The Next Red Riding Hooder arrives in this one! Along with a rather important subject.
And kinda going off from how I managed to get my beta(EmperorLuffy) to approve of the previous chapter on my first try, he's also declared it a favorite of his for the wholesome, down to earth vibes. Which makes me happy because I like having moments like those too. Though, how incredibly fitting, for his first favorite chapter of this story is the fourth chapter.
Even in the fanfic world, the number four remains relevant in RWBY. Go figure.
Jaune sighed as he briefly ran his hand through his hair, before shaking the feeling off and moving on about his early morning. Though in terms of physical movement he'd have to wait for a little bit, for there was something else on his chest. In both the figurative sense...and the literal one.
"Ruby, time to get up." Jaune tiredly groaned as he was briefly rubbing his eyes, whilst Ruby was resting idly on his shoulder, covered up with her cape and having fallen asleep next to him. The occasional prodding of her shoulder was not enough to rouse her from her slumber, for she simply murmured and ignored the first two pats on her shoulder. Rolling his eyes, he makes to shake Ruby's shoulder again. "C'mon, Ruby."
"Nuuuu..."
"Ruby..."
"Four more minutes..."
"Pete's sake Ruby you're the Guild Leader, you should be one of the first ones up. Aside from that, you already had four more minutes!"
"I want another four."
This woman... Jaune sighed. Time to break out the big guns.
"Ruby, you can forget about me making breakfast for today if you keep this up. I have all of what I need prepared, but it's just going to sit there idly if you're not going to wake up for it. And if you keep on going, you're not having any for the rest of the week." Jaune eventually sits up and folded his arms, looking down at her. Ruby eventually peeked one of her eyes open to tiredly glare at him. "Before you ask, yes, I would dare. What's it going to be?"
"Fiiiinnne," Ruby grumbled as she eventually managed to pull herself upwards, stretching her arms straight upwards and rubbing her eyes. "Wakey wakey, strawberry cakey..." She muttered briefly, yawning and sprouting wolf ears and a tail whilst trying to further shake off her sleepiness. "I'm up, I'm up. Please don't take away my breakfast, I need it very much for functioning and stuff for the day. Okay? Okay." She eventually managed to open her eyes with a smile, and Jaune softened at how bright and shiny they were, like radiant twin mirrors reflecting at him. Many a time, like this one, Jaune would find himself getting lost in those mirrors for the longest time and be completely fine with it. He's rarely seen eyes as beautiful as Ruby's. Looking right into them was also like looking into the moon at its fullest and most luminescent. Pairing that with a smile? A tired but cheery smile? That's something that brings the whole beauty together.
If only she weren't sometimes so disagreeable in the early mornings. That would at least make getting through said mornings significantly easier than usual. Much easier to get through, and much easier to prepare for. Though again, this was a sleepier Ruby whose early drowsiness was making her slightly more stubborn than usual. Alas, as her second in command, he had to make sure she was on track. That includes how the group conducts itself during the early mornings.
"See? Was that so hard?" Jaime shook his head with a laugh while lightly stretching the top of her head. She pouted at him slightly, though that didn't stop her wolf tail from betraying her via wagging at the attention." "Now then, since you're awake and about, I can get started on breakfast. Which is something you're surely gonna like. Want to guess what it is?"
"What is it?"
"Strawberry Breakfast Cake."
Ruby's eyes sparkled at that. "Did I ever tell you that I love you?"
"Plenty of times. Feeling's mutual, by the way." Both of them hopped out of their beds and made their way over to the kitchen.
"In all honesty though! Someone was genius enough to create the concept of strawberries, cake, and breakfast, and make it not only super sweet but also healthy!" Ruby threw her hands upwards with a rather wide smile. "That's one of the most amazing combinations ever! Seriously! I wanna thank the people who came up with recipes like that! They were thinking about all the sweet tooths out there-like me-and finding a way to make such a thing super healthy! And now you're going to make some for me?!"
"That pretty much sums it all up."
"Oh my woah, this is another great morning already!"
Jaune smiled at her, before stretching his arms. "Alright, I'm gonna get started on this. If you wanna give me a hand, you can specifically take care of the parts that involve the strawberries. Whaddya say?"
"I get to help with that? Heck yeah, I'm up for it!" Ruby cheered, more than eager to help Jaune make breakfast, especially one that she was sure she was going to enjoy eating. She immediately hopped to his side, sliding an apron around her middle and helping him get started.
As they were busy with that, the others were up and about getting through several routines of their own. Although, one, in particular, didn't exactly have a routine of their own just yet, and it could be sensed, with how Cinder was sitting by on a seat with folded arms, as Oscar was helping with the training room, with Penny on standby as her eyes glowed. She held her hand out as several holographic targets appeared before her. Orbs of green light manifested around her, and they shot several glowing green beams at once, hitting some of the targets at the first shot, and piercing through the second wave of targets with the second shot. Oscar nodded, as the third row of targets appeared and began moving about. Penny narrowed her eyes as the green orbs began blasting even more shots towards the targets, a few managing to hit their mark but others missing a few times before she managed to hit them dead on.
Wave after wave of targets came and Penny shot them down with increasing precision until at long last the current session ended. Pleased with how she did, Penny's energy orbs vanished from view as she hopped over to Oscar, patting down her dress. As Oscar showed her the results of her target practice, she smiles ever widely as the curl on her head bounced with glee.
"My accuracy performance is improving!"
"Yes, this is a better result than usual. Nice going, Penny." Oscar nodded whilst looking over the target results and sliding a finger across the Scroll. "With this amount of improvement, you'll be an even better shot than before. This will help in situations that need sharpened precision. Although, you should get some more practice in. A precision shot isn't something you can mess up without being swiftly punished for it."
"Alrighty!"
Off to the side, Blake and Weiss were sitting down on their own, each having nice and cold cups of milk in their hands. They spent their time recalling their separate missions before returning to the guild en masse.
"So you had to settle a dispute between two rivaling factions?" Weiss muttered while lightly swirling a small Glyph over her cup to stir the milk slightly. "That must have been stressful for you."
"To an extent. It was easier to resolve than it sounds." Blake held up her cup while flicking her ears. "I was able the dispute by finding the resource that they both need for them, which turned out to be a rejuvenating pool and was able to get them to compromise a rotational sharing period of having their injured bathe in it. This should ease some of their tensions for now." Blake hummed, then gently lapped at her cup of milk.
"Truly, a struggle over resources. More because both of them believe they want it more than the other. A tiring situation to deal with, I'm sure."
Cinder listened to them going on, to Oscar and Penny talking about improvements, and distantly heard Ruby and Jaune preparing breakfast. She rested her chin in her hands as she thought about how this kind of atmosphere was already becoming familiar to her on her third week here, even if she hasn't actively joined in on them yet. The morning was a bit lively, but for the most part, peaceful and warm. She hasn't known that kind of feeling regarding staying in one place for a long time. And she couldn't completely lie to herself and say that she didn't find it all very welcoming.
Yet despite that, both the back of her mind and the depths of her heart were anxiously waiting for that other shoe to drop. It always does. It's the fact that it was taking so long this time that she couldn't fully relax, the delay in such an event would only make its inevitable happening even worse.
