Blake kept her eyes focused on Torchwick, her insides boiling as they were lead through a series of hallways until they came to a hatch in the floor. One of the White Fang opened it, and Blake felt a gun prod her in the back, forcing her forward. Around her, her friends were suffering a similar fate, each being shoved forward towards the hole in the ground. Giving Torchwick a venomous look, Blake hopped into the hole. It was only a big enough drop for them to end up in a tunnel underneath the ancient floorboards of the scouting outpost. The ground was slanted downwards in a spiral, and they were led deep underground until the dirt of the tunnel gave way to smooth, white stone.
"What is it with you guys and being underground?" Yang posed the question to no one in particular. One of the drones smacked its gun into her side for her comment, and Blake felt her anger flare up once more and she took an unconscious step towards her partner.
A sharp pain erupted on her shoulder and the force of the blow sent her to her knees. She stood weakly once more, glaring at Torchwick, who had his cane leveled for another blow. Their eyes locked, and he smiled. Blake wanted to do something stupid, but with her hands cuffed behind her back and her sheath in the hands of one of the White Fang, there was little she could do, so she just glared at him, seething. The rage was boiling inside her, making her breaths coming short and fast.
Torchwick and his crew took them through a veritable labyrinth of white halls until they were shoved through a door. Blake stumbled through it and looked around her. They were in a massive concrete room shaped like a cylinder. High above them she could see two large steel hangar doors, and there were walkways spiraling down from the top in a corkscrew pattern. Blake tried to look over the edge of the walkway they were on, but before she got a good look below them, she was pulled backwards and shoved down the slanted ramp they were on. Blake closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. She should be trying to map out the inside of the base right now to plan their escape, but every time she tried to focus, a thought of the bowler wearing thief would sneak into her mind and anger would flare through her, clearing her mind of all rational thought.
Roman Torchwick was standing a few feet away from her. She should be fighting him right now, doing everything she could to stop him, but he had beaten them. How had she let that happen? She had trained for four years so that she would never have to lose again, so that when it mattered, she would be able to overcome her adversaries and protect the world.
The world really isn't like a fairy tale is it? Even when we try our best, we fail. She thought to herself spitefully.
They walked for what must have been a half hour until they came to the bottom of the pit, and Blake's breath caught in her throat. Trapped behind plates of reinforced glass were Grimm.
Grimm in captivity.
Professor Port had gone over a lesson once, when he was not ranting about his own exploits, about how it was impossible to ensnare the Grimm. Even if someone managed to cage them, they would die soon afterwards. Yet there they were, dozens of Grimm locked in cages. Blake forgot her anger momentarily, awe overcoming her hatred.
"How?" Weiss whispered from beside her. Blake looked around to see shock plastered on the faces of all her friends.
"Isn't it marvelous?" Torchwick said with a laugh. "Bet they didn't teach you about this in school."
"This shouldn't be possible." It was Jaune talking this time. Blake would have said something herself, but her mind was reeling, trying to comprehend what she was seeing.
"It's more than possible. It's actually quite simple. It's too bad that your schools have so many quarrels with the moral uses of dust, or we might have discovered this a long time ago." Roman withdrew a phial from his suit coat. It had what looked like dust in it, but rather than the usual shades of blue, green, red or yellow, it was black. Blake had never seen black dust before.
"What is that?" Jaune asked him.
"This is the finest discovery made in the past century. A new form of dust that, when-"
"Roman!" A voice barked from behind them. A feminine voice that spoke of authority and power, one that commanded attention. "Do please shut up." Blake turned to see a stunning woman strutting towards them. She had long charcoal hair and burning reddish yellow eyes. She had soft, elegant features, but a hard glint in her eyes that dispelled all thoughts of fragility. She was wearing a red dress that swept over her thighs and hugged her torso tightly. Her heels, made of red glass, clinked slightly as she walked, and Blake was immediately set on edge. This woman exuded power, and Blake knew instinctively that she was dangerous.
"Come on, it's not like they're going to be alive for long enough for it to matter." He chuckled. "I wanted them to know how the kingdom is going to crumble. They deserve to die knowing that everything they love is going to be destroyed." Torchwick's voice had lost its joking edge, hardening into bitter hatred.
"You asked that, when the time came, you were the one to kill them. I agreed, but I never said that you could divulge all of our new discoveries." She chastised, the authority in her voice almost making Blake shrink back.
