I'm very happy to get this chapter out. I believe anyone who has read this far will also appreciate it.
Getting into some headcanon territory with this one, should be fun to have this story coming into its own and differentiate itself from mainline canon. This chapter is important but probably not for the reasons one might believe from reading. Still I had fun writing it and I hope everyone enjoys .
Also, I forgot about this last chapter, but thank you all that have faved and followed. This story is above one hundred in both and I hope to see it continue to rise with more chapters released. Special thank you to everyone who has left a review as it really does mean a lot to read your thoughts on chapters. Now on with the show!
Morning couldn't come soon enough for either of them.
Storm clouds still hung above the town like a sinister omen, but Neo and Fen disregarded it in favor of focusing on finding their illusive blacksmith. Though he wouldn't remain illusive for much longer as with some harmless questions to the innkeeper during their breakfast provided them directions straight to the shop in question. Neo practically skipped through the street as Fen followed behind her with a smirk.
"I figured you would still be pouty from last night, Neo."
She whirled around with a glare as she pointed a finger at him while still walking backwards. Take the first shower from me in the next town and you'll be waking up bald the next morning. You get a pass this time because we get to actually fulfill an objective in this town. Her expression softened before she turned back around and asked in a calmer voice. How are the emotions?
"Not gone, but I'll be fine. I think it could be that whatever is responsible, its ability to influence me is getting weaker. Like I'm building an immunity or something."
If that's true, maybe you'll be influence free in a few days.
Fen answered with a shrug, "One can hope."
Just a couple minutes later they arrived at their destination to find a young woman, just slightly older than themselves, flipping a sign outside the shop to 'open'. With slightly tanned skin and short dark hair, her bright mint green eyes stood out all the more. Her thin proportions made her look like a breeze would carry her away, significantly different from Neo's own womanly charm, 'condensed' though it may be.
The woman noticed them approaching and gave an energetic smile, her voice light and friendly. "Welcome to Alpine Apparel! I'm Alpine, the owner and creator of this establishment. You two must be the travelers that arrived last night. The rumor mill has been quite abuzz this morning considering we haven't seen many people traveling the trails since what happened in Vale."
Fen gave a lighthearted laugh as he put on a charismatic smile, "I suppose we do stand out a good bit compared to the average person around here. Good morning Ms. Alpine, I'm Fen and this is my sister Neo. We just happened to be in need of your business' services."
The woman flustered slightly at Fen's greeting, "J-just Alpine is fine! Would you please come inside? No point standing out here in the street."
Fen replied with a nod, and as Alpine turned her back and entered her shop Neo pinched Fen in the side. Turn down the charm Mr. Suave, it's not her we need the help of, remember?
Hissing back a whisper Fen softly growled, "Of course I do, but getting in her good graces can only be a boon. Also, jealousy isn't a good look on you."
Another stab to his side and Neo entered in front of him as he rubbed the soreness away.
The textile shop was considerably homely in its size, only enough room for a couple dozen types of fabric on display and a single mannequin with likely her most prized creation being displayed to showcase her skill. A small bell rang as the door closed behind them and the owner hopped behind her workstation at the back of the room that doubled as the reception counter.
"So, you said that you needed my services? I have done some adjustments to huntsmen outfits before, I can't proclaim it to be my specialty, but I'll do my best!"
Neo and Fen looked at each other in slight surprise at her enthusiasm before Fen somewhat sheepishly explained why they were there: "Actually, we're looking for a man named Sable Irons. He's your grandfather, is he not?"
"Oh?" The young woman deflated slightly, but with a small shake of her head her beaming smile came back and she lightly bounded over to a door at the end of the room and called into the back. "Grandpa! The travelers that arrived last night want to meet you."
Shuffling could be heard as the sound of furniture shifting and low murmuring filtered past the door to Fen's ears. From the words that he could make out, the man sounded like Alpine's call had just woken him up. Either that or cursing worse than a sailor was a natural habit of the man. The tapping of a cane reached his ears as their quarry shambled out of the rear room.
Wrinkled old skin with a darker tan than his granddaughter seemed like leather, his black hair possessed no greying but was thin across his scalp, his posture had suffered from many years of bending over a forge and likely couldn't move without the assistance of his cane. Though even with his feeble qualities, the coal black eyes that stared them down held an edge that had both Fen and Neo respecting the man as his granddaughter guided him to a chair behind her workstation.
A gruff voice that sounded like the man had gargled nails rose to question them, "You're here for me? You two don't look like you belong out of a daycare yet; especially the tiny one." Neo growled in Fen's mind as the man waited for an answer but caught sight of their weapons and added: "A huntsman and huntress? Did that brat Brick send you to check up on me or something?"
