AWOO, EVERYONE! Man, I can't believe this story has forty chapters. Not counting some of the longer drafts I've written for my book, this is the longest fiction work I've done. I'm pretty proud! And I'm really grateful to everyone who has followed this fic for so long.
Enjoy!
That morning, the pack divided itself once again. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Neon, and Neptune were told to stay behind and backtrack in the direction of Vale, so that Corsac and Adam's former pack would have a proper escort to Obsidian. Pyrrha, Sun, Flynt, Fennec, Perry, and the Huntsmen would continue on their chosen path to meet up with Roman. Copies of the original map were made and studied.
"You can count on us, Pyrrha!" Ruby declared.
Weiss nodded in agreement. "We'll keep them in line, and try to soften them toward our goal by the time we catch up with you."
Pyrrha smiled warmly at them. "I know you'll do just fine. Just don't get too distracted," she added, a playful glint entering her eyes.
As expected, Weiss turned bright red while Ruby started giggling. "Us? Distracted? Come on, Pyrrha. It's like you barely know us!" the young alpha said, trying and failing to put on a straight face.
Weiss huffed loudly. "With Yang miles away, everyone suddenly wants to try being funny."
Flynt was sharing a long, slow kiss with Neon, gently reminding her to be careful. She snuggled against his front, tail swishing back and forth.
Sun was saying goodbye to Blake and Neptune. "Don't let them get the jump on you," he lectured. "And don't be afraid to run if you have to. And Neptune, take good care of Blake."
Neptune nodded. "I will."
Blake rolled her eyes. "I think I can take care of myself at this point."
"I just meant-" Sun's words were cut off by a pair of soft lips gently kissing his. He blinked, suddenly incapable of speaking.
"I know," Blake murmured as she drew back, her face flushing and her ears flicking bashfully. "Be careful, okay?"
"I, uh, yeah!" Sun stammered, a goofy grin quickly replacing his look of shock. "Definitely!"
Pyrrha hugged each of her packmates in turn before stepping back to let them say goodbye to the Huntsmen. She noticed Fennec standing apart from everyone, a blatantly stunned expression on his face. After a moment's consideration, she walked over to him. "Fennec?"
Fennec jumped, quickly standing at attention, only his flicking ears betraying his nervousness. "Yes, Leader?"
"Is there something you're confused about?" she asked, keeping her voice gentle. "I want you to be integrated into this pack. You can ask questions if you want."
"I…" Fennec looked at the group, shaking his head slowly. "I almost wish that I was an omega. It looks like these Huntsmen genuinely care for this pack." He looked toward Jaune. "Like the yellow-haired one actually likes you."
"That's because they do," Pyrrha said. "We have been taught to fear each other, but those teachings are wrong." She nodded at her friends. "Humans, Faunus, and werewolves all have the same potential for good or evil. Therefore, there's no reason why good humans, Faunus, and werewolves cannot work together and be friends."
"This goes against everything I know and believe in," Fennec said bluntly before quickly bowing his head. "My apologies for being so bold, Leader."
"Don't apologize," Pyrrha insisted. "You can say how you feel. I won't hurt you the way Adam did."
Fennec's ears flattened. "Master Adam took my brother and me in when we were new whelps. He killed a Huntsman who was tracking us."
"I see." Pyrrha took a breath, trying to rein in her emotions. She couldn't simply talk down about a person who had been this man's reason for existence for so long. This would take time and delicacy. For the time being, she changed the subject. "Perry told me that there was some tension between you and him. Why is that?"
Fennec glanced toward Perry, Flynt, and Neon. "They're traitors. They left Master Adam for you, even though you hadn't won them."
Pyrrha tilted her head. "And Blake? Do you think she's a traitor as well?"
At the mention of Blake, Fennec's ears sank further, until they were pressed against his skull. "No. She…She was never truly of the pack." He was looking carefully at the ground.
Even he can't defend Adam's actions regarding Blake, Pyrrha noted. "I know that this must be overwhelming for you, and I want to help you adjust." She touched his shoulder, hating the way he flinched in response. "You don't need to be afraid of me or anyone else here, wolves or Huntsmen."
Fennec looked cautiously at his new leader. She seemed to be sincere. Then again, there were times when Adam had appeared to be sincerely kind, only to severely punish him or Corsac seconds later. Unable to come up with anything to say, he elected to remain silent.