"Hey," Ruby said, and Blake turned to her leader. Ruby's brow was furrowed as she looked at the newcomer. "I know you."
"Mm, that's right." The woman said, stalking up to Ruby to look her in the eyes, staring down at the shorter cloaked girl. "We've met three times in fact." Her voice was disinterested, lofty and smooth as velvet, but with an undercurrent of ice.
"You're the one who was in the dust plane the night that I stopped Torchwick from robbing that dust shop." Ruby's voice trailed off, like she was trying to remember something. "It was you, that night at the dance wasn't it? You were at Beacon too. I ran into you in the hallway."
"Very good." The woman's voice held a hint of humor now, but still flowed smoother than a clear river during the summer. "You'd be surprised how easy it is to forge transcripts. Just ask your friend Jaune if you don't believe me." Blake looked at her friend curiously, unsure of what the woman meant. Behind Ruby, Pyrrha took a step forward, her shoulders tensed. Blake willed her friend to stand down
"My name is Cinder," The woman added after a pause, looking at Pyrrha behind Ruby, smiling devilishly at her. She looked Ruby up and down one more time like a wolf looking at a lamb, then walked up to stare into Pyrrha's eyes. The two woman were about the same height, and stared at each other, Pyrrha's eyes hard and jaded, while Cinder's were uncaring and cold. The two locked eyes for a long moment, and Blake just hoped that Pyrrha wouldn't make an irrational decision. The Mystralian huntress was normally calm, level headed and smart, but when it came to Jaune she could be quick to act and slow to think. "And you must be Pyrrha Nikos. The invincible girl." Cinder drawled, breaking the long, thick silence. "I've been told you can't be killed, that no one can even touch you." Cinder raised her hand, and Blake caught a glint of light bouncing off of something in her hand. The woman in the red dress laid her hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, and Blake saw the redhead's shoulders tense. She wondered if it was out of anger, but it didn't look like it. It almost looked like pain. "What good is it being invincible if you can't save those around you? What happens when your power betrays you?" Cinder's voice had taken on a note of interest for the first time, as though she was challenging Pyrrha somehow. Blake saw the stress in Pyrrha's posture, but thankfully, her friend stayed still and silent.
"Great, everyone knows each other." The thief gripped, breaking the silence. "Now can I kill them?" Torchwick's voice was full of irritation and impatience.
"Have your way with them." The woman replied, finally breaking eye contact with and stepping away from Pyrrha. "Though might I suggest the Beowolves? They'll last longer and die slower in there."
The woman's heels clinked as she walked away, and Blake watched her go. Relief flushed her system as the woman disappeared around the corner. Her presence had offset the dark haired faunus, and Blake was much happier with her gone, even if it was next to the outlaw that she hated more than anyone else. The way she was talking to Torchwick stuck in her mind though. Her tone suggested that she was the one who was in charge, not him. Her train of thought was broken by a sharp rap from the butt of a gun on her back. She stumbled forward, and without a word, Torchwick turned and started leading them down the hallway until they reached a steel door.
"Now, Cinder thinks it would be fun to watch you squirm under the assault of the Beowolves, but I have another idea." He punched a code into a keypad on the wall, and the door slid back to reveal a circular room, perhaps a hundred meters from end to end. The floor was covered with white, salty sand, and the walls were made of metal panels. Blake felt one of her escorts grab her hands roughly. There were a few clinks, and she felt the cuffs around her hands fall off. She immediately tried to turn and bring her elbow up into the temple of the guard, but two strong hands clamped around her arms like vices. She struggled but couldn't move. Blake looked over to see the rest of her team looking uneasily at their guards, but not moving. The hands clamped around her arms threw her forward, and Blake fell into the circular room. She rolled and came out in a low crouch, facing her adversaries. She locked eyes with Ruby, and her leader just shook her head. There were dozens of White Fang in the hallways with the other seven members of her group, and there was no way they could fight them without their weapons.
