Hello! Who wants to hit me? I wanna hit me. I don't even want to look when was the last time I updated, because I KNOW this is the longest time without an update.
There are no words for what I feel, I just know I'm tired of saying sorry (I am sorry, but I say it in every update) hope that this chapter makes up for the time.
Talk to you all at the end of the chapter.
*Drip**Drip**Drip*
Blood drips from the wounds of the animal, the dark woods getting darker by the second, and the only shimmer of light is provided by the broken moon. Every few feet, the sound of droplets is heard, not by a lot, but only to those with super-enhanced hearing, since the red liquid drops onto the grass and mud on the floor, not a noise most would ever hear.
It doesn't matter, the group keeps moving, 3 wolves, separated from the rest of their pack, keep moving thru the land, weary of their surroundings. The one in the middle is the one both guiding and bleeding, every time its wounds start to close, they immediately open again, as the excessive movement doesn't let them heal entirely.
After escaping the Beowolves, the older wolf found two members of its pack. They were all separated during an invasion of Grimm in their territory, the group is trying to repack, smelling the essence and pheromones in the air, they know they are close by to some of their kin, they just need to keep going a while longer.
*Sniff**Sniff*
They detect new smells in the air; mud, salt, sand, blood, and smoke, all combined, all coming from their left side. The trio stops, and the injured one pushes them into the bushes, the night accepting them as just another part of the land, hiding them, as a wild hoard passes them. The Grimm run near them, multiple types of them, with different sizes and forms, this almost made the two younger wolves jump, blowing their cover, but the older one makes a small growl, and they stay still.
Those creatures don't usually attack something that isn't human, but in their frenzies, they won't care about stomping on them if they get in their way. After some minutes, the bigger group moves on, and the trio doesn't leave the cover until a couple of more minutes, just in case. The older one guides them out of the plant, those were too many, never in the animal's life has it seen some many of those creatures together.
The other two start to growl, and turning around, it sees why. One big Ursa approaches them, coming from where the hoard was going. Did it come back for them? Did they make too much noise?
The thing approaches them, but unlike the other two, the injured wolf sees how the creature didn't care for them. With a loud and commanding howl, it commands the rest of its kin to stop their hostility. They turn around, surprised by the commanding wolf's actions, who moves aside to let the creature continue its way, the other two imitate its actions.
The Ursa Major didn't even turn an eye at them, just kept walking. The much older canine starts following it, the younger ones are scared and confused, but they follow their elder, nonetheless. The Grimm doesn't appear to care, as some time passes, more Grimms come running from the same direction the last hoard did.
If the hoard had been moving slower, then, the trio would have been spotted and possibly killed, however, the big Ursa provides them cover, and the new hoard runs passing them, without paying them any attention.
After using this tactic, a couple of times, the group picks up the essence and pheromones of more members of their pack, they stop following the creature to start following the new smell, and to stop tempting their luck.
The older one gives one last glance to Ursa, not sure of why it decided to go the other way and not follow its kin, those things are almost always in a swarm, why is it traveling alone?
*Drip**Drip**Drip*
The animal focuses, it needs to find its pack, and that's all that matters.
"Who?" Julius answers his question with another one.
"The blind guy you were fighting."
I can almost see a loading screen over his blank face.
"Ooooooooooooh, that guy."
"Yeah, that guy."
His tone almost sounded sarcastic, implying the answer was an obvious fact for everybody, like saying; yeah, the guy that nearly killed you.
While this happens, I use the time to analyze our interrogator. Middle-aged male, Caucasian, around 6 feet tall, black hair, red eyes? Or a similar color, black dress pants, and a gray button shirt with a red cape. He doesn't exactly seem fit for battle, his clothes are too formal to be able to move comfortably, not to mention his lack of armor.
His wardrobe isn't practical, and yet, he gave a better fight than us.
Way better.
"No, I meant, who are you?" His voice had a hint of caution, and rightfully so.
Two exits; the double doors, and the covered-up window at the other end of the room. No clear useful weapons on sight, apart from the one in the man's back.
He stares at us with confusion for a few seconds, not understanding where that question came from. He takes out a flask from inside his pocket, without breaking eye contact with us, and takes a long sip from his beverage, as he processes the question.
"Oh, yeah, I didn't introduce myself."
The man with the alcoholic breath realized what my companion's question meant.
"Sorry, you're not the only ones who just woke up." Plus, the booze doesn't help either in keeping people centered. "Name's Qrow, Qrow Branwen, I'm just a passing Huntsman, investigating those bandits that attacked you, and you are?"
He looks at "Julius" I give a discreet look at the other man in bed. I admit I'm curious about what name he will give this time.
"Julius."
Ah, we are keeping that one.
"Just Julius?"
This, Crow, waits again, this time for a full name.
"For now."
The man ponders the answers for a moment but shrugs it off rather quickly. Fair enough, He did tell us he wouldn't care about our business. He appears to have his purpose, his mission, and we aren't a priority.
"And you?"
My turn comes, I look him in the eyes and respond.
"Michael."
Any further denial of basic information may cause unrequired suspicion.
"A pleasure."
His greeting, although formal, sounded sincere. He gets comfortable, crossing his legs (he's also wearing dress shoes … why?) and resting on the chair.
I try to sit correctly on the bed, but my stitches will not resist any major movements like running or fighting without opening (if I need to). I'm at their mercy.
"How do you know his name?" I asked quickly. He had his questions, I had mine, and in this scenario, it's more likely that only His will get answered if I don't act fast. "Of the man we fought, he seemed to know you."
