"...Right. We can salvage this." Ainz rubbed his face.
He and Shizu and her unconscious victim had gone to a lounge that was in the massive building complex in Beacon.
Ainz was a bit weirded out by Beacon's buildings as the building had with weird architectural design (as Ainz wasn't exactly sure who would design a gigantic announcement hall next to a mess hall, with serval lounges connected to it via a central hallway that was visible from the mess hall).
Ainz had kicked out the group of students who had already been in the lounge, and had sat down on the couch while Shizu had brought Blake to him. All the while she was cloaked from biew so that the students within the lounge hadn't seen Shizu carry Blake around, as Ainz didn't want any nosy students start to snoop around and wonder why exactly Ainz was locking himself in to a lounge with an unconscious girl.
Ainz had locked the door with a simple zero-tier cantrip after Shizu had entered, and re-applied [Perfect Warrior] afterwards.
The locking spell would be strong enough to deter minor attempts at entry but would not hold against dedicated attempt to break-through or break-out, which was optimal- Ainz didn't want to risk blowing his cover by making the door impassable and thus raise eyebrows at how exactly a warrior had managed to lock a door via magical means.
Not to mention, the settlers of Far Hope had been of the opinion that magic wasn't real, so Ainz hoped that he could keep his advantage hidden as long as possible so that he could enhance his magic's alpha-strike potential as much as he could.
Of course, Ainz had considered the possibility that locals didn't believe in magic because 'magic' had become 'science', ergo it's rules and systems had become known and standardized, like how 'Aura'-ability didn't seem to raise eyebrows despite it being a weird sort of [Tier Immunity]-like ability that drained mana. In other words, it was very much possible that 'magic' didn't actually exist, and Ainz was just plastering the word onto 'spells' that he was capable of casting, and whose function he only understood from YGGDRASIL while being completely oblivious to the underlying science and structures of function that existed in the 'spell system'.
In other words, Ainz was worried that he acting was akin to a caveman who was holding up a torch and calling it magic, when others were pointing at it and calling it fire.
However, the possibility that 'magic' wasn't actually 'magic' anymore because it had been turned to science was just a theory, so Ainz would hold his cards close to his chest until he knew for certain if that was the case.
Moreover, hitting people with swords being seen as a form of combat seemed to be a well practiced and accepted way of doing things, seeing how Nicholas and his wife had fought, so Ainz decided to follow the same methodology until he'd know better.
That being thought, Ainz realized that he was once again letting his mind wander to his old adventuring, exploring and theorycrafting mindset of YGGDRASIL, and quickly drew his mind back to the present- To Shizu and the unknown black haired girl who had called out 'Momon's backstory.
"Alright. Shizu, please consult me before you use your weapons, or otherwise use force for reasons other than self-defense. Actually, even then, try to escape before engaging in combat unless I specifically instruct you otherwise." Ainz sighed at the battle-maid who was kneeling in a 'seiza'-pose in front of Ainz, and had a black-haired black-clothed girl splayed on the floor in front of her, making the scene something akin to a cat bringing a kill to it's master and expecting praise and bellyrubs.
Only, in this case the cat and the mouse had swapped places as the bow on the black-haired girl's head had come loose as Shizu had flopped the girl over on the floor, revealing a pair of cat-ears on the black-clad girl's head.
Shizu's face scrunched a bit in concentration over the orders, soon followed by steam rising from the top of her head as she thought hard, before she finally seemed to crash and reboot. "...I do not understand but I will do as Lord Momon says."
"...Haa, just… If you get into a threatening situation then message me and I'll give you the permission to fight if I see fit. Else, flee." Ainz rubbed his helmet a bit with his hand as he realized that he had probably been too vague, and it looked like Shizu preferred simple 'if-then-else' orders. "Can you do that?"
"Yes, Lord Momon." Shizu sounded serious even though her tone and expression were bland.
"Good. Now then, this girl… Who is she? What did she say? Please be specific." Ainz prodded
"She was identified as 'Blake' by 'Ruby', who appears to be 'friends'." Shizu recounted. "Following is a recording of the event:"
Ainz listened as Shizu played the recording of the confrontation, or rather, acted it out like how she had when she and Ainz were spying on the fight between Torchwick and Ruby. '...Right. It appears that this 'Blake' is from Mengagerie and called out the lie… However, Torchwick mentioned faunus and it didn't look like they were liked much. Moreover, the fact Blake got so defensive over the accusations towards White Fang tells me that she probably either sympathizes with them, or outright supports them. Which, with her being a faunus herself, does make sense.'
'Hm… I can use this…' Ainz realized that if he played his cards right he'd probably be able to turn Blake into a good link between Nazarick and White Fang. 'It is clear that she's not going to believe my sob-story. When you get called out on a lie the first time around, all your subsequent attempts at lying are effectively useless and only serve as an insult to the intelligence of whoever you're talking to. In other words, I can't afford to double down on my backstory to Blake… But instead, go for another plan and discard the story entirely as a fake one.'
Roman Torchwick had reacted quite well to the 'angels and demons' play that Ainz had put up, as he had guessed that the criminal would likely harbor either inner guilt, greed or fear of consequences for his actions as all criminals tended to do, and the play could be quickly adapted to pressure any or all of them if Roman had showed even the slightest hint of one of them being true- And it looked like while the first one had been a complete miss, the second two were quite clearly there even if Roman had hid them somewhat well.
As for Blake…
"Mhn…" The black-clad girl stirred as Ainz finalized his plan and put out anti-spying scrolls while standing up. "Ow…. Oww… My head…"
"Greetings, Blake." Ainz stood in front of the girl who was slowly gathering her wits on the floor.
The girl seemed to snap awake from hearing the sound, her cat-ears perked up in alert, and she quickly slapped her hand on her head to cover the animal ears.