Penny's eyes glowed, and she turned towards the entrance of the guild hall. "Another member has arrived. Approaching the front steps."
"Oh? Who is it?" Ruby blinked as she turned away from the table for a moment, her face currently covered with flour.
The door was dramatically kicked open by a boot. Good thing it was so durable, or else the force of the kick would have sent it off its hinges.
"Here she is! It's ya girl! Time to kick ass and take names! Better believe it!"
Ruby's eyes positively sparkled as she nearly dropped everything she was doing. Jaune understandably picked up after her as she dashed towards the sound of the voice, a truly radiant smile spreading across her face once she was greeted with the newest arrival.
"YAAAAAANNNNG!"
"RUUUUUUBBBBBY!"
Cinder was briefly surprised by how much energy Ruby was putting into this greeting, which tipped her off that this next arrival was someone truly important to her. Curiosity drove her as she stood up and moved on towards the entrance, followed by the others. Weiss, for one, groaned while massaging the bridge of her nose.
"Oh well. It was nice to entertain quieter mornings while they lasted. Goodbye, peace. I will always cherish my memories with you."
"I don't think it's gonna be that bad." Oscar smiled anxiously, scratching the back of his head. "Though I do agree that things around here are going to get a lot louder."
"Just wait until Nora gets here." Jaune quipped.
"Oh, please no." Weiss groaned even louder in her hands as she remembered that another boisterous member of their group has yet to arrive. By the time that she does she might as well swear off any chances of peace so long as she's here. "I really will want to go back to Atlas once that lightning maniac arrives..."
Cinder, in the meantime, was occupied with a different kind of mental stoppage, as she saw Ruby and Yang hugging one another, with the former somewhat pulling back, her sprouting wolf tail wagging.
"Ohhh! Sis, it's so good to see you! You made it back safely! Didja miss me? Didja miss me?!"
Yang smirked. "Nah."
"Liar!"
"Got me in on, sis." Yang turned toward the rest of the gang and raised a hand as she went around greeting everyone else. "Yo, guys! Sorry that I'm fashionably late. You will not believe the amount of hassle I had to go through to finally get here! It was quite something!"
What am I looking at? Cinder thought with brief exasperation.
Yang was quite a tall and imposing woman, with long, slightly wild blonde hair that reached down to her waist. She wore a high-collared, gold-and-black open jacket with the sleeves rolled up to her forearms, pockets on either side of the chest, alongside snug, fitted black pants, and knee-high boots. Underneath the jacket, she wore a simple white shirt with a v-neck collar and a gold design on the front which appeared to be her representative emblem. Topping things off is a pair of shares resting atop her tad for the time being. One would also notice a pair of gauntlets adorning her wrists.
In any case, after getting a good look at her, Cinder was made quickly aware of two things. For one, Yang was twice as buxom and muscled as Ruby was. And given how she's already seen glimpses of Ruby's impressive physical power, Cinder had to guess that Yang's raw physical strength was at least four times hers. For two...
"You're sisters?" Cinder blinked, a bit surprised at the notion. It's not that she thought the claim was false; she could sense their relation. It was there. They had somewhat similar, connected vibes to them that express themselves differently. Ruby was the fresh breeze blowing across the fields, while Yang was the shining sun beaming down on them.
"Yup. Half by blood, full by heart and choice." Yang rubbed her chin as she leaned forward towards Cinder, one eyebrow raised. "So. You're the infamous Hellfire Dragon I've been hearing about on my way here. I dunno if you've heard or have been paying much attention to how fast rumors spread, but you've managed to rack up quite a rep. Quite a scary-sounding rep, at that."
"Is that so?"
"Ohoho yeah. That made it sound like you truly did claw your way outta hell!" Yang raised her arms while gesturing with glowIng hands. "Helpless townsfolk screaming and running scared at her presence! Monsters are being scared away due to many of them being killed or eaten by her! Various warriors tried to stop her reign of terror but they ended up badly wounded for their efforts! They made you sound like a real menace!" Yang stopped and rubbed her chin. "So to find out that you've joined hands with my sister's guild and all that, it got me curious. And now, After the amount of time you've spent here so far... things have changed. A few more perspectives have been added, ya know? As for me? I wanted to take a good look at you for myself and see if some of these things are warranted. Make some conclusions for myself ya know?"
"Is that right...?"
"Yup. Hol' up. Is that strawberry breakfast cake?" Yang initially sniffed and pointed out, which Jaune had finished up as the sisters were catching up. "Oh, nice! That's quite a welcoming breakfast to come to after traveling all this way!"
Fresh strawberries folded in a sweet-sour cream batter. With said sour cream, as well as the fruit juices, escaping as it was baking, the cake manages to remain moist. The lightness and sweetness of it, as well as the juiciness of it due to the abundance of strawberries, briefly made both Ruby and Yang's eyes sparkle with wonder.
"Ohhhh it's so good. I gotta rank this a triple-S!"
"Supreme Strawberry Sweetness!"
Yang cooed and delighted at the sweetness and juicy goodness of strawberries, before she caught herself and cleared her throat, turning towards Jaune.
"Look, in all seriousness, though. The decision to go ahead and rock with this woman? It ain't all sunshine and rainbows. Although I'm here to bring the sunshine, so it all evens out!"
"There's been word going about?" Ruby blinked.
"Little bit." Yang nodded while again clearing her throat. "Once we're done with breakfast, let's have a walk and talk. It's pretty important, if ya ask me."
Such a serious tone from Yang didn't fill them with confidence, but they would take her up for her request.
"Jaune Arc tames Hellfire Dragon." Penny began to read from a holographic article displayed on the matter. "Having battled her over and over, the Hellfire Dragon allows herself under Arc's care, effectively taming the beast. But no one knows how long this will last for, and are prepared for another rampage from her." Penny looked up with a blink. "It would appear that Vale's military and other authorities regarding security aren't quite trusting of her just yet. Which makes sense, she did quite a bit of damage to their pride with how many times she's effortlessly triumphed against them in battle, even without killing them. Not to mention she's had a few incidents where the loss of temper caused her to lash out."
"That caretaker from Sumire Town must have put in a word that Cinder isn't to be trusted." Ruby put forth, which somewhat made the entire group narrow their eyes. Sure, it we just one person, but one was all it took for a situation like this to take a left and possibly go wrong. One person's testimony on an ordeal holds more power than one would expect, even if it's not entirely accurate.
"So it's not like everyone's suddenly in on this. Some still see her as a possible menace." Weiss grumbled while massaging her temples. "Everyone else, however, particularly the locale, are smart enough to put two and two together and have realized that she's possibly not nearly as bad as she's being made out to be."
"These newer rumors are from those who experienced her up close when she's with us." Oscar chimed in. "Which, ah, might explain a couple of things about how others see her relations to us. Them spinning it like Jaune actually tamed a dangerous creature rather than her willingly joining up with us, is probably the major reason why even more people aren't at our throats for this decision."
"Nothing changes overnight." Blake calmly chimed. "Cinder just joined us. With all of the baggage that came with her being a rogue dragon with little in terms of actual alignment, that distrust isn't going to vanish so soon."
