Chapter 21: Lyin' Guise
"And your smile/is a thin disguise." Lyin' Eyes, Eagles 1975
DOMINIC
Friday Afternoon
"...my entire life in the wastelands, always worried about resources like food and water. I arrived in Mistral and assumed that they would be spread out to take full advantage of their bountiful territories. Instead, I find most of them crammed into the inner city, putting a premium on building space around the twin peaks. It's like, hell~ooo Mistral: don't you see how much space you have?" Sun said, having maintained a constant stream of chatter since they had left the docks.
Dom had insisted they put some space between themselves and the dispersing protesters - reasoning that the further from the gathering the pair of them got, the better chance of quick service they would find. In truth, he didn't trust himself not to make a scene if he was confronted by one of the humans. Or if they harassed Sun in front of me. Either way, it would degrade his disguise for himself to be put into that position. Thankfully, his explanation about overcrowding at the dockside restaurants hadn't been contested.
"So, after being appointed team leader we head to our dorm and quickly got into an argument about space. Each of them had brought more individually than would fit in the shared quarters - I had nothing, being a nomad - and so they started squabbling about who deserved more space based on performance during initiation, where their name was in the team name-"
"Is Sage or Scarlet the second 'S' in the team name?" Dom interrupted. It wasn't readily apparent who was alphabetically second to Sun, but he had to assume Sun was the first 'S' since he was team leader. Meanwhile his eyes traced up to the nearby rooftops. If Sun had lied about the rest of his team being busy with other matters, who would he trust to have his back? Was Sage stalking them on the rooftops? What was Scarlet's semblance? Would his partner Neptune be poised to strike Dominic down with some prearranged gesture from Sun? Luckily, he was leading Sun, so his constant scanning of the nearby balconies and windows wasn't visible to his companion. But if we are being stalked, would they see me looking for them? Maybe it would be better for me to just completely assume my feigned carpenter character charade...
"Man, don't even get me started. They wanted me to go wake up a professor at 2AM to settle it. 2AM! In the morning! I just wanted to get some sweet sleep after going through our initiation!"
"So, what did you do?" Dom asked while passing by another restaurant. Too close to the docks, they'd expect me to go into the first one after passing into the next neighbourhood.
"Well, Neptune was my partner, so I just sided with him. Figured I may as well strengthen that bond first and foremost."
"Sensible." Everyone around them wore heavy cloaks, robes, hiding their features. The illicit scum that lived at the base of the gilded city - the veritable veil of grungy suffering he had hid himself in since the attack on Haven - now worked against him as he found himself incapable of determining whether or not the two faunus rivals were being tailed as they shuffled along the street. If he knows I'm Adam, wouldn't he have just as much reason to suspect I'd have my own people nearby? His brain said no. His little stunt at Haven: his Bedlam-brain overwhelmed with rage at Blake to the point where he'd been willing to sacrifice everyone and everything; it had cost him his allies. Sun wouldn't suspect Adam of being well protected, now that the Fang was falling apart. He had been branded (yet again), this time as an excommunicate of his own people.
"They'd been fighting for a while, though," Sun continued, "so when I said, 'your stuff is nicest so let's have it all in the room and find a place to put the other guys' valuables tomorrow', he started looking at me suspiciously. Apparently, he had been exposed to the notion that faunus are thieves and that I would plunder his stuff. So suddenly he starts saying we should each have an equal amount of stuff in the room."
"Also sensible?"
"In case you forgot: I had nothing with me other than my weapon and clothes. Which made Neptune uncomfortable about leaving his own stuff available for my pilfering once he realized that there was going to be disparity somewhere."
"So how did you convince him that you weren't a thief?" Dominic passed by a small bistro; too cozy, no patio. He wanted to keep his hat on while eating, which meant a patio would be ideal. He remembered how his hat, rough appearance, and gutter-filth-covered ward had drawn the ire of other customers during his lunch with Rothy. Obviously avoiding that sort of scene would be ideal with Sun, who would notice more about his appearance than Rothy did. I hope she is well back with her parents in the countryside. Despite his current status as an excommunicate, he would always have the welfare of his people at heart - especially now that he had cut out his obsession with Blake and human rebels.
