Note: I hope everyone is surviving well in 2021 so far. Unfortunately, things are pretty hellish right now. I hope everyone remembers in these times to keep minds open and hear out other people's views. And, MORE importantly is to listen to WHY people hold those views. Even if someone is wrong, listen to WHY they feel that way instead of assuming like every person who turns to violence. Violence and hate is stupidity.
This has been my 2021 PSA to the public, now let us continue with this RWBY fan fiction written by the white conservative male that's written non smut lesbian fics, and we can remain happy!
Wait... this story's main character is a depressed teen with extreme PTSD and low self esteem... Happy might be asking too much.
Positive vibes for all my readers, though!
Chapter Twenty Six: Homestead
Somewhere in Mantle
"OH!"
The roaring crowds cheer at the sound of a reverberating slam! Hordes of people lined up in rows and stands of an arena. Many jump up and down in excitement, others holding signs. The lights above shine on a central set in the arena, a four sided roped ring... A wrestling ring.
Within the ring is a lean cruiser weight man, shirtless with frills along the side of his green pants. The man brushes long hair out of his eyes, orbs shooting wide, as he ducks a clothesline. A large heavy weight man brimming with muscle clad in tight red is the opponent.
The small man slides past the hulk, and back kicks into the turning heavy weight's jaw. A smacking clap sounds from the impact, a celebratory roar rings from the fans. The smaller man pumps his fists as the larger hits the floor. Turning his back, he grabs the top ropes, tugging them up and down and head banging for a huge pop from the crowd.
As the large man gets up groggily to his feet, the smaller turns and kicks out. Closing the distance, the smaller aims a round house kick to the head! However, the large man quickly focuses, lurching forward before the kick swings, and smacks his open palm to clench the cruiser weight's neck in a choke!
A large chorus of gasps and shouts come from the crowd. The large man stares hot death into the wide eyed smaller... wrenching the man off his feet...
. . .
The larger man throws the small down, choke slamming him into the ring to the cheers of the crowd.
Somewhere along Anima's West coast mountains.
The display played the video feed on Carmine's scroll. It sat, propped on his leg, as he and Neo watched on locked on the screen. The two were enraptured, watching the wrestlers battle, a David and Goliath narrative playing out with the smaller man powering out of a pin attempt. The larger man roars in frustration and attempts another pin. The smaller breaks it again.
Neo rolls her eyes. Seriously, the referee was on the wrong side. The smaller man could easily nail a low blow. Turn the tide.
Instantly, the larger man is pulling the smaller to their feet, but the smaller sneaks a free shot to the hulk's gonads. The large man crumpled, crowd cheering, the smaller hooks his arms around the larger's head and hits a DDT.
Carmine's face was bright, leaning subconsciously toward the screen as the smaller man rolls the larger into a pin-
The screen is covered as a stack of papers smacks into Carmine and Neo's laps. The children flinch in confusion, then flail about to get the scroll out. "No! We were watching that!" Upon finding the scroll again, they find... the smaller man is on the ground, the larger standing, hand raised by the ref as the winner! What? HOW?! Carmine sputters. "Wha- But-... WE MISSED IT!"
Unfortunately, Blair was not amused by the teens' excitement over the wrestling program. "Yes, you missed it. This is more important."
Eyes twitching, Carmine groans. "It's school work. I thought you hated the idea of teaching."
The thunderous glare from the blonde The chilling, cold clench of impending death seeping into his and Neo's cores upon direct eye contact. "Yes, so quit making it worse."
Inside the van, Carmine and Neo sit straight. The girl is more lax, but the boy sweats with pursed lips. "S-sorry!" He looks at the pages, face scrunching. "This is our homework?"
He really hated having... yuck... homework on this excursion. However, that WAS the reason he brought some of Oobleck's textbooks upon leaving Beacon. The problem came with discipline, which like training, eventually fell to Blair to keep himself and Neo up to par. The girl was quite irritated with doing the generic work.
"Your math is well ahead of your age group. Science as well."
Hearing the praise, he smiles. "Oh? That means a lot from you-"
"But" He hates this part. "Your language is appalling. Your history work is well done part of the time, and half baked the rest. Your writing ability is laughable. Did you even read everything?"
"That's a rhetorical question I'm assuming." The boy mutters meekly. Her glare hardens on him as his spine goes ram rod stiff! "Meep!"
"I was led to believe you were well ahead of your grade with your 'homeschooling' at Beacon." Blair states.
"I was! Erm, AM!" He pouts. "But reading is just... annoying."
"Unless it's a superhero comic." Blair states dryly.
"Exactly!" WHACK! The boy's head is cracked downward after getting chopping at the flat of his head. "Ah-Ow!" He whines and rubs his head in pain. "Alright! I'll read it!"
"Good boy." Blair comments, then looks at the giggling mute. "Now, you-"
Roman chuckles at the driver's seat. "Giving Teacher's Pet names now, Barbie? Context is important." Blair's neck pops as her head and body whips about to face him. Roman smirks at the stormy gaze. "Now, now. Attack me while driving, and we could lose our one means of transport!"
The woman deliberates striking the man. So much so that she envisioned how it would feel to strike the palm of her hand across his smug smarmy cheek! Her amber eyes glance out the window, the van currently driving by a cliff side... and an ocean off said cliff. Death by cliff dive or let Roman get the insult... ugh! She turns away as he gets another chuckle.
Turning back to Neo, Blair glares at the smirking girl. "I wouldn't be smiling."
Neo rolls her eyes, but her smirk falls to a frown.
"Unlike Carmine, you've excelled in literary ability."
"Of course the mute can work with written words. It's all she has." Roman jokes.
"Right?" Carmine cracks a laugh with Roman, only to realize what he's done and clams up under Blair's side glare. Hesitantly, he looks to Neo... who now smiles sweetly at him. An expression that promised pain... "I mean... bad Roman. Stop." His weak, pathetic reprimand comes.
"Quite." Blair turns to Neo, continuing. "Unfortunately, you still lag behind in all other subjects. I'll work with you a bit next time we stop." Carmine WOULD interject about Neo getting preferential treatment... and has. Said question resulted in further scorn. Granted, afterward, it was made more apparent that Neo lost two and a half years of education while being trained by AZRL.
