With a soft sigh Xanthic lounged in the hallway, his back sliding down the wall. He had once again been shunned out of the infirmary. He was able to hear the conversation on the other side of the door, apparently Dan was well enough to attend classes again in a few days. They were just keeping him for formalities at this point, making sure his wounds wouldn't reopen. It also sounded like Dan and Moonracer were complaining about the fact that the police hadn't gotten anywhere in their investigations. "At least he's doing better now…" Xanthic mumbled.
"Remind me again why you even care," Nivens responded.
"A-am I not sup-posed to?"
"Sure, why not. It's just you're not friends, he doesn't even like you, so why waste your breath on him?"
"We-well he's like Prongs, right? The only re-reason he hates me is my name."
"Your point being? That just makes him worse, doesn't it?"
"I-I don't know…" He hugged his legs and rested his forehead on his knees, "I just wi-wish that faunus wouldn't hate me s-so much…"
"Well I'm pretty sure Owen doesn't have anything against you and one of the lions likes you just fine."
"Huh? Do you mean Moonracer?"
"Sure, let's go with that. Though it's true, you wouldn't choose to study with people you don't like."
"Ye-yeah, I guess…"
"But you know if it really bothers you that much you could always stop lying to everyone."
"Y-you know I can't!" Xanthic exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
"I know you choose not to."
"It's t-too late though…"
"Who're you talking to Xan?" Olive asked from the now open door.
Xanthic jumped, "N-nobody! Ju-just thinking outl-loud."
"Aw… How rude," Nivens feigned offense.
"I didn't-" Xanthic's voice was barely audible.
"Yeah yeah, just get on with however you're gonna waste your day."
Xanthic sighed and stood up. The four of them returned to their dorm and spread themselves out amongst the desks and beds. "I'm glad Dan got better so quickly…" Amelia said hoping to break the silence.
"Me too, but," Riliane turned roughly in Xanthic's direction, "Doesn't it bother you that they won't let you in?"
"Huh? N-no…" Her partner responded meekly, "Well, kinda I su-suppose… But it's the-their choice, so I do-don't wanna be a bo-bother."
"Nonsense," Olive decided. "You two would get along great if you gave each other a chance."
"You get along fine with the other three, so doesn't it just make sense for you and Dan to at least try and be friends?" Riliane agreed.
"Ma-maybe you should tr-try and convince him first…" Xanthic said with another sigh.
"To be honest, I kind of doubt he'd even consider it," Amelia pointed out quietly.
"Hmm… We just need to find some way to get him to give you a chance," Riliane thought out loud. "Oh! You've had to make deals with people you don't exactly like before right? How'd you do those?"
"Y-you mean for work?" She nodded, mostly facing her partner. "Um… Well he ne-never lets me talk long enough to…" He trailed off a bit, "Ma-maybe a gift then? That se-seems to work for my mom…"
"Oo~ That's perfect~" Olive cheered, "Everybody loves getting new things."
"You know, with how he is he'd probably find a way to turn any gift into an insult," Nivens seemed extremely bored with the current conversation.
"I'm not ent-tirely sure that's a gr-great idea…" And the next thing Xanthic knew he was being dragged through Vale.
"What do you think he'd like anyway?" Riliane asked as they were well into Vale only now realising how little she knew about Dan.
"Oh, maybe a new knife?" Olive suggested pointing at a weapon shop.
"I don't think a weapon is a very good idea when he's only just getting out of the hospital," Amelia pointed out and Xanthic agreed with her.
"But these are Komori Blades," She argued.
"Komori?" Xanthic asked, he recognised the name somehow, but couldn't place it.
"They're one of the most popular blacksmiths in Vale," Riliane explained only knowing because the Komoris were one of her family's best clients, though she had never met any of them in person. "The weapons they make are supposed to be on par with those made for huntsmen. And if I remember correctly my father said they were faunus too," She added guessing what argument Xanthic would make against it.
"M-maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea then…"
"C'mon then!" Olive pulled them inside and began gawking at all the various blades. She poofed from the case of daggers to the display of swords to the stands of polearms. There were also ranged weapons from short bows to semi automatic rifles. The family's emblem could be found on every piece.
It only took a moment for the shopkeep to greet them, "Beacon students?" He asked with a pleasant smile.
