What's up guys? Sorry for the wait, something happened, and I was forced to take a break. I'll put an explanation at the end so enjoy the chapter.
To Better (K)nights
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Cinder Fall was not happy, scratch that, she was absolutely pissed. The newspaper that had been in her hands and was now a pile of ash at her feet was evident of that.
"The loss of the Dust will be a minor step back, but the loss of Roman Torchwick is a major step back." The woman said, getting her two underlings to wince. "Is there anything else?" The woman asked, getting Emerald to look back towards Mercury, who motioned for her to step up.
"W-well…" Emerald started, looking up to see Cinder glaring at her, the woman's eyes glowing. "It seems that Adam isn't happy about losing all the Faunus during Roman's last heist." Emerald, taking a second to take in a deep breath. "He's threatening to pull out whoever he has left, u-unless you can prove that he won't lose anymore." To Emerald and Mercury's surprise, Cinder closed her eyes and took in a very deep breath.
"Anything else?" The woman said through gritted teeth.
"Roman's little friend is a little upset that he died and bailed on us." Mercury said, schooling his features when Cinder opened her eyes and turned her attention towards him. In response, Mercury simply held up a card, a Joker that had the word 'Goodbye' written on it. At that, Cinder held out her hand and set the card on fire, causing Mercury to drop it and watch as it was burned away.
"Do we know who killed Roman?" Cinder asked, turning her attention towards Emerald.
"Not exactly." Emerald said, lifting her arms hesitantly to shrug. "S-someone did check in to collect the bounty on Torchwick, but the distributor gave them an unmarked card. We have no account to link it to and the only people who've seen him are two huntresses and some secretary." The teen said, getting another deep breath from Cinder. "We couldn't identify the Huntresses and the secretary has a connection to Vale's council."
"Is that all?" The woman asked, looking to Emerald again. The girl took a second to look at Mercury, who simply shrugged, before nodding. "What is it?"
"We might have discovered someone who could tell us a thing or two." Emerald revealed, "She owns a local weapon shop for Huntsmen." That seemed to settle Cinder down, getting her to close her eyes and nod.
"Very well. I want you two to have a word with this person." Cinder said, "Do not attract any attention, merely find out what she knows. Do you understand?" At that, Emerald stood up straight while Mercury walked beside her.
"Yes ma'am." Emerald said before the two teens walked away, leaving Cinder to herself.
"Now, what to do with the White Fang…"
҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Beacon Halls¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉
Blake and Nora stayed silent as they followed Alexander through the halls of Beacon. Though neither of them wanted to admit it, they were a little scared about facing Jaune's mother again. Though the man had assured them that it would be alright, they still couldn't help but remember the feeling from before when they were in Ozpin's office.
"Have either of you ever talked to Jaune about his sisters?" Alexander asked, getting the two girls to jump in surprise. Sharing a look with one another, the two turned back to the man to see him looking back with a raised eyebrow.
"He mentioned something about having seven sisters…" Blake said, looking towards the window. "I didn't want to ask because I figured that we wouldn't see each other anymore." The Faunus said, getting Alexander to let out hum.
"The rest of my team never really asked him about his sister, mainly because we saw that he would get sad whenever he mentioned them." The ginger said, getting another hum from Alexander. "Why did you want to know?" Nora asked, getting Alexander to let out a sigh.
"Aside from our oldest, Jaune's relationship with his sisters had always been strong." Alexander started, "Whenever he met someone new, the first thing he would talk about was how much he cared about his sisters." The man continued, "But, just before Jaune left, his sister all told him to drop his dream of becoming a Huntsmen." That got Nora and Blake to gasp lightly. "Likely because of our influence…just another thing to regret."
"Do you expect Jaune to forgive you?" Blake asked, getting the man to laugh as if she had told a joke.