I must be careful with my questions nonetheless, he won't snoop around our business, like he said, meaning we shan't snoop around his.
"Ah, well." He acts a bit uncomfortable. "Let's say he and I have some history, and not in a good way."
Another longer sip of his drink confirms my previous assessment. I wasn't too comfortable myself, having all these questions after just waking up in an unknown location, however, he's the main reason we survived our encounter with the raiders, so I feel some need to answer him.
We dispatch the raiders rather effectively (that surprised me, either we work well as a team or these raiders didn't know how to coordinate at all), but the moment "Sam" joined in, we were in a tight spot.
Anybody could see how that super-powered man was playing with us (perhaps the term meta-human applies here), the man received several deadly attacks from us, and none of them seemed to hurt him in any major capacity. The only thing Julius and I were able to do was distract him for enough time for our savior to arrive, we owe him now. A favor for a favor is one of the oldest unspoken rules in the world.
"Well, we didn't find him, he found us." Said Julius while looking at his flask.
"How?"
"Raiders." I spoke.
"They attack us in the woods." Julius continues, he seems to have the same need to repay him as I do. "We fought back, and at some point, he joined in."
"You went alone into the woods?"
"Yes."
He gives a skeptical, almost amusing, face.
"Not the brightest of ideas around here *sip* no offense."
"As we said, we were a bit lost."
*click** click**click*
More noises come from the corridors; they seem to have a ton of work. In the meanwhile, Crow gives us some glances, he doesn't try to dissimulate them. I know what he is looking at; our sweating, our tired eyes, our heavy breathing, and the sounds that came up from our throats that didn't sound all that good.
"You two still don't seem fine."
He's right. We still need rest, but as I said before, we just woke up in an unknown place, even if they helped us, trust doesn't come that easily.
"Better than before." Said Julius.
"Pal, anything is better than nearly dying."
Every time I move, even if just a little bit, pain comes to my body. He almost says something else but shut his mouth before the words left his lips.
"Anyway, did Sam or the others say something to you?"
"A lot of things." Spoke Julius.
"Such as?"
"Mostly insults and promises of giving us a quick death if we stopped running."
A small smirk leaves his mouth.
"Yeah, that sounds about right. Let's say something useful, did they ask for anything in particular? Just shot to kill, or something else over the insults?"
We think about the fight, trying to remember everything we can. Something is going on here, yes, raiders are dangerous, and any settlement must deal with them, this kind of information will always be important, but he is searching for something else, something specific.
"They were searching for someone."
I blurt out.
"Who?"
"Their comrades."
"You guys are suicidal."
The brothers must have favorites if this two have survived this long.
"Rude."
"Who enters a bandit hideout so willingly?"
"We didn't know to whom it belonged."
"So, you just enter any dark hole you find?"
"…"
"..."
"Okay, touché, but also, that sounded wrong."
Dear Oum.
"The place was abandoned." Michael (weird name) continues. "A lot of burned stuff, and rotten half-eaten food."
Getting a small crew nearby the roads is an easy yet complicated task, if done right you can easily rob everybody in the area, if not, the tribe loses members at the hands of the local authorities, huntsmen, or the Grimm.
"And they thought you robed their camp?"
"Yeah." Julius talks. "At some point, while running they shout out something about; wanting to know what happened."
A secret camp on the coast and near the roads. By the time the sun rises, any clue (that wasn't already burned) will be lost, courtesy of the bandits, I could maybe go after them if not for Sam. The night is already dangerous enough, I don't want to fight him in the dark.
"Can you describe the bandits for me?"
"You saw them yourself."
"Ehh, No, I saw you two, Sam, and a bunch of bodies." By the time I had a chance to analyze the battlefield, most of it was on fire. "I was too occupied on Sam to take a closer glance at the others."
When I reached the battlefield, I saw all the bodies that littered the floor, there were a lot of them, but once the fight was over, most of them ended up blown up or burned to a crisp. So I don't know exactly how many people were there or how they looked (thanks, Sam), however, I can safely say that this two beat a lot of bandits.
I know I judged them before because of their youngness, but they are capable enough to survive out in the outlands; they fought A LOT of bandits and even gave a good (well, let's say decent) fight against someone like Sam. I'm just not sure if only two people can survive all alone out there.
"Well, we were kind of too occupied on not dying."
Okay, that's fair.
"Can't you remember something? How did they look? What weapons they were using? Things like that."
Another moment of silence, as the duo review their memories.
"Small arms; SMGs, pistols, revolvers, didn't have time to recognize the design of the guns." Michael is the first one to talk.
"Nothing bigger than 10 mm, or .357, in the case of the revolvers, well, that is excluding the minigun on the car." Julius is second to speak. "Plus, a bunch of melee weapons, machetes, hammers, axes, things like that."
Hmm, gun nuts.
Weapons most can easily get, apart from the armed vehicle, of course. Bandits commonly use small guns, it's easy to get them from raids on towns or traveling merchants, heavier caliber guns can also be acquired, if they know where to look, but only those that know how to maintain them and repair them use them. Plus, the ammo gets rarer the bigger the gun, unless they make their own ammo or they buy them from people that aren't afraid to sell to tribes, otherwise they will run out quickly.
So, pistols, SMGs, and a couple of machine guns are the order of the day. The weaponized truck, now that was a surprise, how on Remnant did they get that? It's not like they can take that from the next town over or build it out of nothing. Raven? Why would she have something like that? She has always been about quick and powerful moves; a big noisy truck doesn't go well with her.
I take another sip.
