The God of Remnant Chapter 19: Plans
"" – Dialogue
'' – Thinking
Vale – Location/Time
"Renewal Taekwondo" – Technique
Being led down a dark street by a woman in a mask wasn't what John was expecting when he left his house.
'But it's just my luck.' He mused to himself as he followed the woman down a seemingly arbitrary alleyway. Taking note of his surroundings in case things went bad, John made small notes about the area.
The street resembled what would historically be called a brownstone. Where newer buildings were constructed on metal and newer alloys, these were still constructed from brick laden with cracks, showing its age. The lack of street signs made immediately knowing his exact location impossible but the flatness of the street, the slight off-color of the sidewalk and other such things were details he didn't dare let escape him.
These could very well save him pretty soon.
"You don't need to be so on guard, you know?" The masked woman said as she paused in front of a grimy, industrial-sized trashcan, getting John's attention. "Although, I suppose it is good to know you're well trained." She said with a slight shrug.
"What do you mean?" John asked, playing the fool.
John could see a small smile form at the question, reminiscent of a mother answering their child's simple query.
"Well, you've been discreetly checking the area since I asked you to follow me, taking note of anything you might need to recreate the route." The woman said as she placed her hand on the trashcan, the area lightly illuminating a lavender color as she pulsed her aura.
"You knew but still led me here?" John asked as the ground beneath the trashcan raised, revealing a metallic elevator-like doorway that parted with another pulse of the woman's aura.
"Take that as my first act of gaining your trust," she said as she gestured for him to enter the elevator "and take my showing you to our base as my second."
Thinking it over for a moment, John decided he'd already come this far and stepped into the elevator, turning to face the entrance as the doors closed.
-GoR-
As soon as the doors closed, the elevator felt like it was descending at a snail's pace as the two occupants stood in awkward silence.
The elevator was relatively luxurious for a secret entrance. The walls of the elevator were a pristine silver with handlebars along them to match. And the floor was made of a short yet soft carpet that absorbed the impact of his steps as he'd walked in. This was the last thing he'd expected when he agreed to follow this woman.
"Are you willing to answer my questions now?" John asked, breaking the silence the two had been locked in since the doors closed.
"Yep, now that we're away from prying eyes; ask away." The woman said, turning to John and removing her mask, revealing an all-too-familiar face to John.
"Who are you and why do you look like Sera?" John asked, causing a sad smile to form on the woman's face.
"Well, that's an easy one. I look like her because I'm her older sister, Leilah." She explained, causing the boy's amber eyes to widen.
"Her…sister…? But I thought you were- "
"Dead?" She finished for him. "Not quite, but I might as well be in the eyes of the upper echelon of Atlas as well as my mother." She said waving her multicolored mask around.
"Because you joined the White Fang?" John deduced from her action.
"Initially, but now we're something different." Leilah said as her previously sad smile morphed into a much more confident one along with her pulsing her lavender aura once more, causing the doors behind her to open.
"Welcome to Spectre."
-GoR-
With Mori
When Mori arrived to pick up Neo, she was in the same area he'd left her, absent mindedly twirling her umbrella and looking no worse for wear.
"Did I keep you waiting?" He'd asked, getting a shake of the head and her tapping her wrist in response. This reminded Mori that he'd probably need to pick up sign language if he didn't want her unnecessarily using her aura.
With the woman hopping onto the yellow cloud, they began their flight along the path Goodwitch had provided.
This was several hours ago.
Kinto'Un was even faster than Mori had anticipated, being able to avoid the copious twists and turns the forestry necessitated by flying over them. The problem came when they encountered the checkpoint Glynda had marked for them.
The taller stone structures stuck out above the tree line before anything else. Seeing this gave Mori hope that the village survived the Fall, but it was not to be.
The stone structures he'd seen had been watch towers, explaining why they towered above all of the other structures in the village. The other buildings in the village seemed to be various houses, markets, pubs, and the like. They were all made of wood bearing the same color of the surrounding village. Their biggest similarity other than that were their various states of disrepair. Some of the structures were completely razed while others were only missing anything varying from a wall to a minor wooden beam.
Feeling uncomfortable with how used to the destruction he was already becoming, Mori had Kinto'Un let them down near the center of the village.