"Absolutely not." Alexander replied, surprising the two girls. "Jaune's dream was to be trained to become a Huntsmen, and to make me and my lineage proud. I kept pushing Jaune away, even if I did it to give him a better purpose. He has all the right in the world to hate me for what I had done." The man said, taking a second to before shaking his head. "No, I don't expect Jaune to forgive me. His mother on the other hand…" The man said, raising a hand and tilting it from side to side. "She never discouraged him, but her overprotectiveness likely created some cracks in their relationship."
"So, you're okay with Jaune hating you for the left of his life?" Nora asked, getting Alexander to nod.
"My actions my say otherwise, but I'll always love my children." The man said before he stopped and looked to his right, getting the two girls to do the same before freezing. "I'm guessing that the lack of destruction means that things went well?" Alexander asked, smiling at the sight of his wife walking towards him.
"It means that Ozpin didn't piss me off too much, this time." The woman said, her eyes quickly looking towards Blake and Nora before refocusing on Alexander.
"I figured they could help." Alexander answered with a shrug. "One of them was the one is the reason our boy was sent to the hospital." That got Camellia to turn towards the girl again, the tense atmosphere slowly returning before it dispersed when the woman let out a sigh.
"There's no use getting angry over that." The woman said, surprising the two girls again. "My name is Camellia Arcane, Jaune's mother." The woman said, holding out a hand. Though hesitant, the two girls shook the woman hand before they saw her motioned to follow her. "I'm guessing my husband already told you the reason why we're here?" Getting a nod from the girls, Camellia let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, we're going to have to leave here shortly." That got the others' attention
"Really?" Alexander asked, "Without Jaune?" At that, Camellia stopped and, in one fluid motion, spun around on one foot before bringing up a gun and shoving it in her Alexander's face.
"You may be my husband but that doesn't mean I can't kick your ass." The woman said, getting Alexander to lazily raise his hand in surrender. Removing her gun, the woman let out a heavy sigh before turning around and walking away. Seeing the woman's mood immediately shift, Alexander let out a sigh of his own before he motioned for Blake and Nora to follow again.
"W-why are you leaving?" Nora asked, picking up her pace a bit so she was next to Jaune' mother.
"There are some things that I need to get ready for Jaune." The woman said, getting Blake to raise an eyebrow.
"You think he's going to go back home?" The Faunus asked, getting a nod.
"I want nothing more to find Jaune, but I also need to prepare something for him," Camellia answered. "He might not come home anytime soon, but…" The woman said nothing and shook her head before continuing to walk.
"Why not have his associates find him?" Alexander offered, getting everyone to look at him with a raised eyebrow as he motioned to Blake. "It's more than clear that you're leaving Beacon. Do you think you can help a pair of parents find their lost son? If not to bring him back, then to ease their minds?" The man asked, causing the group to stop again and focus on Blake. The Faunus looked at the two parents before rubbing the back of her head.
"You don't have to if you don't want to." Camellia added, seeing Blake's hesitance. "You have your own life." Seeing that Blake was not going to answer, the two blondes simply nodded before they turned around to walk away again.
҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Lady Fyre's¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉
Jaune grit his teeth as he held up his gun and fired off a few shots, all of them missing their target before an alarm rang out. Hearing that, the blonde let out a sigh before he placed his gun down and rested his hands on the counter in front of him and leaned forward.
"Don't beat yourself up over it." A voice said, getting Jaune look up to see Pyre walking up towards him.
"I can't do it anymore." Jaune said, looking at the in front of him before closing his eyes. "Every time I focus…all I see is Roman's face. The…shock that I wasn't afraid to shoot him." Jaune said, pushing off the counter and walking away. Pyre didn't stop him and simply collected the blonde's gun, taking a look towards the paper target to see only one bullet hole next to the head. Holding it and aiming towards the head, she fired off a few shots and looked at the gun when the bullets veered off to the left a bit.
Tilting her head at results, Pyre fired off a few more, emptying the clip before ejecting it and following Jaune. There was nothing but silence as the two exited the firing range, causing Pyre to click her tongue when they returned behind the counter.
