Jaune awoke to the feeling of something heavy on his chest. Opening his eyes he was greeted with a plain brown ceiling and the scent of food slowing flooding his nostrils. "Familair Ceiling, no bindings." Jaune listed before he looked down. "And Melon using my chest as a bed." Jaune finished as the same old cat just yawned at him. Looking around he noticed that his whole body from the neck down was covered in bandages that gave off the faint scent of burn cream.
Carefully, Jaune began pulling his body up. The faint soreness from both his posture and the pain from last night's burns making the simple task far more difficult. Melon quickly leapt off of him and wandered off too some other part of the house. It took a few minutes before Jaune finally got himself out of bed and let out a pained groan.
"Hey." he heard someone call him. Looking out Jaune could see Ren standing at the doorframe with a tray full of breakfast. "Hey." Jaune replied before sitting back on the bed. Ren walked over and left the tray next to him. "Eat up, Charlie wants a report after we've all recovered." Ren said as Jaune took the tray. "Is Pyrrha ok?" Jaune asked. "She's fine, just a bit sore from The Hunter's... Puppetry." Ren said the last part with venom. Jaune frowned at this as he took a bite out of a piece of french toast. "She's resting in the room next door, both of your Goldies is by her side." Ren continued as Jaune chuckled.
"Kids still playing favorites." Jaune quipped. Ren just shook his head with a small smile. "Well Tony was originally by your side before Melon chased him off." Ren replied. Jaune let out a laugh, knowing both dogs wouldn't falter in the face of any unknown horror but would flee from a simple Cat they've known since they were pups. "Still, you might want to change before we give our report." Ren returned to the subject at hand. "Yeah, I'll be get to it in a few minutes." Jaune replied as Ren began to walk out.
He let a smile creep upon his face as Ren closed the door. He looked back at the tray and took another bite of french toast. He ignored the heat building in his throat as he finished the meal and stood up. With a quick glance around the room he found a clean batch of clothes alongside fresh bandages and approached them. Taking off his current attire he could see that the bandages did indeed run from below his neck to just above his knees. He ran a hand over the bandaged skin and pressed his fingers down, wincing for a second before the bandages were loosened. With quick hands he swapped the old ones out with new ones and got dressed.
Opening the door he was greeted by Tony, patiently waiting for him. "Hey boy, good to see you." he muttered while petting the dog. Tony just let out a whine before nuzzling into his hand. "I know, Melon can be mean when she wants to be." Jaune mused before looking over to Pyrrha's room. The door was ajar and he could hear someone walking inside. Curiosity getting the better of him Jaune approached the door and knocked. "Yes?" he heard Pyrrha's voice. "Just me, did Ren leave you breakfast as well?" Jaune replied while opening the door a bit.
Pyrrha looked back at him, a look of relief washing over her face, before she nodded. She was dressed in more casual clothing but with a few ice packs resting on her elbows. "Yes, he left me some food earlier, and gave a warning about our next meeting." She replied. Tony slipped by him and ran up too the previously hidden Tompson. Jaune walked into the room and took a spot just next too the door. "How're you feeling?" he asked. Pyrrha let out a sigh before she sat on the bed. "Sore, it wrecked havoc on me and now my arms are killing me." Pyrrha replied. Jaune stepped closer, quickly reaching Pyrrha to rest a hand near her shoulder.
"We have a bit before the meeting, you want me to rub your shoulders?" he asked, quickly resting his empty tray on top of her own empty tray. "Please." Pyrrha half begged before lying down on the bed. Jaune took a glance back at Tony and Tompson before the two dogs took position at the door. Pyrrha adjusted herself before Jaune began working the sore muscles. Pyrrha let out steady moans as Jaune worked lower down her back, his careful hands easing the pain of having her body puppeteered.
"Soooo... Did it get the last one?" Jaune asked against his better judgement. "Yep, took his head and part of the damned shadow." Pyrrha replied with a tired tone. Jaune pressed his thumb into a knot and Pyrrha let the air out her lungs. Jaune let her catch her breath, while making sure he hadn't accidentally hurt her, before he continued. "Wonder where that one came from." She murmured while catching her breath. "Probably our bad luck from the first raid." Jaune commented. Pyrrha shook her head but said nothing.
