The odds are against me here.
Cinder briefly thought to herself as she was pushed back from Amber's leaf blade generated from her soul. Her flames kicked up around her, as the leaves gathering around Amber picked up as well.
"I'll admit that you've got the slight advantage over me due to your intense flames, but that's not gonna help you here!" Amber held out the leaf blade in her hand as it sharpened through the channeled Aura, reinforcing. She immediately dashed towards Cinder in a flurry of glowing leaves, and Cinder hurriedly partied the next slash she swung with said blade, sending a wave of flaming leaves to the side. Emerald yelped and ran out of the way so to not get caught up in the blast.
Cinder blew her hair away from her face. She should have expected that the gap was a bit wider than she expected. Elements generated from one's soul were far more powerful than their more normal ones born from nature, hence why she found Ruby's rose petals to be somewhat difficult to deal with, on top of them being accompanied and acting like a gust of wind. Though in this case, Amber's powerful soul was roughly on par with Cinder's. Cinder felt like she had a slight upper hand in power.
But given how Amber channeled and focused her Aura to reinforce her leaf constructs to the point where they could endure her flames with great resistance, it appears that she had the edge on her when it came to skill.
To amplify the toughness of her leaves to the point where they're resistant to my fire...this is a formidable woman indeed.
An obstacle like this placed in Cinder's way. This too must be fate's newest challenge for her. She couldn't help but feel like this encounter was meant to be. However, it ended, on the other hand, depended on them.
Amber stabbed her blade into the ground, and Cinder immediately began moving and swerving around the numerous sharpened blades that pierced from under her. Amber closed the distance with a leap, and slashed at her once again, with Cinder hurriedly parrying. She intensified then flames around her own blade, though Amber's leaf sword stayed strong against it despite this.
"I've trained quite a bit to compensate for disadvantages and situations like this!" Amber grinned as she slashed her leaf blade, a slicing wave of Aura launched towards Cinder. She briskly dodged to the right; a few locks of her hair being sliced away. "I couldn't call myself a capable Huntress if I let something like that slow me down!" Cinder briskly waved a wall of heat around her that attempted to burn away the leaves, but a few of them still got through and managed to slightly cut at her shoulders. She jumped back as a slash from Amber's blade nearly cuts into her shoulder, and the resulting slash carved up a huge chunk of the area in the aftermath.
Swirling glowing leaves surrounded Amber's blade, and she slashed then downwards as the whirling sings followed the direction. Cinder clicked her tongue as she dodged to the left with a jump, with the explosive burst of leaves resulting from the blast managed to push her through the air, until she landed on her feet sliding. across the ground, a few more cuts over her body caused by leaves.
There was no mistaking it now, with how much pressure Amber was placing against her so soon. She was here to test her resolve. A obstacle sent by fate to see if she has what it takes to progress further with her goals. Should she be able to survive the obstacle, she would be able to look farther towards the future she envisions for herself and for her comrades. And she did mean survive. As confident as Cinder was in her own strength, powers and abilities, Amber was plenty formidable herself.
And she went on to prove exactly this, as her sword nearly pierced Cinder's shoulder once she dashed after her, cutting away a few locks of her hair. Though in the midst of her dodge, another glowing stream of leaves slammed right into her alongside Amber's attack, bringing her down and careening her across the ground. Cinder coughed while attempting to stand back up. Quick enough to lift her head and block the overhead strike from above, in which their blades caused sparks from grinding against each other. Though her guard was eventually broken as Amber's leaf blade sharpened considerably due to the precise channeling of her Aura slicing through her heat blade. Cinder channeled Aura through her being just enough to reduce the damage done, but she still ended up with a harsh slash across her midsection before falling to the ground.
It left her reeling for several seconds, but she regained her bearings and got back to her feet, touching the ground and sending a wave of concentrated heat towards Amber. The Aura channeled around Amber pulsed and allowed her to defend against the wave of heat crashing down on her. She stood strong, but she was sweating slightly and she was burning slightly across her skin.
Amber wiped her brow of sweat and narrowed her eyes, the glowing leaves flowing around her in a breeze that only cooled her down somewhat. Though it was enough for her to regain her focus and jabbed her sharpened blade into the ground. Multiple, razor-sharp leaves shot outwards towards Cinder again, from several directions at a time. Stomping, Cinder managed a circular wave of heat that managed to burn some of them away, while others accelerated through and cut at her as flaming leaf blades.
Unexpectedly for her, nearly each of them that survived the onslaught soon exploded as miniature bombs, and she ended up being blasted further back, this time crashing along the ground and landing on her side. She coughed several times before collapsing from the strain of the attacks compounding her. She nearly collapsed, panting while holding her side, blood running down the side of her face.
...Yes...it would seem that partaking in this battle without my full stamina...was not my wisest decision.
Despite having handily defeated Ruby just before, the fact that the girl didn't quite make it that easy for her might have begun taking its toll. She was getting woozy, and she couldn't maintain her Aura for long.
She's been trying to manage things this entire time without a recovery period, and she had already been trying to fight her way towards Roman and Neo, and now she had to deal with Amber showing up unexpectedly. Her stamina was beginning to wind down after pushing herself for so long and for so hard. Though that briefly bout with Ruby was definitely the most exhausting part of it all. She had underestimated Ruby's resilience by quite a margin. Immediately clashing with someone as formidable as Amber was not doing her any favors.
Cinder grimaced at her confidence getting the better of her, it was going to cost her the battle at this rate.
"Alright then, I think that's about enough of you." Amber hummed as she landed on the ground and began stepping near her. "I'll be taking you in, so I suggest you not making this any harder than it already has been."
This isn't good. We're going to get captured if things keep going like this. Emerald thought in a brief panic as she attempted to concentrate her Aura, channeling it, though it was slightly clumsy and somewhat unfocused due to her stress. But for this moment, it would be more and enough.
Amber blinked as she heard something knocking at her head. She turned towards the collapsing building around her, and she tried to knock it to the side to deflect them, though noticed that it didn't connect even though she made contact.
It's not real.
Amber quickly turned back around and could see that Emerald and Cinder were long gone by then. Amber narrowed her eyes as she also noticed that she couldn't track either of their Auras afterwards. She clicked her tongue as she realized they were concealing their Auras to better escape during all of the confusion. She shook her head. A bit irritating, but she had no time to waste further on this. She turned around and continued on her way, with a city still being in need of her assistance.
Once she was sure they've gotten far enough, Emerald groaned as she collapsed onto her knees, sighing as she held a hand up to her nose, which began bleeding. It took quite a lot out of her to conjure a convincing enough hallucination that would distract Amber for longer than a few seconds, and it would be enough for her to get herself and Cinder out of there and out of sight. And with the concealing of their Auras, Amber couldn't track them down immediately, and the chaos wouldn't allow her to focus her natural senses to continue the chase. And given the state of everything else at the moment, she couldn't waste any more time trying to capture them both.
They escaped. Barely.
"That was close. Too close. So that's what an elite Huntress is like..." Emerald sighed as she sat against the wall while wiping her nose of running blood. "My head is killing me..."
Cinder attempted to pull herself together, leaning against the wall and sliding down onto the ground. "It was unwise to fight against someone of Amber's caliber without my full stamina. And even if I had it, it would probably still take too long for a victor to be decided before things spiraled further out of control, enough to prevent a successful escape..." Cinder turned towards Emerald with a nod. "You've saved us both, Emerald. Thank you."