The rest of her team was shoved forward, followed by team JNPR. Once they were all inside, Blake saw one of the faunus emerge from the crowd and throw a pile of weapons onto the ground. She recognized Myrtenaster and Crescent Rose, then realized that it was all of their weapons. Blake spotted her sheath and dove forward, scooping it out of the pile and rolling back to her feet before charging at the door. She saw Torchwick make for the keypad, and threw her sheath at him. If he closed those doors, there was no way they would get out of that room. Her sheath flew through the air, but a split second before it made contact with Torchwick, a metal sheet shot across the door and her weapon clanged uselessly off of it.
"No!" She screamed, sliding to her knees as she came to a stop. They were trapped. A moment later, she felt Yang lay a hand on her shoulder.
"Come on, we need to find out how to get out of here."
"Hey everyone, maybe now would be a good time to lock and load." Ruby called from where their weapons had been tossed. Blake stood and turned around to see the far wall sliding open slowly, red lights flashing and sirens blaring.
The metal slid back with a loud creak, slowly revealing a shadowed chamber behind the main room. Blake saw something glowing inside, her faunus eyes picking out the details before any of her teammates could. The floating, glowing object was shaped a bit like a teardrop, but with a long pointed end. Blake squinted as she looked at it and dim light washed into the auxiliary room from the main chamber. She saw a lot of legs, a flat back covered in plated bone, and a multi eyed face. Realization started to dawn as more light began to flood into the narrow opening.
"Deathstalker!" She yelled, and the metal panel slid back the rest of the way, making a loud clang as it settled. The Grimm stayed in the dark for a moment, its tail swishing back and forth like the arm of a grandfather clock. Blake was confused. The way Torchwick had talked, she had been expecting something a bit more... Dangerous. She had met Deathstalkers before, all of them had, and they was hardly a threat. Deathstalkers were one of the more dangerous species of Grimm, but they had trained for four years to kill those monsters. Each of them could dispatch one by themselves without much of a problem.
"Just a Deathstalker? Yang asked in confusion, scratching her head. Her wristlets were not even snapped into combat position.
"I doubt it's that simple." Jaune answered, his voice low and carrying a hard edge.
Blake looked at the creature again, raking her eyes across it. It was the same size as other Deathstalkers, it had all the same features, the same bony armor and the same glowing red eyes. As it stepped into the light though, she saw something glinting between the armored plates covering its skin. Long streaks of shiny black crystals ran down its back, hardly noticeable next to its shadowy skin, but definitely there.
"What is it?" She asked Jaune, but he just shrugged at her. Next to the blond, Pyrrha dropped into a combat stance. Blake wasn't sure what they were dealing with, so she followed her friend's lead.
The creature paused as it saw them, and its massive pincers clacked together in front of its mouth. Its talons punched up and down as it turned from side to side, identifying the threats around it, spraying sand all over. Blake kept her eyes locked on the monster as it surveyed its surroundings. Its tail stopped moving, dropping low as if it was ready to strike. Blake tensed herself and waited, knowing that it would attack any second and-
/
The tail shot through the air faster than Pyrrha would have thought possible. She barely managed to bring her shield up in time, only able to deflect the blow. Usually, she would have been able to counter, maybe slash at the weak point where the stinger connected to the tail, but her sword shoulder was throbbing. When that woman, Cinder, had touched her shoulder, it had felt like she had stabbed Pyrrha. She hadn't said anything or even allowed herself to grunt in pain, but the pain had been growing since that moment. Now, even the slightest movement sent pain shooting through her body.
Pyrrha saw a claw cutting through the air towards her, and twisted to catch the blow on her shield again. The claw never made contact though, and Pyrrha saw Nora fly through the air. She looked in shock at the claw hovering where her friend had been no earlier than a fraction of a second ago. Ren took off to where Nora was lying facedown in the sand, and Pyrrha watched the claw warily. No Grimm should have been able to move like that. They weren't that fast.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune called from behind her, and Pyrrha turned as she raised her shield. She didn't see the claw that rammed into her shield, but it sent her flying backwards. She rolled backwards, coming up in a low lunge, braced for the next impact. She looked at the Grimm, and it seemed to shimmer, then she heard a loud thunk next to her ear. She saw Jaune rolling away and the creature's stinger bouncing off his shield. She had not even seen it move, and yet it had almost struck her. Pyrrha got into a defensive stance, her finest senses tuned on the Deathstalker, her body buzzing with the combat instincts she had developed over the better part of a decade and a half.