Sun rasped with his tongue stuck between his lips. "You kiddin'? Nep had some premium stuff. A care package with chocolates and pastries, a white shirt that honestly looks better on me..."
"You took his shirt?"
"I say that I accepted tribute. I had been appointed leader of the team, which I think meant having discretion about how to allocate team resources..."
"You took his shirt." Dom determined.
"Just think of it as long-term borrowing."
Dom led Sun into the mid-city by the slow ramps rather than the lifts. Reasoning that the crowds were too much of a risk, they took the scenic route. Sun didn't seem to mind, chattering constantly behind. Maybe he's uncomfortable with silence, Dom thought. His thoughts didn't stay docile for long, and soon wondered: maybe he just wants to let me know where he is to keep me comfortable. Like talking to a horse while circling around its backside so that it doesn't get spooked and kick out at you; indicating that he knows who I am. It begged the question: what would Sun have to gain from playing along with the charade? Blake was gone, so tailing her former renegade partner wouldn't grace the simian-faunus any points with her. Now Ghira was gone, so no points from that, either.
Dominic was reasonably certain that Ghira had left the city and that the ships leaving harbour hadn't been a grand show with the aim of deceiving Adam. Reasonably certain.
If Blake was back, Bedlam would have been hot on her trail and the warehouse's capacity for brooding, handsome faunus would have been tested again.
So no, whatever Sun's motives were, they seemed to have nothing to do with capturing him for the Belladonnas. Unless Ghira had tasked Sun with the prospect of killing Adam? Leaving Sun behind to clean up loose ends...
Dominic had to admit, it was the sort of thing that Adam would do in that situation.
He peeked behind him, where Sun was still rambling about his first week attending Haven. They guy was gushing about how he'd got to know his teammates and how they'd all struggled to adjust to living in the small living space junior-year huntsmen got to share with their arbitrarily assigned teammates. Just following Dom without concern about their unknown destination.
No, Ghira would never stoop so low as to have him assassinated. Adam's style wasn't Ghira's style. Blake, on the other hand... he wasn't sure about that. She mewled and cried about the moral high ground, but when her little human friends were threatened, could she stand by them and their precious ideals? Or would she do what she had to, to keep them safe from the grim realities of their struggle?
What would you run from first, deserter? Your ethics or your friends?
He didn't know her anymore, really. Beacon had changed her.
Beacon changed me, too, though. He'd come a long way since then: reaching dizzying highs of achievement and crashing into the gutter. Especially in the past few weeks. The strangeness of his current situation: going disguised to a restaurant with a man he'd fought, just to give himself time to process how to deal with his own anger at pilfering his own laundry. Beacon changed me more than anyone could have guessed.
On the other hand, what did he actually know about Sun? Did he have it in him to kill? They were certainly enemies, but he just gave off too... positive... an aura to seem like he'd do the deed. His blunt weapon spoke to a man who preferred taking his targets down rather than out. If Sun wasn't here to kill him, why spend the time?
Obviously, my disguise is just that good. Dominic tried to convince himself of that, but paranoia won through. Dominic kept his defensive aura up while Sun was at his back. There was, admittedly, a solid chance that Sun at least recognized a fellow faunus. A fake name, an eyepatch, new clothes, and dark hair poking out under his hat: could these have really been all that was needed to fool a team of huntsmen-in-training? Especially one that I've fought in melee? It had been dark that night at Haven... but it wasn't like his picture was hard to miss on the wanted posters strewn on the walls and windows. At least the pictures had him with the mask on. They didn't show his blue eye, or his brand.
Did Blake tell Sun what colour his eye was? Had Sun asked the deserter after their first meeting on the docks? Something along the lines of 'hey Blake, what colour are Adam's eyes?' That would have given Wukong everything required for reasonable suspicion, even if blue eyes were not wholly uncommon. Blake had seen his true face often enough. Obviously that was another fumble on my part. Trusting Blake had been an error.
"So, any insight from your city-boy friends about good places to eat around here?"
