Volume CRBN!

by Dancesnapple

Four individuals. Four different people of different walks of life resulting in an adventure. Hopefully, a bond that can last. Team CRBN (carbon). Features: OC Main character, main team has two OCs alongside a lovable crime duo, and some family drama on all sides. Features a 'soundtrack' element for the fic. ENJOY! Story begins on third listed chapter. Very slow start.

22. 20 A First Notch

Chapter Twenty: A First Notch

The door slides aside, revealing yet another mostly open room with ornate decoration and fancy ornaments. "Damn it." Rapid feet rush along the wooden floor, sounding out and echoing in the more and more open halls. Another door slides open. Another room sparsely decorated, a gorgeous mural of various forest creatures. "Damn it." The frustrated boy grumbles slightly louder.

Another door slides open across, the tricolor girl peaking in. Same as the boy's, gorgeous beads and prayer gems lining the top of one of the furnishings. She narrows her gaze at the open space, but her eyes catch sight of the jewelry. Raising a brow, she peeks over her shoulder at Carmine down the hall.

"Damn it." Carmine grumbles to himself as he begins checking another room.

Neo smirks, leaning into the room. She deftly snatches a necklace of silver beads, black dyed teeth separating ever five beads. In the very front, a pink miscolored amethyst hangs. She admires it and doesn't notice the footsteps.

"Let's try the next- Really?!" Carmine exasperatedly exclaims right behind the girl. She whirls about and freezes like a deer in headlights. He points to the bench she got it from. "Put it back."

With a dramatic pout, Neo puts the beads back on the bench. She gestures flippantly as if going 'happy?' Carmine nods and walks away... missing as Neo smirks behind him. She raises her arm, a white gold chain bracelet wrapped around her offhand wrist. With a skip in her step, she follows the boy.

The two move through several more rooms, eventually finding an oaken stair case, incredibly wide. Enough for three people to descend side by side. It lowered to floors below. Carmine's face pulls down. "Ohhhh this could take a while..."

Hesitant, the two begin to walk down, the floor below dims with much more sparse lighting. The lit lanterns become a rare sight, the temperature dips considerably. Neo lightly hunches as she grips the back of Carmine's shirt.

The boy flinches wildly, barely containing a yelp. He turns wide eyes on her. Noticing her hands, she points fingers between her limbs and Carmine's back. Then she mimes attempting to speak with one hand crossing her neck.

He gives a stink eye for a moment, but it clicks soon enough. "Oh... sorry. Yeah. Do that." Understanding that her being BEHIND him means he can't hear any warning she might give. He turns, feeling her grip the shirt between his shoulder blades. He marches down ahead of her as they spiral and spiral down the stair case.

The lighting dims further. His skin starts to feel prickly with goosebumps. The temperature was still dropping...

Reaching the bottom of the staircase, the two come upon a large blank room. The same sliding doors and walls were along all sides. However, the blank nature bothers Carmine. It takes a moment for him to make out scratches and scrapes along the wood around him. That tips him off.

"It's a dojo?" He asks, glancing about the room. His voice lightly carries with little air current and open air. He hums to himself. "oh just an connecting hall. But the damage implies heavy hits." He peeks around to the girl. "I don't see them bringing tons of movement workers through, do you?"

She shakes her head as they move forward. The two move to the first set of doors, sliding them open and flinching back. A LONG hallway, covered in gashes, burrowed holes, and slashes in the oak. Walls were torn, sparse cuts open and showing likewise large rooms with no decoration and battle damage abound.

Carmine gulps, a light nervous sweat coming down despite the chill. "So, yeah..." He eyes a scorch mark along the ground. "This place has seen some wear and tear."

"Glad you noticed." A light, young man's voice with a slight rasp sounds. The echo moves throughout the room. A creeping chill works its way up both their spines. "I'm surprised. I half expected you all to be stopped at the gates. Didn't think you'd do the tired old leave one behind."

Neo twists around, putting her back to Carmine as the two of them scan the wide expanse. Slowly, the boy marches forward as Neo walks backwards. Her left hand keeps a grip on his shirt as their backs remain together. "Hey, one of them beat Tora in just two hits. Give us some respect." Carmine bites back.

"An admirable feat, but lessened when one realizes he was the weakest of the Royals." Both kids share a glance at that... the weakest? And they couldn't beat him together... Both their eyes widen a touch, Carmine already struggling to think of a strategy.

Time to stall and call the bluff. "Yeah right. He was so fast and strong." He forces a laugh, the two continuing to step on. "And with a voice like yours, you sound like a prepubescent smoker." An insult that would land if not for his own voice crack on the word 'smoker'.

Neo gives an unimpressed look, tongue in cheek. She shakes her head and keeps looking about. The voice laughs, and it does not stop. The echoing laugh, more of a chuckle, goes as the two spin in place, looking about...

Carmine tries to smirk, but fails. "Right... I assume you're Kirran Mibu. Why don't you tell us about yourself?" The laughter stops, silence stilling the air. No air current. No sound. Neither child hearing more than their own heartbeat and breath.

Directly above them, the ceiling. Much of the ceiling an assortment of beams and structured poling. A pair of feet, top sides hooked around the top of a beam, allow the man to hang upside down. Kirran hangs from the ceiling, face tilted 'up' and looking down at the children just three feet under him.

His crimson eyes were open, no visible pupils, the center of the eyes white with pink fading to the red edges. Sure enough, blind eyes, yet they half lidded show open in the dark of the underground level's lighting. Yet still, an eerily chipper smile.

His voice doesn't echo. No distortion. Chillingly close. "I'll show you instead."

Carmine and Neo gasp, flinching their gazes up and moving apart, but the Royal attacks. Neo is blasted away with a blast of chilling mist. She rams her blade into the floor, stopping herself with a wince.

The attack blows out the floor, an explosion of ice dust. The blast blows Carmine clear to the next floor down! The boy crashes into another hard wooden floor, marred with charred scorches, cracks, and wilted wood. He growls in pain as he gets up to a knee.

The feint blue white mist chills down, shrouding the Royal landing in front of Carmine. From the mist comes a slash of some weapon, and Carmine barely reacts and activates his semblance. He disappears, the bat faunus skidding to a halt from the swipe and cocking his head. "Hm... Interesting."

Above, on the darkened floor, fog begins to bellow out of the hole. An aqua flicker flashes by Neo as Carmine pops into place. He immediately clutches his chest, steadying his heart rate with a gasp. He shares a wide look with Neo and chuckles nervously. "I'm fine."

She smiles briefly before the mist extends out. Both look up, finding Kirran standing before them. In his hand is his walking stick. The black material with crimson wrap just under the end of the hilt, then another wrap section after a blue slot. The blue slot is an ice dust slot, and so is the pommel.

Carmine groans. "Another person that fights with a cane." He nearly whispers in a growl.

Kirran's odd smile parts to show teeth. His sullen, blind eyes remain half closed. "Not at all." Carmine flinches at actually being heard. "In fact.." The end of the walking stick retracts into the crimson wrap at the middle of the stick.

With a pop, he separates the stick in two halves, each with ice dust at as a pommel and crimson wrap as a hilt. Escrima sticks? Then, with a twirl of both hilts, ice dust casts, forming ice sword blades out both hilts, dual swords held.

His arms hang at the sides, the tips of the ice blades barely contacting and dragging on the wood. He takes a step towards the kids. "I'm full of surprises."

Carmine inches back, aiming Heulin Noon up. "Right... that's better I guess." The fog blows out, ice dust spewing the entire floor over with the thick haze. Neo tenses, eyes locked on the man. Casting dust for his weapon and the mist. Still, they can't be sure what his semblance is.

If Tora's made him able to walk through them, yet he's the weakest, who knows how strong Kirran's is. The ice blades ring the air scraping the ground until the Royal stops. Slowly, the half lidded unfocused eyes close. The mist shrouds until he's a silhouette. Two light huffs chuckle out. He begins bobbing up and down, downright bouncing on the balls of his feet

Then he leans one side, bobbing lightly on one hand as the other hikes up and taps the ground. Then he mirrors the stance, on the other side. Two bobs on the right foot. Two on the left. One right. One left. One right. One left.

Right right. Left left. Right. Left. Right. Left-

He kicks off, the mist thickening with more ice dust release... he disappears. Carmine tracks him with Heulin Noon, firing into the haze. The cloud opens and closes in swirling gray with the shot. The two kids back up, eyes moving around.

Thudding steps echoing in the area around, the movements fading in and out. A sudden whirl of the fog catches Neo's eye, moving as an ice spike fires out. The point slides by the girl's head as she ducks back.

The spike disappears into the fog before Kirran emerges from the side. Carmine reacts to him, whipping around and firing a double shot! The Royal uses one sword to deflect the double shot, shattering the ice blade. He spins with the momentum of the double shot, spin slashing his other blade at the two.

Neo reaches out from her leaned position, grabbing Carmine's leg and activating her semblance as Kirran slashes through them both.

SHATTER!

Their images disappear in pieces as Kirran slides to a stop. His smile turns down in confusion, a simple flick of his off hand as the broken ice blade reforms. His bat ears flick as he stills...