"Yup." Yang shrugged with her hands up. "It is what it is. It's just something we gotta deal with over time. Sorta a big deal, but nothin' we can't handle, right?"
Cinder was curiously listening in on all of this whole pondering. On one hand, her reputation was becoming more widespread than she was expecting, and not entirely in a positive direction. She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. Of course things haven't changed immediately. Such naïvety in thinking otherwise was unwise. And yet, a part of her couldn't help but be slightly upset over it.
Yang clapped as she pushed onwards, the group approaching a sleek and metallic building with slick sheen arched windows. The entrance was a pair of large sliding doors the opened automatically once they got closer and entered. Six large glowing pillars surrounded the floor, with several long bars lined up alongside the walls and entrances. Several tall balconies overlooked the floor, each connecting to a set of stairs. On the ceiling was a rotating shining sphere of light, laser, and projectors, all casting several brilliant lights across the large room. Several people were out and about, simply chatting with one another. "Now where is our old buddy old pal-aha! There he is!"
A man was sitting behind a counter whilst speaking to one of his workers. He soon turned once he heard the sound of new arrivals. He put forth a greeting voice, which quickly died in his throat once be saw exactly who was coming his way. He led out a rather weary and resigned sigh, feeling a headache coming on before they've even gotten close. "Oh no..."
The Xiao Long/Rose sisters. This is the last thing I need to experience today.
"Heya, Hei Xiong!"
"Hi Mr. Xiong!"
The man already looked fully resigned as he turned completely around to the duo greeting them with rather friendly smiles. He wasn't fooled for a moment, though. These were smiling demons standing before him, and he had sweat rolling down his face in droves at the sight of them. They couldn't fool him for a moment, he was well aware and afraid of the chaos that these two sisters tend to leave in their wake. Or worse, take along with them. He was tensely waiting for the other shoe to drop, but right now, he had to be professional.
"Alright, whaddya want, Wildfire and Bloody Rose?"
"Whaaa? I'm a Bloody Rose?" Ruby pouted cutely.
"You ain't foolin' anyone around here. I've already seen for myself what you're like when someone rarely manages to wear out your temper. Sit there looking pretty, until someone pricks themselves when they try something funny too many times. I don't want to be exposed or targeted by the consequences of that. No way no how." Xiong set down a glass to be cleaned by the automatic cleansers behind him. "And now that Yang's back in town, I don't think I could handle a dual rampage."
"But I'm in a good mood today! Why would I get mad?"
"Same here, Junior. I'm just here for fun and possible rumors rolling around. You're bound to know a little something something at the very least. Something we could use for the day?" Yang rested er cheek in her hand. "Or is there anything you need our help with?"
Hei huffed, seeing that the sisterly duo wasn't going to get off his back so easily. "Well, if it'll get you out of my hair sooner...Oi. That's the dragon lady to the right? She's kinda drawing some eyes to her." Hei huffed. Cinder was casually minding her own business, though she was also being eyed upon by several a patron passing her by. She and Weiss were currently glaring at one another for a moment so they barely noticed or cared that some passerby got a look at both of their long and slender, shapely legs crossed one over the other. They were too into their intense glaring contest to even pay it any mind. None of the others could even tell why they even began said contest. "Doesn't seem all that dangerous...but that's exactly how her kind catches you off guard. She's not gonna start wrecking the place once we take said eyes off her, is she?"
"We're trying to improve her rep so that people will get off her back a little with the distance and hostility. She's a member of the group now, and the lack of true acknowledgement for that is kinda pissing us off." Yang waved off, before leaning forward on the counter. "But seriously, Hei. You have something for us,l regarding other things, don't ya? I've been hearing serious buzzings and you're the guy who's most likely to know about who's doing the buzz."
"Yeah, c'mon! Give us the deets!" Ruby exclaimed, also leaning forward against the counter with her arms on it.
Hei rolled his eyes, and then takes the cleansed cups out of their holders. "Somebody fill this up with a blueberry float, table three."
"On it, boss." One of his younger workers takes the cups and begins filling them up. Though as he does so, his eyes squints slightly and curiously looks to the side. Slightly getting a glimpse of how the sister duo's ample chests gently pressed and pushed up against the counter as they were leaning forward. This got a little bit of a stutter and blush out of him before he finished his task and hurried along his way.
Hei sighed as he kept his voice low. "Vale's Underworld has gotten rather disorganized and uppity ever since Roman Torchwick disappeared four years ago. Still have no idea if somebody caught and arrested him, finally cornered him and did him in, he dropped outta the game or whatever. What's for sure is that he's nowhere in Vale anymore and hasn't reappeared since, we've checked. And without Roman keeping things organized..."
"I gotcha. Somebody's been making moves to fill in the vacuum he left behind." Yang hummed while rubbing her chin. "And you didn't try filling in that gap yourself."
"No. I don't have that kind of ambition like he and those like him do. I'd much rather keep things nice and tidy. These days the Xiong Family wants keep things orderly and peaceful on our side of things, hence our occasional cooperation with the cops. If you're coming here with the suspicion that I might be up to no good, I'll tell you for certain that my hands are clean for the most part. I'm not starting any trouble, though I can't say the same for anyone else who feels brave-another she rd for stupid-enough to try." Hei grumbled as he pushed another glass aside for another patron.
"Is that so?" Ruby hummed with her chin in her hands. "Someone really wants to occupy that spot that Torchwick left behind, huh? It could really get that bad?"
"Yeah. As such, I tend to be busy trying to hold them back from doing something monumentally stupid. Unlike me, they have no idea just how easily they could be crushed if they motivate the wrong person, and I'm at risk of getting caught in the middle of the storm that results from it."
"Aren't you afraid if it becoming too much for you? That it'll overwhelm you?"
"If it ever does reach that point and I get wiped out in the process, that's unfortunate, but not unexpected. I know what I'm getting throne belonging to the King of Vale's Criminal Underworld is empty. And I intend to keep it that way, for as long as I can." Hei shook his head. "Vale has enough problems to deal with, we don't need a bunch of idiots clashing with each other and getting bystanders caught up in the crossfire over a pointless battle to become the next kingpin."
Ruby lowered her eyes and sits up a bit more straight. "That sounds like it's too dangerous for you to try and manage on your own."
"There's no need to worry about that. You've got better things to do and attend to than concern yourself with stuff like this." Hei shook his head. "If that's all, do you actually want something outta here?"
For the briefest of moments, Yang shifted her eye to the far right at the sight of something moving amongst the crowd of people. Someone had been looking directly at Hei for the longest time, before eventually subsiding from view once he finished his statements regarding the subject. Yang subtly narrowed her eyes at this, before immediately turning to Hei with a smile. "Well yeah. I think I'll take a Strawberry Sunrise off your hands, if you're up for it."
"Strawberry smoothie!" Ruby raised her hand excitedly. With Hei sighing as he wasn't to make with the drinks, Yang and Ruby slowly slid closer to one another. "You noticed it too, huh?"
"Yeah. Think someone's been listening in." Yang muttered back, before they both swiftly put on their sweet smiles as their drinks came about, with them turning to one another. "It's not gonna do any good to try and go after them now."
