Chapter Fifty: My Fair Mare
Somewhere in Western Vale Territories
Sunlight descends upon a modern town in the mountains. The lands over the hills coat heavily in multicolored greens and reds in the forests. High on the mountain is the town's lifeline, a bulkhead platform. Down its lengths, people engage in city like business. Nowhere close to Sanctuary or, brothers forbid, Vale's stature, but substantial.
A man walks down the slanted road, dressed in slacks, a button up shirt with top buttons undone, and boots. The man's unkempt brown hair is mostly swept to the side as he wears a brown cap over it. He nods and waves at various civilians moving about their business. Until he comes upon his own building, a simple pawn shop. 'Hedler's Peddlers' is lit in neon on the storefront.
He unlocks the doors, entering and turning on the lights. A room stuffed to the walls with curiosities and items of all walks of life lights. Decorative artworks to stuffed hunted animals to frontier weapons to clothes. The man sets about opening shop until his door dings. A customer.
The man finishes straightening a shelf in the back, quickly rushing to his register. "One moment! Just one moment please!"
He rounds the corner to find a teen boy. Rocking forward and back on his feet and swing clapping his arms in beat to the movement. Carmine, wearing the same clothes from Vale, two inches taller, and observing the environment curiously. His hair has grown out significantly, swept to the right out of his eyes.
Carmine Uhlric
Age – 16
Two years til The Day
The shopkeeper settles at the register. "Good morning, young man! What can I do you for?"
Carmine smiles and nods. "Good morning to you! I see you have some grav dust cans, are they spoken for?" He points to the clear glass container counter the register seats on.
The keeper gives a cocked look. "Pretty expensive out here, but they're for sale, yes." He reaches down from his side and begins setting the register up. "From out of town? Locals typically don't get the gravity dust."
The boy smirks. "Just a tourist that occasionally hunts very enthusiastically. Oh, also-" He pauses, pulling a folded paper from his pocket. "Uh, wouldn't happen to have..." He reads scrutinizing the hand writing. "Casino playing cards, lighter fluid, a set of dice, and- Gods damn, Roman-" He cuts a mutter in before speaking clearly. "And a... Feisty Faunus Catalog?" He finishes in disgust.
The man blinks, huffing a laugh. "Fetching for others can be frustrating I see. Give me just one moment." He sets about grabbing each of the items, gathering them together for a purchase.
Carmine's brow raises as the magazine was added, depicting a scantily clad black bird faunus. She was posed seductively. The boy's lips purse as a light pink tinge his cheeks. His gaze holds just a tad too long as the clerk smirks.
"Would you like your own copy?"
Carmine heats and shakes his head. "N-No sir." His voice cracks as he slaps the Lien onto the counter for the purchase. Taking possession of his purchase he then takes a breath and smiles. "Actually, sorry. There is something else I forgot, though I don't know if you'll have it." His composure comes back with some confidence.
"Alright. What is it?"
Carmine leans in. "You have animals here, right?"
The shopkeeper blinks, then huffs a laugh. "Well, we have feeder animals for carnivorous pets..."
"-Nah, I'm talking things with teeth, man. Come on. Someone said you had a collection." The boy cuts the man off and insists. After receiving a hard stare, Carmine speaks lower. "Nothing that says 'My, what big teeth you have'? Big red eyes? Come on."
The man scrutinizes the boy before leaning forward. "Kid, Grimm trade is illegal. Hunters don't take kindly to it."
"They also don't take kindly to tax fraud and laundering." Carmine retorts, earning a wide eyed look of shock. Carmine smirks. "Don't look surprised. Who expects you to honestly pay property tax with only an average of six customers a day?"
The man's hand inches to a hidden handgun under the counter. "Have you been spying on me, brat?"
"Nah, nooooo." Carmine steps back with arms up, tone sarcastic. Then he shrugs his shoulders. "Maybe."
In a flash, the man draws the handgun out from under the counter, aiming directly at the boy's face and glaring. Carmine merely keeps his arms up, looking blankly at him as he steps to the side into an open space of the floor.
"Pardon?" He mutters.
"You're not one of my buyers, so whoever you work for, you better talk now, brat." The man sneers as he keeps a steady aim.
Carmine blinks once at the gun, again stepping further into the open space. "Yo, hey, don't be like that. You need to be all like-"
He flickers away. Recall. His image flashes back to his original position by the counter. In a millisecond, as the shopkeeper flinches, Carmine draws Heulin Noon, aiming at the side of the owner's head. The man sucks in a shocked breath, sweating as the boy has control.
Carmine smirks. "So, we ready to have a polite conversation about where you keep your pets? And WHO they're for?" The man gulps. "Drop it." The man drops the gun as instructed. "Good boy. Now, the beasties?"
The man sneers, raises his knee and hitting a hidden button under the counter. The sprinkler system sets off, spewing water down on the two! As Carmine recoils, the man dashes through the back of the store, bursting into the alley. He takes off in a sprint.
Above on the roofs, Neo looms over, smirking. She starts leaping the rooftops tailing the man.
Neopolitan Rhodes
Age - 15
"Now that's just rude!" Carmine bursts into the alley, dripping wet and scowling. He takes off to the right. He keys a wireless mic in his ear. "Kay, Mr Hedler is running downhill. Think Neo has sights still on him! He fell for it."
"Good. He'll lead you to his product or his own hideout." Blair chimes back in. "Roman was right about his hideout likely being on the lower city end."
Carmine looks up as he sees arrows on the walls. He begins following the arrows down multiple turns through the buildings, hearing them shatter away as he passes. Neo leaving directions as she also chases ahead.
Roman's voice cuts in. "Local authorities are distracted with a faunus protest that I added some flare to. We're home free on use of force. Also, Barbie, say those words more often."