A short distance in the fog, a torn wall into the next damaged open expanse, Neo holds Carmine's mouth closed with both flush against the thin wall. She uncovers his mouth. Having picked their spot, she conjures a sign. 'Directly out from the opening beside you.'

The boy nods. With a snap of quick movement, he spin aims around the hole in the wall, aiming and firing. The shot goes through the fog, opening and closing the clouds for a split second... Kirran is gone.

He blinks confused, Neo peeking around him equally lost. "Good coordination." Both twist around and duck, an ice blade slashing the wall over their heads. They scatter, Carmine right and Neo left. With a mutter, Carmine's armor shifts to Schneider, blades out the arms and elbows.

Both kids attack in a pincer with their blades, Kirran smiling as he deflects both aside. The two move out of sync, one slashing in after the other, as the Royal twists, deflecting one then the other. Carmine goes for a lunge, Kirran easily twists around him.

Carmine goes wide eyed as his blade jabs towards the equally surprised Neo. She quickly jams her sword into the floor, Carmine's off balance foot catching the diagonal blade as a foot hold. He pushes back, spinning back at Kirran using all for blades.

Deflecting multiple strikes, Kirran catches one slashing blade with his own. He throws the boy's arm up and elbows him into the wall. Neo slides around going for a slash. With a smile, Kirran blocks the blade, Neo's image shattering as she comes down from above.

However, he swats her out of the air, launching her away into the haze. Carmine rips from the wall. "Zero!" As he goes for an armored punch, the flash changing armor, Kirran blocks with both swords.

Carmine smirks, raising his right hand to aim Heulin Noon at the man's chest. One ice blade shatters from the fist blade clash, and its hand slaps the gun away as it fires into the mist. With the shot, a sudden loud piercing ring sounds from the shot through the floor!

The pitch burns into Carmine's ears, its volume nearly shattering his eardrums and bringing him to scream. Kirran uses the moment to kick the boy's leg out, dropping him. He then connects the empty hilt in his off hand to the remaining ice sword, casting the dust into a pale blue pole arm halberd.

With a dramatic twirl, the Royal back swings the ice blade as Carmine feebly raises his armored side to block. With a battering crash, he's launched away, through the wall, and hits along the ground, skidding on his back to a halt beside Neo who picked herself up.

She kneels next to him, nudging him, but he rolls over, hands on his ears and yells. "WHAT?" She flinches, but glares at him raising a finger to be quiet. He looks confused, yelling once more. "YOU DIDN'T HEAR THAT?"

He attempts to stand, but his hands clench onto his ears as he stumbles over, no balance, and falls face first. She cocks her head. What's he talking about. She grabs him by the collar, getting him to wince and look at her. She conjures a sign. 'I heard nothing. It's been dead silent since he knocked me away.'

Carmine grimaces, reading the sign. With effort, he lowers his volume, but his tones and pitch aren't quite right. "I fired my gun and... this LOUD noise just rang and blew my head out."

"That happens." Kirran's voice sounds behind them. Neo flinches and pulls Carmine away as the ice halberd smashes and cracks the floor apart. Carmine winces, eyes clenching shut in pain as he stumbles to the ground. He clutches his ear as it rings.

Kirran casts as the halberd head melts into a lance. Neo double takes between the Royal and the boy, leaping between to intercept the man's thrust. Parrying it aside, Kirran backs up using sliding thrusts. Neo's face tenses, shifting between panicked faces as she deftly deflects the stabs.

She leans around the jab, but Kirran drops and sweeps her legs out. She hits the floor as Kirran stabs down. Neo sticks her sword into the wood at an angle. She pulls on it for leverage, sliding around the jab as she kicks Kirran's own leg out.

He stumbles back as she panics to her feet. However, he goes forward and bashes her away as she stands. Carmine stumbles up in the background. Kirran charges him as Neo rushes to intercept.

She flips over Carmine and pulls him down under Kirran's swipe. She twists the boy behind her, deflecting another attack before taking a round kick. She's knocked aside as Carmine manages to center himself and wheel around to punch the Royal with his armored arm.

The Royal blocks, but is knocked back, feet skidding to a halt on the floor. With a flick, he fires anblast of ice, catching the armored arm and freezing it to the ground. Kirran advances. In a fright, Carmine calls out "Jager!"

The metal sleeve flashes to his feet, freeing enough space for Carmine to pull his arm from the ice. He ducks a slash, blasting off with the armor's thrust and spear tackling the Royal. Both tumble over, Kirran kicking Carmine off. Both flip to their feet, the redhead still wobbly.

Casting, Kirran morphs the ice lance into a large two handed blade. He spins into a slash as Neo leaps at the two. Grabbing Carmine, she hand stands off him as the boy shatters from the slash. Neo drops, blocking a second slash.

Her knees buckle under the large ice blade. Kirran's ears flick as his head tilts up. In the air at an angle, Carmine hovers with Jager and aims his final shot. He blasts at the faunus, who pulls back and angles his large blade to block.

The shot cracks the entire blade! But no sound comes of it. The connection of the bullet with the blade is silent to Carmine, causing him to squint in confusion. However, this time it's Neo... She tenses, hands slapping over her ears.

The sound concentrates, intensifies, piercing the mute's mind. A barely audible gurgle chokes out as she shakes and collapses forward. Hitting the floor, Kirran allows his blade to shatter before reforming it into an ice great maul!

He raises it up and swings down. Neo winces as she rolls onto her back, holding her weapon up to block. The hammer drops and cracks the girl into the wood, smashing fully through the floor. The girl is blasted through to the next floor. She hits the damaged floor one level below Carmine and Kirran.

Kirran smirks creepily down through the hole at Neo. Raising a hand, he casts the ice dust-

"Get back!" Carmine blasts into Kirran at top speed. Throwing him away. The two square off as Carmine mutters. "Schneider." Forming the blades, he charges.

. . .

Neo chokes out, gasping for air as her gut flared in pain. One hand clutched around her ear. Ringing pierced her thoughts, stabbing from one side of her head, skewering the brain, and exiting the other side. Her hand was lightly slick.

Her eyes opened painfully, vision blurred and wavering in and out. Shit... her aura was broken. Granted, both hers and Carmine's weren't anywhere close to full after fighting Tora several hours before. Her ears bled lightly, what little aura she had working on her shattered hearing.

Painfully, she rolls onto all fours, wobbling as she gets to her feet. Stumbling, she manages to grab her sword, using it as a walking stick. Hobbled over, shaking, she tries to walk, but knows she can't do anything like this.

She can't fight Kirran... which leaves one objective. Turning about, she searches for another means to move on. This floor was just as messed up as the one above...

She wanders the floor, pondering where she can go. Maybe find the master? If the master has a means of stopping Kirran... but, how can she decide where he is? Given Kirran cit them off once they had descended the floors, they were at least going the right way.

That meant they could only go further down.

The sounds muffle around her. She has to guess Carmine is still fighting the Royal. Thankfully, it doesn't take too long to find the next staircase to- Shit. This one only goes up. Up to the floor she'd just been launched down from.

She shuffles along the floor, dazed and head swimming. The ringing starts to fade as her vision sharpens slowly. This floor is much better lit than the above. More open. Less walls showing less carnage. This floor instead uses actual load holding pillars of wood supported with beams of steel.

Ah, across the room opposite from the upward staircase, a second goes down further. She quickens her pace, as much as dialing up from 0.1 to 0.3 can be expressed. Still, she makes it. Her vision returning was a trade-off with the numbness in her mind splintering away to favor burning pain for a headache.

The girl makes it down the stairs, finding clear golden lighting at the bottom. She winces at the brightness, one eye pinching closed. She winces as she finds the flooring much more immaculate, not a mark at all. The bottom of the stairs lead to a large door blocking the whole way. A brown oaken door with a glassed mural of a serpentine dragon colored in red.

She barely takes in the barrier, collapsing against it and using her full weight to push the door open. She stumbles through, catching herself with a grip on the door. She winces loudly, throat burning as she pushes forward. The pain in her throat flames as she enters a violent choking coughing fit.

The mute stumbles along, struggling to reign in the hacking throat. Her vision blurs again as her hand pulls from her mouth stained red. Shit, she was bleeding from her throat now... Why does it bleed like that?

No time to wonder, she forces herself on. The floor is one large ornate room. Murals, statuettes, busts, and more line the walls. The walls were nearly thirty feet tall, the ceiling on top of grand marble surface with chiseled visages of the four sacred animals.

The center of the left and right walls had red wood doors. Each corner of the room features its own wooden entrance, each colored after the town's districts: White, Gold, Violet, and Orange. Across from the entrance to the room is a silver double door.

She rushes to the silver door.

Too fast. She rams through the door hitting into a all of steam. Her mind would flash to Kirran if not for the warmth of the cloud. Eyes momentarily blurred, her foot slips on this room's wet marble floor. She hits the floor hard, knocking her head and doubling the searing pain in her head.

Her blurred sight adjusts as her pink eye forces open. The room was blisteringly hot, like a sauna, with a statue centered placement before her. The statue was of a liger, steam rising from its nostrils and water pouring from its open maw. The water drained into a large pool of hot liquid, steam wisping up from the surface.