No time to learn your sciences when they're focusing solely on beating orders and murder techniques into you.
Unlike himself, who had the greatest teachers available to him any time his home school work was too much, which was admittedly rare. Crap... Now he feels bad about taking materials and books from Oobleck. He should send some Lien to Beacon to repay that.
But then he would need to repay for the thousands of Lien he and Neo took from the training rooms...
Nope!
"We'll do better, but hey Roman, how far away are we?"
"Bout fifteen minutes. Then we get to see what the damage is." He then mutters under his breath. "The real fun." He ends in a scoff.
Carmine nods, checking Heulin Noon at his side. They'd been traveling a few days to reach the coastline of Anima. While they've been creeping closer to the City of Mistral once again, they had decided on where to place their supposed new 'base camp'.
The village outpost of Haddon.
Giving Roman free reign to choose their homestead had been a good choice. He specifically asked for old maps of Mistral lands at Mibu, crossing off any village that was still marked on current maps, accessible via CCT scrolls. The madman spent an hour crossing off potential locations until narrowing down to a dozen villages wiped from the maps.
From there, he chose one that disappeared ten years ago from modern maps. Recent enough that building construction should be relatively stable, modern enough to use or replace wiring and electronics. Also, old enough that no governing bodies will care about it, and bandit clans will have already picked it clean and lost interest.
A good get, as it were.
So long as they didn't miss anything needed to set the place up. The boy sighs and glances out the window. This village was listed just inland from the coast. His only thought was that the village was hidden in the mountains, but they would see. The dirt roads were definitely telling of roads less traveled.
A few minutes go as the van comes upon a dip between the mountains. Eyeing the map, the dirt road begins to break uneven. The four occupants grip the seat as the bumpy ride jostles them side to side. Roman's eyes widen a he slams the break.
Grinding to a halt, Roman parks the van, lowering the window and looking out. The broken road is grown over, bushes and shrubbery completely blocking the way. Blinking twice, Roman sighs. "Well, isn't nature just fun to work with." Sitting back, he looks at the other four. "Alright, one of you goes first."
Neo hums a chuckle, opening her door and exiting.
"Maybe someone that can yell for help?"
Neo's head snaps back into the vehicle cabin, narrowed glare locked on Roman in a pout.
"I got it." Carmine mutters. Exiting the vehicle, his feet touch down on the dirt. The boy stretches before looking around. Despite the slight slope, it was relatively flat between the nearest peaks in the considerable distance. The growth included beautiful honeysuckle bushes, lilies, and... a rose bush?
Yes... the petals haven't bloomed out yet. Sure enough, it was covered in thorns. Red roses, some of their tips tinged pink. "Remnant to Silver Streak? You listening?"
Roman's voice pulls the boy's attention, earning an eye roll. "Yeah, yeah. Thought I saw something." He begins walking to a split between the bushes. Sliding back onto the broken up road, the growth of the flora obscures much of the path. But he makes out the path moving around a rocky bend, moving further down a slope. "Schneider."
Armor flashing to blades on his arms, he cuts through the shrubs and growth, moving around a hanging tree branch with vines. Cutting his way, he walks down the path, only to pause. Dips between the growth, crushed dead grass in odd patterns.
Brow raised, he continues. While none of the trees are overly large or tall, the obvious wear and tear shows bitten into the bark of the trunks. No claw marks, no. Just worn sides. As if something roughly ground itself against the sides.
Hmm. He continues on. Now he looks almost exclusively at the ground. The dips in the dirt and dead grass crisscross the path. He does note one thing immediately. Not one animal track in the dirt portions of the path. If the road is that much less traveled, it would still have uneven, withered prints from rodents, mountain rams, maybe a predator. No. Only the dips in the paths, smooth.
. . .
Roman tightens his neckerchief, hat placed on his head, before he puts up his dark brown coat. Winds blow from the sea not far off over the hills as he sighs. Huffing on his cigar, he looks to Blair, who straps Florescent Finish to her side through her sash. "Five lien says Silver Streak gets attacked first."
"I'm not betting on Carmine getting attacked." Blair states irritated.
Neo perks up between them, smiling. Conjuring a sign, she waves. 'I got that action. 5 down!'
"See? She gets it." Roman cracks a smarmy smirk. "I'm more right than wrong with these things." Neo double taps his arm, getting a confused look from the man. "Hmm?" He follows her gaze, finding Carmine returning.
He glares forward, slowly looking to Neo, who holds her hand out. Her mismatched eyes shine in amusement. Roman looks up from her, seeing a smirk on Blair's face. "What? I was led to believe you were more right than wrong?"
"..." Roman glares ahead as he withdraws five lien from his pocket, handing them to the smiling Neo. "Piss off... Hey Silver Streak!" He changes tone and subject immediately, widening the smirks of the two females. "Find it?"
"Close." Carmine starts. "The path leads flat towards a narrow split between the mountains. I think it's the entrance to the village, but..." He hangs a second before asking Blair. "What's the differences in signs for Boarbatusks vs King Taijitu?"
The question catches the blonde by surprise. "Boarbatusks prefer flatter terrain for their wild charges, usually leaving jagged scrapes along the ground. Taijitu leave pressed trenches in the ground from their weight as they slither along the ground. I am presuming you saw something?"
He nods. "Indents on the ground, wear and tear on the bark of trees, and some other parts. Dead grass pressed flat and dead in those indents, so... big scary snakes?" He finishes with an expectant look. The grim nod brings a frown. "I hate snakes... Good news though." He looks to Roman. "Feel free to just fire dust burn the growth in the road. None of it is too big. Once it's cleared, we can drive on through."
"Good. I'm not one for floral work, so if it all burns, all the better." He takes a final huff of his current cigar before flicking away. He removes a vial of fire dust, popping the cap. "The fire might draw the Grimm to us if they're still in there. Be ready to deal with the terrible beasties."
Neo smirks and rolls her eyes, grabbing several dust vials out from the van of all colors. She pops the caps and begins marching to the bushes-Blair groans and pulls the girl back by the shirt. "Don't blow up the mountainside. Let's stay on task."
. . .