"Th-that's right sir," Xanthic attempted to return the gesture but felt uncomfortable being surrounded by so many weapons.
"Hold on a minute…" The man leaned in and observed them all carefully before lighting up with sudden realisation, "Were you four at the rally?"
"Yep," Olive said proudly.
"Well then, I'd like to thank you for stepping in."
"It's no problem sir," Riliane replied, "It's what huntresses and huntsmen are supposed to do."
"Guess you're right about that, though I know better than most that not all huntsmen hold that same honour." There was a crash from deeper in the store and the man turned, "What're you kids doing back there!?"
A little boy with deep purple hair and bright red eyes matching those of the shop keep, his appearance differing only with the large pair of bat ears upon his head, peered out from behind one of the many displays. "S-sorry dad, sis got mad and punched her partner."
"That girl, I swear…" The man sighed, "Please excuse me for a moment." With everyone unsure of what was happening they just nodded and watched the two go deeper into the shop. They could all still hear his stern voice perfectly though. "Celeste what have I told you about making a ruckus in the store?"
"Sorry," Her tone made it clear she wasn't.
"Just try and keep it down back he-" His voice suddenly got quieter and only Riliane and Xanthic could hear him. "Wait, weren't those other folks at the rally your friends? What was it, team ROXA?"
"Yeah, why're you bringing that up now?" Celeste didn't lower her voice to match his.
"They're here right now."
"What!? Why?"
"Well this is a store so I would assume they came here to buy something."
"I- I know that obviously, but it's not like any of them need weapons."
They assumed that the man shrugged, "Perhaps you should ask them yourself then."
"Maybe I will," Celeste seemed to be pouting. Her, the shopkeep, and Owen all came into view. "So what're you guys doing here anyway?" She demanded.
"Why do you insist on always acting like such a ruffian?" The shopkeep commented with a sigh.
"We're gonna get Xan onto Dan's good side," Olive proclaimed ignoring the family spat.
"You're looking for a gift then?" The man went back to business.
"Yes, well, Olive thinks it'd be a good idea to get him a new throwing knife, do you have any Mr. Shade?" Xanthic spoke up, getting used to the atmosphere.
"Mr. Shade?" The man questioned the name then chuckled, "No no, it's Mr. Komori actually. Celeste is my niece, we took her in some while back."
"O-oh, I'm so sorry about assu-suming," Xanthic bowed his head in apology. "It's an honor to meet you Mr. Komori, my teammates speak very highly about your company." They shook hands.
"So well mannered, you must be Xanthic, right?" Seeing the confused and slightly worried look on the boy's face he explained, "Celeste has told us all about her friends. Xanthic is the fancy one, Riliane wears her hair in twintails, Olive is the most energetic, and finally the quiet one with silver hair is Amelia."
"Geez, you make it sound like I have nothing better to talk about than my classmates," Celeste complained.
"Well with one of them in particular, it really does seem like you-"
"Don't you have a job to be doing?" She quickly cut in.
Mr. Komori chuckled before turning back to the group, "Throwing knives you said? They're over this way." He lead Xanthic and Olive to the side by a narrow velvet coated shelf, leaving the other four students to talk amongst themselves. Each of the six levels had about ten different styles.
"Oh! These are the ones he has," Olive pointed at a simple blade on the bottommost shelf.
Both men kneeled down to examine it. Mr. Komori hummed as he tried to recall something, "This Dan, does he by chance have fangs? Red hair?"
"Yeah! You know him?"
"I remember we had to break up a full set because he couldn't afford it."
"That's why he only has three?" Xanthic asked cautiously.
"Mhm, it hurt me to break up a set, but I couldn't just pitch in two free knives. It's business, you understand?"
Xanthic nodded, "I'd like to get him those then. Uh… you d-do still have the two spares ri-right?"
"If I was going to throw them away then I would've just given them to him." Mr. Komori got up and went in back to fetch the blades.
While they were waiting for him to return his son walked up and tugged on Xanthic's sleeve making him jump slightly. "Oh, h-hi there…"
The boy looked up at him with his big red eyes and tilted his head in a questioning manner, "Isn't it rude to wear hats indoors?"
"Huh? We-well I suppose most people wou-would say that, though this is… it's very important to me. You see it was a-a gift from my mom to show sh-she accepted of me beco-coming a huntsman, so I try t-to never take it off if I can avoid it."