A sauna room? She tries to stand, but her head pangs with stabbing needles to her brain. She hears foot steps... They send her into a panic. With the steaming cloud, her mind still wondered if perhaps the Royal had already caught up to her.

Only to turn to confusion as a soft hand lightly sits atop her head. In her view, she sees bare feet under the bottom of a soft black kimono robe. The bottom of a wooden walking stick sits next to the feet. A soft voice rasps from above, kindly yet concerned. "Are you alright, little one?"

She tilts her head up to find the skinny frail man's right hand steadying him on the walking stick head. His kimono was immaculately clean, with a golden trim and under layer of clothing. His skin was sickly pale, and hair neatly brushed back down to the small of his back. His hair was stark white at the roots, graying and turning black a few inches in growth before the rest was a perfect dark hue. His face was clean shaven, smooth, and would be youthful if not foe his sunken eyes. Red crimson eyes that somehow conveyed concern.

She could only blink a few times. She recognized him from Carmine's book. Certainly more haggard, but no doubt. This was Master Kourii.

. . .

Carmine's blades slash through Kirran's ice weapon. The man steps back, popping his large hilt back in two before casting them back into blue blades. The Royal charges, putting Carmine on defense. The boy backtracks, using well times spins and hand to hand punches and jabs to deflect attacks with the mounted Schneider blades.

But Kirran outpaces him, knocking him off balance. He swings both blades in as Carmine yelps out. "Zero!" The armor changes as he barely blocks both slashes with his left arm. The force sends Carmine back along the wood.

The boy quickly thinks to himself. "I can't fight him. I need distance."

Kirran is already charging again. Just before he makes it, Carmine recalls with his semblance, his body warping back and back. Kirran slashes through the now open air. Stopping himself, he cocks his head. "A troublesome semblance."

Far into the mist, behind a broken half wall, Carmine slides to a sitting position. He schools his breathing, closing his eyes for focus. His thoughts scream. "Think... what is his semblance? How can you counter it?"

Thinking. It had to be the man's semblance. That sound. It was his gun shot, but... a million times more brutal. And Neo didn't hear it. AND he didn't hear its deflection when Neo was affected. His ears were shattered.

Sound. The faunus had a sound based semblance.

Limits. In both situations, the one far away wasn't affected. He can't gauge an accurate limit, but Kirran can't use it at a distance, or else Carmine also wouldn't have heard his gun shot the second time. Although, maybe it could only work on one person at a time. Shit. If THAT was the limitation, then the boy is screwed.

Options. Fight without Heulin Noon. He was hesitant to reload it, worrying the weapon would be a hindrance. However, he can already tell he can't score a win without it. He could run... but Kirran could go after Neo. That's a definite no. That leaves option C, high risk move and hope for gain. He'll have to do so immediately, as he's dangerously low on aura.

Choice made.

A high pitch whistle pierces the veil of the mist. The shrill tone echoes off the far walls, ringing on both sides. As quick as it sounded, it subsides. Carmine cocks his head confused why one would use a sound like that-

Bat faunus... He's blind- bat faunus- Of COURSE that's how he 'sees'. Head tucking to the side, Kirran's ice blade pierces through the wall, just next to the boy's ear. Right, bats see with echo location, shit...

ECHO LOCATION SHIT!

Panicked, he rolls forward, flipping to his feet at a distance as the wall is blown out. Kirran steps out, the mist shifting around him like a gray backdrop. His creepy smile remained, churning the boy's stomach as he brandishes his gun. "Gotta time this perfectly."

The Royal huffs a laugh. "Aiming a gun that's out of ammo. You obviously have a plan based on your posture, but what could make you think that's a good idea?"

Carmine smirks, uneasy. "Who knows? Maybe I spent too much tine thinking of 'blind as a bat' puns."

Kirran's closed eye twitches in a clench, ear flicking. Good, take the goading. Come on... "I see you've chosen death." Annoyance was clear in his voice, immediately easing Carmine's wariness.

He chuckles. Maybe channeling some Roman will push Kirran over the edge. "What's that? Oh! Right. You can't appreciate puns. You could never see what they're going for."

Kirran's face falls, tensing. Slowly, chillingly, he dismisses one of the ice blades, locking the open hilt into the remaining sword's pommel. Casting, the blade of the one sword extends, turning into an extra long single edge blade. His voice dips down with a slight growl. "The only thing I regret not seeing will be your life ending."

Carmine can't help the smirk. "Oh, we'll see about that... or actually-" Kirran growls lowly. The boy's smirk breaks to a grin. He tips Heulin Noon in a mock gesture. "I'll see about it."

At that, Kirran bursts forward. Simultaneously, Carmine leaps backward for distance. Like a bull with a red target in sight, he speeds directly at the boy. Carmine's smirk falls, focus taking over. Bait taken. With a wrist flick, the empty shells are ejected from Heulin Noon. Kirran is already half way there. "Too slow!" The Royal spits out.

"My words!" Carmine's semblance flickers another load of ammo into the gun. Kirran's reaction is delayed, flinching as he's going for a slash. He fires a double shot. One. Please work.

Kirran's slash turns into a parry, slashing into the powerful shots. His blade cracks down the length, but holds with more powerful casting. As the shots ring off the blade, Kirran's semblance activates, the air shifting, vibrating wrong, as all the sound concentrates and hits the boy.

As soon as the sound pierces into the boy's mind, the redhead flickers away. Recalling, he appears behind Kirran. The Royal gasps in realization as both fighters, back to back, whip around. Carmine aims and fires another double shot. Two!

Kirran blocks with the side of his blast, the second double blast shattering his longer, more durable blade. The Royal scowls, eyes still clenched closed. His semblance activates again, the sounds in the air shifting to the boy once more. Double the pain, a second passes of the indescribable stabbing in his mind until he forces his semblance again.

Carmine flickers just a bit further from Kirran, where he began the last standoff. He whips around, Kirran's relaxed stance earning a smirk. That answers Carmine's last needed question about the Royal's semblance. He snaps his gun up and fires his last double shot. Three.

If the royal can only see with echo location and his semblance directs sound vibrations a certain way... then that means the vibrations aren't returning to his ear in that moment. Every use of his semblance leaves him blind to anything in that direction!

And that realization holds true as his third double shot connects. Kirran takes the hit, the explosive hit knocking him clear off his feet. As Kirran hits the ground on his back, his semblance still connected, the sound waves still going forth. The stinging sound still reaches Carmine as the piercing rails into his mind!

The boy tries to activate his semblance again, but nothing. Shit. Out of aura. His vision flashes and blurs as he reels back off balance. He hits the ground, gripping his head in pain. Both fighters writhe on the floor for a moment.

Carmine painfully winces and sits up. Any aura he could possibly had was now screaming on fumes within his ears. His eyes open strained, his blurred vision finding... Kirran standing up. "Oh come on." His voice comes out off pitch and tone.

"I admit... That was a good blow to my aura." Kirran scratches out as he begins walking. "But I can tell you're done." In a casting, he reforms the long, thick, single edge ice blade. "You have nothing more to give." Carmine crawls back, more of kicking a few inches back like a crippled animal with no equilibrium.

Then the Royal stops. His ears flick, body tensing. Suddenly, he bursts towards the boy, swinging the blade down.

CRRRING!

Blair's golden blade blocks the blue just before contact, the blonde now shoulder to shoulder with Kirran. She rams her body inti him, knocking the man back. He twists for a counter swing. She parries as they separate.

Carmine whines out, just a touch off pitch, loopy, and happy. "Hurray~. Help is here!" A hand grabs him by the back of the shirt, pulling him up. Roman straightens the kid, who blinks surprised. "You too?"

Blair takes her stance, calling back. "Roman, you're too low on aura, so I'll take this. Can you take care of-"

"Got it. Have fun facing the cripple, Barbie." Ignoring the storming look from the blonde, he grabs Carmine and, ready to leave. "Where's short, mute, and spunky?"

The boy groggily glances out, seeing a wall of gray fog in all directions. "Uh... there's a hole somewhere in the fog. She was beaten through the floor. Probably stealing something that caught her eye."

The man chuckles. "Then we can sell whatever she finds once she returns."

Kirran bristles. "That chance won't come before I put you down for stepping foot here." He huffs, face directed at Blair. "I AM surprised you managed to get here. I did not expect either of you to be capable of defeating any of us in battle." He pops the two halves of his hilt in two, the long blade melting down to a one handed saber. The other hilt casts out a blade of its own.

Blair inches forward. "I am also impressed with your caliber of fighters." Her leg twitches, shaking, screaming at her to relax her stance. She may have stolen back some aura, but she's dangerously low. Carmine may have dealt a good blow on Kirran, but that's a far cry from being taken down.

"A proper complement if I cared about your background." Kirran speaks chipper once more. "Unfortunately, you're dead on your feet, left but to only hear the final tune." He flourishes his blades before speeding forward.

Blair swiftly deflects two strikes, stepping back and losing ground. Kirran swings both blades into Florescent Finish, a loud ring sounding as the Royal activates his semblance. The air shifts, catching Blair's eye before the intense ringing pierces her ears.

Roman catches the movement, confused, but Carmine shouts at him. "Shoot him now! Blair's in danger!"

