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Chapter 19: Normalcy
It was a Monday morning and rather than her usual staff meeting with the Professors and other key members of the faculty of Breaktide Academy which Headmistress Coco Adel usually insisted on, as both a way to keep herself thoroughly appraised of issues within her school and ensure that student or problem, however minor was allowed to slip through the cracks and a way to build a sense of camaraderie and moral between those she employed Coco had found herself in her own office; preparing herself for a key meeting with her opposite number at one or more of the Hunter Academies, something that should seem innocuous enough to an outsider but help a certain sense of tense foreboding to those who knew better.
The fact that the meeting had forced her to wake up earlier than her already demanding schedule only served to make Coco grind her teeth in irritation.
The Headmistress was joined by Ruby and Penny, the pair of them being regular features and attendees of these secretive meetings and natural choices in confidant due to both their closeness with those who would soon be joining them and the fact that they had been close friends of Coco since Beacon Academy; where the older woman remembered them both being capable but far more naive and innocent than the pair of hardened, grizzled yet still kind-hearted women before her. Coco could admit to herself that she would have liked one of her fellow members of Team CFVY alongside her but it was understandably not practical at that moment in time; Yatsuhashi had duties to attend to as student counsellor, including scheduled meetings with students regarding their futures and current situations which the Headmistress would not allow to be sacrificed or jeopardised for anything less than a full scale invasion of Port Alistair whilst Velvet, as Coco's deputy and a teacher in her own right was required within the campus to represent an authority figure if one was called for and handle any matters that might arise in the human woman's absence.
"You think they've had any more progress than we have?" Ruby asked cautiously, the faintest glimmer of hope in her remaining eye.
"I think if there'd been any major developments either way then we would have been told immediately" Coco answered simply, brow furrowing as she adjusted her customary sunglasses and added "But no news doesn't feel like good news though"
"Although Qrow certainly knows more than the media in either New Vale or Menagerie has announced" Penny added quietly, being rewarded with a pair of non-committal noises from both Ruby and Coco as the three of them made themselves comfortable behind the oversized and oddly intimidating desk of Coco's offices, each of them clad in business clothes with some affectations and trinkets taken from the attire they wore as active Hunters; seconds seeming to tick by at an insufferably slow pace until finally the private an impossibly well secured computer set on the desk began to let out a warning tone to inform Coco that a video transmission was being sent on a restricted and encrypted channel, a call which she accepted only after reaching under her desk and pressing a single hidden button which locked the door and shuttered the windows of her office whilst deploying a plethora of unseen but vital security measures to ensure that the office could not be eavesdropped on by any outsider.
"Good morning"
"Hey Squirt" the first speaker had been the Headmaster of Halo Academy of New Vale, located on a floating aerial platform above the Kingdoms' capital of Neo Vale, Lie Ren; reading glasses somehow complimenting yet drawing attention away from the horizontal scar running along one of his cheeks whilst the long braid of ebony hair resting over one shoulder and curtains falling on either side of his face which retained their customary pink streak were, as always at odds with the expertly tailored suit he now wore though none could say that he looked unprofessional in any way. Sat beside Professor Goodwitch's successor was the second speaker, retired Hunter and living legend among Hunters across Remnant for over a generation, Qrow Branwen; Ruby's uncle was now ageing and his skin was lined and leathery whilst his hair and grizzled beard were both more silver than black though the most obvious sign of a life given over in service of protecting the people, beyond the endless weariness in his crimson eyes was the mechanical chair he was now almost permanently seated in, a six limbed contraption designed and built of Antonia Arc of Poly-Tech after Qrow's spine had been irreparably damaged in battle.
"Hey Uncle Qrow, hey Ren" Ruby gave a smile and a wave, seeing no need to keep up any air of professionalism amongst family and lifelong friends.
"Winter won't be joining us today" Ren noted with a slight sigh "She's actually present at Atlas Academy, you know she prefers to communicate from her flagship; doesn't trust the security of anything else"
"I do have an update on her progress though" Qrow added, the tone in which it was said allowing a small amount of relief to pass through those present. General Winter Schnee was second to none in terms of her dedication to operational security and her current absence raised no red flags amongst those who were well accustomed to her methods.
"Anybody else we need to hear from?" Coco added, clearly eager to attend to business.
"Not at present" Ren assured her, the core of their unofficial and shadowy cabal that oversaw the protection of Remnant against its' most insidious threats was a holdover from the wars against Salem and though its' existence had been made public when Salem herself had been revealed to Remnant as a whole its' continued operation was not public knowledge. The group consisted of Qrow Branwen, the heads of Halo, Atlas and Breaktide Academies; the current head of the Atlesian Specialist Branch, heads of specific companies such as Poly-Tech and the SDC along with trusted field agents which were counted amongst the best Hunters across Remnant; the head of Shade Academy had been offered a seat at the table but had declined an active role, stating that her own Kingdom required her full attention whilst the head of Haven Academy of Mistral had simply done nothing to inspire the requisite level of trust in the members of the secret group.
"Let's recap" Qrow began in his usual gruff growl, made raspy by age as he sensed Coco's understandable sense of urgency; he had his own students to attend to after all "After you sent that footage of the guests at that fight club that your students found I began running their faces through every facial recognition program I have and began compiling other evidence to have people picked up by the authorities….these are rich people, very rich people and their legal teams would have argued pictures and videos away if it was all we had"
"So they're in custody?" Ruby asked.
"More than half a dozen of them have been arrested already"
"Sensational" Penny beamed.
"Not quite" Qrow sighed "Plenty of others have gone to ground, they've either vanished entirely or are hiding out on private islands and places that won't extradite to Menagerie….which is where they'd have to be tried since we can't tie the Grimm that got loose on a ship in Neo Vale to this organisation"
"Then start storming the islands!" Coco snapped furiously "They've had two weeks to prepare, with the resources they have that means this bastards will get away with it-"
"I understand that you're angry" Ren interjected "We all are, but slow progress is better than nothing at all and that's what we will have if we start declaring ourselves to be judge, jury and executioner….how many people on the Council of Menagerie would try and have you removed from your position if you tried to forcibly extradite a group of billionaires without enough evidence?"
"Damn it!" Coco hissed through clenched teeth, forced to concede that Ren's point was sound and fighting the urge to punch a hole through her desk in response to it.
"That's what Winter has been working on" Qrow added with a hint of smug satisfaction "More than one of those we've managed to have arrested was an Atlesian citizen, which gives Winter and her people jurisdiction to go through everything they own and search for discrepancies; hopefully that should give us a way to tie them to the others and find out who other parties involved are….It's also allowed us to have a lot of peoples' assets stripped and frozen"
"What's happening with those assets?" Ruby asked "They might try and buy their own stuff back through proxies-"
"As far as I can tell that's not happening" Qrow shook his head "A lot of it's being snapped up by a man named Nero….My file on him is honestly almost non-existent beyond the fact that he's rich as hell"
"Nero owns shares in several businesses across Remnant, from what I understand he made most of his fortune in the rebuilding of Neo Vale after Salem destroyed most of the old city" Ren chimed in "He doesn't seem to be part of the usual socialite circle, but he does give a lot of his wealth to charity"
"If he's not an immediate threat it's not a concern" Coco noted, dismissing the man whose name she was vaguely familiar with and his wealth and focusing on more direct matters "Has any of this made its' way to the media?"