"Let's split up and see what supplies we can find. Also be on the lookout for anything that can be used as shelter for the night." Mori ordered, getting an affirmative nod from Neo at the sound commands.
"And Neo?" He said before she could leave.
"Be careful, we don't know if there could still be Grimm nearby." He reminded before the two split up.
-GoR-
Soundlessly, Mori crept along a wall, deftly shuffling to a window to analyze the room within. Quickly scanning the room revealed a lack of grimm, so the young faunus silently mounted the windowsill and hopped in.
The room was miraculously left relatively untouched, the only signs of destruction being the smashed window and a few pieces of furniture being displaced. The room appeared to have formerly been a child's room if the small twin bed and simplistic drawings were any indication. The pink color of the bed sheets left Mori to speculate that the former resident was a girl too young to have understood why she had to leave.
Clenching his fist as he forced himself to continue, Mori couldn't help but think that he'd have to grow used to seeing such things if he was to continue on this journey.
'But do I want to…?' He thought to himself as he moved towards the kitchen.
-GoR-
With John
From the Elevator alone, John was expecting the base to be high tech… but this surpassed his expectations.
As soon as the elevator opened, John and Leilah were faced with one more step of screening. It reminded him of going through Travelling Security before boarding an airship. He was made to empty his pockets, go through a metal detector and other normal procedures but with a few extra steps.
First, he had his scroll taken and quickly scanned for viruses. Something Leilah said she'd explain once they got through. He didn't particularly mind this since his phone was pretty barren save the default features and a few games. Second, they took a scan of his aura. This was something he was initially resistant to, as he couldn't think of any good reasons for them to need it.
Sci-Fi movies where they use a person's aura signature to track them across the world using a high-tech satellite came to mind. Such things seemed preposterous to him, but he was currently in a hidden branch facility of the White Fang hidden below the feet of the residents of Atlas. That is to say, his definition of impossible was quickly shifting.
He relented in the end, as his desire for answers won out over his desire for rebellion. As well as the fact that his interests seemed to line up with this group to some extent, so as long as he's not walking into a trap, he'd be fine.
"Before we begin your tour, you wanted to know about the scroll scan?" Leilah offered when John entered the facility proper.
"Yeah, a quick explanation would be nice because I'd hate to find that was all an excuse to sneak your number in here." John said, pocketing his scroll.
"You wish." She shot back. "Anyway, we have it on good intel that the collapse of the CCT was due to an advanced trojan horse uploaded via the Beacon terminal. Since then, we've been closely monitoring any tech that comes in to ensure our operations stay airtight." Leilah explained.
John nodded, accepting the explanation. Such a thing would be plausible since, even if the security of the system were compromised, expecting a top huntsman academy to admit they suffered a break-in and couldn't catch the suspect is next to impossible. That is, supposing they even knew they'd been infiltrated.
"If you'd follow me, I'll lead you to my office and point out any places of interest on our way." Leilah said as she began leading the way to her office.
The entire facility resembled a futuristic hospital, much like the secret facilities one would expect to see in movies. Sliding doorways that seemed to be activated with aura as well as windows, with what John assumed to be bulletproof glass, lined the off-white metallic walls. Illuminated signs above the doorways clued John into what the rooms were along with Leilah pointing them out to him as they passed.
The only area that wasn't behind any sort of protection was the cafeteria, which was an open area with tables and maneuverable chairs that allowed for many combinations of seating. When they passed, the cafeteria only had a few faunus within-John assumed they were all just having a late dinner as the hour was approaching midnight.
Almost all of them greeted Leilah warmly as she passed and gave John a respectful nod. This was more than he was expecting as he was still under the assumption that humans weren't welcome here.
Finally arriving to Leilah's office, John was taken aback at the design.
In contrast to the metallic and frankly unfeeling atmosphere the rest of the facility had, Leilah's office was the opposite. Past the metallic sliding door revealed a brown solid wooden floor with walls of a light beige. To his right was a small couch with a blanket neatly folded on top and a couple cushions. Next to the couch stood a bookshelf that was neatly packed with books on various scientific disciplines as well as pictures of Leilah and her family. Perpendicular to these was a solid wooden desk that, contrary to the rest of the room had reference material sloppily littered atop it. One chair was placed on each side of the desk, one for the owner of the room and another for any guest.
"This… looks like a therapist's office." John deadpanned.
