You are Anon: the certified baddest motherfucker in Remnant. You are known by your many accolades: Hero of the Valeans, Grimm Taxidermist Extraordinaire, Lord of the Hunters, King of the Bitches, and Obtainer of Eternal Quads. Lesser men kneel before your endless might, bullets dance around your impenetrable aura, and the use of your semblance could make entire nations-
Alright, you couldn't keep this up even if you wanted to. There's a point where the aggrandizing just becomes too much, no matter how cool it made you sound. In truth, you are Anon: all around banal individual and victim of multiple property destruction incidents. Life in Vale was certainly better than being in the middle of nowhere with all the monsters, but even the city had its own issues that one had to contend with. Sometimes it was enough for you to stare at your ceiling for hours and seriously reconsider your choice to move to Vale.
Your plan of action only really came to you when you went out with your group of friends; an airtight posse of only 6 people at most, for lunch in the Commercial District. In the three years you've been in Vale, your luck had nosedived into oblivion with how many times your apartment would get indirectly attacked in the event of something going wrong in the streets. Sometimes it was White Fang ordnance blowing out your windows, other times it was grimm smashing through your wall, but most of the time it was hunters and their fucking ridiculous weapons causing the damage both directly and indirectly.
You vented as much to your friends when you sat down with them that day. They made the mistake of asking you what was wrong and you just couldn't stop the floodgates from opening up. At least once a week, something would go wrong and you would have to throw what little money you had at the problem to fix it, only for it to happen again. You've been dreading every payday for a long while now because you know what will happen a few days later. What really bothered your friends was when you admitted you couldn't even be bothered with the effort of feeling terror anymore.
At the rate you were going, a pack of grimm could circle you, snarling and salivating at the prospect of tearing the flesh from your bones, and you literally could not give a shit if you tried. Random weapons appearing in your walls? Regular Tuesday. This one particular red scythe was the most common offender, but you never cared enough about it to see the owner as they rip it out of the wall, causing it to crumble even further. Even vehicles weren't immune to the saccharine allure of your fucking concrete walls.
By the time you wrapped up your complaints, everyone at your table were positively stunned. Considering you didn't talk much about your own life, this sudden outburst at their otherwise innocuous prodding came as a serious shock to them. Head in your hands, you could barely look back up to them until one of them said that he had an idea. Your friend handed you a slip of paper with the seal of Mistral on it, set against a pretty pleasing backdrop of the city skyline. The architecture and overall style of the place seemed like something out of an artbook. The price was surprisingly affordable as well. Apparently, the travel company was feeling benevolent this year.
Miraculously, the one week you needed to actually have something to save up from came around right after. No grimm, no terrorists, and no inconsiderate hunters; just you and your lucky ticket halfway across the world. You couldn't be happier when you realized that this was really happening. Your arrival in Mistral was pretty uneventful. Nothing insane really happened here, at least from what little you knew of it. Anywhere less exciting than Vale was right up your alley, so you weren't about to pout about a lack of action. You would be ready to shit fury if you came all this way only to not find a bar of some sort though.
And so that's where you find yourself now, sitting at the balcony of a tavern higher up the cliff, giving you a good view of the sunset as you had your drink. This place really was beautiful, and with it being built into the mountains you couldn't help but wonder how the locals managed to make it work. You didn't tend to think about this stuff too much, but it did make up for the loneliness. None of your friends were in a position to come with you, so you were stuck here for a week, on your own, completely out of your element. The drinks were good though.
You did find it a little awkward that most other people had someone else to talk to. Every table had at least two people seated, meanwhile here you were alone and staring into your first drink. On one hand, the silence was nice. Nothing really bothered you, but it did feel out of place now to be so alone and in the corner of a place you were clearly not used to. Eventually your thoughts drifted away from more comfortable things to obsessing over how other people looked at you. In reality nobody was looking at you, they had no reason to, but you really did feel so out of your element. You never liked how your mind did this when left to itself.
That was when, in your efforts to discreetly dart your eyes around the balcony, they met with something you were hoping not to see: someone else staring right back at you. She was… interesting as far as appearances went. It was plain to see that a faunus was staring at you from the balcony entrance, the relatively dark shadows against the orange hue of the sunset didn't do anything to hide those brilliant yellow eyes of hers. She actually looked quite stunning, wearing close-fit black clothing that showed off her shoulders, with vermillion cloth draping over her chest. Her skin was a lot darker than many Mistrali, and her black hair spiked out in a way that complemented her ears. Tiger-like stripes adorned her arms down to the wrists as well.
You forgot the part where she was looking at you, idiot. Look away, quickly. Nope. You kept staring back. Her body language made her look quite aloof, leaning against a wall with her arms crossed, but her face had a welcoming pleasantry to it, like she knew you and was hoping to see you here. That just made your anxiety flare up more. Something's wrong, and you could feel it. And that was before you realized that she was walking over to you.
