hope that answers your gripe.
Now then. On to the chapter.
Chapter 3: Even Roses Wilt
-2 months after the previous chapter, Mason's house-
It was dark outside. Snow was falling and smoke rose from the chimney of Mason's home. Inside a fire roared as Cinder sat wrapped snuggly in a blanket. Mason sat in a chair nearby with a book in his hands, reading to Cinder.
"And so, the four maidens left the old man's home to journey across Remnant. Spreading their gifts and bringing the seasons to everyone. The End." Mason said as he closed the book. "Well? How was it?"
The only reply Mason received was the light snoring coming from Cinder.
"Heh guess you had a long day, huh?" Mason scooped up his daughter and brought her to her room. He set her in her bed and made his way back to the living room sitting in front of the fire again.
Mason sighed contently. Up to this point he had been doing a reasonably good job of raising Cinder. He had gotten her over her fear of fire and she had gained some weight, no longer looking like a starving child. There was still the issue of her fearing her semblance, but he would figure that out when the time came.
Speaking of her semblance, he still had no idea how she had unlocked her aura in the first place. Supposedly one's aura didn't unlock without outside help or intense training. His best guess at this point was that she had unlocked it through a sheer will to survive while she was living on the streets.
He had had Neir run a scan while she had accidentally used her semblance a few times and had come to a discovery. She wasn't generating fire like a guardian's using Sol light, but was instead using glyphs to summon fire. From what he could tell the glyphs she made were small and hard to see, so it was easy to think she was spontaneously bursting into flames. They reminded him of the glyphs of the Schnee family. He would have to look more deeply into the Schnee glyphs to see if he could use any of the information to help his daughter.
"Neir?" Mason said.
The ghost materialized in front of Mason and hovered in the air. "Yes Mason?"
"See what you can find me on the Schnee family semblance. And while you're at it see, if anyone has contacted us for any jobs they want done, we're running out of dust we can use to synthesize glimmer from."
That had been a lucky break when they had discovered that dust could easily be broken down into glimmer. Neir and Mason spent several days after that discovery working on building a glimmer synthesizer where they could convert dust into the programable matter.
Neir shook back and forth. "Sorry Mason but I can't get you much information on the Schnee semblance. Most of that data is held in a closed computer system at the Schnee estate in Atlas. I'd need direct access if you wanted detailed information. All I can tell you right now is that they seem to be a sort of projection glyph."
"Guess we'll have to sneak in then, next time we're over there." Mason said moving towards the kitchen.
Neir floated after him. "As for any jobs, it's only the usual. Information gathering, burglary, and unfortunately you have another assassination request."
"Any of them from notable people?" Mason asked as he turned on the stove to make some hot chocolate.
"No but you did get a request from the new kid on the block. Oddly he gave us his name, Roman Torchwick. Says he wants you to be one of his henchmen in a dust raid." Neir projected a picture of a man in a white suit with orange hair and a cane.
"Kid's got balls. I'll give him that. Not many people approach me right out of the gate and I'm still technically new to all this." Mason stirred the pot. "How much dust are we talking here? A truckload? A warehouse full?"
Neir shook again. "No just a small store."
"Ha. The kid's paranoid his first heist will mess up. Send him a message stating my refusal. Tell him to come seek me out when he has something bigger planned and has a bit more of a reputation." Mason smirked.
"Now what was that about an assassination request? They should know that I don't do those. Yet at least." Mason let a hint of malice enter his voice. "I haven't even finished putting together a black book with minimum prices for specific targets."
Neir made a nodding motion. "Yes. As usual the request was anonymous with a price fitting for the target. And let me tell you, if you complete this we are set for years. That's probably why they sent it to you, hoping the money would entice you."
"Oh? Who do they want dead and how much are they paying?"
"Several million lien, and a half a ton of Schnee refined dust. They want you to go after the White Rose. Formally known as Summer Rose, leader of the huntsman team STRQ."