"You- who- You took- you!" Blake seemed to struggle coming up with a coherent sentence after being stun-shot out of the blue, and she scrambled up from the floor. "My bow! You-!"
"Greetings, faunus, who call White Fang your friends." Ainz spoke again, causing Blake to freeze up.
"How did you- I- I am not with White Fang!" Blake seemed to be on the back foot, so Ainz pressed the verbal attack so that the girl wouldn't have an opportunity to reorient her thoughts and figure out what was happening.
"Lies. I specifically crafted my fake backstory to catch people like you- Your kind never fails to take the bait." Ainz reached to grab Blake by the head and lifted her up in the air, where her legs kicked feebly in the air.
Blake had tried to dodge the grab, but Shizu was there to kick Blake in the center of her back and cause her to become destabilized, enabling Ainz's grab to land.
"Hiss!" Blake tried to hit the armored hand that held her up by her face, but it was futile.
Between the armor, the level-hundred Warrior base durability, [High-Tier Physical Immunity] and Ainz's base health pool, the girl's attacks were completely ineffective.
"Yet… I sense that you are not like the rest." Ainz went for part two of his plan- Flattery. "I can sense great potential in you- You are not a mindless beast like the rest."
"We… Are… not… beasts…" Blake's struggling weakened while her fierce kicking and hitting dwindled to feeble swipes that failed to do anything but break her fingernails and the skin of her hands, causing her swipes to leave blood-marks on the gauntlets of Ainz's armor. "Let… go…"
"You attacked my aide. If we were anywhere else, I would have snapped your neck by now." Ainz shifted tactics again as the psychological assault-and-battery required him to keep the girl off-balance and alter between the stick and carrot.
"She… I did… not… attack…"
"Lie as you wish. All your words are wind." Ainz tightened the grip on Blake's face, causing the girl to panic and try to pat the hand that was holding her in the air. "But… At the same time, you are a unique case. Different from the rest. Why is that?"
"Why- do you care-"
"I do not." Ainz replied as the girl was playing into his court, and his 'character background' as 'evil necromancer' allowed him to act the part without stuttering. "Convince me that my gut feeling was correct- Elsewise we'll part ways. I'll resume my hunt, and you'll join your comrades… In death."
Blake froze. "You- Wouldn't dare-eeei!"
The girl's struggling intensified as Ainz further tightened his grip, causing blood to start streaking down Blake's face as the grip had torn through her skin and her eyes were blood-shot and panicked past the armored fingers that were crushing her head.
"Stop! Stop! Please!" It looked like Blake's confidence broke at last… And Ainz saw from the corner of his eye that Shizu had been unfolding and opening a large trash bag and was gathering mops, which Blake might have seen as well. "I'll- I escaped White Fang! I'm not part of them anymore! Please!"
'Oh.' Ainz felt disappointed and it looked like the emotion was conveyed through the grip as Blake froze up in terror. 'Hm… Well, that is unfortunate. I wanted to use her as a link to White Fang… But I suppose that this can work too. If she's a faunus and from Mengagerie… Then she can vouch for my backstory if it comes into question again. Moreover, I can use the White Fang connection as a noose around her neck… Hm.'
"Hm… It seems that my gut feeling was correct. You are different from the rest." Ainz went for flattery once again, causing Blake to tremble in fear. "Very well. You're from Mengagerie…"
"Menagerie." Blake corrected shakily out of instinct and bit her lip while she was lying limply in the air, and had closed her eyes from fear. "It's Menagerie, not Mengagerie…"
"Hm… Menagerie, then. Yes." Ainz realized that he had probably pronounced the place slightly wrong. 'Oh. That probably explains why I couldn't find anything on that place in the Scroll…' "I have a proposition for you."
"Let me go and I'll liste- ow!"
"Know your place." Ainz altered back to hostile growl while tightening the grip, as he knew that he had to bounce between the stick and the carrot so that Blake wouldn't be able to get her mind in gear and start to think properly. "I was being courteous, but very well, if you insist that I'll speak things as they are- You will vouch for my backstory as a lord from Menagerie who escaped White Fang attack. Spread this information to whoever asks you about me, including your old comrades when they come looking for you with a blade in their hands and your execution in their minds."
Blake froze up again, so Ainz continued, this time switching to carrot, and came up with a new backstory on the spot just for Blake. "This will allow me to draw in the militant White Fang of manpower, and continue my path of revenge. The White Fang… Took someone I cared about. I will not forgive them for this."
The black-haired girl looked like she wanted to say something so Ainz waited for a split second for it, with intention to swap back to the stick if she spoke out of turn or went against him.
However, the girl looked like her courage failed her, so Ainz continued. "At the same time… I'll take care of those who White Fang would send to silence you. Fail this, or betray me by calling my bait-story a fake one, or go against my will, and I will ensure that everyone knows that you are a faunus and part of White Fang… And after that, you will die, soon followed by everyone you knew and loved."
"Y- yes… I'm… shorry…" Blake was crying miserably while trying to hold onto Ainz's gauntlet to reduce the bending the hold was causing on her neck. "Please… let me go… I'll… I'll do as you say…"
"Good. You may call me Momon." Ainz realized that he hadn't introduced himself and he let go of Blake's head, causing the cat-girl to fall to the floor like a marionette with her strings cut. "As far as the rest of the students go, you were acting rowdy so Shizu here pacified you, she then introduced you to me, and we became friends. You know what happens if you stray from this story."
Blake nodded miserably with black mascara running down her cheeks, which mixed with her tears and the blood from the marks that Ainz's gauntlet had left on her head.
"Good." Ainz offered his hand, and Blake offered hers with shaky motions.