Surely, the task of burning and cutting their way through the growth greatly slows their progress. The seaward wind thankfully did what it could to cool them down. Scorched black and gray ash coats the cracked dirt road for a hundred yards down the slope. The trail becomes more and more rocky with less growth, thankfully.
Scorching a last patch of branches, Roman caps the fire dust vial, waving on. Blair slowly allows the van to roll down the slope in neutral, guiding the wheel from the seat. Off the sides of the path, Neo and Carmine haul off large chunks of undamaged wood and bushes.
Neo gives a tired look his way, conjuring a sign. 'Roman's right. Floral work sucks'.
"Agreed. This crap is for farmers. UGH!" He exhales, leaned over and steadying himself. "What I wouldn't give for a hot bath." The girl nods vigorously at that.
"Quit your whining." Roman remarks from the front. "We've found our main entrance." Snuffing out embers with a swipe of Velvet Valentine, he marches on. The rocky dirt trail leads around another bend in the slope.
Pressed between two mountains is a pass, the path cutting through and opening up to, yes, buildings. Plenty of weeds and grasses, but the remainder of the road at least is cleared. The pressed paths in the ground lead directly onto the road and, indeed, into the town. "Great... directly into the town." Neo shrugs, pointing to her wrist like a watch is there before waving dismissively. "True. Go ahead and get it over with."
Blair brings the van to a stop before the pass, parking it. Exiting she checks her weapon. "Are we ready to clear the town? It's possible the Grimm could be out searching for food."
"Then let's check." Roman interrupts, swiping Heulin Noon from Carmine's holster, startling the kid with a 'hey!' He aims into the pass, firing a double shot.
BANG!
They wait. Silence met as the four eye the pass. Blair sucks in a breath. "Listen. They're coming..."
"Really?" Roman says with brows raised. Then blinks. "Ah, I hear it." He adds low.
"I don't." Carmine recalls his gun out from Roman's grip with a scowl. Taking aim, he looks to the rocky trail... a single pebble lightly quivering... several do, in fact. He feels soft rumbling. "Oh, crap. How many are there, you think?"
Neo frowns, eyes flicking from the rocks to the pass. She heard it... the rubbing slickness. Made her cringe if she was honest. A flick of Hush brings the blade pointing out the end. Multiple movements sounded... maybe one body moving around multiple parts of the landscape? No... multiple bodies. More than one.
As if sprouting out for life, the bony heads fire into view from the village, slicking their way in. Two large black King Taijitu, one white, all speeding their way out from the opening! Roman smirks. "Oh, only three? That's on you three."
"Roman!" Blair chastises.
"Pardon?" Carmine mutters out before the three giant snake Grimm separate into three lunges! The first black Taijitu open mouth clamps onto the boy's armored arm, carrying him on down the slope! "GAA DAMN YOU ROMAN!"
Blair leaps away, the second black Taijitu whipping after her. Neo leaps up as the white lunges into the dirt, hitting nothing. She opens Hush and is carried by the breeze into the mountain pass to the village. The massive snake rushes after her, leaving Roman at the van.
Alone at the vehicle, Roman leans against the hood, bringing a cigar up to light.
. . .
"AH! Frick! Frickin'! Gah!" Carmine yelps out as the giant snake drags him along the ground. Left arm locked in its jaws. He flares his aura. "Schneider!" His armor flashes as his left arm's blade forms, piercing out if the Taijitu's head!
The beast lurches, releasing the boy and throwing him into the rocks. It coils back, eyeing the boy as he rolls to his feet. The snake strikes, but Carmine leaps forward, shifting back to Zero as he fires two shots. The blasts knock the Taijitu dazed.
With a snarling hiss, the snake spears its head at the boy. Wide eyed, Carmine snaps his gun up to sights, loosing a double shot into the beast's open mouth! The double shot explodes, popping the giant head into nothing!
Carmine stares wide eyed at the headless snake, letting out a sigh of relief.
Up the slope from Carmine, Blair dodges back from her opposing snake. The large black reptile slithers after her, the blonde dodging back easily. Drawing Florescent Finish, she focuses herself and waits...
The Taijitu cocks hits head, hesitating just a moment... then snarls into a strike! In the blink of an eye, Blair ducks to the side, spinning into a slash! Catching the beast in its left jaw, the blade bites into the flesh! Blair rips forward, slicing the length of the snake open!
Dead in one strike. With deadly precision, Blair swipes the blade, removing the black blood dripping off. She spares a look down the slope, seeing Carmine recovering. Nodding to herself, she charges towards the pass.
En route, she stops at the van, glaring at Roman who continues smoking his cigar. "Are you not going to help?"
He flicks the ash off. "Barbie, you know as well as I do, that if they can't handle one Grimm, they shouldn't be here." He points to the mountain pass, pulling her attention.
Up on the pass, Neo leaps from the rocky cliff face, using Hush to gently drift between the sides as the large snake slithers up the wall! Clinging to the rock face, Neo readies herself as the snake lunges, biting and snapping its dangs into the rock!
Shatter shards fade out of the beast's mouth as it pulls away...
And Neo lands on its head, plunging the full drawn sword of Hush through the bony plate of the head! The beast shrieks and quivers back and forth, collapsing down the pass and hitting the ground. Landing on top, Neo smirks and draw cutting her weapon free and slicing open the large head.
Roman smirks. "See?"
Blair glares back, sheathing her blade. "You speak as if that was the point I was making." She looks over, finding Carmine walking up. "Are you okay?"
Carmine snaps a twitching glare at the conman. "Yeah, no thanks to THIS asshole! Seriously, how could you-"
"Carmine." Blair sighs out.
The boy throws his hands up, exasperated. "Yeah, I know. Beating my head against a brick wall."
"Careful. You're learning." Roman mocks as he enters the van. "Now, lets hope at least one building is standing strong." As he starts the engine, Carmine and Blair share an annoyed look. The boy flicks her eyes towards the van, then points his fingers in a gun pose at his head. Blair shakes her head, bringing a sulking look to him.
In response, the blonde pats the hilt of her sword, then runs a finger over her neck. Carmine contains a snicker and nods, earning a small smile from the blonde.