The two looked at each other for a moment before Fen stepped forward: "Well if you're talking about your former apprentice that runs your old forge the next town over, then yes he did ask us to do that." A grunt came from the old man, but before he could retort Fen went on. "However, we also had been looking for you anyway. We were referred to you by an info-broker in Vale. He lauded you as someone who could assist in improving our equipment."
The old man's onyx gaze sharpened on them, searching over their forms, "Your stuff needs some maintenance, but I see those what-its on you, boy. There is nothing I can do to trinkets like that. The girl also doesn't look to be in the market for what could be done to that umbrella of hers."
Parasol~
Fen looked between him and Neo for a moment, "We'd be most grateful if you could even recommend anything that we could improve upon. Even be willing to provide reparations for anything of substance."
The old man stomped his cane. "Start wearing titanium dust-infused full-bodied battle suits then. There, you got your advice. Unless y'all want a dress or jacket made, we're done here."
"Grandpa?" His granddaughter looked at him with a mix of worry and annoyance. "You shouldn't be so cold to customers. They came all this way to ask for your help. Surely there must be something you ca—"
"That's enough, Alpine!" The old man snapped. "These two have more to them than your few years can discern. If they were truly recommended to seek me out, all the way from Vale, then they've traveled here since the Fall of Beacon. Only a few kinds of people would be willing to make such a journey. I expect they are on the path to Mistral."
He's suspicious of us. Makes me wonder who exactly was his clientele when he was a smith. Though, considering we got the information from Junior and his reaction, I would say they weren't upstanding members of society.
A flap of Fen's ears was all the agreement Neo received as he was thinking about how to keep the conversation flowing. "We are indeed heading to Mistral. My sister is insistent on becoming a huntress and she hopes to enroll a Hav—"
"Lies. She's older than you, and likely not even related." Sable interrupted, his granddaughter's gaze widening in disbelief as she looked between Fen and Neo. "I've had enough of this farce. Leave, before we summon the town guard."
Fen~, you're botching this.
Giving a heavy sigh, Fen's eyes hardened on the retired smith as he said to Neo: "Flip the sign outside and bar the door. It looks like we need to have a more… forthright conversation."
Neo gave a nod before turning around to complete the task. The look of shock and worry across the young shop owner's face made Fen feel low as he stepped closer. The old man's only reaction was a firmer grip on his cane, but seeing it Fen refrained from encroaching further as he spoke in a low tone:
"I... am a deserter of the Atlas military. My partner is also not of an entirely ingenuous background. However, we found solidarity in things we lost during the Fall of Beacon. Now we are journeying to Mistral to track down some of those responsible for what we lost. Your assistance in improving our arsenal is something we feel is important to making that goal a reality."
Alpine shook slightly as she stood behind her grandfather. "Grandpa? What's going on? I'm so confused right now. Oh, this feels like something I shouldn't be listening to."
Neo rejoined Fen by his side and leveled her own hardened glare at the elderly man. Who now looked between the two with an expression of skepticism. Finally he gave a weary exhale and addressed them:
"Your tells don't show any lies, but neither do I believe your words to be truly sincere. At the same time, I have no care for further elaboration as I have no interest in your tale." Old man Sable said with a shake of his head. "Your motive for strength is understandable, considering what you've said. However, I'm afraid that given what I see between you two, I have nothing to give or say that would achieve what you desire."
Both Fen and Neo's expressions fell flat at the man's words.
"You'll have to excuse me for not believing your words now, Mr. Irons. Someone of your experience surely would have seen a variety of different things that huntsmen and huntresses equip themselves with. To say that you have nothing to even recommend to us I find rather hard to accept."
The old man raised his head to look Fen in the eye. "You are of the age that your ability will not be improved by more armor and contrived gadgetry. If you wish for a recommendation then here: Go work on finding new ways to explore what you already have, and find what you lack for yourselves."
Silence permeated the room for several moments, both pairs waiting to see if the other had any more to say. When Fen determined that the man's call to look within was all they would get he turned on his heel.
"Let's go Neo, our business is done here." He said softly before adding louder, "Apologize for the trouble. We'll be going now."
Fen had his hand on the door when he heard the scrape of a chair and the old man's voice call out: "Where did you find that coat!?"
A look of surprise passed between Fen and Neo at the man's fervor, before their attention turned to their jackets. The few moments of confusion were enough for the old man to elaborate further.
"You, boy! I'm speaking about that material your coat is made of. Let me see it!"
Curiosity took over as Fen shed his coat and tossed it onto the worktable in front of the man. Old Sable sat down in a hurry as he turned to coat over in his hands like it was some holy artifact. Spread out before him the old man pointed to a section across the shoulder area.
