A/N: Here's chapter 8 for you guys now. I hope you guys really enjoy this chapter!


Midnight Meetings


I remember way back in the day when my dad used to tell me 'Jaune, violence is always an acceptable answer when someone's being a total ass.' Then my mom would slap the back of his head and tell me otherwise…Looking back on it now from today, dad was definitely right… Jaune thought to himself as tree sap dripped down Pyrrha's back. Every book he read and every story he was told that involved shit like this always had that corny slow motion thing but he never actually believed it.

Until now that was.

Watching that jar fly through the air went by fast, but when it shatter against Pyrrha's back, time seemed to stop in that instant. Shards of glass frozen in air as she recoiled from the sudden blow. Sap spread across her back in an instant and froze just as fast as his brain struggled to process what had just happened.

A tree next to him swayed slowly in the wind, its branches creaking as they moved. Time –the frustratingly slow thing it could be- finally caught up. Yang moved first –her feisty attitude leading her to draw her weapon almost immediately against Cardin.

"WHAT THE HELL!" She shrieked out, the air around her igniting like it was napalm. Cardin's grin immediately melted off his face as she turned on him, the bravado he felt just moments ago dying in the face of the inferno.

Yang stomped towards him, fist cocked back and ready to strike.

She stopped when Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder, his lips thinned into a grim line. He shook his head and pulled her back gently, beckoning her to let him pass.

"Jaune I swear to shit, you can't let him get-" He stopped her with a sharp glare. The rest of team RWBY and JNPR recoiled slightly at his thunderous expression. It was the first time any of them had ever seen him so upset with anything.

Yang stepped back, allowing Jaune to move forwards unimpeded. He squared his shoulders and set his blue eyes on Cardin.

"You know Cardin," Jaune started sticking as much 'Roman' into his voice as he could manage, "I should really thank you." Cardin shot him a confused look and opened his mouth, but Jaune barreled on uninhibited. "I say that I want to be a hero, and you give me ANOTHER opportunity to save your ass from the slaughter Yang was about to put you through." His hands clenched and released, muscles tensing over and over rhythmically.

"Oh really now Jaune, well I guess I'm lucky to have a guy like you as a good friend right?" Cardin's mocking voice rang out into the clearing, loud for all to hear. Jaune paid it no mind as he drew his sword, leaving the shield in the soft grass.

He didn't plan on using it anyways.

"Oh cmon Jaune," Cardin twisted his lips into a vile grin, "no need to get violent. It was a joke man." He said as he drew his own mace out. This was too easy. Yang would have been problematic to fight -he was confident in his skill no doubt, but the boxer was ranked second in their entire year in fighting ability. Jaune, conversely, was the king of average ability; average skill, average speed, average everything really.

This was going to be –as Jaune had just said- an absolute slaughter.

Everyone remained silent, breathing stilled as Jaune and Cardin glared each other down. Each one slowly shifting their weight from foot to foot, anticipating the first move.

Jaune broke the calm first, dashing low to the ground, one hand lashed out into the dirt as the other stabbed his sword forwards in a piercing strike.

Cardin parried with a swipe of his mace, he closed in immediately, intent on using his superior weight to bear down on the smaller leader. He kept his peripheral focused on the blade though, anticipating some sort of counter sweep.

What he didn't expect was a fist-full of dirt, grass, and rocks to be shoved into his face.

"Gah! What the fu-" He sputtered out, recoiling as the acrid material filled his mouth and nose. Jaune capitalized and lunged forwards driving his knee directly into Cardin's crotch as hard as he could.

Cardin let out a high pitched whine as he doubled over. Jaune gripped his sword with two hands and pummeled Cardin's exposed side with the pommel of his blade.

As Cardin curled up into a ball –a poor attempt at protecting his exposed body- Jaune abandoned his blade and turned Cardin to face him, letting his fellow leader see his furious expression. Cardin merely coughed as he did his best to curl back up and hold his abused kidney. One hand wrapped around his neck and squeezed.