The two shook hands and Ainz nodded to Shizu, who had gone behind Blake, and Shizu kicked Blake in the back of her head, causing the faunus to flop on her face on the floor like a marionette with her strings cut.
"...Shizu, I meant to indicate that you could clean Blake up, now that we are supposed to be 'friends'…" Ainz reached up and covered his face with his hand once again, and Shizu gained a 'x' expression on her face as if she hadn't realized what Ainz was going for. "Right. Sorry, I'll use wordless [Message]'s next time. Just, take Blake to the side, clean her up, and remove those marks on her face with this. It won't be good if the staff of Beacon start suspecting foul play. Oh, and put that bow back on her head to cover the cat-ears."
Ainz offered Shizu a healing potion and the battle-maid lifted Blake to her shoulder once again and tossed her to a nearby couch, and started to clean the run-off makeup, blood, snot and tears from Blake's face.
'...Right. That should take care of that.' Ainz nodded to himself, undid the locking cantrip on the door, and wandered out of the lounge to start thinking about the sleeping arrangements- Since he was undead and Shizu was automation neither needed sleep, but it would be suspicious if the pair wandered around for the entire night. 'Hm… I'm not sure what sort of customs the locals have regarding sleeping arrangements. It would be bad if sleeping naked was a thing, since while I can project an illusion of having a fleshy face and body, it won't hold to scrutiny since the illusion isn't actually corporeal and any soft clothes would just fall through the illusion and settle on my bones… That being said, the teenagers and young adults here seem fairly immature, so I should probably be cautious before I mimic their actions.'
.
.
.
Ainz wandered into the main hall where the students were starting to get ready for the night, and spotted the answer to his ponderings in the form of what Nicholas's son was wearing as sleepwear. 'Right. Since Nicholas looked to have been a hunter with his head screwed on straight, his son would have inherited that trait as well. That getup does look strange compared to what the others are wearing, though, but it would only make sense that Jaune would be ahead of his other male peers.'
Ainz nodded to himself and wandered off to the bathroom to use [Create Item].
For some reason he was starting to attract quite a few stares, though, and that was before he put on his 'sleep-clothes'.
.
.
.
Ruby blinked a bit as she stared at a large, armor-clad man who was wearing a massive, red-and-black infernal bunny-themed onesie on top of heavy plate armor.
The Dread Battle-Wabbit had arrived to Beacon, and no-one was courageous enough to approach it and point out that the getup was utterly ridiculous, considering that the battle-rabbit was utterly massive and had a pair of gigantic greatswords on his back, and was flanked by a orange-haired girl in camouflage-onesie. Although the camo-onesie looked fairly cute on the lithe and long-haired one-eyed girl that for some reason looked more like a delicate porcelain doll than a real person when she was clothed in the one-piece outfit.
However, no-one seemed to be courageous enough to approach Shizu either, not only because of the massive walking plushie of absolute destruction walking beside her, but also because the orange-haired girl was also the same girl who had earlier just straight-up shot a fellow student in the head for bothering her too much.
"Ghi… hhghghgg." Ruby tried her very best to not giggle as the armored guy's getup looked utterly ridiculous.
"Uh, Ruby." Yang glanced at her little sister as the two had spread their sleeping mats and field mattresses and donned pajamas. "I don't mean to alarm you… But is that a bloody handprint on that armored guy's helmet?"
"I think it's a fashion statement since that dark battle bunny suit is super cool and the handprint fits it! That guy's Momon, by the way! I think! Shizu mentioned that she was with, uh, 'Lord Momon'. Or something like that, so that's got to be him." Ruby tried to sound confident but failed quite hard. "Hey, uh, don't be weirded out that I say this, but let's go say hi to them before we go to bed?"
"Uh… Sure." Yang looked quite suspicious of the pair and glanced to the side, where a white-haired girl looked like she was about to have an aneurysm as the ridiculously clothed pair waved at her and tried to exchange a few words with the white-haired girl.
The white-haired girl just lifted her hands up while she was bursting with 'I'm so done' -energy, and strutted off without a word back at Momon and Shizu, who were stuck staring at the girl's sudden departure in shock. Or rather, Momon was staring and Shizu had resumed her silent vigil.
There was a blonde boy in a blue bunny-onesie on the other end of the huge hall-like room who looked quite proud of his choice of nightwear, and was drawing several wary glances from the students near him as they looked back and forth between the blue-onesie boy and the gigantic monstrous onesie-creature in the room, all the while a red-head girl beside the boy was giggling quietly at the monster.
"Uh! Hiii!" Ruby waved at Shizu, who had turned towards Ruby as soon as she got within ten feet of her.
"Ruby." Shizu didn't look like she'd follow up with the statement so Ruby was left picking up the conversation.
"Sooooo are you excited or what? Tomorrow's the exams to get in! I hope we get to be on the same team! I was um, well… Uh. About partnering up, I was thinking that I'd partner with my big sis, Yang over here but-" Ruby waved awkwardly in Yang's direction as the girl was eyeing up Momon's onesie 'situation' and tried her best to not burst out laughing.
It was a bit reassuring to Ruby that Yang could keep herself in check, even though she had to pull off the 'hamster with cheeks full' expression as the buxom blonde tried her hardest to not burst out in laughter.
However, it looked as if Yang managed to latch onto Ruby's words as a distraction from the plushie monster, and she put her hand on Ruby's shoulders before leaning in to whisper to Ruby's ear. "Sis, I think it'd be best if you partnered up with Shizu here, I love being the bees knees with you, but you can't just be in my shadow all the time. You got to learn to live and learn for yourself! But don't think that I won't be here to back you up if you get into trouble."
"Uhh!" Ruby shook quite violently as the shock of hearing Yang say what she had just said caused her head to feel as if she had been dipped into ice-cold water. "Y-y-y-yy-y- Yang! A-A-are you serious?!"