"Here, the hide reinforcements added to the fabric. Then with the strips that run down the arms. Along with what look like bone clasps at the cuffs. Seamlessly crafted from a single piece of leather; my guess is from some kind of cervine. Though most important is the particular kind that it must have been from to go through the amount of trouble to carefully craft an article of clothing in this way."
Fen looked at the long coat more critically. He had really only taken it from Roman's stock all that time ago because it was one of the only non-white coats in his collection. The black leather reinforcements over the grey fabric he always just saw as an interesting style choice rather than anything of worth to the garment. Even Neo was looking up at him before giving a shrug, just as lost as him.
The man looked back at his granddaughter and instructed: "Go get my tools from the back, Alpi! This just turned into a priceless opportunity I'm not letting slip by!"
What is he on about? It's just a coat isn't it?
"I see that expression, girl." Neo froze up at the old man's supernatural intuition. "Those like you should honestly be the first to see the worth in something like this. This article must have been extremely valuable to the one who requested it made, which isn't either of you by how obviously you don't know what you've had in your possession."
Fen couldn't really deny it as he scratched his head; it did come from looting a dead criminal's closet after all.
The granddaughter Alpine returned with a bundle of tools in her arms. Once she had deposited the dozen or so items on the table, Sable picked up what looked like a pair of jeweler's spectacles and placed them on his face. He leaned down so he could examine the leather as closely as possible before making a grunt of confirmation.
"Absolutely. This leather came from a semblance beast."
Huh?
"A what?"
Fen and Neo were completely lost as Old Sable looked up at them with exasperation.
"I would act disappointed that you youngins didn't know, but I'm not surprised by your reactions since the practice was more or less outlawed after the end of the great war eighty years ago." He explained before holding up one of the arms of the coat. "This leather came from an animal that possessed an aura. I'm sure you've likely heard or seen a huntsman with a pet that they've unlocked the aura of, even some wild animals can naturally manage it. However, it is exponentially more rare for an animal to manage unleashing a semblance. Regardless of what kind, any animal that does is referred to as a semblance beast."
Looking down at his coat with renewed interest, Fen replied: "That much is clear, sir. But I can't say I'm familiar with hearing of animals with semblances. Much less anything about clothes made from them having special properties."
A coarse chuckle came from the man: "No, I doubt you would. After the practice was banned with the conclusion of the great war, any mention of semblance beasts were kept quiet. Because if the average joe doesn't know, then those that do can continue benefitting. Also the practice for mass production of clothes like this coat involved forcing semblance beasts to manifest by subjecting animals with aura to some graphic torture. Electrocution, near drowning, dismemberment, immolation, freezing, just to name a few."
All present looked with disgust, and Alpine looked near ill, at the old man's words. A macabre laugh came from Sable as he continued: "The reasons for banning the practice were warranted, I'm sure you all agree. Though an aspect of semblance beasts I have yet to mention is the change that occurs to an animal when it reaches this state; their bodies become extremely receptive to the infusion of dust. So much in fact that almost all clothing that was constructed with the ancient technique of weaving dust into clothes was done with material from a semblance beast."
Fen spoke up. "I've seen plenty of people use dust-infused clothing that I doubt was made from some extremely rare semblance wielding cow or sheep. Plus I doubt back during the great war they were that common either, even if you described them as being 'mass-produced'."
"Sharp." Old Sable pointed with a tool before returning focus down to the coat. "Only maybe one in ten thousand animals revealed semblances with these methods, and it was also seen to lack the same effectiveness compared to the rare specimen that would be found naturally. That being the case, I imagine it isn't worth the effort for those that still know of it. Countless natural semblance beasts likely die to grimm long before a human has a chance to stumble upon one, making them all the more prized when found."
Fen stared at the coat with intrigue, "Is it possible to know if this coat was made with a natural semblance beast? Also, what are the benefits when it comes to dust infusion?"
"I would only learn if it was natural or not during the process to infuse it with dust. As for the benefits, that comes in the form of greater amounts of dust that can be infused. The infusion process can only be done once and it only allows for a singular type of dust to be used; however, the material gains a 'memory' so to speak and the expired dust can be renewed through using dust crystals or powder of the appropriate type."
"What!? That's… hard to believe." Fen replied while Neo was now looking like they had found a magic relic.
That coat was probably in Roman's closet for who knows how long. What could we have been capable of if we had known what we stole? Would he have still—
Fen placed a hand on Neo's shoulder to snap her out of her thoughts. Looking up, she saw him shake his head in an unspoken plea to not continue where her thoughts were going. A small 'thank you' was passed to him mentally before they both looked back to Old Sable who was still appraising the coat.
"From everything you've told us, I imagine you'd be willing to infuse it with a dust of our choice?" Fen reasoned. "How long would you need?"