After a few minutes Jaune wrapped up and stood back. "Sorry about it being a bit rushed, Ren's probably told Charlie that we're both up and I don't want her getting suspicious." Jaune apologized. "Its no issue, your hands always make it a bit better." Pyrrha replied while getting off the bed. Jaune grabbed the two empty trays as Pyrrha opened the door to leave. Jaune not far behind her as the Goldies did the same.
Walking down the stairs they found the others all gathered in the living room. Taking a quick glance he could see Ren and Nora resting on the couch with Melon sound asleep on her lap. Jaune excused himself to leave the trays in the kitchen. He came back quickly as Charlie gave each of them a scrutinizing look. He took a seat next to Pyrrha as Charlie huffed. "Before we start, I just want to say this raid was successful in all regards." She began. Jaune saw Nora give Ren a mini high five as Ren just nodded.
"However, this raid has revealed a much larger issue. The fact of the matter is that I haven't been the most active in Vale, that fact is part of the reason for the difficulty of the raid." Charlie lamented. Jaune frowned at this, and her could see the rest of his team felt the same. "A small Cult, not even thirty members strong, had a head priest with a Living Shadow strong enough to force both of your... emergency measures." Charlie finished the last part while looking over Jaune and Pyrrha.
"Hold on Charlie, we were fighting it a night in a room with barely any lights on." Jaune argued. "That's besides the point. What this shows me is these Cults are even worse than expected. I've been too preoccupied investigating them, letting them gain more influence." Charlie continued. Jaune stood up and put a hand on his older sister's shoulder in a comforting manner. "Sis, we were stepping into a place with a very active cult. Of course it would be dangerous. They already had quite the body count." he countered. Charlie looked ready too argue but Jaune could see that the rest of his team was also ready to interject.
Seeing that she was outnumbered Charlie took a deep breath and chor him a small smile. "Alright, still. You and Pyrrha need at least a day to recover. We also need to restock and recount our munitions before we can even think of clearing out the next location." Charlie listed. Jaune didn't argue, instead moving back to his old spot. "The three prisoners were taken by Evac and the rest of the building has been sanitized. Arcadia will send us the results of their interrogations in a few days." Charlie continued.
"I also had the tome in the Leader's possession checked out. It only had rather minimal writing but it had information of not just their Preacher Cult but also tidbits of both Sleeper and Egg Cult tomes. Afterwards it was disposed of and information was gathered on the civilian identities of the Cultists." Charlie said before she pulled a collection of files from somewhere. "Ren and I combed through them, seeing how they might have ended up as members. The only real relation is that they all went to the same public gym, even the head priest." Charlie said before pulling out one folder in particular. "The so called "Bell Bards" Gym. The rest of us will be investigating it today while the two of you will remain here." Charlie instructed.
"The rest of you?" Jaune whispered. "We're taking the Goldies." Charlie said rather bluntly. Jaune just blanked before looking at Tony and Tompson, both Goldies just tilting their heads at him. "While we investigate the gym to see if any other Cults or any other members could be found there, I want the two of you to sort through the rest of the information we have gathered." Charlie said. Jaune nodded while Pyrrha just sank into her seat.
"Alright, is everyone clear?" Charlie asked. "Yep." "Crystal." "Understood." "Yeh." Came their respective responses. "Good, we head out at 11." She stated.
Ren just watched as Nora benched over three hundred pounds with no effort what so ever. Both of them had decided the best way to investigate the "Bell Bards" Gym was to join for a time. It was a public gym after all, no sign up or direct payments required. Charlie was doing so differently, hacking into their records and browsing through an unknown length of security footage just to find out more about one of several cult locations.
Honestly, getting to go to a gym was just a nice break from last night's less than stellar raid.