"Yeah, go for it. Alright, Shizu! I'll entrust my lil' sis to your care, so I'm going to body you if you shoot my sis in the head like I heard you do to some girl who tried to jump you." Yang broke from the whisper to point her finger at Shizu and addressed the words to her, who looked at the finger, and started to back away even though her expression hadn't changed from disinterested back-and-forth scanning..
"Yang! Don't scare my friends off! Specifically when I finally make one!" Ruby quickly hopped forwards and took Shizu's hand, as even though Shizu tried to pull her hand back, she likely hadn't accounted for Ruby's Semblance, Speed, which she used to accelerate her lunge to nearly teleport-like speeds to cut off the orange-haired girl's escape. "Shizu, it's okay! We're going to be the best of friends! And we'll talk about guns and aircraft and ammo and all sorts of fun things!"
"Confirmed. Topic accepted. Ruby is requested to turn off her eye-aura, it is debuffing me." Shizu commented.
"What… Oh. Ooooh!" Yang lifted her eyebrow at the strange eye-statement, before her lips spread to a cheshire grin. "My, you're a closet romantic, aren't you, camo-in-the-boots?"
"..." Shizu made a small frowny face at Yang, as if she wasn't sure what she should say back.
Ruby quickly hopped between Yang and Shizu as she had seen the same look on Shizu's face just moments before the latter had shot Blake in the face. "Hey! Come to think of it, did Blake make it out alright? She didn't look too good the last time around…"
"Blake is fine." The Battle Wabbit wobbled over and offered his armored paw at Ruby.
"We had a conversation to clear the air and we became friends- It turned out that Blake was mistaken somewhat, but the situation resolved itself peacefully. Oh, and greetings- Come to think of it, we have not been introduced properly. I'm Momon."
"R-Ruby- Ruby R-Rose!" It was Ruby's time to look like a hamster with cheeks full as she tried her hardest to not laugh while she shook hands with the massive plushie-monster. "You're cool, I think! That costume, uh, is cool too! Very cute!"
Shizu looked to be radiating sunshine even through her emotionless expression as Ruby spoke positively of Momon's outfit, and the man bowed his head just slightly at Ruby, causing the outfit's bunny-ears to wobble a bit.
He then turned towards Yang. "Ahem. We've met, but this would miss…?"
"Yang. Yang Xiao-Long. Ruby's sister. Different mothers, long story. Point is, if someone hurts Ruby, I am there to punch their face in. I think I made it clear when we met at the airship and I spotted you ogling Ruby, but if she thinks you're alright then I'm fine with turning a new leaf if you are as well." Yang offered her arm at Momon. "That doesn't mean you can start getting too familiar with Rubes, by the way."
"Umu, I see. Please excuse me if this sounds like a strange question, but do I truly look like a suspicious person who needs to be threatened in that sort of fashion?" The massive walking red-and-black bunny plushie with heavy armor plates and pair of greatswords tilted his helmet which had a bloody handprint on it's face, causing the bunny-ears to flop down a bit.
"Dunno!" Ruby voiced a bit uncertainly while patting the wobbly ears.
Yang just nodded.
Momon looked like he was sweating inside his armor.
Both Yang and Momon looked to be completely comfortable in ignoring the fact that Ruby had climbed to Momon's back with her Semblance, and was playing with the floppy bunny ears of the plush onesie while Shizu was giving Ruby a wary glance.
.
"Well, if I'm honest, you look ultra suspicious. Like, turbo sus. The kind of person who would crawl out of a vent and stab someone." Yang noted after a brief moment and pointed her finger at Momon again, speaking her mind aloud with zero filter as was usual for her- She wasn't a fan of theatrics, even though she could act politely if pressed. But that would have to be a pretty big press, and probably hydraulic as well. "But I'm willing to give you a chance, because Shizu over there seems to be of Ruby's age and it doesn't look like you've corrupted her, so you probably aren't full-on evil or anything like that."
"...Right. Umu, that is good to know. Thank you, you've given me valuable information to think about, miss Xiao-Long." Momon nodded thoughtfully. "And I appreciate the chance you've given me."
"Sure thing, creep!" Yang thumbed-up at Momon while flashing a smile. It looked like Momon crumbled a bit spiritually from the bright smile and the honest words, but recomposed himself with record speed.
Shizu frowned at Yang, but Ruby hopped between the two before the situation could escalate- Yang had heard of Shizu's little gun-trick so she kept an eye on the one-eyed girl, just in case she wasn't as friendly with Ruby as Ruby likely thought she was.
"Hey! So, what if, like, the four of us make a team?! It'd be cool, right?!" Ruby seemed to get an idea.
"Maybe. Dunno." Yang rubbed her chin. "What about you, bunny man?"
"It's Momon…" The man in the massive bunny onesie seemed to sigh, causing the sound to be somewhat hollow as he was still wearing armor under the plushie-suit. "However, even though I fear I may come across as cold, I have already approached someone for the purposes of teaming up."
"What, the white-haired ice-queen?" Yang pointed with her thumb in the direction where the girl from before had disappeared. "Doesn't look like she shares the sentiment."
"I am not sure what caused her change in mood. I believed that we were on agreeable terms until now." Momon shrugged. "I must confess that I am not very good at this."
"That girl looked to be a snobbish type, so she probably thought you were insulting her with this wardrobe malfunction of yours." Yang reached to flap one of the bunny-ears on Momon's head, even if she had to stand on her toes to reach it, as even though Yang was tall, Momon was freakishly tall. "Free advice for Rube's friends. Anyway, back to miss white hair- I got a feeling from her that she wasn't the sort of girl who'd be keen on getting to know suspicious and dorky black knight types, no offense. I'm guessing that she was 'petting strays' when she came to bitch at me for telling you to back off Ruby back during the airship trip, and was trying to shoo you off politely when you tried to approach her later. Correct?"