"We normally ate cafeteria food; before I knew it the Vytal Festival was drawing near. I shipped myself over to Vale to scope out the scene."
"Getting intel on the competition?" Dominic inquired, impressed at his counterpart's tactical acumen. It wouldn't be a stretch to imagine he would have spent the past few days gleaning as much information from the Belladonnas about Adam as he could.
Sun laughed as if Dom had told a joke. "Ha ha, none of that. The boys wanted to know what the skirts were like in Vale, and I was more willing to go solo on a boat since I'd done that to get across the sea to Mistral a few months prior anyways."
Or, maybe he is just some sort of blonde idiot? Dom was left still on the fence about whether the jig was up or not.
Dom spotted a restaurant with a suitable patio balcony and decided they'd gotten far enough away from the docks to not run the risk of getting caught up in the dispersing crowd of protesters. "How about here?" It was also due time to actually eat something, both for his own nutrition and for the sake of eventually making it back to Brazen before hisself began worrying.
"Like I said, your lien means-"
"My choice." He noted the residue from a removed sticker in the window of the establishment. "Dining's become a bit easier for faunus in town since Ghira came, but I wonder if that'll hold up now that he made that tidy getaway on the boats." The hair on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end; that itchy feeling of being watched, connected to protective aura. His eyes scanned around the area, but everything seemed suspect to the point that nothing stood out as being an imminent threat.
Sun leapt on the topic of the exodus. "Ghira sort of announced it, had me and Ilia go door-to-door, got the military involved, too. Really kept it on the down-low. After the attack, most of them were easy to convince that it was better just to haul out." Sun paused and sighed, indicating that he had reservations about what had happened. "It's a shame; we were doing real good here, but Menagerie isn't as bad as Blake thinks it is. Not as crowded, either, once they learn to make better use of the desert."
Bad experiences leave a lingering bitterness, Dom thought, the NO FAUNUS stickers that most restaurants had borne until the past week featuring prominently in his thoughts now. Still, it is odd how quickly they organized to leave en masse. He wondered what was more important: learning more about how the faunus managed to pull it off, or playing the part of a disinterested civilian carpenter.
Sun is talkative, he may just let it slip on his own. Maintaining the disguise is key for the cause now.
There's clearly more to the exodus than what he's letting on or perhaps knows. Maybe he'd be more willing to share what he knows if he knew he was talking to a fellow faunus?
Nagging thoughts wiggled in the back of his mind against one another. The pair of them were met by a waiter and taken to patio seating. The brightly lit area both stressed and relaxed Dominic: the bright afternoon sun put more strain on his disguise if the waiter were to scrutinize him, but it was a comfortable place with easy access to escape routes and few other patrons. Plus, it also let him not feel awkward about keeping his large hat on, hiding his rather recognizable horns. The waiter handed the pair a set of menus, then was flagged away by one of the other tables' patrons. Sun went quiet as his eyes glanced through the variety on offer. Dom figured he may as well do the same; if Sun was going to talk more about how those ships were all arranged to transport faunus, it was better for him to let Sun come back to it. He didn't want to keep pressing at the subject. For all Sun knows, I'm a human out to take down the faunus. The thought made Dom feel a bit dirty. Hiding his faunus horns, keeping to the shadows... it made him feel like the SDC had won. Making him act like he was ashamed to be himself.
"I would like the bill presently, sir." A nearby patron whispered. Oddly, the plates of both him and his date were loaded with untouched food.
"Of course, sir."
The waiter moved toward the interior, only to be stopped by a gesture from another patio patron.
"The bill, would you kindly?"
"Of course, sir."
Curious.
While Sun continued reading through the menu options, Dominic's eyes strayed back over to nearby rooftops. A patio was good for escape, but also put him in a clear spot for snipers.
"Why would anyone want to eat steamed eels?" Sun asked, his nose scrunching up in disgust.
The nearby rooftops were clear of anything openly aggressive, but if Bedlam's experience with Neopolitan had taught him anything, it was that seeing wasn't always believing.
"There is a lot of seafood on this menu, really."