The small moment becomes better as Neo joins them, Hush held over her shoulders as she scrutinizes the two. Neo looks between them before gesturing to the van. She follows up with a jerking motion as she cocks her neck, miming a noose.
"You know, I can see you all, right?" Roman announces with the window of the van down. The three all share a look, blinking wide eyed, then turn to him. Each one raises one hand presenting a middle finger. He scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Oh, brother..."
With that, the three turn away from the van, walking towards the mountain pass. As the three wall, Roman drives the van behind them at a snails pace. Moving through the pass, the other side opens up wide! The road itself continues straight as both sides open up to fenced fields of flowers.
Most of the fencing broken and smashed. Parts of the flowers were crushed down and smashed. Carmine breaks off, walking one of the pressed paths in the growth. Not long into it does her find large holes in the ground, two meters wide, each of them appear to be connected to an underground burrow. A snake burrow, that is.
"Well, found their home." Then, his lips purse. "Aw, found their home. That's sad."
"Don't weep for Grimm." Blair speaks from the road. "Be careful. While no others have come out, it's always possible to come across a Grimm acting significantly more intelligent and waiting."
Taking that to mind, the boy kneels by the largest of the holes, peering into the dark depth. Squinting, he looks within the darkness and... feels like the darkness is moving. "The heck?" He mutters. Inching in, he slowly lowers himself into the burrow.
Readying his gun, his scans the area. Almost all darkness, but that just leaves this one spot. Like... advanced darkness? In a wide radius, like... "Oh... Ohhh." He calls out. "Um, Blair? What's a Grimm Pool look like?"
As if to punctuate the question, a speck of white shows in the deep dark black... a bony plate poking through. His eyes widen. Blair's voice calls out, toneless. "Wait, why..?"
The form in the pit of black opens as a two foot wide mouth opens, two fangs protruding out. Red eyes show in the black. His voice cracks to a higher pitch. "Never mind! Got my ans-" The mouth shoots out in a lunge. "-AH!"
He dodges back from the new ten foot Taijitu, a sure 'mini' Grimm but still a ten foot snake! Like a King Cobra, it snaps once before quickly slithering out very eager to interact with its red and silver haired visitor.
Carmine then sees another poking out of the Grimm pool. "Baby Grimm? Why are there baby Grimm?!" He shouts out, firing a spooked double shot at the first small Taijitu.
The second strikes out from the pool, only to get impaled in the head by Blair's sword, pinning it to the ground. The blonde sends a dull glare at the boy. "Be more specific in what you find. I'm not exactly excited for the prospect of dealing with Grimm venom infection."
He gulps, loudly, swallowing his startled fear. "Noted." The boy releases a breath and looks to the Grimm pool. "So, we get rid of these with white dust, right?"
Blair nods, Neo poking her head into the burrow behind them. The blonde reaches into her belt, producing a small thin vial of white, half empty. "Barely enough on hand, but there's more in the van." she pours the remainder into the pool, watching as the unnatural blackened ink is pierced with a what shine.
The interaction irritates the teens' eyes, making both squint before seconds later the Grimm pool is entirely dissolved. Neo blinks wide eyed, impressed, Carmine adding. "Cool!.." he suddenly perks up to look at the blonde. "How often do you get to do that?"
"That's only the third I've personally seen up close." Turning away, the woman begins searching the rest of the burrow. "We don't yet know what exactly causes their appearances. Theoretically, they can appear anywhere and anytime."
Carmine and Neo each cringe, sharing a look. "Well, there goes my ability to sleep tonight."
Blair disappears around the underground corners, shining a light from her scroll. "I did say 'theoretically'. Grimm pools CAN be formed by special Grimm intentionally, but they primarily appear naturally in specific hot spots on each of the continents and under the oceans. In all recorded history, man has only personally watched a Grimm pool form in person less than fifty times. You're fine to sleep."
Moving through the burrows, Carmine eyes a hand shovel, pressed into the dirt and broken on the side. Looking deeper, he spots blackened gunk. Dissolved fabric vaguely shaped in overalls cover another object. Remains...
He winces at that. Guess that settles how the villagers disappeared. However... "Hey, Blair. This might be a stupid question, but this is a Taijitu burrow, and you said that Grimm pool couldn't have been here long..."
Blair walks up to the long decrepit remains, kneeling by it with a raised brow. "It's not uncommon for Grimm to reuse burrows and lairs..." She feels the half disintegrated fabric, pulling back. "Spider Grimm. Likely were the original makers of the burrow."
Neo cocks her head at the remains, pointing and raising a brow.
"Most Grimm don't leave remains at all. Spider Grimm, like actual spiders, dissolve you from the inside and literally drink you." Both teens go white as a sheet, rigid in horror. "Hence, the partially degraded clothes left behind. Now, let's finish searching."
Finishing their search through the underground burrow, the three march out, Blair and Carmine turning to find Neo holding up the dead mini Taijitu head. The girl puppets the head, miming it in an 'om nom nom' chewing look.
"Oh, yes, the baby Grimm." Blair starts as they step back onto the road.
Looking over, they find Roman having parked the van in front of the first two town houses. Fairly small family lodgings, then a large barn, followed by one final grand two story building. Out of the ones still standing, that is... half a dozen skeletal constructions of houses and sheds. Various withered and broken farming tools were sprawled about, along with some dirt covered belongings.
Roman opens the back of the van, but looks at them from over his shoulder. "Baby sitting Grimm on top of teens now?"
The blonde ignores him. "Grimm form their bodies inside of Grimm pools and leave once they've fully matured. However, their feeding instincts can and will override self preservation, and they can leave before fully forming. Hence, miniature, or 'baby', Grimm come out and continue to grow at a snails pace compared to without the pool."
"So, if there were only three big ones, that portal wasn't here for very long?" The boy asks, Neo manipulating the mini Taijitu head with his speech. Scowling, Carmine swats the heat out of the girl's hands, earning a pout from her.
"No. Couldn't have been more than a couple days old." Blair answers, looking around at the wood constructed houses painted various withered colors, but notices the main manor house was brick laid at the base, then wood on top. A great deal sturdier, but harder to fix if anything was done incorrectly. Her gaze trailed to the wrecked buildings. "Meaning, nearly all of this was done either by bandits or migrating Grimm."