"It's my home a few steps away from home, thank you very much." Leila said as she walked in, taking a seat at her desk. "Pardon the mess but do sit down. I'll be answering all of your questions now." She said, her face settling into a neutral expression.
"Finally." John said, planting himself in the chair. "First, what is 'Spectre'? You said it used to be part of the White Fang but not anymore?" He asked.
"Indeed. Surely you know the early history of the Fang, and how they started off with completely non-violent protests?" She asked knowingly.
Nodding along, John answered. "Sure, they may leave that out in school, but everyone knows that, right?"
"…Right." She reluctantly agreed. "When the Fang started shifting to more violent ways, this was a result of the original founder stepping down. That was Ghira Belladonna." She explained, causing John's eyes to widen.
"Belladonna as in Blake Belladonna." He connected.
"Correct." Leilah praised. "She's the daughter of Ghira and was a prominent member until her disappearance." She continued. "As for Spectre, we were originally formed as a branch to initiate social engineering in an attempt to smooth human and faunus relations behind the scenes, hence the name 'Spectre' meaning 'Phantom'." She explained.
"But obviously, you expanded well beyond that." John pointed out, gesturing to their surroundings.
Leila continued. "Amid the shifting in power and ideologies, the Fang began to experience a split: Those who supported the violence and those who didn't. Most of Spectre decided we couldn't stand the trajectory of the Fang and decided to split off." She explained.
"So, you're an off shoot of the original White Fang that want the old pacifistic ways back, but how do you intend to do so? And where do I fit into all this?" John asked, getting to the point of his questioning.
"We all witnessed something incredible during the fall of Beacon. The finest huntsman training facility in the world collapsed in mere hours and our world as we know it is about to change in an indescribable way. Is there ever going to be a better time for usurping?" Leilah questioned; her neutral expression replaced with an ambitious smirk that gave John goosebumps.
"And me?" John asked reluctantly, he'd underestimated this woman…
"Well, you have a personal stake in this as well because Seraphina's going to Menagerie." Leilah said simply, causing a look of shock to cross John's face.
"How could you possibly know that?" He asked suspiciously.
"Let's just say, I'm not the only person with interest in Menagerie right now." She said cryptically before expanding upon it. "Word is that the new leader of the White Fang, Sienna Khan, is dealing with some dangerous customers. Surely you remember seeing the White Fang at the fall?" She asked, getting a grimace and nod from the black-haired teen as memories of the event resurfaced. "That means she's in league with the people who destroyed Beacon, so I wouldn't be surprised if you found them, or some usable information, in Menagerie." She concluded.
"Sure, I'd find information on why they targeted Beacon but how do you know Sera will head there?" John pressed.
"Did you think you were the only one we've been keeping our eyes on?" Leilah asked, giving John pause.
It hadn't been that long since the fall and this... counter terrorism(?) group had already been keeping tabs on him and his friends? How many other groups could have already begun doing the same without any of them being any the wiser? The thought made John's blood boil.
'I need more information before I can act…' John thought, clenching his fist out of Leilah's sight to conceal his inner feelings.
"That all makes sense but, again, why did you get me?" John asked, insistent on knowing why.
Leilah smiled softly before speaking but John felt other intent behind her expression. "Because you're strong, John. More than anything, your semblance makes you a powerful foe for any opponent with a strong aura and an invaluable asset."
"Well, that is true…" John reluctantly accepted.
"If those are all your questions, are you ready to be briefed on how you're getting to Menagerie?" She asked, locking eyes with the boy.
"Let's do this." John replied.
Though he said that, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something Leilah wasn't telling him. Shaking it off, he listened to the briefing he was receiving intently.
Afterall, another Kingdom was at stake.
-GoR-
Ruby Rose was having a good day.
Ever since leaving Patch, she'd been trying to keep her spirits up. Having a depressed sister and being without her primary support system from the last year had taken quite the toll on her mental health.
And that wasn't even mentioning the collapse of her school and the ever-present thought of her leading her friends to an inevitable doom.
Speaking of friends, she was currently travelling with the active members of team JNPR. That is to say, the 'JNR' part as Pyrrha is…Yeah…
Not much had changed with most of them. Ren had let his hair hang freely instead of in a ponytail, and Nora sported an upgraded version of her hammer; now being capable of destroying decently aged Ursa with a single swing.
