Richard slowly woke up from his sleep. He sat up from the couch he was on and looked around. The room he was in was small, no bigger than an apartment flat. He could see Arno at his desk as usual, not doing much, mainly just contemplating. Richard grew tired of the same thing happening everyday. He knew what was happening outside the hideout. Atlas had been taken over by the White Fang. He wanted to do something to stop them, but Arno said it would be best if he stayed hidden with him. Hiding, the best technique of the assassins, but after doing such a thing for so long it became more of a curse to Richard. He wanted to do something, anything that allowed him to leave, but he listened to Arno, he was more experienced.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," Arno said as Richard sat up.
"Its not like we're running out of room," Richard replied quite softly. Arno still heard him though and turned back to his desk.
"Do we have anything to do today?" Richard asked standing up.
"Hide," Arno simply answered.
"Yes, hide, just like we have for the last three years of our lives."
"What do you want from me?" Arno asked.
"I don't want anything from you, I just…"
"Richard we had this discussion before, going out there just means we're going to be hunted," Arno began to reason with Richard.
"Why? Its not like we're getting any closer to stopping them from down here." Richard remarked now standing a few feet behind Arno.
"Richard there's only two of us and an entire army of White Fang, we won't do anything meaningful if we just get ourselves killed."
Richard sighed, "Then why can't we rebuild, the brother hood has been at rock bottom before and we managed to come back and-"
"There hasn't ever been a situation with one assassin and an old man as the only ones left in the creed."
Richard stayed silent from Arno's statement, though he was angered by Arno's claim. He didn't want to stay down here for the rest of his life. He was going to leave, he just needed to plan when.
"What…what would happen if I left?" Richard asked.
"Your not leaving, Arno simply stated.
"And if I did what would you...?" Richard asked.
"Richard we are staying here, If I knew your father at all he would want-"
"Well, you're not my father!" Richard yelled in response, leaving Arno silent.
"No, I'm not… and neither was Connor," Arno got up from his desk and went to the bed in the corner of the room. Richard watched as the old assassin walked over and laid down for a rest. Richard leaned back against the wall and waited.
Richard looked under the couch he slept on and pulled out a small duffle bag. He looked inside and saw his father's robes and a second jacket he had. He was going to leave today; he couldn't stay here. He stuffed his quiver inside and closed the bag. He changed his bow into a sword and sheathed it on his belt with Order and Chaos. He slung the bag on his back vertically and tightened the straps. He took out chaos and checked its magazine, he did the same for order afterward. Once he was finished he turned to walk out the exit of the hideout.
"You really are leaving." He heard before even touching the door.
Richard turned back to see Arno standing a couple feet away from him.
"I can't stay here," Richard began to explain.
"I know," Arno stated walking towards Richard, "and I won't stop you… but you're not gonna survive for long on your own." Arno pulled out a strange looking coin from his pocket. "Take this with you, if you need a place to hide you'll know where to find one." Arno flicked the coin to Richard, who caught it without hesitation. He examined the coin, it had the assassin symbol on one side and the other had an intricate design on it. "Good luck Richard," Arno said.
With that Richard walked out still looking at Arno before he closed the door behind him. Outside was a sewer system that had only a little stream of dirty water flowing. Richard looked to his left and saw the tunnel blocked off by rubble. He turned right and saw the path clear, so he began to walk down it. The sewers were only slightly lit, but Richard was able to see through the tunnel pretty easily thanks to his faunas heritage.
Richard continued to walk down the tunnel as quietly as possible until he came to a ladder leading up to the city. He began to ascend to the surface, he slowly lifted the manhole cover to peek out. He was in an alley way between two buildings. He moved the cover over and climbed out of the sewers. He placed the cover back on and looked around to see if anyone was around. He began to move down the alley out toward the street. He took a peek out and could see white fang members patrolling. He retreated back into the alley and moved towards the other end.
The streets were fairly empty, Richard placed the bag down and opened it. He pulled out his plain white hood and turned it inside out to become black. He switched it with the sweater he was currently wearing, he zipped it closed and rolled up the sleeves to his elbows. He closed the bag and once again he slung the bag on his back and began to stroll down the street. He tried to remain inconspicuous while walking down, all he had to do was find out where in Atlas he was. He occasionally looked up to see the buildings around him. Most had a White Fang banner hanging off them. Some were still in ruins from three years ago.
Dusk was approaching as the sun began to set. Richard turned the corner of the street and saw a patrol walking his way. Richard took off his hood to show his ears, the members seem to be unfazed by his presence. As Richard and the group crossed paths he continued to walk, passing each one calmly.
A member at the back of the group stopped and turned to Richard still walking.
"Hey you!" he called out to him. Richard stopped, but didn't turn. "Its almost curfew, you better start heading back to your home!" He said.
"Yes sir!" Richard replied, and began a fast jog down the street. He turned another corner and hid around the edge. He waited and looked back down the street. He saw the patrol continue to walk away. Richard began to walk to the docks, the sun about halfway down. He continued to move toward the shores, where large rock formations towered over the ocean.