"Definitely Grimm." Roman answers. "A proper scoundrel would turn the place for valuables and leave buildings intact for stopovers, hideouts, and the like." He pointedly looks to Carmine, seeing agreement. "this is just mostly destroyed, so the only human elements are psychopaths."
Neo conjures a sign. 'So, what do?' The intentional grammar mistake aside, the group all took a look around to ponder.
Carmine scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, but gave out orders. "Well, I'll look around for any other Grimm, then. Roman, start setting up a generator." It earns a gruff huff from Roman. "Blair, see which of the houses is in the best condition." Blair raises a brow. "What? You'd tell what's holding up better than me and Neo."
"Neo and I." Blair corrects.
"Neo and hush." He quips with a mental chuckle. Couldn't resist the urge to pun. But as Blair's gaze narrows... a part of him quivers and dies inside. "Uh, anyway! Neo." Said mute rolls her eyes, equally not amused with his pun. "If bandits haven't touched this place as much, see what all has survived untouched. Anything useful or valuable-"
SHATTER.
Neo is gone.
Carmine purses his lips, Roman suppressing a hearty chuckle. "You gave the kleptomaniac the order to search and pillage? Bold."
"Just... ugh, let's get through this, already."
. . .
Hours pass by, and the mountains block off the sunset. An orange tinged sky darkens with dusk as Carmine wipes sweat from his brow. Sitting atop the van, he lays back, thoughts coming to...
The place was essentially a naturally built cul-de-sac. Tall steep slopes covered each of the sides, stop sparse, yet tall trees helped obscure the area of the small town as well from the air. While the mountain sides are technically possible to scale, the odds of being visited by something climbing over the mountains was slim to say the least. Meaning, the only entrance to the town was the mountain pass.
Crap, if they've cleared the dirt and rock road of the growth, that means nearly anyone could travel down. Maybe they could block off the pass somehow? In a way that they could still go by it? One thing at a time...
Click!
He flinches, sitting up... The main manor... lights inside were on! "Holy sh-" The boy leaps off the van, running up to the faded blue door, much of the building a gray white, the roofing a much darker shading. A plate locked into the from porch of the manor entrance, almost like a place mat, reads 'Stroud Manor'.
He opens the door... place was dusty as heck... plenty of cobwebs in corner and on hanging lighting. He moves into the dining room, finding Blair checking a few of the lights still out. "Roman get the generator working?"
Hearing the boy, Blair nods. "Much of the wiring is still intact, save for a few lines, it seems." Turning to Carmine fully, she rattles off. "The manor has one guest room on the ground floor, bathroom, kitchen, and this dining living room that I assume was used as a sort of town hall..." She trails off, looking at old decrepit papers all over the furniture and tables.
Carmine cocks his head. "Wait, is the water working?!"
A click of a door sounds as Roman marches out on the linoleum. "Possibly..." He tosses a dirty rag aside onto the kitchen counter one room over. Walking into the dining room, he doesn't hesitate to sit right down. "Boiler is right destroyed in the basement. Many of the pipes SEEM okay, but I'd rather see just where the water comes from before I spray off with parasite water."
"Hmm." Carmine grumbles, mulling over responses. "What about the rest of the house? What do we got."
"Basement is all business and function. Boiler, piping, fuse box. The huge generator down there is screwed from just use for wear and tear and no use in over a decade. Its parts are mucked up." Roman rattles off, lighting a cigar.
"Second floor is a second bathroom, master bedroom, another bedroom, and a small study." Blair adds. Carmine's eye is drawn to the staircase at the end of the room, lining the far wall of the main grand room. "Also, the loft seems to have been made into an extra room altogether with its own window looking out of the roof."
Suddenly, Neo waltzes in and slams a stuffed bag onto the table. She smiles proud and conjures a sign. 'I call the roof room. Enter it and die.' She smiles sweetly, as if challenging someone else to claim it.
"O... kay then." Carmine mutters. "How bout the-"
"Ground floor for me." Roman waves him off. "Closest to the back door for a getaway if needed."
A short dry look from the other three answers. "Good person to have on the home front." Blair sarcastically adds.
Carmine meets Blair's look. "So, you want the master room and study? I don't have as much stuff."
The woman blinks surprised, but nods back with a small smirk. "Thank you, but we need to do a lot more to this place before getting to that point."
"Was afraid you'd say that... What's the damage?" He gulps waiting for the... yuck... homestead work."
"Deep cleaning every portion of this building, checking the plumbing, removing all useless items from the buildings and disposing of them, replace burnt out wiring, find more permanent power solutions-"
"Um..." Carmine interjects, already getting overwhelmed thinking of the work to put in.
She continues. "Replacing furniture, selling the valuables we found to hopefully pay for this, stock the shelves, get and install a CCT connection, maintenance tools for our weapons, and security measures beyond simply locking the doors and windows."
Carmine's wide eyes blink, grasping that last part. "I'm... glad I was already thinking about one of those..."
Neo sympathizes, sighing. This is going to be more trouble than it's worth, isn't it?
The group decides to use sleeping bags inside their van rather than the filth of the house. Roman simply lowers the driver seat, Blair doing the same. Neo sleeps on the back seat, Carmine on the floor in front of the back seat. Uncomfortable as all hell, but cleaner than the dust box of a house... for now.
. . .
Day two was spent on manual repairs.
Roman discovered the plumping draws from a natural clear water cavern inside the nearest of the mountains. The waters were mostly clean, but required changing out an underground filter at the side of the mountain... He and Carmine came back stained with mud from the shoulders down, angry about their days.
Thankfully, only two pipes and three electric lines within the manor required changing. By the end of the day, Blair has much of the wiring secured and piping fixed using pieces and fixtures from the remaining two standing houses.
Meanwhile, Neo managed to amass a small horde of trinkets from across the standing buildings. At least a few thousand Lien in jewelry, hundreds in clothes half belonging to men, a quarter to boys, a quarter to females, a few heirloom pieces, and finally no less than six guns and old dust shells.
The dust shells were all earth dust, weirdly. Odd choice.
Day three! The dreaded C word... cleaning...