"What about armor?"
"Nothing too great, mostly leather, some had ballistic vests."
"Dark green cloths, with different patterns, could be some form of camo."
Yep, those don't sound like Branwen members.
Working with other tribes, huh? Since when is she so damn generous?
Probably more like using them.
I pass my hand over my face while thinking and closing my eyes. Why are they here? Did they hear the rumors? Are they the cause of said rumors?
What are you doing Raven?
I open my eyes only to see the two injured intensely looking at me.
"Something wrong?"
"Speaking of armor, what armor are you wearing?"
…
"Huh?"
"You know, armor, for your body." Julius points at my torso and lower half. "The thing that protects you from bullets, explosions, high-velocity punches from a "blind" raider, things like that."
"Oh, uhm, I'm not wearing armor." I slightly scratch the back of my head.
I haven't used armor since I was a child. I look down at my clothes, did it look like I was wearing armor?
"Why do you ask?"
They keep looking at me weirdly.
"Excuse me."
We turn around to see the same nurse from before accompanied by other medical staff.
"Yes?"
"Excuse us for interrupting, gentlemen." One of the doctors starts. "But we must insist that the patients must be re-sedated."
"And if we don't want to?" Said Broken nose.
"Sirs, you just woke up from an operation in less than an hour, you were supposed to be unconscious for the rest of the night."
Michael didn't say anything just looked, again, intensely, at the medics. Both seem to have some trust issues.
"Would you need to knock them out?" I ask before the arguments start.
"No, this would be just for the pain, but they do need to rest and sleep." The answer makes them act more cooperative, after all, if the doctors already help them, why would they hurt them now?
I was expecting to get a few more words out of them, but I guess that can wait, they aren't the only ones I need to talk to, anyway.
"I'll see myself out then." I get up, with one last glance at their faces. "You're in good hands, so just relax and rest, we can keep talking in the morning."
I've been living on the road for some days now, a warm meal and bed will be nice for a change.
The doctors start doing their jobs, and the duo seems a bit uncomfortable, but they suck it up and let the professionals continue. It takes me a few steps to reach the door, open it, and say my goodbyes.
"Welcome to Embrace, enjoy your stay."
[New info acquired]
[Processing new info]
[Embrace: Neutral]
[Vale: Neutral]
[Mistral: Neutral]
[Branwen tribe: Neutral]
[People don't know enough about you to form an opinion just yet]
[Marauders: Hated]
[Because of your behavior, most people outright hate you.]
The group travels thru the same path we took some hours ago, this time, to go back with the Reds. The night fell on us in the middle of our way back, however, our small group of people is more than capable enough to get back safely in the dark. With our experience as fighters and the knowledge of the two Misceres that came with us, we move quickly and efficiently, making sure nothing notices our presence. There's no reason to tempt our chances in an unknown land.
We reach the coast, without having to fight any Grimm (strange), where we find 3 figures, waiting for us in a relatively small boat. They draw their weapons.
"Name or we shot."
"It's us."
"That's not a name."
"Just start pushing the damn boat."
Two of the Reds follow the Miscere's order and start pushing, while the third prepares the sails. Me and my people get on the ship, while the other two groups exchange some words that I can barely hear.
"Tell Aurum to stay out of our channels, it's not safe."
"Got it, don't get eaten."
"Don't drown."
The duo moves back into the woods, probably to some hideout of theirs.
After everybody gets in the boat, we set sail. The boat is just barely the right size to hold our numbers, 8 persons in total, but it is to be expected, seeing that anything bigger could bring unwanted attention, and the overall design makes it relatively fast for its size and easy to maneuver. We sit still, letting the seafarers do their job, it takes some hours to reach their place, better get comfortable.
Wouldn't be the first time we travel these waters, and won't be the last, unfortunately. We have been working with the Sun's tribe for quite a while now, and have taken this exact same boat to their base a lot as well. The waters and winds are kind to us tonight, not shaking the boat violently, or nearly blinding us with salt water. A rare commodity we can enjoy today, have to give some credit to the sailors, they know their craft, and not a lot of people make their living at sea, too unknown, too dangerous.
Even the kingdoms know to fear it, they have their boats and army vessels (the numbers vary from one kingdom to another), but aircrafts are still the most popular and secure way of transportation over the seas.
Our time in these lands and this mission has made me have a newfound appreciation for Anima's soil since at least back home I didn't need to be in the seas for hours on end every day. Is not that I dislike the waters, I don't get seasick, nor do I get bored (like some others), it's just that I feel; trapped. The land, even if dangerous, means freedom, you can go anywhere you want and over anybody you want, but the seas? You're basically trapped in one small chunk of wood.
After some hours, we reach our destination, a small archipelago in the middle of nowhere, we make our way thru rocks, corals, and seaweed, until entering their cave. The place is big, with a variety of boats and people, working on said boats, others eating, or just hanging in their hideout.
"Good to see you alive, V."
As our boat gets parked near the others, we are received by our comrade and other Sunlings. My, "partner", Samson is a big man, with large hair and closed eyes (it's not like he needs them anyway) and is a big jerk.
"Weren't you supposed to be on the mainland?"
We start descending from the boat, the Reds tie it up and fold the sails while our group takes the cargo off the vessel.
"Small change of plans, need to talk with you, alone."
I dismiss our group, and we walk thru one of the many corridors of the cave, while the members of our tribe stay behind with the Suns. Their hideout is made of different caves on the island, all connected thru underground tunnels and corridors, they also live on the surface, but prefer to only delve there during the day.