There was a streak of red, and Pyrrha heard the creature screech in pain as Ruby rematerialized on the other side of it. This Grimm was fast, but Ruby was still faster. Ruby was always faster, and Pyrrha smiled. If they could keep the monster's attention on them, Ruby would be able to wear it down and kill it. Pyrrha spared a moment to glance at where Nora had fallen. The orange haired girl was on her knees, and Ren had one hand clasped in one of hers and the other on her back. Pyrrha turned her attention back to the Deathstalker once more, seeing that there wasn't any lasting damage. Nora was probably a little shaken up, but Pyrrha knew that her friend could take much more heat than that.
"Heads and shields up!" Yang yelled from behind Pyrrha, and she dropped to her knee immediately while she raised her shield above her head. She felt the blonde land on Akuo and she pushed off from the ground, hearing Yang's wristlets firing into the ground and launching her through the air. The force of Yang jumping had pressed Pyrrha into the sand, and she looked up to see the creature's head follow Yang's trajectory. Pyrrha threw her shield at the beast's face, and held out her arm in case she needed to adjust Akuo's trajectory. The shield flew true though, slashing against one of the creature's eyes before being deflected upwards. Pyrrha reached out with her hand, trying to feel the familiar magnetic pull of her shield, but she couldn't sense the metal. She frowned, but did not have time to think about it as she caught a flicker of motion in the corner of her eye. Pyrrha dove forward and sand exploded from where she had been a split second ago. There was a thunderous boom as Yang landed her blow, and Pyrrha heard a grunt of effort from behind her followed by a hiss of pain from the Grimm, and Pyrrha knew that Ruby had landed another blow.
"Ruby! Stop!" Jaune called, and Pyrrha looked at her partner with confusion. Pyrrha trusted her leader, and would follow his orders to whatever end without question, but she didn't understand why he would tell the leader of team RWBY to stop. Ruby was their best way of killing the monster. Her train of thought was cut short as she saw Akuo a few feet away from her and dove for the shield. She scooped it up and flipped it around into her hand. She turned, assuming the the Grimm would be trying to hit her, and was rewarded by a hard hit against her shield. Pyrrha grimaced in pain as she flipped Milos around her wrist and caught it again, her shoulder shrieking in complaint. She aimed the rifle at the creature's eyes, shooting three times, but the pain in her shoulder made it shake, and her aim was off, and her shots did nothing but annoy the monster. The Grimm turned its attention to her, and then its head moved so it was looking behind her. Pyrrha's brow furrowed, and she risked looking behind her. Nora and Ren were there, just straggling to their feet.
"Ren!" Pyrrha shouted, and his eyes shot up to see the Grimm. He stepped in front of Nora, but before he even had time to draw his twin pistols he was swept aside by a swift slash from on of its claws. Nora raised her grenade launcher and aimed it at the Grimm and one of the orange haired girl's heavy rounds punched through the air and hit the Deathstalker. It roared in rage as Nora twirled her weapon in front of her as it transformed into a massive battle hammer.
"Nora! Watch out!" Pyrrha yelled, trying to warn her of how quick the creature was, but the bubbly girl didn't seem to hear her. Pyrrha saw the other girl grit her teeth to ward off the pain she was obviously feeling, and Nora leapt into the air, bringing her hammer high above her head. Pyrrha had seen the girl flatten both heads of a Tajitu with a similar blow before, but as Nora fell through the air, the Deathstalker's tail struck out like the head of a snake and pierced her side. Pyrrha squeezed her eyes shut as her friend yelled in pain. She opened them again to see Nora drop into the sand like a doll. The stinger was still above her head though, and Pyrrha took aim with her shield. If she could hit the spot where the tail connected with the stinger, she could sever it. She would have preferred to weaken it with her javelin first, but her sword arm was pulsing with sharp pain and was basically useless. Pyrrha threw her shield with all her strength. She held two fingers up after it, trying to direct it into the soft spot, but once again, she could not feel her shield. She watched as it clanged into the beast's armored tail and glanced off it. Her shield went spinning away and Pyrrha dove to the side as the stinger landed where she had just been. Sand showered her, and Pyrrha threw her gun into her shield hand. She flipped it around her wrist until she caught it as a sword. She wasn't as skilled with her non-dominant hand, but she could make do with her sword. She realized that she was only a few feet from the monster, and its full attention was on her. She was inside its guard, so there was no threat from its claws, but Pyrrha was more worried about the gnashing pincers in front of her face.