"Oh." It looked like Momon's entire person had frozen and cracked like glass. "But- um…"
"It looks to me that she's more interested in the 'well known public figure' types, see? No offense, dude, but you're big, tall, baritone and probably real strong based on that armor of yours, but you're also suspicious as heck. And prim and proper girls like that girl either are all in for that sort of thing, or they are completely against it. Looks like it's the latter for you." Yang pointed in another direction, drawing Momon's and Ruby's eyes to the other side of the hall, where the white-haired girl had come out of a door hallway door and had sat down neatly into a seiza-pose to speak with Pyrrha Nikos and the boy that the red-head flanked.
Pyrrha looked like she was not comfortable with being chatted up by Weiss, though.
"She did tell me that it was alright if I accompanied her to search for Pyrrha, though?" Momon looked like he shook off his stunned state and his tone leveled up to its normal deep, slightly reverberating baritone.
"Yeah, because when a tall, big, armored guy corners a small girl alone, it's perfectly safe for her to say 'get away, creep'." Yang noted a bit dryly. "I get that she's probably been trained up to fight properly and defend herself, but I'm pretty sure the same applies to you too, dude, and I get the feeling that you two are not exactly strangers on using those weapons of yours on living beings as well as Grimm."
Momon looked quite shocked based on his body language and his armor-plates rattled a bit, but the man stabilized his pose after a second or so. "I see. I wasn't aware that I gave off that sort of air. I figured that I would be more… honest figure."
Yang was fairly impressed by the guy's ironclad control over his emotions, and wondered briefly if he'd be willing to teach her- While Yang's Semblance, Burn, was easy for her to wield when she was pissed off, it was often as much a weapon as it was a hindrance since even though Yang was able to control her emotions to a fairly good degree, it was somewhat difficult for her to adjust her mental state when she was using her Semblance. And that could easily lead her to seeing her Semblance as a hammer, and all of her problems as nails.
However, she wasn't exactly sure about Momon's character- While he seemed agreeable and easy to talk to, Yang couldn't shake off the feeling that Momon was just putting on a face or a facade.
Shizu, meanwhile, looked completely honest even though she didn't really use many facial or tonal emotions as she 'chatted' or rather, 'occasionally responded' while Ruby gushed all over the orange-haired girl and was shoving a magazine about Dust-based weapons to the orange-haired girl's face.
"Right. So, the girl. Did you corner her and demand that she'll follow you around, or…?" Yang focused on the current issue- That of being a relationship doctor for Momon's infatuation.
It was a bit cute, but at the same time, Yang hoped that the responses Momon gave would also give her a good grasp on his character by the medium of talking about someone else.
"Oh- that is, it wasn't like that." Momon shook his hands at Yang while the large man sat down on the floor as Ruby had pulled a mattress nearby under her and had used her Semblance to fetch a large stack of armament books and papers to gush about to Shizu, who had sat down on the mattress as well. "Ahem, she did ask me to go away, but I agreed to leave. After that she told me to follow her."
Yang kicked a nearby mattress so that it landed in front of Momon and sat cross-cross on it, put her elbow on her knee, and leaned her chin on her hand to think. "Hm. So I guess she did give you a chance. But I'm guessing that your wardrobe stunt just now probably caused her to re-evaluate… Hm?"
Yang glanced over and saw that the white-haired girl in question had stomped away from Pyrrha with her cheeks red with an angry blush, and was approaching Yang, Momon, Shizu and Ruby. Or rather, was storming towards them while her long white nightgown billowed like the cloak of an evil queen of snow from a fairytale.
"Wassup. Something's got your knickers in a twist." Yang made a hand-wavy motion at the girl who was standing while the rest of the group were sitting, and saw from the corner of her eye that Momon bowed reverently towards the girl. 'Oh. Gotcha. That's probably it- Looks like Miss Icicle-up-my-ass over here wants a challenge, but Momon's rolling on his back as soon as that girl's eyebrow twitches in a way that could translate to 'roll, pooch'. In other words, the Knight of the Plushy Kingdom here needs to act hard to get, if he wants to get into the princess's graces.'
"Greetings. I am Weiss Schnee, and you two are?" Weiss curtsied quickly and angrily before glaring at Yang.
"I'm Yang, this is Ruby. That guy's Momon, this one's Shizu." Yang pointed at each person.
"I have met Lord Momon before." Weiss sat on a seiza-pose on a mattress that she reached to grab from the floor and then put down nearly so that she faced Momon while giving Yang the cold shoulder. "Momon. I believe that our speech regarding formation of teams was halted somewhat."
"Indeed? I hope that I have not caused offense- ahem." Momon seemed to double-take as Yang shook her head while leaning out of Weiss's line of sight. "That is, I apologize for the offense I've caused- ahem."
Yang had crossed her arms and had palmed herself in the face, and now turned her back towards Weiss and made a motion of flicking her hair as if she was annoyed.
"It seems that my aid has caused you annoyance, please forgive her- ahem." Momon seemed to start again as Yang slammed both her hands on her face.
Yang then produced her scroll and lifted it over Weiss's head while the white-haired girl was slowly lifting her eyebrow at Momon, as if she was regretting internally that she had even approached the plushie-knight.
Yang's Scroll above Weiss's head read, in the biggest font possible on the device, "PLAY HARD TO GET, IDIOT"
Momon glanced at it and seemed to get the message, and coughed to his fist. "Ahem, that is, what brings you here, Weiss?"
"I was thinking of your proposal. Do you have a standing record of arena battles or otherwise possess proof of your claimed combat prowess?" Weiss had an angry blush on her cheeks, making Yang fairly certain that Pyrrha had told the little princess to screw off and leave the arena champion alone with her boy-toy.