Pyrrha internally sighed. Give him space for now. You have plenty of time to work on him. "I'll let you know when we leave, okay?" She moved away from him and went back to her friends.
Jaune was in the midst of hugging Ruby. "You keep those new wolves in line," he murmured, ruffling her hair gently.
Ruby smiled, snuggling against her friend's front. "I will."
"And you keep Ruby in line, okay Weiss?" Jaune added with a wink.
"Hey!" Ruby said, stepping back and putting her hands on her hip. A pout decorated her features.
Weiss laughed softly as she hugged Jaune. "I will. Don't pout, Ruby. It's not proper."
"Nyuh," Ruby said, sticking her tongue out.
"Charming," Weiss muttered dryly.
Pyrrha cleared her throat as she approached. "I think it's time to part ways. Good luck, Ruby. Good luck, everyone. We'll meet in Obsidian by the end of the month, hopefully sooner. Be careful in the meantime. If you think you might be in danger from these new wolves, do not hesitate to flee. Understand?"
Ruby's patrol all nodded.
"Good." Pyrrha smiled. "Until next time." She watched as more members of her pack walked off into the woods, and hoped desperately that they would all reunite unscathed.
….
The final distance to Obsidian was along a path across a wide, barren field. Roman's cart left the comfort of the forest behind, immediately entering what felt like another world. Griffin tossed his head and whinnied nervously as he continued forward, ears going flat against his head.
Roman tightened his grip on the reins while his passengers elected to come out of the cart and walk alongside it. Yang kept her good arm wrapped snugly around Neo's shoulders, and Sage did the same for Scarlet.
The smell of burning, both old and recent, stung their nostrils. The grass and dirt had streaks of black and gray, and was easily rustled by the howling wind. In the distance, to the north of the approaching town, sat a great mountain. Snow touched the peaks, but faded into brown further down.
As they drew closer, they became aware that Obsidian itself looked like a ghost town. Half-destroyed houses, smoke, and the smell of blood made them all want to turn back. Still, they pressed forward.
They reached the entrance and Scarlet and Sage both stiffened, their noses twitching. Before they could voice a warning, however, a loud click caused everyone to freeze.
"Who are you?" a female voice called from behind one of the buildings.
"Roman Torchwick, world-renowned trader," Roman greeted smoothly. "I come bearing supplies and good news. May we enter your town?"
There was a pause before a young woman emerged from her hiding spot. A loaded crossbow was in her arms. She glared at each person with suspicious olive-colored eyes. "Depends on the supplies, and the news."
"We have several food items," Neo said. "And healing supplies." She noticed the girl brighten considerably at the mention of healing items.
"As for the news," Yang said. "We have a band of Huntsmen and other fighters following us. They should be here in a month or so." Hopefully sooner. Damn that Adam…
The girl let out a bitter laugh. "By that time, our town will probably be nothing but a bloody hole in the ground. But, we'll take what we can get." She lowered her bow. "Come on in. Name's Nebula. Nice to meet you."
They walked into the town, looking at the barren, gray nature of everything around them. It was almost as if most of the color had been sucked out of everything. Even Nebula's vibrant, indigo-colored hair seemed duller than it should have been. People peeked curiously out of their houses. Others patrolled the streets with weapons in hand.
"Over there is what used to be the general store," Nebula said. "And that's what's left of the stable. The vampires made off with most of our horses, so yours should have plenty of food. As long as the vampires don't take him too."
"Over my dead body," Roman growled.
"I'm sure the vampires would love that," Neo muttered.
Yang moved to the front of the group, realizing belatedly that she was the only representative for the Huntsmen at the moment. "So, tell me about this vampire problem. How many are there? How powerful are they? How many Grimm do they control, uh, if they do control Grimm, that is?"
"They do," Nebula affirmed. "There are four overall: one leader and three lower underlings. As for Grimm…how does 'a crap ton' sound?"
"Perfect!" Yang said with a confident grin. "I missed punching out some skulls."
Nebula gave her arm a dubious look. "Looks like you got on the wrong end of some claws."
"Yeah. They're Ursa scratches. Thankfully, I didn't lose the arm," Yang replied, easily lying about the source of her injuries. "My friends over there got it pretty bad. A bite to the throat after being downed by a Boarbatusk, and a face full of badly-aimed fire Dust."
"Damn," Nebula murmured. "Was this all during one battle?"