The conman reacts immediately, changing Velvet Valentine. Just as Blair cries out in pain and drops to her knee, Roman opens fire. Kirran is stopped from his follow up, leaping back as a stream of explosive shots blow out the wooden flooring.

Kirran lands and casts a large ice wall. The fire dust shots blow out the wall, a new explosion of steam and mist blowing out. As the fog thickens, Blair wobbles to her feet, gritting her teeth in pain. Her hand reaches into her pocket, retrieving one of the blood capsules.

A spark of anger lights as she forces herself to stand. From the surrounding cloud, Kirran speeds forward. Carmine shouts out. "Blair! Look out!" She's well aware. Her grip on the capsule tightens, ready to crack.

"Just a bit closer-"

Her thoughts pause as a warping of wind blows through the fog! The slice through the air blows smoothly and calmly as the cloud whirls and disappears. All four fighters blink with wide eyes as the room is suddenly, in a single second, completely clear.

Kirran stops, both he and Blair a mere four feet apart as they each direct their attention down the way of the floor. Roman and Carmine follow the example, staring towards a staircase far, far on the end of the floor. A staircase that moves down... spotting the tricolor girl bent forward, hands on knees to jeep herself up.

Beside her is Master Kourii. His sunken face is calm, but his eyes express... disappointment? "Kirran? What is the meaning of this?"

Kirran's blind eyes widen as he shifts in tone. "Master! You shouldn't be walking around!" He registers the question, gritting his teeth. "Master, get away from that girl. These intruders have broken into the compound and defeated the others already!"

Kourii looks over the three intruders across from the Royal. From Blair's tense stance, to Roman's unimpressed grimace, to Carmine's blank blinking stare. Finally, he looks at Neo, who scowls at Kirran a moment before schooling innocence. However, she relaxes the forced cool as his crimson eyes bore into her, a soft look.

"Is that true? Are you here with ill intent?" He asks plainly. Neo blinks at the simple question... he's-... He's not serious, right? Her skepticism comes out, but he simply holds the stare

Kirran grits his teeth. To the shock of Team CRBN, his confidence and calm nature completely changed. "Master, get back from them!" He charges towards the man and little girl.

Blair gasps before kicking off to intercept the Royal. "Your fight is with me!" She manages to clash with him. The two halt, weapons in a bind.

"Kirran, stand down." Kourii's strained voice comes out, less an order, and more a plea.

"I can't..! For your sake." He adds while straining against Blair.

Master Kourii gives a side glance to the locked sword fighters. "Little one. May I borrow your blade?" The girl blinks surprised, still leaning on the weapon for stability standing. The kindly man holds out the hand with his walking stick. "Here. You may use this. Let's promise to return them, okay?"

The girl shifts, grip tightening on the sword, but she relents. She wobbles a bit as she offers the weapon. The man gives a mild smile as he grips the weapon. She accepts the walking stick and, for a second, stubbornly holds both reluctant to offer anything. Yet... the man was extremely earnest. Her eyes flick ti Carmine before releasing the sword.

The master holds the sheathed weapon up, a broad smile perking him. "Ah, my Mod Soul! It finally found itself an owner!" Neo freezes upon seeing the man light with pride, as if finding something it thought gone come home all it's own. He turns away from her, to the sword fighters. "Listen well, little one."

Without seeing his face, Neo's spine chills at the next tone. She physically feels the touch of annoyance and authority from the man.

"Bask in the song of divide wind."

In the blink of an eye, Kourii speeds past Blair, the blonde's eyes bugging as the Master comes to a stop ten feet behind Kirran. The master's arm is extended out, blade out of its modular sheath at the end of a slash.

The millisecond after, Kirran's aura shield flashes and shattered in an instant as a violent wind whips hip into the air up and over Kourii, planting into the ground 20 feet off. The group tenses, seeing the calm, elderly man slowly sheath the blade once more.

A solid breath passes in pure silence... before the master lurches over and coughs with one hand over his chest. He heaves with a violent coughing fit. From his coughs, a spurt of crimson liquid splatters onto the wooden floor, spooking the four onlookers. Kourii smiles with a smudge of red on the corners of his lips.

"Well, I guess it would seem I overdid it." He speaks kindly, standing uneasy. "Now, since Kirran boy won't be honest with me, would you kindly inform me of your purpose here?"

All four share a wide eyed look for a moment before nodding dumbly.

. . .

Kourii's elderly grunts sound as he seats himself in the main dining hall on the top floor of the temple building. "I... see." He speaks slowly, being helped by Carmine. "If what you say is true, it would seem my clan has been used."

He pauses to take in his unexpected company. The younger CRBN members stand awkwardly around the table. Meanwhile, Kirran, Zaku, and Ururu all limply sit up in chairs. All unconscious. Grunts sound as Roman and Blair struggle to carry the larger Tora into the room. Blair looks at the table, wondering which is the closest seat for the gargantuan man.

That is, until Roman simply says. "He's here." Dropping Tora's arm from his shoulders. Blair yelps, drug down with the large weight as Roman snickers at her growing scowl.

Eventually, the woman decides it isn't worth it, dropping Tora fully on the floor beside the bat faunus. So hard headed, she doubts he can get much dumber. "We apologize for going this far..."

The master huffs a chuckle, almost a wheeze. "No, no. All disputes involving clan members inevitably result in a mess." His eyes harden on the unconscious bat faunus. "Even if this one is a touch above the usual."

At the tense subject being broached, Carmine coughs. "Um, it's an honor to meet someone as, erm... famous as you, sir. Lord- Master." He stumbles through the address of the man, lowering his head ashamed.. "I'm sorry we had to break in and raid your home..."

Kourii smiles simply, but it falls soon after. "You realize, you accuse my clansmen, MY personal family, of activities that would most certainly account as treason. It is a hefty claim."

"Sir, if you wish for validity, may I request that I examine you?" Blair exclaims. "Given the timescale of your supposed illness, the takeover of the Royals, the change in policies of the clan, as well as the arrival of the Doctor Franklin Near, I must insist."

"Blair..." Carmine starts.

Blair holds a determined, fiery glare at the man, who raises a brow. "You know Doctor Near by name... he only arrived twice. He was quite uneasy to read..."

"That man is a criminal belonging to a harmful organization." As the blonde speaks, Master Kourii spots Neo rubbing at her through unconsciously, face tense. "It is imperative to get to the bottom of it-"

"Very well." Kourii agrees plainly, nearly steam rolled by the blonde needlessly explaining.

"-and if you're worried of my qualifications, rest assured that I-" Blair pauses, blinking. "You... agree that easily?" Her confidence replaces itself with incredulous apathy. The unspoken 'are you stupid?' clear in her voice.

Master Kourii closes his eyes, taking a deep breath with an easy going smile. "You are very confident in yourself, and I can read your passion well." He opens his orbs to hold her eye contact. "I could not do the same when the respected Doctor. I simply had no choice but to trust his word as a professional once I fell ill. Your opinion would be a nice contrast at the very least."

Blair takes it in, nodding and removing her weapon and placing it on the table with a clang. She takes a breath. "Is there another location you'd rather do this?" He kindly waves her off. The man turns in his seat, the chair having no back. Blair nods and begins applying pressure. Without her tools, she closes her eyes to feel out. "Take two slow deep breaths."

Roman raises his brow as he watches the woman. "tch. Doctors..." Despite the disdain, he watches curiously as Blair gently coaxes Kourii to face her. She feels his chest, pulse, and heart beat all while allowing the man to breath. "You gonna ask him to turn his head and cough-"

"Roman. Carmine." Blair speaks alert. At both males' perking, she orders. "Go back to the van. Carmine, get me the silver medium sized pack with the red cross. Roman, from our dust bag, get me one vial of white dust. Hurry."

Roman scoffs. "So, I'm an assistant now? Whatever. Come on, Silver Streak."

Carmine snickers as he leaves. "What? I like the idea of Nurse Roman."

The two bicker as they rush out. With four unconscious Royals and a groggy, injured Neo hugging her modded sword, Blair continues to analyze the elder man. She firmly, yet slowly parts the man's eyes, then works his jaw muscles. "How old are you?" As she begins her physical.

Time began to pass, Kourii answering basic questions, medical history queries, and allowing the woman to thoroughly manhandle him. During that time, Kourii observes Neo, the younger girl massaging her ears and throat.

Even after the boys get back, he continues observing. The posture from Roman. A forced relaxation. The man was ready for things to go wrong at any point. Had he a different personality, the Master would say possibly a soldier, but the man's clear lack of respect and ideal indicates one less reputable.

Then the boy who responds courteously and apologizes profusely at any interruption unless directed at Roman and Neo. Then an argument will break among them. Kourii is amused watching them as Blair finishes her initial checks.

She suppresses a sigh, closing her eyes to center herself... Extremely slow heart rate, bad blood circulation, cold extremities... If the Master is poisoned, it wouldn't be Taijitu poison. But, it would have to be. Kourii's body shows incredible ease to bleeding. Multiple coughing fits resulting in bleeding. His is delicate to the touch. Even his sword arm that her used against Kirran was bruised all around the hand.

