Chapter 5- Orion
"Hello, rats. Come to take our ice cream?" My eyes were closed behind my sunglasses as I said this, so I was relying entirely on my semblance to see. I found it much easier to focus during close-quarter team combat if I removed the visual distractions and instead focused on my semblance to know where everyone was. I felt the faunus nearest me yank a gun out of his holster, but before he could aim it at me I rotated my the barrel of my umbrella around my leg and shot him in the stomach. At such a close proximity, the shot immediately depleted his aura and sent him flying across the shop. Before the other three had recovered from the shock of my sudden aggression, Neo cartwheeled out of her chair, kicking the female member in the face and smashing one of the guys in the sweet spot with her parasol. I stood up and hooked the remaining faunus's neck with my umbrella handle, dragging his head down to meet my knee.
As Neo and I stood among the four unconscious faunus, everyone else in the ice cream shop evacuated as fast as they could, realizing the White Fang had the place surrounded. Neo and I calmly walked out the front door, projecting confidence. Always project confidence to your enemies.
Neo and I are both good fighters, but we couldn't take on the small army of faunus that had assembled outside of the shop. We both knew it, and we each knew that the other knew it. So when the White Fang all around raised their guns at us, we both knew we had to use her semblance. "Neo, if you don't mind..." I stated as she stepped in front of me. She opened her parasol and rested it on her shoulder. Then the pink and brown eyed girl gave a curtsy, teleporting us both out of the line of fire just as the shooting started.
We reappeared on top of a nearby building, just in time to watch the shadows she'd left behind shatter from the gunfire. At some point during our short fight I'd dropped my sunglasses, so I grabbed one of my spare pairs out from my coat and turned to Neo. "So the White Fang's after you?" I questioned her as I put on my spare aviators. She nodded in response and looked back at the army of faunus below and then grabbed my hand, catching me off guard as we teleported again.
Now we were standing in front of a small grey house with a red door. Neo was hyperventilating and her aura was fairly weak, so I could tell we were far from the rooftop. "Is this you're house?" I barely got the words out before she pushed past me to unlock the door. She stumbled in with a nod and collapsed on a red couch, chest heaving as she sucked in breath. I entered, closing the door behind myself and taking in the surprising decorations. Just about everything in the living room was super modern and themed red and black. There was hardly a speck of pink, brown, or white in sight. On top of that, there was a foosball table, a pool table with red felt, and several game consoles hooked up to a 70" TV mounted above a fireplace. To be honest it looked more like a guy's bachelor pad than a house belonging to a girl like Neo. There was even a cigar box under the TV.
"Do you live with someone?" I asked, gesturing around the room. Without warning Neo started crying, still voiceless as ever as tears streamed down her face and she bowed her head, finding it even harder to breath. I could feel her weak aura practically collapse, becoming alarmingly dormant as she shrank back into the couch. Needless to say I was caught off guard. I couldn't bring myself to do anything but stand there, staring at her like an idiot. I soon snapped out of it and sat down next to her. I put a hand on her back, and before I could say anything to try and comfort the grieving girl she turned around and hugged me, burying her face into my shoulder. This really surprised me, and I could do nothing but hug her back and let her sob silently into my shoulder.
She stopped crying after a few minutes, but she was still having trouble catching her breath. She smiled at me as she wiped off her tears with her sleeve and tried to calm her breathing down. While Neo tried to collect herself I took another look around the room. This time I noticed there was something engraved on the cigar case on the mantle: "Torchwick". My eyes widened at the name.
'Is it possible that Neo's roommate was the master thief Roman Torchwick, who allegedly died 3 days ago during the grimm attack on Vale? That would certainly explain the crying.' I shifted my gaze back to Neo, who had finally caught her breath. Her face seemed mostly dry too. 'It would also explain why the Whit Fang is after her. Although, it shouldn't matter if she just knew the guy. The White Fang would only care if she had access to information about their plans. And surely Roman Torchwick wouldn't share that knowledge with a mere roommate. Nor would he leave it anywhere she could stumble across it. This could only mean one thing: Neo was an accomplice to Torchwick and after his death she was kicked out of whatever evil group the White Fang is working for. Not that I'm judging her because of her past. After all, I myself used to work for a pro-human syndicate called the Black Hand. I've never been anti-faunus, though. It was just a job. I'm sure it was the same for Neo if she got kicked out, but nobody knows what Torchwick and his allies' ideals were. Just that they'd been behind multiple grimm invasions and almost caused a second World War.'
"So that's why the White Fang's after you. Because Torchwick died." Neo, usually so good at hiding her emotions, stared at me in shock. Then nodded. "You were supposed to protect him, right And since he's dead you failed and were kicked out of whatever group hired the White Fang." She gave another nod and collected herself again, looking just as strong and unphased as ever. Even her aura had been completely replenished.
"You know, it won't be long before the White Fang finds where you live, especially now that they've seen you in town. And since I was seen fighting along side you, they're sure to capture me if they get the chance." Neo bowed her head, making me feel sorry. 'I didn't mean to make her feel bad,' I thought. 'I was just thinking out loud, trying to find a solution. And I just might have one.' "I have a friend who might be able to help us. I haven't seen her in years, but I'm sure she'd be willing to help." This sure got her attention. She looked back up at me and raised an eyebrow, silently asking who I was talking about. "Her name's Blake, and she goes to Beacon academy."
And scene... That spells the end for the intro chapters. Now our protagonists must make their way to Beacon academy, but do you really think Ozpin would let them in for free? Keep reading to find out ;)