"You're asking to get hurt."
"Since when did you know how to thrill?"
"Ack-" Neo makes a gag noise through her mic.
Carmine rolls his eyes as he cuts down another alley, seeing the owner's feet pass around another turn. "Both of you, stop flirting. Neo and I don't need nightmares."
"We are most certainly not-!" Blair loses control for the moment until Roman cuts back in.
"Rich coming from the sickening teens."
The shop owner eventually makes it to the outer edge of the city, a crack in the concrete walls bordering the lower end of the town. He slides down, under a gap, taking off into a sprint through the forest.
Neo leaps high onto the wall itself, then leaps into the trees. Carmine lowers and slides under the same gap, taking off into a sprint, still following Neo's arrows now marking trees. More debris and growth blocks his view of the man, so he trusts in Neo's markers.
Finally, he stops in a gap between the trees. Thicket bushes surround him... and no owner. "Uh..." Oh! Neo's shatter arrows appear on all the trees... pointing down. He follows the direction, finding a wooden latch half obscured under dirt and brush. "Neat!" He turns and smiles at Neo, who suddenly is beside him smirking. "Thanks!"
She frowns and pouts.
The sight makes him chuckle. "You spook me so often, it's getting predictable." Neo shifts her weight away, looking offended. Laughing, he shakes his head. "Step it up." He grabs the latch. "You grab Roman and Blair to bring them here. I'm heading in."
Neo crosses her arms and raises a brow before signing one handed. "10 Lien says you let him release the Grimm."
Cracking a grin, Carmine opens the hidden door. "You're SO on!" He hops into the hole disappearing underground. Neo huffs and leans against a tree.
A minute passes as rustling sounds. Blair steps out beside the girl, following her gaze to the hole. The hatch hole is merely three feet wide. "There must be another entrance they use to smuggle the Grimm into." She closes her eyes, expanding her semblance to detect auras.
Blair Goodwitch
Age - 24
Eyes snapping open, the blonde turns right. "Auras moving this way. Come on-" Neo's hand tugs on the blonde's jacket to stop. "What is it?"
Neo raises a finger before signing. "Winning a bet." The two female stare hard at the hatch...
A bang. More bangs. Rumbles sound. The wood shutters with a hint of smoke coming out...
They hear a muffled snarl before a gunshot.
Neo grins wide, turning with Blair. The blonde sighs and shakes her head. "Children. There's more important things to do." The two rush off, soon finding a jagged rock mound sticking out of the slanted land. Glancing under an overhanging chipped hunk of rock, they find a cave opening. "There!" Blair announces, the girls coming to a halt at the cave entrance.
From the mouth of the cave, two men, one being the shop owner, sprint out from the darkness, heads turned back. The moment they face the girls properly, Blair strikes the owner in the gut with Fluorescent's hilt. Neo trips the other man to the ground, then twirl kicks him in the temple for the KO.
Blair grabs both men by the belt line, hauling both up. Their limbs drag on the ground as the blonde heaves them to the side. "I'll safeguard them. Go make sure Carmine didn't allow them to loose too many Grimm."
As if speaking the words, the ground lightly shakes... Neo blinks wide.
From the cave, Carmine sprints out. "Crap, crap, crap- YOU SHUT UP- Crap!" He jabs a finger at Neo as both leap out of the way. Blair leaps to the other side with the two unconscious men.
From the cave, four furry monsters. Beowolves lurch out, circling towards Blair. The blonde gives a critical look. "Beowolves? Is that all?"
Carmine shouts from the trees, Neo beside him. "Not them!" The tree rattles, both teens wide eyed for a moment. The crackling skitter and clacking of a carapace... Great pincers snap out from the cave as the insect form comes out.
Deathstalker.
Blair purses her lips. Right. Fighting that in a condensed cave was likely not the best idea. Still, a learning curve perhaps? "I will handle the dogs! You can handle that now."
"Wha- Bullsh-" Carmine sputters as the Deathstalker snaps both pincers into the bark of the tree, pulling and ripping the object from the ground. With a great shake, Neo yips as she flies off the branches into the growth below.
The beast tosses the tree, launching the boy out into the open. Carmine groans as he rolls to his feet. The beast is already scampering over, hissing. It jabs at arm at the small boy.
Carmine spins, passing Heulin Noon to his right hand, and uses his armored left arm to bash the pincer away! His right arm aims and fires a point black double shot to the face! The monster lurches back, then charges mouth open to bite!
He leaps up, landing on its back, only for the stinger tail to sweep and smack him off. The boy bounces along the ground and tumbles. Skidding to a halt, he groans and aims up, firing two more double shots, stunting the Deathstalker's attempted charge.
He snap reloads, then Recalls as the beast descends on his position! It thrashes at the ground in clear frustration as Neo slides in from the side. She slashes at a leg joint, eliciting a whine! The girl rolls under, slashing two creases between linked portions of the underbelly carapace.
The slashes don't get through, not fully. But it definitely feels it, given the shriek she hears. She slides out from under it just as it slams its body down trying to pin her. The girl cartwheels back as the massive golden stinger jabs the ground by her.
Stopping, the girl flourishes Hush in her hands and poses before the beast. It lurches forward to jab with its pincer to smash the girl! Shatter! Her image shimmers away with the shatter as the real Neo appears, flipping onto the massive Scorpion's back.
Blade sliding out the tip of the parasol, Neo proceeds to thrust the blade into the monster's eye! A howling shriek sounds as the beast thrashes the girl off. She flips and lands perfect, grimacing. Even through the eye, she couldn't thrust deep enough with that hit.
She'll need to draw Hush's full length from the parasol to thrust deep enough. Its brain can't be THAT much further than the eyes. The girl dashes side to side, dodging thrashing swipes from the claws. The beast crouches back, stinger presenting itself.