"It's...it's fine." Emerald nodded as she stood up and shook off whatever echoing ringing went on through her head. "Come on, we gotta get that moron Torchwick out of trouble. Neo won't be able to help him all on her own. Not for long, at least. And not with all of the crazy stuff going on around us."
"That's possibly the best course of action at the moment. We need to get our allies to safety." Cinder nodded, with Emerald coming about to help her stand as they continued in Roman and Neo's direction. Things have both gone down according to plan, yet simultaneously, completely off the rails. Life is always throwing challenges like that towards Cinder.
She's yet to encounter one that managed to stop her for long.
Mercury wasn't sure what to think of his new arrival once she showed up, but he did know understand pretty well in regard to just how much of a danger she posed. Especially since after her somewhat polite introduction she simply rushed towards him with a somewhat simple and easily telegraphed punch. It by itself could have been very easily countered and dodged to the degree that he was nearly insulted by it.
Though this was offset by the fact that floating swords had also emerged around her and thrust themselves towards him, forcing him to dodge out of the way of several of the sharpened blades before he was distracted enough for the punch to connect. And needless to say, he was absolutely not prepared for the sheer amount of force behind the blow. It was different from the kind of forceful blows behind Yang's punches; this felt a lot heavier in the sense that no restraint was being used to properly channel it.
The swords forcing him into a position he can't dodge the blow from made it rather painful for when it connected and sent him flying across the street, tumbling across the ground until he crashed face-down into the concrete. He grunted from the impact as he tried to pick himself up, only to falter slightly as his arm gave out trying to hold him up.
My fight with the blond is beginning to cost me-
Pain exploded across Mercury's face, for when he tried to regain his bearings, the girl known as Penny had flown right towards him and punched him across the face with further enhanced force, which nearly rendered him completely unconscious. He was unable to refocus quickly enough, with Penny rocketing towards him and kicking at his chest, smashing him against a nearby car with a pained grunt. He tried to take back the momentum of the assault and quickly dodged the next blow that attempted to land, with him throwing a kick towards the girl. Though despite his efforts this hit didn't land either, for she turned her head to the side slightly and caught him by the ankle. She gripped his ankle tightly, effortlessly lifted him upwards by said ankle, then slammed him into the ground with the force to rattle the area around them. The impact had him cough coarsely, while Penny simply looked at him curiously throughout the entire time.
"Are you prepared to surrender, yet?" Penny asked while casually lifting him and slamming him back down again. "How about now? I do not like hurting people, but this is one of those scenarios where words alone cannot diffuse the situation, thus I must respond accordingly."
What's with this girl, huh?! Splitting pain now echoed within both his head and his back, it was all Mercury could do to desperately try and pry himself away from her, eventually stomping the ground enough to set her off-balance and release her grip on him. He immediately took the opening to jump away from her while trying to think about how to turn this around, if he could. The girl didn't look particularly strong, but she's so far completely betrayed that appearance by utterly thrashing him so far.
He felt something wrap around his leg, and it was some of the cables, perhaps wires, that she was sending out. Surprised of her control over them, he was suddenly pulled towards her with an almost insultingly casual yank, before Penny briefly hopped upwards and kicked him in the face, with both of her feet. The impact sent him hurtling across the street until his back harshly hit a streetlamp, and he coughed while landing on the ground.
Okay, seriously, WHAT is her deal?!
He had tried to stand up in order to properly think of a new approach, but that opportunity was denied rather violently. In the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of gold and red, and felt the heat on his face before he could feel the impact against his gut. The air left his lungs almost entirely, and quite a bit of blood managed to spurt out of his mouth as well. It didn't take all too long for him to figure out what had just happened, he didn't even need to see who it was.
Yang, while he was still trying to recover from Penny's attack, rushed towards Mercury in his dazed state and launched a devastating blow to his gut that took him off of his feet. Her eyes blazing red with anger, she used her other fist to also send him crashing back into the ground with a right hook, harsh enough to crack it, and bounce him across the street again, tumbling until he came to a stop.
Great, his face hurt even worse than before, and he got punched so hard in the gut he could barely stand to breathe without feeling like his ribs were puncturing his lungs. Despite that however, he was able to get back up on his feet, albeit barely.
"I thank you for your assistance, though I do not think it was necessary." Penny looked towards Yang with a tilted head. "Things were well in control."
"I needed to get my licks in." Yang uttered while her eyes angrily focused on Mercury. She gestured for him to stand. "Get up, asshole. Give me a reason to knock your ass out. Try me."
Is this bitch looking down on me?! They BOTH are! Mercury thought with barely restrained anger himself. He hated to admit it, but he had no chance of defeating the both of them. That orange haired girl was ridiculously strong despite her appearance, and Yang was catching her second wind.
This mission was a failure. He knew what this would entail, what the consequences would be.
He'd just have to bite his tongue and deal with them as they came.
"Tch. Too cowardly to face me one on one?" Mercury tried to at least send a barb Yang's way, but she wasn't having it.
"You tried to kill me, and also tried beat my sister to death while she was already unconscious. You think I give a shit about a fair fight by that point?" Yang pounded her fists together. "You wanna talk about cowardice? Come at us. Right now." She dared. She hoped he'd take it, she oh so wanted him to take the dare so that she'd have an excuse to beat him into the ground more. There had to be more retribution for what he tried to do to Ruby, there simply had to. She hadn't had enough yet. Which means that Mercury couldn't goad her into facing him by herself again, for her sisterly concern for her sibling overwrote her pride.
To her disappointment, Mercury was smarter than that. Clicking his tongue in irritation, and briefly glaring right at Yang-which she returned unhesitatingly, cementing their mutual hatred-Mercury suddenly clicked something in his boots and slammed the ground, a sudden cloud of smoke filling the area.
"Smokescreen?!" Yang grits her teeth as she closed her eyes against it.
"I am still able to see him, but he's already made for a swift retreat." Penny declared while turning towards Yang. Then towards Ruby. "I would pursue him, but Ruby takes priority at the moment."
"Ruby...!" Yang immediately cooled down as she turned towards Ruby and rand to her side, seeing her injured state again having her distressed. "We've got to get her out here, somewhere safe. But the rest of my team might need help too." Yang swore to herself. What could she do? Ruby was in utter need of medical attention, but she had a gut feeling that Weiss and Blake were in just as much trouble. She couldn't just leave them on their own.
"I will assist them. You should focus on helping your sister get medical attention, post-haste." Penny offered while looking towards the red cloaked girl, with a new scar over her eye. She had excitedly wanted to meet her, but this was not the way she would have wanted it. Official introductions would have to wait, it seems. She immediately sets off in the direction where commotion was greatest, while Yang saw her off with a stunned look in her eyes. Doing so while holding Ruby up in her arms, she sighed to herself and nodded firmly.
Whoever that girl was or whatever her deal was, she saved her sister's life. And for that, Yang wasn't afraid to admit that she owed her big time.
Ciel hadn't quite expected to run into Weiss during a situation like this, but she immediately changed her priorities to account for it, with the first and foremost priority obviously being to neutralize the threat before it gets any worse. She'd have to find and scold Penny later, for Weiss Schnee was here and badly injured. Likely from fighting the White Fang and protecting the bystanders simultaneously, it seems. It wouldn't have stayed in her favor for long if Ciel didn't interfere.