Telltale signs of aura bottomed out. Thinking back to the poisoned boy she saved to enter AZRL, the same situation. Grimm poison or a semblance tailored. No one else has entered this temple besides Doctor Near... so unless the good Doctor can keep a semblance going for literal months at a distance,-

No. Stop speculating. Only check. She raises her hands over each other and places them on the man's chest. "I need to check whether you're affected by a possible semblance that could be affecting your aura. My own semblance allows me to mix, interact, and affects your own and your body. Are you ready?"

Kourii smiles kindly and cocks his head. "Not going to request consent?" At the word, Blair flinches, Carmine flicking his eyes to her. However, before the room can process, the man takes a deep breath. "Go ahead, child."

Blair blinks before checking herself. Concentrating, she injects her aura into the man.

Two realizations come fast. The first was that there was no other aura within him. Semblance corruption ruled out. That left physical poison. However, the second realization was just HOW LITTLE aura the man had. Her shock shock, just shy of breaking and shouting, 'how are you alive?!'

"CARMINE! Get the IV drip ready now!" She turns a stormy gaze on Roman, who looks alert now. "The white dust. Give it." Quickly, the group sets about setting up the IV drip as she opens the pack and inserts a set amount of white dust. Diluted doses.

During this, Neo watches as Tora starts to stir at the table... He blinks his eyes open, as do the other members of the Royals... The hulking man's gaze finds the group of three around his master. "W-wha-... What are you doing?" His voice comes out weak. His vision sharpens on the group as Roman and Carmine tense. His eyes shoot wide, seeing the needle in Kourii's arm. His voice booms out. "HEY! WHAT ARE YOU- dnnfrng!" Immediately, Neo wraps her arms around his face from behind.

Carmine outs his hands up. "Calm down! We're checking him! It's fine!"

While Tora twitches his eyes, looking at the boy, then back to Kourii, who calmly smiles back, his loud outburst twitches a seize from the bat faunus' ears. Kirran snaps awake, blind eyes opening wide as his head cocks aside.

Blair catches sight of the renegade Royal, nearly moving to react, but Kourii cuts off any action with a firm voice. "Kirran, if you use your semblance at this moment, the other three of you are ordered to subdue you for treason."

The Team CRBN members freeze as all four Royals jerk, fully sobered and awakened by that order. Ururu, Zaku, and Tora turn their eyes to the youngest among then as Kirran directs his open shock at their mentor.

Turning from the awkward... familial quarrel?... Blair continues to monitor the drip as it feeds white dust solution into the master. Neo drops from Tora, stumbling over to Carmine as both share that look when an outside friend watches one's mom disciplining a sibling.

Tora sees the children then wince and clutch their ears, earning a wry grin. "Ah, so you two already got a taste of little Ki's semblance? I could've told ya to watch out for it." His statement earns a death glare from the two, as well as Blair.

Confused, the raven haired Ururu, across from Tora at the table, snaps her gaze back and forth. Seconds tick in awkward silence before she breaks. "Sorry, but... well, not sorry. What the hell is this?" Her gaze lands on Zaku, who looks the most blasé about the situation. "Are you following at all?"

With a dull, aloof stare, he raises a brow. "The blonde lady is treating Master for his illness which might actually be poisoning by Kirran."

The sheer accuracy and bluntness gets an incredulous stare from the entire room, save for Tora, Kirran, and Kourii. The two elders of which smile knowingly, the youngest grimacing and looking down Ururu blinks before glaring at him. "How long have you been awake?"

"Seventeen minutes, thirty two seconds... four... five." He rattles off without missing a beat. The Team CRBN members double take at him. At the disbelieving glare from both Kirran and Ururu, he shrugs. "Hmm? They seem to know what they're doing. Didn't want to interrupt."

The stares continue until Roman pinches his nose and shakes his head. "What's your damage-" He stops, hands up in surrender as he flippantly walks off. "No. Nope. I'm not actually interested." He ends up staring at Kourii. "Your crack team is astounding, by the way." Putting all the sarcasm he could muster into it.

"Roman!"

"Whatever." The thief's rudeness dies down as the group observes Blair acting on the master. The master winces as Blair places her hands on his back, burrowing her semblance into him once more... No change.

A soft gasp comes out. She can feel her aura disappearing within his system. But if it isn't from another person's semblance, that leaves Grimm venom. But, if white dust solution wasn't helping, then it can't be Grimm venom.

Could he actually have an illness? Could they have been wrong?

Kirran speaks low, showing some anger. "He's just sick. There's nothing else to your claims." He turns to the master. "Please, sir. You can't just let these criminals get away with breaking into our compound."

Kourii spares him a look before turning his head towards Blair. However, the blonde had little answers. Sure, many medical conditions and poisons exist to explain his physical state, but none pray on aura. No where near enough to put this man in this state with his aura levels!

Carmine speaks up. "Is everything okay, Blair?"

Amber eyes lock onto the boy. The former Huntress holds eye contact until... something clicks. Her eyes trail to the boy's armored arm.

. . .

One year, four months ago. The boy pulls back from the closet, hopping down as parts of the pile within attempts to spill out into the room. However, he slams the closet closed before it can, sighing in relief at covering another mess. He smiles back, only to pale sheet white at Blair's smoldering eyes. "Hehe... Got it..." In his hands is a box, about two feet long and a foot thick. He places it on the bed taking a moment to simply admire it and brush the dust off the top. "I... haven't looked at this in years." With that, he opens the top, but stops.

Blair raises a brow. "What is it?"

Carmine sighs, opening it fully and moving some wrapping. Fully open, the boy reveals what looks like metal plates? No, metal sleeves. Two of them, very thick, about a foot long each. The boy smiles at the pieces, but his blue orbs betrayed him. "This work?"

He was quiet for a moment. Despite the verbal offering, he still clung to the strange armor plating. Blair shifted her weight, sensing a strange tension in the boy. She eyed the material. It was like a metal arm warmer. Six dust chambers, all currently empty. Tentatively, she reaches out, slowly brushing her hand onto the material...

…"Tell me about it. It looks interesting."

Carmine smirks, sniffling a bit, but returns his attention to the hunks of metal. "Infizieren Perfekt. She's the only one that could ever hope to use it. That I know of anyway."

At the comment, Blair takes possession of the weapon, inspecting it. "Injectors?" The injectors were linked to the dust chambers! "This weapon injected her with dust?! How reckless was she? That's horrifically dangerous."

The boy grins at that. "Mom's semblance was self healing. Since aura heals most things by itself anyway, she based her fighting on using self induced drugs and dust. Her semblance fixed up her insides so she could roid out as much as she wanted...

. . .

Blair grimaces as her eyes turn to Kirran. Despite her glare, she speaks to Kourii. "May I draw a blood sample? I have something specific to look for."

The master considers for a moment and nods. "You may." She set to work immediately. Removing the IV drip, she brings up Florescent's sheath. With a twitch, the three prong needle sticks out.

"This will hurt for a moment, but I will be brief." With little more, she jabs the sheath into the elder's thigh, earning a wince. All four Royals flinch at the act, but remain seated as Blair pulls back. Carmine watches with interest as Blair pops a filled blood capsule from the end.

Despite feeling his eyes bore into her, Blair nods to her bag. "Carmine... would you bring me the bag, please?" The boy pauses, eyes narrowed on the weapon, but he does so. "... Thank you." She mutters softly, knowing this would bring up an annoying conversation.

From the back, she pulls out a folded cylindrical device. Popping it onto the table, she folds it out, a tiny stand, slide, and scope. A microscope. Deftly, she cracks the filled capsule of crimson, dropping the blood onto the slide, then compressing it with another.

She sets the slide in place and begins looking through the small scope, zooming in and in and in until at the cellular level. Blood, slowly dying out to the open air. Devoid of aura, as it would once leaving the body. However, she's looking for something else within the cells.

And she finds it. Tiny, dark flakes, particles floating within the cell walls and outside the cells. These dark specks absorb through the walls, and she sees the cells with more of them twitch, bloat, and in one cell burst. The cell walls were deteriorating, crumbling away. Albeit, only in a very few select cells, but that's enough to confirm one part of the problem...

Dust. Dust within the man's bloodstream, not from the white dust she'd just introduced. White dust yields no interaction with the physical body. But other dusts?

She stands up, sending a stormy gaze at Kirran. In a flash, she draws Florescent Finish and puts it to the young man's chin. "Which type?"

The room tenses, eyes turning to the bat faunus, who scowls. "I have no idea what you're talking-"

She turns from him, looking to Kourii. "In what way are you treated for your 'illness'? How do you receive any medical treatments? Injections? Digestion? Absorption?"

The master flicks his eyes to Kirran, but looks back to Blair. "Medical pills ingested once every other day. One injection a week by needle, Ma'am."

Receiving the favorable answer, she explains. "This man is infected with Dust particles typical with that of dust injection." At that, the room is silent. She looks to Carmine, who seems to catch on to why she was looking at him. "Dust injection causes extreme internal damage when taken consistently over long periods of time without any sort of counter agent."

The boy flicks his gaze to his armor, blinking wide. Blair continues. "White dust is the exception in low quantities as it doesn't typically interact with the human body much, reacting more to Grimm biology. However, this man is clearly being injected with dust to conjure this illness. So, I ask..." She sets full attention on Kirran. "What kind of dust are you using to poison this man?"