A double shot hits the tail, making the Deathstalker whirl around. Carmine lands a distance off. The girl sees the smirk on his face, so she gives one herself, albeit with an eye roll.
Let him show off his new toy.
Neo shatters away, the beast turning fully on the boy. Its tail jabs a large log before whipping up. The log is tossed into the air towards the boy!
Carmine almost moves, but stands after noticing a shimmer. The air seems to break as Neo uses a closed Hush to bash the log up! The wood debris redirects up and over the boy and lands behind the teens. She moves to stand by the boy, patting his shoulder to give the go ahead.
Green light. Carmine grins a mad grin only Roman could love. He raises his gun arm and braces his forearm with his right. "Alright... PANZER!"
The vocal call out triggers his semblance. His armor flashes and washes away, an aqua blue flash around Heulin Noon! The dust ports of his Buster Armor appear locked around the ammo cylinder of Heulin Noon! Then, all the armor plates making up the remainder of the Buster Armor flashes into place, forming a large barrel around the revolver.
The armor is merged with the revolver, now showing a silver hand cannon a foot longer and much wider than the revolver alone. Unwieldy looking, clearly off balanced as Carmine grunts with his arm braced by his support side.
Still, as the Deathstalker charges in a full run at the boy, he aims the cannon up. "Face lift!" His finger itches the trigger. "Ka-" He pulls the trigger.
BOOOOM!
The hand cannon fires an intense shot, blast echoing as wind kicks up around the teens. The shot hits the Deathstalker dead on...
In a flash, the beast's body is flung back. Its claw arms are still connected... barely, as a massive truck sized chunk appears ripped out of its torso. Its head is gone, the bulk of its body is erased with it. Only the outer body where the claws and legs connect remains as it hits the ground in a crackling heap.
Neo closes Hush, having opening it to shield the kick up of dirt. She glances over to find Carmine on his butt, choking on dirt. She smirks and holds out a hand for him. The excitement in his face despite choking is infectious.
"Did you see that?! WOO!" He screams after fist pumping. The unwieldy cannon slouches his left arm, so he calls out. "Zero!" The armor flashes off his revolver, back into place around his torso and left arm.
"Eh. Seven out of ten." A sarcastic voice chimes in. The teens whip around to find Roman standing on a ledge nearby. "How much dust did that take again?"
Roman Torchwick
Age - 26
Carmine purses his lips, flicking the empty cylinder slot and letting six empty dust shells pop out. He snap reloads with his semblance, glaring back. "Enough. I can reload, remember?" Neo snickers, gesturing to the boy's armor. The boy defensively huffs. "Sure, reloading the armor dust is harder, but... shut up. Don't ruin my moment!"
Roman snorts. "Whatever, Silver Streak."
The boy turns his nose up at the comment, then Neo once again pats his shoulder. "See? You appreciate the concept of overwhelming firepower." The girl nods for a second... then holds out her hand palm up... Carmine glares at it, face getting red. He scowls and reaches into his pocket, giving the girl 10 Lien. The girl's cocky grin infuriates him. "Shut up."
She conjures a sign in hand... a sign depicting a salt shaker.
"Bitch..." Carmine mutters as he storms off after Roman annoyed. Neo smiles bright as she pockets the easy cash. She catches up and signs in his field of vision. "It's cute when you're mad." The dual emotions of blustering embarrassment and anger earn a soul crushing sullen glare from the boy...
The three find Blair standing over the rotting corpses of the Beowolves. The blonde nods as the three join her in front of the two men. Blair looks to Roman. "These the only two of Senior's men we require?"
Roman smirks. "Head of the Grimm trade and their main fence merchant in the region. Yeah." He spots the business owner groggily coming to. "Look at that. Question time." The man shakes himself awake, looking up to all four members of team CRBN... His eyes wide.
. . .
One half hour of interrogation later, two undercover mobsters were then found strung up and tied with paper trail proof of their deeds in the alleyway of the local police.
Afterward, Team CRBN finds themselves strolling uphill along the streets. Roman takes the lead, walking confidently. "I find myself up for a reward after a good interrogation. We can leave in a few hours."
Blair nods. "For once, I agree. We HAVE been running ourselves ragged lately." She glances at the teens over her shoulder. "The top of this town is home to some hot spring bath houses. Neo?"
The girl brightens, nodding with a twinkle in her eye. She looks to Roman who scratches his chin. "High life relaxation in hot springs? That's the class I enjoy." The girl then looks to Carmine, who looks apprehensive.
"Hot springs? So, like... public springs?" The boy bashfully looks away. "L-like-"
"Not unisex." Blair states bluntly, eyes hollowing out emotionless. Empty... Judging. "Get your mind out of there."
"I-it wasn't!" The boy sputters, face red. He looks off and crosses his arms. "I-I guess it's cool though." Neo snorts and pokes his side, but he refuses to look at her and shakes his head. "If I see those damn shatter fox ears on you, I will actually slap them off." The boy states blustered before risking a turn to the girl.
"Hmm Hmm." The girl hums a chuckle before walking just fast enough to pull ahead of him.
No fox ears. Good. She's not ragging on him for-
A fuzzy flick pulls his eyes down...
The brown tip of a tail... a short fox tail... pulling his eyes to Neo's-
The boy trips, face planting in the asphalt.
The three CRBN members continue on without paying the collapsed boy any mind. Carmine groans and looks up painfully as Roman calls out. "Quit lounging brat! Our clumsy leader back there."
The rage at Roman's berating is overcome by his attention back on Neo. Shatter tail gone... The girl glances back at him, looking innocently back at his furious glare. As if she didn't do a thing wrong...
No. Bitch isn't strong enough. She's an actual devil at this point.