"We're keeping things as quiet as we can" Qrow answered "We didn't want to give the parties we don't know about a warning-"
"I think it's time to make all the arrests that we've made public, make sure all of Remnant knows exactly who these fuckers are and what they were doing" Coco's voice took on a savage, hateful edge "We need them to make a mistake, if lien is all they care about that's fine; we start crashing these companies and destroying their reputations and watch everything, see who starts acting scared"
"That might be a little heavy handed" Penny mused, privately calculating the amount of jobs that could be lost and lives changed by such a course of action before frowning and sighing "But we do need to do something"
"You've had no further developments on Menagerie?" Ren asked
"None" Coco breathed the word out bitterly "Grapeshot had to put down the man running the fight club, he was armed and resisting; in a residential area the risk was too great to safely bring him in"
"There was nothing to recover from the fight club itself….It was destroyed entirely in my attempts to remove the Alpha Geist from it" Penny admitted.
"And I spoke to Weiss" Ruby chimed in "The place was an airship freight dock owned by an SDC subsidiary but it was decommissioned four years ago….unless Winter finds something it's unlikely that the place is tied to any of the fight clubs' backers; it's more likely that Persian Green found and repurposed it himself"
"I can't say I'm sorry that the sick bastard is gone" Qrow growled, is own fury at the mere notion of what had taken place in the wasteland bubbling to the surface.
"So to summarise" Ren rubbed the bridge of his nose before continuing "The fight club itself is destroyed, those operating it are scattered, leaderless and in hiding. Those who attended in person are either already in custody or are in some degree of hiding whilst their assets are being systematically frozen, however we know that the bloodsports were being broadcast through untraceable CCT channels and we still have no idea who it was being broadcast to; though we believe those people to be responsible for smuggling Grimm from Menagerie to Neo Vale"
"That's right" Ruby nodded "Unless Team FADE have found anything?"
"At the moment no" Qrow admitted "And they can't devote their time to this indefinitely….There are still Grimm to deal with-"
"And there's still students we need to train, to make sure they keep getting dealt with" Coco added, unable to keep a hint of acid and venom from her voice as she unmistakably and unequivocally ended the conversation. Seeing her blunt dismissal for what it was Qrow and Ren left the call, likely attending to matters at their own academy whilst Ruby and Penny regarded the Headmistress in silence for a moment.
"You wanna talk about it?" Ruby offered gently.
"What is there to say?" Coco chuckled "Someone out there is running rings around us and we don't have a clue who it is or how to stop them….besides, there's no time to talk; we've got jobs to do"
Ruby and Penny shared a worried glance but ultimately neither of them could find a way to argue those her assertion; which was unsettling in of itself.
During the two weeks that had passed since Team MARZ's first official training mission had been brought a premature end life amongst the first year students of Breaktide Academy had slowly returned to some semblance of normality as their classmates had steadily returned with stories of their own, though few if any quite measured up to Team MARZ's experiences.
For two weeks classes had been suspended, granting recovery time to those returning early whilst ensuring those who were amongst the last to complete their missions, in most cases simply due to the nature of the missions they had undertaken did not miss any valuable lessons in their absence and be placed at an unfair disadvantage.
Team MARZ had used the free time that they had been given to heal and recuperate after the thorough thrashing that they had been given at the hands of the monsters that stalked the wastelands, with Zirconia spending several days repairing and performing tune-ups on her mechanical legs alone despite offers of help from each of her team-mates whilst Astra eased themselves back into their demanding training regiment once their bruised and cracked ribs were repaired by their Aura and Athena-Jade and Regalia overcame their own injuries and fatigue. The time had also been a valuable opportunity for them to not only explore the city of Port Alistair more thoroughly and find several places to entertain themselves but also to explore the campus and what it offered in more depth than they had done thus far; Athena-Jade and Zirconia had been invited to attend several classes for more experienced students solely as observers, both of them being left awestruck by the sights that they had seen whilst Astra and Regalia had explored the grounds and allowed themselves to properly appreciate for the first time that Breaktide Academy was a museum dedicated to Hunters of previous generations as much as it was a place to train those that would follow in their footsteps and this had led to the Deer Faunus using the video features of their scroll to give their parents a tour of the campus, something which seemed to finally settle the matter in their minds that their child had found their calling and was exactly where they needed to be; no matter how dangerous it might be.
Eventually however all of the first year students had returned and regular classes had returned with them, combat training with Professor Altan marked the final lesson of the day and the former Mistrali prizefighter had predictably chosen to test the progress of her charges; this time by pitting two students against a single second year.
Which was how Athena-Jade and Astra had found themselves avoiding a barrage of attacks.
"Every time we fight this guy he reminds me how much I hate him!" the Deer Faunus snarled as they rolled behind a glyph that Athena had erected in front of them both, their words almost lost beneath the unhinged laughter of the coppery haired and bushy tailed Fox Faunus Basil Underbrush, leader of Team BASL and his twin pistols that were oddly named 'Boom' and 'Boom'
"Well now that's just rude!" Basil laughed as they continued to open fire, forcing Athena and Astra back against the protective forcefield that marked the edge of the arena until its' thrumming and buzzing yet intangible presence caused the hair on the backs of their necks to stand on end; the Fox Faunus's forest green and velvety smoking jacket billowing out behind him dramatically as he used Dust powered rounds that were enhanced by his own Semblance, forcing Athena and Astra to use their glyphs and hard-light shields respectively in order to avoid being removed from the match in seconds.
"Got any ideas?" Athena murmured, sapphire eyes hopeful and her overall demeanour entirely changed for the better since the last time the two of them had seriously fought a member of Team BASL together outside of sparring matches in the gym.
"Gotta find a way to turn that Semblance against him to make an opening" Astra suggested, their own eyes narrowing into an expression of concentration focused to a singular point "You're the Dust expert….you know what he's using?"
"Pretty much raw Fire Dust as far as I can tell, not mixing it stops any random mishaps when he uses his Semblance" Athena answered without hesitation, having been studying her opponents' ammunition and Dust supplies as a matter of course
"Well let's cause a mishap" Astra almost snarled "Got any Ice and Gravity Dust?"
"Always….what're you thinking"
"Ice Dust glyphs, when the Fire Dust hits them we get a wall of steam we can use as a smokescreen"
"Then I go on the attack?" Athena surmised.
"No" Astra shook their head, gritting their teeth as Basil's continued onslaught made their head pound "Then I go on the attack and you use Gravity Dust glyphs to redirect it and force him to stop shooting at us….then we both attack"
"That could work" Athena nodded, expression becoming determined "Just give him a reason to fall for it….He's not as crazy as he likes to act and he's not stupid, I've seen him in other classes.
"Got it" the Deer Faunus grinned, smile widening into something menacing as they deployed the twin Gatling-guns of Buckshot Ares and levelled them at their opponent.
"OKAY TOUGH GUY!" they called out "YOU WANT A FIRE FIGHT LET'S DO IT! WE'VE GOT BIGGER GUNS!" Basil seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if considering the challenge and realising that his pistols were indeed far smaller weapons than those that could be unleashed against him for the first time yet the moment Athena-Jade lowered her glyphs, in a move that the Fox Faunus assumed was intended to allow her team leader to open fire the temptation to launch another volley of Semblance-enhanced shots was undeniable and Basil aimed his pistols once again.
Exactly as planned.
Athena-Jade flung up another series of glyphs, Basil catching sight of her round cheeks dimpling with a bright, confident smile as Fire and Ice Dust met before a wall of scorching steam came billowing back across the arena and obscured his opponents from view.
The next thing the Fox Faunus knew was that became aware of was the sound of a hailstorm of incoming bullets that sent him ducking and rolling away from the expected frontal assault only for lances of pain to rip through his entire body and leave his Aura rippling around him as bullets that had ricocheted from various Gravity Dust glyphs hidden within the smoke and steam struck him from all angles.