"Cardin," Jaune whispered into his ear and paused waiting for a sign that he was listening, when Cardin flicked his eyes at him Jaune settled on that being a sign of recognition and continued, "I'm going to let you go, and the first thing you're going to do, can you guess what it is?" His voice came out harsh and threatening.

"A-Apologize?" Cardin wheezed out, in between sputtering breaths.

"Bingo." Jaune released his grip and lifted Cardin to his feet. When he stumbled and nearly fell down, Jaune surprisingly caught him, not letting him drop to the floor pathetically. He motioned for Cardin to move forwards, supporting him with his shoulder.

As they approached Pyrrha, Jaune tightened his grip on Cardin's shoulder and shot him another heavy glare. Yang snarled, her eyes narrowed and arms folded tightly across her chest.

Jaune swallowed hard, hoping to whatever God was out there that he was making the right decision. With a stoic expression he shoved Cardin forwards towards his teammate who had been cleaning tree sap and glass off her armor for the better part of the last couple minutes.

"Go on then, you know what to say." Jaune spat, his lips still twisted in anger and his hands remained clenched and taut.

Cardin felt his anger flare for a moment. Who the fuck was he to order him around? Using cheap tricks to beat him like that. He almost spun fully around to confront his blond nemesis again but stopped when their eyes met.

It was the first time he had ever seen Jaune with so much confidence before. In every battle simulation they took part in, Jaune always held an aura of worry about him –but the Jaune glaring him down had none of those meeker qualities. So he turned back slowly and faced the red haired student.

Pyrrha through all of this…was surprisingly unaffected. Sure, she was slightly mad at Cardin for having thrown a jar of tree sap at her but that was it –she was only slightly mad. She had spent her life being told to reign her emotions in, to hold them close to her chest and only allow content happiness fill her face. So when Cardin threw a jar of tree sap at her, her reaction was quite mundane. But watching the rest of her teammates react the way they did –hell, team RWBY reacted in a similar fashion in fact- was…she couldn't find a word for it.

What she did know is that it filled her with a small amount of warmth, knowing they cared for her in such a manner.

"Look," Cardin coughed out, still struggling through the pain of his abused crotch, "I-I'm sorry for the tree sap." He apologized, looking down and away in a mixture of shame, anger, and fear.

"Don't do it again." Pyrrha replied curtly, her eyes narrowing slightly as she wiped the last vestiges of sap off of herself. The sticky syrup that landed on her skin would need to be cleaned off in a shower, which unfortunately meant she would have to wait for them to return back to their dorms.

Which was still hours away.

Cardin looked up and opened his mouth but Jaune grabbed his shoulder and pulled hard.

"That's all we need to hear from you Cardin, now get out of here." Jaune said through clenched teeth as he pulled him out of the clearing and away from his friends. He had never felt so angry in his life. It would have been so easy to have just continued beating the downed teen but…

...he flicked his eyes back towards Pyrrha and their eyes met. Hers still a bright smiling green pair in contrast to his darkened blue. His gaze softened though, knowing he had made the right decision to end it fast.

"Alright Cardin, let me settle out some ground rules." Jaune spun Cardin so they stood face to face. He crossed his arms tightly across his chest and met Cardin's hard eyes with his own. "I really don't care what you do to me alright," Jaune paused as he let the information sink in slowly, Cardin surprisingly didn't sneer at him, opting instead to hold his steady gaze, "you can shit on me all you want Cardin -I'll fight back of course don't get me wrong, but if you ever mess with my friends again..." Jaune let the statement hang.

For several seconds they stood there, leader to leader, the bright fall leaves surrounding them. Slowly Cardin nodded in affirmation, his hands unclenched and relaxed by his sides. Jaune stuck out his right hand and Cardin took it in his own, their hands clasped tight as unspoken words of understanding passed between the two of them.

Both turned around succinctly and made their ways toward their respective parties.

Jaune let out a sigh of relief as he made it back into the clearing. He hadn't realized how stressful that had been until he saw the smiling faces of his friends as they crowded around him.

