Well, aren't you some lucky buggers? Two chapters in two days!
Anyway, you might want to keep reading after this. I've thrown in a little bonus at the end. Though keep in mind, it might get a little... much.
Chapter 31: The Clang
After Yang helped me clean up, and I had taken a cool shower, Ruby had explained what had happened while I was away. Blake opening up about the White Fang, the team's plan to investigate various leads as to the organization's actions, and how it'd be handled.
Ruby and Weiss were to head to the Vale Central Communications Tower, and ask the Schnee Dust Company for records regarding Dust thefts and raids. Blake would slip into an upcoming White Fang meeting, and try to learn any future plans. Yang was to go and talk to an old friend on the shady side of town to try and get info on Torchwick.
"So where does this leave me?" I asked. Blake pulled out her Scroll, opened it up, and handed it to me. As I looked at it, I saw it was a news article.
BOOKSHOP OWNER FOUND DEAD
Tragedy has struck the populace of downtown Vale, as residential bookkeeper and proprietor of Tukson's Book Trade, Tukson Ellis, was found dead in his store. Police have refused to comment on the details of this incident, but have assured us that the perpetrator would be brought to justice. In the meantime, neighbouring shops have installed a curfew for an undisclosed period of time, clearly worried for customer's safety, alongside their own.
"Okay, and you want me to investigate this murder?" I asked, looking up to the team. Ruby nodded.
"Yang doesn't want to put you in too much danger, you'd be found out pretty quickly if you went with Blake, Weiss is the only one who can get the SDC records, and I wanna go to see the CCT." She listed, counting off the reasons on her hand. I sighed, and handed Blake her Scroll back.
"So, what? What does this have to do with the White Fang?" I asked.
"Tukson was a former member of the White Fang. He cut ties just before I did, and I heard rumours about how he stole a mountain of incriminating evidence. You might be able to find it, and get it to the police." Blake explained. I nodded in understanding. Seems as though my friends didn't see me as just a fifth wheel.
"Anyway, we start tomorrow. So get some rest, okay, sweetie?" Yang smiled, giving me a quick peck on the cheek. I smiled back, and climbed to my hammock. Over the semester break, we'd installed a rope ladder that could be stored away relatively easily. It wasn't exactly stable, but it beat the alternative of Weiss using her glyphs to throw me up there. That resulted in a lot of bruises.
After class the next day, we had all gotten prepared for our respective investigations. But to our surprise, Sun had appeared, alongside Neptune, and talked their way into the investigation. Sun decided to go with Blake, and Neptune was forced to go alongside Yang, despite protests from Weiss. Unfortunately, this left me without a partner, but I didn't mind. It'd be nice to see if I could prove my worth to my teammates. But either way, partner or no, I had been sent to investigate Tukson's murder, and partner or no partner, I was going to do it.
Currently, I was wandering the streets of downtown Vale, a little worried, as some dangerous looking thugs seemed to be eying me. But my worries weren't placed on personal safety. Far from it, actually: I just didn't want a fight to break out just yet, as I might be hauled down to the police station, which would make things incredibly awkward between RWBY and I. We wanted Torchwick behind bars, not one of us.
"Hey, kid? Mind the tape. This is a crime scene, y'know."
Looking round, my eyes fell on a tall man, wearing a spotless white suit, with black pants, and a pair of holstered guns at his hips. His hair was blindingly white, and his face was scarred and twisted in a small frown. Oddly, his nose was crooked, as if he had taken an iron weight to the face. He was quite intimidating, but his looks did nothing to dissuade me.
"Nothing to see here. You need to move along now."
I just leaned over to see what the tape was cordoning off. As I assumed, a simple storefront. Even though the officer sidestepped to keep me from looking further, I managed to glimpse a few words above the door.
TUKSON'S BOOK TRADE
"Okay, you've seen enough. Now move along, or I'll have you arrested for loitering."
The detective continued to leer heavily at me. I just shrugged.
"Officer, I'm a student from Beacon Academy. My teachers told me to come here to assist with the investigation. You needn't worry about possible interference: I know how to…"
The officer raised his palm, as if to tell me to stop. I groaned internally: it was a bad lie, one I'd hardly expect anyone to believe.
"Wait, I think I got a note about this. You're… Ebony Geld? Male, studying forensics under Professor Coral, right?"
I thought it over briefly. Apparently, Fate was smiling on me for once in my life. Seizing the opportunity, I nodded.