She was prepared to engage the enemy. Eleanor Maribelle, otherwise known as Bloody Mary.
"I was not expecting a member of the Atlesian Army to come interfere so suddenly. I do wonder what they're up to these days. Oh, never mind. I think our contacts can answer that soon enough." Eleanor hummed as multiple shards of glass manifested around her and rocketed towards Ciel. Spiraling blue winds suddenly swirled around Ciel and deflected and shattered nearly all of the sharp glass shards. She whispered at this for a moment, before those very winds pushed back in waves and further shattered the glass heading towards her. It didn't take very long before they increased in intensity and actually succeeded in blasting Eleanor back, skidding her across the ground and nearly knocking her off her feet completely. "Oh?"
"I'll need to deal with this quickly." Ciel noted, before the increased pulses of wind spiraled around her again and buffeted Eleanor, forcing her to increase the amount of glass around herself to shield herself against the incoming onslaught. She was still pushed back somewhat but otherwise managed to impressively stand her ground against the winds smashing against her. Ciel soon closed the distance with a dash, and a kick to the glass wall sent it shattering into pieces, and a whirlwind sent Eleanor flying about while crashing along the ground. Though she was quickly able to regain her bearings and got back on her feet.
Weiss was still breathing heavily while trying not to focus on the pain racking her body. Bleeding all over and barely able to stand, yet she refused to outright collapse until she was absolutely positive that the danger has passed. The child she safeguarded from harm whimpered and clutched into her skirt, which she subtly noticed while gently nodding to him. She didn't want to touch him while her own hand was covered with blood as well. That wouldn't be a very comforting feeling. She would just have to content herself by staying at his side until either Ciel defeats Bloody Mary or even more reinforcements come to deal with the threats at hand. She herself was in no condition to truly continue.
Even so, she couldn't really pretend that she was satisfied with that.
While she carefully observed any attempts at the enemy advancing towards her, she heard the sounds of even more fighting elsewhere, which was steadily getting closer. She turned her head towards the sound of the commotion, and her eyes wide es at the sight of Blake having leapt high into the air, appearing to be parrying the blades of some sort of combat robot that was attempting to impale her with its glaive. After a second of analysis, she narrowed her eyes at the drone.
I recognize that design...
Blake, in the meantime time, remained stoic but focused as she parried a lunge from the android's glaive that barely scraped her. Her eyes narrowed as she immediately slashed it back into the ground below her, before more of them showed up to try and lunge at her. She had to use her shadow to push herself away from the assault so she could escape mostly unharmed. She clicked her tongue as several more blades attempted to lunge at her, as she twisted about and dodged or parried each of them, then slashed the arms off the androids, then sliced through their heads before landing on the ground. She briskly dodged again, calmly staring at the android in front of her as she stoically shoots it through the head.
"Nn."
She turned to the side and recognized that some of the White Fang were in the area still, and Weiss was among the number of people struggling against them. Though there also seemed to be an arrival she didn't recognize. Nevertheless, she chased down the source of the clashes while she tore her way through the rest of the attacking robots, so she could join up back with Weiss. After a pouncing leap across the roofs, she managed to slash downwards with Gambol Shroud as another bot was cleaved clean through, and Weiss turned towards her in shock.
"Blake! You're here!"
"I am. Though it would seem that reinforcements have gathered for you quicker than we did." Blake deduces as she turns and holds up Gambol Shroud, as Weiss tries to force herself to her feet to resume the battle, only to fall to her knees with a grunt. "Don't force yourself, Weiss. By appearances you're too injured and exhausted to get into an intense battle right now." Blake turned on a heel and sent a slash of Aura towards more of the combat robots, cutting them all down in a single blow. "These robots have been going around attacking the area en masse. I've been trying to suppress them all ever since they've unleashed. I've managed to defeat a vast majority of them myself, but I don't think I'll be able to last longer without help."
"What a coincidence..."
"Indeed. Because you're also in need of help. This has overall been a very unpleasant situation..." Blake turned and was now back to back with Weiss, as they're both trying to keep things from getting away worse. "Can you concentrate your Aura enough to get rid of all of the remaining androids in the area?"
"...Maybe we can do so together. Let me try something." Weiss closed her eyes as she channeled her Aura, before she placed a Glyph under Blake's feet, before it shifted to that of a clock. Blake felt herself accelerating as a result, and Weiss's Aura pulsed with a dignified glow, as did Blake. "Time... Dilation...! Strike now!"
"Nn."
Blake grabbed Gambol Shroud, blade and sheathe, with focused narrowed vertical pupils, before she struck much faster than she's rarely done before, her slashes increasing in pace and in a shadowy blur. The numerous Aura slashes she sent outwards sliced through all the remaining androids in the area, with some even rising up in the air before coming down and cleaving through them from a distance, with some of them managing to create explosive shockwaves that shattered them into pieces. Blake soon dashed forth and slashed through the rest of the androids attempting to recover from the onslaught, cleaving through them with surgical slices of her katana, and even swifter slashes from the sheathe.
Weiss sighed while turning towards Eleanor, seeing her glass getting shattered against the force of Ciel's winds. Several waves of glowing wind smashed against the glass walls, which kept crashing against her glass barriers. They shattered one after enough against the onslaught of wings, which kept increasing in intensity. Eleanor and Ciel stood against each other with neither willing to give each other ground. Though off to the side, Eleanor could see the likes of Blake attempting to hold off the androids alongside Weiss and ended up smiling once she saw the Time Dilation slowing down. She smiled and stomped towards her direction.
Blake's eyes widened as she felt several glass shards slash through her sides, and across her stomach. She was able to dodge just enough to avoid getting impaled outright, but she was still stalled enough where she had fallen onto the ground and tried to collect herself. She turned her head, seeing a much larger array of glass shards aimed right towards her and shooting towards her quickly. They were intent on impaling her whilst she was too disoriented to effectively dodge.
"I do think that the White Fang will benefit greatly from your death, Blake Belladonna."
Weiss's eyes widened as the blades was about to hit their mark towards her friend. "BLAKE!"
A glowing bright Glyph formed underneath Weiss, and something manifested from underneath it. Shimmering to life and glowing bright white and light blue, icy wings flapped into magnificence, a cold mist surrounding the manifestation. Eleanor's eyes blinked as she heard something screeching from within the mist, and the icy wings shifted downwards to protect Blake from the storm of glass blades, shattering them instantly. She observed the glowing Glyph below Weiss, observed Blake's similarly surprised reaction whilst she lay on the ground, and couldn't help but chuckle.
"How amusing. You end up doing something like this over her...?"
The summoned Nevermore screeched ever louder, flapping its wings as gusts of icy wings shattered the rest of the glass projectiles Eleanor tried to bring forth. Multiples of her subordinates were also blown away by waves of icy winds due to the massive attack from the icy Nevermore. Eleanor slid across the ground before stopping, lowering her eyes as the icy beast screeched again, hovering protectively over Blake. Eleanor scoffed at such a display, a Schnee protecting a Faunus. Well, not like it mattered all that much to her, both of them were enemies regardless of this development.
Still, it probably wouldn't do to continue this battle as it was. With Ciel around as well, it likely wouldn't take very long for extra reinforcements to come, fresh and prepared to battle. She was dissatisfied with the amount of blood she wasn't able to spill, but she wasn't going to be able to evade capture of termination if she stuck around any longer. So, she would have to cut her losses here, manifesting a large barrier of glass around herself. Ciel eventually kicked at the barrier, a powerful gust of wind shattering it. Though once she made her way onto the other side, Bloody Mary had vanished.