"Yeah. We oughta wait until the coast is clear and there aren't a lot of people around." Ruby muttered again as she slipped her smoothie, which for a delighted him out of her. "Oh wow, this is even more refreshing than before!"
With the two sisters casually enjoying themselves, Ruby quietly sent a message to each group member via Scroll. They chose to simply relax and allow time to pass, until it was time to make their move.
Hei left his post to one of his workers, having made his way outside to take a short break. It was a bit tiring, running a cafe. On certain occasions be simply needed a bit of time to himself to recharge before he went back into the swing of things. Visitors have been getting rather noisy, and he could use a bit of quiet time. Well, quieter than it was in there, that's for sure.
He simply leaned against the wall for a moment with a sigh, lightly holding the side of his head. Those two smiling demons. Ruby and Yang. Especially the latter. They had asked him for quite a bit, and he may have said a fair bit too much to them in response. He supposed that s bit of the stress had him also vent about some of his problems without fully realizing. One of those moments that simply happened before one realizes that it happened. Though now that they've been given that info, hopefully it'll be enough to have them leave his establishment peacefully. Trouble followed those two a lot whether they wanted to or not, and again, he'd father not get caught up within it.
"Boy."
Too late.
Letting out the weariest sigh that he's ever sighed, Hei slowly turned to the source of the voice walking towards him, which appeared to be an elder man who looked much like himself, but with gray hairs and a shaggier beard. There was no doubt in his mind what he was here for, and that it was unlikely that this was going to end peacefully. There was little hope of trying to talk his way out of whatever was going to happen next, but he had to at least try, lest the consequences lash back at his business.
"Do you need something? I'm kind of on break, here."
"Is that any way to talk to your father?"
"Depends on the situation, I guess."
The older man narrowed his eyes. "I overheard a few things. You're purposefully keeping the seat empty. Are you outta your damn mind? You're deliberately trying to keep anyone from claiming that position, including yourself?"
"There's no need for a kingpin in Vale. Not with the current way of things. It's asking for trouble that we can't deal with." Hei shook his head and folded his arms. "The Xiong Family is done with that kinda life, Pa. For the most part, we're going clean and working with the cops so that those upstarts don't try to make a further mess of things." He narrowed his eyes. "...You're going to try something, aren't you? I'm telling you right now, don't even try it. You don't get to just crawl back in and start causing trouble, Pa. You'll have to deal with me."
"...Well, at the very least, you've found your spine."
Hei knew it was coming, yet still couldn't do anything about it; the elder grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the ground, cracking it around them.
"Too bad I'll have to break it. If you're going to become a hindrance, I'll have to remove you."
"Ack...!"
Hei coughed slightly as his father applied further pressure, quickly relinquishing him of his ability to catch his breath. He looked desperately into his father's eyes, who simply looked back at his son with mild indifference.
"You're right about one thing, the Xiong Family is probably not cut out for that kind of life anymore. And since you're not up for taking Torchwick's place...well, that's all the more reason to consider your life unnecessary, isn't it? I'll just start a new Xiong Family and work my way back up to the infamy that it used to have. You won't have a place in it, of course. Because you and all your subordinates will be dead. You've undoubtedly tainted them with your hesitation, I've no use for damaged goods." Hei began blacking out as he felt his throat on the verge of being crushed.
The elder felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Woah woah, there. Hold up now. That's no way to treat your only son."
It took all of a moment for him to notice the presence, before he found himself flung across the ground in a heap. He quickly got back to his feet and flared at the cause of the interference.
Yang Xiao Long.
She smiled and waved to him while having a hand in her pocket. "Yo."
"Wildfire...you followed me?" Hei coughed as Ruby landed by his side, slowly helping him back to his feet as he tried to regain his nearly lost voice. "And you too, Blood Thorns?"
"Course we followed you. We were worried. And apparently, we were right to be." Ruby turned around and glared. "You seriously tried to kill your own son with your literal bear hands. You are not winning 'Father of the Year' awards any time soon!"
Yang smiled while rolling her shoulder a bit. "Alrighty then! There's two ways this can go down, Yao Xiong." The elder narrowed his eyes at how the blonde casually dropped his name. "Yeah, I occasionally do my homework, big shock. Though for the sake of simplicity, I might refer to father and son as Junior Xiong and Senior Xiong. Heh. Anyway, you've got choices ahead of ya. You can either give yourself up without a fuss...or get clobbered. I've got no issue against either, but only one of them leads to you ending up black, blue, and bloody."
Yao's eyes viciously glared towards Yang, who was beginning to crack her knuckles. It was then that there was a pulse through him, and his form began to bulk and grow, muscles surging through and teeth becoming sharper. A deep snarl sounded throughout when the man leaned forward slightly, claws sharpening and extending from his hands turning into paws, with a shaggy coat of fur beginning to cover him. Yang slowly looked upwards as she kept track of him, undeterred. The elder bulked up considerably, until he ceased and glared towards Yang.
She was gazing back up against a large muscular werebear, currently snarling towards her, with brief bits of slobber leaving his maw. Yang cracked her knuckles again while smirking, twirling her finger as a hard light hairband manifested and served to tie up her hair into a ponytail.
The weather roared towards her and lashed a heavy pawed fist towards Yang. She firmly stood her ground and clenched her knuckles, before holding up her arm to block the blow meant for her head. The law made impact with her arm and it was powerful enough to cause a deep rumble throughout the area, cracking the ground they were standing on and picking up a bit of smoke. Hei was standing back while attempting to cover his eyes, while Ruby casually stood through the briefly fust that picked up from the blows, patting down her skirt once it ended.
Yang soon pushed Yao back, making him skid backwards across the ground, forcing him to stop himself via digging his claws into the ground. He lifted his head, eyes wide as Yang leapt towards him with a fist pulled back, a vicious grin across her face as well as a fiery look in her eyes. Before long, she slugged the large werebear across the skull and caused him to collapse on his side, cratering the ground. He snarled, slowly standing up and holding the heavily injured spot he was struck. He winced from the pain, clenching his fist angrily at the audacity.
"Why are you even getting involved in this?"
Yang smiled while shaking her knuckles. "This dude here makes an amazing Strawberry Sunrise. No way I'm gonna let you kill him."
"I feel so appreciated." Hei deadpanned.
"More to the point, Xiong Senior, I don't vibe with peeps trying to off their families like you are." Yang rolled her arm a few times, before quickly closing the distance and smashing her fist into Yao's skull again, knocking him further across the ground. "So you'll have to deal with me being rather pissed off about you writing off your son so callously."
The werebear growled as he pushed himself back up, shaking his head of the ringing in his ears. "He's willing to allow our family name to sink into mediocrity when it used to be infamous. That wasteful fool is not my son." Hei narrowed his eyes at this, before closing them and looking away. Yang, for her part, managed a small wince while scratching her neck.
"Well damn. Don't you think you're being a little too cold-hearted, Papa Bear? Is there really no more room for warmth in your heart?" Yang swiftly ducked back as Yao attempted to slice his claws at her face, before she leapt forth and uppercuts him in the jaw. "Gonna note that down as a no." She huffed as her fists eventually caught fire, and bashed her other fist into his face, further knocking him into the ground.