"Yeah, that's me. Thanks for letting me work alongside you, Inspector… uhh-"
"Just call me Hijau. Most of the investigation is over, so I'll let you in. But you are not to touch a thing, under any circumstances. I don't want you being accused of murder, Geld. Am I clear?" He leered. I decided to play along. Giving a salute, I nodded.
"Crystal clear, Inspector Hijau, sir." I responded. The officer nodded, then stood aside, gesturing to the door. Bending under the police tape, I nudged the door open, taking my first look inside.
Books were strewn all over the place, some in various states of destruction, with dust covers torn, pages ripped out, and covers soaked in blood. A few shelves to the right had fallen, stacked like collapsed dominoes. Blood was sprayed on the wall, as if someone had thrown a bucket of it there. White tape lined along the wall and floor, circling in the shape of a well built body slumped on the ground. Inspector Hijau sighed.
"Poor bugger… DNA analysis labels him as Tukson Ellis. We couldn't get many details about him, but his profile states the he was once affiliated with the White Fang." he explained. I looked at the bloodstained wall, scrutinising every angle for some kind of anomaly.
"Whoever did this was thorough. No fingerprints, no security footage… just the dead body and the blood on the wall. If it weren't for the amount of blood and the signs of a struggle, I'd chalk it up to suicide." The inspector continued. I stood up, glancing at the counter. The door behind it was slightly ajar, and my curiosity was piqued.
"Inspector Hijau, you mind if I take a look in the back?" I asked. The inspector sighed wearily.
"Boys swept that room clean a while ago, and they didn't find anything suspicious. You're welcome to try."
Nodding in thanks, I knelt under the counter, nudging the door open with my foot. An ordinary sight greeted me: stacks of books and manifestos galore, with a bed and desk in the back corner. Nothing at all out of place. But something bothered me: it seemed too clean. Dust wasn't in copious amounts, and it seemed a little too tidy. Taking a few steps further into the room, my foot caught on something, sending me plummeting to the ground. Instinctively raising my hands to cushion my fall, I felt a small pile of books dislodge beneath my fingers, sending them clattering to the floor. The door burst open, and I knew right away I was in trouble.
"What the Grimm was that?!"
Inspector Hijau had drawn his two pistols from their holsters, and was apparently looking for an intruder. I got to my knees, brushing myself off, pulling a couple of splinters loose as I did so.
"Ah, jeez. Freakin' murder's got me jumpy as hell. You okay, Geld?" The inspector asked, offering me a hand. I clasped it, and felt his strength bring me to my feet.
"I'm fine. Just tripped." I groaned, trying to clean my hands of blood. The landing was rugged and painful, but no lasting damage had been done.
As I looked at what had tripped on, I noticed that it was a loose floorboard, raised a little bit higher than the others, almost like a pressure pad. Kneeling down, and noticing a small niche on one side, I flicked a blade forward, and wedged it into the hole. But it was clear that whatever was being concealed was meant to be kept secret. Prying it loosewas impossible, as it was very tightly secured by some unseen mechanism. My blade would snap long before any progress would be made.
"Geld? You got something?"
I looked up to see Inspector Hijau looking over me. I retracted my blade, and gestured to the floorboard.
"Think this could be worth something?" I asked. The inspector knelt down, and glanced at the board.
"Hmm… seems as though Tukson had a few secrets to hide. But how do we activate it?" He mused aloud, standing up and beginning to pace in thought. Tracing my fingers around the plate, I noticed a small engraving, almost invisible to the eye. Running the tips of my fingers over it, I recognised some carved words.
'Drboo Mbecknobc wood : Wb hvs gvorsr ziawbcig: Yp dro nkbuoxon wyyx'
Complete gibberish. This told me nothing. Sighing, I stood up, and began to look for more clues.
"Urgh, this is hopeless!"
It had been two hours, and frustration was beginning to pile on. But so far, nothing had proved useful. The place had been swept clean several times, with no decisive evidence revealing who the killer could be.
"Calm down, Geld. You just need—"
"What I NEED is something that tells me who killed the bastard!" I growled, slamming a fist on a desk. It was bad enough that the investigation wasn't going anywhere, but what made it worse was I had a feeling that someone from home could tell me what really happened. In a fit of rage, I swung my arms across the desk with a yell, spilling the contents everywhere.
I hated not knowing.
"Hey, Geld? That floorboard… I think I've got something."