"Always a fun time with you kids!" Basil sneered firing his pistols blindly as the cacophony of bullets within the confines of the forcefield left his sensitive ears ringing and unable to pinpoint his opponents; eventually however he was rewarded with the sight of an ephemeral green light building and diffusing through the steam, allowing the older students to expertly weave away from Athena's incoming attack the moment she fired Mould Breaker in its' ranged form.
Only for the trap to be sprung behind him.
The air exited Basil's lungs with a pained wheeze as Astra used all of their martial arts training to deliver a simply beautiful example of a roundhouse kick to their opponents unguarded ribs, followed by driving the flat edges of Buckshot Ares down onto Basil's shoulders with enough force to knock him to his knees and from there the Deer Faunus placed him in a headlock and called out to Athena.
"Now! Finish it off!"
Basil saw a shape come hurtling through the steam and mist that could only be the obscenely strong Bear Faunus with her oversized hammer at the ready and promptly decided that he would very much like to not be beaten about the face and chest with that particular weapon and so, acting on pure, adrenaline fuelled instinct he pointed the barrels of both of his pistols downwards and forwards before tapping into his Semblance and firing.
The results were spectacular.
Basil was flung backwards with enough force to not only ensure that Athena-Jade's attack sailed passed him but also for him to collide with Astra and smash the Deer Faunus into the protective shielding with a jarring impact that shook them loose. The two first year students recovered admirably quickly, readying their weapons though Basil allowed himself a cocky smirk as all they could do was launch a close range counter-offensive against him which would likely be so predictable and monotonous it could be dismissed without effort.
The chance to prove that never came.
"Enough!" Professor Altan barked as the protective shielding began to disengage and send the remnants of the steam rushing outwards "Thank you for your help Mister Underbrush….Mars, Slate; the time limit expired and you failed to defeat your opponent"
"My apologies Professor Altan" Athena mumbled, eyes downcast as the thought of failure of any kind rankled and robbed her of the electric energy that had been coursing through her until that moment.
"However you were not defeated either" Arslan continued "Slate your defensive work was excellent, Mars your ability to think on your feet and adapt is once again impressive and your teamwork has improved notably over the last few months, you've truly come a long way"
"Thanks Professor" Astra fought the urge to swagger as they turned to leave the arena; forcing a more experienced student to standstill, especially one as unpredictable as a member of Team BASL might not technically be a victory but it still felt close enough to one.
"You still have a lot to learn and a long way to go until you're real hunters but your progress in impressive" Arslan gave a nod of recognition, voice dropping to something quieter and more private as she added "Astra I truly think that when you finally uncover your Semblance you will be something truly impressive….I hope that happens before next years' Vytal Tournament"
"Thank you Professor" the Deer Faunus repeated, popping their collar as they made their way back towards their seat with Athena in tow; their swagger now entirely absent as Professor Altan had, perhaps inadvertently managed to undermine their sense of achievement with a single comment.
"They're coming this way, are you gonna talk to them or not?" Ursinia's unmistakable country drawl was hushed whilst in Professor Altan's presence yet still clearly excited as Astra and Athena-Jade left the arena-like stage
"Seriously, what are we twelve?" Wolfram sneered in response to the way his team-mates tried to direct his attention towards the Deer Faunus, as if he had somehow not seen his fellow team leader after watching the preceding sparring match along with the rest of the class.
"I mean you did go home for a week just to tell your Mum that you've got a crush-" Laser fell silent as a steely grey gaze filled with malicious intent fell upon him
"Wash your mouth out or I'll do it for you; that's not why I went home" Wolfram growled, the leader of Team WULF had indeed vacated the academy and returned to the small village of Stalwart for several days after being given a leave of absence by Professor Adel though it had not been for the reason Laser had jokingly suggested. Wolfram had returned to visit his mother on his late fathers' death, something he intended to make a tradition now that he was no longer truly living in his home-town as the two of them had no immediate family outside of one another. Wolfram had however, after speaking about the matter with Ursinia, respecting her opinion despite his own preference to avoid talking about feelings and other such formless and complicated things so directly sat his mother down and had an honest discussion with her about his own sexuality which had thankfully, though in all honestly expectedly been received exceptionally well; the Mistral-born former traveller assuring her son that nothing had changed between them and that she would love him as dearly as she always had.
Such pleasant memories were quickly intruded upon by Diabla's low, gruff and broad accent, filled with her usual disdain for most forms of social interaction.
"Either do something or don't, we've all got better things to do than listen to gossip"
"I think for once me and her are in agreement….quit being yellow bellied" Ursinia's chitinous tail twitched reflexively in response to the withering glare Wolfram shot her way, the Scorpion Faunus realising that she might have crossed some sort of line in so directly challenging her partner in such a way even if it was only meant as a joke. The moment of tension was brief however and quickly dissipated as Astra seemed to take the initiative and drew close to Wolfram, daring to strike up what would likely be a brief conversation under the watchful eye of Professor Altan as they passed where Team WULF were seated
"Hey, how've you been….I haven't seen you around for a few days?"
"Yeah, yeah I flew home for a family thing….I thought I mentioned it" Wolfram shifted his weight as though making himself comfortable in his seat despite his armour and the collapsed weapon slung across the back, he had deliberately not mentioned his brief return home to anyone outside of his team as he wanted to control his own personal business and who knew about it. Astra cocked their head to the side, absently fiddling with the points of their Mohawk as they struggled to recall being told anything of the sort and the moment was only prevented from becoming awkward by Wolfram catching sight of Diabla and the sneering grimace that her features were contorted into, fiery orange eyes filled with open contempt for Athena-Jade as something electric crackled between them.
"Knock it off" Wolfram growled, not bothering to specify what was meant and trusting that she knew before turning his attention back to Astra "You need something"
"Not right now….Just missed hanging out with you is all"
"Well come by the dorm after class and we'll hang out" the words were out of Wolfram's mouth faster than he could consider them, a slight blush crept across Astra's face as though the Deer Faunus were not a regular guest in Team WULF's dormitory
"Yeah….Yeah sure" they nodded awkwardly, both team-leaders becoming suddenly painfully aware that many of their classmates had turned their attention towards them as Professor Altan had clearly, yet silently deemed their ongoing conversation to be a distraction to her lesson and as such was merely watching them silently with hawkish, predatory intent; arms folded across her chest and a stony scowl firmly in place.
"Ah crap" Wolfram breathed out as he realised that his team were almost certainly about to be subjected to something needlessly arduous and used to make an example, Astra patted him on the shoulder and finally returned to their own seat as Athena led them back to the rest of Team MARZ and left Wolfram himself to consider how such a simple conversation, one that the two of them had engaged in dozens of times before had felt so awkward and let him with heat rising in his cheeks despite coming so completely naturally.
Such worries were cut swiftly and mercilessly short.
"Ironside!" Professor Altan barked out, confirming his suspicions and drawing a resigned sigh from him "Choose one of your team-mates and make your way forward….I'm curious to see the level you currently operate at, since you so clearly believe that you're too skilled to have to pay attention in my class"
"Yes Professor, it won't happen again Professor" Wolfram answered dully as he rose to his feet, not truthfully an apology but it would suffice; he turned towards his team-mates and had in truth been preparing to ask Laser to join him, the Vaccuan boy may have been the weakest of Team WULF physically and an all round miscreant but he was skilled in his own style of combat and the plethora of tricks he brought to any battle would likely have been useful against the older students currently assisting Arslan. He never had a chance to utter a single word however as Diabla was on her feet a fraction of a second after him with Peace and Quiet already unfurling to envelop her fists with a determined expression forming on her face; Wolfram considered for a moment before letting a snort that was equal parts amusement and annoyance as he began to lead the way towards the arena.
"So how much of this is because AJ teamed up with her team leader?"