Mason was quiet but Neir could tell his anger level was rising.
"Tell me Neir…" Mason said in an even tone. "I have sent out my policies for what I do and when my services become available. Correct?"
"Yes, you have."
"THEN WHY IN THE TRAVELERS NAME DID THEY THINK I'D DO THIS JOB!" Mason exploded. "THEY KNOW I HAVEN'T OPENED UP MY SERVICES TO ASSASSINATION YET, THEY KNOW I DON'T ATTACK LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND THEY SURE AS CROTA'S DICK KNOW I DON'T TOUCH HUNTSMEN, LET ALONE ONE AS FAMOUS AS SUMMER ROSE!"
"Mason calm down it's-" Neir tried to say but Mason cut him off.
"NO! I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! HOW MANY DAM TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL THEM! THIS IS, WHAT, LIKE THE FIFTIETH TIME? I MAY BE A CRIMINAL BUT GOD DAMMIT IF I DON'T HAVE STANDARDS! THEY WANT INFORMATION? FINE! THEY WANT SOMETHING STOLEN? JUST MAKE SURE YOU PAY ME! HELL, I'LL EVEN-"
Mason was cut off by a tight tug on his shirt.
"Dad?" Cinder rubbed the sleep from her eyes and brushed her hair out of her face. "Why are you yelling at Chocolate?"
Mason looked down at Cinder, his anger fading quickly, before letting out a sigh. "Sorry sweetie. Daddy isn't yelling at Chocolate, just a bit frustrated at the moment."
"Are stupid people annoying you again?" Cinder yawned.
It was not the first time she had seen him loose his cool. As a matter-of-fact she helped calm him down most of the time whenever his temper got the better of him.
Mason let out a tired chuckle before giving his daughter a hug. "Yeah. Stupid people want stupid things."
Cinder hugged him back. "It's ok Dad. They're stupid."
Mason let out a more cheerful laugh. "Yeah they are."
Mason withdrew from the embrace of his daughter and they made their way back to the living room and sat quietly in front of the dwindling fire, Cinder wrapped in a blanket on Mason's lap.
"Hey Dad?" Cinder asked.
"Mmm?"
"You're warm." Cinder snuggled into Mason as mason let out a light laugh.
"Really? I wonder why?" Mason smiled, before holding out his hand and creating several small wisps of flame.
Cinder watched as the wisps gently bobbed around them.
"Pretty…" Cinder lightly said. "Hey Dad? Can you show me how to do that?"
"Mabye when you're a bit older." Mason ruffled her long black hair. "It's very difficult and can be dangerous."
Cinder huffed. "I'm six years old. I'm strong enough. You'll see."
Mason laughed again gently hugging his daughter. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see for you to prove me wrong."
They sat quietly in each other's arms in front of the fire for some time before Neir spoke out.
"Mason! We have movement on the scanners outside." Neir sounded worried. "The snow storm is disrupting the signal so I can't get a clear picture but whatever is out there, there is a lot of it."
Mason's expression turned sour. "You would think that the grimm would have learned to stay away from here by now."
Mason and Cinder stood up and made their way to the door.
Donning his cloak, winter boots, and a strange iron knights helmet, Mason turned to his daughter. "Wanna watch your old man fight some monsters?"
Cinder's eyes glowed in admiration. "Yeah!"
"Then go grab your coat. It's cold outside."
A moment later the two were standing on the snow-covered porch. Cinder was bundled up in her orange parka and boots. Mason pulled out his old hand-cannon and stepped off the porch into the falling snow. Sounds of a fight could be heard approaching the house from the forest.
"Cinder. Stay here. You can watch but I don't want you getting hurt." Mason said scanning the clearing.
A moment later Mason moved out, and not a moment too soon. Just as Mason stepped away from his home several figures burst through the tree line. The black bipedal creatures stood up, their red eyes pricing the white vale through the bone protrusions on their bodies. The Beowulves stood from where they had been knocked down, two of them didn't instead slowly dissolving into black mist.