The greatest, yet most subtle changes lie with their leader, however.
Jaune, before, had been silent due to his lack of confidence and relatively paltry ability level, but now he was quiet for a different reason. Ruby didn't have proof, but she could feel that the shift was originating from a less-than-healthy place. Sometimes, he'd be staring off into space with a look in his eyes that almost made it seem that black flames burned behind his blue irises. The same would happen if Cinder ever came up in conversation but would be accompanied with a snappy outburst rushing the conversation to a close.
While his personality seemed to be on a downward trend, his combat abilities and IQ seemed to be rising at a much greater rate in response. Jaune had essentially become the brain of the group, thinking up effective strategies on the fly and even participating in most of the battles.
One example was in the large stone Grimm they'd exterminated that morning. It was known as a Geist and had the ability to possess and assimilate objects from the environment. Nora, Ren and she were having trouble taking it down as brute force seemed to be ineffective until Jaune finished his analysis. Without him directing them to neutralize all of its limbs simultaneously then target the isolated head, they'd have been thoroughly screwed.
After being thanked by a nearby village, they got on their way. That leads up to the present.
"Hmm." Ruby hummed to herself as she pulled up the map Goodwitch had given them.
"Is something wrong?" Jaune asked her, being the only one paying attention as Ren was currently entertaining a hyperactive Nora with a word game.
"No… I was just thinking about that last village." Ruby explained, closing the map, and pocketing her scroll. "They were still so happy despite everything that's happened, and even resolved to stick together no matter the result." She said, reflecting on the village's refusal of their escort offer; reasoning that they had people incapable of long-distance travel.
"Thinking of your team again?" Jaune guessed.
"No! I mean… Yes." The black-haired girl relented. "Yang, I can understand, but Blake and Weiss just… gave up." She vented. "We were supposed to be a team…" She deflated.
"Hey, don't get down on me now, Rose!" Jaune said as he slapped her in the back, causing her to shoot up straight. "You're a member of team RNJR now! And our first mission is to reassemble team RWBY… Although, I guess our first mission is to get to Mistral and warn the headmaster…? But those can be done in either order…" Jaune trailed off, confusing himself.
This caused Ruby to burst out laughing at the confusing sewing itself on the boy's face as he speculated on the conundrum. Seeing their leader laughing, Ren and Nora soon caught on with a light chuckle and boisterous chortle. Finally, Jaune gave up laughing and joined in as well.
'Looks like I was worried for nothing.' A solitary Qrow thought perched on a branch far above.
Taking flight and heading towards an unknown direction, he was unaware of the irony in his words as another set of eyes stalked his charges.
-GoR-
Schnee Manor
A week had passed since the party, and this was Seraphina's first chance to interact with Weiss without any interference.
The charity ball had been a smash hit with the press. The elites donating millions of Lien to the recovery efforts of Vale, the victims of the event looking good at their first public appearance; even Weiss' father gave a speech expressing his great sorrow at all of the young lives extinguished.
Thinking about the superficiality of it all gave Seraphina a headache.
Today, she was officially at the manor on behalf of her mother and the Schnee family planning another event. This time, it would be a collaboration between her and Weiss for a charity concert. Weiss would sing and she would play the piano, they got to pick the music and rehearse it at their leisure.
The charity, of course, was already paid. All of the seats were sold out the minute the event was announced as the event itself served as a status symbol. This made the penalty for even a single mistake astronomically high as such a transgression would be paramount to blemishing the Schnee name.
This didn't concern Seraphina, however, as she and Weiss weren't even going to be there to perform.
Seraphina was currently waiting in the foyer for her white-haired friend as a butler had just gone to retrieve her. Dressed in a pink sundress with hair extensions to make it appear as if she didn't cut her hair at Beacon, she felt out of place.
Seeing the normal hustle and bustle of the Schnee manor didn't surprise Seraphina. The servants all shuffled around with minimal sound, accomplishing their tasks at light speed, yet the atmosphere was tense. Everyone was walking on eggshells, terrified to make a mistake. It was no way to live.
Before the could get lost in her own head, she heard the sound of heels clacking as they descended the main stairway. Looking up, she found none other than the Schnee heiress herself, dressed in her usual attire, walking with a white folder neatly held under her arm.
"Did I keep you waiting?" She asked sarcastically.