"Not a fan of seafood, then?" Dom asked while peering at window frames across the street.
"I grew up in a desert, so I'll admit to not being a picky eater, but I know for a fact that Mistral has the largest agricultural area of any of the four Kingdoms."
How would they have even been able to know to set up an ambush here? I was the one who led us here. The thought calmed him down. Didn't I get the drop on Sun on the roof? He wasn't expecting this, couldn't have been expecting this, because I'm the one who put all this in motion.
"I can't say I relish the taste of meat, myself."
"Vegetarian?" Sun asked. Dom gave a shy nod. Sun energetically straightened up and leaned over the table to poke at Dom's menu with his finger. "Look for the little 'V' icon beside the dishes for those options. Some of them don't look that bad..."
Unless Lichen sold me out. Unless they knew I'd be at the docks to watch them pack up and leave. Unless they knew that this was the closest restaurant I'd go into, or if they controlled the crowds to channel me here, or if they have some sort of semblance that predicts where I'll go to eat.
That last idea struck him as ridiculous even for his overclocked mind. Obviously, anyone with that talent would make a better living operating a restaurant themselves where the client's meals were prepared before they arrived. Also, there was the small matter of free will - hadn't Dai mentioned something about that being a thing? He was inclined to trust her on that until given evidence to the contrary. I'm just being paranoid. Calm down, enjoy the meal, get some info from this unsuspecting guy about his team's abilities that will help on the boat and maybe learn more about what Ghira has been up to, what the faunus' opinion of me is now. Nothing wrong with keeping an eye open, but focus on the task, not the threats. For once, I actually have people on my side that I can really trust to bail me out of tough spots.
If Bedlam's experience with Neopolitan had taught him anything besides the danger of illusions, it was that his brothers would not let him be captured for long. Brazen was still in town, and Dom was almost certain at this point that Sun had no reason to want him dead outright. Adam Taurus knew his share of killers, and Sun didn't fit the mold. He's just too chipper to be preparing to kill.
The other patrons left the patio, their bills paid and meals left on the table uneaten. "Looks like we cleared the patio."
Sun nodded. "Yeah, it's not like that in Vacuo."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, out in Vacuo nobody cares how many ears you have or nonsense like that. If you can survive in Vacuo without hurting anyone else, you're in. No citizenship papers, no racism, none of that. Just people getting by in a tough world." Sun's tail flicked out and grabbed a bun from a tray being taken by the waiter from an abandoned table into the kitchen, causing the man to stop, certainly preparing to scold Sun for something about etiquette. Then the waiter's gaze shifted and noted the red weapon stuck into Sun's jeans by the base of his tail and reconsidered. With a hmph of disapproval, he moved on. "I'm not ignorant to racism. I might have been a bit naive about how bad it was outside of Vacuo before I went to Vale, but I know it's there. I think it's easier for me than most. My tail is useful. Could hide it if I wanted to - never have. Lot of faunus aren't so lucky, right?"
What was there not to like about Sun? Can't I trust another faunus a little bit?
Maybe the fact that he is allied to the Belladonnas, the ones actively usurping the power of the White Fang?
So was I; that doesn't mean I still am.
He hasn't attacked yet.
Neither have I; that doesn't mean I won't.
Dominic's mind wasn't a battleground between paranoia and trust. It was more about caution against potential. This innocuous meeting with Sun, with his teammates absent-
Or so he says!
If they're around, they're distant enough for this to be private. Just between faunus.
- was a chance to cement his pathway back to Vale. Sun and Blake had turned Menagerie against him, and he needed to understand the man who'd helped bring him low.
What's your angle, Wukong?
"You're still welcome to join us in staying around in Vacuo. You're never too old to become a hero."
An ambiguous statement. That could apply just as much to a humble carpenter looking for a new life as it could to Adam Taurus.
Wait. Was that Sun's gameplan? To convert Adam Taurus into some sort of peace-loving pacifist? That's more like Ghira's style.