. . .
For a "city kid", seeing an actual hot spring bath house is surreal. The silver tipped boy hunches his shoulders as he steps into a hallway robed. Telling himself it's no different than a pool. Maybe he's overthinking it. Just relax. Let the warm water therapy begin.
They really have needed some relaxation. This gang war through the country side was derailing their efforts against AZRL, and after gathering all the tools needed to create his Panzer configuration, they were set back.
At least the interrogation went well... Blair and Roman had both men squealing within the five minute mark. From there, it was just a process of listening to all they had. Seriously, unless you're a hunter academy, why even do Grimm trade?
What would Professor Port have to say- Everything. Port would have everything to say on it, so never, ever bring it up if you somehow see him.
The boy steps up to his team, all robed and conversing. Blair perks up upon seeing him. "We'll separate here and leave in thirty minutes."
The boy quirks a brow. "Why not longer? Enjoy yourselves a bit and relax. I got my highlight of the day using Panzer." He smirks.
Roman snorts. "Stay in the waters too long, you'll start to cook." He looks to Neo and Blair. "I'll grab the van after and we can hit the road with morale high."
Neo nudges Blair and smiles. The blonde nods. "Neo and I will also spend a short while in the spa." The short girl's eyes brighten with an enthusiastic nod. "Without stealing anything."
Neo giggles and waves the blonde off. She steps around Carmine, coy look as she marches off to the women's spring around a corner... Carmine's gaze trails after her... so, the women's bath is at a spring through those door-
WHACK!
Carmine crouches down covering his head. "Ow!" He glares up at Blair. "Why can't you do that to her? I did nothing!" His voice comes out in a growl over the pain.
Blair purses her lips. "Don't cry about who gets the attention. Remember the lesson. Keep your mind clean. And Do. Not. Think... about peeking." She leans in towards the sweating boy. "I WILL cut it off if I catch you."
"I would never-!" He breaks under her glare. "I wasn't-" He pauses again, slumping. "Yes, Ma'am." He turns and pads off around another wooden corridor towards the men's spring.
Roman and Blair watch him go, the conman containing a laugh. "Now, we both know he doesn't have the stones to peek."
The blonde sends a sullen glare at him. "I won't underestimate what YOU might talk him into doing."
Rolling his eyes at the accusation, he changes the subject. "So, how long you wanna give it before they both realize they've basically been in a relationship for years? I think she's finally keying in on it."
"The longer we put that off the better." The blonde's posture sags, tired. "I do not have the fortitude to deal with horny teenagers behind closed doors."
"Oh please. You love playing Mom to those two." Roman tilts his head up in thought. "Besides, that's a problem with the lonely road trip is pent up hormones."
Blair turns her judgmental gaze upon him. "Is someone complaining about a dry spell?" She suppresses a groan. "Get over it."
Roman blinks and looks at her. "Me- Oh, no. I've had my fun whenever I go off solo into the city." At the woman's doubtful glare, Roman snorts. "Seriously, last time was that deer faunus waitress at Carlo's two weeks ago."
Blair pauses, lips pursed as her gaze locks on a part of the wall. "... Excuse me?" She remembers them eating at a restaurant the third day in a small town in Eastern Vale. The waitress for the table already seemed... familiar with the conman.
The man chuckles. "Yeah, so when the lovebirds figure things out, you'll be the only dry spell around here." He pats her shoulder before walking off towards the men's spring. Blair lightly flinches at his gesture, posture rigid. "Enjoy the bath, Barbie."
Like that, she's alone. Glaring through narrow eyes at the retreating man. Left alone, she stews in the mood and growls. "Hmph!" She marches to the women's spring.
. . .
Inside the men's spring, Carmine sits in the waters of a corner against some smooth rocks. The steam of the springs cloud the area, making it much less open than he feared. While there were a number of people, the spring itself was quite large, so he found nice isolation.
Very nice. Relaxing. He could almost sleep. Several aches he didn't even know he had were boiling away. So nice-
The water shakes, someone getting in nearby. Carmine perks up, eyes wide to find Roman around a bend in the rocks. "Don't sleep and drown kid. I don't need Barbie blowing a gasket over it."
Carmine pouts. "I won't. Too crowded." He turns away and rests his head on the rocks. "We need to plan what we do next, though. Can't exactly follow the Grimm trail... What could they be using Grimm for in Atlas?"
Roman groans as he relaxes. "Distractions to derail authorities. Test their agents against the Grimm. Sell them off to millionaires who love their animal pit fights. Or D: All of the above." The man then waves him off. "Now, off with you. I want to relax."
He bristles at the dismissal, but the boy sighs. "They gave you and Blair three locations, right?"
The conman groans. He raises a finger. "Their orders come from a Vacuan port town, Myre Harbor. I've already given Junior that since that may be a trail to Senior's hiding spot." Another finger raises. "Money trail showed they were transporting primarily to a city town of Morda in Mantle." Third finger up. "And the guy squealed about all his small game Grimm being given to an agent in some back woods town called Fairmare just an hour's bulkhead ride West of here."
Carmine nods. Roman shifts out the corner of his eye, allowing the boy to catch the black ink '1065' on his back. "Think the Fairmare agent could be AZRL? Pretty suspicious that some rando is pooling a bunch of Grimm together. Small ones at that."
The man snaps a look back the boy. He covers up clearly annoyance and replaces it with a smarmy grin. "Say, you know what's the best way to relax?"
Carmine recoils slightly, brows furrowed in suspicion. "Uh... What?"
"With glorious sights and wonderful views." The conman slowly turns his look to a wooden wall in the distance within the steam fog. "Something to reminisce over in the small moments to come."