Sable took the spectacles from his eyes and looked at them sternly. "You're not going to get much choice of dust, boy. This isn't the kingdoms out here. Best options I can give you are fire, wind, earth, or lightning. It will be a tedious process, whatever you choose. Putting everything else of mine aside, three days is the earliest I can say it would be ready. And don't think this isn't going to cost you! Alpine will need to close the shop while this is being done. So you'll be paying the appropriate price for inconveniencing my granddaughter."
"I will!? Grandpa this dust infusion process isn't dangerous now, is it?" The poor girl looked about ready to faint with all the outrageous things she had heard tossed about for the last few minutes.
"You'll be fine, Alpi." Old Sable waved away her concerns. Looking directly at Fen he put forward the question: "What will it be?"
Considering this was basically exactly what they had come for, Fen's answer was obvious.
"Three days. Lightning dust infusion. We'll pay upon delivery. Until then, if you should need us, we'll be staying down at the inn. Unless you have anything that you want to add, Neo?"
Neo brought up her scroll and typed a message for the old man: 'What could you do with the fabric of my weapon?'
Setting the parasol down on the worktable, Old Sable ran his fingers down the weapon. "A durable, high-load bearing, shock absorbing, breathable, dust-forged mesh. This is admirable quality, girl. Though if you're wanting improvements then the best you're going to get would be to add hardlight dust projectors at the tips of the ribs to allow you to create a stronger and larger shield when you please. Though you won't be able to have that done from me. I imagine you'd need someone from Atlas to manage such a modification."
He drew out the hidden blade and upon seeing it gave Neo a grave stare. "A misericord blade. This isn't used for battle, this is an execution tool. Knowing nothing else, this tells me more than I'd like to know about you, young lady." Neo gave an apathetic shrug. Then, returning the blade within its sheath, Old Sable sighed. "Your grip could be modified to accept powered dust and have it release down the blade. That is probably the most realistic modification that could be made at this time. Alpine could manage it under my direction while I'm busy with the coat."
"Grandpa! I—!" She flustered at being addressed again, but with a look from her grandfather the young woman bowed. "I-I'll do my very best. I-if you'll want it done, that is."
'Do it.' Was Neo's only response before she turned around and waited by the entrance.
Fen and the old smith shared a look before they nodded to each other. Giving a small wave Fen turned around as well. "We'll leave you to it. You'll see us again in three days' time."
Joining Neo, the two exited the shop and made their way back towards the inn. Silence reigned between the two as each of them thought back to what they had been told. After sharing a meal together, they returned to their room and made themselves comfortable to laze away the day for once. It wasn't until late afternoon when Fen was waking up from a nap that he heard Neo humming in his mind.
Waking up more fully, he found her going through their travel supplies; or more accurately, the 'questionable' supplies she had procured all the way back in Vale. Looking as though she was doing a checkup on the stakes, netting, what looked like smoke and flash grenades(had those been there the whole time?), and of course the—
"Dust wire." Neo looked over with some surprise at seeing him awake. "Remember back in Vale when you freely admitted you acquired that just to have something to use against the Omega?"
A wry chuckle was heard in his mind in retort. And if I recall, you said it might actually be useful even if we didn't use it for that purpose.
"True enough. Didn't really know I was natural grimm repellent when we started out. Haven't had much need for the more shadowy items you procured at all, have we? Not that I'm complaining."
Go knock your head on something or I'm afraid you'll have just jinxed us to be glad we have these things in our possession.
Fen laid back on his bed with a laugh. "Knowing that things like 'magic is real' and 'the grimm are controlled by some psycho grimm-queen' kinda makes things like jinxes seem a bit silly, don't you think?"
Silly or not, I still want to slap you upside the head for voicing something as curse-inducing as what you said.
"Fine, if something happens within the next few days you can command me to do one thing that I won't disobey. Beyond anything that would cause me bodily harm." Fen quickly tacked on that last sentence as he saw the cruel look in Neo's eyes.
She just pouted to herself while finishing up her inspection. You're no fun. I was looking forward to possibly being able to tie you into a pretzel without opposition.
Curling in on himself and turning his arms and legs away from Neo, Fen answered with: "I may not be a contortionist like you, but I'm flexible enough for my own liking thank you very much!"
As Neo put away her bag, Fen added while standing from the bed: "We've got enough to worry about anyways. Seeing as we both are effectively without any weapons between us for the next three da—"
Fen's ears twitched and before Neo could ask, he lept towards the door in a single bound and threw it open. He saw the form of a scrambling shadow round the corner and cursed to himself. Neo was behind him a moment later as she asked:
Someone was listening in? Gods damn it, Fen! I told you you'd jinx us!
Fen grabbed Neo's hand and dashed down the hall. "Not the time for blame! We need to give chase. They heard me say we don't have our weapons right now. If it makes it back to some larger group, we're essentially served on a silver platter."