"Nice job Jaune!" Yang clapped him on the shoulder and shook him lightly, grinning ear to ear. "Glad to see that asshole finally get what he deserved. Though you could've kept going ya know, for my sake." She winked at him.

"Only a brute like you would want to see violence continued Yang." Weiss clicked at her teammate before nodding at Jaune. "Though I guess-"

"He totally deserved it though!" Ruby chimed in happily, elbowing Jaune lightly in the ribs before blowing a small raspberry at Weiss. Ren shot him a tired grin and nodded at him, another silent exchange between the two lone males of their group. Nora excitedly bounced over to him, loudly proclaiming that this was the start of Jaune's future as a superhero.

Jaune laughed and swiveled his head to find Pyrrha. When he found her, he felt his heart soar for a moment to see her happy expression. Sometimes he felt that Pyrrha only smiled because that was the only expression she actually knew how to express but seeing her eyes narrow with joy and her lips part with laughter let him know that at the very least, in this exact moment, she was happy to be there with them.

And that's all he really needed.

She mouthed to him that they could talk later when they returned to their dorms and he nodded appreciatively, an uncontrollable grin forming on his face.

Hiding behind her gathered crowd of friends, Blake smiled contently. This was truly the first time she had ever felt so…happy to be in a group. Back when she was still in the White Fang, her smiles were few and far between, so being here with her new teammates and being able to grin so much left her feeling glad.

She clenched the poster in her pocket.

Slowly they went back to collecting their tree sap and eventually after that, they returned back to Beacon Academy.


"You were like BAM and WOOSH! Just like Slothman Jaune!" Nora spoke excitedly, pantomiming several punches and kicks. All of which never happened in his fight with Cardin just hours ago. Jaune shot Ren a confused look -he had learned quickly that Nora didn't pick up on his questions even when he overtly asked them. Ren sighed and answered Jaune's unspoken question.

"Slothman is the superhero of a comic book Nora has been keeping up with recently." Jaune rolled his eyes and snorted. Of course, what else could it have possibly been, Jaune thought to himself.

"Ren are you telling him about Slothman! Oh Jaune you just HAVE to read this comic it's great!" Nora quickly ran to her bed, fishing out several comic books from…somewhere? Seriously, he had never even seen her buy books before so where she got these from was a complete conundrum to him. The orange haired girl –Jaune sometimes wondered if she was in some way related to Roman but considering their vastly conflicting personalities he doubted that- shoved some comics into his chest as she excitedly chattered on about Slothman.

"So you're gonna want to start with silver age Slothman. Most people agree it's his best showing though he is kinda OP you know? You can skip the golden age since it's pretty garbage! Nerfed him so much I swear…" she grumbled quietly to herself before continuing. "But really what you need to get to is the New 52! It's got this brand new story line where Slothman is born as part sloth, part man, and it's incredible! His main villains-"

"I think you should let Jaune read the comics first Nora. Spoilers would ruin it for him don't you think?" Ren piped up quickly after seeing Jaune's increasingly confused facial expression. He smiled when Jaune shot him a thankful look.

"Oh man! Thanks Ren! Can't be spoiling the best parts for Jaune!" She grinned and latched herself onto Ren's back mindlessly. He sighed, knowing that resistance was, for the most part, futile.

Jaune laughed as he stretched out his limbs –a long day of menial labor really tightened those muscles up. He flicked his eyes towards the bathroom door as Pyrrha walked through it. She smiled at him and gestured curiously towards Nora and Ren.

"Same old thing Pyrrha. Same old thing." Jaune answered succinctly, his answer garnered a simple nod as she took her place next to him on his bed.

She stared at him for a long second before speaking up.

"Thank you Jaune."

"No problem, teammates gotta stick together right?" Pyrrha felt her lips form a warm smile.

"I suppose so Jaune. I suppose so." She swung her legs mindlessly as she bit her lips, a question forming on her mind. "Where did you learn to fight like that?" Jaune had been training quite hard but the way he fought Cardin was…interesting to say the least.

