Howdy, first things first this chapter is short so I apologize for that but I felt separating the chapter from the next made more sense, I don't know, explaining my mindset is hard. Anyway I'm thankful for the reviews and the positive feedback as well as the tips so I hope you enjoy it.
-OtherwiseR00K
Cayde followed the Bounty Lady as she led him through the street of the settlement. Cayde continued looking around at the place, noticing a large greenhouse for the first time.
"How did I miss that?" Cayde questioned.
"Hmm?" The Bounty Lady glanced back questioningly.
"Sorry, talking to myself," Cayde explained. The Bounty Lady nodded and turned her head forward.
"What do you think of this place, Sundance?" Cayde asked through the link between him and his ghost.
"I think it's in need of a guardian," Sundance responded.
Cayde looked at the settlement again, and he agreed with Sundance. The settlement looked alright, it wasn't filthy and it wasn't falling apart but the people were very obviously affected by something. Cayde looked at a young man speaking to a woman and saw the expression on both faces, they were trying to distract themselves from something. He may have been in the Tower for a long time and his skill had rusted somewhat but one thing he never lost was the capacity to read people.
He could see straight through the strained smiles and slightly forced laughter, that these people were running low on hope and needed a light in the dark.
Cayde-6, ex-Hunter Vanguard would be that light, he'd burn the darkness away with a quip and a shot from the Ace of Spades.
While making money along the way.
Cayde tuned out of his thoughts as he and BL approached a building. It wasn't anything remarkable and it looked more like a home than a bounty office. Walking into the building Cayde was greeted by a rather big reception room the walls lined with mounted Grimm skulls and weapons.
Cayde whistled at the sight of a Gatling gun sitting in a case, "That caused some damage I'm sure." he said out loud.
"Oh, yes, it sure did." The woman said in amusement but Cayde could hear a sense of nostalgia in her voice.
"Is it yours?" Cayde ventured. The woman didn't verbally answer him, instead glancing at him with an 'I know what you're trying to do' smirk.
Cayde simply shrugged at his failed attempt. The two walked up to a makeshift desk and while Cayde stopped at the desk the woman just slid over it before planting herself behind it, "So, first things first."
She reached down and pulled out a scroll, though it was noticeably bigger, and turned it on. The hard-light dust powered on and the screen turned from black to white, showing multiple folders and a grid-like pattern near the bottom.
"You said you weren't a Huntsman correct?" The woman asked.
"Yeah, never went to the Academies. This brand of awesome is all self-made," Cayde replied.
"Hm, this does pose an issue," Cayde crossed his arms but motioned for her to continue, "Since you are not a registered Huntsman I can not determine your skill nor can I set the bounties for said skill. I'm also suspicious if you actually killed the Alpha Beowolf yourself and didn't take it off the actual Hunter who did it."
Cayde hummed not at all offended by the woman's slight accusation. This very thing had been a problem the Vanguard had faced before of course they'd made it to where the bounty was locked to the guardian who took the contract and no others, "That's a problem."
"Good to see you have brains. Yes, I can't give you the reward without proper evidence. Now usually the evidence would be the bone you brought back but that's usually backed by records which you don't have." She said emphasizing the last three words.
"Then what can I do?"
The woman's grin could've made a Thrall think twice, "Simple, you prove yourself. If you think you can."
Cayde chuckled, shaking his finger at her, "Lady, them's gambling words and I'll have you know I've been gambling all my life."
"Is that so? Hmm, we'll see I suppose." The lady scrolled the screen on her scroll to a certain file before opening it and giving the scroll to Cayde. He took it and looked at the screen.
It was a bounty contract on a pack of Ursa.
"A pack? I thought Ursa was more solitary?"
"They usually are, but it has been proven that they do group up under an older Ursa Major. Unlike Beowolf packs, a pack of Ursa, even the younger ones, can tear through smaller settlements with relative ease."
"Hmm, so is that what happened to the wall?" Cayde asks, gesturing his head in the wall's general direction.
"No, that was a swarm of younger Grimm. They're a usual issue and not one we can typically predict, the sensors can't detect them from more than a mile out."
"Sounds like you need new sensors."
"Sounds like something you and everyone else keep telling me," she snarked, "Anyway, the Ursa has been attacking other settlements around the area. They can usually repel them but recently the pack leader has been getting involved and the few settlements that were in the area suddenly became just us."
Cayde looked down at the scroll as it changed to show a map of the settlements surrounding the one he was in. He watched as the blue icons turned red until one remained and it was larger than the others.
"So you think they're on a collision course with this settlement?" Cayde asked.
"I know they are. The Ursa pack wiped out the smaller settlements we personally helped start, each one roughly forty miles away. The Grimm are attracted to negativity and tell me what you saw out in the streets."
"A lot of people trying to be happy when they can't."
"Exactly, the people have heard of the startups being destroyed. A lot of people had family over there, so I'm sure you can guess what that does to someone's emotions."