Ciel narrowed her eyes at the enemy getting away, but now that the rest of the enemies have been felled, she would have to reorganize her current priorities. She turned towards Weiss and Blake, with the former eventually falling to her knees as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Blake immediately caught her in her arms as the Nevermore summon eventually disappeared into a soft icy mist, after turning its head calmly towards its summoner one more time. Blake winced from her injuries as she sits herself down, with Weiss's head laid across her lap.
"...Nn. Somehow we managed to survive." Blake hummed as she lightly caressed Weiss's hair, comforting her in her drift into unconsciousness. "I apologize for you having to pick up after my slack, Weiss. You've saved my life. Thank you."
"...Don't be...such a fool." Weiss uttered while turning her head tiredly to the side. "Covering each other...in moments of vulnerability...is part of being...a... unit..." Weiss sighed as she fully falls unconscious, with Blake staying with her and keeping vigilant of any remaining threats in the area; there didn't seem to be any more. Reinforcements were soon arriving in drives in the form of the police and nearby Huntsmen coming into the fray.
Ciel sighed as she adjusted her bourree. "There were some complications. But the situation managed to stabilize..." She narrowed her eyes. "Now, to find and discipline Penny."
Ciel soon began moving, though even as she did, she fully realized that there was much more to cover than simply finding and giving an earful to Penny.
Events like this were the beginning of something worse on the horizon.
Ruby eventually opened her eyes as she was waking up, and immediately regretted it. She pulled herself forward and clutched the top of her head with both hands, wincing and whimpering from the pulsing rounds of pain rattling her skull. She groaned while leaning her head downwards, shaking her head. She held it slightly with a sigh as she tried to remember the last thing she did as much as she could. She lifted her head slightly as something managed to come to her, through one thing that managed to strike her memory the strongest at the moment.
Her silver eyes matching golden glare for glare. The fiery gaze is seared into her mind, with her resistance against the woman they belonged to ended up amounting to little. It had become quickly apparent to her that she didn't stand a ghost of a chance against her as she was now. And that realization and brief reminder caused Ruby to grip the sheets covering her with gritting teeth. Which proved to not be the greatest move since she winced and held her aching head more. She opened her eyes as she tried to look around the room.
She was in Beacon's infirmary. And the first thing she was Yang laying her head on the side of her bed with her knees on the ground, sleeping soundly with her hair tied back. It seemed like she's been sitting there for a while. She nearly said something to try and wake her up, only to decide against it and look around more. She could see Blake in a similar bed while reading a book in her hands, sitting in place as her ears occasionally flicked slightly. Not too far off, there was Weiss, who was on a bed next to her and had been looking into her Scroll for news updates on the incident. Though once she noticed that Ruby was awake, she sets it aside.
"You're awake, finally." Weiss declared slowly, nodding towards the sleeping Yang. "Your sister's been worried sick about you, she hasn't left your side the entire time."
"She hasn't?" Ruby muttered. They didn't speak too loudly to avoid waking her up, but alas she did anyways. She stirred from her sleep as she opened her eyes, looking up to see Ruby awake and conscious. Her eyes widened at this, while Ruby waved at her. "Hey, Yang, I'm-oomph!"
"RUBY!" Yang exclaimed as she leapt up and clutched tightly onto her sister, hugging her closely. "You're okay!"
"Grrk...Yang...lemme breathe..." Ruby's muffled voice struggled to be heard within the depths of Yang's bosom, though for the moment Yang refused to release her. She wasn't in any condition to break away from Yang's grip, so she simply let her have this until she calmed herself down. Though not willing to let the gesture go unreturned, she did what she could to slide her hands around her and return the hug, feeling her sister gently caress the top of her head. Eventually Yang loosened her grip enough so Ruby could breathe better and speak, though her head still laid against her breasts. She was fine with that, allowing the sisterly aura from Yang to embrace her as well. "How...how long was I out...?"
"Four days." Blake chimed in, snapping her book closed while turning to see Ruby's look of surprise. "You were the last of us to awaken, so we waited here nearly the entire time. Yang especially refused to leave you by yourself."
"Guys..." Ruby quietly says, before she grunted and held her head. "My head is killing me...what happened when I blacked out?"
"Some smug faced dipshit tried to kill you while you were unconscious." Yang growled, her caring and protective hold over Ruby maintaining. "I tried to fight him off, but he was tough. Then backup arrived just in time. We managed to drive the jackass off before he could do any worse." Yang's grip reflexively tightened, though not as strongly as before. "I almost lost you, when I couldn't do a damn thing..."
"But you did. You held out until help came." Ruby reassured with a soft smile, comfortably nestled against Yang's chest. "That ended up saving me."
"Yeah, I guess. But it still doesn't feel good that I couldn't do it on my own." Yang closed her eyes. "I'm not going to get into a fit over it, though. What's done is done. There's just what I gotta do next to make sure this can't happen again when I can help it."
"Our collision course with the White Fang barely went any better." Blake informed while shaking her head. "Not to mention that I was also engaged with another enemy that was spreading further chaos in the area."
"Had it not been for Ciel coming in, and Blake managing to reach me soon after, I wouldn't have been able to make it." Weiss uttered while briefly touching the scar over her eye. "We were extremely fortunate that help managed to arrive for us when it did, but we also can't be satisfied with that on its own. That sort of luck will not favor us multiple times."
"Yeah, you're right about that. Our capabilities and reliability as Huntresses would not be well displayed if we end up caught in problematic situations like that more often." Blake uttered with her twitching ears, vertical feline pupils blinking quietly. "We have to do better than this. We have to be better than this."
Weiss narrowed her eyes briefly, her mind going back to the boy she managed to save, but was not so fortunate to have saved the company he was with. It wasn't a complete failure, but it wasn't a satisfactory success, either. She needed to produce even better results than that if she wanted to be seen as truly reliable. "Agreed. This cannot be allowed to happen again when we have the ability to do better."
Ruby looked amongst the others with a soft sigh, managing to relax slightly. It was such a frustrating feeling to have come so close to failure, which would have resulted in one or all of them getting wiped out, if it wasn't for outside help arriving at an opportune time. She wasn't completely unaware that they weren't quite at a level where they could possibly take on a variety of threats and come out on top on their own. However, being reminded of this herself with how easily Cinder managed to defeat her without trying all that hard was a truly pressing point of frustration for Ruby. Especially when it's now known to her that she's working alongside Roman Torchwick. Something has to be done about that, but Ruby clearly isn't at a stage where she could reliably handle it. She had nearly died when she wasn't even awake when someone tried killing her when she was unconscious, and Yang almost had to watch that.
Such a thing could not happen again, not while there was something she could do.
"With this, I think it's unanimous that we're all going to have to improve if we're going to prevent something like this again. Whatever's happening, we can't deal with it on our own." Blake deduced while sitting up and swinging her legs across so her feet touched the ground. "This calls for an improved outlook on how things are to play out. If we want to reach the results we want, we need to make ourselves capable of it. We can't do that as we are now."
"There's much for us to do." Weiss uttered while sitting up and pushing her hair away from her eyes. "I know we have the capability of doing better and providing better results, we have to act like it and bring that into fruition."