Kirran grits his teeth at the accusing stares, but barks back. "I don't have access to dust reserves! All shipments of dust into the clan goes to the East District under Ururu's control. Only our arming forces receive it, and I only receive Ice dust directly from her!"

As Carmine cocks his head in thought, the female royal bristles. "How DARE you imply I did this!"

"You ARE the clan healer, Ururu. It would seem plausible." Tora mutters out, earning a disparaging glare from the woman.

The room turns into a parade of insults and accusations. The royals, now aware that there was poisoning involved through dust, being to shout back and forth, turning the suspicions from Kirran over to Ururu. Neo looks back and force, taking a step back from the arguing, now next to Roman. "Well, this is becoming a shit show." He mutters to her.

Carmine finally speaks up. "Wait." He's ignored below the shouts. "Excuse- Um..." He keeps trying to speak, but no one is seeing him as the Royals continue. However, with a clenched jaw, he works up. "HOLD IT!"

They all look at him as he reels from the sudden attention. Slowly, he gestures to Neo. "You said you don't have access to dust, but, well... the storage vault where we bought that sword had a dust case inside it." Eyes back to Kirran, who goes rigid. "I thought it was weird, but thought maybe you guys used dust for weapon making. It was a white container with the Schnee Dust Company logo, except it was black."

At the word black, Blair stomps over to the boy, making him flinch. "Are you sure?"

"Uh, pretty sure."

Kourii cocks his head before looking to Zaku. "Go to the weapon storage facility and retrieve this case." He looks to Carmine and Neo. "If you would accompany him to show the case you're referring to please?"

The children nod as they get up with Zaku. The three leave quickly as Tora looks at them. "Why the reaction to a black Schnee symbol? That something special?"

As she opens her mouth to speak, Roman answers. "It's black dust." They look to the ginger, who shrugs. "It's a novelty. Not worth that much, but not a bad get for cash. The SDC only uses that variation of their symbol for black dust transport specifically."

"Wait, a 'bad get'- You're a thief!" Ururu shouts, but Kourii holds up a hand.

The master looks at Roman. "What makes it different?"

"It's useless as far as dust goes." He shrugs. "No one can cast with it. It doesn't work for any dust application in the world, even less than white dust. Doesn't even interact with Grimm pools like white dust does. It's more used for jewelry by rare traders which is the only reason it's worth taking by an average conman."

"Except." Blair states loudly. "That it DOES have one application." However, she chooses to wait on that explanation until, twenty minutes later, Zaku returns with the case, Carmine and Neo in tow. Planting it on the table, Blair takes over and opens the case, the black snow flake blazed top pulls up, revealing over a dozen vials of pitch black dust contained. Four vials show empty, devoid of dust, with one vial only half empty.

Ururu looks at Kirran with a scowl. "What is this? I wasn't made aware of any dust order for this? Why was this held in YOUR district?!" Her voice was raising, borderline shouting at the man.

The faunus doesn't respond. He scowls and keeps his head low. Master Kourii turns his crimson eyes on the young man. "Kirran, were you planning to be rid of me?"

"... No."

The man nods, continuing. "But were you behind this?"

"Yes." The blind man states quietly. "I am..."

Before the room can burst in fury, the master nods. "You did so without the intent to kill me? I must ask why you did this then." With all eyes to the faunus, a groaning sigh escapes.

"The organization that these fools are after... They approached the clan with a trade deal a year ago." He cocks his head towards Blair, not exactly at her due to his blindness. "You know their name?" He questions.

"AZRL." Blair states plainly. "They're potentially a global group fixated on the idea of kidnapping and training unwanted or high priority children for multiple means. Train them for careers to infiltrate government, basic slaves, indentured servants, and above all, assassins and soldiers for their own means. They sell these children for profit to those who need trained skills."

Master Kourii's eyes narrow at that. "Meaning they wished our weapons to arm their child soldiers... Continue."

"I refused." Kirran starts. "Obviously, as we couldn't have our trade growth stifled by such a ridiculous deal. At first, they seemed to abide by that, until a month later." His head dips. "You know what happened."

All the Royals, as well as Kourii himself, go rigid. Carmine reads the room, getting the distinct feeling this... was turning oddly personal. "W-... what happened then?"

"Kourii's son disappeared." Tora growled out. "Ray Mibu. He was being groomed to become the next clan head. He was an established young man... a friend." He grits his teeth and sends a glare at Kirran. "He disappeared with his home here covered in blood! HIS blood, we found out. You're saying these bastards took him?"

Kirran hesitates, merely grimacing. "I cannot confirm, but they returned the following day from the incident. I handle all the trade for the clan, so... when they dropped some hints, as well as upped their deal to demanding 70% of our weapon exports... I accepted."

Roman wrinkles his nose at that. "I don't get it. You're an entire clan of warriors with top notch weaponry. You couldn't just tell them to piss off? Or even fight back? Hell, even Senior managed to tell them to stay the hell out of Vale."

"You don't get it." Ururu mutters. Crestfallen, she shrinks in on herself. "Ray was stronger than all of us... Maybe stronger than Master. If they managed to defeat him, soundly, IN our village WITHOUT alerting any of us..."

Kourii speaks next, voice hollow. "Without knowing where they're located, they would simply crush us one by one... Is that your thought process, Kirran?" Receiving a nod from the young one, he grimaces. "Go on, please."

"While we Royals have plenty of autonomy, all things go by you at some point or another..." Kirran gulps down the growing lump in his throat. "So long as you were still in leadership, I knew you would clash with them, and I did not wish to risk any more within the clan. They had the same idea... and offered the black dust to become a regular part of the shipments."

"Upon using some of it in your meals, as per their direction, you fell ill." Kirran shook lightly as he collects himself. "A-and that made the perfect excuse to allow their doctor into the compound, cement the story, and put more power in our hands. They assured me the dose would not kill you, but..."

Hanging off the phrase, there it was. With everything in the open, Master Kourii turns to Blair. "What comes next to treat the black dust inside me?"

"There's nothing to do short of a blood transfusion." Blair sighs. "Black dust reacts differently than other dust, but like all dust when inside the body, it will eventually get processed and expunged." She glares a critical eye at the faunus. "Hence the need to administer it regularly for something like this." Eyes back on the master, she musters a smile. "You'll have to keep with good diet and rest until whatever is currently in your system leaves naturally. Afterward, you'll likely deal with atrophy and a weakened immune system. For this long of exposure, it could be permanent, but you'll for sure recover well beyond where you are now."

The elder smiles and nods. "Thank you..." Turning to Kirran, the pleasant nature drops, replaced with a well of apathy. "Tora? Zaku? Take Kirran to the prison. Inform the guards that he is to be watched 24/7 and given no royalties for his position until further notice."

"Right." Tora gruffly sounds out as he, the fire Royal, and the ice Royal stand and leave the room.

Leaving the room with only a few, Master Kourii turns a smile on them, though it does not fully reach his eyes. "Thank you for your service. If there is anything you wish for reward, I will accommodate you to the best of my ability."

Zero hesitation, Roman perks, holding up one finger to signal his point. "I want 100 thou-"

Blair's hard elbow knocks the air out of his gut, doubling him over. The two meet furious glares before the blonde turns back. "THAT will have to be requested by our team leader." She holds her hand out towards Carmine, the boy's eyes bulging wide.

The master as well as Ururu both hone in on the boy, who goes awkwardly rigid under the sudden spotlight. While the Royal cocks her head in disbelief, the master manages a smirk. "Is that so? I apologize for assuming."

"A-ah!" Carmine coughs out, mustering himself before scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Um, no no. It's okay. Uh-" He holds his hand out towards the master. "Carmine Uhlric, leader of Team CRBN."

Kourii's eyes light up in recognition, but look up in thought. "Uhrlic? Yes, I've heard of that name before. A hunter clan of old, if I'm not mistaken."

Carmine lights at the man, brightening. "Y-yeah! Dad talked about that several times. A long time ago, Dad was the Chief Inspector for the police of Sanctuary in Vale's territories. He held a bunch of roles in the city on top of that though."

Kourii smiles brightly at that. "Yes! That's it. Jared Uhlric! He organized trade deals with myself before I appointed Kirran to his post! Such a small world it is. Such a great man."

While the pride remained, the ending jolted a spike into the boy's heart. His eyes softened, but smile remained. "Thank you, sir." His smile is offset by Roman scoffing in the corner.

Kourii's eye seems to catch the slight change, but doesn't speak on it. "Well then. Name your reward, leader of Team CRBN."

For a second, his mind was completely blank. Yet, being given the free reign, his thoughts speed out... His eyes trail to Roman... then to Blair... then to Neo. Finally, to the sword by Neo. After about a minute of thought, he speaks up. "I have three requests."

He starts with one finger up. "Whatever you do regarding AZRL, would you at least attempt to keep up a charade of working with them." He states while looking directly at Roman.

Ururu twitches. "What was that? Why would we possibly do such a thing?"