"Let's go." Seraphina said brusquely, hurriedly making her way towards the room allocated for them to practice with Weiss following closely behind.
"Did something happen?" Weiss asked, concerned.
"It's nothing. That room was just a little stifling is all." The cat faunus said relaxing now that they'd relocated.
Weiss decided to drop it there as her friend didn't seem keen to discussing it further. This left them walking in silence for a few minutes until they reached their destination.
The room was a medium-sized studio with black sound-proofing material lining the walls and no windows to speak of. The door had a small window on it, but no sound was able to get through as the door shut with an air-tight seal. The room had a piano with an accompanying bench as well as a stand for Weiss' sheet music. A lone black table with wheels was also present.
Wasting no time, Weiss put the folder down on the table and leaned against a wall as Seraphina took a seat on the piano's bench.
"What have you found out?" Seraphina asked.
"One of the butler's that's been serving me since I was in diapers, Klein Sieben, he's gonna be the key." Weiss detailed.
Klein had been a loyal butler to the Schnee family for many years and had been the personal servant to Weiss' mother before her passing. They'd been so close, in fact, that upon Weiss' birth; Klein had been asked specifically to care for her.
Weiss could almost think of him as more of a father than her actual father.
"That means we know he can be trusted but what about the escape route?" Seraphina continued.
"I've already confided in Klein about our plan, and he said that there's a secret passageway in the library that leads directly to the airship dock. It's meant to be used in the case of emergencies, so I'd say this applies." Weiss said sardonically.
"That's perfect, but wouldn't they be able to track us if we took an official Schnee airship? Not to mention neither of us is a pilot…" Seraphina observed.
"Also, not a problem, we'll just stowaway on a dust shipment headed for whatever kingdom we choose." Weiss deflected. "That just leaves the question of where to go…"
"Mistral." Seraphina said without skipping a beat. "Vacuo is out of the question and Vale is currently destroyed. Our best option is heading to Haven academy and seeing what information we can get." She reasoned, getting nods of agreement from Weiss.
"I think it best to make our escape at night, which won't be a problem for me, but how will you get here?" Weiss asked, slightly worried.
"I'll be there." Seraphina reassured. "Give me the date and time and I'll be there no matter what." She said confidently.
"Alright then." Weiss said, a smile blooming on her face at her friend's confidence. "Here's what we're gonna do…" She said beginning to lay out the finer details.
-GoR-
Patch
Breaking a glass.
Punching a hole in her wall.
Waking up in a cold sweat and unable to return to sleep.
All of these were events that had befallen one Yang Xiao-Long more than once over the last month.
The worst part was she never quite knew what would bring it on either. Sometimes she could turn the faucet and hear the metal squeak, reminding her of a sword and swords reminded her of…yeah…
The pain had long since subsided-Atlas' best medical professionals saw to that. Free of charge, of course, General Ironwood insisted on it. The general also insisted on a gift-more like a cheap replacement, if you were to ask her.
The arm wasn't actually cheap, quite the opposite actually. Constructed of sleek high-quality metal and technology so intricate that it would make Ruby doubt Crescent Rose, the prosthetic was incredible. Made in a custom shape to fit her build and painted yellow with black accents to fit her style, it was perfect; made to be like using her real arm but better.
This was all well and good, but Yang didn't want better.
She wanted her arm…
No.
She wanted her life back.
She hasn't made it easy on herself and she knew it. Her father had tried numerous times to keep her active, trying to take her mind off the injury. Being an experienced huntsman and teacher taught him a thing or two about counseling those who'd gone through what she did, but to no avail.
How long had she stared at the wall in front of her bed?
How many times had she tried to reach out but was disappointed with her limb ending at her elbow.
How many times had she looked over at the note laying on her nightstand. Pristine white and unopened, the note sat. 'To Yang' was written on it in careful handwriting that she knew belonged to Mori.
What could he have written? Words of encouragement? Probably. Insults berating her for her inactivity? Extremely unlikely, but a voice in the back of her mind didn't let her discount the possibility.
Thinking on her own inactivity made her think on her lack of response when Ruby tried to wish her well before departing. Or rather, no response would have been better what she gave.
She lashed out at her only little sister. Chiding her for having hope, throwing their friend's abandonment of them in her face, and worst of all, telling her to leave.