Without a shield, Pyrrha knew she could not back away. She would not be able to block any of the attacks from its large claws with her sword, and she did not trust herself to dodge one of the Grimm's attacks with how fast and strong it was. She acted on her only option then, and ran straight at the Deathstalker. When she was a step in front of it, the creature opened its pincers wide, and Pyrrha jumped as it lunged towards her. She landed on top of its mouth and slashed out at the large, orange, beady eye next to her left hand. She felt her sword slice cleanly through the organ, then she ran along its back, leaping off by its second set of legs where Jaune was talking to Blake. She rolled out of her move, and heard Yang yell on the other side of the Deathstalker followed by the sound of some of Yang's explosive rounds detonating. The blonde would likely be able to hold the beast for a moment, and Pyrrha needed to know what her leader was planning. Jaune looked up at her as she rolled to her feet next to him.
"Listen Pyrrha," He said, his words rushed. Pyrrha did not blame him. As they were in the heat of battle, he had to talk fast. "We need this thing to break open that door. Whatever this is, its way stronger than any normal Grimm should be. I want you to distract it with Yang and Ruby, but whatever happens, do not cut off any of its limbs. Blake's going to get in front of the door, then draw its attention. When it lashes out at her, she'll leave a clone in her place then jump out of the way."
"It hits the door," Blake added, "Then we can run." Her voice was steady, despite the fact that if the slightest thing went awry she would likely end up seriously injured, or worse, dead.
Pyrrha nodded at Jaune then dashed around the backside of the oversized scorpion. She ran through the Grimm's blind spot, and heard Ruby call out to her. She looked up to see the younger student with Akuo in her hand. Ruby tossed the shield, and Pyrrha lunged forward to catch it. She tried to use her semblance to pull the shield onto her wrist while she flipped her sword into her other arm again, but the shield just clattered to the ground. Pyrrha knew she had a brief moment, and decided to test her fears, reaching out towards her shield and trying to feel the metal.
Nothing.
For one of the few times in her life, an uneasy feeling twisted through Pyrrha's gut. She bent down and picked up her shield normally, aware now that her semblance was not going to serve her anymore. She continued running after her pause, coming out by the beast's back set of legs. She reached her sword out to slash the limb, but pain shot through her body from her shoulder. Pyrrha fell to her knees and tried to stifle the gasp of pain that escaped her lips. She kept moving though. In a flash she was on her feet again, hitting the talon with her shield instead of Milos. She flipped backwards as the stinger landed where she had just been, the massive Grimm twisting around to look at her. Pyrrha saw Yang on the other side of the Deathstalker raising one of her fists to shoot at the soft spot on the Grimm's tail.
"Just distract it!" Pyrrha yelled, and Yang paused, confusion flashing across her face. The expression passed quickly though, and Yang fired at the armor plates on the beast's head. It screeched and turned to her, and Pyrrha lunged in, bashing her shield into a leg. It twisted back towards her, its stinger poised to strike. Pyrrha started to raise her shield, but before it was halfway over her head, a wall of ice sprung into existence in front of her. The stinger crashed through the wall as it appeared, showering Pyrrha with shards of ice. Pyrrha expected her aura to stop the sharp flecks from cutting her, but small cuts opened up on her arms and didn't heal over. The deadly appendage got stuck in the ice above Pyrrha though, and the Grimm was forced to retract it. Pyrrha glanced to the side to see Weiss with her sword plunged into the ground. The ground between them had small spikes of ice sprouting from it. Weiss nodded at her, then turned back to the two people behind her. It was Nora and Ren. Weiss must have been helping Ren stabilize Nora. She was the best with dust after all, and if any of them could get the energetic girl moving again, it would be her. Guilt shot through Pyrrha's stomach as she pictured the beast's stinger puncturing her friend's stomach. Nora had not even been able to activate her aura to stop it. Pyrrha should have done something to stop it.