Turning to Inspector Hijau, I saw him running his finger in the large indentation in the center.
"Urgh, it's just random letters. It's pointless." I groaned.
"You know, my pop had a saying. 'Sometimes the best kept secrets are right under your nose.'" He replied. Sighing, I turned from the desk, and walked to the inspector. Kneeling beside him, I looked at the carving.
'Drboo Mbecknobc wood : Wb hvs gvorsr ziawbcig: Yp dro nkbuoxon wyyx'
"So, what do you see?"
I rolled my eyes.
"It's just some useless carvings. Nothing's there."
But to my surprise, Inspector Hijau pulled out a Scroll, and began tapping on it madly.
"I meant, the letters, Geld. What letters are there?"
As I pondered Hijau's actions, something dawned on me.
"Are you thinking about a code?"
The inspector nodded with a smirk. As I ran my fingers over the letters, I said them out loud, so that he could tap them into his scroll. Finally, the work was done. All letters were displayed on Hijau's Scroll, as he tapped at the screen, trying to decipher it.
"So, transpose these letters here… not an anagram… cipher of some kind… maybe if…"
Hearing the Inspector mutter about his thoughts was annoying to say the least. Trying to ignore it, I just looked at Tukson's desk, trying to think about something else.
Looking at Tukson's computer, I decided to browse the Cybercloud, just to while away the hours of boredom. The program opened up, and I was greeted with a humbly-designed homepage, displaying the store name, and the motto, coloured a glittering gold, at the top. A catalogue of books of varying prices and titles awaited me as I scrolled down the page. Right as I got to the bottom, I saw that a little bit of hastily-scribbled writing was displayed in blood-red letters. Scrutinising the markings, I managed to make out some words.
'…except Third Crusade. False advertising! Do not trust!'
Obviously some disgruntled customer with a penchant for hacking. Right as I was about to browse the online depository, Inspector Hijau called me over. Shutting the computer down, I stood, and walked to him. He had a smile on his face, and was grinning triumphantly.
"I've got it! It's a simple enough substitution cipher: all I had to do was change each letter to the one some places after it! Here's the result!"
The inspector handed me his scroll, and I looked it over, scrolling through the list of potential answers. Most of them were just more meaningless jumbles, but one that made some sense caught my eye.
'Three Crusaders meet : Mr xli wlehih pyqmrsyw: Of the darkened moon'
Crusaders gather? Third moon? I sighed. Still nothing useful. As I scrolled down, another entry caught my eye. The first and third entries were jumbles, but the second entry made sense.
'In the shaded luminous'
Mentally putting it together, I tapped on the scroll, bringing up a note. As I typed the decoded message in, I noticed something. It was a haiku.
Did this have some hidden meaning?
"Inspector? I've got it! Take a look!" I grinned, handing the officer his Scroll back. He looked at what I had written, and smiled widely.
"Yes, yes, YES! Now we need to link it to something!" He cried gleefully. As he pocketed his Scroll, he began looking through the room for a clue. Meanwhile, I pondered.
A long forgotten history class I had taken a lifetime ago came to my mind. I was in the process of nodding off, when the teacher had smacked a wooden ruler in front of my nose to awaken me. The bruises on my knees were a deep violet for days afterwards. As I nursed them, the teacher's words had burned into my brain.
"…as I was saying, haikus were historically composed of three lines, with the first and third lines consisting of five syllables, and the second consisting of seven. It was believed that this was to prevent certain Japanese demons from plaguing the populace and stealing a person's creativity…"
Thinking the contents of the haiku over, I gripped my temples, trying to focus.
'Crusaders gather… third moon… third moon… third crusaders… shaded luminous… third crusade…'
"OH MY GOD!" I yelled in realization. The website had said that Tukson carried every book under the sun, except for Third Crusade. But what if…
What if he had it, but couldn't sell it?
Looking over the books that flooded the shelves, I began to search frantically for the book. I didn't even hear the door open.
"Geld? Everything alright?"
Whirling around, blades drawn, I came face to face with Inspector Hijau. He didn't even flinch.
"Sorry, Inspector. But did the cops happen to find a book called Third Crusade?" I asked, flicking my blades away. Inspector Hijau shook his head.
"Anyway, what was the yell for? You figure something out?" He asked.
"Yeah. The haiku said three Crusaders gather beneath the shaded luminous of the darkened moon. There's only one book I know of that has a related title: Third Crusade." I explained. Inspector Hijau nodded.