Top down, Blair, Carmine, and Neo each took a floor, dusting from the cobwebs hanging overhead down. Each encounters their own difficulty in the process. For Blair, it was simply a slower pace, meticulously making each space as spotless as possible. For Carmine, it was seeing how much needed to be tossed out! Beds and chairs having to be carried out, infested with bugs. Gross.
To Neo... where to start? Between never cleaning for herself in her life and being woefully unable to reach various parts of the loft, she was not having a fun time.
"Hey, do you need- Oh, yeah, you do." Carmine sputters upon seeing much of the cobwebs still hanging. The girl turns and glares his way, demanding, or threatening, him to comment. Oblivious, he does. "So, uh... need a stool or some- Ack!" And she sweep kicks him back down the steps into the loft room, the boy loosing obscenities upon hitting each stair!
Neo shuts the latch floor door for the loft, pouting. Yet, her eyes held mirth, satisfied. Carmine's pained call outs muffle through the floor. "Ow! Why?"
Soon after, Carmine joins Blair on the bottom floor, jaw dripping finding darn near everything spotless... and the blonde is still furiously swiping at the counter tops. The floor itself may still be covered in dust, but she truly put everything into this.
Rather than approach and surely be put to some other task, he sneaks out the door. Glancing to the road, he spots Roman arrive in the van once more. Finally!
Roman had been sent to the nearest port town for supplies. He perks as the conman exits. "Hey, you find everything?"
"For this load, yes." Roman then flashes a smarmy grin. "By the way, those heirlooms Tricolor found alone will pay for a lot of our replacement pieces."
Carmine's face scrunches. "You... actually found people to buy stolen property?"
"They're called fences, and of course!" He flaunts condescendingly. "Cultures vary widely, but criminals recognize criminals. It's a tightly nit society."
"Says the guy who sold out his old boss without a second thought." The boy dryly comments.
Roman scoffs. "Besides, it's also just as easy to go to a local pawn shop for anything difficult to sell. Now, get this all out. We're burning daylight here."
Carmine huffs at him, He opens the van, finding a mass of bags... "Ugh!" His head hangs down. "This is painful."
The man huffs a laugh, amused at the boy's pain as he flippantly waves his hand. "My, you spoiled child. You don't know how bad it can get. You've never even had to disappear a body before."
"Oh, can you not!?"
From there, the day went into more sterilization and cleaning. Carmine moved onto wiping and sweeping floors. Neo thankfully finished the loft, then being tasked with with windows. The boy gets a chuckle out of the small girl having to reach for the taller windows... She whips him across the face with the nearest object when she catches him giggle at her expense.
Roman and Blair successfully get the stove top working along with the refrigerator, cleaning much of the kitchenware. Unfortunately... "Gas oven? Really?" Roman scowls. "Not even dust operated. Replacing this tomorrow."
"At least the refrigerator is working well." Blair sighs as she returns from the restroom. "Although, the washroom's washer is broken."
Carmine collapses onto a wooden chair, the black night time showing through the windows. "What about the dryer?"
"There isn't one. There's collapsed clotheslines outside, remember?" Blair reminds him, earning a poker face.
The boy twitches. "Oh, hell nah. Get a washer/dryer combo. I'll chip in on it."
Neo snickers his way, collapsing in the chair across from him and sitting cross legged. 'Aw, little baby.' She shatters conjured sign and gestures a fake tear coming down her face.
He huffs, indignant. "Look, I just won't have my underwear dry in the open with bugs able to fly right on. I don't need those surprises getting dressed."
"Dramatic baby aside, I'm in agreement." Roman takes his shot before nodding. The boy glares daggers into the side of his head.
"We're gonna be fairly power dependent. That generator you set up won't last more than a few days on its own." Blair puts in.
The man sighs. "Yes, yes. It's dust fueled, so it won't last long. Whatever." Groaning he flippantly waves her off. "The pawned stuff bought the cleaning supplies, so I'll pay for parts to repair the previous generator, if not just replace it."
Blair glares at his dismissal, but... his willingness to pay for something lets her accept it. "I'll pay for the appliances, then."
Carmine salutes with his hand. "I'll get the new beds and a couch."
And all three look to Neo, who blinks at them back. The girl makes a show of deep thought before blinking in realization and snapping. She conjures a sign. 'Food and entertainment!'
The statement makes the three others glance around the room... for a central living room, it was bare. The coffee table with two empty travel mix bags was telling as Carmine's stomach was far from full. "Yeah, that's... that's a good call. Do we need anything else?"
"We'll think of more as we go." Roman dismisses. He points to the blonde and redhead. "You two go get the first load from town in the morning. It's a 45 minute drive if you high tail it."
Carmine sends a stern twitching look at the blonde. "We can beat that time down to 30!"
DEATH. Blair chillingly glares at the boy, forcing him to cower. "We will go an appropriate speed. That is all."
The boy flinches back, nearly tipping his seat over. "Yes, Ma'am!"
"Way to stand like a real man." Roman mocks from the side.
Carmine snaps back under his breath. "Screw yourself, amoral jerk."
"Whatever, half sized hero." He brushes him off.
Blair glares at Roman. "Are you done making fun of Carmine?"
"HA!" The man barks out before sending a smarmy grin her way. The woman can only sigh, looking to Neo for support. However, said girl was simply smiling sweetly. The little girl was enjoying the animosity. Roman claps for emphasis and stretches. "Well then! Time for shut eye. Hopefully, tomorrow can give us a proper damned meal." All three others internally agreed with the conman.
That night, the four used their sleeping bags within the main living room. Neo closest to a window, she laid still and watched a near full moon's light peak through. The sleeping bag was barely better than the van, allowing the hard wood to put a crick in her spin.
All four felt the same, none having a comforting rest.
. . .
Day four!
Carmine sat patiently within the passenger seat of the van. The rumble of the road rattling him back and forth in his seat. After days of labor and cleaning, all four of the CRBN members had opted out of their usual gear, Blair opting for efficiency in a simple white shirt, black pants, and boots. She still had Florescent Finish attached to a lock hooked into her black belt.
Carmine opted for comfort, leaving his armor with Roman and Neo. He wears a dark blue t shirt, blue pants, and his black shoes, Heulin Noon holstered at his thigh.