Carmine blinks... then follows his gesture to said wooden wall. It's a wall... Like, what could be so nice to see-
He snaps rigid and glares at the man. "No."
"Yes." Roman grins.
"No!"
"Oh yes." The man flicks his hand, a small spark of flame appearing and dying out. "Wouldn't be hard, wording intended, to just... burn a tiny viewing hole in place."
It takes just a second too long before the boy responds. "I- No! You heard Blair. I'd rather get to use it before I lose it." He then crosses his arms and turns away. "Besides, idiot. Porn exists. I can see what I want, when I want." He ends, crossing his arms in an indignant huff.
Roman snickers. "Oh, so that's the kind of depravity that Neo said she found lingering on your scroll." The boy flinches, face blushing furiously!
"Wait what?!" His voice cracks as he yells out loud.
"Don't worry about it." Roman quickly cuts down, glad his little lie was accepted so easily. "Point is, the digital flat look of a screen pales in comparison to the real, three dimensional glistening, supple images that lay just beyond that wooden veil."
"Uh..." Carmine's gaze trails off. His breath chops. "Ha-ah... Uh..." His face gets over redder and redder.
"Plus, be honest, Silver Streak." Roman smirks deviously. "If you saw a picture link of Barbie on those online sites, you'd tap it in a heartbeat, right?"
A flash of horror washes over the boy as he shrinks in. And... he has to admit, it MIGHT be a tempting- NO! But. Nope, she'll cut it off. He stutters. "P-pardon?"
Just one more push, the conman thinks. He's having a blast now. "Oh, riiiiight. I forgot. Your preferred taste is of a tricolor flavor variety." The boy jolts with wide eyes staring at the water. The boy's face darkens to match his red roots.
"N-n-... No- I, n-n-n..." The sputtering mess of a boy starts to sway and shake.
Roman snickers and leans in. "... Never bother me during relaxation time."
The conman pulls away and moves around the rocks to lay where he initially entered the spring. He comes to rest, hands behind his head, with a wide honest smile. Ah... life is good.
Meanwhile, Carmine continues to shut down with dazed eyes as he slowly lowers down. Down as the steaming water engulfs his neck, his chin, mouth, and nose. A whine escapes and bubbles out of the water as his mind runs wild. Oh so wild.
. . .
"Wait what?!" The boy's voice shrieks over the springs, over the fence into the women's spring.
In the springs, Blair opens her eyes, resting against the smooth surface and letting the warmth comfort her. She sucks in an annoyed breath.
"Hmm, hmm." Neo giggles beside her, humming the laughs. She looks to Blair and raises a sign sticking from the water. 'Roman's torturing Carmine.' The chipper smile on her earns a small smile from the blonde.
"Maybe we should give Carmine some recovery time for the next few days, okay? You can't always torture him." Blair softly lets out. Neo nods simply... Too easy. Blair looks more directly at the girl. "I'm being serious, Neo."
"Mhm, mm." Neo nods and smiles, rolling her eyes to look away.
"Neo." The girl glances over, ready to look innocent-
Blair is directly in front of her, glaring hatefully as the faint violet haze of her semblance washes out from her. The dark image punctuates with the Huntress's full intent hanging in the air. "Clamp down your hormones and act responsibly... or suffer."
Neo's face remains schooled... but her eyes are wider, blinking and swapping colors on the sides. Sweat builds on her face as she takes a breath.
She gulps, and nods.
Blair calms her aura, returning to normal as she slides back to resting. "Good. Besides, we don't want too many distractions. Problems come with men." Neo raises a brow. The girl continues to stare at Blair until the blonde sighs. "What?"
Neo brings a finger up in thought. She then smiles and signs. "Problems? Did JD call you?"
The woman jolts rigid, looking wide eyed at the girl. "Hold on one second. What makes you think I have any communication with JD still?"
The girl brightens and signs. "So, it IS Roman!"
She short circuits, mind almost physically sparking. "What?" For once, the blonde is almost hysterical. "Why does it have to be either Roman or JD? Why can it not be any other man?"
"Are there any others?" Neo blinks back and signs looking honest and blank.
"..." Blair stares back hard.
"..." Neo tilts her head.
"..." Blair's eye starts to twitch.
The girl smiles.
And Blair does something she would mock academy students for... "UGH!" Blair tosses her head back in frustration, losing all composure in the moment. The water shifts as Neo moves beside her, attentively waiting for the juicy gossip. "I've no interest in womanizing bastards."
Neo loops an arm up and pats the woman's back. Despite the rather affectionate nature, Blair can't help feeling awkward. Nor can Neo, whose movement is stiff. Unsure.
Blair shifts uneasy before sighing. "I will rescind my order about Carmine if you allow me to vent." Neo nods enthusiastically. "I'll need a drink with that spa treatment."
. . .
The van doors slam shut, Roman leaned back and relaxed in the driver's seat with a smile. "Right, we're ready for the road, are we?" He blinks in confusion as Blair sits calmly.
"Very." She says looking refreshed but glancing away.
Behind Roman, Neo nearly bounces in her seat with a smile and nods. She then looks over, her smile dropping away to concern.
Carmine, behind Blair, is slouched, head against the window, color drained from his body as he looks out. "Mm... Sure." His hoarse voice barely sounds. Curious, Neo jab nudges the boy's side twice. Carmine doesn't even react, save for a wince. So she pokes him again until his hand slowly waves her off. "Stop... it."
"You look like crap." Blair acknowledges. She sucks in a breath and looks to Roman. "Where to?"
Roman thumbs to the almost sickly looking boy. "Silver Streak wants to check out the thing Mr Hedler squealed about. Fairmare. Even if it's not AZRL, it sounds like something that could leave plenty to take for our own finances. Any moron buying up Grimm should be loaded."