*Cough* *Cough* Jaune leaned over, sputtering out coughs as he pounded a fist into his chest. Okay, should've expected this line of questioning to come up eventually. He thought to himself as he searched for an answer. Glancing over at Pyrrha netted him a worried look and sympathetic hand on his back.

"I've…uh…well to be honest that's just…just…um…how…I've always fought." Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at his sheepish figure. He had never fought in a manner such as that before so it wasn't exactly 'believable' by any stretch of the word.

At her confused expression Jaune quickly amended his statement.

"I mean, I just tend not to fight like that since, you know…hunters are supposed to be honorable and stuff…and heroes don't…they don't do things the easy way right?" Jaune said quietly.

What a pathetic lie…

Pyrrha nodded at his statement. It wasn't unthinkable she supposed, that Jaune would purposefully avoid 'dirty' fighting tactics –especially in a hunter academy. Back in Mistral her teachers always told her that proper huntresses face their problems standing tall with their backs always pointed towards those they wished to protect.

"I see. That makes sense I suppose." They both sighed at the same time, one smiling lightly with her eyes closed and the other frowning and slumped over.

As they went off to bed, Jaune's dreams turned to those of shrouded figures.


"Age?"

"29."

"Type?"

"Puma"

"Gender?"

"…Really?"

"Just answer."

"…Male…"

"Name?"

"…Tukson…" He sighed out. The man blocking him from entry nodded him through and continued the same line of questioning to the next individual.

The rally, as he had figured out for himself, really was being held in a warehouse at the Corvix district. It was ironic when he really thought about it. The district was named after a man who emigrated from Mistral after being hounded for his anti-faunus rhetoric, then proceeded to strong arm several of Vale's smallest construction companies using a variety of blackmail and bribery, all culminating in the creation of Vale's largest docking station, which he then used to funnel a huge variety of drugs into the city.

Of course, most citizens only knew of him as Daniel Corvix the Portside Savior; the guy who created hundreds of new jobs and helped lift the economically struggling city back to working order.

Now the same port was being used to house a terrorist organization hell bent on overthrowing the ruling councils across all of Remnant.

The more things change, the more they stay the same…Tuskon thought to himself as he pushed passed another group of young faunus.

He was surprised by the turnout to be frank. Vale was well known for its faunus positivity and general progressiveness in comparison to the other countries so he didn't expect so many to feel 'disenfranchised' by the government here. Clearly he was wrong to think that however.

As he looked around him the noise quickly died out as everyone stared openly in one direction. Tukson narrowed his eyes and slowly turned his head, following their glares.

"No fucking way…" Tukson's whisper was echoed by several others. His fists clenched into tight balls as he swallowed down the fear and apprehension. This wasn't just unexpected, it was pure insanity. He had worked with the White Fang for years, he knew the group inside and out. He felt a bead of sweat roll down the nape of his neck.

For standing in front of them all, clad in his usual flashy garb, was Roman Torchwick.

"Well, I was going to start with introductions," Roman said loudly, spreading his hands wide, "but it seems like you all know who I am." He paused, arms still outstretched, waiting for a reply of any sort. When no one spoke up he continued unabashed. "Well without further ado, let me introduce your speaker for the night." He chuckled as a smaller –Tukson couldn't see very well but it seemed like some canine type- faunus took to the stage and began addressing the crowd. "Please give a warm welcome to David Hawkwood."

Roman was the only one who clapped. Everyone else seemed to be focused on his mere appearance at the event.

Murmurs exploded from the crowd, the gathered faunus first looked to each other in confusion, then they looked towards the White Fang representatives who merely shrugged and gestured back towards the stage.

Roman grinned as he pulled out a small remote from his coat. Pressing a small button turned on a hologram projection next to David. The bold logo of Atlas hung lazily in the air, spinning slowly and glowing bright.

"Who here doesn't know what this is?" David asked the crowd. "Atlas! Arguably the most powerful country in the known world as of right now. Its military prowess mixed with its technological advancements have propelled it far beyond the other countries of Remnant, but at what price?" Tukson inwardly groaned, this was the same speech he given years ago. Nothing had ever truly changed it seemed.