"Oh," The boy nodded and smiled, "You talk kinda funny."
Nivens couldn't help himself, he crouched back down to be on eye level with the boy and smiled. "Th-that's not something I can really contr-trol though," he was able to perfectly match Xanthic's speech pattern. He'd never admit it to anyone, but Nivens loved children.
"How'd you do that?" The boy asked in awe and pointed at his eyes.
"What're you ta-talking about?"
"They changed color, I saw it!"
"Maybe it's your eyes that are playing tricks on you," He gave up the stuttering act. "Now are you ever going to introduce yourself to me, or am I just gonna have to refer to you as "bat boy?"
"Oh! I'm Voi- er…" He seemed to be struggling to remember the correct pronunciation, "Violet!" Violet looked proud of himself for remembering it. "And you're um… Z-Zane-hick?"
"Almost," Violet was crestfallen. "It's Zan-thik," Nivens tried to annunciate the parts that he had gotten wrong.
"Xa-Xanthic?" He looked anxiously to see if he was correct and cheered when Nivens nodded with a smile. Violet then repeated the name to himself to prevent himself from forgetting it.
"Found 'em," Mr. Komori returned with a small wooden box. Nivens ruffled Violet's hair, careful to avoid touching his ears, and walked up to the counter to pay for the knives.
He had to restrain himself from making a comment about how much lower the price was than he had been expecting, "Thank you sir." Nivens smiled and waved a final goodbye to Violet as Riliane and Amelia finished their conversation with Celeste and Owen and the team left. They all had homework, but being that none of them had any desire to do it any time soon they took the long way back.
Olive had been leading the way when she suddenly stopped. She looked down and the rest of the team heard her stomach growl, then she looked from side to side. Twirling on her left foot she chuckled half heartedly, "Mind if we stop here?" She pointed at the next building. All four of them could smell the garlic, cheese, tomato, and bread.
"Is that a pizza place?" Amelia asked.
"Pizza?" Riliane asked.
Seeing her confusion Olive gasped, "Have you never had pizza before?"
"I haven't either," Nivens pointed out. "I'm assuming her parents think the same way as mine, why would you buy cheap food when you can afford gormét."
"Y-yeah… That sounds about right," Riliane replied reluctantly.
"Then it's not an option anymore, let's go~" Olive grabbed both of their hands and almost ran into the shop but came to a sudden halt just outside the door as Nivens dug his heels into the sidewalk.
"I think not." He said sternly
"Is something the matter?" Amelia asked.
Nivens pointed at a sign in the curtained window, "If anybody in there recognises me the media would have a field day with it."
"Somebody mind telling me what it is?" Riliane asked trying not to sound rude.
"They refuse to serve faunus here," Amelia replied somberly. "Let's find somewhere else…"
Olive pouted, "I'm hungry though…"
"We can find somewhere else, I doubt this place is even all that good if the owner is such a-"
"Jive Turkey?" An unfamiliar voice appeared behind them, cutting off Nivens. "You're right, but he ain't no bunk chef."
"That's definitely not the word I would have chosen…" They all turned to face the man that had approached them. He was significantly taller than all four of them as well as dressing in a vibrant red jacket made him and his afro stand out. "I've seen you somewhere before, haven't I?"
He laughed and looked extremely proud of himself, "Oh, you've been to one of my shows then? It's always zomba to meet fans like this, 'specially when when one of 'em's such a bunny."
His comment was directed at Amelia, but Nivens was the one that reacted, "Excuse me!?" He was more startled than angry.
"Oh snaps dude, she yours?"
"Wha- N-no." Nivens looked up at Amelia and shook his head at the thought, "No offense, but I'd rather die alone."
"It's a little hard not to take offense to that," Riliane cautiously told him.
"Well if she ain't yours then why don't ya just float?"
"You still haven't introduced yourself," Olive pointed out.
The man was personally offended, "I need an introduction?" They all nodded. They swear he would've done a hair flip if he could, instead he adjusted his oversized sunglasses in as dramatic a way as possible. "I'm the one and only musician to top the charts for ten years straight. Only the grooviest man to walk on Remnant, I've got good vibes like no other. The name's Mic Jay."