Neo paled at the thought before pulling her hand free and keeping up with Fen normally as they raced after their eavesdropper.
Exiting from the second story of the inn through a hallway window down to the street below, the soft patter of rain began to fall as they both caught sight of a raggedly dressed man sprinting down the far end of the street and just before he turned a corner. They raced to follow but when they turned the corner themselves, they found he was already out of sight. Fen's ears moved on a swivel to detect any rushed steps aside from their own, which only took him a second before he dragged Neo down an alleyway to continue pursuit.
Weaving through back streets, Fen finally caught sight of the man again near the edge of town. He was about to dash forward when Neo caught him by his belt and held him back. The confusion at the action turned to clarity when Fen noticed three silhouettes of aura with his hidden eyes that hid just around the corner behind the brigand. A 'tsk' came from the man seeing as they had not rushed headlong into his trap, calling out behind him as they stood at the other end of the alley.
"We're doing this the hard way."
Three more filthily dressed people came around the corner, each wielding knives and swords. A woman with an obnoxious shade of blue hair stepped forward and called out to them.
"You, faunus boy. The pipsqueak is the only one we're after. Walk away now and you won't have to die with her."
Fen just stood relaxed as he raised a brow: "And why for any reason would I: one, believe you; two, do that; or three, think I'd be afraid of you in the first place?"
Flipping a knife through her fingers the woman replied: "Because you've been targeted by the leader of the Branwen tribe. She wants your friend dead for some reason, and as the boss' best 'cleaners' you should take it as a miracle from above to even see our faces before you die."
Fen. They're stalling for some reason.
With a nod Fen answered: "I'm aware."
"Oh, you are? Then you should know that you've already given up any chance of leaving alive."
The one in the back, the one with the dark hair that covers her face, they look like they are meditating or something. We need to do something before they finish whatever preparations they're doing.
"I'm not going to let that happen."
The woman, evidently the leader, tapped a knife against her cheek, "Really now? Well Wolfy, I'm afraid your fate is already sealed. Right, Fetter?"
Fen's body tensed as he moved to charge, but as he was about to push off his feet, every muscle in his body froze; the woman at the back of the four bandits mirroring his stance perfectly. He tried to force his body to move, but found it impossible to manage more than a twitch in his fingers as he growled at the four. Neo went to shake him when a knife flew past her cheek.
Twirling a set of four knives, the blue-haired woman called out: "Sorry Tiny, but I'm not letting you break your friend out of Fetter's shadow tie that easily. So just stay right where you are. In fact, I'll give you some incentive." She said with a flourish of a knife before stabbing it directly into the right thigh of one of her fellow bandits.
AHHHH! Neo screamed into Fen's mind as she fell clutching the same leg as the bandit's companion had been stabbed.
It was all Fen could do to wrench his head to look back at Neo whose face was twisted in agony.
Pealing laughter echoed down the alleyway as Fen shifted his gaze to the sadistic bitch that had somehow hurt his partner, his visible eye now glowing ominously.
"Did you like that? I can affect anyone in my sight the same way as someone I share a bond with, even through aura. Anything I do gets done to my target! Pair that with my partner Oak's semblance of pain blocking, and we can bring anyone we want to their knees with a look and a little stabby-stab. This job is especially fun because this time our target's a freaking mute! How great is that!? I get to enjoy watching little miss two-tone writhe in sweet sweet anguish, and you mister wolf, can't do a thing to stop me!"
A cough came from the bald muscle-head that she had stabbed in the leg: "Don't play around, Jay. I'll still bleed out and die if you take too long 'playing'."
"Aww, don't worry big guy. That's why we got Stitch back there. He'll patch up your bleeding when I'm done turning you into a pincushion. We're Raven's best 'disposal team', after all. Once our trap is sprung there isn't anyone who gets out. Now then…"
FUCK! Neo screamed with the sound of breaking glass. Clutching her left arm after the blue-haired whore planted another knife in her meat puppet of a partner. Fen looked over to find that Neo had almost succeeded in getting over to him, which meant she had probably cloaked herself while the bandit bitch had been monologuing.
Said bitch looked surprised to see Neo where she was: "Oh wow, I almost royally fucked up now didn't I?" Before her lips curled into a perverse grin. "I'll need to make sure you don't get it into your head to try anything sneaky like whatever you did just now."
You gods-damned whore, I'm going tAAAAAAAA! Neo's words to Fen ended in another shriek of suffering as a third knife was felt tearing into her left calf. Fen looked on with mounting fury as he could see the crimson stains growing through her pants and jacket in the matching locations as the wall of meat that stood unamused at the other end of the alley, while the man's partner cackled like a lunatic.