As David droned on pointing out the faunus abuse Atlas was known for Tukson focused less on the criminal's words and more on the situation itself. Roman Torchwick was no friend of the faunus –what with his history of abusing faunus for menial labor and the like. So why the hell was he here giving a pep talk to a bunch of faunus. The White Fang would never-

"WHAT!"

Tuskon flinched when those around him roared in anger and indignation. He spun his head back towards Roman and saw…

Saw…

What the hell is that? Tukson's horrified mind cried out. Next to David Hawkwood was the projection of a faunus, it's skull opened up and a machine picking at its brain. The rest of the gathered faunus pressed forwards, all trying to get a better look at the image. Several White Fang representatives moved swiftly, keeping them from getting to close to the stage. Roman's grin was gone, Tukson noted, it was replaced with a grim frown, his hands wrung his cane like he was trying to strangle it.

What the hell did he miss while he was musing to himself?

"This" David gestured towards the hologram. "is what Vale assists in." The wrath in the room was palpable but David trudged onwards. "I won't lie to you, I have no clue what they're doing here, but the councils of Vale, Mistral, Vacuo, and Atlas are all a part of this. What this," David disgustedly waved at the hologram, "is I have no clue, but they are a part of it."

Tukson's eyes were locked firmly on the image of a poor faunus girl –her lips were twisted in anguish and her eyes were filled with terror.

She was alive as they did this to her…

What the hell was this? It couldn't be real, he reasoned to himself. The council of Vale always tried their best to further faunus rights throughout the years, his bookstore was a testament to their progressive attempts.

What in the fuck were they being shown?

"How many of you want to know the story behind this image?" Rage filled shouting filled the room from end to end. Tukson noted David's eerie smile. "The White Fang wants to know as well. That's why we exist!" His hands accentuated each words, bobbing up and down rhythmically, matching the pace of his speech. "To flush out the disgusting secrets of Remnant! We were given 'rights'" he spat the words out with venom, "to simply placate us! But placated we will remain no longer!"

Tukson looked around him and saw the crowd growing angrier and angrier. In an instant he was in the past, when he was younger and more easily manipulated by petty words. In an instant he remembered everything he felt back then in that moment; the rage, the desire, the passion. In an instant, he remembered…

...how wrong he had been.

Tukson quickly shook himself of his old feelings. The White Fang lied all the time and he was certain, though he had no evidence, that this was no different.

As the crowd grew more and more riled, Tukson quietly slinked away, having seen more than enough.

He paused as he felt a creeping sensation on his back, like fingers crawling across his back, searching for something hidden. Tukson whipped around but found nothing but a crowd of angry faunus, the hologram of a tortured girl, and a criminal mastermind leaning against the far wall, his green eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Tukson flicked his eyes across the warehouse one last time, eyes moving quickly across the crowd, up the walls, and…onto…the…bannister…

What. The. Fuck… Tukson's jaw almost dropped when he saw the black clad girl crawling on a bannister slowly.

Her tiny cat ears twitching as they caught each word being spoken with what he assumed would be crystal clarity. Tukson almost couldn't believe it –he probably wouldn't have if it wasn't happening right in front of his eyes- but it was Blake Belladonna. The teen girl who visited his bookstore just a little over a week ago.

Holy shit, how did she even get up there? There was no way they let her go up there on her own so the only logical explanation was that she snuck in. What kind of kid could do that so easily? Tukson almost slapped himself when the obvious answer popped into his mind almost instantly.

She was a huntress from the academy.

Tukson clenched his hands and calmly walked back towards the crowd, keeping the girl in his peripheral.

In his mind, the decision was already made.

He needed to talk to her.


Blake silently climbed her way down the side of the warehouse, her fingers gripped another rusted steel pipe as she lowered herself onto the cold concrete. She strained to hear the telltale pitters patters of approaching footsteps but only heard the distant sounds of faunus leaving the area. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned around intent on leaving the area to gather her thoughts.