Carmine clenches his jaw and holds himself. "Like Kirran said... they're threatening you. WE are going to bring them down, but you don't need to do anything that will make you a target." He looks to Blair. "Um... If we can get an account with the Eagle guy, you guys can get back at them by sending us information about their transactions that go through you?"

Kourii smirks, impressed. "So you want us to be a secret ally? Very well." Roman, Blair, and Ururu look to him, shocked. "I was already wondering how to act going forward, and that was one of the better ideas. I'd be happy to assist against an organization as horrid as this one. What is the second request?"

Carmine hesitates, looking at his teammates, ending on Roman furiously directing wide eyed fury. The boy scoffs. "Something money related cause we'll need it. Fine. You happy, Roman?" The two glare at one another as Kourii huffs a laugh.

"Ururu, what do you know of our financial situation?"

She huffs a laugh, more in line with this request. "Oh, we can handle something as much as... Well, there's four of you. 10,000 for each. Let's say a total of 40,000 for your group?"

Carmine's frozen face turns rigidly to the adults of his team. Blair looks equally impressed as Roman smirks with as much cockiness as possible and nods. Looking at Neo, her now Cheshire grin answers. "Yes, please." He forces out, breathing hard.

Kourii chuckles. "Then that's decided. What is your third request?"

Coughing out the shock, he gestures towards Neo. "Finally... Um, she bought that sword to customize it? Would your clan be able to finish it to what she wants?" The tricolor girl perks up immediately. The master blacksmith follows the gaze.

"You ask if I can apply all the touches she wishes?" The master leans back, an amused look coming to him. "And what, pray tell, would this design be?"

Neo's head snaps between the boy and elder before she bursts up and walks right up. Her hands paw down, retrieving the folded paper for her idea. She quickly hands it to the man, who gingerly accepts it and unfolds.

As she backs up by the boy, Carmine laughs at her excitement, a bit eager to see her idea himself. "Come on, just tell me what it is." He whispers.

Without looking back, she holds a hand up to him, blocking him out figuratively as her attention remains on the elder. Kourii examines the page, a light smirk coming on. "I think you've got an A+ on subtlety with this one. I love the thought." He looks it over, the group seeing ideas flashing with each glance. "Subtlety, defensive, a disarming look, and just as deadly."

He looks at her. "I wonder if you have any suggestions about the material."

Her eager look sulks slightly, eyes wide in a touch of panic.

It brings him to chuckle. "I see. Then, let me wonder what can be done..." His eyes trail to the case of black dust. "Miss Blair, what do you know about smithing with black dust?"

The blonde blinks for a moment, following the gaze to the case. "I... there are few weapons that use black dust as an expendable source." This comes as news to Roman, who perks beside her. "However, mixing and merging dust with material is a rare use of weapon construction. All dust will leave some impact, but I know of none that have used black dust."

"Neither do I..." Master Kourii smiles with a twinkle in his eye. He looks to Neo and nods. "I would be honored to finish the Mod for you." Her smile nearly breaks her face as the man looks back to Carmine. "Well... then let us finish our business tomorrow, so you may be on your way. I'm sure you've all earned a rest."

. . .

The next day, the clan was met with a warming sight: Master Kourii, out of the temple, walking down the North district with dropped jaws, heartwarming welcomes, and brightened looks abound. The man walks on with a smile, body lightly shaking with the exertion.

Flanking him are Tora and Zaku, the smaller Royal carrying the black flake marked dust case. Behind them, Team CRBN walks, cleaned up and rested. Neo walks with a pep just a step ahead of her company. Roman looks all manner of bored, condescendingly looking at a clock hung up on a store. "So, as much as the feel good crowds just touches me, when do we leave?"

"After Neo's weapon is finished. While that's done, we'll be going to Eagle Services." She crosses her arms in a huff. "I think we should set up an account of our own with them." She side glances Carmine. "You agree?"

Carmine scrunches his face in thought before lighting. "Oh yeah. Fath-, I mean, professor Ozpin told me about payments? Hunts involving students are made out to the Academies, but professional graduated Huntsmen take direct payments to their accounts... right?"

While Roman rolls his eyes at the Hunter charade, Blair nods. "For the most part. Even professional Hunters offer a portion of their payments to be wired to their graduated academy. Mostly as a courtesy for future Hunter trainees and funding. Regardless, it'll make us much more legitimate to taken jobs."

"It's going to end poorly." Roman sounds out in a sing song voice. "Plus, I'd prefer to actually see my money."

"You just want to count it and swim in it like it's a pool." Carmine pouts out, but smiles Neo's way. "But onto better things, whatcha gonna have made?"

The mute smirks and turns away from him.

His smile washes off to a huff. "Stupid secret surprises."

The group arrives at the weapons market, the large swath of people parting for the clan head. Moving through the vendors, the blacksmiths stand at attention, bright red eyes shining happy. Master Kourii walks slowly up to one of the counters, finding a certain wide eyed fox faunus, Rama.

The faunus man stands rigid as his clan head approaches. "M-Master! What may I do for you?"

Kourii smiles pleasantly, gesturing back to Neo. "You were the one that found the Mod its owner, correct?"

Upon eyeing the small girl, Rama turns back to his leader, nodding respectfully. "Yes master! That was me."

The leader grins in approval. "Good. I'd like you to gather metal supports and fabrics for me." At the well spoken young man's questioning gaze, Kourii smiles like an artist to a blank page. "As thanks for a special service, we are going to be finishing it for her."

Information swirls through the younger man's mind before processing fully. His smile barely contains as he enthusiastically nods and shouts. "Yes sir!" He rushes off, wager to work with the master of craftsmanship.

Crimson eyes turn from the retreating man to the little girl. "Well then... would you care to join us. We could use the direction for your finishing touches." The girl's eyes light as she nods to accept. She turns to the rest of her team, giving a polite wave. Following the gaze, Kourii addresses the group. "We shall work quickly. It shall be done before too long."

Carmine smiles at the master and the girl. "Hurry up so I can see it." The three remaining CRBN members, now just CRB, watch as they along with Tora and Zaku disappear towards the forge areas.

Roman eyes the case with the black snowflake. As the trio turns from the markets, he questions. "You said some nonsense about weapons using black dust before. I've seen a lot of ways to put people in a permanent dirt nap, but not that one. Explain."

Walking down the street, Carmine eyes the woman as they walk. She answers slowly. "Black dust is to living beings like white dust is to Grimm. White dust dissolves Grimm pools and venom, but black dust... Black dust dissolves aura. That's why it can't be cast. Casting requires infusing aura, but black dust consumes whatever you out into it."

Roman looks genuinely surprised. "Reeaally? So, if all Hunter grade weaponry uses dust shells, and one had black dust..?" Both adults miss Carmine's wide eyed look at the two.

"Then your aura shield would be useless. It would pierce right through and hit like a regular bullet into a regular person." She scowls downward. "Few instances are reported of such rounds being used as 'anti hunter' weapons. After all, black dust doesn't affect Grimm as all, so Hunters have no use for it. It's only useful if you plan on fighting someone trained in aura use."

The boy's gasp catches their attention, Carmine stopping them. "When we were at the auditorium... one of AZRL's guards landed a shot on me." His grips his chest. "I used my recall to undo the damage, but I remember the searing pain before I recalled. It hurt much more than a single shot should have."

Blair's blood chilled at that implication, Roman scowling as he looks at her. "If they had enough laying around to just send it here as well as arm their nothing guards, how much you wanna bet they got an under the table in with the SDC?"

The blonde clenches her fists at the thought. "It's only speculation... but a concerning thought. With how rare it is, they'd almost have to have some sort of deal." She cuts her eyes at the conman. "Maybe they just have a good thief in their ranks."

"Hmph! Yeah, that is a possibility too." Roman shakes his head as they continue walking. "Still, I'm not too keen on the idea of traveling to Atlas any time this century." The three come up on Eagle Services, Roman making a grand sweep of his cane mid stride. "Ah, our destination."

Blair pauses, letting the two walk ahead, as she plugs her ears. Carmine and Roman notice. Before either can ask, Carmine pulls the door open. "EEEEAAGLLEEEE!" The shrill recorded shout makes both males seize at the shoulders as they glance up.

Carmine chuckles. "Ha. That's cool."

"No. It's not." Blair and Roman state simultaneously before sharing a glance. Blair scoffs as they head inside. The blonde wastes no time moving to the counter and ringing the bell.

Instantly, Dory rises, pale and unhealthy, from behind the counter. His poor attempt at enthusiasm sounds. "Hello, and welcome to-" His eyes bulge. "OH GOD, YOU'RE ALIVE!" He flails back into the wall in shock, panting. "How are you alive?"

Blair nods. "Yes, well we-"

He shakes himself and looks off. "Oh, gods, or did I die, and we're meeting in the after life? Is this job just my personal hell? Why?!"

"DORY!" Blair shrieks at him, a full octave higher than her usual calm collected tone. The man slams back, eyes on her. "Stop, don't freeze!" She shouts before he shuts down. Taking a calming breath, she starts slowly. "Are you with me?"

His wide eyes track her and he nods. Calming, he takes in Roman and Carmine, a second wave of fear filling him. So, he looks away to his hand... holding a smashed pen and covered in blue ink. "Awww..." He drawls out. He looks up sad. "That was my favorite pen."