She wasn't sure if Pyrrha had used those exact words, though, as Yang had seen a couple of the arena battle broadcasts from Mistral where Pyrrha had fought, and she had gotten the impression that Pyrrha was a fairly level-headed and passionate person.
Therefore, it was clear to Yang that Weiss was on back foot and was grasping straws after her first plan had failed.
"Hm, I do not have such a record. Unfortunately I was more or less forced to leave all my belongings behind and forge a new identity for myself when Shizu and I were forced out of Menagerie by White Fang." Momon seemed to sigh.
"Menagerie?" Weiss froze up completely. "You're… A faunus? One of those animals?"
The words came out with a disgusted sneer, making Yang double-take the princess and mentally raise the size of the icicle that someone had stuffed up Weiss's ass. 'Didn't think miss Bitch McBitchface was a speciesist. Then again, 'Schnee'… Yeah, wasn't that the big Dust corporation- Is she related to that group? Figures that one of those would start rummaging around Vale, headhunting for talent…'
"I am not. Neither is Shizu." Momon spoke after a moment.
"Show me. Take off that helmet." Weiss narrowed her eyes. "What are you hiding? Are you actually part of White Fang?! Are you actually after my life?! Is that why you have been clinging to me like a bad odor?!"
Ruby stared at Weiss, as did Shizu, as Weiss's outburst had caused the two to turn away from their chat- Or rather, to halt Ruby from piling more weapon-related books and magazines onto Shizu's lap as the stack was already starting to resemble a swaying tower.
Momon lifted his hands up and waved them in panic, breaking his usually calm facade. "I am not! Lady Schnee! I beg you to believe me!"
"Oi, what gives, miss racist bitch?" Yang entered Weiss's line of sight from the side, and the words caused both Momon and Weiss to freeze up.
"Excuse me?!" Weiss practically shrieked.
"Battle-bunny over there is clearly deliberately keeping his faunus heritage hidden, so it's not cool to start prodding. You know that Faunus people get a bad rep because of White Fang and everything else, so you're being super unfair. Moreover, wasn't Momon and Shizu kicked out of their homes by White Fang? Have some compassion, princess!" Yang's eyes flashed red as she growled at the sheltered princess, all the while Momon was looking around in panic.
It was clear that Momon was very self conscious about his body, considering that he was trying to see if anyone had heard Weiss's outburst just now.
"How many funerals have you attended, miss Yang?" Weiss, however, seemed to collect herself and speak with a glacial tone while glaring at the buxom blonde girl.
"Er…" Yang blinked at the sudden change of topic.
"How many of your coworkers, friends, even family, have died because of White Fang's terrorist attacks? Because of their reckless rage and thoughtless 'acts of charity' that involved sabotage of airships, destruction of mines that trapped miners and engineers inside them, the assassinations and outright murders?" Weiss glared at Yang with a look in her eyes that would probably cause lava to freeze up. "Those animals took the kindness that Schnee Dust Company offered them, and cast it on the snow. We offered them fair working conditions and payment, but they wanted more, ever more! And when we could no longer abide by their insane demands, they started attacking us! And you want me to humanize those beasts?! They are only barely above Grimm!"
'Yeah, this one is a lost cause.' Yang pointed her fist at Weiss. "And you thought 'Momon must be a murderous animal just because he's a faunus'? Say yes and I'll shove this fist so deep up your ass that the icicle that you sat on is gonna get pushed out of your mouth."
"Fine! You animal worshippers can stew in your own broth-" Weiss made to stand up, but Momon lifted his hand to stall her, even if he didn't touch her.
"It's quite alright to be paranoid, Lady Schnee. As you can see, I am not a faunus." Momon took off his helmet, revealing his face.
Yang double-took Momon's appearance, as the man was clearly middle-aged, and showed Mistralian features.
He was thoroughly average-looking and if he hadn't worn his armor and weapons and if Yang hadn't known better, she probably wouldn't have been able to pick the man apart from a crowd of civilians. Not to mention the man's skin had some blemishes, making it quite strange as Aura was supposed to fix those sorts of marks.
"Dude, you're older than I thought." Yang noted playfully as she shook off the weirdness of Momon's appearance.
She thought about making a joke about Momon's looks being the reason he seemed to keep his helmet constantly on himself, but on a rare moment of self-censure made Yang refrain from making that particular joke. And instead she pivoted for another equally insensitive joke out of instinct- Yang blamed Qrow for teaching his niece such a twisted humor. "Is it really alright for you to be mingling with a bunch of late teenage girls? You're gonna get accused of all sorts of things~ Wait, is Shizu over there your daughter or what?"
"Wha- ahem, well, no. She's not my daughter, but… She's… a daughter of one of my beloved comrades…" Momon sounded quite nostalgic as he spoke, and the middle-aged Mistralian-looking man's eyes seemed to lose focus for a moment.
The look in the man's eyes was akin to the one that Yang's father had whenever he spoke about Summer, as Ruby's mother had disappeared one day during a routine mission as a Huntress… And when Huntresses disappear without a trace, it was not hard to guess as to why.
Shizu looked quite sad as well, even though there was a hint of anger in the mood that radiated from the girl who otherwise looked like an emotionless porcelain doll.
"I'm sorry for your loss." Yang reached to pat Momon on the shoulder while Ruby hugged Shizu, causing the latter to blink in confusion.
"That is- um- T-they- eham…" Momon's mood seemed to shake quite a bit for a moment before he returned to calmness. "I… hope that they are still here, somewhere. I never saw them die, after all. They just… disappeared."
