As Kagami drew her sword, she parried against the swordsman attack. Quickly stepping beside him, she swung. He blocked with ease as the two clashed blades. Suddenly, the jadette pulled back and dropped to her hands and knees.
Behind her, Cheyenne came in with a heavy swing from her warclub.
Grunting, he stumbled back and shook his head. Slowly breathing in, he calmly exhaled before rushing in again.
Watching closely from the rooftop, the archer took aim. He was close to firing but had to pull back as Kris lodged the blades of her weapons into the side of the building and pulled herself up by the chains.
He quickly backstepped and readied a shot to attack her once she was on the roof. At his feet, a smoke formed before a rifle suddenly swept underneath his legs.
As his back hit the roof, he looked up at Elise who was aiming at him. He scoffed a little and shifted. "Do it then." He mocked. When she flinched back, he took his chance to knock her down while jumping onto his feet. His coyote ears twitched before he quickly moved his head out of the way as a bullet shot passed his head.
The sound echoed in the distant wasteland.
"I will if she won't!" Kris hissed and lunged at him. "I just wanted to go to sleep!" She brought her weapons around like tonfas at him.
Bringing up his bow, he blocked each of her strikes while stepping back. Locking his weapon with hers, he grunted and quickly shoved her back. He reached back for an arrow only for his hand to be grabbed.
"Not gonna happen!" Elise shouted as she gripped his arm. Baring her teeth, she braced and twisted around as she flipped him over onto his back. The arrows in his quiver scattered across the roof.
Shaking his head, he sat up. With a sharp exhale, he rolled out of the way just as Kris landed where he once was. "Hm." He pushed himself up and placed his bow on his back. Closing his eyes, he placed his hands together before harshly pushing them forward.
Seeing a gray smokey tiger come from behind him and at her, Kris tilted her head. "Uh...?" She raised an eyebrow before barely dodging it as it lunged at her. Its teeth grazed her coat. "Okay! It's real! Very, very real!"
"Hmph." Elise smiled. Calmly taking aim, she shot the tiger as it burst into a cloud. Sliding her foot around, she stepped back and fired a second quick and precise shot at a bear lunging at her. The smoke dissipated around her body as she stepped up. "Are you really trying to scare a hunter with wild animals?"
Blinking, the archer looked between the two of them. He stood silent for a second before suddenly kicking up one of his arrows and throwing it at another. This caused a chain reaction of Dust between his scattered arrows that collapsed the roof in on itself and sent all three of them down.
Hearing the explosion, Cheyenne glanced back.
With his chance, the swordsman lunged in. He was silent and swift as he moved.
The deer Faunus barely had time to step back away from his attack. The edge of his katana grazed her hip and partially cut into her belt.
With a sharp cry, Kagami swung downward against his katana. Both blades hit the sand with a sharp clink.
Taking a deep breath, Cheyenne flipped her club around before sending it straight into the man's chin.
He fell onto his back with a heavy grunt. His bun came undone and his messy blood orange hair fell down. Reaching behind his head, he grabbed his throwing knife. Taking a deep breath, he brought his knees up and flipped backwards onto his feet. With narrowed eyes, he tossed the knife at the Faunus.
Stepping between the two of them, Kagami once again caught it. Twisting around, she sent it back at him albeit a little faster than last time.
With a sharp breath, he sidestepped out of the way as the blade lodged itself into a wooden pole behind him.
"Go check on Kris and Elise." She eyed Cheyenne while picking up the man's katana.
"On it." She nodded back before rushing off.
Taking a deep breath, Kagami eyed the two handed weapon. Despite the rough conditions of Vacuo, it was very well taken care of and glinted in the moonlight.
Slowly exhaling, she closed her eyes for a moment before tossing it back at him. "We really, really don't want to fight. We're just trying to make it to the Kingdom."
Catching his weapons, the swordsman stared at it before eyeing her curiously. "So you are not part of a raiders tribe trying to steal from this place then?"
"No. Well... we were going to take what we could find." She paused. "We thought this place was abandoned."
"Not abandoned. Destroyed." He stood up straight. Calmly, he held up his hands before sheathing his katana. "We protected it from raiders but we could not do the same when Grimm came." He walked over to retrieve his throwing knife and put his hair back up. "They killed everyone."
"I'm... I'm sorry." She put away her sword.
"Don't be." He eyed her. "Feeling sorry does not bring back the dead. There is no point in it. All we can do is remember them and honor their resting places."
"Is that why you and your friend were out here?"
He nodded back. "Every week Smoke and I pay our respects."
Kagami went to say something else but quickly went quiet as she felt the barrel of a gun press against her neck.
"Don't. Move." A young woman snickered from behind. "Or do. Your choice."
Going stiff, the jadette glanced out of the corner of her eye and glared at a woman with fiery blazing hair.
"Hiya." She winked as light flickered off her teeth. "Hori." She looked over her shoulder at the swordsman. "Pa says to bring 'em in."
In an instant, his expression shifted. By the time Kagami turned her head to look back at him, the tip of his katana was placed against her neck.