"Well, can't say I didn't expect a relapse." Pyre said, looking at Jaune as he leaned against wall. "Seeing someone die is different from actually killing them." The Faunus said, getting Jaune to look at her as she set the gun down at her work bench, a myriad of tools popping out and settling themselves around the gun. "Don't beat yourself up about it. A lot of people experience the same thing." The Faunus said as she began to dismantle Jaune's gun.
"Have you?" Jaune asked, getting Pyre to stop.
"Kid…there's a reason I chose to create and work on guns." Pyre said, giving Jaune an answer before she continued to take apart Jaune's gun. "All I can say is that you shouldn't let it get any easier."
"The killing?" Jaune asked, getting a nod from Pyre. Jaune stared at the Faunus for a few more seconds before nodding and pulling out his scroll. "You mind if I head upstairs?" The blonde asked, holding up his scroll. "There's a few classes I have make up." Pyre simply motioned towards the stairs, getting Jaune to smile before he headed up the stairs. As soon as the Faunus heard the upstairs door close, her attention was brought to the entrance door when it opened.
"Welcome. Have a look around and I'll be with you momentarily." The Faunus said, her response becoming an automatic one after working her shop for long. Even though she wasn't looking at them, the Faunus knew that the new entries were looking around. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask." At that, the Faunus slowed down her work on Jaune's gun when she two set of feet make their way towards her. "Anything I can help you with?" The Faunus asked, stopping her work to look at the two teens at the counter.
"We're wondering if you can help us." One of the teens said, leaning the counter. They were a girl with mint green hair dressed in white and green color scheme while the other was a boy with silver hair and dressed in a more greyscale color scheme.
"If it can cock, lock and shoot lead, I'm your gal." Pyre said, taking a second to familiarize herself with the two teens' scents when they turned to look at one another.
"Actually, we were hoping you could help us find someone." Hearing that, Pyre's raised an eyebrow while the rest of her body slowly tensed.
"Look here," Pyre responded, her tone catching the off guard at how quickly it changed while she leaned on the counter. "I'm not an information broker. You want service like that? Head over to 'The Den' and talk to the owner, goes by the name 'Junior'. Tell 'Lady Fyre' sent you."
"Funny thing about that." The girl said, giving an innocent smile, one that Pyre saw through immediately. "He's the one that told us to you, Ms Fyre."
"Did he now?" Pyre said, getting a nod from the girl. "That's funny because-" Pyre stared before she pulled out a hunting knife and stabbed it into the counter, stabbing it in between the girl's fingers and getting her to look at back in shock. "-my ex isn't one to give out information like that so easily." The Faunus said, an innocent smile getting the two to back away. "Would you like to help with anything else?" The two teens shared a look with one another before shaking their heads.
"No ma'am." The girl said, lightly slapping the boy in the chest before they left, the two stopping at the door when Pyre spoke up again.
"Jewelry polish, gun lubricant and blood…what interesting scents." The Faunus said before she heard the door to her shop open and close again. Waiting a few more seconds, Pyre pulled out her scroll and dialed an old number. "Junior? Listen, I need a little favor."
҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Beacon Landing Docks¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉
There was silence as the Jaune's parents, Blake and Nora walked towards the airships. Alexander and Camellia had whispered a few things to one another, but Blake and Nora had decided to keep their distance in case their conversation was personal. It wasn't until the parents had began to walk up the airship's ramp that Blake finally spoke up.
"Hold on." Hearing the Faunus over the airship's engines, the two parents looked back to see Blake walked up to them. "It just wanted to say that I'll look for Jaune." The Faunus said, "I don't know what the problem Jaune has with you, but…" The Faunus said, giving the two a small smile. "…hopefully I can help make sure he doesn't repeat the same mistakes I did with my parents." The two parents shared a look with each other before Camellia nodded and reached into her pockets.
"Here," The woman said before she held out a slip of paper. "When you find Jaune, give this to him and have him listen to it." Blake took the slip of paper and nodded before walking back down the ramp. "And thank you for helping." Camellia shouted, smiling before she followed her husband into the ship. Blake simply gave a wave as she watched the airship lift off from the landing pad and head back towards Vale. After a while, Blake looked at the slip of paper in her hand.