Of course, he was already a hero, wasn't he? But... when was the last time I struck a blow for faunus rights? Dominic began to panic as his eye tried to focus on the little 'V' icons next to the menu items. Was he losing his edge? He wanted to find a human and beat them up, just to keep his sense of self. Suddenly it felt like his entire character, his reputation and internalized credibility, was built on his ability to fight humans well.
He couldn't, though, because Sun was right here.
Watching him. Measuring his every gesture, each word, for signs of the man who decorated every wanted poster.
Oh no, his insidious plan is already working!
He summoned a fake smile, livid at the fact that the waiter and the patrons inside owed their lives to Sun's vigilant attendance. "Well, we still have to get there before I can make any commitments." I have a commitment to the faunus of Vale, my Brotherhood, my people! A commitment to undoing centuries of persecution at the hands of the human wretches who would keep us in bondage! "For now, the tropical salad and fried rice look nice. Fresh fruit is always nice."
"Yeah, Vacuo had some nice fruit but nothing as much as what's here in Mistral. Fresher than northern Vale's. I would've thought it would have lost its appeal to you after living with it for so long... but you weren't from here originally, were you? The boys mentioned you'd come here by boat when you were younger."
Good to know that he'd had the good sense to debrief his lackeys after they'd kept watch over me at the train station. His smile threatened to curl into a manic grin at the delightful memory of how his magical doubling had fooled SSSN into believing that Blake had gotten away from him. Unless they don't actually recognize me... "Yeah, there aren't as many good fruits up north, so I'll probably treasure the cuisine on offer here in my memories for a while." The food in Vale hadn't been stellar, but then, he'd been in a war camp eating rations rather than experiencing the typical fare that Blake got to enjoy with her human friends.
He didn't expect for the food situation to have improved since his victory at Beacon.
"Well, you've sold me on it. I'd feel bad making a vegetarian pay for meat, anyways." Sun waved over the waiter. The human took his time approaching, possibly still miffed about the earlier incident with the bread-snatching faunus. "We're ready to order."
"Of course, sirs. What is to your liking today?"
"I'll have the local tropical salad to start, and the fried vegetables and rice as the main." Dominic said, trying to ignore the sneer in the waiter's voice as he'd addressed them. It was becoming a chore: suppressing his growing irritation at the underlying racism at work. "A glass of milk to drink." The higher voice he had affected to accent his disguise had left his throat dry and raspy; milk would soothe that.
"Make it two, but swap the milk with a Portsi soda," Sun said, handing his menu to the waiter then turning back to confide to Dominic, "I like the bubbles on my tongue."
Dom shrugged, "I always found it to taste like cabbages, myself."
"Sage always says the same thing but I never noticed it." Sun stretched back, the sides of his shirt dropping back to let his abs bask in the afternoon glow.
Dom tensed at the sight - the weapon tucked into his pants was so easily accessible. If Sun was going to lash out, now would be the opportune moment to do so. Except I'm expecting it now, so it isn't.
Why is he really here with me? Not knowing the motivation was eating away at him.
For a free meal with a new acquaintance; he is just that sort of man. Innocent and trusting and optimistic. Earnest.
A mindgame: Sun has every reason to come after Adam Taurus, but is taking some perverse pleasure in playing along with the ruse. There's no way he doesn't know who he's having a meal with - he cannot be that oblivious. Therefore, a reveal to just him wouldn't be a setback.
Dominic wondered if he had always been this paranoid. All this thinking about the why of things was starting to give him a headache. If Sun wanted to fight me, he'd fight me. If I'd wanted to gut him, I could have done it back at the docks and if he knows it. He's not sure what I'm after. If he doesn't know for sure who I am, then I lose nothing by pretending, right?
Play the part, learn what you can about the exodus and SSSN.
Yeah. With that decided, Dom relaxed a bit. He was just a carpenter buying a guy a meal. His mind settled down and he focused on guiding the conversation to useful topics. "So, what did your team do in Vale, when you weren't being a hero? Tell me about the Vale that you saw."