"Let it be, I've got points to prove" Diabla answered quietly, almost catching the team leader who could not honestly call himself her friend despite his best efforts off guard with even that cryptic and limited admission.
"Fine, just remember not to pick any more fights with Athena….whatever you've got going on, the team needs you" this time Wolfram managed to catch himself off-guard with his own admission, what had been intended as a simple statement of fact sounding more like a moment of genuine concern to his own ears. Quickly he shook his head and forced himself to focus on the battle ahead, with only minor distraction remaining.
"You mind staying of the dorm for a while tonight?" he asked under his breath as he and Diabla stepped onto the raised stage which held the arena "Just while Astra's there"
"There are hundred of thing I would rather be doing than playing third wheel to the pair of you" her answer was laced with derision that would have caused him to snap back at her in any other circumstance, in that moment however it was all Wolfram could do to shoot her a silent thumbs up of thanks and wonder if Laser was right about his partner and if there really was a nice person buried under all of her aggression.
Combat class had been the final lesson of the day and once it had ended the first year students, almost all of whom were currently entirely caught up with all of their assignments were largely free to do as they pleased, which was why Zirconia Shadowmoon, with her legs fully repaired and operating exactly as expected had chosen to depart from the campus of Breaktide Academy and make her way into Port Alistair; her partner inviting herself along for the journey.
Which Zirconia did not mind in the least no matter how aloof she often seemed.
The two of them had meandered through the streets and plazas of the island Kingdoms' capital city, bustling and crowded as always as countless people flooded out onto them after finishing their days' work and after searching for something to occupy themselves for some time the pair had agreed to watch a movie together, though exactly which movie that would be was still a matter of debate as Athena reasoned that whilst her partners' reaction to an action, sci-fi or horror movie of questionable quality would likely be as entertaining as the feature itself convincing Zirconia to dedicate any amount of time to watching such a film would be a challenge despite the amount of cartoons whose opening themes the Grasshopper Faunus had learned to play on the violin; the pair had briefly considered asking Regalia to join them but the Racoon Faunus had failed to answer her scroll, meaning that she was likely in the shower or riding clunker and although both Athena and Zirconia were fond of their team-mate both of them were happy with just each others' company if they were being entirely honest.
Upon realising that no matter what movie they had intended to watch the pair of them would still have several hours to wait the pair had continued on their way through Port Alistair, deciding that it would be sensible to find somewhere to eat and making their way towards a restaurant that they had found on one of the previous trips into the city which whilst not considered luxury of exclusive by any stretch of the imagination was still decidedly more pricey that Astra or Regalia were willing to entertain; it was here that a mild complication had occurred however when Athena-Jade had been recognised by a diner at the establishment, their loud and energetic attempts to get the attention of the Bear Faunus who had for several months been allowed to forget just how much of a celebrity she truly was across Remnant brought the unwelcome attention of several others and though the staff attempted to intervene before the situation could become and unmitigated disaster Athena had still asked Zirconia if she would prefer to find somewhere else to eat.
Which was how the two of them had found themselves in a small diner some distance away which claimed to provide the best burgers and milkshakes on Port Alistair, a claim which Athena was more than happy to put to the test.
"Oum damn it….brain freeze" she winced before giving a rueful smile as she massaged her temples for a moment "But hey look on the bright side, if I didn't get spotted buy that idiot at the restaurant then we wouldn't have found this place and honestly you would not believe how hard it is to get good milkshake in Atlas"
"It might be because the entire Kingdom of Atlas is frozen over all year round" Zirconia noted dryly as she helped herself to a handful of chill-fries, something she could not recall having eaten before leaving her home in Neo Vale "But why does this keep happening?"
"Wait….seriously, again?" Athena-Jade's cheeks flushed and the short but stocky and muscular girl fought the urge to flop dramatically on to the table, face down as she saw that the waitress serving them had once again placed two straws in Zirconia's milkshake when the Grasshopper Faunus had paid, insinuating that they thought the two young women might be on a date together; with her signature scarf pulled down so that she could eat Athena could see the slight smirk tugging at her partners' lips and the way her mismatched eyes seemed to light up with faint amusement at her theatrics which caused the shorter teen to merely pout.
"Yeah it's funny now but if this had happened at that restaurant after I'd been spotted like that then the paparazzi would have pictures published by tomorrow" Athena grimaced "Do you wanna have to explain to your guardian that we're not actually dating?"
"Does that happen often?" Zirconia managed to keep her gasp of disbelief limited to only mild surprise and maintained her composure whilst eschewing the question of what her guardian might think of such a thing being reported entirely.
"That's why I don't go into the cities in Atlas too much….well, that and the safety concerns" Athena took another sip of her milkshake before letting out a sigh "One time a reporter got fired from the Marigold Media Company so she got a picture of me and the owners' son Henry hanging out and sold it to a rival network….me and Henry have been friends for years, it was awkward for everyone, parents were involved; my brother didn't stop laughing for two days-"
"That's….morally questionable on the reporters' part" Zirconia shook her head whilst silently thanking her own guardian for the privacy in which he had raised her, it clearly had its' benefits after all.
"She still has a job, even tried asking me for an interview about why I didn't attend Atlas Academy" Athena let out a low, rumbling growl "I just know she's written a hatchet piece about me, I haven't looked for it but I know"
"But hey look on the bright side" Zirconia's smirk returned as she used Athena-Jade's own earlier words against her and added "If the press ever did get pictures of us sharing a milkshake, or anything else that they could spin to tell the kind of stories they want to tell….Your mother thinks I'm a good influence on you"
"Oh my Oum!" Athena almost choked on her meal as she erupted into laughter "She only says that because Aunt Ruby was her partner, Aunt Ruby who starts food fights and makes bunk-beds by tying the top bunk to the ceiling….well that and you play the violin, anyone who appreciates classical music is a friend as far as Mum's concerned"
"I think my point stands, as long as neither of us tell her I don't just play classical" Zirconia's dry, rasping voice kept an amused edge to it which sent Athena into another peal of laughter which she steadily recovered from, a concerned expression forming on her features as she asked what she suddenly felt was a pertinent question.
"What about your Guardian?" Athena's slightly round-cheeked face pulled into a worried frown "You never really talk about him but you've said he likes things to be kept private….Would he be upset if you ended up in the papers because of me?"
"Not for something so harmless" Zirconia answered calmly before a look of mild irritation crossed her features "Besides he's already likely to be irked enough that his name made it into the news today"
"Wait, seriously? Where?" Athena asked, caught off-guard by that statement; Zirconia's pink and orange eyes narrowed in concentration as she produced her scroll and began searching for the offending news article, finding it in the business section of a publication more clinical than the tabloids who wrote fanciful stories about her partner; she passed her scroll to Athena who scanned the article and saw that it was detailing the speculation around business acquisitions and mergers in the Kingdom of New Vale.
"These are some of the businesses being held by the people we gathered evidence against on our mission" Zirconia explained, face twisting into a sneer at the thought of the wretched individuals in question.
"Poly-Tech rival bought out by Chairman Nero" Athena mouthed the words barely above a whisper, sapphire eyes widening whilst her snowy eyebrows shot upwards a moment later "Your Guardian is the head of the Clara-Die-Novum Conglomerate….holy crap, they own….like half of everything on Anima-"
"Shares in major engineering, construction, logistics, robotics, electronics companies….The Hammerfall Observation Outpost that we were launched from during our initiation was actually the CDM Conglomerates' first major project on Menagerie, even if it was in collaboration with some other parties" Athena couldn't help but notice the bright smile and look of immense pride of Zirconia's face as her partner explained the source of the wealth she had been raised with.
"And he still keeps a low profile?" Athena asked, struggling to comprehend how she had never met the man at any of the functions that members of the Schnee bloodline were expected to attend.