Ruby nodded while she gazed towards her red hood, which she had folded up nearly and placed on her bedside. She briefly ran her hand across it with a soft nod. "Yeah. We're gonna get better from this. I know we can."
While the girls were coming to an agreement, the door to the infirmary opened up, briefly putting pause on their conversation. They went silent when they realized that Glynda had entered the room, and the silence that followed was a result of her sheer presence. The older woman pushed her glasses up as she approached the quarter with a neutral expression, which made it hard for them to discern exactly what she was feeling or thinking at the moment. One thing was sure, she wasn't entirely pleased with them. And that subtle implication was enough for them to sit silently and in attention as they waited for her to speak.
"I wished to address you all on the matter at once, but I waited for Ruby to recover and awaken first so that I won't have to repeat myself." Glynda declared stoically, and they already began wincing from the authoritative tone she took. "I do not think I have to comment on the recklessness you've all displayed four days ago."
"Uh, well..." Yang rubbed the back of her neck with a wince.
"The damage caused across the area likely could have gotten worse with your involvement. You realize this, don't you?" Glynda imposed further, unrelenting without raising her voice.
Weiss could tell when someone of Glynda's authority was disappointed in her. She's seen that kind of look from her elder sister many times on the rare occasion she's done something truly foolish out of unearned confidence. She was not excited to be faced with such an expression again. "There were many people in danger around those areas, we were trying our best to handle things before they got out of hand. We even signaled for reinforcements beforehand because it was that serious. We were trying to buy time for others to arrive."
"Y-Yeah! We were onto trying to help!" Ruby quickly supported.
"As well-intentioned as you were, you also could have been killed. You are fortuitous to not have been. Intentions alone cannot justify your haste." Glynda cuts through instantly, which makes Ruby flinch away from her gaze. "All it would have taken is a singular moment of things going wrong to have assured your deaths in such a dangerous situation, never mind the collateral damage caused due to the fighting. What would I have to say to the people you would leave behind?"
Blake calmly looked towards Glynda. "There's no one left who would mourn me if I died."
Cold silence.
Weiss and Yang shot their heads towards her from her unexpected declaration. Glynda didn't respond directly to it, but for a flash of an instant, one could see that she was saddened that a young woman like Blake could think such things. Sher ead in the reports that the White Fang were an unexpected chaotic element that entered the battle and made things even worse. That encounter, being reminded that a group she once believed in now called for her death, likely did not do wonders for Blake's emotional well-being.
Fortunately...
Blake felt a sudden weight against her chest, looking down as Ruby hugged her. From one bosom to another, Ruby tightened her embrace over Blake to ensure that she couldn't break away from it. Blake was briefly confused by this, until Ruby lightly lifted her face from her breasts while shaking her head.
"Please...never say anything like that again, Blake. Don't ever think of something like that. Because it's not true. And it will never be true."
Blake's ears folded against her head at Ruby's sincere request, hearing her on the verge of a choking sob. She soon returned her hug and rubbed her back in slow circles. She had briefly forgotten where she was and who she was with. She apologetically nuzzled Ruby's cheek. "Right. I'm sorry. That was excessively pessimistic of me."
"Shit, Blake. Do we need to give you more hugs or something? That's one of the heaviest things you've said yet." Yang uttered while stretching her arms, as if preparing to give said hug.
"I concur. Such a mindset is not good for you, Blake. It's best that we do away with it posthaste." Weiss insisted while pushing away her undone hair.
Glynda watched the quartet attempt to comfort each other, briefly taking off her glasses to wipe them clean. "I do not say these things to be discouraging. You each have the commendable spirit required of Huntresses, but that alone can only get you so far. You must take care not to rush into situations behind your ability to handle. You have been making considerable progress, but not enough to handle situations of that magnitude. And I know you all are well aware of these things, yet evidence and experience has proven that you can't always help yourselves. The ability to act on a reliable intuition is an important skill to have, but so is properly thinking your actions through." Glynda soon places her glasses back on, her eyes returning to focus. "Properly balancing the two will further your capabilities as Huntresses. And more importantly, it will keep you alive. Remember this. Don't allow yourselves to become self-sacrificial to the point where you lower the value in your own lives. Our world isn't in such a desperate state that throwing lives away en masse is the only way for civilization to exist for several minutes longer. Pace yourselves." Glynda turned towards Blake. "You can't help anybody if you end up dying."
Blake didn't respond immediately, but something in her eyes shifted. And for the moment, that was enough for Glynda.
"Am I understood, ladies?"
"Yes, ma'am..." The quartet eventually concedes to the elder Huntress, unable to really dispute her points.
Glynda sighs while adjusting her glasses once more. "Do not look so discouraged. The last thing I would want to push is the idea that children are not allowed to be children. It's never inherently long to have such youthful spirits striving to better themselves. What I implore is to keep it nurtured and safe, lest it burn out and extinguish. I don't want to see that happen to you, hence me scolding you away from unnecessary recklessness." Glynda calmly turned and began to leave the room. "You'll have plenty of opportunities to improve yourselves and be of help to others, but you'll squander those chances if you keep attempting to grab them too soon, too quickly."
Glynda left the room, leaving the quartet by themselves. After taking in a moment to quiet down, with Ruby wiping away gathered tears in her eyes, Weiss broke the awkward, sullen silence.
"She's right. We might have allowed our fast progression to nearly blind us to the fact that we're still juniors." Weiss ran a hand through her hair, sighing softly.
"If we keep trying to punch above our weight class before we're ready, that's gonna screw us over in the long run. Or the short run, if we're real unlucky." Yang muttered while scratching the back of her head. "Maybe it ain't such a bad idea to just slow down a little bit. Anything to avoid that happening."
"I don't disagree. We're of no use to anyone if our abilities can't handle the problem. Then we ourselves end up becoming the problem." Blake's feline ears twitched as she looked between her friends. "Slowing down and catching ourselves might be for the best. I don't want to see any of you getting hurt like that again."
"Neither do we." Ruby reassured while placing a hand on her shoulder, then securing a hug around her. It didn't take too long for Yang and Weiss to join in as well, albeit with slightly more hesitation from the latter before she managed to mostly pull herself together, wiping her tears. And after that, they separated, with Ruby having a bit of a clearer head than before.
"Oh, by the way." Yang noticed Ruby's eye. "Looks like you and Weiss have something in common, now."
"Scars over the eye." Blake agreed calmly.
"GAH! I nearly forgot about that!" Weiss fussed as she turned towards the surprised Ruby. "How's your eye feel?"
Ruby lightly placed her hand over it, sighing. "A bit itchy, can still feel the pain from the slash...but the ehe itself isn't damaged." She narrowed her uncovered eye. "I didn't let Cinder get away with it, though. I managed to slash her right back."
"Cinder, huh? Well, when I find her-" Yang began, but Ruby held up her hand.
"No. She's way out of our league as we are. Going after her is only going to lead to the same thing...maybe worse. Had she not been distracted she probably would have killed me before whoever Yang fought did. "I don't think I can fight her again right now, as I am. Along with everything else that happened today, she showed the super large gap between us. Running into her again without getting stronger...is a bad idea."
Yang could see how serious her sister was about this, and slowly, so did Blake and Weiss. "Yeah, I got to agree with ya there, as much as I hate to admit it. We seriously need to step up our game if we're going to be able to handle what comes up ahead. Whatever that is, whatever that means." Yang folded her arms. "And even through that, we ought to try our hand at working with others outside our little unit. The four of us are pretty badass, but at times we'll only be able to get so far with just us."