Yao grimaced as he raised his paws. Yang raised an eyebrow as several concrete walls raised over the ground, and several people descended down from them, and trained on Yang with several weapons. She raised her eyebrow at this as her eyes briefly glowed crimson, her knuckles igniting with bright flames. Ruby could see where this was going, and lightly skipped ahead.
"Looks like he's calling for backup. Good." Ruby huffed as she pointed forwards. "Now's your chance, guys!"
Without much further ado, most of the guild came barreling through, right out of a glyph manifested by Weiss; they all came into the clearing with Weiss landing last, as said glyph disappeared behind them. Weiss walked up as she held her rapier in front of herself. Oscar walked up to Ruby as he held his cane.
"Area's been cleared of potential bystanders, just like you asked, Ruby." Oscar relayed.
"A signal has been sent out shortly afterwards. With any luck, the authorities will be here soon." Penny chimed in with a raise hand. "Possibilities of potential innocent casualties have been decreased by seventy five percent, should we keep the battle contained in this area."
"Nice work, guys. That should make things a bit easier for us."
Hei looked a bit baffled as he realized they were always intending on following him once they became aware of Yao's presence in the area. It didn't take them long to put two and two together on what might happen if he was left alone. He let out a weary sigh once more while palming his forehead.
"You kids sure know how to make me look bad..." He then slowly stands up and narrows his eyes as one of his hands shifted into a bear's claws. "But whatever gets this done quicker..." He declared while catching one of the shooters by the arm and punching them out with a heavy bear fist.
"Aw, you do love us!" Yang cooed, before she turned towards the enemy with a grin. "Let's get em'!"
Yao's forces attempted to fire towards the group, only for most of their bullets to end up deflected via their Auras; Blake was the first to push forward as shadows of herself leapt out of her own and began leaping forth to attack the enemy, kicking them down to the ground to leave room for the others to commence their own attacks. Penny for one deflected most of the bullets with her manifesting swords, before they each fired off small green orbs that blast against their targets and further knock them down, unconscious from the force behind them.
"Rabble trying to reclaim a name for themselves in such a dishonorable manner. I can't say that I approve of their conduct." Weiss uttered as she dashed in between glowing white glyphs, launching striking precise blows towards some of the subordinates, with much smaller glyphs shooting small glowing orbs of ice that attacked them over their bodies and immobilized their movements via freezing. One of them made for an attempt to blast her from behind, only for another glyph barrier to stop it in it's tracks, leaving room for Oscar to knock them out with a well placed cane blow to the head, crumpling to the ground.
More were attempting to fire upon him, in which a clock glyph surrounded him from beneath, and he felt time slow as the blasts came towards him. Utilizing his four seconds, he dashed right past them and smacked the shooters with well placed blows with his cane; each blow left behind a smaller clock glyph that briefly slowed them down as well. This left Ruby with the opening to dash against each of them and kick them into the concrete, against the wall, through the air, or into another one of their allies.
"Phew..." Ruby sighed while briefly blowing hair away from her face. She focused onward, e en though another one of them attempted to blast them from the side; though it ended up being for not, as the blast met with a glowing shield that defend against it effortlessly. Jaune shielded Ruby while the latter didn't even look towards the shooter, her hair briefly waved by the forceful winds due to the blast. Jaune proceeded to slash with his sword, the wave of Aura launching towards them and slamming into them, sending them harshly crashing against the ground.
Cinder's for her part, blinked in astonishment once she witnessed it. Not even a flinch in her stride as Jaune covered for it off, she effortlessly slammed her hand into one of the shooters, blasting them away with a burst of fire. Another wave of heat briefly forced them back and against the walls around them. She leapt up and slammed a flaming tail down onto one of their backs, cracking and igniting the ground with flames. She turned around and shor a spiral of flames towards a duo that tried to sneak up on her, pushing and burning them against the hard enough to put them out of commission. She scoffed. Their strength was rather pitiful despite their best efforts.
Meanwhile, Yang grinned as she shot several rounds of Ember Celica towards Yao, who's thick werebear hide managed to endure them for what it was worth. He swiped right as another one struck his arm, as he smashed the ground, a shockwave pushing forth towards Yang due to the force behind the blow, but Yang was able to easily stand her ground against it. Grinning, she launched herself towards Yao with a blast of Ember Celica for extra momentum. She reared a fist back as it ignited with flames, and punched towards his fist, colliding with it when he tried to land a blow himself. Immediately after, another blast of Ember Celica soun her around the werebear as she this time punched his side before he could react to bit, a fiery blast going off from the hit.
Yao growled as he attempted to turn and dash at her again, only for her to dodge at the last moment via blasting Ember to the side and pushing her along, avoiding the blow. More flames ignited her fist as Yao immediately turned about to smash down both of his large fists upon her, which was met with her jumping over with ease and smashing her fist into his snout, resulting in a firey explosion thanks to Ember Celica. It briefly made him stumble, only for her to quickly close the difference and land three fiery jabs right in the gut, with each one resulting in a brief spiral of flames surrounding them both. Yao stumbled from each blow, before he was struck with a harsh kick to the side, which was also infused with flames. Yang's fiery red eyes glowed briefly as the werebear was sent spiralling across the ground in a smoking heap.
The beast snarled with raw primal fury, as it charged towards her in all fours, with an armor of concrete covering it's body, intending on tackling her with it. Yang cracked her knuckles and stretched her arm briefly, before she pulled back a clenched fist, and punched the ground hard. A circular glowing circle of heat briefly showed up, and a pillar of violent flames soon shot upwards towards the raging bear and blasts it upwards, destroying it's concrete armor in mere moments. The chunks and shards of concrete were being burned away so heavily that it left several scarring cuts on Hao when he eventually fell down and crashed back to the ground, covered in fierce burns and bruises.
Yang slowly pulled herself up and walked towards him, clenching her fists. "Still feel like rumbling, big guy? I'm all good for it if ya want." Both of them realized fully that his chances of winning the fight there might as well be flat-out impossible. He could see that all of his subordinates were defeated, laying beaten and broken on the ground, unconscious for the most part. Yao snarled as he realized his options were limited, there was only one thing he could do. He briefly touched the Scroll on his hip, grunting as the burns were rather agonizing.
"...Come to my aid. Stella."
After a few seconds, a flash of light appeared before the group, briefly blinding them. Yang grunted as she shook her head, before she looked forth towards the cause of the light. Everyone briefly opened their eyes, and their eyes slowly refocused. A woman was standing in front of Xiong as he slowly shifted back to mostly human form. She had a white flower dress decorated with blue star patterns and golden outlines around said stars. She was gazing at the group with a rather serene yet simultaneously detached stare, before turning towards Yao.
"Stella Ophelia. Mr. Xiong, you called for my assistance?"
"Get me out of here." Yao muttered, in which Yang narrowed her eyes and shot towards them in a burst of flames.
"Oh no you-!" Yang began, only for another blinding flash to briefly disorient her. She closed her eyes and punched forth anyway, only to make contact with nothing. "...don't." Opening her eyes, she could see that Yao and his helper have vanished from view. She snarled as her flames died down, angrily snapping her fingers. "Sonuvabitch! They got away!"