"Well Poly-Tech, the SDC and Atlesian military take most of the work that the Conglomerate would want in Atlas" Zirconia noted before her expressions softened "And he doesn't like the spotlight, he hasn't since my parents passed away….besides he always says it's for the best that Remnant doesn't know exactly how much we have, that people are right not to trust someone with as much influence as he has now"
"Your parents….you wanna talk about them?" Athena offered, overlooking he implications of the second part of her partners' statement in favour of the more immediate concerns presented by the first.
"I honestly don't remember much about them" Zirconia answered quietly before looking away "Would you like to see if we can get an earlier showing?"
"Uh, yeah sure" Athena nodded, rising to her feet and hoping that she hadn't said something to upset her partner whilst also processing the fact that, possibly for the first time in her life she had a friend who had no need for her lien or connections as they were simply wealthier than her.
Wolfram had managed to secure some privacy for himself and Astra in Team WULF's dorm, with Diabla having departed for the gym several hours ago in keeping with her earlier assertion that she no desire to subject herself to the awkward tension between her team leader and Deer Faunus who led Team MARZ whilst Ursinia and Laser had been convinced to find other places to be after classes had ended through a combination of simple discussion and polite requests directed at the towering Scorpion Faunus and outright intimidation of the Vaccuan miscreant as Wolfram knew Laser well enough to expect the chemical blonde to try and bribe, barter and trade for his compliance.
Once his team-mates had left the dormitory for whatever destinations awaited them Wolfram had showered and changed, using the time to firstly get a measure of relief from the dull aches and shooting pains from the various blows that had landed on him during Professor Altan's class, all of which he had assured Ursinia were fine and no need for her Semblance and then secondly to try and gather his nerves and prepare for what he continually tried to reassure himself was just two friends hanging out after class, something entirely normal and without any cause for concern; though these private assertions were not enough to keep Wolfram from applying a liberal amount of cologne.
And then Astra had arrived.
The Deer Faunus had foregone the combat attire which also served as their preferred daily fashion, likely because it was in need of cleaning after the days' lessons and instead wore a simple, figure hugging white tank top which seemed to have been cut into something more closely resembling a crop-top with a sleeveless flannel shirt slung over it and paired with a pair of slim fitting jeans littered with various patches, pins and flags; the look completed with Astra's usual dark make-up reapplied and highlighted with something that glittered in the light. After his entire thought process had come screeching to a halt for several seconds and he had subsequently reoriented himself and remembered how to speak and function Wolfram had invited them into the dorm where they had, as always made themselves relatively comfortable and remembered the advice of Team WULF as a whole, Laser included to avoid the Vaccuans' bunk as there was no telling what might be hidden on or under it at any given time.
After a few moments of idle chatter the conversation had moved to a proper discussion of the pairs' first missions, a topic that they had not yet had the time and inclination to thoroughly mentally unpack and Wolfram had been stunned by both the sheer depths of the depravity that occurred in the wastelands and the nonchalant and stoic calmness that Astra managed to conduct themselves with after experiencing it first hand. With a regrettable lack of stories to regale the Deer Faunus with after getting a few laughs at his own expense at the mention of the Creatures of Grimm known as Cuddlers Wolfram had suggested a few rounds on any of the games for the console currently wired up to the television, a console which Astra had correctly pointed out had been opened so that Laser could partially dismantle it in order to either steal or replace some of the components; a process which had actually improved the device overall.
Eventually however Astra set the controller down and shifted their weight on the bunk the two of them shared, leaning against a wall to fix Wolfram with a serious look, sea-green eyes intent.
"Okay spill" they began, adding a hint of a chuckle to their words in an effort to break the sudden tension "Something's been bothering you all night so what's up….Is Diabla looking for a fight with AJ again? Is your Mum okay-"
"Mum's fine" Wolfram nodded slowly "It's just….Okay so you know how I said I went home for a few days for a family thing?"
"Uh huh" Astra nodded slowly, not sure where the conversation was going.
"Well I went because it was the anniversary of my old man….y'know" Wolfram gestured and trailed off to raise a hand and silence any interruptions as he continued "And ah, while I was there I had to talk to my Mum about some things and I….well I came out to her"
"Oh, oh damn" Astra was suddenly breathless, words spilling out them as they quickly continued "How did she take it, you're okay right? I mean I hope so and….Congrats man, oh shit, it is man right? 'cos if you want me to use different pronouns then-"
"Yeah, yeah we're good I'm still a guy" Wolfram nodded "And yeah my Mum took it well, told me it doesn't change anything….I mean I never thought she was gonna kick me out or anything but it was definitely nice to hear it" his head was buzzing with sudden possibilities and whilst he had known realistically that admitting his feelings, at least in this limited capacity to Astra would not be a cause for concern having such clear confirmation gave him both a sense of immense relief and at the same time a lurching sense of panic almost akin to vertigo as he realised that he had now committed to a course of action and the only thing to do was to keep moving forwards.
"I get that, I mean when I came out to my parents I didn't actually come out and say it first, I just kinda started wearing make up around the house until my Dad started asking questions and I had to explain some words to him….Luckily I went to signal academy and my half brother is Yang Xiao Long's son, which means I can get book recommendation from Blake Xiao Long, it made the explanations easier"
"I'll bet" Wolfram nodded, privately he wondered if Astra still any of those books on hand and if they might be helpful in giving names and a more identifiable shape to this newly acknowledged aspect of himself; what left his lips however was something more easily passed off as a joke "Still….you could have just let them walk in on you making out with a guy, things are pretty self-explanatory at that point"
"Could have done, there were a couple who would probably have been down" Astra noted with a winning smile before shrugging as they added "Honestly though I've never really dated….Lived on the mainland but studied on Patch, I just didn't have time to date and the few times I tried it always felt like it was long distance. What about you?"
"I honestly thought I only liked girls until recently….I still don't know what the exact labels for me are but I feel like I've gotta know and trust someone before I can have any sort of interest in 'em"
"I mean I can help you figure it out if you want?" Wolfram nearly choked on air and was only convinced that Astra was unaware of the way their comment could be interpreted by the way they gestured towards some of the flags and patches adorning their jeans. After a few seconds of silence that threatened to grow awkward Wolfram ran a hand through his smoky blue-grey hair and fought the urge to let out an audible sigh as he took the proverbial plunge.
"Yeah, yeah that would honestly be a lot of help" he nodded "I might make things easier to talk about with the person who made things complicated and actually made me feel stuff"
"Who is it?" Astra asked, trying their best to keep their expression from faltering visibly and utterly failing in the attempt "One of the second years?"
"Seriously?" Wolfram looked at them, utterly nonplussed and shaking their head in dismay "Astra how can I put this….Ursinia would say 'You're lucky you're pretty darlin'' 'cos Oum damn it I could not have been more clear about the fact I was talkin about you"
"I'm pretty sure you could have been more clear if you wanted to" Astra erupted into laughter that Wolfram couldn't help but notice the nervous edge to.
"So….you're okay about this right? I mean if you're not interested and it bothers you then-"
"What? No!" Astra sputtered "Wait….seriously and I'm the dumb-ass here? Wolfie I've thought you were hot since Initiation!"
"Oh….well, shit" Wolfram fought the urge to drive his palm into his skull as he processed the words and realised just how much trouble could have been saved if he had just been willing to be direct from he start.
"So…." Astra trailed off, filling the silence before it could become awkward.
"So" Wolfram repeated, taking a deep breath and hoping for the best; doubts still lingering in the back of his mind "Do you….do you wanna do something this weekend?"
"Absolutely" Astra beamed brightly, Wolfram breaking into a wide smile of his own and finally allowing himself to relax after being on edge for hours and thoroughly enjoy the moment.