"Those that we have lost will always live with us. In here." Ruby came to the conversation from the side while holding her hand to her chest with one hand and having the other on Momon's shoulder. "Um… I know, my, er, my and Yang's mom disappeared too…"
Momon looked extremely depressed for a moment, and then sighed while his expression returned to normalcy, making Yang thoroughly impressed by the man's inner zen to be able to control his grief and put it away with such professionalism. 'I wonder why exactly he's even in Beacon in the first place…'
Weiss seemed to get enough of the sentimentality and stood up. "I have had enough. Good day."
"Lady Schnee. I believe that I have made it clear that I am opposed to White Fang… Haa. Please sit. I shall reveal the real reason why I am here." Momon's look hardened quite a bit, causing Yang to be caught unaware as it looked like the tone of Momon's actions took quite a shift.
Weiss looked like she wanted to walk away, but a quick glance at Shizu seemed to convince her that she wouldn't be able to walk faster than a bullet- Not that Shizu had even glanced at Weiss much less brought out her gun, but it was clear that Weiss had heard the same rumors as Yang.
"Then speak." Weiss looked like she was being held hostage and crossed her arms in a hostile manner.
"In truth, I am not from Menagerie. I am from the continent near it- Mistral. I am not a lord, but rather, I am… I was… the leader of a group who fought… the Grimm. We weren't trained and registered Hunters, but rather, we were more akin to anti-Grimm vigilantes." Momon sighed quite hard and continued talking. "I hope that I shouldn't need to say this, but what I'm about to say next must not be allowed to spread. For the safety of us all."
Weiss looked somewhat green but nodded, clearly more out of suddenly growing fear than out of desire to know as she glanced at Shizu. Ruby looked worried but nodded while glancing at Shizu and nodding reassuringly, and Yang just nodded slowly while crossing her arms.
'I hope I didn't just start defending someone who turns out to be a serial killer or something…' Yang lifted her eyebrow at Momon as the man was acting quite shifty.
"We were fighting Grimm, sometimes with, but mostly without the help of the government and the Hunters. However… At some point we drew the ire of White Fang to us. I'm not exactly certain where it started, but once it had begun, the circle of vengeance guaranteed that the situation soon escalated out of control." Momon explained, and then paused as he seemed to gather his strength. "And soon enough the White Fang had embedded themselves in a settlement that we sought to save… And after we had dealt with the Grimm and returned to the settlement, tired and weary…"
Yang could already read the pattern and drew air between her teeth, all the while Weiss looked even more green than before.
"...White Fang ambush. Strongest of us died or went missing." Shizu continued after Momon while speaking in a monotone voice, as if she was speaking out a pre-recorded message, or rather, if she could only barely force the words out of her throat.
Momon had paused to catch his thoughts, and lifted his helmet to his head to hide his expression- Something that Yang couldn't fault him for, as the wound was clearly still fresh.
"Some of us got away. They were pursued. In the end, only a few survived. Not enough to keep going. Most had disappeared- Except for A- Lord Momon." Shizu paused for a moment, and then spoke with a slightly different tone. "...Those disappeared included… d-dad."
The orange-haired girl seemed to be traumatized just thinking about it, and even Momon stared at Shizu in shock for a brief moment, causing Ruby to plop over to Shizu and squeeze-hug the girl.
The familiar act caused Shizu to tilt her head at Ruby while she began radiating confusion, as Shizu's earlier minute burst of emotion seemed to have disappear under the emotionless mask almost as soon as it had broken surface.
"...So why the cover-up with Menagerie? And the lie about you being a lord amongst faunus?" Weiss asked after a moment. The girl's back was straight as an arrow and her face utterly pale, and it was clear that the girl was regretting her earlier words. "And… I would like to formally apologize for what I said earlier. I… realize that I have acted unprofessionally and my accusations towards Momon were over the line."
"It's alright… I would have likely reacted similarly if our positions were switched." Momon forgave Weiss with grace, making the girl's pose relax just slightly. "As for 'Menagerie, it was my plan for drawing out White Fang sympathizers as they would no doubt be aggravated by a fake accusation towards White Fang massacre that they hadn't actually done. Not yet, at least. In other words, I could draw their attention and take them out one-by-one, while also not announcing my presence which would likely elicit a far stronger response that would overwhelm me… Or have them avoid me so much that I can't catch their trail anymore. I hoped that by doing so I could catch the trail of White Fang in Vale and purge them from this city- This was also why I took Roman Torchwick to my care instead of allowing him to be caught by Ruby- I needed to interrogate him for his White Fang contacts, and I didn't think Vale Police would be forthcoming with information they'd get out of Torchwick if I asked them."
"Wait, what- But I thought- he was dead! I saw his brains all over the place!" Ruby pointed out as she shook out of her earlier depressive mood over Shizu's and Momon's tragic past, and the depression made room for confusion.
"Not at all. I'm sure that he was alive. After all, Shizu and I interrogated him and found out that Torchwick was heavily affiliated with the local White Fang. I haven't been able to act on that information yet, though." Momon dismissed Ruby's words with a paw-wave, as the man was still wearing the bunny onesie over his armor. "The night was dark so you might have mistaken seeing some things. It happens to the best of us."
"I… uh, I see. um, well, yeah, it must have been something like what Shizu used on Blake… Right?" Ruby blinked. "Wait, didn't Blake confront you about your story regarding White Fang?! Is she part of White Fang?!"
"Who is 'Blake'?" Weiss sounded quite annoyed and crossed her arms. "But before we talk about that… Momon, I must confess- I've misjudged you. You've suffered a loss like that, and instead of hiding away you took the fight to White Fang… You have my gratitude and respect for taking the fight to those animals. However, I am still curious about your goals here. What are you doing in Beacon, exactly?"