"Enjoy the rally?" Blake froze when a voice sounded behind her. She hadn't taken more than ten steps out of the dark alleyway, who the hell was this? Blake relaxed her shoulders, one hand slinking towards gambol shroud as she turned to face...

"Tukson?" What the hell was he doing here? He hadn't seemed like a White Fang sympathizer from how happy he seemed to run his bookstore, but then again no one ever looked like one. "I um…yeah it was interesting to say the least."

"Must have been pretty hard to hear though huh, lots of loud people tonight." Blake noted his tense posture and gripped her weapon harder.

"Ye-yeah…I was near the um…center of the group so I was having a bit of a tough time."

"Oh, the center?"

"…Yes…"

"So right there in the middle?"

"Um…" Was there a different definition of center that she wasn't privy of? What the hell was with this line of-

"I could have sworn I saw you sneaking around in the ceiling railings." Blake's eyes widened. Her arm was a black streak in the air as she whipped her sheath at his face, intent on knocking him out in the first blow.

To her surprise Tukson had his arm up and ready, blocking the thunderous blow and skidding back several feet. He looked up at her in surprise and opened his mouth.

"Holy shit kid…" He nursed his left forearm, gingerly fingering the already blackened area. She had almost broken his arm in one strike. Guess his theory was right; she was a huntress in training for sure. "Woah woah!" Tukson waved his arm as she reared back for another strike. "I'm not here to fight!"

Blake stumbled as she stopped her blow in midair. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him with her amber eyes. She bit her lip and slowly straightened her back, though she kept her weapon out and ready to strike at the slightest provocation.

"What do you want then Tukson?" She hissed out, still readying herself for some unseen assault.

"Why were you at the rally kid?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Tukson groaned, he wanted kids once upon a time, but every interaction he had with them had slowly ground that desire to nothing but dust.

"To see what they were trying to sell this time." Honesty was always the best policy as his mother always said -though Blake's glare was saying otherwise.

"You're a member?" She gasped, her glare reached Antarctic levels of cold. Tukson shook his head though, pushing out a tired sigh.

"No, not anymore. Not after Atlas." Blake's eyes softened the tiniest amount when she heard his words. He was probably talking about the Succession Day attacks; the first ever large scale attack on Atlas infrastructure with a death toll numbering in at over 100 people. But that was…

"That was years ago…"

"Yeah…it was." Tukson stared off into the darkness, his mind wandering back to mistakes, to lost opportunities, and to regrets. "I was a lot younger back then but I was so passionate. It was the first wakeup call that the White Fang weren't the progressive peace organization it touted itself as."

"…" What could she really say to something like that? She was only five years old when it occurred -12 years ago… "So why did you come tonight?"

"I already answered didn't I? To see what bullshit they were trying to spread this time."

"So you don't believe what they were showing." Blake said quietly. The image was…She had never seen something like that and while she knew the White Fang were evil that didn't mean humans were clean by any measure.

"No, I don't believe the narrative. The image is probably real, but I'm sure there's another answer, one that isn't seeded in violence or hate." Tukson nodded to himself as his confident voice rang out in the night. He turned his eyes to the smaller girl in front of him, her head hanging low. "So why were you there kid?"

Blake snapped her head back up towards him. "I was honestly there for the same reason, I…I'm also an ex-member…"

Tukson whistled in surprise, ex-member at her age? She must have been strong as hell to get away from the hunters. With that kind of strength…

"Did you see Torchwick?" He almost laughed at how fast her expression turned to one of disgust.

"What the hell was he doing there? The White Fang doesn't work with people like him." She practically vomited the words out in pure contempt. Tukson sighed.

"No, they usually don't. Which means there's something big going on." He nodded to her, she nodded back and steeled her gaze. "You plan on finding out don't you?" She nodded even more furiously, her eyes filled with determination. "I plan on it as well, so how about we work on this together."

Blake opened her mouth to reject his offer but was stopped when he held his hand up.

"You're a student at Beacon right?" She closed her mouth and confirmed his theory. "You won't be able to get the kind of information that I can then, you're going to be busy with school."