The girls were stunned by his long introduction and Nivens was bent over laughing. Riliane spoke up while her partner was in mild hysterics, "I thought Dust 'n Roses was number 1 right now?"
Mic Jay groaned, "Those faunus youngbloods are total lalas. They ain't got no groove. The fact they even got so far is real inky to me."
"Oh… I think they sound really good…"
"Don't worry about him," Nivens was still recovering from his laughing fit, "He's nothing more than an old man who doesn't realise he's washed up."
"Mind repeating that honkey?" Mic Jay leaned over him somewhat.
"Not really, though I think just that line proves my point. You sound like an idiot."
"You little-"
"Honestly I've listened to some of what you call music and man, I have no idea why you were popular to begin with. At least no matter what, my family still is good at what we do."
"Your family..?" He leaned back and lifted his sunglasses to look closer at him. Mic Jay then took out his scroll and looked back and forth from it to him, he seemed to send a message to somebody and then put it away. "Well well," he put his shades back down, "I was expecting a narcy fruit not some bunk pimp."
"Do you even know real words?"
Mic Jay didn't answer the sarcastic question, rather he began whistling. Without a single word he turned around and walking to the beat went down the alley connected to the pizza place. The members of team ROXA couldn't figure out why they were following him. Their bodies were acting without their permission. Hoping his guess was correct Nivens faded away when they were near the back of the building. Xanthic activated his semblance and silenced the musician, as he thought, they were in control of themselves again. Instantly panicking from the loss of his voice, Mic Jay spun with his arm out and gravity dust held them all in place. His mouth moved indicating he was trying to give a one-liner. He then heaved a heavy and silent sigh. Olive teleported into the air behind him and kicked his shoulder down making him stumble. Riliane called her weapon in and as Xanthic tried to do the same his scroll was blasted away by a gust of wind. Looking in the direction it came from he saw a burly man in partial armor wielding a dust infused greatsword next to the doorway into the pizza shop, he was familiar somehow. "Why didn't you split them up, idiot." The slightly taller man complained in a gruff voice. The man from the ridge!? Mic Jay tried to answer but couldn't. "Did you not read the briefing…" Basil jumped off the small stone patio swinging his sword down. When the metal crashed into the ground flames erupted dividing the students into groups of two. The swordsman charged at Amelia and Riliane who both managed to get out of the way in time. Amelia's scarf wrapped around his leg and Riliane quickly fired an arrow at him, his metal armor made it significantly easier to aim. Their confidence ended quickly, though, as Basil swiftly turned so that the arrow hit the armor covering his shoulderblades and he pulled his leg back to bring Amelia forward then jabbed his pommel into her chest. She stumbled back as fast as she could and looked at Riliane, who ordered, "Summer Rain!" Both girls put their full power into range attacks.
On the other side of the fire wall, Xanthic and Olive were struggling to match Mic Jay's fighting style. He moved extraordinarily fast for a taller man and all of his attacks were to a rhythm that only he know. "We need to use 7-Up!" Olive said with frustration after another failed slash.
"I need Vena for that," Xanthic argued back barely dodging another of Mic Jay's ferocious kicks.
"Can't you do anything without your weapon?"
"I-" An idea struck him, "Sorry Dan…" He jumped back far enough that he would have time to take out one of the knives he had just purchased. The blade was straighter and shorter than he was used to, but it'd have to do. Xanthic ran back into combat and made sure to stay low. "This is a bad idea," He mumbled to himself. He took a direct blow to his abdomen, but used the opportunity to grab Mic Jay's leg and slice him with the knife. Mic Jay shifted his weight to the captured foot and pulled Xanthic down, then would've kicked him again, but Olive was able to get a hit on his shoulder. If he'd been able to he would've cursed her for that. Adjusting his position quickly to regain his rhythm, Mic Jay stood on his hands and kicked out at her. Olive teleported quickly to evade and tried to land on his leg only to be hit in the face by his other one. She was sent towards the ground, but a pillar launched up and met her halfway. It hit her with enough force to flip her over and land face down. The slab of earth then pinned her down. Xanthic shakily stood up, he was nearly petrified. He saw a murky green shockwave cover Olive's body momentarily, showing just how powerful that impact was.
His focus faltered and Mic Jay's voice strongly resonated with Xanthic's core, "Just you and me now, Youngblood."