"Alright, I get it. Tell me where they are."
"We don't know exactly, my best guess is somewhere to the south as that was the last place they attacked. All I can give you is a general location, you'll have to find them yourself."
"Shouldn't be that hard, large herds leave trails."
"It could work." The woman shrugged, "Though you will need transportation if you wish to get this done quickly."
Cayde was a split second from saying he already had something but-
"Cayde they don't know about Gambler's Palm and we'd like to keep it that way," Sundance replied.
-realized it'd be more trouble than it's worth.
"Yeah, transport. Definitely need that." Cayde said.
The woman nodded and slid back over the desk before motioning Cayde to follow her. They walked toward a door which led to a small storage area. Cayde looked around at the items clothed in a white sheet, forgotten or left to be used later.
The sound of clattering metal made Cayde's head snap in its direction to see the woman pulling off a sheet to a nice-looking motorcycle. Cayde had seen some old motorcycles before, a lot of Warlocks kept them as pieces of history, Ikora had a few pictures of old vehicles she'd found over her time as a guardian.
This bike reminded him of one, it looked a lot like a picture of a military bike pre-golden age if he remembered right. Though this one had differences, its paint was scratched all to hell only showing the steel beneath and the tires looked a little custom. Like, put together by cannibalizing other parts and adding a metal covering to the sides of it.
Certainly interesting enough for Cayde to begin workshopping a name in his head.
"Meet the V-2 Valean Military Bike," the Lady said dusting it off as she spoke, "This bad girl will get you where you need to go one way or another."
"Oh, she is just purty," Cayde commented as he walked up.
"Most would agree. Most would say the bike is a symbol of oppression, but I always thought they were idiots."
"Oppression?" The Lady turned and looked at him like he was stupid until her eyes gained an understanding.
"Right, out of the Kingdoms. Sixty years ago the Faunus revolted against the oppressive system, this bike was made after the V-1 was found to be lacking in several areas. Some faunus see the bike as a symbol of those times. A symbol of the people who fought to keep them in line."
Cayde looked over the V-2, he could somewhat understand that. Thorn was a weapon used to kill guardians and strip them of their light, so the future iterations became a symbol of the followers of Dregden Yor.
Cayde didn't blame the weapon though, he blamed the person who used it.
"Now, the bike is a collector's wet dream. People would give an arm or leg just to find one after so many were destroyed in the Faunus Rights Revolution."
"And you're just giving it to me?"
The Lady simply smiled, "Yes, it's not doing anyone any good just sitting here. I never use it as it can't transport anything too big and I only ever leave to pick up things from Vale. So yes, you may have it."
She grabbed something from off the bike, a large cylindrical can with a faded color to it, and handed it to Cayde, "You'll need that, the bike hasn't been fuelled in a few weeks so make sure you fill it with that refined dust."
"Well thanks, guess my birthday came early," Cayde responded.
"Perhaps it did," With that, she began walking back to the main room but stopped as she opened the door, "Oh, and good luck."
With that she left the room, leaving Cayde alone with the motorcycle. Cayde stared after her for a moment before looking back to the V-2, "Alright. Sundance, can you scan the motorcycle, and make sure it can actually get me where I need to go."
Sundance appeared over Cayde's shoulder and immediately went to scan the bike, using the CCT to compare the parts in the bike to newer versions on the market. After a thorough dressing down she turned back to Cayde, "It'll work, everything is there but it doesn't have any of the features the Gambler's Palm does. However, it seems a bit better at quick swerves and turns."
Cayde hummed, nodding as he made up his mind, "I guess we're gonna' need to test this girl. If no one has ever seen a sparrow then I need to get used to it. Besides, maybe we could test using raw solar energy to use as fuel."
Sundance looked at Cayde with a flat stare, "You're still on about that?"
"What? It's a good idea."
"Cayde, it could very well blow the motorcycle up."
"Yeah, well I'm trusting you to make the parts to harness the solar energy."
Sundance sighed but didn't say anything against it, if she were honest she wanted to see if it worked as well. She was just a little bit hesitant to test something as volatile as Solar as a power source, much less a fuel source.
Continuing on Cayde grabbed the cap leading to the tank and poured the refined dust into the greedy maw of the V-2. Once again Cayde was set on a path forward, and it would let the V-2 Valean Military Bike ride once again.
And we get to my copout with the Gambler's Palm! As I was writing the story draft I realized it'd be suspicious if Cayde came back from his excursion within a day without visible transport especially when he walked into the settlement. I'd also like to say, that I am aware of the hoverbikes in RWBY but I feel those are more prototypes or Atlas only because I can't recall anything else in RWBY that resembled them.
Anyway, I'm confident now that I've gotten Cayde's personality down or at least pretty damn close. The issue I have with him is simply his devil-may-care attitude and his great quips, I'm just not sure how confident I am with writing those. Otherwise, I'm sure I've got it down but I suppose we'll see.
-OtherwiseR00K