Blair hums as Neo reaches forward with her scroll, presenting a bulkhead schedule. Blair reads off. "Next bulkhead to go there is at the top of the town in two hours. It makes a pass over to another town further off before doubling back to Fairmare come morning."
"Of course there's nothing direct. It would only save time." Roman sarcastically mumbles.
Neo conjures a double sided sign between them both. 'That or off road?'
"No off road please..." Carmine whines out. "We'll catch naps on the transport. Even their terrible seating is better comfort than Roman's driving off road."
"One, I assume, of many shortcomings on performance Roman has." Blair mutters, glancing out the window.
While Neo's eyes widen, Carmine doesn't catch the words. Roman quirks a brow, having only caught his name there. "What was that, Barbie?"
"Hmm? It was nothing important." The blonde retorts before going silent. The teens behind them double take between them before Carmine leans over to Neo.
"Psst... What kind of minefield of interaction are we in? And who put us there?" He turns to notice Neo herself glance away, a low off putting whistle coming as she plays it cool... "Oh... So, I'll just ignore it." The drive is awkwardly silent to the bulkhead platforms...
. . .
"I don't get it..." The boy grumbles, laying sideways along four seats lining the bulkhead metal wall. He scrutinizes his scroll getting more annoyed. "No increased Grimm activity in the area of where they're being transported... If anything, Grimm hunting in the area appears to have died down in necessity over the last couple months."
The top of Neo's head comes to read an inch from his. Like him, the girl is stretched lazily along three seats on her own side. She peers at his scroll, despite it being upside down to her view. He notices and turns it so it's sideways for the both of them.
The boy points to a spot on the web page marked 'Public Bounties'. "See? Last Fairmare hunt request was for a single Taijitu. One before that was a Deathstalker a month and a half apart. Nothing on any packs or groups of smaller Grimm. In other words, nothing on Grimm that aren't difficult to capture."
Neo furrows a brow at it, then brings one hand up and gestures around them with a mock erratic gesture.
"Exactly. If there's that many missing, they gotta have a full on miniature horde by now... If they're not selling them themselves, but then why are they buying them?" He gives a sullen glare at the device. "This is gonna lead to a lot of hiking in the forest, isn't it? Not wanting a Menagerie repeat."
Both teens cringe and look about unhappily.
"You're both spoiled then." Blair speaks up sitting at Carmine's feet, herself propping her feet up on a stand. "Wild hunts are mandatory experience at some point in the first two years at Beacon."
Carmine sighs, hands and head laying fully. "Yeah, yeah. I remember Professor Port giving that speech a few times... What are the odds he's still-"
"Yes." Blair answers simply, her face glowering. Not amused at the nostalgia. "Why do YOU remember? I recall you... assisted some professors with their class setups, but never his class."
Neo glances 'up' from her position, Roman sat on the seat further down after the girl. He glances curious as well, but Carmine only pales, as if having flashbacks. "I... volunteered to man the gate controls that let Grimm into the student combat arena. For just one semester. Then he told the same story six different times in two weeks... three times... across all four class grades at Beacon... So, yeah, I volunteered to assist Professor Oobleck every semester after that."
Blair nods. "Which story was it? The Creeper cave of Hasai?"
He shakes his head, groaning. "The Vascan Nevermore." Blair instantly recoils, an unhappy face plastered on. "He ended every single telling with that same FREAKING line."
Both speak robotically, zero emotion put into doing any impression. "And so, the bird quoth Nevermore... Ha. Ha. Ha."
Carmine cringes. "Ffffffffuck, if only someone could teach him how to shut up."
"Every time you two speak of that Academy, the more I learn it's just as freak packed as the criminal world." Roman sarcastically drawls. He stands up. "I'm going to check how much longer the flight is." He stalks off, leaving the remaining three alone.
Carmine glances in Roman's direction, then to Blair. "So... I'll step on the mine... What did Roman do to piss you off this time?" He misses Neo frantically perk her head up, miming a line across her throat to tell him to stop.
"Nothing has been done. He has done nothing to slight me in any way." Blair sends what she hopes is a reassuring look- It fails. The hollow glare sends a chill down the boy's spine. "Roman does as he pleases, and that is okay."
As she turns away, Neo reaches 'up' for her and covers Carmine's mouth. Tilting his head to look at her, she shakes no.
He blinks back confused, then brings a hand in front of her and points once to each, the point for Roman gesturing to the distance. Then he gestures a handshake and laughter. Translation: Why not team bond and get over it now?
Neo purses her lips, bringing her hands together before puffing them out, miming an explosion. She points to the boy, then gestures a 'safe' sign used in ball games. Translation: That will blow up in your face. Stay low and it'll be fine.
He sulks. Translation: Fiiiiine.
Smiling in relief, Neo reaches up and pokes him nose, making him recoil. Translation: Hey. He grunts and turns away. So, Neo does so again! Translation: Hey~!
Carmine growls and swats the hand away, glaring wide eyed 'up' at her. Translation: Stop it, God Dammit WHAT?!
Neo remains unaffected as she brings up her scroll, a plug in pair of headphones jacked in. One earbud is placed in her right ear. Perking, Carmine sighs and smirks, accepting the left earbud as the two each side ways watch a show on the girl's scroll.
Blair calms, observing the two watch whatever video it was. Neo wasn't actively harassing the boy yet, and Roman was not present. She settles in her seat, allowing the small rest for a few minutes.
Rumble...
Turbulence. Their altitude is changing. Sure enough, Roman returns, popping into a seat by Neo as both teenagers straighten and sit up. "Ride's over... finally." The mildly rested team stretches out their backs as the rumbling flight continues.
Minutes pass in the process of closing in on the landing. Carmine even checks the time. Seven in the morning. Gross. At least the sun will be out...