Wrenching a step forward, Fen felt the force on him tighten as he growled with transcendent rage. He felt his lips move as another voice called out: "H-hurry up! This guy's somehow fighting through my binding."
This actually looked to shock the psychotic bitch of a bandit, "What!? Your semblance shouldn't be slipping this quickly! Come on~, I wanted to fuck with them some more." With a sigh she started walking towards Fen and Neo. "Oh well, I guess I'll have to make due with the feeling of carving out your hearts to end this. You're lucky I can't just kill you by stabbing my Oaky, otherwise I wouldn't even risk getting close."
Neo's voice came in a pained stutter to Fen's mind. Fen, I-I'm losing feeling in my legs. My arm is numb and my aura isn't doing anything against the pain! A-are we really dying like this!? The fear in her voice not only jarring him, but serving as the final wall of restraint crumbling against his better judgement.
His right arm jerked up in the path of the bandit bitch as she set her sights on a terror-stricken Neo. She just looked at his hand with mild shock before laughing:
"You really are fighting Fetter with all you got, aren't you? What? Is shortstack behind you your fuckbuddy or something?" She leaned in, right into his hand as though he was choking her. "Wouldn't you just love to strangle me and be the big ol' hero of the day? Ha! As long as Fetter still has you, you're as threatening as a chihuahua."
Faining she was distressed with his hand pressed against her throat, she broke out into laughter. Fen's muscles tensed in his arm and felt his lips move again as the one binding him called out:
"Jay! Get back, he's—"
"Huh? What are you on about n—why am I looking back at all of you?"
A crack of thunder split the air, followed by a wet thump hitting the ground below her with the sound of metal clattering on the cobblestone. The feeling of confusion in her only grew more pronounced as everything began to feel like it was floating, and the world began to spin.
As her view began to shift, she noticed the arm of the man she had just been taunting now looked exactly like the arm of a grimm. The black claw was soaked in blood that made her blanch, but everything continued to spin uncontrollably as she then saw the pink and brown tart she had been about to kill looking at her with pale white eyes replacing the brown and pink she had before. Finally she saw a woman's corpse come into view, slumping on the ground like a ragdoll along with a missing head. The blood that spurt ceaselessly from the jagged stump of a neck made her want to puke at the unsightly messiness of the wound; murder should be done precisely after all, in her mind.
The world came to a jolting stop as she felt her hair plaster against the side of her face and blood splatter across her nose. She went to wipe it away when she finally noticed she couldn't feel her arms. Looking at the corpse that now was very close to her for some reason, she noticed something familiar about a tattoo on its shoulder: a mockingbird. Exactly like the one she had on her—
The realization dawned on her as the world turned grey before everything started to fade into nothing: Oh~, that's my body… I'm dead.
Mockingjay's grasp of reality faded in less than ten seconds. The rest of her team stared in disbelief as they had seen Fen's arm shift into the limb of a grimm and wrench their leader's head from her body in a single motion. Their shock only furthered by the piercing scream that could be heard through the rumble of thunder from another one of them a moment later, as Fetter thrashed on the ground clutching her right arm, which now looked dead and purple as though the entire limb had been left in a blizzard.
The one who had eavesdropped on Fen and Neo and led them to the ambush, Stitch, looked about ready to shit his pants and run, while the meat wall Oak continued standing like a statue even though his own expression was filled with trepidation. He called back to his comrades as Fen tore the patch from his eye revealing his other ethereally glowing eye:
"G-get these knives out of me! I can't move when I'm using my semblance!"
The continued screams of the girl, and petrified stares of the other two, made Fen feel nothing as he felt the air in his lungs go cold. His breath coming out as clouds of frost as the telltale black flurry of grimm ash began to spiral around him. Even with one of them dead, he had no mercy for those that played any part in harming those he cared for; and all three that remained most certainly... had duly earned his ire.
Frost crept up the sides of the alley from where he stood, the drizzle of rain turning into a small flurry of snow and ice, the blood of the corpse at his feet crackling as it froze in an instant. Then, Fen's perspective slowly rose as he relinquished his body to the Omega; with the hulking grimm completely manifest, it rolled its limbs as though finally being able to stretch after a long time. Its azure gaze stared down at the bandits with even the screaming one going silent as it gawked at him with a trembling body. The contempt that Fen felt fed into the Omega's own rage as it growled ferally:
Hurt… HER.
'I know.'
They… Hurt… Our ONE!
'Now make them atone for it. Sic 'em.'