"Drop your sword." He ordered and narrowed his eyes. "Now."
Baring her teeth, the jadette tensed. Pinned between the two of them, she reluctantly and slowly loosened the strap of her sword and let it fall from her hip into the sand.
Searching through the rubble of the collapsed building, Cheyenne found her friends and pulled them out.
"Ooowww." Elise groaned as she shook her head around. "My ears are ringing and my head huuuurts!"
"Well don't blow things up next time." She handed her one of the matcha flavored aura pills Hisato had made for them.
"It wasn't me this time!" She pouted as she swallowed the pill.
"Yeah. It was sir crazy face." Kris grumbled as she dusted off her red jacket. Grimacing, she moved her shoulder around. "Ow is right though."
"Here." Cheyenne tossed her a pill as well before putting away the rest.
"Thanks." She smiled back. After swallowing, she stood up a little taller and looked around. "Where the hell is this guy though? I have a few choice words."
Up above, Smoke was crouched on top of a gray hawk as it circled above them. Narrowing his eyes, he jumped off and launched himself downed. Tackling Cheyenne, he quickly pulled her onto her feet while standing up. "Move and I will kill her." He tightened his arm around her neck.
The deer Faunus widened her eyes a little while glancing back at him. Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes and drove her elbow deep into his solar plexus. "You will NOT use me as a hostage pawn!" She snapped. Twisting out of his grip, she grabbed her club and struck the side of his head with it.
"Ooh!" Kris widened her eyes with a smile. Grabbing one of her weapons, she quickly stepped up and took aim. "Don't move. You know I will shoot you."
Letting out an annoyed breath, Smoke went still and held up his hands.
"Alright." Elise nodded as she picked her rifle back up. "So if we're done with this little skirmish, I'd like to go to bed." She blinked a little as she heard cards being shuffled behind her.
"Bed ya say?" A man with a cowboy hat and a cigar chuckled as he sorted through his cards. "What? Ya got a bedtime or somethin' kid?"
"Huh?" She scrunched her face. "Who the hell are-" Her breath hitched as a large shadow of a man loomed over her.
"Cursing isn't very nice." A gentle voice came from behind her.
She glanced over her shoulder and looked back at a man with a thick brown beard. In his hand, he held onto a hatchet that looked small in comparison to his body.
She then flinched as she heard two guns click.
"You never take your eyes off the cards, miss." The man with the cigar chuckled as he kept two revolvers on her.
"What?" Kris blinked and then hissed as she felt someone lean onto her followed by a gun barrel against her head.
"Oh, what's wrong, little girl? Hmm?" A tanned blonde man with scruff smiled brightly as he wiggled his shoulders around. "What are you going to do?" He teased.
Quickly, Smoke got back onto his feet. Snatching an arrow from the floor, he placed it in his bow and drew it. "Now I advise you not to move. Because you know I will shoot."
With wide eyes, Cheyenne looked between her friends. Hearing a whistle, she looked up. A hole in the roof had a man with dark green hair aiming a rifle at her back. Stuttering, she couldn't find the words to speak.
"Well, that could have been worse." Walking up towards her, a man with twin bandoliers over his chest chuckled with crossed arms. His expression was hard to read with the mask over his mouth and nose. "We could have had to waste lead on them."
He seemed to have spoken too soon. Hearing a gunshot, he instantly drew his revolver and pointed it at Cheyenne. Quickly, he scanned the room. No one had moved. With a sigh, he reached up to and placed a finger on both of his temples and squeezed. "Asher..."
Outside, Kagami stumbled back from a point blank shot to her shoulder. Her aura fizzled a bit as it protected her but it still stung. She sat on the ground for a second and grimaced.
"There was no need for that." Hori eyed his ally.
"You sure?" The woman with burning hair let out a playful chuckle as she walked over and knelt down in front of the jadette. "Because I think I need to shoot her again. She has a fight in her eyes. She's just waiting for one of us to slip up and look away so she can attack." She smiled as she placed the barrel of her revolver in the same place.
Baring her teeth, Kagami took several uneasy breaths. She then quickly closed her eyes and focused her aura as she heard the gun fire. With a shout she fell onto her back and clutched her shoulder tighter. Her aura fizzled away more this time.
"Heh." She smiled.
"Asher!"
She flinched. She quickly stood up and spun around on her feet. "Yeah, pa?" She holstered her weapon on her right hip. She had a second and third on her left hip and over her belt buckle.
"I told you not to kill them." He narrowed his eyes and pulled down his mask. "And what are you doing?"
"Tormenting, not killing, Black." Hori mumbled while keeping his eyes locked on Kagami. He knew she was waiting to make a move even while down too. He just wasn't like Asher when responding to it.
Shaking his head, the man with bandoliers placed both his hands on his hips. He took a slow deep breath and lowered his head. "Just tie her up and bring her back with the others." He waved his hand and turned around. "Miss Sanguine will get a kick out of this one." He let out a low scoff.
Blinking a few times, Kagami dropped her head. "You gotta be kidding." She brought both her hands up to her face and rubbed hard. She felt like crying with how frustrated she was. There was no escaping this woman.