Basking Robins (Day)
"I can't believe Yang wouldn't let us try and help her." Gregory said, taking a bite from his waffle cup. After a talk with Ironwood, he and Connor took an ice cream break while Yang simmered down. Even Ruby was being shunned.
"Give it time. Dominic may have his flaws, but he knows how to get through to people. It's one of the reasons I accept him as a leader." the Sorcerer said, thinking back to when he first met the pyromancer. "Speaking of, I was wondering about something. Why does he call himself the Mountain King?"
"Oh, that." Gregory said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "It's an old nickname from Signal, don't take it seriously. He likes to use it to make himself sound more impressive, but it's just posturing."
"Really?" Connor asked.
"Really." Gregory answered. After another few bites of ice cream, he asked his teammate a question. "So, do you know where Ivy is?"
"No." the Sorcerer said. Hearing this, the Blue Rose's eyes glowed softly as he looked down. "But, I do have a way to find out."
"TELL ME NOW!" Gregory yelled.
"Hey, keep it down!" another patron of the store said, angry.
"Yeah, we should probably leave." Connor deadpanned, getting up from his seat. Gregory followed, but not after making the patron who screamed at him pay by making their ice cream far too cold for human consumption.
Miingle Plaza (Afternoon)
"Spill! How can we get Ivy back?!" Gregory asked his teammate, his eyes glowing brightly. After vacating the ice cream store, they went back to where the Breach occurred. Thanks to Goodwitch, it was back to normal.
"Calm down. It's not as simple as that." Connor said, sitting down on a bench. Focusing his magic, he opened his hand and created a small blob of darkness. "I can use my magic to locate strong sources of specific Elements. But it needs certain ingredients to work. For the Life Element, we'll need to split up." The mage turned the orb of darkness into a sheet of paper with several items listed on it. "Go to the hair salon. There should be more than enough there."
"Are you telling me to rob the place?" Gregory asked, apprehensive.
"No. Just root around in the trash. It's amazing how much people throw away toxic chemicals." Connor blanched, walking away.
Shaking his head in exasperation, Gregory turned around and made his way to the salon. From what he remembered, it was a few blocks away. While he strolled through the city, he tried to think of why Ivy would just... vanish. He didn't know a lot about her past, just what she told him. Did her disappearance have to do with why she was in the Emerald Forest? Why she was the Spring Maiden?
Why she seemed as broken as him when they met?
The hydromancer was torn from his musings when he sensed magic unlike anything he'd felt before. His eyes glowing, he looked around frantically for the source. Small embers of scarlet flame caught his attention as they seemingly materialized out of thin air. Even weirder was the fact that they fell to the ground in a line, like a trail. 'Do they want me to follow?' Gregory wondered. Taking out his scroll and checking Vale's map, the trail would either have the salon adjacent to it, or would lead him directly to it. Shrugging, he decided to follow the trail of ashes.
As he did so, the world around him quieted. And in the place of the bustling noise of the city, there was accordion music. Following his ears, the Blue Rose found a large red tent with an entryway that resembled a pale, screaming face. He felt a bit unnerved, but entered the tent anyway. Once inside, he saw the source of the music. A masked man wearing a grey outfit and playing an accordion.
'Wait, is that a bug?' Gregory wondered, seeing the odd texture of the instrument. His suspicions were confirmed when he spotted the spindly legs on the bottom of the 'accordion'. "Excuse me, but what is this place?" he asked the man, prompting him to turn to the boy and stop playing.
"Mrmm. Speak to Master." he said before returning to his music.
"Master? What master?" Gregory asked, still as confused as he was when he entered.
"Mrmm. Speak to Master." the man repeated.
'Well, that was no help.' Gregory thought to himself with a sigh. Still curious, he ventured deeper into the tent. After a few seconds of walking, or was it a few minutes, he arrived at a circular area resembling the arena at Beacon. 'Is this a circus or something?' he wondered. Suddenly, a white mask entered his line of sight, startling him.
When he calmed down from the shock, he saw that the mask was being worn by a very tall man in a grey, metallic cloak. "Well met, my friend. Well met." he said in a raspy voice. "I am Grimm, master of this troupe."
Forever Fall (Evening)
"Let's see, Rapier Wasp venom, porcupine quills, bear teeth, and 70 gallons of wolf milk." Connor listed off as he put down check marks next to each item. "And that's everything. Time to get back to Gregory." he said, using his staff to create a Spacial Rift. Just before he entered, though, he heard a twig break behind him. Turning around, he came face to face with the person he was trying to find.
"Hey." Ivy said, eyes red. Without any warning, she hugged Connor. "I'm sorry for leaving." she said as she let go, wiping away her tears.
"Why did you?" the Schnee asked, internally regretting the fact that he milked all those wolves for nothing.
"I needed some time to clear my head. Something bad happened when I went to see Ozpin." the Maiden explained. "He knows about me."
Brumm
Age: Unknown
Gender: Male
Species: Faunus?
Semblance: N/A
Element: Dark
Battle Class: N/A
Grimm
Age: Unknown
Gender: Male
Species: Faunus?
Semblance: N/A
Element: Fire
Battle Class: Brawler
Shadows dream in endless fire,
Flames devour and embers swoop,
One will light the Nightmare Lantern,
Call and serve in Grimm's dread Troupe.
-The Grimm Troupe