Sun leaned back forward, tenting his fingers together and putting a contemplative expression on his visage, the moments stretching out as he seemed to ponder the prompt and consider his response. As if he had been waiting all this time for Dominic to become an active participant in their conversation. "A surprising amount of homework. We had to catch up on a lot of subjects - they expect huntsmen to be jacks-of-all-trades when it comes to weapons, dust theory, history, geography, politics, combat styles, machinery, and tactics. I had to catch up even more since I'd spent a while on the boat here while Neptune and the boys flew in with the other students. After that, we had extracurricular activities. Neptune and I worked with the Vale PD to get an inside look at Vale's legal system and detective skills at play. We even got badges as Junior Detectives! When we weren't doing that or prepping for the tournament, we'd shadow our friends. Once tried to go with them to a movie and spent so long arguing about which movie to see that the theatre closed before we could decide. I still say we should have seen something cool like Try Hard 2: Try Harder-er. I tried to teach Neptune and the JNPR boys how to roller-skate once... that just ended with someone running over my tail."
Sun stopped talking for a moment. Dominic wondered if he should say something. Is that what he's doing? Detective work? Is he investigating me? Despite having committed to his part, he couldn't ignore tantalizing hints that his disguise had failed. On the other hand, maybe Sun would be investigating anyone he'd met, putting the detective skills to use. After all, if they were going to be travelling together, it made sense for Sun to be interested in him. Yes, he thought, Sun must just be curious about me for that reason.
It didn't really explain why Sun had sicced his teammates on him as Blake and her team were making their getaway by train.
He missed the opportunity to say something as Sun seemed to finish taking a breath, allowing him to continue to talk. "Y'know, I never did see that movie. Velvet and Ruby teamed up to get us to see that musical cartoon instead the next weekend; Ruby bribed Jaune with a comic book and once Jaune was onboard, Pyrrha joined their ranks and we had to concede our defeat."
"You worked for the police?" Dom inserted. "There wasn't any issue with that?" I should have said 'that's cool', or something positive, like someone who isn't at odds with the law might do, he berated himself as soon as the words had left his mouth.
"Not really, no. I mean, we saw them work one case and then just got to keep the badges, which we really just used to mess around with Jaune from time to time. Of course, him and the rest of JNPR - and Ruby's dog Zwei - once convinced us that dog food would make us better at solving mysteries, so don't think the pranks were all one-sided."
Dom ignored that last bit about eating animal food, since that struck him as similar to his treatment by the SDC years prior. "They didn't care that you're...?" He waved his hand at Sun to imply faunus.
Sun purposefully misread the gesture. "A bit of an outlaw myself sometimes?" Sun did a little flex, "with these guns? They were glad to have me on the force."
They didn't find it off-putting to have you thrown into their mix while they were actively fighting my forces? "Sure it wasn't just a matter of keeping friends close and enemies closer?"
Pot, meet Kettle, at a table for two?
Dom tried not to let Sun's mischievous smile break through his assumed disguise as Sun continued. "So, overall? Vale was a nice place."
The waiter came out with their drinks, and the pair of them quenched their thirst.
Sun continued, "'was' being the operative word there, I guess. Things went to crud pretty fast after the tower fell."
Dominic tried to think of some witty retort, but anything he could say would only implicate him in the event or betray his feelings. My character being silent wouldn't be odd; what does a simple carpenter have to add to the telling of such an era-changing event?
"Tell me again, Dom: why would you rather go to Vale than Vacuo?"
Now it was Dom's time to consider his answer. He bought himself some time to think by holding the glass of milk to his lips, sipping slowly. The truth - I can take back control of our people, forget these setbacks and defeats, start winning again - wouldn't go over well. It would probably lead to a fight that one of the two wasn't going to walk away from. He tried to repeat what he had said at their first encounter at the dock days prior: "Vale needs rebuilding, and I'm a bit of a builder by craft."