"Something's troubling you." The woman didn't leave a tone for question. Simply stating the obvious.
The boy's tense shoulders refused to slacken. "That obvious, huh? Aren't we all stressed?" Testing waters with a glance over his shoulder, he fights her sending a cold side eye at him. His lip flattened for a moment as he considered his words. He leaves off with a sigh, stiffly attempting to settle into his seat. "I'm a fourteen year old that feels like he's bought a home and is fixing it up with friends. I'm allowed to feel a bit overwhelmed, right?"
"Be that as it-" Blair's head performs a minute double take. "Friends? When did Roman count in that?"
Carmine blinks twice in thought before going slack. "Ew, that does sound wrong to the ear, doesn't it?" He lets out a light chuckle. "Well... he's a horrible person, but... isn't that bad."
She scoffs. "I could scarcely think of reasons to concede that."
He smirks at that. "Oh, come on! It's been like a year! You gotta like SOMETHING about the guy."
She considers that for only a second. "Counterpoint. It's been almost a year. Name something positive about the man."
Silence. Carmine purses his lips. His arms flop down as he looks away. "Frick! I walked right into that." The admission brought a ghost of a smirk to the woman.
"Now go on." She urges. "Besides for all intents and purposes, you now having a homestead and are sharing it with an insufferable condescending conman... What's actually going on in your head?" The boy's lips purse as he looks out the window. "Is this about that flier from Mistral?"
"That was-" His voice fails as he counts off in his head. "What? Nine months ago?"
"It's the one thing you haven't spoken about." Blair states. "And I'm well aware of what it relates to." She adds softly, testing the grounds. "So... does it have to do with it?"
The boy twitches at his eye. His gaze remains locked out the window. He absently counts off the colors in the trees trailing the mountain side. Green for sure. Blue? Interesting. Red signaling more rose bushes. A lot less yellow than expected. White of course. Browns of dying growth mixed among the brown barks of trees. More whites. Dandelions? More whites...
He stops noticing the other colors.
Then he blinks, spotting a white form pass by the van. A flowing cloak.
He sucks in his breath, muscles locking up.
There it is, again. Blair's corner vision catches the slight shift. She's noticed for a long while now. These... sharp spikes of anxiety. Short spurts of hyper awareness followed by the same spurts of tunnel vision.
Perhaps less motion is needed. She slowly and gently nudges the break, easing the speed down-
"Don't stop." Carmine grunts out. Somehow, sounding both not even there, yet forcefully ordering. "Don't slow down."
She maintains speed, debating whether to disregard him and keep slowing. However, she picks up speed again. Minutes pass, the two starting to come up on the port town by the sea. The boy ever slowly comes back to the moment, so she gently tries again. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. You cannot stay silent forever." GENTLY, she mentally chastises herself.
Silence meets her, but she spares a quick glance, seeing the boy spacing out again.
"I'm here... if you need a helping hand."
"I used this hand."
His eyes clench shut, but quickly dismisses the words. Eyes forward, he starts scratching at the back of his neck. However, for the first time... a new thought comes.
"Blair... How does my semblance work?" The question takes her back for a moment. "Like... what exactly did you learn when you took my blood before?"
The woman blinks in surprise, slowing the van once more. Carmine seems to be calmer, not speaking up like before. Slowing on the dirt road's side, she turns to give full attention. "Is this related to what's bothering you? Or are you changing the subject?"
Carmine faces her this time at least. "... Both. I'm... I don't want to talk about it, but... this IS a part of it."
Amber peers in and searches blue. At least he's being honest. She nods. "Your aura infuses with an object. As time passes, you are capable of turning back the clock, so to speak. The object returns to its previous state. At least for as far back as your aura was originally infused with said object."
Continuing. "For you yourself, your body is always containing your aura, as all living things do asides from Grimm. You can recall yourself as well. That much we both know for certain. Just like with objects, you can recall to a previous state absent from injury, repairing damage entirely."
Carmine grimaces, remembering how it felt in the Silver Auditorium. Recalling the pain for just that split second from the black dust round ripping through his aura and through his gut. "Yeah, I know there's more there, but I'm not eager to test that part out..."
"I recall you saying you felt what sounded like a severe phantom pain? As if your aura still was damaged and had to heal?" Blair questions between them. "Of course, if you'd wish to test that, we certainly can."
Pursed lips, the kid shakes his head. "No, that's fine. Thank you."
"Is there more?"
He mulls it over, wondering to himself if he wishes to speak the words. "I... I need to find out something, but... I need to know what happens when my semblance is used on another person. Would it rewind them... or something else."
Blair raises a brow. "Interesting... Let's find out." The blunt response earns a shocked expression off the boy. Casually, she reaches over to Florescent at her left hip with his left hand, drawing it up and over the steering wheel. Carmine's wide eyes lock on her right hand as she presents it palm out. "Simple enough to test."
Quick rolling the blade towards herself, the blonde reaches with her right hand. She grabs the blade, tightly. She runs it one inch on the blade. "Ngh!" She grunts, air wheezing out her nose despite her neutral expression.
Carmine sucks in a breath, eyeing the woman's right hand. The tense grip on the blade remains even as the yellow metal begins to absorb crimson. Blair releases her grip, pulling her hand now with an open gash across the the palm. The fingers try to twitch, but she composes herself. Pulling the trigger of Florescent's hilt, the crimson center of the blade pulses and changes back to golden yellow.
She manipulates the blade around and sheaths it awkwardly with her off hand. The woman then presents the gashed hand to Carmine. The boy still stares wide eyed at it as images flash before him.
The grizzled veteran police chief. Former huntsman Jared Uhlric, kneels by his son, looking at his hand. "Wow. It actually worked-" His eyes catch something.
"It worked?! DADDY, I DID IT?! YES! I DID IT!" The five year old cheered at the top of his lungs. "I can heal people! I'm like mommy! I'm a superhero!"
The joy was clear. Excitement primed to burst across the father's face. However, even at that time, the boy saw something. Just a hint of something in the man's eyes as they flicked to his hand. The man looked at the finger with the now healed cut.