"Right, but what about the shaded luminous stuff? What do you make of that?" He asked. I opened my mouth to speak, but the words caught in my throat before I could answer. I hadn't worked that out yet. It was hard enough trying to work out Third Crusade.
"Shaded luminous. Shaded light. Dark light. Bla– that's it!" The inspector cried. As he spun around and reached into his pocket, he pulled out a penlight, and walked to Tukson's desk. Flicking it on, a deep violet light appeared.
Now I realised: Tukson would have hidden the book somewhere secure. As I followed the Inspector, he handed me a perfect copy of his penlight. Getting the message, I flicked it on, and began to scour the room for a clue of some sort.
After a few minutes of searching, with some disturbing discoveries of white smears on a few of the more… romantic books, Inspector Hijau called me over to Tukson's desk, where he held the black light steady, so I could see the hidden markings.
A set of hands pointing to some of the outer keys. Namely, the keys where F1, Scroll Lock, Down Arrow, and Caps Lock would be. The hands were numbered from one to four, showing what order the buttons needed to be pressed. As the Inspector pushed the buttons, the computer monitor lit up, and the screen slid apart, revealing our prize.
The Third Crusade.
As I reached forwards and gripped the book's spine, I yanked it from the monitor, and began to walk to the floorboard.
"You sure about this, Geld?" The inspector asked. I looked back.
"We've come too far to stop. All we can do is keep pushing forward." I responded. Kneeling down, I slotted the book into the cavity. It sunk down. A perfect fit. Standing up, I stepped back, in case something major happened.
But to be honest, it was a disappointment: all that really happened was the floorboards slid down into the ground, revealing a small cavity. But nestled in the cavity was a small duffel bag. Stepping forward, and into the newly created hiding spot, I hoisted the bag up to the inspector, who took it, and placed it on the desk. As I climbed out and joined the inspector, I saw what the bag contained.
Pages upon pages of documents, all emblazoned with the red, angry wolf that was the White Fang logo. As I looked, I saw one was labelled 'Battle Plans'. A second was labelled 'Recent Ops'. A third, 'Den Masters'. There was enough damning evidence here to make a massive amount of arrests. But nothing appeared to talk about Torchwick's involvement.
"Wow. This is big. There's enough here to bring down a huge portion. Tukson must have wanted to take this to the authorities, but was killed before he could do anything." Inspector Hijau muttered. I was about to offer my own opinion, when my Scroll began beeping. Checking who was calling, I saw Blake's picture. Answering, I heard Blake panting between bursts of talking.
"Darrel! Torchwick knows! He's taken control of an Atlesian Paladin-290, and…"
"COONNWAAAYYY! HEEEEELLLPP!"
Sun's terrified voice resounded through the room. The inspector turned to me, confused. As he blinked, he snatched the Scroll from my hand, and began to talk into it.
"Who is this?! Identify yourself!" He barked.
"We're friends of Darrel! Just tell him to get to the highway!" Blake yelled.
"And tell him to hurry! We're running out of road!"
"Sun, jump to the freeway! Now!" The line went dead. The inspector leered at me, growling slightly. Suddenly feeling terrified, I took a step back, only to nearly overbalance on the small hole behind me.
"Alright, 'Geld', you've got some explaining to do. Who are you, really? And if you lie to me, you'll be looking at the inside of a cell for a long time." He snarled as he leaned over me. I just swallowed.
"My name's not Ebony Geld, it's Darrel Conway, first year student at Beacon Academy. My team was involved in the White Fang raid on the docks, and we wanted to try and find out some information as to what they were planning. I was sent here to find out more about Tukson's murder, and see if it had anything to do with the White Fang. I didn't want to lie to you, Inspector, but I had no other choice. I'm very, very sorry and–"
"Alright, just shut up for two seconds! I believe you! Jeez!"
I sighed in relief. At least I wouldn't be behind bars. I watched as the inspector turned and strode over to the duffel bag. As he zipped it closed, he looked back to me
"Although, because you've manipulated the crime scene, and impersonated an officer of the law, I'll have to arrest you."
Well, so much for that… but surprisingly, Inspector Hijau smiled, walked to the door, and gave me a sly wink.
"Of course, under the circumstances, the evidence that I've discovered does take a little more precedence. I'm going to go and drop it off in my squad car around the corner. Then, I'll have to call in some more units to take care of that situation on the freeway. I'll be about… hmm, twenty minutes or so. Oh, and don't even think about running. I really hate it when people do that. Savvy?"