Pyrrha heard the Deathstalker shuffle slightly, and she did a back handspring. Her reverie was broken as the Deathstalker shattered the wall of ice that had save her life a moment before. Pyrrha looked behind her as she flipped through the air and saw that Blake was almost in position. She dropped her sword and kicked it towards the faunus, who scooped it up and flipped it around. Pyrrha turned back to face the Deathstalker just in time to see a claw coming straight for her. She managed to duck behind her shield, but as the blow landed, Pyrrha was launched into the air. She came to an abrupt halt as she smashed into the wall next to the door, and she saw that Blake was standing in front of the steel hatch with Milos hoisted in rifle form. Pyrrha's friend took aim, and let loose a volley of shots. One of the green rounds hit the beast in the eye, and an ear shattering howl split the air, making Pyrrha's ears ring. It turned its full attention to Blake, and took two short steps towards her. Pyrrha could hear a long hiss coming from its mouth, and it walked up in front of the raven haired girl, towering over her. Pyrrha saw it twitch slightly, and then the world seemed to slow as its stinger slashed towards Blake. It shot through the girl's body and crashed into the steel door behind her. There was a slight motion on the other side of the beast's tail, and Pyrrha was relieved to see that Blake was standing just to the side of where the deadly needle-like tail had struck. There was a slight line of red running across the bare skin that was exposed under her shirt, but it didn't look deep. Her shadow clone disappeared, and the Deathstalker howled in rage, realizing that its prey had eluded it.
"Lead it away from the entrance!" Weiss shouted, and Pyrrha looked at the heiress. She and Ren were supporting Nora from either shoulder and they were making their way along the edge of the circle. Nora looked pale, but she was breathing. That was the important part, the rest they could figure out later. Pyrrha turned back to Blake and saw her gun flying through the air. Pyrrha caught it, flinching as pain lanced down her arm, then forced her arm to move one last time to strap the gun to her back. She saw Jaune slice one of its hind legs. Next to him there was a flash of red and a spurt of black blood.
The Deathstalker whirled around, shrieking, then bringing one of its claws down at the two young hunters, but Jaune had already raised his shield. The blow was deflected harmlessly away, and Ruby dashed under the beast to slash at its far leg. It didn't seem to mind her though, bringing its stinger down towards Jaune, who only barely managed to roll out of the way.
"Ruby, go! I'll lead it to the far side then meet you at the entrance." Ruby had stilled as he talked, and Jaune dove to the side as a leg crashed down where he had just been. "Now!" He yelled, and in a flash, Ruby was beside Pyrrha. The two made their way over to where Nora was being escorted by Ren and Weiss. They moved as quickly as they dared, and Nora's breathing was coming in short breaths. Sweat was beading on the girl's brow, and blood was staining her cheery attire.
"Come on!" Yang shouted from next to the doorway, and Pyrrha ducked in between Weiss and Nora.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Weiss demanded, but Pyrrha ignored her, sweeping Nora's legs up into one arm and catching her shoulders with the other. Pyrrha's shoulder screamed in rebellion, but she was determined not to let her friend fall. She dashed forward, handing her friend off to Yang as she reached the door. Her arm gave out just as Yang slung Nora's arm around her shoulder and started walking through the twisted metal. Pyrrha looked back and ushered Ren, Weiss and Ruby into the corridor on the other side. She ducked through the rent metal that used to be a door and looked back towards Jaune, opening her mouth to call back to him that they were ready to leave, but the words died in her mouth as Pyrrha's heart sunk.
Jaune was standing on the far side of the room, his back pressed up against the wall and blood trickling down his leg from a gash in his upper thigh. And the Deathstalker?
The Deathstalker was standing directly between Jaune and the exit, stinger primed and claws snapping.
/
Whew. That chapter was a bit longer, and a bit more intense! We're finally starting to see a bit of how Cinder is pulling off her scheme and a few hints as to what said scheme might be! This was honestly a lot more fun to write than some of the other chapters, and I'll be honest, I'm feeling very conflicted about this story and whether or not to keep writing. It's just felt very slow, and I don't feel like I'm writing to my best ability. On the other hand, this chapter was a lot of fun, and I got to throw in my first kind-of cliff hangar. Pyrrha's losing control of her semblance and aura, Nora's severely injured, they've encountered some new breed of Grimm, and Jaune has a massive supernaturally powerful Grimm between himself and his only escape. Wonder how they'll all get out, or if they all will.
Anyways, thank you so much for reading! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, and the next one should be out within a week! As always, comments, thoughts, criticisms or just plain old reviews are more than welcome and are always helpful and appreciated! Hope you're enjoying the story so far!
-Unjax