For a temporary hideout, the place is very well adorned and furnished. Nothing fancy, cooking stations, workshops, makeshift beds, things like that. The smell of fish, salt, and wood fills the air. Many of the corridors are lit with glowing green rocks, a better alternative than torches or any other light source that could pose a danger down here.
"What is it?"
I spoke once we got far away from any unexpected ear.
"Did you get what we needed?"
"Some trinkets and a name, the creep spent a year in the sacred lands and then left."
"Sacred lands?"
"That's what they call it."
"Hmm, any clues on where he is now?"
"None."
"That's no good."
"He had to go thru the peninsula, there's no other safe route."
After leaving their lands, none of the tribes helped him get away, they would have told us by now if they did. He could have paid a merchant, a smuggler, or a shady official of the towns, to turn a blind eye and let him pass.
"And after that, he could have gone anywhere." The older man said.
"We can start by finding some merchants, a lot of them do some smuggling from time to time, that, or going directly to a town and search for answers."
"Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk about."
He stops and turns around, he can't see my face, but somehow his closed eyes look straight at mine.
"You're staying here."
*Tic**Tac*
*Tic**Tac*
It didn't take long for the sedatives to work.
[Chems deposit Empty; "Fix aid"]
I'm grateful, the pain was starting to be unbearable, especially in the head.
[Chems deposit Empty; "Stim-pack"]
I tap my Pip-boy without looking, I already know what the message said; no more Fixer nor Stim-packs. A cool little feature the golden machine has; it can hold different chems, and applies them whenever it detects any abnormalities or my vitals going too low.
This thing may be ostentatious, but it comes with soooooooo many features to compensate for the lack of discretion. Although looking back on the messages, this feature is probably the reason those sedatives didn't work on us, some doses of Fixer are enough to get any other chem out of your systems. Or at least that's my case, I can only assume that the same thing happened to Michael, considering the familiar sounds that came out of his computer.
*Tic**Tac*
*Tic**Tac*
I stare at the ceiling, hearing the clock on the wall, I should sleep. After the doctors did their jobs and that Crow fellow left, we were left alone in this room. We were supposed to rest, but some things are keeping me up.
Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.
What is it? Well, dear emptiness of the void that used to be my sanity, I finally have time to let ALL sink in. All this crazy journey, I thought about it, processed it, and accepted it. And booooooooy was the result pissing me off.
*Tic**Tac*
*Tic**Tac*
Okay, maybe those were some harsh words, I'm not mad at somebody specific (other than me, maybe), it's just very annoying.
Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.
I keep doing Usanagi's exercises, more out of habit than anything else, they do keep me centered and all, but everything has a limit.
As I explained to Michael before, most of us go into autopilot during a hard-to-explain situation, I suppose it works as some form of self-preservation mechanism on our heads, like "yeah, yeah, this is incredible and all, now move! Before that thing eats us!" sort of thing.
*Tic**Tac*
*Tic**Tac*
Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.
My brain just comes up with explanations on the spot and doesn't ask for further questions. Black boney monsters that become ash? Mutants, A blind man that can see? Mutant, another guy that can move as fast as sound and has no injuries, even though we faced the same blind man that, by the way, I shot like 20 times in the face? Mutants.
I know, it's not creative, but if it works, it works (I shouldn't love the fact that I can explain everything with mutations as much as I do). Or at least it does until I ask further questions.
Vacuo, Saunus, Embrace. A lot of names I've never heard of.
I kept repeating them in my head for a while, maybe something can pop up, a similar name, a reference, a rumor from mercs and merchants, but nothing, nada, we are lost.
No problem, I've been lost before, but that usually doesn't end well for mostly anybody involved, and I need to go back home, and for that, first I need to know where I am. Before I was hoping we were somewhere close to the northern frontier, I'd heard from some old merchants that the Canadian soil wasn't as devastated as the American wasteland and that even snow felt there in the colder months. Buuuuuuuuuuuut, that couldn't be it, winter is close by, so if this was Canada, then it shouldn't be as hot as it is.
I know from Raul that most (if not all) of Mexico's forests burned down and that the mountains of "La Sierra" are nothing like the ones here, so that rules them out.
I'm tired of not knowing, my pip-boy shows me the map of the region (the same map we got from the hideout), but I can't see anything passing the peninsula. And it also didn't look like any landmass I've seen before on other maps. Given, I've only seen maps of America, a couple of what used to be the north of Mexico, and some pictures of old-world maps with no names, HOWEVER, my point stands, I don't know where we are.
And it's pissing me off.
Not like I can do anything about it, maybe I can ask the doctors or the people of this town for directions or something, but that'll have to wait until I can get out of this bed.
As I said, I'm more annoyed than mad, I should try to contact the others, but I don't want to do it in front of *cough**cough* certain people, *cough**cough* Michael *cough**cough*
So with no other alternative, I fell asleep, not sure when, I just closed my eyes and didn't open them again. I went from lying in bed in an infirmary, to lying on the cold floor of a white field.
The place was completely white terrain, big and empty, you could call it a room, but I wasn't able to see a ceiling or any walls, there was nothing in here, nothing apart from myself lying down on the floor, face-up, and eyes closed.
Wait, how the hell do I know all of this if my eyes are closed?
It's almost peaceful, I place where you can forget the chaos of reality.
"Well, well, well."
Until HE, showed up.
"Look who we have here."
All of a sudden, there was someone else in here, a man in a checked suit, standing near my feet and looking down on me.
Oh no.
For some reason, even if my eyes are still closed, I knew what was happening around me. He slowly walks in circles around me, admiring the blank terrain and lighting up his cigar.