She felt terrible for it. She really did.
Her best friend. Her team leader. Her little sister was practically crying out for support when essentially her entire main system had left.
And she spit in her face.
Yang would never forgive herself for it, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't go with Ruby, and she couldn't convince her to stay.
She felt worthless.
In a bout of self-pity, Yang grabbed the letter with her working arm and carelessly opened it. Secretly, she hoped the voice in the back of her head was right; she hoped that Mori used his last words to her to relentlessly tear her to shreds, to validate the feelings that she now felt suffocating her.
With these thoughts, she opened the letter.
-GoR-
"Summer…"
Taiyang said to himself, lost in thought as he looked upon a portrait of his second wife while sipping a cup of green tea.
He thought deeply about the difficult circumstances in which he currently found himself. His first daughter, crippled by an enemy far beyond what she should have ever encountered in her first year, was currently destitute of will. Even getting her to eat and drink consistently was a battle he had to fight three times a day.
But she was the easier one to manage.
The real problem child was the one that resembled her mother to a fault, all the way down to her mysterious silver eyes that never seemed to lack light. That is, until she regained consciousness after the fall of beacon. Saddened, her light dimmed as she listlessly lounged until her physical wounds healed. Taiyang couldn't speak for her mental, however.
She'd rebounded before he knew it, though, leaving with a new team and leaving behind a message for the boy Glynda had left in his care.
Was he worried? Yes. Very.
Taiyang was so worried that he feared he'd drag her back by her red hood and never let her out of his sight again, if he let his logical mind control him.
But his instincts told him differently.
The way her light returned at the prospect of something waiting for them in Mistral. The smile he'd longed to see returning when she saw her friends were alive. The still-untold mysteries behind her silver eyes.
All of these things Taiyang saw and thought while she was preparing to leave and when the time came, all he could bring himself to do was hug her deeply and wish her luck.
Fatherhood was truly a magical thing.
Just as he had that thought, he heard wood creaking as footsteps were being made. This led into the sound of a door behind him being opened followed by a voice he hadn't heard in a while.
"Dad?" Yang asked, voice coarse from unuse.
"Yang?" Taiyang responded gently, turning to face his eldest slowly.
Her normally well-kept blond hair was a mess. The fiery-yellow coloration having dimmed along with her overall mood. The bags under her eyes and the bloodshot state of them told tales of the struggles she'd had sleeping recently. She wore a simple orange tank top with gray sweatpants, both wrinkly and slightly stained from recent lack of care.
Her eyes, however, told a different story.
In the past weeks, Yang's eyes lacked the luster of her youth, having taken on a matte color. But now, while they weren't back to their former shine, Tai could see the makings of a spark in them once again.
"Do you want to spar?" She asked.
Now, in a normal household, one would think Tai to be a bad father for wanting to spar with his crippled daughter. But those people wouldn't have known the dynamic he shared with daughter.
Yang and Taiyang didn't have arguments. They fought.
They didn't just have talks. They talked while fighting.
Unfortunately, being more weapon oriented to the point of being pathetic in hand-to-hand combat meant that Ruby would never understand this secret language of theirs.
A soft smile gracing his face, Tai gave his answer.
"Sure, firecracker. Show me what you've got."
-GoR-
Mori and Neo
"Was this your first time seeing a destroyed village?" Neo 'spoke', getting Mori's attention.
They were sitting around a campfire in partially functioning house in the village. The roof was torn off so the smoke billowed out and the walls were mostly intact, giving slight protection from the grimm.
"Nah, we were shown stuff like this back in combat school to prepare us for the 'real world' as they put it, but that was just a scare tactic." Mori described. "This… this is actually real, so it was a little jarring." He finished.
"Hmm." Neo hummed as she stoked the fire with the tip of her umbrella, the flame crackling as she did so.
"You didn't go to combat school, did you?" Mori asked, getting a shake of the head from Neo.
With the girl not continuing the conversation and just continuing to stoke the fire, Mori decided to drop the subject. Their partnership had just begun after all.
"I can take first watch, you go ahead and get some sleep." Mori said to the girl, snapping her out of her trance as she returned her umbrella to her side.
Sleeping in a village had a few perks, one of those perks was being able to source the local bedding so they didn't have to sleep on the floor. They carried one such bed into the room they set up the fire in and the rest is history.