Yang nodded. "There was a Grimm attack on Burgundy a while back. My friends and I are working as bodyguards for Roman here, and happened to be in the area. After the attack, my friends went off to track down the stragglers. I kinda had to recover."
Nebula nodded. "Well, makes sense as to why you'd come out here. I guess you and your friends will be expecting a good amount of silver if you manage to solve our bloodsucker problem."
Yang faintly remembered that Obsidian was known for the silver mines located at the foot of the mountain that guarded their northern border. "Well, I'm not in charge of the Huntsmen. Once our leaders get here, we'll be able to negotiate. Who's in charge here?"
"Me," Nebula replied. "Our Elders have all been killed by those damned vampires, so the Huntsmen who are still alive are running things now." She shook her head. "It'll take forever to rebuild this town, even if we can kill those bastards."
She led them toward the center of town, where a young man was walking from house to house, checking inside and speaking to the inhabitants. "Hey, Brawnz! We have some newcomers. They have supplies."
The man looked up and grinned at Roman. "You're either really brave or really dumb to come up here, but I won't complain."
"I'm wondering which one I am, myself," Roman grumbled, glancing over his shoulder at his sure-to-dwindle stock.
Neo walked over and touched his leg, smiling up at him. "Don't worry, Roman. Most of our money comes from the books, anyway."
A shriek overhead caused them all to look up. A lone Nevermore was circling overhead. Nebula cursed quietly, pointing her crossbow and shooting at it. The Grimm screeched and wheeled off toward the mountain.
"Scouts," Nebula explained. "Those vampires have basically claimed this area already."
"If I may inquire, why don't you all run?" Roman wondered.
"They'd just chase us down," Nebula replied. "The ones who left were only able to do so because there are still people here for the vampires to hunt. Besides, where would we go? You've been through the towns. Aren't they all overcrowded now?"
Roman nodded slowly as he got down from the wagon. "They were… I see your point."
He waited for Nebula and Brawnz to start rummaging through the supplies before taking Neo aside. "Neo, I'm starting to wonder if we're in over our heads."
Neo rolled her eyes. "Please. We've been in over our heads for weeks now. I think we both knew that ordinary trading wouldn't be in our future when we decided to help out our friends."
Roman sighed. "I know, I know… I just hate this uncertainty. We'll either come out on top at the end of this, or end up broke or dead. Or broke and dead…"
"All of the best ventures require some risk," Neo said with a grin. "Isn't that what you said when those five black market women took you to that bar with the pole-"
"Okay, Neo! You made your point!" Roman said loudly, quickly covering his giggling partner's mouth.
Scarlet, who was standing nearby, pouted. "Aw, how come we never get to hear the good stories?"
….
The Nevermore's wings pumped desperately at the air. It had to get to the Mistress quickly. If it didn't tell her this new information immediately, it shuddered to imagine what she would do to it.
If she was feeling particularly cruel, she'd likely set the scorpion-tailed master on it. The scorpion-tailed master was even scarier than the Mistress herself.
The Nevermore entered the cavern that housed the Mistress, letting out a quiet caw to announce his presence.
After a moment, a low, feminine voice murmured: "Come in, servant."
Trembling, the Nevermore approached, bowing its head as the Mistress turned her blood-red gaze in its direction. "Have news, Mistress. Yes, yes."
"Speak," the Mistress replied calmly.
"Flew over town. New people in town. Strange people."
"Strange, how? Get to the point." The Mistress was starting to sound impatient. She was very dangerous when impatient.
The Nevermore shivered. "Saw two not like others. Smelled like us."
The Mistress's eyes narrowed and she took a step forward. "Did they look like the masters, or did they appear as humans?"
The Nevermore barely resisted the urge to step back. "Humans, Mistress. Yes, yes."
The Mistress let out a low, quiet hiss. "Werewolves…" She folded her hands and closed her eyes. "Thank you, servant. You may leave."
Relieved, the Nevermore scrambled out the exit to the cavern, barely dodging the brawny master on the way out. It took to the sky again, relieved that it had survived its encounter with the Mistress, but worried that her apparent anger would eventually find its way back to her servants.
For now, it would just wait and watch, as it was supposed to do.
Have I mentioned how much I love writing Roman? Because I absolutely love writing Roman. He is a treasure who was taken from us far too soon.
If you like what you see and want to show extra support in exchange for rewards, my P/atreon is Solora Goldsun.
Peace out!