"Oh, there sure are a lot of you this time. Well come on! Let's dance!" Mason said to the monsters.
They ignored him and ran back into the tree line towards the sounds of battle.
"HEY!" Mason yelled indignantly before charging after them. "DON'T IGNORE ME!"
Mason raced after the grimm. Dodging around trees and weaving under branches he chased the grimm until he came to another clearing in the forest. The Beowulves he had been chasing disappeared into the storm as he took in the sight around him.
All around him were the dissipating corpses of fallen grimm. Dozens of Beowulf corpses littered the ground. Here and there several Ursa lay slowly dissolving into smoke. Towards the edge of the clearing sat the tails of three Deathstalkers, the rest of their body's having dissolved. Long feathers peppered the clearing, the only sign that Nevermores had joined the fight.
In the center stood a short figure. A torn white cloak hid most of the figure's body but judging by the blood on its white fabric and the snow around them, whoever this was hadn't come out unscathed from the encounter.
Mason whistled "Hooooo boy. I haven't seen this many corpses since we tried to take back the moon."
The figure turned around slightly, just reveling the side of its face, at the sound of his voice. Looking back at Mason was a woman with black hair with red tips. For all Mason knew, that could be blood but his time here on Remnant had drastically changed what he considered normal hair. She was pale and had bright silver eyes.
"I take it this was your doing?" Mason asked.
The woman said nothing. A gust of wind blew by ruffling both figures cloaks, revealing the woman's blood-stained clothing and missing arm.
The woman seemed to let out a sigh before turning away. She extended something, a weapon by the looks of it, and used it as a walking stick before slowly walking off.
"Hey!" Mason strode towards her. "You're hurt! Stop and let me-"
Mason went to reach out but the woman collapsed not five steps from where she had been standing. He ran to the fallen woman and rolled her over. From a distance, all Mason could see was the missing arm, but now that he was right next to her fallen form he could see just how bad everything really was.
"Holy…" Mason muttered almost silently.
The woman had been wearing a red and black combat skirt, emphasis on had. What was left was nothing more than rags. Massive cuts and gashes crisscrossed the woman's abdomen and organs could be clearly seen through some of the deeper gouges. The missing arm was torn off at the shoulder and the woman's left foot was bent in such a way that the toes were pointed backwards. Her right arm was missing chunks of flesh, likely taken by attacking Beowulves. A Massive bruise had formed at her mid left thigh indicating a broken femur. Her face was covered in blood from a large cut somewhere in her hair and a part of her cheek had been torn off exposing her teeth.
"Traveler… Not even a titan would be able to stand after something like this…" Mason said. "Neir, I'm probably asking a stupid question but is she even alive at this point?"
The chocolate brown ghost appeared and scanned the woman for signs of life. "Negative Guardian. There are no signs of life."
"Dad?" A voice called out from behind Mason.
"Cinder? What are you doing out here? I told you to wait on the porch?" Mason turned to look at his daughter through the falling snow.
"Well you ran off… and you said I could watch you fight so I thought maybe you wanted me to follow you…" Cinder looked down and poked her gloved fingers together.
Mason sighed. "You should have stayed back but there's no helping it now. Stay there, you don't need to see this."
Mason wrapped the fallen woman with her white cloak before standing. "Best bring her back so we can bury her."
Mason went to pick up the corpse but he stopped. He had heard a cry over the wind.
"Cinder did you say something?" Mason asked.
"No?" Cinder said confused.
"Neir scan the area. What was that noise." Mason said trying to see through the snow.
The ghost bobbed in acknowledgement before expanding into a blue ball, releasing a pulse every three seconds.
"Edge of the clearing just to the north, I'm detecting a small lifeforce." Neir said before collapsing into his normal form.
"Cinder follow me. I don't want you to wander off." Mason said.