The wall of flames suddenly went down and Xanthic saw Amelia unconscious and Riliane was unable to move, like there was a massive weight forcing her down. The man who had done that to them rested his sword on his shoulder, "You're smart enough to surrender right?"
"Wh-wha-what do y-you want..?" His entire body was trembling and his knuckles were turning white from how tight his grip was on the knife.
"It ain't what we want youngblood, it's what Humanity w-"
Basil punched Mic Jay in the arm then, ignoring his complaints, spoke, "You're coming with us." With every word he stepped closer and Xanthic stepped back until he was against the wall.
"I… I-I…" Xanthic whimpered and looked around.
"Run you idiot!" Nivens screamed inside his head. He swallowed hard and tried to dart out of the alley, but a firebolt from Mic Jay's finger gun hit him squarely in the back making him stumble and fall.
"Guess you were just talkin jive to impress those skirts." Mic Jay said smugly.
Basil sighed and picked Xanthic up by his coat collar and threw him over his shoulder. "In the future you should listen when I tell you something."
Xanthic didn't resist, he knew he couldn't fight them and he couldn't run fast enough either. "I… I ca-can w-wa-walk…" he pleaded, at least he wouldn't feel completely helpless then.
"In front of me," Basil ordered as he put Xanthic down and sheathed his blade. Mic Jay lead the way, and annoyed them so much Nivens was begging Xanthic to use his semblance again.
Once the three had left the effects keeping Olive and Riliane in place faded and they shook Amelia back to consciousness. "What… what happened?" She moaned and shakily stood up.
"They took Xan," Olive reported picking up his scroll and returning the knife to its partner in the box.
"Wha-? Wh-why would they-?" Amelia began panicking.
Riliane cut her teammate off, "It doesn't matter, we can figure that out later. We need to find him now. Which way did they go, Olive?"
"They left through that end," She pointed deeper into the alley. "I mean, on your right."
Activating her semblance again Riliane ran out, "Olive, you check the south side! Amelia, you cover the North!"
"Rodger!" Olive poofed away.
"On it," Amelia ran off in the opposite direction.
The sun had set by the time Riliane called her teammates telling them to meet at the CCT. They felt as though they had literally searched all of Vale. "All three of us won't be able to search properly at night," She told them under the light of a lamp post. "We should just head back for tonight and we can ask Celeste and the others for help tomorrow."
"You're probably right…" Amelia sighed, "Sometimes I wish I had eyes like the faunus…"
"It'd be really nice," Olive said with a faint smile.
"Let's just head back for now," Riliane commanded halfheartedly. The other two begrudgingly agreed.
When they got back at Beacon team CODE was already waiting for them. Celeste looked furious, "Where have you guys been all day!? Honestly I could understand coming back after lunch but it's nearly midnight!"
The three girls all turned their heads away, but didn't respond. Owen's eyes widened and his hushed voice was full of concern, "Celeste, calm dow-"
"Calm down!? I've been stressed out about them for hours and I'm supposed to calm down!?"
"You don't understa-"
"No, I don't understand! I don't understand why you'd come back so late without so much as-!"
"Just shut up and listen to me already!" Owen silenced her, though only for a moment.
"Excuse m-"
"Do a headcount!"
"What're you-" Celeste blinked. "Wh-where's Xanthic?"
"You'd probably know by now if you hadn't been yelling," Owen sighed and turned away from his partner.
"So… What happened?" D'art asked cautiously.
"He's…" Riliane began, "Xanthic was kidnapped…"
"What!?" Celeste stopped herself from getting too loud. Eve only stood their, silently covering her mouth, though it did nothing to hide the fear in her eyes.
"These two guys fought us in the alleys and they took him. We think they were part of Humanity" Olive explained further.
"What makes you think that?" Eve asked quietly
"One of them mentioned it as they left" Riliane responded dejectedly
"When did this happen?" Celeste said after managing to calm herself down a bit.
"A little bit after we left your family's shop," Riliane told her. "We've been looking for him till now… Ozpin said not to worry and leave it to the authorities…"
A short silence fell before Celeste made her decision, "We need to find him."
"Wha-what do you plan to do right now?" D'art asked. "Owen's the only one here that can even see right now."
"We could get the Lion's to help," Celeste said. "I mean, you guys wouldn't have even been in town today if it wasn't for Dan."
