Chapter 4- Neo
I slept in again. I didn't wake up until noon, and I was starving. The first thing I did was check my scroll, out of habit. My eyes widened as I saw Cinder's message. She was not happy. The text simply said "You're dead." And if Cinder said so, I was sure it was true. I'd only had two jobs: keep Roman alive and keep the Atlesian army against the citizens of vale. I'd failed at both, up against a snotty little baby huntress.
I buried my head into my brown and white striped pillow, groaning quietly. When I finally looked up, I noticed another message. This one was tagged with an emblem I didn't recognize. It was a theta symbol with 3 stars underneath. I could imagine who that was.
"Hello Neo," the text read. "This is Orion, from the alley yesterday. Just wanted to message you so you'd have my scroll number, in case you need anything or want to hang out. I should be free today and tomorrow." I smiled as I read it. 'We've only met once,' I thought, 'and Orion is already extending me more curtesy than most.' He could tell I was lonely, and I knew it. Most people could tell, but nobody ever offered to help solve the loneliness.
I frowned again as I thought about Cinder's message. Luckily Roman had refused to give her his address in case of something like this, so Cinder didn't know where in Vale I could be. But no doubt she'd put a price on my head and tell the White Fang to keep an eye out for me. I could take the White Fang no problem, but if they suddenly decided to be smart and gave Cinder my location rather than trying to take me head-on I could be in deep trouble. I'm no match for Cinder.
I rolled out of bed, realizing that I'd slept in my regular clothes. After I'd eaten, showered, and changed into a fresh set of the same clothes, I grabbed my parasol and headed out. I texted Orion on the way.
Orion
I was on my way to the shooting range when I got Neo's message. Not that I need target practice (I was a good enough shot without it) but I still go twice a week just to keep myself warmed up. I don't let myself get rusty.
I opened my vibrating scroll to see Neo's emblem: a rather creepy face with one pink eye, one brown eye, and a white mouth. Her message popped up when I touched the image: "Hello, Orion. I don't have any plans either and there's a really good ice cream shop on Royal st. called ButterScoop. Would you like to meet up there?" I couldn't help but smile. I'd figured she was lonely, but the fact she'd responded to my text and wanted to hang out less than an hour after I'd sent it just confirmed this. I quickly changed course to Royal st.
Neo
Somehow, Orion managed to arrive at ButterScoop before me. This was especially interesting because I'd teleported almost half of the way here, avoiding a couple blocks between my house and here that was controlled by the White Fang. Now that I was on Cinder's bad side, it would be better to avoid White Fang confrontation whenever possible. Which was easy enough for me. If there's one thing I excel at it's disappearing.
Orion had his back turned to me, trying to see through the front window with his sunglasses. I smiled at the opportunity to attempt another sneak attack. Quiet as I could, I sneaked up behind him, parasol raised over my head. I figured he'd be able to see my reflection in the window, so I left a shadow a little to his left, just in his line of sight. Meanwhile I stayed behind him, out of sight. Once I was about a foot away, I brought my parasol down at his head. Not hard, but just enough to surprise him. However, just as my parasol started its decent, I saw a flash of black and Orion's umbrella connected with my own weapon. He knocked it to the side as he spun around to face me. I gave him a smirk, which he happily returned as he stared down at me through his mirrored aviators.
"Is this how we're always gonna meet, Neo?" He questioned as he held the same smug smirk. I shrugged, nonchalantly tilting my head and strolling past him through the doors. I put a little extra swing in my hips, trying very hard to seem unphased by how easily and consistently Orion could block my attacks. 'It's like he has eyes in the back of his head!' I thought. 'I'll have to check later. You never know.'
The cashier nodded when he noticed me, and then raised an eyebrow as he noticed I had company. This was my favorite place in all of Vale to get ice cream, so I was a regular. But I'd never been here with someone before. Honestly, it was kind of awkward to have invited Orion. It felt almost like he was there spying on a private moment of mine. I sent a nod and a smile back to the cashier to let him know that everything was okay and held up 2 fingers, silently asking him for two of the usual. He nodded back and started scooping ice cream into paper bowls for Orion and me as we took a table.
Orion and I just stared at each other until the ice cream came. It was pretty awkward, but he seemed unphased. I just kept my trademark grin and stared up at him, deciding weather or not I wanted to switch my eye color and see his reaction. But the ice cream came and before I had a chance, Orion was cracking up at the two large bowls of neapolitan ice cream. I lightly kicked him under the table, playfully silencing him. He's shook his head and grinned at me as we started eating.
"Of all kinds of ice cream, who would've guessed?" He asked, still shaking his head. "So, Neo, you're a regular here?" I answered with a nod. "Do you always get the same thing?" Another nod. As Orion kept rattling out yes and no questions, I noticed two faunus enter. One was trying to point at me discretely, and the other was nodding and typing something into a scroll a few minutes later, I saw a group of White Fang members outside. In fact, I was so involved in tracking the White Fang's movements that I barely noticed when Orion fell silent and I didn't see when he picked up his umbrella and laid it across his lap.
"Why so interested in the faunus?" He asked all of a sudden. My eyes widened and I looked at him in surprise. He'd been looking at me the whole time, so how'd he know I was looking at faunus? "Are u running from someone?" I shrugged and looked back behind him as four White Fang grunts entered the shop, heading right for our table. I was sure Cinder wouldn't be here, as she was probably still in Vale with Mercury and Emerald, but the White Fang could still pose a threat, considering how they seemed to always collect in small armies.
"Don't worry," Orion stated. "We can take them." It was then that I noticed he had his umbrella on his lap. I quickly followed suit, grabbing my parasol and putting it on my lap.
It didn't take the four masked uniforms long to reach us. When they did, they all stood on one side of our table, seeing as the other side bordered a wall. I looked to Orion to make the opening statement. He nodded in understanding and smiled up to the four faunus.
"Hello, rats. Come to take our ice cream?" And then the fun began.
Chapter four done! I hope you guys are enjoying it so far. I'm writing a bit faster than I'm posting, so I'll be posting two chapters today. Stay tuned for chapter five too!