Only for it to be cut short as Diabla stormed into the dormitory.
"I'm back and if you haven't asked 'em out yet then you're not gonna do it; you're not having the dorm all night. I need a shower" with that she threw her gym-bag down and stalked into the bathroom, giving Wolfram no chance to retort and leaving him cursing at a closed bathroom door whilst Astra simply burst out laughing again at the absurdity of the situation
Rapidly cooling evening air was given an additional chill by the speed at which Regalia cleaved through it, purple tinted lenses of her heavy goggles covering her eyes, tied back lions' mane of grey-brown hair and bushy tail of the same colour both trailing behind her and a bright, almost giddy smile splitting her face as she felt the assuring vibration of Clunker's engine which let out a deep and throaty roar as the Dust-powered jetbike veered and raced through city streets that were far enough to be from the centre of Port Alistair to be free of traffic.
The Racoon Faunus had been preoccupied and unavailable when Athena had called her and as such had missed her opportunity to join the Bear Faunus and her partner on their trip to the movies, something Regalia found to be less disheartening that she might have expected as she reasoned to herself that some trips were just intended to be between partners anyway. Her own partner was also unavailable as they had joined their fellow team leader and Regalia could only hope that one of them would finally make a move and act on feelings that were obvious even to the nomadic teen whose experience of those born within the Kingdoms had been limited to old movies until only a few short months ago.
Finding herself alone would have bothered Regalia before her arrival at Breaktide Academy, now she was utterly at peace as she sped through streets and allowed street signs and the gaudy advertisements for nearby businesses to blend into a blurry neon glow which complemented the snarl of Clunker's engine in a way that would be worthy of the protagonist of any of her favourite movies. Where among Clan Aiktishaf she had been considered something of an oddity, overly concerned and involved in a way of life that was nor her peoples' and whilst always tolerated and cared for still never really integrated or truly belonging, Regalia felt that at the academy and as a part of Team MARZ she was exactly where she needed to be and surrounded with the people she both wanted and needed; being secure in the knowledge that she had friends who would not grow tired of her and simply exclude her from their lives had all but eliminated the anxious loneliness that had initially plagued her upon her arrival at the academy, so far from everything and everyone she had known.
Regalia's thoughts at that moment were dedicated to something far more pedestrian and predictable; she was thinking about food.
Her upbringing among her clan of travellers, scouring the wastelands of Menagerie had, as her friends had noticed given Regalia a particular and unconventional set of tastes that were refined by years of eating whatever was available without question and tempered by an insatiable curiosity about seemingly all things; ever since her arrival in the Capital City of Menagerie this had manifested itself in a desire to try as much of the impossibly expansive variety of cuisine that the cultural melting pot had to offer, often in combinations that left those whose native dishes were experimented with utterly aghast. The current subject of the inquisitive nomads' interest had been provided to her by a fellow student; a Chicken Faunus with hilariously unfortunate name of Nugget, who led the almost equally poorly named Team NUGT. The avian Faunus was, like Astra the first member of their family to dedicate their life to fighting the Creatures of Grimm; they apparently came from a family of dockworkers which was how they had come to know of a small restaurant located within the freight docks of the city which served those who worked there and was purported to serve the best fried fish on Menagerie. Astra, who had spent a considerable amount of time on the island of Patch had disputed that claim vehemently however Regalia; who had experienced very little seafood in her life simply due to a lack of its' availability had been overcome with a mighty need to experience it.
A need that would soon be met if the stench of fish and sight of massive cranes loading and unloading shipping containers from vast ships in the distance were any indication.
"Almost there" Regalia murmured to herself as she brought Clunker screeching to a skidding halt, supremely pleased with the performance of the vehicle she considered her pride and joy and had built from twisted and rejected parts with her own two hands. Raising her goggles for a moment she took in the sight of the docks which took up a vast swathe of the cities' coastline and realised that the instructions she had been given were too vague to be of any real use to her beyond this point.
"Heh, oh well" she shrugged as she rubbed her hands together in excitement and prepared to engage her Semblance of 'Look-See' to find the quickest route to her goal; something that she noted ran contrary to her desire to explore but accepted was currently a necessity. A moment later her Semblance rewarded her with an oscillating purple and gold glow somewhere in the distance only for Regalia's shoulders to sag and a resigned sigh to escape her as she saw that her Semblance, questionable as always in its' reliability had no accounted for the several signs which displayed the words 'No Entry' which barred the way. Pausing for a moment she considered what Astra would do in this situation, or what the characters of any of her favourite movies would do and at that point Regalia found herself reiterating the same firmly held belief instilled in her by those movies that she brought with her to Breaktide Academy on her very first day; namely that a dramatic entrance and looking cool would pay off.
Deciding that her belief was yet to be proven wrong she revved her jetbikes' engine and surged forwards.
Yells of alarm filled the air and quickly faded into the distance as the Racoon Faunus weaved and swerved between narrow corridors of rusted steel filled with forklift trucks and dockworkers who were fortunately easy to see due to their reflective jackets until finally, in a stroke of dramatic inspiration Regalia used her jetbikes' Dust-powered antigravity capabilities in order to almost ricochet off of the side of on shipping container in a way that flung her onto the top of the container opposite, from there she had an almost unbroken run of steel to race along with only limited breaks of any size between the shipping containers which she overcame by pulling on Clunker's handlebars and rearing her bike back into a wheelie; her speed and lack of obstructions bringing her within sight of what could only be her prize within a few short minutes.
Only for a glint of metallic motion below to distract her.
"What the heck?" Regalia mouthed to herself as she brought her jetbike skidding to a halt atop another of the endless sea of shipping containers that made up the freight docks and glanced down into a clearing of sorts to see what might have been a group of late-shift workers enjoying a lunch break gathered around a small barrel fire; Regalia quickly told herself that the way they were all staring intently up at her was entirely understandable considering the entrance she had made and that even the fact that more than one of them was clearly reaching for a weapon could be understood considering that she was almost certainly trespassing in some sense of the word; the fact that many of the men and women sported balaclavas was not unreasonable either, Menagerie grew cold at night after all and those working when the sun set would be wise to dress appropriately. What Regalia could not readily explain away however was that the robots helping the dockworkers were an older model of Atlas Knight, a now hauntingly familiar older model with a shoulder mounted weapon.
"Regalia!" a familiar rurally accented voice barked up at her from the distance "That you up there honey? Well it sounds like you had a hog-killing time getting yourself here, now hurry on and git down here before the boss comes and pulls in your horns!" the Racoon Faunus glanced in the direction of the easily recognisable voice and saw that it was indeed Ursinia Red standing in the door frame of the very establishment that Regalia had intended to visit with Laser Greenback visible behind her. With that Regalia gave one final glance down at the people whose break she had seemingly disturbed and told herself that her concerns were entirely within her own head and that the people below her had nothing to do with the criminals Team MARZ had faced on their mission before kicking Clunker back into life and landing on the ground only a few short feet away from the doorway where the massive Scorpion Faunus still loomed imposingly.
"Darlin' what in tarnation are you doing? You will die standing up trying stunts like that" Ursinia drawled and Regalia couldn't help but smile with no small amount of nerves. Ursinia and Laser had been her first real friends at Breaktide, even before she had managed to form any meaningful connection with her own partner and as such she often found herself enjoying the company of the gentle but firm farm-girl and the opportunistic and underhanded product of the Vaccuan overspill, though she was still as confused as anybody else as to how the pair who were so completely opposite in every way had become such fast friends.
"Heh….just came to try the fish here" she answered with shrug as she hopped off her bike and deployed its' kickstand
"And you were looking for it up there?" Laser snorted in their usual nasal tones.