No.
"Long time no see."
No.
He materializes a brick white wall behind him (How?) and rest his back against it, trying to look all smooth.
No.
"I must say; I knew you had a tick skull, however. "He takes a good and long look at the place.
No, No, No.
"I never imagen that the guy who beat me would have such an empty skull." Stops and takes another puff.
No!No!No!No!No!No!
"I believe that's more of an insult to myself than to you, though-."
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-.
"Can you shut up and let me talk?!"
-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
He turns around once again, entering a small room the Sunlings gave to us.
"What do you mean by that?"
He takes out a lamp from I don't know where and lights it up.
"Samson."
He stays silenced for a moment while "looking" into my eyes. I've always wondered how he can do that.
"Qrow."
Stories and rumors pass thru my mind the moment I hear that name.
"You mean, That Qrow?"
"Yes."
Now I'm the one without words.
Did we do too much noise? Did someone talk? Who? Which tribe? Was it a tribe? Why? How?
"Why is he here?"
"Don't know." He pushes a rock with his hand and then sits on it, does the same thing with another rock, and instructs me to sit, I do. "But he is not here for us."
"You're sure?"
"Yeah, he was as confused as I was when we met."
This complicates things.
"Was he alone?"
"Not anymore."
Damn it.
"Why didn't you take care of him?"
"You think I didn't try? The bastard is rusty and less sober than what I remember, but he's still a trained huntsman."
"So, you just ran?"
Any other tribesman would have tried to punch me or make an excuse; however, he just smiles. For being one of our most ferocious members, he sure takes insults better than the rest of us.
"In this case; it was more complicated than that. Killing a huntsman will bring the attention of others, killing people of the nearby settlements will bring the attention of the kingdoms, killing both, especially a huntsman as well connected as Qrow, will bring more attention than you can ever dream of."
He tells me as if he was speaking to a child. Hate it when he does that.
"I was trying to knock him out and bright him with me, let him in some remote area where he would be a problem, but he already had alerted some soldiers, so that plan went down the drain and, so yes, I ran, otherwise, knowing him, he would be breathing down our necks right now."
"And the Marauders?"
"Took the ones that were still alive before running, brought them back with me, they're being tended."
Good no loose lips for now. I don't know this man, but I've heard his role under the "old fool's" plans, as Raven called it. A spy and an informant, a good one.
"We're stuck then."
We can't go investigate the rest of the peninsula and we can't go back without answers.
"Not quite, we have already what we needed, and according to the Reds, the authorities have their own problems to deal with."
"We have a name and a bunch of junk, that's what we have."
"Where did you leave this junk?"
I throw him a metal object; it lands on his chest. He starts touching it, smelling it, and using his aura on it.
"What's this?" He knocks it a couple of times, making that characteristic sound of metal being hit.
"Your guess is as good as mine, there are more like it, in different shapes and sizes."
They seemed almost like scrap metal, some were rusted, others burned, like pieces of broken machinery. I pass him one of my bags and he starts touching the rest. They may look different, but at the same time they look similar to one another, they seem to be the same thing, like how you may not know the model of a gun, but you know that the thing in your hands is a gun.
Whatever it was, it was just junk now, maybe if we give it to a mechanic or an engineer we can know more.
"What else?"
I take out some documents from my other bag.
"By the sound of that, I'm going to guess papers."
"Read away."
"Fuck you."
A small smirk settles in my mouth as I start to recap the documents.
"Something, something, aura, something, something, levels, something, something, and this is important; Maiden."
Our suspicions were correct.
"Another reason for you to stay here." He gets up. "You and Raven's little secret is our ace; we can't let anybody like Qrow see you just yet."
"He won't even know who I am."
"We need to move fast; our time is limited now."
Ignoring my protest, he gets up and walks to his bed.
"More the reason for Not, leaving me behind."
WE were given this mission, both of us. Samson may be a better fighter, but we share the same rank, and yet, in his eyes, I'm just another grunt.
"This is OUR mission, not yours." I get up and walk toward him, making him look at me. "I'm not going to wait here just because you're too stubborn to see that."
His playful smile leaves him, taking on a more serious and intimidating look.
"First; I can see better than you, second; you're right, this is our mission, but that not only includes the two of us, weren't the only members of our tribe that came here, remember?" He tells me with a clear commanding voice, I don't step down, I stand my ground. "If I'm stubborn, then you are just a child, seeking some approval from dear mommy."
We don't break eye contact, or whatever this can be considered, none of us move. I'm pissed, he knows it, and he's enjoying it.
"Fuck. You."
A small smirk settles in his mouth.
"I'm not leaving you behind, so stop bitching, will you? But we can't let you near Qrow, as a disappointment as he is, he's still one of the few that know about that secret war." He sits on his bed. "He's dangerous."
"So are we."
He puts his hands over his face and looks down.
"You take too much after Raven sometimes."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
*Sigh* "Of course you will. When will you learn? There's more than one way to face a problem, no need to always fight it straight on."
"I'm getting THIS from you?"
The damn war mongrel that fights everything, EVERYTHING, we find.
"The audacity."
"What? I only chose violence when I know I can win."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Qrow."
He shuts up for a moment. He almost speaks back for a moment there, but ultimately decided to shut his lips.
"Okay, point taken, I got myself in a fight I shouldn't have, and I lost, I'll admit it."
There's no draw in a fight, either you lose, or you win, there's no in-between, another lesson I had to learn. Samson didn't get rid of Qrow and alerted the authorities of our presence, that is a loss, He lost, and now I'm paying for his error.