"I-it's not their fault though…" Amelia clarified, "We're the ones that forced Xanthic to go today…"
"Hm… Fine, but listen, do you guys want to find him or not?" Celeste asked and began walking away.
"Of course!" Riliane was the first to follow after her.
Celeste lead them all into the library and pulled a detailed map of Vale off of one wall and spread it across a large table, then covered it in a semi transparent paper. Handing Olive a pen she asked, "Now, where do you know he's not?"
After nearly half an hour Olive finished marking off the locations they had been able to confirm earlier that day. "Wow…" D'art breathed, "You guys covered a lot of ground…"
"Not enough though…" Riliane sighed. "Who knows what could be happening to him right now?"
"Don't talk like that…" Amelia mumbled, she didn't want to lose anyone else.
"We'll find him!" Celeste declared.
"Isn't this what the police are for?" D'art asked.
"With how little they're doing about the rally, I doubt they'd do much to find one student." Owen remarked.
"Don't forget that one student is the lone heir to a multi-million lien company." D'art argued. "How do we even know they really are part of Humanity? They might just be some thugs using the name cause they heard it on the news."
"I doubt that…" Riliane explained, "One of them I think was that man from the Ridge and the other was apparently a famous musician…"
"But Xanthic did say something about him being down on his luck though," Amelia was choosing to believe Dart's reasoning. "Maybe he was hoping to get some fast money and thought the name would scare us."
"Maybe…"
"Whatever the reason and whoever the culprit is can wait, we need to figure out where they are first." Celeste said pulling architectural indexes from the shelves and handing them out. "There are possibilities of good hideouts in every district, so we have to look for something specific."
"Ri-right," Riliane tried to compose herself again, trying her best to help she took the electronic route with her scroll and listened to the videos she could find about Vale's architecture. None of them were particularly helpful. Every once in awhile though, she could hear the crinkle of paper as one of the others would cross off another location. None of the students knew how long it was until they all dozed off.
The sky grew a pale grey as the sun began rising. The clock in the main library ticked throughout the room, echoing off the countless rows of books and empty tables and chairs. In the middle of the room, the group of teenagers were slumped over a table. Maps and books were sprawled across it's surface as they slept quietly. The one absent member, Eve, gently closed the oak door behind her as she tiptoed back into the room and across the floor to her companions. Setting the tray of coffee and tea on the table, she gently shook her partner awake. D'art rubbed his eyes and sat up slowly.
"What?"
"Coffee?" Eve asked softly. D'art gratefully grabbed a mug and drank it greedily. "How's it going?" Eve questioned.
"Terrible." D'art muttered, setting his mug down. "We haven't found anything regarding Xanthic. We have no leads." Eve nodded and swallowed. "I don't know what we're going to do." D'art continued, his hands massaging his face.
"Are we supposed to be in the library this early?" Eve sat down and grabbed a cup of tea.
"Who knows. I don't think anyone cares." D'art's fingers traced circles across the map and he sighed. "What if he's- What if Xanthic isn't even-" His voice died off and Eve gripped his shoulder tightly.
"He's not." Eve assured without looking at him. "Trust me. He's not."
"How do you know?" D'art asked helplessly.
"Because it's Xanthic." Eve replied slowly. "He'll be fine, don't worry." D'art nodded solemnly. The two jumped as Olive suddenly sat up abruptly.
"Tea!" She cried out, sniffing the air. The entire table quickly woke up. Amelia and Riliane both sat up and stretched.
"Whass dat sound?" Celeste slurred, a strand of blue hair in her mouth. Olive grabbed a mug of tea and grinned around it.
"Sorry about that." Olive chirped. Squinty eyed, Celeste sleepily pointed at her friend before slumping back onto the table, asleep.
"How can you even smell tea…?" Owen asked, waking up. Olive shrugged. Owen frowned and closed his eyes, about to sleep again before Eve yanked him up by the ear with her free hand.
"There was something I needed to talk about with all of you." Eve said finally as she released him. She shook Celeste awake, dodging a punch that her teammate threw at her.
"Listen." The raven haired girl snapped, the table fell silent. "I know," She took a deep breath. "I know where Xanthic is." Her friends stared at her, shocked wide awake due to her revelation.
"You what?" Celeste slurred.
"I know where Xanthic is." Eve said once more. Celeste's eyes widened.