The platform dock stands elevated high above the ground, a large plane with multiple landing pads on each of four sides. Then, a connecting port on each corner to link with ships that dock while remaining afloat. Only eight transport docks. Fairly small, but compared to the town below...
The platform stands on the side of a hill, mid way up the incline and overlooking the bulk of the town below. A quaint western town with dirt roads and wooden walls at its wood line. The town is structured around the nearest mountain, where its base has been converted to a mine.
The small western Vale town of Fairmare.
Although, much of its outer construction was... newer.
That was the first observation Carmine made upon stepping out onto the platform and gazing over the town. He soaks in the image as his team joins him. Roman snorting. "Small town in the middle of nowhere. Plus side, not much to look into." Neo smirks with him.
"Down side. No one will give willful information to outsiders." Blair retorts. "They'll be a tightly knit community." Neo conjures two shatter sign. They read Roman and Blair's names with point values. Both at one.
"Upside. Just need one crack and you basically have everyone's dirty laundry." Roman contends again. Neo's Roman sign shatters and reforms. Now at two.
"Down side. Expect to require searching the surrounding areas to find the true culprits." Neo's Blair sign does the same, also two.
The girl then notices Carmine still staring at the town with a furrowed brow. She shatters the signs, stepping closer and nudging him. He flinches and looks back. "Hmm?" Patiently waiting, he realizes he'd been transfixed and gives a huff laugh. "Ah, sorry. Just... a weird feeling about this place..." He stamps down the feeling and looks to the team. "Right... Roman, do your thing and prowl everywhere that no one ever should."
"Already on it." Roman was already heel turned away, tapping away on his cane towards the staircase to the decline below.
Carmine rolls his eyes and looks at Blair. "I guess we can check the perimeter of the town? If there's really no Grimm attacks, even the surrounding woods should be a walk in the park."
Blair cuts an eye towards the retreating Roman and hums annoyed. "Actually, I'll trust you and Neo to search the surroundings and get a lay of the land. I'll join Roman. Make sure he doesn't do anything that will make me wish to kill him."
"O... kay?" Carmine is confused as Neo facepalms behind him.
Blair begins to walk away. "Remember what I taught you about survival training. Pay attention to disturbances. And Neo!" The little girl perks and smirks, looking innocent. "We could be in enemy territory. Don't stand out."
Translation: Calm things with Carmine...
The blonde disappears, as Neo huffs. As if she has any room to talk. She's just going to harass Roman over what ever it is he actually does. Speaking of which...
Carmine tilts his head. "What was that about-?!" He turns to look at Neo before recoiling away!
Neo stands with shatter fox ears and tail waving.
"WOULD YOU STOP THAT!" The boy shouts at the top of his lungs, turning heads even from the town below...
. . .
Exploring the town, Roman eyed the surroundings. Sparse children seemed to be gathered at a small refurbished townhouse in the center of town. A mock school? Bah. What, can they only get one teacher? Or just instruct them on how to swing the mine pickax.
Still, he settles on somewhere that ALWAYS has the scoop... the local tavern. The Mare's Share, he sees. Roman perks up, surprised. "What do you know? A faunus themed establishment way the hell out here. Things you see." Roman marches through the doors. So early in the day, it only had a couple early lunch patrons inside.
He finds himself a seat at the bar when a gray haired faunus with gray rabbit ears comes on over. Wrinkles show on parts of him, but the man seems well fit. "Welcome to Mare's Share. What can I do ya for?"
Roman hums. "Well, it IS early in the day, so something simple. Mistrali Rum, my man." He speaks as he props the cane against his chair.
The bartender eyes the cane and smirks. However, he frowns after, looking at Roman. "I'm afraid most I can do for mixing is with pop. Running low on supplies."
Roman snorts. "No, no. I want it straight." He then spares a small sympathetic look. "Although, I'm assuming some of your supplies just came into town on the same flight as me"
The bartender smiles and nods. "Why thank you. I'll be right with you."
The conman catches the look at the cane, but says nothing of it. From the back, another rabbit faunus girl comes out in an apron and simple clothes. Much younger than the man- Ah... family business. She must be barely over 20. Name tag is cheap, but understood. 'Tam'. Her furry hair is a light brown with her tanned skin.
"Here you go." The man sets Roman's drink before him, the conman accepting it. Roman almost opens up conversation for intel when the man mutters. "Like Dejavu."
"What do you mean?" Roman pries. The faunus flinches, not expecting the man's hearing to be good.
"Ah, it's just..." The man cracks a smile, looking far off. "Last time a stranger in a cane walked in alone telling me he arrived with my supplies, he ended up marrying my only employee."
Roman snickers, but internally recoils. The hell? "Wow. Quite a way to appreciate messengers you have there." He nods. "Call me Malcolm." Roman makes the name up off the top of his head.
"Dominic." The man responds, friendly. "And, reminder or not, that man was one in a trillion. A good friend."
"Oh yeah? What even drew him out there? Anything I should be aware of out here?" Roman tries first? A little direct, but not TOO suspicious. Play to the old man's nostalgia to get a read on the place.
The musing barman laughs. "Oh, he was a Huntsman. Snuck into town to out a bandit troop that took over. They'd even taken our mayoral manor at the time."
Amused, Roman snickers. "Outlaws getting too comfy out in the middle of nowhere. Never prepared when someone can take their cracks." Roman takes a drink and waves his hand. "Go on. The knight in shining armor saves the day and gets the girl?"
"And then some! Our town was able to negotiate trade deals directly with Vale ever since, and we've thrived. Largest export of dust in the Vale territories!" The faunus spouts off proudly.
The woman faunus steps in, rolling her eyes with a well worn smile. "Yes, Dad. I thought you were done telling the glory stories." She attends to the bar in front of Roman. "Deliveries are in the back for you. I got the front."