He watched as Nora rested the barbell on the stand and stood back up. "You got the count?" She asked. "Five hundred eighty two reps without breaking a sweat." Ren calmly replied. Nora just chuckled before shaking her head. "Noticed anything else?" She asked eith a sly grin. Ren knew what she was playing at and subtly activated his semblance. "Someone with guns strong enough to take the head off a Beringal, and at least five other people staring at her." He replied. "Nothing else?" Nora continued. Ren just booped her on the nose before they moved onto the next piece of equipment.
It was kind of unfair in all honesty.
No one who used this gym had aura or semblances, and both of them could easily break any set record if they wished too. But they are here to track potential Cult activity, whether it be someone trying to lure in the less confident members or an unknown just prowling for a prime target. That's what the damned Cults always do, dragged the less fortunate or miserable into their worlds of corruption and manipulation for destructive and horrid goals.
Getting noticed in such a manner was too get everyone else's attention, and see just how they reacted. See if the now dead priest was acting alone or if other Cult leaders were using this place for recruits. Some Cults would lay claim too buildings using either half invisible markings or some kind of code on the street signs. Others just preyed on the most available sources they can find.
They didn't find any sign of Cult markings on the building when they checked earlier, so now they had to check inside the gym.
Ren's eyes scanned the crowd once again, only finding looks of jealousy or arrogance on the faces of their fellow gym goers. If by the end of this, all they have is a collection of guys trying to flirt with them, they'll write the building off.
Then Ren's eyes caught an interesting sight. Someone new had walked into the building, he was dressed in a long coat and wore a pair of bright orange sun glasses over his eyes. The only true distinguishing feature was part of a tattoo that poked out from the left side of his collar and ran up along his neck.
A tattoo that seemed oddly familiar.
His eyes were glued on the man as he strode about, not at all dressed for a workout. The man just continued his strutting before wandering into part of the reception area. Ren bit the bullet and approached one of the other guys not using the equipment. "You know who that is?" he asked the man.
He just looked at Ren before looking over at the Man in question. "Ah, Harrold Pikme. Guy would come around with a buddy of his to make sure the equipment stays in working order. Never saw him touch a piece of equipment but sometimes he'll give folks pointers." The man responded as Ren just nodded. "Thanks." Ren replied before walking over to Nora.
"Guy's a bit suspicious, he had a friend. We'll have to check with Charlie if his friend is the same one from our bad night." Ren convened to her. Nora nodded in response as Ren walked over too another gym goer, ready to pry for more information.
Jaune sighed as he stepped back from the wall with slight pain. In front of him was a map of the Vale Territory, marked with various locations connected to Cults and other such things. Each of these markings were color coded; Purple for the Preacher Cults, Green for the Dreamer Cult, Yellow for the Egg Cult, and Grey for Unknwon Variables. Pins were for specified locations, strings ran from them to show potential recruiting areas or just frequented locations, and a Bright Red X showed areas that had been cleared out.
Thankfully Vale was rather clean when compared to the other kingdoms. It didn't have the soul crushing brutalism of Atlas, the survival of the fittest attitude of Vacuo, or the sheer size of Mistral. It was well sized, with a fairly kind attitude and a government who worked hard to ensure the safety and prosperity of the people (even if some of the Counsellors were slightly corrupt, not in a Cultish way mind you).
He took a moment to admire his hard work before he looked back at a stack of files. Contained in them was the articles of Junior's necessary targets. The most active of each Major Cult. They had just cleared out the Egg's Cult (the weakest of the three most active) and now they had to prepare for the next assault. He may be recovering, but the logistics needed were hardly physical things. He already ordered more ammunition from an Arcadian aligned manufacturer in southern Vale, he also pulled some strings to get some of Nora's heavier weaponry approved for shipping.
Now, he just had to wait for them to arrive before they could start putting a plan together for their next raid. He had no intention of a repeat from their first raid in Vale, not to such a degree at least.
You can only plan so well when faced with Cults who worship horrid entities who's only desire is to either consume all life on the planet or corrupt their minds into a perfect slave race, or what ever the hell the Preacher wants to do? That one was always extremely backwards and confusing, even to the best of Arcadia's minds.
Then the door bell rang.