The image changes... A female form sitting down with her hooded cloak tinged red by her own blood. Summer Rose smiles at him. "Carmine... You're a kind person. I hope you never change."
An echo of that six year old boy's screams sounds out with a green flash of aura.
Carmine stares at the bleeding hand, gulping down the lump in his throat. Numbly, he raises his left hand... only to find that it's quivering erratically. Without a thought registering, as his hand raises towards Blair's injured palm, he flinches back.
Blair watches the boy just... seemingly shut down. His eyes shut, body tensing. His left hand is stiff, locked hanging forward. She adds this as item #2 to the list of triggers the boy must have. She knew it had to do with that man, Killian Gonzola. She could now add a fear of blood to that list, right? But, he's been injured and seen injuries already, so blanket blood must not cover it.
With the boy's eyes closed, she slowly reaches closer, grasping his stiff hand with her own. Her injured hand, but reaching over with her left from the driver side would be awkward.
Soon as her grip tightens, the boy's eyes shot wide. One choked breath came before Blair states firmly. "Look at me!"
Like he'd been shocked, Carmine jolts before his eyes lock onto the woman's face. A few seconds pass as his eyes start to drift down-
"Eyes up." She says, firm, but neutral. He picks his gaze back up to her. With a sigh, her face softens. Starting gently. "Wherever you think you are right now, you're not there."
"I-I know-"
"No. You don't." Blair states clearly, but keeps her voice gentle. "The mind is a fickle thing. You say you know, but that's not the same as actually knowing or believing it." She maintains a firm grip on his hand. "You're not there, or anywhere else. You're right here. With me." After a moment, waiting for the words to land, she eases on. "It's okay. Keep your eyes on me. Do it."
Panicked eyes remain on her, but the boy reciprocates the grip. He feels the slick wetness in his palm... and despises how familiar it feels. He breathes in. Wait. For just a second, how can he even do it? Right, right. He remembers himself. Word association.
Blair feels the boy's aura wash over her offered limb. The boy swallows and takes a calming breath again. "R-rewind."
His aura flares in an aqua pulse, completely burnt away in a flash. Blair's brow raises, feeling the process. Gently, she pulls her hand to inspect the result, only for his grip to tighten.
Looking back to him, he clenches his eyes shut once more. Reaching with her left hand, she gently pries her hand free. Both their palms were covered in flaky red. Dried blood? As if it had sat there for quite some time. Looking to her hand, she begins wiping at the blood. Truly, it was bone try and scraping off.
Carmine retrieves his hand, ever slowly looking down at it in a grimace. It's the same. Not like with his Dad, but with...
Palm clean, Blair hums to herself. "I see."
The boy's gaze snaps over instantly. "What? What do you see?"
Blair holds up her hand, a white scar marked from one side of her palm above her thumb to the other below her pinkie. "Your semblance is primarily based on reversing effects on an object. But when you infused your aura with my hand, my own aura rejected yours."
"It would seem that upon activating your semblance with another aura involved, that rejection causes a rebound effect. Rather than 'rewinding', so to speak, it becomes the complete opposite. You fast forwarded the affected subject."
Waving her hand and flexing it, she eyes it critically. "This scar looks rather aged, so it would seem you've aged my right hand by a significant time as a result."
She glances over, finding him staring hollow at her limb. Weakly, he stutters out. "W-w-what can- I mean... Blair, I'm sorry. I didn't-"
"I believe this exercise was my idea." She stops. "If this effect is permanent, so be it. I'm perfectly fine." She offers what she hopes is a confident smile, but her own face is so unaccustomed to it, the grin is crooked and looks forced.
However, Carmine's focus remains on the hand. After a moment, he numbly states. "Can we keep going?"
Sensing yet another emotional shift in the boy, Blair frowns. "Are you okay?"
"Just... please."
After a moment, Blair gives in. Forcing any more will push him off. The woman relaxes and shifts the van to drive, continuing on to the port town. Leaving the boy to his own thoughts. An unfortunate event... as the boy's internal screams echo throughout every corner of his mind...
He killed her. He killed her. He killed her. He killed her.
He knew it. He always knew it. He always KNEW what he did, but...
Maybe it was Taiyang... maybe it was the words of his father, Ozpin. Maybe it was the seeming acceptance of Beacon's professors. All of them argued against this. No one batted an eyelash when they denied this fact. It was always 'you did nothing wrong', or 'you can't blame yourself'.
Finally, he could put it to bed.
It was always his fault. HE killed her. Not the Grimm. He broke her family. He broke her team. It's all his fault.
"Carmine... You are a kind person. I hope you never change."
Too late... A monster, a killer, and a disappointment all in one.
Mostly finished with the home building stuff. It will be tied up next chapter, I swear. Also, more spooking with Carmine. Just to be clear, the difference between someone like Carmine and, say, Ruby is that one, Ruby, acts purely out of a sense of altruism. The others entire life is built out of a sense of guilt and lack of worth. Carmine's obsession with lives being lost due to him is his motivation and his weakness in character. I'm positive people will have picked that up by now with his shut downs and freak outs.
The decision of having his semblance kill Summer Rose, asides from mixing his history with the RWBY world in general, acts as a single fact that he can base the rest of his beliefs from. He blames himself for the deaths of his family, each person they fail to save as CRBN, and for Summer. So long as he knows for a fact that his semblance killed Summer, he has that nugget of truth to justify putting every single failure solely on his own head.
I say this to you guys because, as a bit of a trigger warning, yes. Self harm and suicidal thoughts will come as the story progresses and Carmine gets older.
Currently, he's only stuck with good ole hardcore PTSD, post traumatic story disorder... Props to the one person who will get where that joke is from.
References:
The village of Haddon and the Stroud compound are both references in name only. I wanted to base CRBN's home base location in name off a famous fictional address. Many were considered, but I ended up settling on 43 Lampkin Lane, Haddon Field, IL. This is the home of the Stroud family of the Halloween series, where Michael Myers once called it home.
This was picked as a loose basis for Carmine's feelings on his own family, seeing that he feels responsible for the deaths of his family. Likewise, this fictional reference involves a character who 100% was responsible for said family's deaths, so yeah.
Join next time when we go back home in chapter twenty seven: Home Front.