"Mhm. But I wouldn't be able to know where to-" The conversation was paused as they heard a knock on the door, causing them to turn towards it, and seeing someone step through with a smile and a wave. Yang recognized the face and hair, bow included, immediately.
"Salutations!" Penny beamed while making her way towards the group.
"Oh, it's you." Yang acknowledged with a nod.
"Hello there, Ruby. I'm glad you're recovering well." Penny relayed with a sincere sense of relief. Ruby wondered what this was about, but sense Yang seemed to recognize her, and a glimmer of gratitude shined in her eyes, she could hazard a guess as to who this was given recent events.
"Wait, are you the one who saved me and Yang?"
"Affirmative!" Penny gracefully stepped back and did a curtsy, using her hands to hold out her skirt. "My name is Penny Polendina! A denizen of Atlas and outstanding synthetic lifeform companion to friends!"
"...Did she just say synthetic lifeform?" Blake uttered.
"PENNY!" Ciel slapped the door open with a kick, her composed demeaner having vanished altogether. "I take my eyes off you for a moment and you're already causing a mess!"
"...Ah." Penny blinked as she realized what she just did. "I do believe that I was somewhat overexcited."
"I can't believe this." Ciel uttered while palming her face.
Ruby blinked and turned towards Penny. "You say that you're a synthetic lifeform? Doesn't that mean...?"
Penny gently poked her fingers together, looking to the side. "I...I would say so. I am a synthetic lifeform, capable of generating an Aura. There are not a lot like me, you see." Penny held her hands outwards, as several swords floated above her head, her Floating Array. "I was made, not born, like most other girls. An artificial being that's been scientifically enhanced and cybernetically augmented in order to combat and protect in various different conditions." The swords folded back in a row, while Penny's hands fell back to their sides with a sigh. "This knowledge, while it has always been known to me, has left me somewhat doubtful if I could even be considered a real girl..."
Ruby blinked. "Wha? Of course, you're a real girl."
Penny blinked back, somewhat surprised. "H-Huh?"
"You think you being born into the world differently than everyone else means that you yourself aren't a real person? That's kind of silly."
Penny honestly didn't know how to proceed from there. "This, uh...this is progressing much easier than I anticipated..."
Ruby gently took Penny's hands into her own. "You saved me and my sister without hesitation, which means you're someone who values life. I don't think that someone who didn't have a heart and soul of their own would be able to choose to do that of their own free will." She then gently taps her chest with a soft smile. "Be it squishy guts, nuts and bolts, or some crazy combo of both, I can feel that you've definitely got your own heart and soul, and that makes you as real as anyone else."
Penny blinked softly. "Ruby...I don't know what to say."
"I've got an idea for that." Ruby smiles sweetly. "Do you want t be friends?"
Penny's eyes sparked with new life, and she eagerly brought Ruby into a tight hug. "Oh yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! Sensational friendship acquired!"
"G-Gentler hugs would be nice..." Ruby uttered, being tightly cuddled against Penny's chest. "S-So, what can you do? Those floating swords looked pretty cool."
"Oh! My very own unique ability!" Penny beamed as she separated from Ruby, lifting her hands as Floating Array levitated above her head once more. "My entire body is scientifically enhanced, but because I'm able to generate an Aura, I can use that in conjunction with my cybernetics!" She demonstrated as a green orb of energy hovered over her hands, as well as several strings that connected to her swords, puppeteering them through her fingers. "I'm able to use my Aura to create and remodel mechanical manifestations from my person. My father, who helped create me, allowed me to codename it 'Soul Machina'."
"Cool name." Blake nodded softly, and Ruby hurriedly agreed with her.
"My Floating Array were the first weapons I was able to create, and they remained my favorites." Penny informed while looking towards Ciel, who sighed and shook her head. It's already progressed this far, there was no point in stopping it now. "With this arsenal at my arrangements, I am set to complete many different missions requiring a combative approach. Although, I was sent to Beacon for the same of learning how to better interact with the world outside of that."
"They didn't let you do much outside of making sure you had firm control over your abilities." Weiss guessed, and Penny nodded hurriedly. "Well then, with you being sent here, they seem to have acquired an adequate amount of faith in you. Hopefully you don't squander it."
"I will be sure not to disappoint! Now, what will be our first friend activity together? Perhaps eating together? I'd like to do that a lot with friends!"
"You can eat?" Ruby blinked.
"Numerous modifications and improvements upon myself, I eventually acquired the ability to eat and taste. My very first time doing so was a fascinating experience!" Penny clapped her hands together. "Oh, but that is right. You are still recovering. Worry not, friend! You don't have to move, for I'll bring something for all of us!"
"That would honestly be appreciated." Blake agreed, already thinking about what she wanted to eat, for she was already drooling at the possibilities.
Weiss sighed as she and Ciel similarly made eye contact. "Well, I'd hazard a guess and say that this definitely doesn't match up with the schedule you likely set out, does it?"
"This throws it completely out of whack. I knew I should have kept a tighter leash on her, to prevent something like this." Ciel grumbled while massaging her forehead. "Well, there's no point in trying to go against it now. I'll just have to keep supervising her from here on our so she doesn't cause any more trouble."
"Hey, while you're here, how about you join us? They're bound to have something wicked great at the mess hall if ya look hard enough! Vale food has its own greatness to it!" Yang beamed brightly.
Ciel almost declined the offer, but then the subtle rumbling of her stomach betrayed her instantly. She had the grace to blush at the display, making her glare at Yang, whose friendly smile took a turn for the knowingly smug. Gripping her blue beret and tipping it down to hide her face slightly, Ciel turned to the side with an irritated, embarrassed pout.
"...What are they serving today?"
A bit far out, Glynda was passing back by, only to quietly stop and hear the entire exchange. Knowing that some of the young Huntresses were getting along with those from Atlas, she nodded approvingly and continued on her way, pushing up her glasses.
With a little diligent work, this might turn out alright after all.
"Well, I can't say that was the worst experience I've ever had. But I definitely wouldn't call it one of my best."
Roman uttered as he was sitting idly back at the hideout, grunting as he was holding his side, rolling his arms. He managed to get away with the help of both Cinder and Neo, but he still managed to get a few scrapes for his trouble. Regardless, quite a call so close was rough for him, and was also the reason why he wasn't so keen on doing risky stunts of his magnitude often. At least, not when he's unsure enough in his ability to get away with it.
But he managed to do so today, and that brought forth a fulfilling sense of accomplishment that's somewhat rare to come by these days. Not without a lack of trying, but a lack of a reward for it. A material reward, to be precise. And fortunately, while he was able to kick up a ruckus that got a lot of eyes on him, the boys were able to continue some of their robberies unimpeded, meaning they've collected quite a surplus of supplies, Lien, and even Dust for their troubles.
All in all, a risk much steeper than he's comfortable with, especially since, again, he likely wouldn't have escaped without Cinder and Neo's help. But the results, including a massive boost in reputation due to his unprecedented audacity, were well worth the trouble and the bruises that came with it.
That didn't mean he wasn't annoyed at getting hurt at all, though.