Dominic steps back, an embarrassed smirk. "Right, right. Enjoy yourself, sir!" The man leaves his daughter, Tam, with Roman.
She turns a bright smile on the conman. "Sorry. He likes to tell his hero stories. I'm Tam."
Roman snickers. "Malcolm. Stories have many important details. I knew this town had a mine, but that can't be all there is out here."
Tam gives a nervous chuckle. "Well~ our second highest export is new generations of kids going out of town for education?" She laughs as Roman snorts. "Yeah, you're basically looking at all else we have. If you need anything more detailed, there's out town sheriff. He's a former Beacon Huntsman, so he'll have a lot to tell you."
Roman mentally ticks a note to NOT interact with the local sheriff. "If I have to interact with him, I'll assume things have gone horribly." He and the woman chuckle as he leans in with an interest. "See, I'm in town as a traveling journalist with the Mistrali Times, and I'm working on a feel good piece."
"Oh!" The girl perks up, looking impressed, eyes almost becoming stars. "What are you writing about?"
"I've seen that there's a very lacking presence of Grimm in the area for the last several months, and I was going to get a bunch of B-roll for the surrounding areas. Basically a puff piece to mail in about a place both beautiful and safe. I trust you know some beautiful and obscure places in the area? Anywhere half as lovely as yourself?"
The girl blinks and blushes, glancing away before she smiles back. "Well, I know of a few places... And be careful what you say." She winks at him. "Complements like that might end up giving Dad more Dejavu."
The casual reference to the 'married my employee' bit from earlier gets a confident smirk out of Roman. So, the rabbit was already charmed by him before approaching, perhaps? That just makes things easier.
The door of the tavern opens.
All he needs to do is charm her a bit and she can direct him around all the possible hiding spots someone might use around here. His mouth opens. "I fail to see how that's a bad thing-"
"Ah, there you are." Blair speaks as she sits on the bar stool beside him...
Roman freezes still. What the flying blue hell was she doing here?!
Tam blinks confused as Blair settles beside the conman and smiles. "Hello, may I have your finest brandy? On him, of course." The cold, calculated demeanor has merged with a false happy town... Coming off threatening.
Tam gulps. "U-uh, yes, Ma'am. W-welcome to the Mare's Share." She spares a glance at Roman before turning away. "I'll be right back."
The two CRBN members are left alone, Roman dumbfounded as Blair hums and glances at the nearest television. "Fascinating. I didn't take you to favor the innocent and naive."
The conman tenses before falling back to the tried and true. Condescension. "Oh, that tends to happen when you find someone willing to show you all the hard to find spots of the land... Wait, you just scared her off." He groans. "Now, I got nothing."
"Now, that's not true at all." Blair allows a vindictive smirk as Tam brings her drink. "Thank you." Blair's almost kind demeanor doesn't reach the cold eyes.
"S-Sure." Tam stutters and takes a step back. "Enjoy your stay, Malcolm. Miss-"
"Gale." Blair answers with her own false name. She watches Tam scurry off to handle another customer down the bar from them before the blonde sends a glance over to Roman beside her. "What's the matter, 'Malcolm'." The taunt in her casual question hits clear.
"Nothing at all, 'Gale'." He mocks back, clearly irritated. "Just resisting the sudden compulsive urge to hit a woman."
Blair's brow raises, but otherwise doesn't flinch. "Well, those urges come to everyone. You should control that." She condescends back as the two drink.
. . .
Carmine continues a trek around the town, outside its borders. He and Neo hop through the open spaces of the woods, not finding a single track, claw mark, or hair to indicate the presence of Grimm. The boy scowls as he lands on a branch, scanning the ground below. "The hell... No marks of burrowing from any insect Grimm, no claw marks for Boarbatusks or Beowolves, no marks from anything with legs... What, do they only have bird Grimm around here?"
He glares around the sky, just to check. Nope. Nothing.
"For once, I wish we could know exactly what we're getting into. Less we're about to run into a murder of Nevermore, this doesn't make sense." He lands near a gate to the town. Crossing his arms in a huff, he spots Neo almost appear from out of nowhere. "Anything on your run?"
The girl frowns and shakes her head. The two stand stewing in frustration, blissfully unaware of another set of eyes watching them... A feminine figure eyes them from inside the town.
The figure takes one step... then falters, turning and running.
Carmine sighs. "Damn it. Why can't Grimm just work with you when you need to track them?" Neo looks behind Carmine, tensing and waving for his attention. He fails to react as a male figure looms behind him.
"Now, why would a kid like you be looking for Grimm?" An authoritative voice jolts Carmine in place as he turns to face the man. "After all, isn't that a job for a Huntsman?"
Bit of an abrupt ending to the chapter, but I knew the point where I wanted to start next chapter, and found that I reached the end of what I had wanted for this chapter much faster than I expected. Shorter than usual despite the fluff.
And so, on the fifty chapter anniversary of this story, we return to the very first setting in the very first chapter, Fairmare. Who is this town's Sheriff/Huntsman? Who is the figure in shadows?
Am I pulling the trigger on... gasp... SHIPS?!
My how times change.
I'm forgetting something. What is it? Carmine's super cannon?
Introducing Carmine's fourth armor configuration for his Buster Armor System: Panzer. His armor hooks into and around Heulin Noon, taking its next shot from being worth two shots to being worth ten! (The six in Heulin Noon as well as the four in the Buster Armor that allows Jager to function.) It's unwieldy and vulnerable in close quarters, best for longer range, and it expends a large amount of his dust. So... drawbacks.
Then again, what about Carmine doesn't come with drawbacks at this point?
Join next time in chapter fifty one: Wait? Do I Know You?