"What? How?" D'art asked abruptly. "Why didn't you say anything before?"
"Let me finish." Eve set her cup of tea on the table. "I didn't say anything because it has to do with my past, and it's very difficult for me to share."
"But what does Xanthic being missing have to do with your past?" Riliane asked timidly. Eve was silent as she traced along the lines and delicate symbols of the tea cup.
"Because you think Xanthic was kidnapped by the same organization I worked for, Humanity." Eve said finally. Her friends stared at her shocked, waiting for her to elaborate. Celeste and D'art exchanged confused glances. Eve quickly looked down, her black hair fell across her face and she continued. "I didn't want to work for them of course. I was kidnapped into it when I was very young and I didn't have a choice. They would take children across the kingdom with potential and train them to fight and I was one of them-"
"Hold up, you were in Humanity?" Celeste asked, appalled as she recovered over her previous shock. Eve looked away as her teammate stood up abruptly. "Why didn't you tell us before?!"
"You think that's easy to bring up?"
"It doesn't matter! You're our teammate, teammates are supposed to tell each other everything!"
"I just did tell you." Eve said quickly, her eyes darkening.
"Celeste-" Owen was cut off as Celeste pushed him aside.
"And what about you? Did you know about this?!" Celeste snapped. Owen wilted a little.
"I didn't know that she was in Humanity exactly no...but I knew something was up."
"You didn't think about mentioning that?!"
"It was none of my business what happened in her past." Owen said quickly. "It's none of yours either so I didn't broadcast it, no."
"Well I'm sure it's easy to keep it to yourself, you can just read anyone's mind whenever you want." Celeste hissed. Owen frowned, a little hurt.
"Do you have any idea how huge this is?" Celeste asked, her tone dropping considerably. "Would you have even told us if Xanthic hadn't gone missing?" For this, Eve was silent. The raven haired girl sat down and avoided the gazes of her teammates.
"Celeste, calm down." Riliane said quietly, she blindly reached and tugged on her friend's sleeve. Celeste took a deep shuddering breath and then shook her head.
"I can't believe this." She huffed, pulling her arm away and storming out. Riliane looked back and forth in their general direction and then stood up and hurried after Celeste. Eve watched the two leave, her face a mask of disappointment and hurt. The group of friends was silent, neither knowing what to say or how to react. D'art's mouth was slightly open, Amelia was staring at her like she was an alien, and Olive was observing her intensely. Beside them, Owen was silent, both slightly surprised but also composed.
"So you were in Humanity…?" D'art asked finally. Eve nodded clearing her throat as her face became impassive. D'art took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Jeez."
"That organization that…that hurt all those faunus at the rally?" Amelia asked, a little disgusted as she exchanged glances with Olive who had a serious look on her face.
"And you're not with them anymore though, right?" Olive asked, eyeing her friend.
"No, god no." Eve clarified quickly. "After I learned the truth I escaped and never looked back. I thought that they had maybe disbanded, or just fallen into oblivion. I never thought I would ever see them again, I never wanted to. I hate them now, more than anything." Olive nodded, still a little unsure.
"Wait so where is Xanthic then?" D'art asked. Eve scanned the map quickly and then pointed to a small spot near the lower left corner of the paper. After she removed her finger, her teammates crowded around the map.
"They took new recruits and the kidnapped from this area here." Eve clarified. "At least they did when I was there, and I doubt they changed it..
"Why didn't you tell the police about them before?" Olive asked.
"I tried." Eve admitted. "They didn't believe me, a hidden cult-like organization abducting children?" Eve laughed wearily. "Humanity perfectly covered up the abductions so I just ended up drawing attention to myself. I just disappeared and tried to forget it all happened.
"There's one more thing you forgot to tell them." Owen added. Eve glanced at him.
"Right," She replied as she looked back at her friends. "I'm a faunus." D'art, Olive, and Amelia stared at her.
"How many more bombs are you going to drop?" D'art asked, exasperated.
"This is the last one, I swear." Said Eve quickly.
"Where's your-" D'art paused as he pointed to his head and back. "Faunus thingie."
"I had a tail but it was amputated." Amelia stifled a gasp and even Olive looked surprised.
"It's okay, really." Eve soothed. "But enough about me, Xanthic is our first priority."
"But your tail-" Amelia began.