"Then learn from my mistake, V. Nobody will survive for long if they always think they're the ones on top."
"You taught me how to be the one on top."
Hundreds of hours of training, fighting, killing, and hunting to learn that.
"Again, yes, but you can't always do it alone, and we will do that, by working together."
I roll my eyes.
"You're going to make me barf."
Couldn't he think of any other cheesy line?
"I have a plan, and it includes you, but we must act carefully, avoid Qrow as much as possible, and be patient."
Is he having a heart attack?!
As uncomfortable I was in my new situation, at some point the fatigue finally won over me and send me to sleep, however, I'm a light sleeper, and my pip-boy made another alert to warn me of multiple movements near me.
I got up, confused, but acted quickly, my eyes searching for an enemy. I unconsciously kept searching for a weapon under my pillow, but I had none, they took our stuff away and only left us with our Pip-boys (they probably couldn't open the biometric seals). That made me realize where I was and what was happening.
By the time my sight stopped being blurry and my eyes accustomed to the dark room, I saw Julius, who was convulsing violently on his bed, his arms and legs moving so erratically, that is a miracle the intravenous didn't come off. The medics and doctors came quickly as they heard the previous commotion, I pretended to sleep while they aided him, there was no reason to interfere in their work.
-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- Auch!
His damn lighter hits my face and makes me stop my shouting.
Wait, I can feel pain in here?
"I don't know, but I'm gland! Seriously, how in the goddamn did you manage to beat me?!" He rubs his temple with two fingers and closes his eyes. "Man, life is full of bullshit."
He stands up, and the brick white wall disintegrates behind him. He keeps talking (because of course he keeps talking) but I'm not hearing anything, I'm trying to not go insane.
Remember what Usanagi said, get a hold of reality, this isn't real, you're not talking to Benny, all of this is a figment of your imagination.
"That advice was for hallucinations, not dreams."
You shut up and stop messing with my head!
It's been over a year since my last hallucination, why am I having one now?
"Again, a dream, pal."
Lalalalalalala! I'm not listening to you!
If you had a cap for every healthy and sane person on the Wasteland, you would probably have enough money to buy yourself a drink. Mental health is not a topic most wastelanders think about when they are getting raided, killed, eaten, or worse, I'm not saying everybody is crazy, but not that they are completely sane either.
That includes me, thanks to Doc Mitchel and the followers, my mental stability has grown over the years, but back when I just had my brain screwed, I had a couple of bad episodes I rather not talk about.
Deep breaths, deep breaths.
This is a dream, I can end it, I just need to wake up, I just need to wake up.
…
How do I do that?
Uuuuuuuuuuuhm, Usually, during an episode, I try to walk away, hear music, concentrate on something else; the lyrics, the tune, or on something I know for a fact that is real, that will never change … how do I do that in a dream?!
Deeeeeeeeeep breeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaths.
Calm down, CALM DOWN, Benny is dead, that is a fact, that IS reality.
"Huh, curious, I told me the same thing the moment I saw a guy I shot in the head walk towards me at Tops."
Shut up! This is different! I saw your brain leave your skull in pieces!
I try to move my arm, but my fingers barely move, same goes for the rest of my body, I can't open my eyes or move my head at all.
"For how long you are going to try this?"
I hate his voice.
Unless you're here to tell me I'm dead, don't talk to me, because I don't want to deal with the psychological bullshit right now.
*sigh* "Why do I even try?"
He tosses the cigarette butt at me, it bounces off my forehead, and takes a new one out of his pocket. We stay in silence, I try to move my body, he throws the leftovers of his cigars at my face, and we stay like this for a while.
Don't know for how long, but after the thirtieth cigarette butt, we finally talk.
"Are you done?"
*sigh* I guess, why are you even here?
I've hallucinated before, but never with him.
"I'm not sure myself, then again, I'm just in your head, it's not like I have a say in the matter."
Maybe is the fatigue, or all those hits to the head I got in the fight, or … I dunno, I'm not a medic, I'm just guessing.
"Possible, you did get your ass kicked, that was … amusing to watch."
Benny, fuck you.
"Maybe is all of that." He ignores me. "And that you're lost, and the first memory that comes to your mind when hearing that word, is me, pointing Maria at you."
…
…
"Still mad about it?"
…
I wouldn't say mad but is hard to forgive someone who shot you in the head, TWICE, you know.
I lost more than just a chip that day, and unlike the chip, I will never get the other things back.
"Well, you killed me, so we can call it even. And with my own weapon non the least, talk about getting owned."
That was a mercy kill.
"Maybe, but don't deny that a part of didn't you enjoyed it."
Parts of me enjoy things that the rest of me isn't proud of.
"Don't be so hard on yourself." Another puff of smoke flies thru the air. "Nobody is perfect."
So, what, you're going to torment me until I wake up? Is that it?
"Hmmm, tempting, but I don't think you hate yourself as much as to afflict self-harm."
You've been throwing shit at my face this whole time.
"Well, maybe you just hate yourself a little bit."
Fuck you.
…
…
*sigh*
Fuck me.
25 minutes later, and with the help of 2 more doctors, and for what I heard, antiseizure medicine, they manage to put Julius back into his peaceful sleep, his vitals going back to normal.
As they left, I saw some shadows outside the door, they probably left someone on the other side just in case Julius or I had some other problem.
I fared my quick movement had opened some of my wounds, luckily, it didn't happen. The room is more illuminated than before, the only window in the room was covered up with curtains, but you can still notice the light coming thru. It was dimmed and small, the clock on the wall told me the hour; 5 am, the day was about to start.