Ruby looked around at all the subordinates they defeated, only to narrow her eyes in disapproval. "He left his men behind..." Shaking her head, she briefly patted Yang's shoulder. "Well, we are least managed to do that much. He probably doesn't have a lot of people to fall back on at this point."
"Or perhaps he has plenty in reserve, and he has plenty of subordinates to call for assistance from." Blake muttered while sheathing her sword. "Given how he showed no hesitation to leave his men behind once his escape method came to rescue him, I don't think he has a problem with abandoning those who don't perform up to his expectations. Especially with how decisively we defeated them here."
"That seems to be the way it is." Weiss uttered as she two sheathed her weapon as she gazed around at the aftermath of the battle. "We managed to somewhat keep the damage to the minimum, which is a relief. Though any more and we might have begun unintentionally causing a few problems. It's a good thing we managed to apprehend them when we did."
"That magic, though. Could it be...?" Oscar rubbed his chin at the thought of how the woman was able to teleport in, father her superior, and teleport out in a manner of moments. And she did so both times under a brilliant flash of light.
"I can confirm that Stella was utilizing Star Magic." Penny offered with a raised hand. "It's highly probable that she was wielding the nature of esoteric stellar energy to teleport to her superior and rescue him from capture."
"How the heck did a jerk like that manage to get someone with such a pretty power work for him?" Ruby grumbled with folded arms.
"Who knows. What we know for sure is that she's likely another enemy, regardless of the circumstances. Which means if we wanna prevent more escapes from that guy if we run into him again, we'll have to do what we can to stop her, first." Jaune deduced while scratching the back of his head. "Which is unlikely to be all that easy. With an ability like that, she could prove pretty dodgy if she so chooses."
"Though if he only waited for him to be on the losing end of the battle and for him to be out of options but to use her for an escape, instead of having her right with him, the magic could be taxing on her stamina." Oscar deduced as well, while tapping his cane on the ground. "This is definitely something we should take note of for any potential future encounters."
"Agreed!" Ruby raised her hand, before she turned to Hei. "Maybe you should call for someone to look after your business, just in case that jerk comes back to mess with you again. Someone who can really help you hold things down, until your dad is stopped for real."
"Sounds like a pain...but it's gotta be done. Thanks for the help, by the way."
Yang turned towards him, with a sunny smile and a thumbs up. "No prob, Baby Bear."
"Don't call...screw it, I'm too tired to care right now."
As Vale's Police Department eventually arrived to round up the unconscious crew, Cinder was sitting nearby, watching all of them being carted off. She huffed at how weak they seemed, having chosen to side with someone who could and literally has thrown them away and left them behind in under a heartbeat if it suited him. It served them right for following under the banner of someone who doesn't deserve their loyalty. That was completely foolish and weak of them on their regard to not cut their losses while they were ahead.
Although, the entire thing didn't want to end on a complete neat note.
"Hey." Cinder didn't dignify some of them with a look, as she could hear a few of them crossing her path. "You'd better not be up to any funny business. The slightest hint that you might go astray and back to your chaotic evil, you will be slain without a second thought."
Once again, Cinder didn't dignify them with a response. The weak could only give empty threats they couldn't reinforce, so why should she heed them? Even so...
"Think she's got the message." Jaune stood by with folded arms. "I think you oughta focus on the actual troublemakers from today, hm?"
"You all have better things to worry about, don't you? Take the jerks way." Ruby also put forth, folding her arms. They scoffed and moved on with their current arrest, not taking their distrustful eyes off Cinder until they themselves were out of sight. "Sorry about that, Cinder."
"They can threaten me if it makes them feel confident. I have little to fear from them." Cinder waved it off.
Soon enough, Yang stretched and also took a seat, brushing off her hands. "Welp, it's good to be back, Ruby. I'm looking forward to kickin' ass with you again after we've spent some time apart. This was a pretty good welcome back beatdown."
"Good to have you around, sis. We've definitely reached a new height of strength now that you're here." Ruby smiled while also sitting next to her, kicking her feet back and forth.
Whilst, Cinder was still somewhat trying to understand just what Yao Xiong wanted and why. Or more like, she knew why, but wasn't able to completely understand where the starting point was. After some pondering, she sighed while blowing some hair away from her face. "Why would he go through so much trouble trying to become infamous through this group of his? Does he miss what power he used to have before he lost it all?"
"Something like that." Yang stretched and placed her hands behind her neck. "Looks like the dude doesn't want Vale to forget that the Xiong Family used to be pretty scary back in the day. It's been years, and people have their attention on other stuff, ya know? He doesn't wanna be forgotten, so he is willing to turn to infamy to do so. The recognition that the Xiong Family used to be notorious. He wants that back, I guess. And is willing to do whatever it takes to get that rep back."
"I see. Reputation is that important to him?"
"Reputation tends to be important overall, more than some are willing to admit. The way people see you, depending on the how, can have an impact on how they interact with, move around, and treat you for better or worse. And sometimes people wanna invoke those differencing responses in people depending on the crowd." Yang sipped some of her Strawberry Sunrise and sighed. "In that guy's instance, he clearly wants people to be afraid of him as a figure of the criminal element, cause he doesn't wanna accept that his time is over."
"So he is seeking a powerful influence."
"Guess you could say that." Yang's lavender eyes calmly gazed at her class as she swirled it around a few times. "You e got no idea just how damaging a bad rep can be to a person. It's affected me and Ruby for quire a few years. Peeps very much saw me and Ruby in a shitty light because of who some of our folks are, and it ended up making parts of our lives hell."
"...Really?" Cinder muttered while briefly pulling up her legs, a slightly somber atmosphere falling upon the trio as she pushed her hair away from her face.
"Yup." Ruby muttered while staring at her lap. "There are some things people will hate you for no matter what, simply because they've heard the worst about you, rather than actually seeing it. Me and Yang had a bit of a rough time growing up because of it. Like, really really rough."
Yang finished her drink as she sets down her glass and rolled her arm. "Didn't stop us though. Grew up into a badass sisterly duo. They tried to push us down but we pushed back even harder, came back stronger. You see, a gal like me me wants to be something of a world-class adventurer, ya know? New sceneries, new lands, maybe even new worlds!" She shrugged. "Of course, I made the decision to join up under my sister's guild. Cause an adventure just ain't an adventure without buddies you can share it with and count on. It boosts the experience by a pretty epic margin." She raised a finger. "More to the point, being the explorer that I am while accomplishing all sorts of cool things? It's just the motivation I need to prove to those assholes who looked down on us and our loved ones dead wrong for underestimating us."
Cinder briefly sits up a little more, as she heard Ruby gleefully cheer as a strawberry smoothie was slid her way, immediately beginning to drink it. "What are you trying to say?"
"What I'm sayin', is that having so many people looking down on us and insulting us, as well as our family and friends by association, kinda motivated us both into doing some epic things that no one's gonna forget anytime soon. Just to get back at em'." Yang smiled as another strawberry sunrise was slid her way. "Especially in Ruby's case. With what she's striving for, she's bound to make a lot of enemies. And so will us all, by association. And I'm cool with that. Because we're following a path we believe in and stood up for something. That kinda thing."