"What's that?" Nora asked, getting Blake to shrug. The slip itself was in stiffer than it seemed and long with a few small rectangular holes punched in it in a pattern as well as a few bumps.
"No idea. Jaune's mother gave it to me and said to give it to Jaune." Blake said before she put the slip of paper into her backpack. As soon as she did, her scroll began to ring. "Hello?"
"Blake!" Hearing her team leader's voice scream through the device, Blake pulled it away from her ear. "Where are you!? We've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Relax Ruby, I'm at the landing docks." Blake said, rolling her eyes when she heard Ruby gasp and tell the others. "Stay right there Blake. We're coming to meet you!" Before Blake could ask why, Ruby hung up, leaving a dead line to answer.
"What's up?" Nora asked, getting Blake to sigh.
"Ruby and the others are heading this way." Blake said with a shrug. "I guess they think that I'm leaving Beacon right now." Nora simply nodded and looked back at Beacon before speaking.
"So, you're going to go look for Jaune?" The ginger asked, getting Blake to look at her before nodding. "Do you mind if I join?" That got Blake to raise an eyebrow in surprise. "Jaune may not go to Beacon anymore but he'll always be my fearless leader." The Faunus simply smiled.
"Sure. I might know where he's already is." Blake said, getting Nora to look at Blake with slightly wide eyes. Before the ginger could say anything, the sound of the others running towards them made her stop.
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Neo stared at the officer that was standing behind the desk, their attention on the computer as she waited. She was here for one thing and one thing only, something to help her remember her partner. Inching closer to the desk, Neo quickly moved when the door behind the officer opened and another one stepped out. Before either could tell, the small assassin was passed the door and making her way further into the precinct. Unlike everyone else, she knew who had killed Roman, getting a good look at his face before he was taken away along with Roman's body.
She also wasn't stupid and knew that attacking the blonde, as inexperienced as he was, was a terrible thing to do. She mainly came to that conclusion when she watched both the blonde and Roman crawl away from the remains of a Dust fueled explosion. Working with Roman for so long, she knew he limits so surviving a blast like that was something she knew was possible, if only slightly; however to have someone younger than him escape the same blast, with even less damage, made it clear that his Aura levels outclassed hers.
She had an opportunity to end the blonde's life after he had passed out, but Neo didn't get this far in life taking risks. It hurt a bit that Roman's body was carted away, but she had already visited the morgue where his body had been stored. She didn't waste too much time saying her good-bye before she came here.
Activating her semblance, Neo slipped passed the various officers as she until she found herself in front of a metal door with the word 'Evidence' written on the frosted glass window. Looking around, Neo let out a silent breath before she used her semblance again and made it look like she was an officer trying to get into the evidence room.
"The code not working?" A voice asked, getting Neo to turn around and see woman walking towards her before nodding. "Here, let me." The woman said, placing a card against the pin pad before the sound of locks opening got her to nod. "There you go." Neo gave the woman a nod before heading into the room, wasting no time heading over towards the stored weapons and looking through them "Can I ask what you're looking for?" At that, Neo held up a picture of Roman. "Torchwick's cane, huh?" Neo nodded at that, getting the woman to sigh. "Unfortunately, his weapon was shipped off to a local gunsmith to be taken apart." At that, Neo froze and turned around slowly. The only response she got was a shrug of the shoulders.
Letting out a huff, Neo walked past the officer and exited the room.
Alright, so, how was it? I'm sorry for the lack of updates but like I said in the beginning, I was forced to take a break. Why? Well, because I went into a coma after having another seizure. Apparently, I had a lot more internal damage done that originally thought and had suffered for the lack of check-ups. Anyway, since my last post, that happened and I was recommended to take it easy as well as go through few test and such, standard stuff.
So, yeah. I was gone for a while and I won't be able to update like I wanted because I'm recovering from what happened. Anyway, I'll try and get another chapter out, but another idea came to me so if you don't see another chapter for this or 'To Be A Father' come out, then I might have written out that story.
Until next time, see ya!