"Shizu needs to be trained to fight, and even I have some holes in my combat prowess that I believe the Hunter's way of battle could plug. In the past we did not associate ourselves with Hunters- We saw the organization as corrupt. But now… I realize that our distrust partially caused our fall." Momon put his hand on his chest. "If we had been more open with Hunters… Well, what is past is past. I cannot afford to dwell on it. Moreover, I suspect that the Hunters of Vale have been infiltrated by White Fang, so while I am getting myself trained 'properly' and guarding Shizu as she learns to fight, I am also seeking to uproot White Fang from within the ranks of the Hunters, before they can be allowed to spread their corruptive influence."
"I… see. I approve. I only wish the Kingdoms took such proactive approaches to the faunus problem as well." Weiss sighed in content relief. "Ahem, that is, I wished the Kingdoms took such an approach to White Fang. Forgive my slip. However, you weren't a faunus, so…"
Yang felt a vein pulse on her temple over Weiss's unabashed racism, but she held her tongue. This time. It wasn't Yang's fight, but nonetheless, Weiss's smugness over it was rubbing Yang the wrong way.
"Thank you for your sympathy. I feel that we may share a common sentiment." Momon bowed his head at Weiss a bit, causing the bunny-ears of his heavy armor-onesie to wobble. "I hope that we all pass tomorrow's exam."
"Speaking of which, it appears that miss Nikos has chosen to partner with a person that she seems to share an intimate bond with. If you do not mind me asking, were you planning on partnering up with your friend's daughter?" Weiss looked a bit conflicted as she spoke, likely because she was eyeing up the pair of flopping bunny-ears on top of Momon's onesie-hood.
"I was actually hoping that Ruby would partner with Shizu. It seems that you two share interests." Momon glanced at the two, prompting Shizu to nod mechanically and Ruby to grab Shizu's hands and jump a bit in joy. "As for myself, I was somewhat unsure as to my partnership…"
"I would propose that you and I shall form a partnership for the purposes of forming a team for our stay in Beacon. We seem to share ideals… And at least you do not seem to be as, ugh, crass as the other boys who seem to be more interested in looking at my legs than at my eyes. I wear a skirt because it's easier to move in one, not because I want my legs stared at." Weiss's eyebrow seemed to twitch a bit from a traumatic memory. "Moreover, if even half of what you said is true, then you are a formidable combatant. I look forward to seeing you in action."
Weiss seemed to pause to think for a brief moment. "Ahem, that is, if you decide to accept my request."
Momon seemed to pause to think while Yang flashed her Scroll covertly with the earlier message still plastered onto it. "Hm… Your proposal does bear merit. However, please do not be offended if I ask this, but what do you bring to the table as far as your abilities and capabilities go?"
"I have been personally trained by an Atlesian Specialist in utilizing Dust in combat. I take the role of a Dust-caster, and I have studied extensively on team leadership." Weiss seemed to preen a bit as she got to talk about herself, making Yang roll her eyes internally. "My Semblance is Summoning and through that, the ability to dominate the Grimm that I slay by making a limited number of temporary copies of them with Dust and Aura, and control them in battle."
"Hm…" Momon seemed to be thinking.
Yang saw a few beads of sweat on the very corner of Weiss's temple, as it looked like the white-haired girl was feeling a bit of pressure from the helmeted stare- And it told Yang that Weiss wasn't exactly as confident as she seemed. In fact, if Yang was interpreting Weiss's body language correctly, the girl was practically desperate.
"So, you are a, hm… hm… hm!" The armored bunny nodded his head, causing the floppy ears to flap. "Very good. I think that we can make this work."
Momon offered Weiss his hand and the two shook hands… Before Ruby gasped as she seemed to realize something.
"Wait- waaaait! But if Momon and Weiss partner up, then who does Yang partner up with?!" Ruby latched onto Yang's arm. "I won't leave you behind, Yang! Even if we go to some village and fight Grimm and get ambushed and-"
"Calm down sis. I'll join some other team- Assuming that you four want to make one." Yang rolled her eyes at Ruby and then reached to tussle her hair, causing Ruby to let out a protesting squeak over the manhandling of her hair.
"But- bubbububub!" Ruby tried to object and Yang reached to squash the girl's cheeks together a bit with her fingers to make Ruby's objections turn to 'wubs'.
"Can it, sis. Like I said, you have to learn to live by yourself too. I can't be with you everywhere you go." Yang pat Ruby on the head and then turned to address the white-haired girl. "Weiss-cream. If I think that you've treated my lil' sis badly, I'll punch your teeth so deep down your throat that you'll have to eat your lunches afterwards by sitting on them."
"I suppose that that is the local equivalent of wishing one a good night and excusing themselves?" Weiss sent Yang a cold glare while looking down her nose at the considerably taller girl.
"You got it, bitch-queen! Well, remember my promise. Sleep well, Ruby!" Yang made finger-guns at Weiss, ignored her shocked squeak, reached to pat Ruby on the shoulder, and finally got up to go to her sleeping bag since most of the other students had started to enter their sleeping bags as well.
"Wait, what about my sleeping ba- uf!" Ruby topped over as she had started to get up, and got a mattress and her sleeping bag thrown directly into her forehead, courtesy of a precision throw by Yang.
"...Do you think Ruby is going to become unworthy baggage for our team?" Weiss leaned a bit closer to whisper to Momon.
Yang heard it and tossed Weiss's mattress at the white-haired girl, hitting her in the neck and causing her to flop down on the mattress that she had sat on.
The grumble that left Weiss's mouth against the mattress must have been quite spectacular, considering that Momon had frozen in terror, but in the end, the group retired for the night.
.
.
.
A crow tilted his head while looking through a tall window into the hall where the students slept.
The crow let out a small caww and departed to sit on the roof so that he could transform back to a human, and then inform Ozpin of the worrisome development, which would necessitate 'alterations' to the planned exam.