WHAT? OH FUCK!
You can feel yourself shivering slightly as you notice the woman slinking her way over to you, even putting a certain kind of sway into her movements. The spaghetti wasn't exactly leaving your pockets just yet, but you were on the verge of getting that shit everywhere at a moment's notice. Your greatest fears are realized because she starts speaking. "What are you doing all by yourself over here, boy? You seem lonely."
You can't even speak. The spaghetti hit the fucking floor right as she sat down. Her eyes were practically glowing, you couldn't stop looking at them. You stuttered a little before trying to take a sip from your drink. You can't even taste it, too fixated on her and what to say next to act like a human being at this point. Thankfully, she found that endearing instead of absolutely pathetic and opted to take another sip from her own drink. It was strong, enough so that you could smell it from your end of the table. Fucking hell, was she drinking undiluted absinthe? It might actually be that, it was pungent.
"Um… I just… I don't know." You just give up mid-sentence. Wow you really weren't great at talking to others. You just kinda coasted along in your bubble since you first came to Vale. Didn't have to go out of your comfort zone otherwise, not at your job, out with your friends, even when the cops came investigate damages to your apartment. Ugh, you can't afford to think of that concrete shithole right now. You focus back on the faunus woman sitting at your table. Twisting the spoon in her drink aimlessly as she stares at you.
Yeah that's definitely fucking absinthe.
"You're spooked something awful, aren't you?" You nodded reflexively, then immediately regretted it. "Yeah, I'm just not so used to being alone I guess. Like, especially in a place like this." You gesture around the balcony for effect. It was probably quite clear to her that you weren't Mistrali. "Well then it's a good thing that I'm here to keep you company, isn't it?" Her smile was somewhere on the border between smug and hazy, obviously thanks to her drink. To give credit where it's due, outside of her expressions, it was hard to tell she was even inebriated based on how she moved.
"Yeah, it-it is." She hummed in agreement, chin resting on the back of her hand as she stared into you. "I take it you're from here, are you? I'm good with faces and definitely haven't seen you around these parts."
"Yeah, I'm from Vale. Just…" Lost in her eyes again. Good grief, did she realize what she was doing? Her eyes started drifting over you, up and down as you spoke. You could almost see the shine in your own eyes reflect in her topaz irises. This is sincerely fucked. "I've just needed to get away from things. Go somewhere with a lot less gray pillars and more nature. This place doesn't look or smell bland, if that makes sense." You wanted to put a hand over your mouth to stop it from saying something worse. Gray pillars? Look or smell bland? Who describes a city like that?
She didn't seem to mind at least. The faunus woman was actually interested in what you were saying, and seemed like she genuinely understood where you're coming from. "Mmm. As a Mistrali, I may be biased, but this place does have many qualities to it I can't imagine finding anywhere else." For the first time since you sat down here, she looked away and out into the valley on the horizon. "Travelling is fun, but there's always that one place which keeps a part of your heart with it. After all, it's why I'm here right now."
"You don't say. There aren't many faunus here, you don't feel a little lonely?" That changed something about her. Something in her eyes shifted and her smile faltered. She looked down past the balcony into the rest of the city below. "Well, times change. Soon, even that will too." That one was a bit of a struggle to actually hear. She mumbled it out a little, like she wasn't really speaking to you, but rather herself. The way she changed was actually kind of chilling. It's only been a few minutes since you 'met' and she already had something that sounded withdrawn about her. Of course, you're not in any position to judge that.
She seemed to notice your apprehension, eyes darting back to you before she quickly turned back, assuming that warm expression again. She chuckled and brought her hands together. "Sorry about that, we were talking about you, weren't we?" You shook your head. "Nah, you were mentioning why you liked this place." She chuckled again and tilted her head at you slightly. "Well never mind that, I'd like to hear more about you. Say, let's start with your name." The conversation, from that point on, went back to pretty typical stuff, albeit with a particular pattern.
You would ask something about her, to which she would laugh it off and implore you to explain more of yourself instead. The most you got out of her for now was a name: Sienna. Last name unknown, which you admittedly also chose to keep yours. Can't be too careful when it comes to privacy in this day and age. As the conversation went on, you did notice Sienna's posture changing, and her face becoming redder. You weren't sure if it was from the medical-grade ethanol she was gulping down, or if there was something going on with her. As the sky got darker, she ended up lowering herself onto the table more.
The way she looked up at you, lazily but also never lacking that honest focus and investment in you, it was really strange to see coming off an urban environment where only your friends really cared for you. There was something about her, but it always came back to her glowing eyes that you could see perfectly in the dark. Over time she somehow managed to outright gravitate towards you slowly enough to not notice at first. At one point, you swear you felt her foot stretch out and stroke at the side of your ankle. You couldn't bear to ignore it anymore, you had to just ask the question.