"I have to say, Cindy. I wasn't entirely sure if you were going to keep your end of the bargain here." Roman uttered while briefly taking off his bowler hat and slicking his hair back. "But you went ahead and fought off an elite Huntress like Amber in order to cover our escape. I'm not immune to admitting to where I'm rarely wrong-" Neo rolled her eyes at this. "-but you actually got us in a pretty good position. Color me surprised!"
"Fortunately everyone managed to escape capture. That's a relief." Cinder hummed, as she was setting aside a plate of cake...one of many it seems, for she's already completely gone through six of them. And she confined casually eating in spite of this. "With this in mind we can now focus on giving our power base a bit more firmness to it, and provide our community various means of holding itself together. Remember, loyalty is earned, especially when it is sincere. And sincere loyalty requires sincere gestures."
"...You know, I didn't take you as someone who goes through cakes as much as Neo goes through ice cream." Roman casually wondered, seeing as Neo was already up to another bowl of cream straight after her fourth one, casually getting several scoops and eating them with ease. "I kinda had you pegged as the type who would avoid binging like this."
"I have not, nor will I ever, take food for granted, Roman. Especially desserts." Cinder deadpanned, before she turned towards a cupcake and takes several bites, in which her eyes sparkled and she hums and swirls around in her seat, kicking her legs about. "Oh my, this is so wonderfully sweet!" She hummed with a hand on her cheek, slightly casual about the newly gained scar over her eye.
Roman sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. "I seriously can't get a good read on you. First you're talking like a manipulative schemer who's thring to think several steps ahead, and now you're acting like a little kid who's never had sweets before." He shook his head and place his hat back on his had. "Lady, you are by far one of the strangest women I've ever met, which is really saying something!"
"Why, are you saying that I'm a once in a lifetime experience?" Cinder smiled while placing a hand over her chest. "Roman, you flatter me."
"Don't read too much into it."
"How should I read into it, then?"
"Definitely not like that." Roman scoffed. "Ya know, most women wouldn't be caught dead scarfing down sweets like you are. Something something figure whatever."
"Most woman are not me, Roman." She shrugged while placing one voluptuous leg over the other. "We should all be able to eat whatever we please, whenever we please. I'm not so obsessed with self image that I would stay my sweet tooth for it. I simply cannot help it if their ways of managing their weight are inferior to my own." She smiles while wiping icing from her cheek. "Emerald is aware of what I mean. Right, Emerald?"
Emerald, sitting a bit to the side, currently lying on her back while surrounded by several platters herself. Having just been through a stressful ordeal that involve having to strain her powers in order to help them escape, she's been drained quite heavily. By the time they reached the hideout she was asking the first to just dig into their food once everything was settled and safe for the night. Cinder thought it was a pleasant way to reward her for all her hard work.
"Riiight..." Emerald slurred slightly, possibly on the verge of a food coma.
"Look at her, pigging out over there. We ALL know where that's going." An illusion of Emerald popped up next to Neo, and gestured suggestively gestures towards Emerald's ample breasts. Emerald was suddenly wide awake as she shot up and pointed towards Neo.
"H-Hey! Don't use my face to say such things!"
"Then should I use your face to do something like thiiiiis?" The illusionary Emerald purred as she held her hands under her breasts and lifted them up with several bounces, which had the real Emerald sputtering and struggling to speak at her audacity. Cinder, meanwhile, simply rubbed her chin at the display.
"Don't use my image to do such things, either!"
"Neo can't speak on her own, so she does so through her illusions. What an intriguing workaround for muteness." Cinder hummed curiously.
"Yeah, Neo's perfectly capable of communicating like that, but she usually prefers charades and sign language if it's not important...or when she wants to mess with people."
"An interesting and deceptive ability, indeed."
"Cinder, can you do something about this?!" Emerald uttered with a blush on her face as Neo silently laughed at her illusionary Emerald flaunting her breasts.
"There's no need to worry, Emerald." Cinder smiles knowingly. "I for one, think your breasts are lovely. You shouldn't be ashamed of them at all."
"Cindeerherherrrr...!" Emerald whimpered as she realized Cinder-knowing damn well that was not what she meant-was joining on the teasing, which Neo took as a deal of approval to toy with her further. Roman sighed and tipped his hat down, turning away from the commotion with a shake of his head.
Everyone stopped in place when they heard the door being kicked open. Roman and Neo were immediately on the alert, with Emerald jumping in place in surprise, and Cinder slowly turning towards the commotion with a casual tilt of her head. Seconds of silence ensued, as the sound of boots trampling across the room eventually managed to break it.
"Finally, I found a place to lie low..." Mercury uttered with his hands in his pockets, before lifting his head up to see Roman pointing his cane towards his head. "Hey, you mind getting that out of my face?"
"No, I think I'm going to keep this right here. Ya know, safety precautions."
"You're not gonna be safe for much longer if you don't-" Mercury paused as he noticed something pressing into his neck. The shaep blade from Neo's Parasol, Hush, pressed into his jugular and threatened to tear it with just the briefest flick. Neo held the blade there while licking the remains of ice cream from her fingers. "What, you have a problem or something?"
"The problem here is you." Emerald narrows her eyes as she aims both of her guns towards Mercury. "Who are you and why are you here?"
"Neither of those things are your business." Mercury shrugged with folded arms. "I think I'm just going to take this space for myself, if ya don't mind. I'm not a 'sharing' kinda guy."
"Punk. You think you can just waltz in here and say and do whatever you want? That's my schitck! Get your own!" Roman complained petulantly, while his cane began charging with energy from the Dust within. "If I were you, I'd walk away and forget we ever met, kid. This isn't gonna end well for you."
"Pfft, says who? You? You're a joke, Torchwick." Mercury scoffed. "Yeah, I've read about you once or twice, and you're not all that." He felt Neo's blade beginning to press further, and he smirked towards her as if daring her to go for it if she really thinks she could.
"It doesn't matter what he is, what matters is that you're not welcome here. Get lost!" Emerald exclaimed with rising irrigation. Mercury looked towards her with another scarf, then stayed on Torchwick and Neo, to her exasperation. "Don't you ignore me, asshole! I'm threatening you too!"
Roman and Emerald were close to pulling the trigger, Mercury was lifting up his leg, and Neo was going to go for a stab.
"Oooooh, this is so tasty..."
Everyone paused and awkwardly turned towards Cinder, who was helping herself to even more cupcakes given to her by Melanie and Militia. Roman's eye twitched at her lack of seriousness regarding the situation, while Emerald appeared more worried than before. Neo was just itching to stab Mercury but was curious about Cinder's next move. Once she cleaned through the second batch, swiping more icing from her cheek, she slowly stands up and stretches her arms.
"Now, everyone. This is no place to come to blows. We've barely recovered enough for that." Cinder attempted to placate with raised hands.
What's her deal? Mercury narrowed his eyes.
"Mercury, right? I don't think there's any need to escalate things. There's of space for all of us to rest and recuperate, if that is indeed what you're looking for." Cinder walked up to Mercury, gesturing for Emerald to lower her weapons. Emerald was reluctant, but she did so while keeping her glare locked on the intruder. Roman and Neo looked at each other shrugged and stepped back as well. Cinder was eventually face to face with him, her arms folded. "Well, is it? Because it seems like there might be more to this haphazard decision of yours. Would you like to talk about it?"
"Why would I want to do that?"