With the new light, I was able to assess my body, I was fine, just sore, and cover up in bandages. Touching my neck I felt the fabric over my burned skin, I'm grateful for the painkillers, the pain was starting to be unbearable.
I learn to live with the pain that my burn marks cause a long time ago, but every hit, punch, and kick that touched them wasn't enjoyable. Over the years and with the help of different treatments, my skin has somewhat recovered, It will never be as it once was, but I prefer my current state to the one I had the days following the … the …
I lay on the hospital bed and look at the ceiling yet again. I woke up with an accelerated demeanor, ready for a fight, the doctors probably didn't notice the spike in my vitals because of Julius's sudden attack. Thankfully, everything seemed to be in order now, I can see the screens out of the corner of my eye, and my heart rate calmed down as my breathing did.
The bed is quite nice, nothing fancy, but better than what most clinics can offer. Either way, I kept searching for a weapon that wasn't there, force of habit, every few minutes or so, my hand would slip under me, searching for a knife or a gun.
*Tick**Tack*
I held my hand with the other one, closed my eyes, and tried to rest some more.
*Tick**Tack*
1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, as much as I tried, I couldn't sleep again, I felt better than yesterday, but some more hours of much-needed rest will always be welcome. After 20 minutes, I knew this wouldn't work. Once I get up, I rarely can get back to sleep, no matter how tired I may be, a bad or good trait, depending on the occasion.
Sometimes, on nights like these, I resort to sleeping chems, it's either that or get up and do some work; cleaning weapons, checking the systems of the ship, counting ammo and food, reading, whatever I can do to pass the time until somebody else gets up (usually Dogmeat).
None of my usual options are available right now since I don't have my things and I shouldn't get up. So, I keep looking up, the sounds of the medical equipment and the clock on the wall making me company. I try to not think of my current predicament, going down that mole rat's hole is something I don't wish to do again. At least not now.
I double-check the room again, making sure nobody was spying on me, or that Julius was awake. Then, I bring my pip-boy close to my face.
"… … ..."
*Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*
"… ….. ….. ….. .. .. …"
*Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*
No response.
"…. ….. ….. …"
*Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*
I keep trying, sending the message thru the designated channel.
"…. ….. ….. …"
*Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*
Nothing.
Are they all off the ship? I already have a signal, why is nobody responding?
I confirm the correct connection of my computer and the state of the radio and other systems. Everything seems to be working fine, and that just increases my confusion. I open the radio channels, trying to find any available ones.
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Wel- shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
Huh?
I get something by adjusting the numbers.
"Goo- Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh morning! Lads and ladies."
A feminine voice comes thru, with a … British accent? It wasn't Irish, I don't think it was either of the two, but it sounded familiar.
"Or whoever decides to suffer with me at this ungodly hour." The voice was annoyed? Sarcastic? Happy? A mix of a lot of emotions. "It's 5 minutes before 6, hope you got a better wakeup call than me."
The light gets brighter as time passes, it's almost tempting to open the curtains and appreciate the sunrise.
"Because, I, got yelled at by my producers for getting up late, forgetting the fact that I pretty much sleep here!" There are some murmurs with somebody else, I didn't hear the words they spoke, apart from maybe an insult or two. "Anyway, we have a busy morning, and I get paid minimum wage, so let's do this quickly, shall we?"
I look at the entrance of the room, the sound of the radio doesn't seem to disturb the medical staff.
"Same old tale for the local news, the authorities have sent out the weekly recommendations for the safe travels between settlements and Kingdoms, marking the safest routes, the prices of collection tolls, and the rest, if you haven't seen it, there's a free copy you can get on your scroll."
My partner keeps making some noises, but nothing worrisome.
"Apart from that we don't have a lot today for the local news, bandits attacking caravans, soldiers and huntsmen fighting back, you know the rest. We recommend avoiding the southern routes of Embrace if you can, a lot of bandit and Grimm activity has been reported, same thing for the eastern coast, please redirect your routes, and arm yourselves to the teeth."
More attacks?
"Moving to some global news."
Global?
"This one may be of interest for the merchants listening; Over at Atlas, the Council has approved a new law regarding the taxation of Dust, that a lot of people are calling, and I'm quoting here, so you better not say anything dear producers; Fucking bullshit."
It sounded like she enjoyed saying it, though.
"Big Dust companies can afford it, but smaller ones are on an outcry since this will most definitely cripple their sells and overall production, while also giving more power to the already powerful."
Settlements, Kingdoms, Council, laws, Dust?
"Protests have occurred outside government buildings and the offices of the Schnee Dust Company, which multiple people accused of foul play, saying that the head of the company, Jacques Schnee, used his influence in the council, to increase his monopoly on this important industry. We'll touch more about this later on the day, but we encourage our listeners to make your own investigation, we will be accepting calls and have a good chat about it."
Newspapers calling out the big companies, old-world documents, and chats with Three Dog about the old world, seemed to match this situation to a t. Council, Companies, taxes, wherever we are, they seemed to have created a large government; multiple settlements responding all to one power, people paying tolls and taxes, having their businesses recognized by this power (even if they are having issues).
A functioning country, maybe? I've heard of unions or coalitions of settlements before, but a country? A stable country, something bigger than a city-state, that's rare. Not impossible, but rare, you need a lot of power, resources, trust, and fear, to make something like this happen.
Politicians, businessmen, soldiers … "huntsmen".
I'm just a passing Huntsman, investigating those bandits that attacked you.