Roman leans towards Carmine, muttering. "Look at that. We found someone less put together than you."

The boy's wide eyed stare remains as he numbly responds. "I can't even be mad about that comparison. It's too depressing to watch."

Blair ignores them and hands a paper to Dory's free hand. "We're not dead. Clean yourself up and start taking care of this. Master Kourii has authorized you to practice your normal duties again. Kirran won't be an issue."

The lawyer's beady eye stare locks on the paper, reading it. Slowly, like a creeping sunrise, his face begins to light up, fist twitching and raising up. "YEAH!" He holds up his ink covered hand. "High Fiv-" He stops to look at the hand, deflating. "Aww..."

Blair sends him a glare, spooking him to go clean. Behind her, Roman chuckles. "Your boyfriend seems nice."

. . .

Hours spent dealing with a neurotic mess, the trio exits the building, Carmine looking wide eyed at the papers in his hand. "Huh... so this is bank stuff..."

"Try not to sound so overwhelmed." Roman remarks mockingly. "Five accounts between us, huh? One for each and..."

"And one for operation. An emergency fund. All five accounts under one umbrella parent. Payments for our jobs will go to the parent, and be divided into the five." Blair explains, at this point words going in and out of the overwhelmed boy's head. "That IS how you had Dory set it up, right?"

Carmine hunches his shoulders muttering mostly to himself. "Uh... yeah." He looks away from the two as they move towards the markets. Upon arrival, they find a large crowd of people. Standing a head above the commoners, Tora spots the trio and heads over.

"Ah, you're just in the nick of time." He cheekily ribs them.

Carmine immediately perks. "It's done? Is it now a mini gun?! Does it kill all the things?!" Roman rolls his eyes as Blair lets a ghost of a smirk break.

"Just finished some testing." A chorus of clapping and murmurs among the crowd sounds behind the tall Royal. The large tiger faunus gives a toothy grin. "Well, looks like you missed the demonstration, but I have a feeling she'll show you herself."

"It's functional then? The material works?" Blair interjects.

However, before getting an answer, the crowd parts, dispersing to reveal the quintet of Master Kourii, Rama, Zaku, Ururu and Neo. The girl smiling confidently as her hands wring an object behind her back. The clan head smiles, but wear and tear shows. A sheen of sweat, sunken eyes, and shaking limbs using his walking stick, exhaustion shows.

"Ah, there you are. You're just too late for the first demonstration." His smile brightens. "And after some tweaks, it's exceeded expectations."

Carmine stomps forward, eyes on Neo. "No more waiting. Show me what you got!" He points an accusatory finger at the miniature girl. The act gets only a smarmier grin. Rather than show the object behind her back, she waves a hand as a shatter illusion casts over her forehead, a bull's eye target.

Blair and Roman, intrigued, move off to the side. Blair looks at Ururu. A short tension fills between the two who had fought not 24 hours prior. The two glare at one another, but the Royal caves. "Hey, no hard feelings?"

Cold amber eyes stare back before the CRBN member moves on. "How does it stand to dust attacks? I assume that's what you're here for?"

The Eastern Royal smirks. "Lucky guess, and don't worry. Just watch." She ends with a wink.

Carmine raises a brow as Neo leans forward, standing ten feet away with the target on her forehead. Her brow wriggles taunting before he narrows a glare at her. He draws Heulin Noon. "Are you sure?"

She narrows her own gaze, her free hand conjuring a sign. On it, it reads, 'Are you a man?'

A growl escapes him as he takes aim and fires one shot. The crowds turn at the sound, watching the two children center in the street. The shot lands as Neo shatters in place, disappearing. Carmine lowers the gun, confused. "I... expected a weapon from that." He looks around, finding no evidence of the girl until...

"Oh, wow!" "That's cool and cute!" "Can't even hear it." Voices of the crowd sound as the boy continues on confused. That is, until softly, the bottom of a boot lands atop his head, balanced perfectly. The full weight comes down, making him wobble, yet the weight remains balanced on him.

That answers something. He glares upward as Neo bends to look down at the gaze smiling and standing on his head. What did her weapon have to do with-

She leaps off. The jump throws him off balance as Neo flips into the air, revealing her weapon. A curved grip for a hook for the hilt, then a sleek brown sheath as a holding shaft. Now, instead of the mod sheath, a parasol opens out and catches the air.

The boy watches transfixed as Neo ever so slowly floats down using the open parasol to slow and control her drop. Her feet touch the ground silent as she closes the parasol. The tip was a hot pink seal, followed by fabric shifting from white to a gradient of pink to brown and black at the end.

He blinks his blue orbs, confused. "So... your special trick is to pull a Poppins?"

Instantly, she flicks the parasol, her thin blade spearing out the pink tip as she thrusts. Carmine barely reacts, blocking the thrust with his armored arm. Face filled with panic, he's thrown off balance with Neo pushes the sheath up, pulling the blade back in and drawing the full blade from the parasol shaft. With a twirl, she slashes at him. He blocks again, but is launched back.

He skids to a halt, eyes wide as he breaths in relief. Across from him, Neo sheaths the blade into the parasol, back to normal, as she twirls the object with a smug smirk.

"Subtlety..." Carmine says. "That's why kept bringing that up. Heh..." He laughs his nerves off. "That's cool! Unpredictable. But, what good is it after I know the trick?"

Still with a cheeky grin, she conjures another target, directly on her chest. She opens her arms, inviting it. Across her stomach, the words form. 'Double Shot.'

Confident in her now, Carmine takes the challenge, aiming Heulin Noon. "Alright... Here you go."

BOOM!

The double shot blasts at Neo, who grins as she twirls the parasol up, opening it. In a swing, the open parasol directly tanks the hit like a shield, a burst blowing smoke around it with a thud. The smoke clears as the girl waltzes forward closing the parasol with a prance.

No damage to the weapon. Carmine's jaw drops slightly. "Whoa..."

Clapping sounds from the onlookers. Even Roman to the side nods in approval. "That will come in handy." He smirks. "Someone other than me with a sense of stealth." He twirls Velvet Valentine as he chuckles.

Blair smiles at the display. "Complete nullification of dust rounds. Interesting."

Ururu beside her adds. "The fabric was infused with some of that black dust. It's able to defend against my casting and should hold against most forms of dust weaponry. A stealthy attacker and ultimate defense."

Carmine grins at the girl. "That's so cool! What's its name?"

The girl pauses, blinking in thought. She... hadn't thought of that. Without having a voice, one doesn't necessarily think of having the ability to name something. She looks at the parasol, smiling at it. A silent killer she can keep by her side.

Silence... that's a good one-

"How about Hush?" Carmine offers helpfully.

Snap. Neo's head hangs low, shoulders sagging... Really? He just- Why-... That was so much better than her name for it...

"Was the name that bad?" His smile falls slightly. The girl smiles up at him, shaking her head. A conjured sign forms, reading off, 'No, it's perfect actually. Hush.' Too perfect... Which is why she cracks the parasol in-between his legs.

CRACK! "AH-hrrrrrr!" He groans out breathless, bug eyed, as he collapses over in the street.

Feeling much better about herself, Neo smiles brightly and marches to the adults. The sign reforms. 'Ready to go?'

Roman and Blair both dully look at the boy picking himself painfully off the ground. The conman sighs. "All he had to do was not try to be helpful." He looks to Blair. "But I second the sentiment. We should be on our merry way."

Blair nods. She turns to Master Kourii, bowing her head to him. "Thank you for the hospitality, but we must move on."

The clan head nods back as the Royals around him bow to the team of delinquents. "Of course. As per our agreement, we will play our hand as going along with AZRL and alert you of any concrete updates we have on them."

"Thank you." Blair smiles. "We have one lead already before we can start working the list Dory gave us. We'll keep in touch." She pauses a moment before continuing. "And, if we come up with anything regarding your son, Ray was it? We'll let you know."

The elder nods once more. "His name is Raiden Mibu. Ray for short. I wish you luck on your journeys, Team CRBN." With that, the elder turns to leave, the Royals each nod and take their leave as well. Now alone in the street, Roman huffs.

"I'll go get the van then."

Blair nods. "I'll rouse these two to go collect our things from the inn." She glances at the boy still holding his groin in pain as she says so. Neo gives a sinister grin as she hops along, leaving the boy as he manages to stand.

"Gah!" Crying out in pain. "Mission- AH- Accomplished..." He holds up a thumbs up. "Next stop... Vaterra."

And the first Team CRBN arc is over. Mibu Arc is done. Ramifications basically being Neo's weapon and establishing our heroes' financial banking. Let's see where things go from here.

For the record, I don't know if black dust is a thing and, if it is, I have the distinct feeling it wouldn't work the way I have in this fic.

References:

Kirran, while based off Akira from SDK, is also inspired in attitude and visage by Seta Sojiro from Rurouni Kenshin. His hop pattern is loosely based off how Sojiro fights.

Name pronunciations:

Kirran (Keer- in). Tora (Tor – rah). Zaku (Zah – coo). Ururu (Oo- roo – roo). Kourii (Core – ree). Raiden (Ray – den). Rama (Rah – ma).

Join next time in Chapter Twenty One: Safe Haven.