"Is that right...?"
"I already know for sure. There's going to be a lot of people who don't want me in that position. And there's going to be plenty who'll never forgive me for it." Ruby hummed while looking rather resolute. "But no matter what happens, I've already made up my mind. So I'm gonna do it."
"There ya go." Yang gestured to her sister with a smile. Cinder nodded. She could respect that. It's not a lack of fear of potential obstacles in her path, and more like that it wouldn't be enough to deter her. That's quite a strength she has.
"If you wanna go by video game logic..." Jaune chimed in as he sits nearby. Ruby, without missing a beat, gets up from her prior seat and takes a new one upon his lap, still cheerily drinking her smoothie. "If you're running into enemies along the way, you're kinda going in the right direction."
"Yup! Though, you also gotta remember something important." Yang raised a finger. "It ain't enough to only be acknowledged, envied, hated, or feared. Sometimes it's one or two of em', others it's all at once. But what also a major factor aside from how much and how many, is who. Who's standing with you or against you matters just as much as how many and how much, as well as why they're doing so. If you can decide on all of that, then you'll know just what kind of reputation you really want. Ya know how actions speak louder than words? Actions and words decides who our friends and enemies are."
Cinder began to ponder this. For the longest time, she did consider how people saw her, and for a while she didn't care all to much. She had strength, she had power, and to an extent, she was feared. Fear, which to an extent mean there was respect for her immense power. Though up until now, she didn't give any deep thought as to who she wanted to fear her, and why. She knew she wanted that, but she's never completely pieced together the 'who' and 'why' behind it. Those two elements as well as others, would be what decides the quality of her reputation. Simply having it wasn't enough; she wasn't completely sure of what she wanted that to mean.
Someone like Yao didn't care who feared his name or why, just that people did. He'll do anything and destroy anyone to regain that reputation of being infamous. It didn't matter how he went about it or who considered him infamous. Well, Cinder didn't want to go that route.
She actually wanted her reputation to mean something beyond the surface. At least, she was more sure of that than simply being feared. There was definite power when it comes to how someone is viewed from certain perspectives.
She rubbed her chin while nodding quietly to herself. "You've given me something to ponder. This insight should prove helpful."
"Not a problem."
Oscar sighed as he and Penny were sitting next to each other, with the commotion begin jng to die down a bit further. "Well, Yang's managed to rejoin us too. So at least there's steady progress, I suppose."
"That just leaves Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren." Penny continued while turning towards the window. "It shouldn't be long before the entire guild is back together again. With Cinder as our newest member. She seems to be fitting herself in at her own pace, though the distrust of other people towards her might make that transition even more difficult."
"You're telling me." Oscar lightly rubbed his forehead. "I don't wanna think about the scenario where it gets to the point that Ozpin has to personally step in and deal with her in order to quell those fears. I know how he is due to mentoring under him. And since I know them as friends, Ruby and Jaune would not accept such a result quietly. It'll result in a clash." He shook his head. "But it's not going to do us any good thinking about the worst. Keep it in mind, but also focus on making sure that it doesn't happen."
"Which means if we're to improve people's stances towards Cinder, it will do good to improve our own standings overall, as a Guild." Blake quietly noted while lapping some milk. "We as a Guild will have to make a name for ourselves, and have her be a part of that when it does happen."
"Every action we take is likely to produce a result. Whether it takes us forward or backwards depends on what those actions are." Weiss muttered seriously. "If we are to portray our recruitment of Cinder as a step forward rather than a disaster waiting to happen, then we will need to take the actions necessary to prove it the former and disprove the latter. To a wider perspective, the results will speak louder than our words alone could portray."
"I agree. Which means we'll have to take steps in order to prove we're serious." Oscar turned while placing his cane forward. "We've prepared for this long, and now we've made a decision like this. We'll need to make sure we do our part to ensure that it wasn't a mistake. It'll be one of our best bets at staving off the worst case scenarios, while also establishing ourselves as a guild worthy of note."
Penny nodded, her green eyes glowing slightly with resolution. "I agree as well. This is the gradual genesis of the Red Riding Hood Guild. We need to do our very best to make sure that it's sensational!"
Yang could overhead them in the back, then turns towards Ruby as she affectionately patted her head. "Look at that, Ruby. Sounds like we're all in agreement to an extent, huh?"
"Yeah, it seems to be so." Ruby smiled and nodded, before looking towards the outside, with a building resolution of her own. With Yang having come back, they were at a somewhat decent size again. They could take on a few more things to build up their confidence and reputation while Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren arrived. And it was almost assured that there would be plenty that would try to quash their attempt at building themselves up before they could really get the ball going.
The key word obviously being try.
Yao was afraid of having to come back here. But there was no other choice. He had confronted those troublesome brats with a stern face and an atmosphere of rage. But after that died down and he managed to escape, he was forced back into the cruel and terrifying reality of his situation that he was desperate to get out of.
Stella had managed to save him. But soon after that, a bloody portal opened before them right when she landed. She was the first to step right through it. It didn't close until he too stepped right through it, for he knew that there would be consequences if he didn't step through. He let out a pained groan, but didn't stop moving as he came into yet another space. A space he truly didn't want to be a part of, but there was no other choice.
He stepped through the portal, and felt the cold shivers in his soul. At first it appeared is little more than a enormous, luxurious multi-story building, with a bit of an eerie atmosphere instilling. The space, the entire space all around it, though?
Blood.
A seemingly neverending, spiralling, whirlpool and wellspring of blood all around him. The skies above, the trees around him and leaves attached to them, the grass surrounding them, the rivers beside him, even the very wind he could hear and see, all made of nothing but mists and swirls of blood. Even as he was stepping up to the front door, there was hardened blood slowly manifesting to help him get there, before cracking apart and shattering after each time he takes a step forward. He yelped as one managed to shatter as he took the final step, managing to trio over himself and fall on the ground. He frowned and pulled himself back up and further moved onwards, even though he really didn't want to.
The ceiling itself had a blood red color to it, and he could see a slew, various people floating around and chatting with one another, some of them freely baring their fanged teeth. Some freely sit on the railings while laughing with one another. It didn't seem like such a bad atmosphere at first, until he noticed some of the waiters pouring some of them glasses of human blood, which they were all too glad to accept. Over to the side, he could see a couple rather lavishly bathing in an indoor pool of it, with a fountain in the middle. Various blood sculptures of Grimm were lined up on the sides, from Sabyrs to Ursa to Beowolves, all life sized. They all took the form of red ice and glass.
He almost jumped in pure right once someone appeared in front of him. It was the last person he wanted to see, yet the first person he expected. "Mr. Xiong. Wonderful of you to finally join us. I didn't think you'd show up." She was accompanied by two other women sitting in their seats. Stella gently walked over to one of their sides, waiting rather calmly. "So, how might I assist you in your endeavors this time?"