Jaune paused, looking over too the door. None of their supplies were set to arrive yet, and none of them had ordered anything. Pyrrha was still upstairs having a bath and the others all had keys.
Slowly Jaune approached the door, keeping Cocrea Mors close to him as he did so. Looking through the peephole Jaune could see a tall man with a goatee and red sunglasses dressed in business suit. Slowly Jaune opened the door and peaked his head out. "Junior sends his thanks." Was all the man said as he held out a small briefcase. "I didn't think he was paying us." Jaune replied as he took it. "Lost a lot of buddies to those freaks, some of us wanted to thank you for paying them back." The man replied as Jaune inspected the case.
"This isn't cash, is it?" Jaune inquired with a raised brow. "Junior has some... "Toys" stuffed away for emergencies, he let us take a few from storage. Thought you could use some extra firepower." The goon explained. Jaune nodded as he pulled the briefcase close and opened it. A collection of marked ammunition types; some he had seen before from weapon manufacturers, while some bore no recognized code or name. "All the shells are twelve gauge, the bullets are a mix of 9mm and .45 hollow points." The goon continued.
"I can see, these are designed for fighting huntsmen and other people." Jaune concluded, closing the briefcase as he did so. "Can never be too careful." The goon replied before he grabbed the door. "I have to get back to work, Junior'll have my hide if I'm late." The goon said as he closed the door. Jaune just watched as the man walked away from the house.
He stepped back, placing the briefcase next to the couch before he picked up his scroll. He punched in Charlie's number and waited for her to pick up. "Yeah, what is it. Found a new lead or did something pop up?" he heard Charlie ask. "One of Junior's men popped by, gave us some gifts for willingpy clearing out the Cults." Jaune replied. "What kind of gift we talking about?" Charlie asked. "Anti-personal rounds in twelve gauge, 9mm, and .45, all to take on People and potentially Huntsmen." Jaune surmised. "They must have been feeling really generous." Chalie joked. "Desperate too, guy who dropped them off said he lost some good friends to them." Jaune said.
"Same old story, yet again." Charlie replied. "Well, anyway. I've got a map set up of Vale with the information gathered on our end, how's the new lead on your end?" Jaune inquired. "I have weeks worth of footage to sift through, Neither of your Goldies got a whiff of their signs or sygals so it's looking pretty dead. Though Ren apparently found someone rather suspicious, one of the owners of the gym. The footage even has him talking to some of the Cultists. Though audio just shows him giving directions or aid to them while they were trying the equipment." Charlie rattled on. "There's always someone like that, hard to tell if they're a sleeper or not." Jaune commented. "There is something to note about him, he has a hand in a lot of public services. He's from a rather rich family and spends most of his finances on keeping these businesses afloat. At least two more places he funds have potential cult activity." Charlie explained.
"So, he's either a lead on the Cults, or an aid for us to get more information?" Jaune surmised. "Yep, I'll get back to you on this, but I'll send you info on all the places he's funding after the call." Charlie said. "Understood, bye sis." Jaune said. "Bye, see you tonight." Charlie said before ending the call. He waited for a second before his scroll pinged and he was send a list. Calmly he skimmed through it, looking back up at his map of Vale. He walked over to a drawer and began rifling through it. Pulling out an orange marker he began going over the map, marking any location that this Harrold Pikme was funding.
Arcadian Bestiary Entry: %(
Living Shadows.
-Living Shadows are a creation of "Egg Cults", created through a still unknown ritual. In truth Living Shadows are more akin to a form of slithering darkness which its recipient can control. Recipients are often the Leaders or Head Priests of Cults, regardless of the Cults' own loyalties. Though they are most commonly found in "Egg Cults" and their extensions, both Preacher and Dreamer Cults will make use of them should they find information on the ritual.
-Living Shadows are incredibly dangerous to fight against. Being an extension of their Recipient means that they can not feel pain nor can they be harmed in conventional manners. Light will repulse them, be it from electric lighting, fire, or intense heat. Other more... "Unconventional" means can also counter Living Shadows, though this is ill advised.