Richard began to move out of the downtown area and more toward the cliffs. He used his height as a view point. Richard looked down at the port. He could see a tugboat currently docked. He continued to scout the land below. He saw someone come out from inside the ship, though he wasn't in a White Fang uniform. Richard couldn't tell his purpose but it seemed he was trying to move quietly around the ship. Richard heard the humming of a jeep coming, he quickly moved into a nearby bush to hide.
He looked through a small opening and saw an armored jeep roll up to the side of the cliff. A squad of White Fang members got out and looked down at the port. They quietly conversed for a few seconds before moving to the steps leading down. Richard saw them descend down and moved back to the ledge to get a look at what they were doing. He saw the man retreat back into the boat. Richard saw the White Fang members continue moving, he didn't know what to think of this situation, but from what he remembered from the patrol earlier the faunas here had a curfew to keep, which meant bad news for the man in the boat. Richard saw the White Fang members reach the bottom of the steps and start moving towards the boat. He followed down the steps, keeping at a distance. Two members stayed posted on the dock next to the boat. the other three went on board. Richard sneaked around and came up to the opposite side. With no real way to get the drop on them, other than getting on the boat, Richard decided to get the jump on them. He jumped into the water under him, feet first and submerged into the blue.
The two members thought they heard a splash from the other side of the boat.
"Hey John you hear that?" one asked the other.
"I think it came from the other side, one of them might be trying to escaped."
"I'll go take a look around back." The White Fang member began to walk around the boat, with his rifle ready. He kept an eye on the water below him. Slowly he continued to walk all the way until he was at the other end. He pointed his flash light down into the water. Nothing seemed out of place, the ocean waves swayed at a constant pace, crashing against the jagged cliff and wooden posts under him.
"See anything!?" the other member called out.
"No! might of just been a fish or something."
Just as he finished his statement a hand came from under and grabbed his ankle. It quickly swept him off his feet and dragged him into the water, giving him only a short time to let out a yelp.
"Seth!? you there?" The other member called out. "Seth!? answer me!" He called again. "Seth! Respond!" but there was no answer.
Richard was directly under the second member. Holding his breath he readied his hidden blade and slowly ascended from the water. He quickly emerged and grabbed the member's leg pulling him down. Once in the water Richard made quick work and began to stab the White Fang member a few times in the chest. The member struggled and tried to call out, but his voice was muffled by the water and he soon faded away. Richard released his body and remerged at the docks. He climbed onto the docks, he looked around and didn't see any other members around. He took out chaos in its pistol form and slowly boarded the tug boat. He peeked in through the window on the door, there were two members standing in front of a small group of Faunus.
Richard checked the magazine in Chaos. It was full. Richard loaded and readied himself. He burst through the door and fired at the farthest member. The other one was close enough to pull out his sword and swing at Richard. He weaved away from his first strikes and transformed Chaos into its tomahawk form. The member continued to swing allowing a parry from Richard as he then swept his legs sending him crashing to the ground. With a hard strike, Richard finished off the member. Just as Richard stood straight the last member rushed him from behind, swinging down on Richard. He tried to block the member's attack, but Richard wasn't fast enough as the sword cut his arm and caused him to drop Chaos. Richard grabbed his arm in pain and it was quickly painted in blood. The member went for another strike, but Richard tackled the member to the floor. Acting quickly Richard deployed his hidden blade and stabbed the member in the neck.
Richard stood back up retracting his blade and holding back on to his arm, he looked over to the group of Faunus currently on their knees with their hands tied behind their back. Richard moved towards them, they seemed scared at first, but once Richard began to cut them free they began to calm down. Richard cut loose the last Faunus, a woman with a cat's tail, and as soon as he did she rushed into the other room as quickly as she could. Richard, slightly confused, followed her as the other Faunus began to hug each other, thanking that they were freed. In the other room Richard found the woman tending to the same man he saw when he was scouting. He had some cuts and bruises, no doubt the White Fang members attempted an interrogation on him.
"Are you okay?" Richard asked helping the woman begin to carry the man back into the other room.
"I'll live, thanks to you," the man had a deep but soothing voice. They set the man down for a seat and the woman began tending the man's wounds. Just then a man came rushing through the door.
"George! blimey, what the hell happened here?" He asked.
"Jarred, we...ran into some trouble, but we're all okay, thanks to this young man." George said signaling Richard.
"Jarred," the man said introducing himself.
"I thank you for protecting my family," Jarred said grabbing Richard's hand and shaking it firmly.
"Richard, no problem."
"Is there any way I can repay you?" Jarred asked.
"Actually, I'm trying to get out of the city, like I assume you are, have enough space for another." Richard asked.
"Of course," He said letting go and looking down at his hand that had some blood on it. "And we have a first aid kit if you'd like to…patch yourself up."
"I appreciate it," Richard replied.
"Alright people we're still a go, get to your stations," one of the other Faunus told the group as they began to disperse.
"Richard, mind helping me out?" Jarred asked, grabbing the legs of one of the White Fang members on the ground. Richard moved to the other end of the body and began to help Jarred pick it up. They moved outside, approaching the rim of the boat they tossed the body over board and into the water. They did the same for the other two before Jarred went up to the helm of the ship after. Richard went back inside to get his armed wrapped in a bandage. The ship slowly moved away from the dock as the group set sailed for the City of Vale.