Climbing into the bed, Neo tucked herself in and closed her eyes; falling asleep in a matter of moments.
Surprised at the efficiency, Mori listened closely for her breathing. It took a lot longer than usual due to her quiet breathing-a trait he chalked up to her career path-but he found it. As far as he could tell, the woman was knocked out but knowing her, getting too close would not be a good idea.
Mori briefly wondered If she'd be able to teach him the trick to falling asleep so efficiently…
Shaking off those thoughts, Mori stood up and began slowly going through his Taekwondo forms.
After all, he still had a long way to go if the match with Ilpyo was any indication.
-GoR-
Patch
Yang came at Tai fiercely, swinging a wide haymaker towards his face that he blocked with ease.
"More." He said as he pushed her off.
Renewing her assault, Yang returned to a neutral boxing stance before sending out a high jab. Tai prepared to block it, but the jab was a fake that pulled back with a low kick coming immediately after.
Pulling his leg up and out of the way of the kick, Tai was surprised when he found the nub of Yang's right arm close to his eye a moment later.
A moment passed before Yang's eyes widened and she pulled it back, a complicated look crossing her features.
"You got me." Tai said encouragingly.
"I would've had you if I wasn't weak." Yang brushed off, dejectedly rubbing the stump.
"Yang- "
"Dad… Why am I so weak…?" Yang asked, voice shaking but no tears leaving her eyes.
"You're not weak, Yang. In fact, you're stronger than anyone." Tai said with a smile, frustrating his daughter.
"…what?" Yang said, daring him to continue.
But continue, he did. "You heard me. You're the strongest, and that'd why you feel so weak right now… Because you need help." He explained, causing the deep frown that had settled on Yang's face to soften somewhat.
"Until recently, I'll bet you've never felt weak in your life. You've always been stronger than your peers, and if you weren't you always had that handy semblance to give you the edge." Tai explained. "But everyone needs help sometimes and accepting that does not make you weak." He finished boldly looking his hurting child in her eyes.
Furrowing her eyebrows as her eyes became misty, Yang looked down at where her arm used to be. Her face went through several emotions. Anger, sadness, neutrality before finally settling on a light frown, Yang suddenly engulfed Tai in a hug.
"…Thanks, Dad." Yang muffled into his chest as he rubbed her back.
"Anytime, firecracker." He said gently as they slowly released one another.
"And Dad?" Yang said before they fully separated, grabbing his arm and turning, flipping him over her shoulder and allowing his back to meet the dusty ground.
"You let your guard down." She said with her tongue stuck out.
Realizing he'd just been got, Tai scrambled to his feet to chase after his fleeing daughter.
"You little…! Get back here!" He yelled as he chased after her, their laughter filling the forest surrounding their home for the first time in a long time.
Chapter 19 End
A/N: It's been a long time since I've updated this story. I never get the sense that time flies until I look at how long it takes me to update this story. I remember thinking that I was gonna update this story once every two weeks but then writers block kicked in.
As for the story, John is being inducted into the organization Spectre who claim to want the best for Faunus-kind as well as Mankind, but are they telling the truth? Seraphina and Weiss plan their escape but will everything go to plan? Mori has begun to see the toll of Salem's actions, will he remain steadfast in the face of this? Ruby and her new team are developing nicely but what of their mysterious stalker? And finally, Yang has finally begun her path to recovery but she still has a long way to go before she can fight again.
All of these questions and that's not even mentioning what's waiting in Menagerie for Blake, Ilpyo and Sun.
I'm pretty excited to keep writing but I wanted to air out the future of this story. I've been writing with the intention of having the cast venture to all 4 kingdoms with Vale already being done, now Mistral in progress then Atlas then Vacuo. This would roughly follow Canon through Mistral but then I would veer off and do my own thing with Atlas before ending in Vacuo. But recently, I've had doubts as to my ability to wrap up the story effectively if I did that.
Thus, I'm going to cut the Vacuo portion out and proceed to the final arc after the Atlas arc. This would also be a good time to state any ideas you guys want to see for pairings because I didn't want to establish them early in the story but now would be a much better time to have them play a role.
The only one I'm set on doing is Ren/Nora so everyone else is fair game.
With that, sorry for the delay and thank you for reading.
I'll see you all in the next one.
-Mango G.