"I doubt it'll ever grow back." Eve said as she stared at the map. "That's fine though, I'm not particularly sad about it. I just wanted you all to know."
"My god Eve." Amelia whispered. "Thank you for telling us though." Eve forced a smile and nodded.
"What kind of faunus were you? A cat? A lion? What about a fish?" D'art inquired.
"I don't think there are any fish faunus D'art. But I don't know exactly, I never found out."
"Enough." Olive commanded. "We need to get Xanthic back. That is our most important goal. We can discuss more about Eve's past later. From what we know of this organization though, they're cruel and unpredictable. He's in danger."
"What do you suggest then?" D'art asked, hopping up onto the table.
"We get him back as soon as possible." Olive said, her eyes narrowing. "After we get Celeste and Riliane back we should prepare and go."
"Shouldn't we wait a bit longer?" Amelia asked softly. "If we tell Ozpin we can get some reinforcements."
"We don't want big numbers." Olive countered. "We just want a quick infiltration, in and out. If we arouse attention that will be bad. Eve," Olive turned towards the raven haired girl. "Do you remember the layout of the factory?" Eve nodded and grabbed a pencil and a sheet of paper. After making a quick sketch, Eve put the pencil down and pointed at the picture.
"I remember it pretty well. That's the front entrance- don't typically want to go in through there." Her finger moved across the page. "That's the side entrance for supplies, it's typically rarely guarded, that would be the best route." Olive began to roll up the map.
"That's our infiltration route then. Someone get Riliane and Celeste"
The group set off, No one looked back as they made their way out of Beacon and into the lower area of Vale. Behind the main group, Celeste had fallen behind, staring angrily at the cement. She had refused to talk to anyone since she stormed out of the library, especially Eve. Continuing her attempt from earlier, Riliane slowed her pace so she was next to her friend. "Hey again," she said in an attempt at a cheerful tone.
Celeste gave her an annoyed look. "Leave me alone," She stated, walking faster.
"W-wait!" Riliane replied quickly, hurrying beside her. Celeste sighed, her eyes sliding to the blonde.
"Why are you so upset?" Riliane asked finally.
"What do you mean why are you so upset?" Celeste snapped, looking away. "I can't believe Eve didn't tell us that she was in Humanity sooner."
"Well yeah, I get that, but it just seems like there is more to it." Riliane replied. Celeste's shoulders dropped a little.
"It's nothing." She muttered.
"It's clearly not nothing." Said Riliane.
"It's stupid anyways."
"I can't help if you don't tell me." Riliane replied softly. Celeste, still looking away, let out a quiet sigh.
"I've never really...gotten along with people before. I don't really see the point of it. But Eve understood that, we're similar in that aspect so I felt like I could be honest with her." She frowned. "I thought she had told me almost everything about her. And then- and then she apparently had this entire past I never knew about. It's like some sick joke. It makes me wonder if anything she said was true at all." Celeste finished bitterly. Riliane nodded, understanding.
"That's not stupid"
"It is." Celeste said quickly. Riliane shook her head.
"You two are fairly close. It makes sense that you would be hurt if she never told you something that big."
"I just...don't understand. Did she not trust me?"
"Im sure she trusts you, maybe losing that trust is exactly what she was afraid of," Riliane replied. "She was probably afraid you would judge her, that we all would, and you can't blame her for that." Celeste was silent, still angry though she had calmed down considerably.
Concerned about Celeste's silence Riliane spoke up quickly, "B-but Listen. I know you're angry about this but your team needs their leader. So could you bear with it a little while longer so we can find Xanthic?"
"Fine. I'll talk to her later" Celeste said with a bitter sigh. She readjusted her jacket and then quickened her pace so that she passed the others. Eve Silently watched her go by, her face tense.
Riliane started to follow suit but stopped when she heard Owen chuckle "Knew she couldn't stay mad with you around"
"What do you mean?" Riliane responded confused
"Oh nothing" Owen replied clearly amused about something.
...
Within half an hour they reached their objective. Any form of joking was stopped as the factory loomed up before them, it's rusted walls silhouetted by the still rising sun. No one had even taken a step forward before they heard blood curdling screams echoing from deep within. They cast quick and confused glances at each other before they snuck in through the fence and rushed into the side entrance, trying to prepare themselves for whatever the building contained.