"R-Right. So..." Yao stuttered, which he hated but couldn't help. The sheer amount of malevolent pressure the woman before him was expounding on him threatened to crush him where he stood, and it took whatever he had to not fearfully look away from her. "I wanted to take my son out of the question before I could further anything, but I was stopped by a couple of punks. Took down my men and left me running with my tail between my legs..."
"Ohoho, how the mighty have fallen." One of the women chuckled mockingly while wiping leftover blood from her lips from the glass she drank, licking some off of her fangs. Yao glared at her.
"Can it, Vanille."
"Oh dear Xiong, you'll find it within your best interest to calm yourself. I don't think you're in any position to be talking back to any of us." The other woman scolded while sitting prim and proper in her own seat. "Especially when I'm lending you poor Stella to get you out of your own screwups. Isn't that right, Stella?"
"Indeed, Lady Beat."
"Ngh..."
"Now now, Xiong. I consider myself a reasonable woman. You wish to gain your infamy back through any means, and I'm willing to provide them to you. So long as you're also accomplishing what we ask of you." The lead hummed while tilting her head. "Of courses I'm going to be adding a few extra errands for you to do while you're out."
"What?! Are you kidding me? There's more?"
"Calm, Mr. Xiong, calm. It's relatively simple. The first extra errands I need from you." She held up a glowing orb of blood, and an image could be seen through it, an image of someone's face. "I'll need you to bring this to me."
Yao blinked. "The dragon woman? What do you want from her?"
"That is a private matter. I simply ask you to retrieve her however possible. Which also leads to my second request, and your other priority target." A second bloody orb appeared and showed yet another image...an image of a smiling Ruby Rose. "You came across this yelping pup back in your encounter, no? Do take some ample time out of your day to kill her while you're at it." She shook her head. "Mongrels like her should be put down for barking and biting where they shouldn't. She has something that belongs to me."
"That...I don't know which one sounds more difficult."
"Oh, but I'm quite certain of your success, Mr. Xiong." The lead lady nodded as two men were dragged about and placed right in between the two of them. "After all, you can't exactly afford failure. There's a bit too much on the line for you. And I don't just mean your reputation."
Yao blinked in astonishment. "Wait a minute. Dunn and Matte Looney? This is where you've been all this time?"
"Oh, hey boss! You finally found us!"
"We're thinking you forgot to look for us or something."
"...Yeah, it just took me a while, is all." Yao lied bluntly. "Why are you bringing them out here?"
"Demonstration."
As she said this, two hours emerged from behind her. Before any of the three men could react, one of them was grabbed roughly by the shoulders, and sharpened fangs tore into Dunn's neck, briefly tearing our a neat bloodied chunk, before biting action was briefly met with a sharp gasp, though a yell of pain was cut off, as he was rather quickly drained to a shriveled husk as the blood left his body. As for Matt, the other figure simply placed their hands on his shoulder, and he felt nearly all of his life force and blood being slowly drained away. Though instead of shriveling into a husk, he slowly turned into a sculpture of red ice.
"Uwaaah, that was good! Dudes too weak to make into a mook, but an okay snack." The former energetically declared, while dropping Dunn's body, casually stepping on the head as it turned to dust.
"This one isn't pretty enough to be kept as a sculpture." The other bluntly dismissed as they swiped their hand across, shattering Matt to pieces.
Yao's eyes widened at the rather callous display, while the lead lady nodded to the two of them. "I don't think I have to say any more, do I? It should be quite easy to understand."
"Oi, you've got a task to complete for Ma. If ya value your life, you're not gonna fail, are ya?" The former grinned towards him. "Please fail. Epically. Miserably. I've been excited to discover what wearbear bloody meat tastes like."
"You might make for a decent blood sculpture. But I feel you might not want that, so please don't let Mother down." The other remarked rather dully.
"You see, Xiong. Three things will be tested in your case. The width of your strength, your resourcefulness, and your future." Lady Beat laid out rather decidedly. "Just as well, you also have three chances to complete these three altogether tasks. Albeit, since those tasks are quite important, should you manage to fail them...well, you'd have proven there's no worth to your strength, your resourcefulness...or your future."
"And that just won't do, will it?" Lady Vanille smugly smiles with a shrug. Yao just narrowed his eyes angrily at her. "There's no need to worry though, because I'm so kind and generous, I'm offering you some help."
Yao blinked at this, as he noticed yet another woman enter the fray. And this one held a parasol over her head. Vanille strolled over and placed a hand on the small woman's shoulder, and the former emotionlessly raised her head, allowing Yao to see her heterochromatic eyes.
"I'm a sporting woman when I wish to be. I'll lend her to you. She should be able to support some of your whims as you embark on your mission. You can use her to kill, to hide yourself away, to fight by your side. Or you may take your frustrations out on her by yelling at her, beating on her, or even have your way with her. She's perfectly obedient, and we'll still be able to go along with our plans." Vanille smiled. "You have naught to worry about with her by your side. So long as you do what you need to do, quite successfully, I'll lend you her support. She's basically little more than an object."
"...Right." Yao shook his head with a sigh. "I get the picture. Can I leave this joint now?"
"Yes, that's all." All three high women nodded as Yao was escorted out for the time being, leaving them to their business. After a moment, Lady Beat turned towards her fellows.
"Do you really expect him to succeed?" She asked.
"It seems like he's far too oafish to even come close to it." Lady Vanille scoffed.
"Do I expect him to succeed? Unlikely. But it matters not. It's going to turn out the same whether he succeeds or fails. Because either way, he'll be progressing our operations." The head woman turned as she gazed up towards a malevolent, shadowy manifestation hovering above them, overseeing the guests as well as entire hidden pocket domain of theirs. She held up her hand as a ball of glowing blood hovered over it. "Your patience will be rewarded, Lilith. In exchange for your assistance, your blood sacrifices are being prepared as we speak." Something finally crystalized over her hand, and she sets it down on her desk. "An entire bloody swath of them, all over Vale..." She hummed, before turning as she and her fellows proceed to handle her guests. The object she set down...
A blood crimson colored, glass unicorn.
Yang arrived, and Weiss is already regretting even more of her life choices. Ruby, on the other hand, is a very happy little sister.
Hei 'Junior' Xiong has his loving and supportive father Yao 'Senior' Xiong(roughly meaning 'demon bear') visit, and they unfortunately don't part on the kindest of terms.
All seriousness, gave his father a bit of a different name than his own for a bit of a slight contrast. Silly Papa Bear thinks killing his son is an important step to getting his fearsome reputation back. So that's kind of a setter for how much he is and isn't willing to do...including allying with peeps that he REALLY shouldn't be rocking with...
Also, Stella is a character from Roman Holiday, with her name meaning 'star' in Latin. Gave her the last name Ophelia meaning 'aid, help, profit, benefit', as she was doing just that in said novel, and even more so here with her magic, lending her starry assistance. But as Papa Bear is reminded, said assistance isn't for free, for he's not her real boss.
Enough about that, the Red Riding Hood Guild is on a quest for rep! They've only just officially started up, so it's around time for them to gain some achievements and merits to their name as the rest of the Guild Members are soon to return, to really prove that they're to be taken seriously.
I'm sure they won't encounter any roadblocks along the way. No, of course not.
Until next time, aspiring adventurers!