However, as with any other government, they have problems. New ones, and old ones, like the raiders, who seem to always be a constant, no matter the place.
"Now, some music, before the moon leaves us and the Sun takes its place."
I froze, I stopped analyzing things and carefully heard the woman's words.
"Why don't you all take one last glance at the old disk before it leaves, we all know the new one is a sore loser."
She said something else, but I didn't think about it, I was waiting for some specific words that never came.
"Kidding! We love you to Sun. And dear listeners, don't forget to Shine."
Baby! It's time to make up your mind~
…
Wait.
I think! that tonight is when our stars align~
…
I'm confused.
Honey, it's time to leave the doubt behind~
She … she didn't say anything else about the moon?
I let the tune play, as I tried to get up from my bed, putting my legs out, and graving on the monitor and the equipment holding the transfusion bags for support. My body is all sore, but I get up nonetheless (I needed to confirm this), using the previously named medical equipment as a cane or walker, to walk towards the windows.
Dragging the blood bags with me, I move slow and steady, watchful of my movements, don't want to trip, and yank the needles out of my body. The window is fairly big, it almost reaches the ceiling, and standing next to it, it ends at my waist.
Take my hand, cause you and I are gonna shiiiiiiiiiiine~
Opening the curtains, I let the first sunrays of the day enter the room. The light came from my right, and the broken moon was at my left, so the window is looking north. I open the window, the air was cold, but not enough to bother me.
The moon looked the same as the last time I saw it, in pieces. I was hoping for my last memory to have been a dream, but no, it had to be real. Putting my head thru the window I saw the town come to life, I think the clinic is in the middle of the place. I can see what I can assume to be guards on top of the walls on the other side of the town, some houses, stores, and other buildings.
The smell of food came quickly, not far from here I saw a store with a lot of movement, the smell was good, even making me feel some hunger, it's been a while since I last smelled freshly baked bread. A couple of other shops have their lights on as well, and people walk the streets and chat without a care in the world. Without caring for the destroyed moon.
Why is nobody reacting to it?
I keep staring at the moon, it was "full", meaning that the "full" disk was illuminated. All its pieces shine bright, even with the sun about to rise, the broken pieces seem to stay together, near each other.
This made no sense. Shouldn't it be chaos? Shards getting pulled by the earth's gravity, this is a peninsula, the waves of the sea flooding the coastlines, why is nobody acknowledging it? Not only the people below but also the doctors, the radio, the man that helped us, everybody, why?
"Sir?"
I don't even see who it is, who entered the room.
"Sir, do you need something, it's better if you return to the bed-"
"The moon."
I interrupt him. The person walks towards me, I turn around and see the nurse with the antlers again.
"What? Are you alright?"
"The moon." My voice sounds low, a bit raspy, and deadly serious. He acts wary now, I can see the concern in his eyes.
"Uhmm, what's wrong with it?"
Every moment's enough, and you take me to paradiseeeeee~
What's wrong with it? What?
I look at it again, am I seeing things?
The shards are even blocking the view of- … of- …
When I needed a hero you knew it, And you were there~
I look at the rest of the sky, left to right, taking in every detail, no matter how minimal.
"Sir?"
What?
And I'm scared, but I'll open my heart up~
I can hardly speak.
I'm ready to dareeeeeeeee~
"I … I …"
I don't understand.
Baby! It's time to make up your miiiiiiiiind~
"I need a moment."
Have any of you read the Tales of Remnant book? Because I'm going to take some elements from those tales for the culture around Remnant, you don't need to read it to understand my history (I may even explain it if Six or 101 ask about it), I just want to let you know.
For example, the radio host comment about "the old disk and the new one" is a small reference to one of the stories in the book (These stories are important for the people of Remnant, some are just stories, some are regarded as religious texts, etc.) so, like famous stories in our world have influenced our pop culture, famous and important stories have influenced Remnant's pop culture.
I really want to stop using OCs, I want to use RWBY characters as fast as possible, but for now we'll have to just use 4 (Vernal, Qrow, Shields and Wan … yeah, those two are technically RWBY characters, look them up if you want) we'll see more characters appear later on, just wait a little.
Spatialyeti8
Now I feel bad for not updating sooner, after you complement me about still updating, crap, thanks, man, I won't leave this story, I want to finish it no mater what, hope you like it till the end.
Rio Skyron
Thanks for the review, is the other way around, Six woke up before 101 (making the score 1-1, since back at the forest it was 101 who woke up first), but yeah, they are LOST, but they'll have to suck it up and keep going (like me!).
JustAnotherEngineer
Yeah, I need to be carful with the POVs, they can help move the plot along, but if I introduce too many, that can complicate things, I'm trying to only have 3 or 4 POVs in each chapter if possible (the POV of 6, 101, and some others, like Qrow and Vernal in this chapter).
I'm going to try and be more productive and get chapters out as fast as possible (right now my objective is once a month), thanks for leaving your opinion, and your comment, I really like reading them.
YourDailyEditor
Another thing to watch out for, thanks man for telling me, sorry, forgot that in Spanish is "Okey" but in English is "Okay" (common error with the vowels, sometimes I have to stop writing and remember the sound of each vowel in both languages to know which one to use, since A in English sounds like E in Spanish, E in English sounds like I in Spanish, etc.) I fix that error in this chapter, gonna have to do the same with the rest.
Please leave a review, I love reading what you have to say, thanks for reading, and I'll see you later (if the next chapter somehow comes out after the next volume, I swear to the brothers, I'll kick myself in the balls).