And without another word, the inspector walked out of the room, whistling a happy tune. As I watched him go through the crack in the door, I stuck my head out to see if he was gone. After seeing him disappear around the corner, I quietly edged out of the door, and legged it in the direction of the freeway, one thought going through my head.
I like him…
And there you go! Another chapter done and dusted!
Anyway, PAX AUS is tomorrow, so you're going to have to wait a bit longer for any more updates.
Oh, and one more thing: as an added bonus, I know I said that Darrel and Yang didn't get up to anything sexy in the last chapter, so I'd figure I'd explain why.
As Yang twisted the handle, I walked to the kitchen sink, turning the tap, and letting hot water flow into my cupped hands, which I splashed into my face. My nose had stopped bleeding, thankfully, which saved me from an awkward explanation to Yang. Looking in the mirror, I wiped the last of the blood from my face.
"Alright, Yang, you'd better go back and enjoy the… uhh, Yang, what are you doing?"
As I turned to her, I noticed she was stripping down. Right as she let her clothes fall to the floor, my eyes were locked on, unable to look away from her. She was simply dressed in a yellow bra, with her emblem stamped on the left cup, and brown panties with a fire motif.
This just got awkward.
"You've just come back from gym… I'm guessing you want a shower… and what kind of girlfriend would I be if I let my alien boyfriend wash the pain and sweat away by himself?" She purred, sauntering over to the shower, and turning it on, the steam beginning to heat the room. Or was that me?
"Uh, Yang? Didn't we agree to take it slow?" I asked, my voice growing higher in pitch. Yang just giggled.
"What they don't know…" she grinned seductively, moving to the door and locking it tight.
"…won't hurt them, baby."
"Okaaay… but what if I don't know what to do? I mean, I haven't really… showered with other people. Y'know?"
"You'll get it in time. Now c'mon." Yang strode over to me, hooking her fingers underneath my sweaty shirt, pulling it up over my head, and throwing it into the laundry chute with one deft movement. Right at that moment, she rubbed a soft hand over my muscular chest, leering.
"Ooh, so fiiiine." She purred. I didn't say anything in response: my mind was breaking. But before I could respond, she had somehow yanked my shorts off, leaving me in nothing but a pair of boxers, and pushed me into the shower.
The water was boiling, but I barely had time to yell out before Yang leapt in with me, planting a kiss on my lips. As the water flowed down my body, Yang gripped my hands, and placed my left on her hip, my right on her upper back. As she leaned in close to me, I heard her breath in my ear, her hot breath sending tingles into my spine.
"Just do what I do, sweetie." She whispered. Unsure of where to start, I just started rubbing Yang's slick body down, trying my best not to shake nervously. It was hard enough trying not to make my nose bleed for the second time in five minutes. But nevertheless, Yang began to elicit soft moans of pleasure, as her body pressed ever closer to mine.
"Mmm… oh yeah… keep on going, D…"
She buried her face into my dripping chest, and I felt her tongue glide across the tight pectoral muscles. Her fingers lightly drummed on my sides, a steady rhythm that pounded like a dull heartbeat. I continued to caress her, beginning to lose myself in the steamy environment. All worries faded away: Kimba, the White Fang, even the Reckoning… nothing bothered me anymore. All that existed was Yang, myself, and the shower cubicle.
"Oh yeeeah… you're a natural, baby…"
Inwardly, I flinched at the words. This felt really weird, but for some reason, it also felt so…right. Part of me wanted to pull away, but it was being drowned out by a small voice in my head.
'Keep on going, D! Keep it going!'
At that moment, I lost all reason, and leaned forwards, beginning to nibble on Yang's collarbone. Yang returned the favour, but opting for nipping at my ear, whispering between small pinches of her teeth.
"Ready for round 2?"
"You know it." I purred, pulling her in, and beginning to finger at her bra's clasp, feeling it undo between my dripping fingertips. As it slipped off with a wet plop onto the floor, Yang pulled me in tighter.
"Just be warned: I'm gonna get a little… feisty." She growled seductively, drawing out the last word in a soft whisper. I chuckled, feeling over the moon.
"Ooh, I like that…" I whispered back, feeling pleasure all over as Yang set to work.
This was the best shower I had ever had.
And now you know why I don't do lemon.