"My Semblance, it didn't give me the right directions….Besides; I felt a need, a need for speed" Regalia's grin took on a manic edge for a moment before she added "What're you two doing here?"
"This varmint was swindling people again….I had to make sure nobody shot him in the back over it, so he's buying supper" Ursinia couldn't help but roll her eyes as Laser tried their best, with an abysmal lack of success to appear affronted at the suggestion of any wrongdoing.
"Me? I just won a few games of blackjack against some of the people who work here" he nodded sagely "It just so happens that they didn't have everything they gambled, so now they're collecting my winnings off of a boat….And hopefully they do that before any of them realise that we always used my deck of cards"
"Lower than a gosh darned snakes' belly I tell ya" Ursinia shook her head in bemused disgust before turning her attention back to regalia "What happened up there, you looked spooked when I saw you?"
"I-uh…." Regalia trailed off, pausing for a moment to consider telling Ursinia what she had seen before deciding that there was nothing to be gained in further bothering what was likely an entirely innocuous lunch break and instead deciding that she might need to speak with Counsellor Daichi, her recent experiences had clearly taken more of a toll on her than she had realised. Seeing that Ursinia was still waiting for an answer she shrugged.
"It was nothing"
The sun had long since set over the wasteland between the settlements of Menagerie and when the freezing darkness had come Carmesi Hueso had gone on the hunt.
After disposing of Persian Green the Komodo Dragon Faunus had aided Grapeshot in their first order of business, namely disposing of Persian Green's body and locating representatives of the small legion of criminals that the deceased criminal entrepreneur had commanded so that the new order of things could be explained to them. Their employer was dead and his financial backers were in turn either in custody or going into hiding, those who had watched the bloodsports of the Desert Claw from the safety and anonymity of their own Kingdoms would not be providing them with any more work or lien however Grapeshot had explained to the newly leaderless and unencumbered cut-throats and vagabonds that his own benefactor was both willing and able to give them all employment in a similar line of work; a proposition which Carmesi had spelled out in the more direct terms of 'join or die'
From that point Grapeshot and Carmesi had spent almost two weeks attempting to locate the missing Alpha Geist with limited results, even with their efforts being aided by their newly bolstered resources and manpower; whilst the older and more grizzled of the two rogue Hunters had only grown more enthralled by the thrill of the hunt as time went one his younger compatriot had grown steadily more enraged and volatile with each dead-end, cold trail and false lead they received until finally, only a day prior Grapeshot had received word from a nearby settlement with no Hunters available to defend it that a Grimm of some intelligence and possessed of far too many limbs that attacked from above had been sighted dangerously close to their outskirts. Grapeshot had dispatched Carmesi to the settlement with a small team of their newly recruited helpers in order to verify the identity of this encroaching monster, though her had instructed the criminals to remain hidden from view until the moment to strike came so that the Komodo Dragon Faunus could better play the part of a travelling Hunter simply willing to help wherever he could.
Night had fallen and Carmesi's hellish red eyes had shone with manic bloodlust and anticipation as he led his new allies, each of whom had their reservations written plainly across their faces out into the darkness to lie in wait for the Alpha Geist.
What had come for them instead was something else entirely; a monster that could only be described as a Tarantula Hawk Wasp, in the most horrifyingly literal sense of the name.
The Creature of Grimm was, as to be expected midnight black in colour and covered with a chitinous exoskeleton though rather than the unadorned bone colour the monster sported armour that was iridescent in several places, shimmering with noxious blues and greens arranged in a ragged striping pattern where the moonlight caught it around its' hindquarters. The body of the Grimm was roughly twice the overall mass of the average man and arranged in three insectoid segments, the rearmost of which was was a bulbous abdomen which taped into its' curved and striped tail, adorned with a forearm length stinger which dripped with liquids that scorched the ground they fell onto whilst its' thorax was a mass of armour roughly hewn into a vaguely aerodynamic shape with far too may limbs bursting from it. The Tarantula Hawk Wasp had eight legs, each of which boasted multiple joints which allowed them to contort into a multitude of positions in order to attack from countless angles, those legs were lined with quivering, obsidian bristles of hair and ended in a foot which sported avian talons; sprouting from the back of the monster were four wings, each of the vast pinions was an expanse of feathery darkness which allowed the Grimm to swoop and glide in near silence. The skull of the Hawk Tarantula Wasp was roughly triangular, stretched and curved to resemble a cruel and hooked beak with eight compound eyes set into its' bone encased surface whilst beneath the jagged surface rested a pair of mandibles and fangs attached to venom sacks to bloated that the toxins within them visibly shifted and spilled with each turn the terrifying creature made.
So far the Tarantula Hawk Wasp had torn Carmesi's allies to bloody ribbons.
"What do we do? What do we do?" a woman whose face was covered by a ski-mask screamed as she opened fire on the Creature of Grimm with little discernable effect as it fell upon another hapless criminal and plucked them from the ground with all eight of its' legs; the mans' screams falling silent within seconds and his fate being made a certainty moments later when the sound of the bloodied mass of meat, bone and pulp he had been reduced to hitting the floor with a sickening splat which sent a fresh wave of terror through the remaining criminals and mercenaries that Carmesi had been forced to work with.
"Where did it go?" the same understandably traumatised woman yelled, weapon frantically panning across the sky in search of the Grimm that remained unseen and silent "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"
"GET DOWN!" Carmesi barked, though he made no effort to tackle his frightened ally to the ground himself they way he would have if she were a fellow Hunter, he had been alerted to the faintest of sounds from above and behind him; a prelude to the screaming din that the Tarantula Hawk Wasp let out as it dove, a noise which combined the shriek of a bird of prey with the droning of an insect and something altogether more industrial with a result like some murderous, sawing machinery. The woman managed to leap aside and even managed to pockmark the flank of the Grimm with bullets as it soared passed her, though the man behind her was not so lucky and Carmesi watched as its' stinger stabbed downwards and through his leg to carry him for several feet before he was dropped to the ground, howling and clutching at the ruined limb in a futile display.
The Tarantula Hawk Wasp soared into the air and wheeled around as it prepared for another dive, clearly targeting its' already injured prey and in that moment, as he rose to his feet time seemed to slow to a crawl for Carmesi Hueso as he realised that he had been provided with an opportunity.
Both of the reptilian Faunus's weapons were in his hands in an instant and without any hesitation beyond the moment it took him to ensure his aim was perfect he hurled his smaller blade forwards; the curved machete unfurled into its' three bladed form and rotated through the air, slipping between two of the monsters' wings, shredding bone and tissue in a single pass to bring the Grimm crashing down towards the ground with none of its' previous grace. Carmesi was in motion the moment his first weapon had left his grasp and clutched his second blade in both hands crossing the distance between himself and the falling Grimm in a few strides and letting out a powerful war cry as he hefted the broad cudgel-sword and swung in an upwards arc whilst leaping into the air.
His blow was precise and devastating.
The skull of the Tarantula Hawk Wasp was was carved, splintered and dashed open in a single motion and the felled Grimm sailed over the man whose leg it had sundered before striking the ground with a resounding crash; yet the victory was not without a price as Carmesi's strike cleaved through the head and thorax of the Grimm to send a vast chunk of its' mangled and already fading form flying free of the rest of its' body, the woman who had been screaming only moment before was struck by a mass of Grimm tissue that contained several impossibly sharp talons and Carmesi watched for the rise and fall of her chest to show that she was still breathing when she did not return to her feet, only to accept that she was another inevitable casualty when he could not find any such signs of life.