Her rebellious eyes openly showed contempt for his words. She could do this!

"What about you? How are you going to get any information when you have a bookstore to run?" Blake quickly shot back.

"I can take breaks kid and besides, I can get information by doing what I usually do, asking questions."

She snorted loudly as his so called solution. As if asking questions would get him anywhere, non-members were on a strict need to know basis.

Tukson practically read her mind though and steeled himself for the possible explosion that would follow his next statement.

"Yeah kid, I'm gonna ask for information. After all, I'm still technically a member." Blake's eyes widened as she reared back for another strike, only to stop when Tukson cringed and put his hands up in a measly defensive posture. "Woah kid! Calm down!"

"You're a member!" She spat out, holding gambol shroud tightly in her fist.

"Only because leaving means death, don't know if you can tell kid but I'm not exactly a super human fighter like you. I don't stand a chance against the hunters."

She held her weapon steady, her glare softening only slightly.

Tukson continued. "I'm only a member still because I wanted to try and help people escape the violence of the White Fang early." She lowered her weapon but kept her wary eyes on him.

"How can I believe that?"

Shit, how the hell was she supposed to believe that. He didn't exactly have a power point presentation to show her or anything, hell, this was kind of an impromptu thing from the start.

"I could ask you the exact same thing kid, but keep in mind I approached you and asked you for help. Not the other way around."

They stood in silence as Blake mulled over her choices. The cold fall winds blew around them, carrying the vibrant leaves off their homes in the trees and off into the night.

Eventually, after several minutes, she spoke up.

"I'm sorry but I can't work with you." Tukson sighed, having expected that answer in full. He reached into his pocket, rolling his eyes when she brought her…ribbon-knife-gun thing back out. Pulling out his scroll slowly and carefully didn't make her put the weapons down –if anything she seemed to grip them tighter.

"Okay then, I get it, at least let me extend the olive branch then, we can trade numbers and I'll freely supply you with any information I get." Tukson resisted the urge to laugh as she awkwardly kept one hand on her weapon and pulled her scroll out with the other.

They traded contact information quietly, neither party saying a word.

Blake put gambol shroud away –to Tukson's relief, that thing looked damn sharp- and slinked away, her eyes locked on his form. Tukson waved her goodbye but received nothing in return, so he turned around and walked away as well.

As he walked back to his home he stared back at his scroll, a new contact brightly illuminating the screen.

Black Cat…? Tukson refused to laugh but god, she was definitely an interesting one.

Hopefully he could keep her out of trouble.


A/N: There's the end of the chapter! A lot shorter compared to the previous ones but hopefully still pleasing. I've been struggling a bit recently in my personal life due to pure laziness so this week I'll be focusing on getting my ass in gear and working hard.

This chapter signals a shift in setting finally. After re-reading a couple chapters I realized my story feels kind of bland sometimes. I haven't exactly hammered out exactly why I feel that way as I read it but I'll be trying to mix it up a bit with the next few chapters. Nothing big but hopefully it'll be impactful enough to make a difference.

POLITICAL TALK:

DONALD TRUMP HAS BASICALLY LOCKED IN THE NOMINATION. IS THIS REAL LIFE?

No really though this is unprecedented. The GoP threw everything at this man to stop him from grabbing the nomination. Every single dirty, disgusting, and misleading tactic you could think of, they used constantly. News outlets misreporting his every word, debate moderators ganging up on him with other candidates, and even straight up admitting that they were trying to steal delegates from him.

To put it into proper perspective, the GoP spent over 100 million dollars in negative advertisements against him total. That is 100 million into attacking their own front runner. THEIR OWN FRONT RUNNER. Donald Trump spent approximately 25 million this election cycle –this is the lowest out of every single candidate in the race by the way including democrats- to beat them. He spent less than a quarter of what they spent to completely destroy their little established party.

Whether you hate him, whether you love him, one must admit that Donald Trump has done what was once considered impossible; beaten the establishment giants.

This is historic.