Dropping down to all fours, the Omega's claws cracked the stone underneath them as it launched forward. Shooting past the bald meat wall, he caught the whimpering coward that had been slowly creeping away from his allies by his skull. Lifting the sniveling slob by his head, muffled screams and pleas came from him as the Omega's claws drew blood. The bandit's weapon, an estoc, clattered harmlessly to the ground as the man tried to futilely pry the Omega's claw from his skull. His legs flailed helplessly in harmless kicks and taps as they tried to gain any purchase on anything other than empty air.
With a swift crunch, the man's salmon-colored aura burst along with his cranium imploding in a shower of scarlet and white paste that was once his brain. Tossing the corpse away like flicking away an insect, the Omega twisted its head to gaze on the whimpering child of a girl that had been the one to bind its host against both of their wills. Taking a single step, the Omega's hind claw landed on the utterly frostbitten limb that used to be the woman's right arm.
Recoiling in fear and panic, the blackened limp snapped off just above the elbow like a branch off a dead tree. Screams returned as the woman writhed with the remaining stump of a limb oozing dark blood. Her screams were silenced as the air was driven from her lungs as the Omega planted a hind claw on her stomach. Reaching down, its left claw wrapped around the remaining stump of arm she had before it ripped it from her body and letting fresh ruby lifeforce flow unbidden as all she could do was gasp with her eyes rolling into the back of her skull from the horrendous pain.
Though her end had not yet come as the Omega removed its paw from her abdomen. Precious air returned to her starving lungs, only for her to choke on it as her left leg was torn clean from her hip. Her consciousness was fading rapidly as she scarcely felt her right leg follow her left, rived free from its place at her hip. As the Omega gained purchase on her last remaining arm, so much blood had already ebbed from her body that she didn't even feel a flicker of pain when her final extremity was removed from her torso. Her's was an almost peaceful death, if it wasn't for the demonic nightmare that loomed over her and made her face twist into an anguished howl as her eyes remained fixed on her reaper.
Now only one remained.
The bald bandit had remained like a statue, not daring to release his semblance and experience the crippling pain of the knives that still remained stabbed into his arm and legs. The trembling shook his body like a leaf in a hurricane as the Omega took slow, ploding steps towards its last prey. It stared across to Neo whose face was so stunned that she looked to be in a trance. With its icy breath rolling down the man's spine causing a shiver, it raised a single claw and ever so lightly tapped on the knife handle protruding from the man's arm. Watching carefully as Neo shivered with a phantom pain from the action, the Omega was pleased to see a lack of further anguish.
With a swift strike, the Omega sunk one of its claws into the man's side, barely getting a flinch for its efforts. Neo shuddered as it looked like the Omega grinned at the man below it. Slowly, the Omega sunk its other claw into the man's shoulder, tipping both sets of white bone claws crimson. It leaned down so its maw was next to the man's ear, the man's fingers twitching as every instinct in his soul told him he should at least try to escape. It was what came beyond the arctic growl at his ear that finally broke him:
"RUN."
The man's body reacted before he had even comprehended that a grimm had just spoken to him. When he had, it was too late as all the pain he had suppressed finally hit his mind with accrued interest. The spasms that caused him to convulse only aggravated every wound as knives twisted and claw wounds tore open further. Crimson foam frothed at the man's mouth as his body gave out and his mind broke from the torturous cascade of pain that were the last moments of his life.
With its task complete, the Omega's gaze then fell upon a speechless Neo. It stepped over the still convulsing corpse and with only a few steps stood before her like a bloodsoaked giant. Her eyes had remained stark-white during the entire ordeal. She had used her aura to stem her wounds the moment the bandit woman's semblance had lost its hold with the woman's death; but the wounds were deep and she knew that she had no hopes of fleeing from the bloodsoaked beast before her.
F-Fen? You're s-still in control, r-r-right? They're d-dead. Time to change b-back now.
The Omega tilted its head at her, causing a feeling of dread to lance through her core as her mind conceived what the action could mean. It dropped down to all fours and with each step it took closer, Neo did her best to scurry backwards; three of her four limbs screaming with pain as the wounds her aura had closed reopened. She shouted in her head as she closed her eyes in panic at being the next victim of the monster that still haunted her nightmares.
P-please! Fen come back! Stop it! I don't want to die!
She threw her hands up in a hopeless attempt to keep her doom away. So it came much to her surprise as she felt icy fur gently pushed past her hand and a clawed arm carefully wrapped around her back. Her limbs still ached from her reopened wounds but her mind was in more shock as she felt a deep reverberation fill her body originating from the giant form that she was currently pressed almost tenderly into.
It was a hug. The Omega was hugging her and she had no idea how to process what she felt beyond monumental relief at not being snapped in half and her innards serving as a feast to the grimm that normally remained within Fen's soul. It even rubbed its neck against her face in a chilling nuzzle that only served to further confuse and bewilder her senses.
"SAFE."