"Sound off!" he demanded off his underlings, the weak and trembling voices interspersed with groans of pain and various retching sounds that answered him rumbling order amounted to barely more than a third of the mean and women who had followed him into battle and as he cast his eyes around the now blood-soaked battlefield he began accounting for those that had fallen in the forms of the shredded and sundered bodies that had been strewn across the ground as the talons of the Grimm had ripped through them whilst others were harder to identify, the monsters' stinger liquefying them to a gory slurry that spilled out onto the parched earth.
A whimpering sound alerted Carmesi to the fact that he was not the only one to observe the carnage.
"I don't wanna die, please, it burns, it burns" the man who had been stung whimpered up at him, the leg already reduced to a boneless, formless mass. Carmesi's crimson eyes were harsh as he stared down at the criminal he had been ordered to lead, a mercenary who had likely been involved in capturing the same Grimm which had butchered Hunters at Persian Green's command.
"This man's injuries are untreatable. He will die horribly within the next few minutes….someone show him mercy, then continue retrieving the bodies" the Komodo Dragon Faunus intoned coldly before walking away and withdrawing his scroll. There were several moments of silence, no doubt filled with mercenaries staring at each other in dismay as they tried to silently decide who would carry out the order before Carmesi's was given confirmation that the deed had been done in the form of a shot ringing out.
He quickly dismissed the man entirely and focused on more important matters as he contacted Grapeshot.
"Any sign of our quarry old chap?" the jovial old Hunter enquired excitedly the moment the call connected.
"We found the Grimm….not the one we were looking for" Carmesi snarled in irritation before glancing over his shoulder and adding "Heavy casualties"
"I daresay I expected better from them somehow" Grapeshot noted callously "I mean with what it is these people were doing-"
"We're wasting time again" Carmesi interjected "We have no leads, using these bastards as cannon fodder to take down every Grimm on the island one at a time isn't going to get results….we need a plan, more immediately I need you to speak with the people that contacted us about this mission; I think we both know that if I report in person then the survivors from my group will desert the moment I turn my back"
"I don't see that would they have many places to go" Grapeshot noted with a chortle "You are right however….although rest assured, our benefactor is sending us something which will make matters easier; our people are currently securing the docks in Port Alistair to receive it"
"Is it a way to find the Alpha Geist?" Carmesi rumbled.
"Good heavens no, I wouldn't accept it if it was" Grapeshot laughed "This Alpha Geist is of the calibre of beast that our benefactor required and it has already escaped not only myself but the famous Ruby Rose and her wife….Carmesi my boy this is a Grimm I am going to thoroughly enjoy Hunting, one last hurrah before I'm too old to hunt at all. I will accept no cheap tricks and nothing short of a victory"
"Understood" Carmesi sighed, no small amount of annoyance at his friend and partners' antics before glaring at the remaining men and women under his command and adding "I'm going to continue the search….Send fresh people to relieve my current backup, the ones that I've got left are worse than the students"
And with that disparaging comment Carmesi turned his mind back to the hunt, the objective and end results being the only things that truly mattered
Authors Notes:
So, welcome to Vol.02.
I already have the first half of this arc planned out, including the mid-season finale type showdown that it will lead to before we move into a more plot heavy second half of the volume.
Also….I'll admit that I wrote most of this chapter in a single sitting after being awake for roughly forty hours whilst trying to adjust to a new sleep schedule due to my new job.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?
I'm calling the chapter 'Normalcy' because it does sort of establish a baseline of where we're at and I know I'm posting weekly with no hiatus between volumes but I feel like it's still nice to take a breath and recap.
A meeting first thing on a Monday, definitely something that nobody in their right mind wants.
Coco's office, like Goodwitch's in FADE….is basically a fortress within a fortress.
We're all a little Ren-sexual aren't we? Ren is the head of Halo Academy of New Vale, Nora is his deputy and Qrow teaches an elective subject to older students; also what happened to his back was covered in FADE: Legacy for people that haven't read that story.
So basically this whole scene was to move the plot forwards a few inches and show what's happening in the fallout from the last volume.
Nero the reclusive philanthropist billionaire….I name dropped him here so I could bring him up later.
This is the same Coco who shot up Adam's apartment in The Downward Spiral, she will absolutely use heavy handed tactics.
So Persian's death isn't being treated as suspicious, meaning that Grapeshot and Carmesi got away with it.
Two weeks, giving a timescale for how long it's been.
I promise Arslan does actually teach her students and doesn't just have them fight for her amusement.
Astra and AJ teaming up against a member of Team BASL felt thematically fitting considering how their first meeting with them went.
Well would ya look at that, Team MARZ have a plan that isn't just "Throw Astra at the problem".
Arslan really does mean well, but bringing up Astra's lack of a Semblance….that's gonna become a sore spot.
Team WULF being Wolfram's wingmen whether he asked them to or not is just a funny idea to me.
And the AJ and Diabla bullshit is already brewing, 'cos I did promise that we'll get back into that this volume.
And look at these two hopeless dorks.
Arslan is absolutely "That" teacher who will let you make a dick of yourself just to pull you up for it.
Diabla absolutely stepped up just to prove that anything Athena can do she can do better.
Zirconia plays anime theme-songs on the violin but won't watch comic book movies….she's definitely a purist about it.
AJ having to deal with the press even in Menagerie was an inevitability really.
Again with the two straws.
There is already a ship name for AJ and Zirconia, I'm just putting that out there.
Clara-Die-Novum = Bright New Day.
Well, now we have some idea of who Zirconia's guardian is and I think it's pretty obvious that they're gonna be plot relevant.
Wolfram tried to be cool and nonchalant….he tried so hard.
That is absolutely the way Astra handled coming out to their parents; something that looks like a brazen and flashy statement but can also be played off as a joke or something else if it doesn't got to plan, it's exactly the kind of false bravado Astra has plenty of.
'You're lucky you're pretty darlin'….I mean is there any more to add?
So, they have a date set up….Now let's see what can go wrong.
Diabla is fun, she really is.
Yay for Regalia and Astra both feeling like they've found where they belong.
Of course Regalia wants to try all of the food.
A Chicken Faunus called NUGT….I want you to know that I'm not sorry, not even a little bit.
Regalia absolutely still believes in the principles of 80s action movies; if you do something bad-ass and drop a one-liner when you do it, then it doesn't matter what laws you broke.
Goons and Atlas Knights….I think we all know who those people are.
Scorpion Faunus ex Machina.
Also yeah, Ursinia and Laser were Regalia first real friends at the academy and she still loves hanging out with them.
I feel like getting dockworkers into debt so he can get them to steal stuff for him, even if it is just small stuff is definitely a little too close to major crime from Laser.
So Grapeshot and Carmesi did manage to take over Persian's old outfit with the help of their benefactors' funding and have been looking for the Alpha Geist ever since.
I wanted a big Grimm monster this chapter and "Tarantula Hawk Wasp….but literal" has been on my pile of things to use for a while now.
Oh yeah, those goons just got turned into the Mobile Infantry from Starship Troopers.
I STILL don't have names for Carmesi's weapons, I was going to go with something Aztec but that didn't feel right somehow.
But god damn that Komodo Dragon Faunus can get the job done when he needs to.
….Compare the way he treats these grunts to how willing he was to jump into the fray for Team MARZ.
So the goons in Port Alistair that Regalia saw were definitely working for Grapeshot.
A little hint that whatever their benefactor is doing, it's big.
Thank you to SumoSnipe, Funlanderand MajorBrony95 for their replies on the last chapter.
Always be suspicious, you have been reading my writing for long enough to know that I'm always plotting something.
Yeah those are all fairly apt comparisons for what Blackwater Cove is like, especially with the last two being port cities.
Snoopy will do until I give it an official name.
Oh come now, you didn't think I'd give you the main villain in the first volume did you?
This fic will probably last a couple years.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.