Cinder nodded and trotted over next to her father. A moment later the duo was next to the tree where Neir had detected the life signature.
"Neir? You sure you detected something over here?" Mason said.
"Yes. The scan showed a steady heartbeat near this tree."
"Dad! Look!" Cinder ran a head a few steps before picking something up.
"What did you find Cinder?" Mason said as Cinder walked back, object in hand.
"A basket? What's it doing out here?" Mason peaked into the wicker container as Cinder held it up to him.
Inside was a blanket a small red rose embroidered into it with the word RUBY just below it. Pulling away the top of the cloth he revealed the sleeping face of a young girl who couldn't have been more than a year old.
"Who…" Mason stopped and turned back to the dead woman. "Why in the light did she bring a baby out here?"
"Dad? What's in the basket?" Cinder asked trying to peek into the wicker container.
GRRRRRRRR
Mason ignored his daughters question and looked around. Red eyes were staring at them through the falling snow. Muffled growls could be heard coming from all directions.
"No time! We need to leave! Now!" Mason scooped up his daughter and the basket before sprinting back towards his home. In his rush, he was unable to take the corpse of what was likely the baby's mother.
…
The Next Morning
…
Two people stood over a small patch of freshly dug dirt beneath a large pine tree. A small stone sat squarely in the center with a long metal pole sticking into the ground just behind it. Tied to the pole was a strip of white, bloody, cloth. It was a grave, a grave for an unknown fallen huntress.
After bringing Cinder and the baby home last night Mason had woken up to go and retrieve the dead huntress. What he found was nothing more than her weapon, torn cloak, a few shreds of her combat skirt, and four small shards of bone. Mason had gathered these up and brought them back to his house where he found Cinder feeding the young child they had found.
Mason put weapon in his vault for safe keeping, while the bone fragments and scraps of skirt were put into a small metal tin before it was sealed. Soon after he made his way outside to dig the grave.
Now the grave was complete, with the metal pole and stone serving as a marker, they stood in silence.
Cinder wanted to ask what was happening but her dad looked upset so she decided to keep quiet.
Mason said nothing only looking at the small child held in his arms. The child had the same silver eyes and black hair the mother had and was sleeping peacefully. Wrapped in her mother's cloak the child gently snored.
Mason let out a tired sigh before gently smiling at the sleeping baby. "Well Ruby… Welcome to the family…"
AN
HOOO BOY. That got a bit dark… eh oh well.
Now before anyone gets confused as to why Mason didn't recognize Summer even though he clearly knew who she was earlier in the chapter here's a few reasons why.
1. It was night time and heavily snowing.
2. She was heavily disfigured after her fight with the grimm
3. He was more focused on trying to figure out how to help her more than on who she was.
Anyway, so now Ruby has joined our happy little family and I am happy to announce that I will be going into the cannon storyline! It just won't be for a while since… well everyone has to grow up and there are way too many cute and fun things I can do with two small children and a single dad.
For those who are curious, I am slowly revealing Mason's gear and equipment loadout throughout the story. Currently this is what has been revealed.
Helmet- Iron Companion Mask
Cloak- Cloak of Taniks
Artifact- Memory of Gheleon
Primary Weapon- Lord High Fixer (Hand Cannon Destiny 1)
Ghost- Sugary shell (AKA Chocolate Shell)
Ship- Fatal Vision
And there you go all of Mason's currently revealed gear. Don't worry the rest will be revealed in time as the story progresses. Next chapter will be nice and light, though I can't promise it will be very long since what I have planned isn't very much.
Now a question I pose to you all. What are your opinions on a love interest for Mason/motherly figure for the kids? Personally, I can enjoy writing the story with or without it either way but I figured I'd ask all of you if it would be something you're all interested in seeing.
As always feel free to leave a review and PM me any suggestions for the story. Please, they greatly help boost my confidence.
Have a good one everybody
-Zeak-