"Do you have any reason not to? Is there a risk that comes with exchanging information with me that would dissuade it? Hm? Do you have anything to lose by simply telling me why you're here?" Cinder curiously tilted her head. "If not, surely it cannot hurt to confide in someone about your troubles. Would it?" Cinder watched as Mercury scoffed at her and turned his head away, though she patiently waited for him to confront forth of his own initiative. After mentally weighing his options, he grunted and turned to face her again.
"I was on a job, and it botched badly. My employer wasn't happy about that, and now the jackass wants to off me." Mercury grunted while rolling his neck. "I've been fighting off everyone he sent at me, ever since. I'm looking for a place to get my strength back up and get out of his line of sight...runnin' low on empty as it is." Mercury huffed. "So, you going to clear house or what? I already told ya I don't like sharing."
"How cold of you. You agreed to share that bit of information with me, didn't you?" Mercury frowned at her use of technicalities, but she pressed her advantage. "It's very easy to consider. I can't very well let my friends get kicked out of their own hideout. But on the other hand, you seem to be someone who could use a place to belong." Cinder tilted her head with a smile. "Should I provide you sanctuary from your pursuers, would you be willing to be my friend?"
"WHAT?! We don't need a bastard like that as our friend! We don't need him at all!" Emerald exclaimed with an exasperated shout.
"Pains me to say it, but I agree with Mint-Hair, there's no way we need another brat attached to us! I barely tolerated the first one!" Roman hurriedly agreed, which had Emerald glaring and growling at him for his insult. Cinder stayed focused on Mercury, pushing her hair away from her face. Menuey placed his hands in his pockets, gazing closely at her again.
"What's in it for me?"
"It seems that you've been discarded. Much like the rest of us, in some way or another. I know there's a way for us discarded to use our talents and skills, and our strengths together, in order to forge something befitting for us all. Something that will allow us to hold onto our independence in a world as turbulent as ours." Cinder tilts her head quietly. "What do you say, Mercury? How would you like to be able to prove just how wrong your employer was to throw you so easily?"
Mercury pondered his options further for a moment, before he turned to the side with a roll of his shoulders. "Payback against that old man would be nice, because he's not going to stop coming after me until I'm dead. He's got a much stronger grudge than I gave him credit for."
Cinder softly smiles. "Will that be a yes?"
"Sure, why not. It's not like I've got many options left for me at the moment."
Emerald groaned in annoyance, while Neo shrugged and simply got herself more ice cream. Meanwhile Roman sighed and tapped his cane on the ground in slight annoyance, but he did manage to hang onto something Cinder said another her negotiations. "What was that part again? Hanging onto independence in a turbulent world?"
"Mhm. That's right."
"That got something to do with your big plans?"
Cinder hummed as she sits back down, cupcake in hand and one leg crossed over the other. She also took the time to snuggle the scarf around her neck, with a soft sigh.
"Something along those lines..."
"Well, Merlot. It seems that your assain failed to kill his targets. So much for that, eh?"
Dr. Merlot snarled, seeing on the cameras that many of the bots he sent after Mercury for his failure had been destroyed, one after the other. And after that, he wasn't able to track him at all. Such a moronic fool he was, entrusting his main targets in the hands of a brat like that. He should have known to never rely on such insignificant sources, but he was trying to stay on the down low until his preparations were completed.
Well, he was closer than ever to doing just that, so he would have eventually discarded Mercury either way.
"It doesn't matter. I'll have those girls dead soon enough. But I must prioritize, for my main goals are far more important." De. Merlot set his sights on the images before him, several pictures taken, and even more experimentations being made, he was getting closer than ever. His smile took a turn for the malevolent.
Soon, he thought. Soon, Vale would crumble and burn to nothing, and he would laugh at it's scattered ashes.
Somewhere deep into a quiet town in Vale, just outside of its barriers and borders, a patrol of fledgling hunters were feeling proud after managing to slay the approaching conclave of Grimm. They sighed with relief and held each other up, smiling as their uniforms were dirtied and messy, but they were otherwise healthy.
"Man, those Grimm were no joke. Fortunately we were able ro drive them off in time..."
"Yeah, I dunno what would have happened if we didn't catch them when we did."
They all chuckled some more as they were on the verge of taking a brief rest before heading back home. Suddenly, they heard something bubbling around them, and they immediately turned their heads towards the source. "What was that?! That grumbling!"
"Yeah, I hear it! I feel it, too!"
"What is this sinister feeling swelling up in my soul...?"
It wouldn't be known to them immediately, but from nearby, a Grimm Pool had slowly manifested due to the uptick of negativity that has been infesting the area ever since clashing with the recent Grimm horde. And it seemed to have pushed something within it past the breaking point. The ground shook, and a feeling of sheer unrestrained malice swept across the group, nearly freezing them in ace due to the immensity of the malevolence they felt.
Then it stopped.
Suddenly, a clawed law rose out of the ground, pulling something up with it. The patrol were startled at the sight, training their weapons on what's assuredly a Grimm. From the initial looks and feels, it seemed to be a Beowolf. Though, it seemed far, far different. Far dripped from it's body as it stood on all fours...and then proceeded to stand on its hind feet. To their immense shock. Despite the canine feel they got from the Grimm, it almost felt...humanoid.
The canine Grimm tilted it's head, the markings on its mask beginning to glow.
"W-We shouldn't just stand here! We gotta kill it-" One of the hunters began to exclaim, but found themselves undsbke to speak any further, for a clawed law pierced through through the chest.
The other hunters unfortunately ended up panicking, as they tried firing and smashing their weapons at the Grimm. It blocked some of them with its arms and then slammed them into the ground, before tossing them aside, them biting into their arms and tearing them away. It grabbed another and slammed them into the ground, them stabbing it's entire clawed law through their stomachs, impaling them on the spot before they could react.
Panic and terror soon set in as the oens remaining desperately tried to kill this unexpected Grimm, but they found themselves slaughtered by the time they were able to get past the initial panic. The last hunted was seen scrambling away from the beast, as it approached him slowly. Stalked him. It knew he wasn't going to get away, so it was taking it's time. And once he contemplated that brief process, he found himself confused and horrified.
The Grimm shouldn't be capable of that kind of thinking. At least not from a Grimm that's just been born!
Were they dealing with some sort of anomaly?
If didn't matter, for the Grimm had cornered him up against a tree, and he was shaking in fear. The canine Grimm's limbs cracked in several places, before moving smoothly descending upon its prey.
"P-Please! Don't do this! Spare me!" He pleaded and sobbed, rational thoughts completely giving into fear.
He didn't expect the Grimm to stop. Nor did he expect it to tilt it's head at him as if it were actually listening to his request. And despite the fact that it couldn't see-at least not with eyes-he almost figured that it was curious and young enough to consider not killing him after having it's fill of blood, and letting him to free so he could warn the orhers of its presence.
That hope died terribly once he saw it's canine teeth shift into a cruel and ravenous grin.
"No."
He couldn't even process his shock to the fact that the Grimm spoke to him, before it fully tore into him and proceeded to eat him alive.
Ayo, so remember when I said that my timing is terrible?
Yeah no I fully confirm that it's even worse here. Good freaking grief I'm trash at this.
Ah well, it be what it be. Looks like the incident is over for now, but it's left nearly every party with more than a few scars. Who knows what will become of everyone with these unexpected developments on all sides?
Well whatever comes next, none of them are going to accept defeat easily. That's for certain.
May the next Hunt bear better fruit.