Sun seemed to accept that answer. "Team RWBY, Jaune's team, everyone I met in Vale. They were all good people, all trying to build a better world. Some of them better at that than others," he coughed, the soda not having gone down right and making him sputter something that sounded like 'one-chest-R', "I just wish... I wish I could have done more. Been better, stronger, fast enough to save more." He took a few deep breaths. "I said I hadn't ever really been discriminated against in Vacuo, and even Mistral it didn't really hit me except in hindsight. But after the tower fell... in the chaos, all the students getting on ships to get back to Mistral. My team preparing to board. I saw Blake - she wasn't staying in Vale. I thought to myself that after all she'd done to fight the criminals in the preceding months, she was the only one with any remaining courage. Courage enough to continue the fight. Fight to make a difference, to save more. I wanted that. The humans on the airship told my teammates that they had room for me in the cargo hold. Like I wasn't a student, a person. I told my teammates I'd make my own way to Mistral. I followed Blake."
Scarlet and Sage's argument in the train station came back to his mind. Is that his goal? Take me down as a team-building exercise? Show his human subordinates that he isn't allied to my vision for this planet by taking me down? Dominic's arms stretched backwards to rest on the nape of his neck.
Tears formed in Sun's eyes.
"I saw people begging for passage to Mistral, to Vacuo, to anywhere other than the burning city of Vale. I saw humans get tickets. I saw faunus get kicked into the gutters as swarms of grimm continued to roam the streets, as safe zones became fewer and farther between. There was nothing I could do to make it stop. The White Fang's involvement made every faunus in Vale a target for blame - nobody cared that Cinder was human, that Torchwick was human, that the mechs and bots were Atlas technology. They were all scared. The humans and the faunus, and the grimm just kept pouring in. I promised myself that I'd help Blake fight the Fang, even if it killed me, because that's what being a huntsman, being a hero, is all about. Like a Spruce Willis movie - just one long high-octane action sequence of good versus evil. That's what I wanted my life to be. Good. I could have stayed in Vale, helping people. But I thought the greatest good was to fight evil."
To someone who hadn't lived against that kind of heartbreaking discrimination every day of his life, Sun's story would have demanded sympathy. All Dominic could muster was a jaded understanding of his compatriot's awakening to the world's harshness.
Sun traced a finger along the condensation of his soda glass.
"She wasn't going after the White Fang, though." Sun admitted. "She was running from them. She was scared, broken. Everything she'd built for herself had been taken and she couldn't bear it."
Dominic kept his mouth a thin line, stoic. He felt no pleasure at Blake's pain - that part of him was still chasing her. He was concerned only for the welfare of the faunus of Vale, hoping that his officers there had continued to provide for their people in the aftermath of victory.
"Maybe I made a difference," Sun continued. "I pushed her to rejoin the fight, built her back up. I pushed her to stop running, to let others help her after she decided to cut everyone out of her life. More people got hurt, lives ruined... but that's the past. All in the past."
"Right." Dom agreed, his hands coming back down from the base of his collar-covered neck to reach for his milk once more. Sun didn't know that he had been poised to draw Wilt from his back, and didn't need to know, either. He held the glass up as a toast, "to the future, then."
"To the future." Sun smiled. He held up his glass and Dominic saw that he'd traced the original White Fang symbol into the droplets of moisture clinging to the side. Ghira's symbol of peaceful coexistence.
They looked at the horizon facing west, the sun beginning to dip down as the day neared its end. Dominic had to wonder what the future would bring. Would he be successful in his goals? What do I expect to happen in Vale? They would be loyal to him in Vale for his victory over Beacon... unless during his time away the victory had hurt the faunus. What if, despite all they had done to win the fight, they realized after that the human society had given them something they now craved? 'Went to crud after the tower fell' he says. Are the faunus doing better? They're stronger than humans, individually. I know that. But there are a lot of humans in Vale, and they'll be set to wrath against their perceived foes. Would Atlas shoulder that blame, or would the vitriol of their leaders direct the human hatred towards the - thanks to me armed and capable - faunus minority? Would there even be any faunus left alive in Vale proper now, or would they have been pushed out into the wilderness? Would those who remained trust him if they'd heard what the combined version of him had done at Haven?
Would he still be lionized, or would he find himself demonized by the people he had brought to freedom?
Not for the first time, Dominic remembered his youthful fantasy of running away, escaping the SDC mines and making his way to Vacuo. Living on his own terms, earning his own right to life by his strength and will alone rather than the horns on his head or his sight in the darkness.