The dark, warped voice of the Omega sent a shiver down her spine. A pricking sensation at her fingertips caused her to fear that it was doing something more, but as she felt the fur under her palms dissolve she quickly realized that the Omega was simply disappearing. Moments later, it was Fen who was crouched over her while still holding her close.
Something hot hit her cheek, and after the chill from the Omega, the heat felt almost painful. When another flare of heat followed, she realized that it came from Fen; he was crying. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he held her, though the reason for them escaped Neo. Still, she felt her arms finally close around him as well to return the affection she was receiving.
I-I'm ok, it… you saved me.
She cursed the stutter that came from her, but feeling the arms around her tighten was enough to know that he heard her.
"This way! The screams came from around here!"
Hearing the call, Neo knew without even needing to recall the savagery she just witnessed that explaining things to local authorities wouldn't be easy. Her sentiment was shared by Fen whose head finally snapped up as he whispered to her: "Put up an illusion, even if only for a second."
The command surprised her, but as Fen quickly moved to lift her up she caught on to his plan, and even as she winced from the pain of being moved she focused her aura outwards. Their forms were completely cloaked by her semblance, turning them into a black silhouette. It was good enough to hide their identities as a man dressed like a huntsman appeared with a handful of local guards.
"What the hell!?" The huntsman froze at seeing them, a glimpse of the carnage behind them causing him to recoil in disgust. One of the guards behind him retched as they too spotted the mangled corpses of the bandits. The reactions gave Fen enough time to manifest the Omega's right leg.
With a tremendous leap, Fen used the grimm appendage to bound onto the roof of one of the nearby buildings before dashing back down into an adjoining alleyway and making their departure from the crime scene. Any pursuit was quickly shaken as Fen's speed carried them to the other side of town.
Entering the inn through the same second floor window they had left through earlier, they returned to the relative safety of their room. The door closing behind them was Neo's queue to finally release her illusion as Fen gently sat her down on the edge of her bed. Peeling out of the blood stained clothing, Neo groaned as she was carefully stripped down to her leotard by Fen. Her aura had once again stemmed the bleeding, but the blood loss and ache from the deep trauma her body sustained had her feeling nauseous.
Once she was free of most of her clothes, Fen carried her into the bathroom and set her down on the rim of the tub. When he began to draw a bath she caught on to his intentions, Neo went to object but froze when he shot her a half-glowing glare.
Wringing out a rag of warm water Fen spoke softly to her, "I don't care if you're capable of doing it yourself. Please, just let me do this for you."
Neo wasn't elated by his insistence, but relented as she turned her head away with a quiet response: Do what you will.
Feeling the rag carefully scrub away the blood that coated her legs and arm, Neo noticed that her muscles were growing slack from the mild massage Fen added to his cleaning caresses. The tasks lasted for several minutes as the bath water slowly grew tainted a deep red. When Fen was finally finished, Neo found herself wishing that the treatment would continue for just a little longer. Draining the evidence away, he picked her up like a princess once more and returned her to her bed.
She winced as he carefully bandaged up her wounds, making use of supplies that they truly wished to never have need for. Lying back after he was done, a slight movement of the mattress made her look over to see Fen resting his head on the edge of her bed as he sat beside it.
His eye was tired, a new patch hiding the normally glowing other from view once more. He gave a yawn as the stress finally caught up to him. Neo was going to question him when he gave a reason for his actions:
"Don't mind me. I'm just going to stay here until—ahhhhhhh—until you fall…"
He was unconscious before he could finish his sentence. Neo couldn't help the smirk that came to her as she used her good arm to gently scratch in between his ears. The happy expression it brought to the dozing Fen did not make her pleased in the slightest; absolutely not.
With her own consciousness slipping from her grasp, Neo couldn't help but feel thankful for the lengths he had gone to for her. Even the Omega showing its concern for her in its own way had calmed her slightly after she was convinced she was about to die. Maybe her previous impressions towards the grimm soul were antiquated, considering the events of earlier.
This thought was left lingering as dreams claimed her as well; and even when as she knew she might see the azured-eyed grimm appear in her fantasies, she was no longer afraid of when it would occur.
WRW
Woohoo! Longest chapter to date! Should be outdone in about three chapters but woohoo anyway!
Yonder
Yeah woohoo! But stop hurting my ship!
WRW
Heh, and she thinks this is the worst of it.
Yonder
What was that? Don't care! New chapter! More!
WRW
Why do I bother...
Anyway everyone, I hope that this chapter was to everyone's enjoyment. Getting ambushed against people with semblances made for assassination are certainly a pain in the ass aren't they? The Omega is certainly a force of destruction, though not almighty, as will be seen in the near future. Until then, make sure to leave a review and let us know how you enjoyed it.
Stay awesome everyone, WRW and Yonder out.