"What got you to consider talking to me anyway? Everyone else here has someone to chat with, but not you?" Her smile curled even further at that. Yeah that's definitely her foot. She drummed her fingers on the table as she spoke. "Well you didn't seem to have anyone to talk to, and all the people I know here are just too boring to have a drink with. For as boring as you try to make yourself out to be, I can see right through it, Anon. I know what you're like." The tension rose as she said that last part, and things felt hotter all of a sudden. You hadn't even touched your drink in an hour or so, and she picked up on that easily.
She slowly crept her fingers across the table, gesturing them like they were walking over to the glass, before looking back at you for signs of resistance. Let's be real, even if you did want it, you don't have the balls to take it off her. She was right; with barely any work done on her part, she kind of had you in her palm. Her eyes disarmed you, and her listening skills made even more comfortable. Now that she had you interested, she was going to turn up the heat. By the time you registered that she had taken the glass, she had pretty much swallowed back the whole thing. It was a little unreal to see.
Slamming the glass down, she looked back at you with an obnoxiously braggadocious grin, licking the last of the alcohol from her lips while she looked back at you. The lick was very deliberate, obviously done to give you enough time to see her tongue and how it pushed her lips out of the way to get at the remnants of the drink. It was painfully fucking obvious what she was doing but it was working anyways. She leaned forward as far as was comfortable, eyes remaining set on you.
"Anon, what were you hoping to find here? Was it really just a calm retreat? There are a lot of beautiful things in Mistral. Maybe you just need someone to show you…" You liked that idea. Perhaps what she was saying had a creepy tinge to it, but you were too allured by her to really activate the sensible part of your brain. You weren't even drunk and yet you're still not thinking straight. That's probably why you did what happened next. Sienna went in for a kiss, and there was a part of you that really wanted to comply. You didn't mind the idea and you're sure it would have felt great, but she was pissed out of her damn senses. Ethically speaking, it probably wasn't right to do this, at least not while she's drunk.
You pulled back, feeling a little shameful that you wanted to move forward instead, and waited for her to take the hint. It hurt so much to see the shame in her own eyes as she pulled back. She was really building up to this. She looked away from you, likely regretting what she just did. At that point, you heard a hoarse voice speak up. "Alright, that's enough, ma'am." A younger faunus with two small horns pointing out from his spiky red hair came forth from the interior. It was hard to see past the cloth wrap he wore around his head, concealing one eye and almost blocking the other from the angle he stood in relation to you, but he had a stern look directed at Sienna.
"Oh, hey Adam." The man cut Sienna off with the wave of his hand. "No names, remember? We were just supposed to-" his unconcealed eye darted towards you, making it clear he didn't want you listening in. You responded by turning away. The guy looked like he'd spent his whole life with a stick up his ass, dressed like a fucking officer and clearly hadn't smiled for years. "Oh, but c'mon, nobody's gonna be scared of us." What did she mean by that? "Besides, he was sitting all on his own, a cute faunus guy. We could go on a double date: You, me, Anon, and Bla-" Adam loudly cleared his throat, cutting her off. "Please ma'am, we have places to be. And that man isn't a faunus." He glanced at you once more, then turned away, lady Sienna in tow.
She turned back once more, looking at you for a moment. Her face twisted into a surprised shock, probably upon realizing you were a human. That made your heart sink a little. A lot. Okay, a fuckload, like it's about to fall out of your pantleg lot. But hey, better the spell break now than in the morning or something, right? You feel a little less guilty about denying her advances now. Still, what a loss. She was beautiful, and more sultry than you could have imagined a girl to be. You didn't even mind the fact that she was a faunus, you never really looked at them as different from yourself. Oh well.
The rest of your week in Mistral was admittedly pretty dry. For a big city, it wasn't nearly as interesting when you actually looked under the hood. The sights were beautiful, but by day seven, you really didn't care for it anymore. Honestly you just wanted to see Sienna again. But alas, no sign of her. You even went back to that bar again on your final night, hoping to spite all logic and somehow see her turn up there. No. Nobody. It was just you, alone in the corner again. You didn't even sleep that night, and somehow you weren't even tired when the morning you travelled back to Vale rolled around.
That was around a couple years ago, and to this day you keep thinking about her. She seemed so special, few people really compared. Even your friends agreed when you told them about her. Then something came up about a month ago that you also couldn't get out of your head. Some serious shit had been happening all over the world by that point, including some stuff about the White Fang. You would sometimes overhear news reports, but you never cared enough to really pay attention to them. Truth be told, this time was no different. But then you heard mention of someone named Adam Taurus. Leader of the White Fang, who arranged an attack on Haven Academy in Mistral. Just like that, so much about the end that afternoon clicked for you.
The report mentioned a coup, in which Adam assassinated the previous leader of the White Fang. You knew what the reporter was going to say, and you did your best to willfully expunge it from your memory. You didn't hear the name Sienna mentioned. You didn't. She's probably somewhere abroad, like Kuo Kuana. Yeah, that makes more sense…
Yeah.