I could live in Vacuo. I could join Sun, forge a new Brotherhood there to stand against the corrupt Kingdoms that would enslave my people. If there was a human he would be predisposed to provide mercy towards, it was a Vacuan.
It's just too soon to decide. The boat could have floundered, for all he knew. Who knows how long I'll be stranded here for. He'd cross the sea when he had to, by whatever means he could, but he knew only that he could not remain in Mistral. This place was just a tombstone of regrets for him now. Better to focus on the things he could deal with in the present.
The waiter arrived with their salads. Dom couldn't help but notice how the man kept his distance as much as possible as he essentially dropped the meals down in front of them.
Akin to how the humans of Mistral tossed spoiled food to alleyway cats.
How the bosses in the mines had thrown rations into the shaft.
"Wow, thanks!" Sun said to the waiter, though the man's back was already to him, "that was really quick!" He turned back to Dom, "good service!"
As the waiter retreated off the patio, Dom replied icily, "very quick. Almost like they want us gone as fast as possible."
Sun digested that thought along with a forkful of greens. He took a look at the inside of the cafe suspiciously and whispered, "right underneath us." He turned back to Dom, forcing his cheeky grin back onto his face, "so, the eyepatch. How'd that happen?"
Dom choked on a mouthful of food, then spent a couple moments trying to figure out a way to explain it. Truths make the best lies. "It happened at work. Long time back. Not the prettiest topic, would ruin your appetite." Yeah, that seemed plausible for what he'd told Sun prior. "So what's your semblance feel like when you use it?" Dom asked, redirecting the topic of conversation before any more probing questions were posed to him. Sun's semblance was relevant to his relationships with himselves. I've seen you fight, Sun: you make copies of yourself like Blake. Unlike Blake, yours move around and do your bidding while you're left immobile, whereas she just leaves her immobile copy to take the brunt of my rage...
Dominic wanted to see if Sun could give him any insight at all about how to deal with multiplicity, because at some point it was always possible that he'd have to wrangle himselves to heel. Can Sun give me insight on dealing with that? Brazen already seemed to be piqued by the minor issue of the clothing swap. How would the trio deal with a more substantive problem, if one were to arise in the future?
What will I do if one of their paths blocks mine? Nothing could be allowed to stop his revolution's inexorable charge towards freedom. He reasoned that the part of Adam Taurus that had been split to become what was now 'Dominic' had been the purest part of the original: not distracted by obsession with Blake, by oddities that weren't relevant to the mission. Only he had the pure, undiluted vision that was what drew other faunus to fight for the cause. Once the other two were done their little side-quests, he'd have to make sure they'd fall in line with the rest of the faunus. For their own good...
He was willing to accept Blake's life as a necessary casualty: she'd made her position against him clear enough, and that would only hold the faunus in their current situation. He was even willing to accept an alliance with this Salem creature. He wasn't about to hunt down all of Blake's loved ones for spite's sake, nor would he set himself after the Menagerie militia or his own cowardly forces taken alive at Haven. He wasn't about to let Salem's plans come to fruition if they didn't match his own designs for Remnant.
But he trusted Bedlam and Brazen to have enough of his common sense to keep their wits, to be cognizant of the big picture.
"Oh, um, I guess you could sort of think of it as an out-of-body experience? My own body goes sort of numb and I just exist in the copies. I can still move, it just takes a lot more aura and concentration to pull off like that. On the other hand, I can have my copies move me while I'm concentrating on it. This one time, I had one throw the rest and myself up into the air and used it as a sort of jumping-ladder springboard system to get above a flying grimm that was attacking civilians on a boat."
"That sounds cool."
"Thanks. At least someone does." Sun rolled his eyes, "she didn't think so at all. Just slapped me in the face..."
Physical violence, hurting people for helping? Sounds like Blake.
"So all of the copies are just you?"
"Yeah. They can do simple tasks, like tackle Ilia or block Ilia's escape route or tap Ilia on the back of her shoulder and disappear so that she turns around and is all like 'who just tapped me on the shoulder? There's nobody there!' which usually gets a solid laugh from the rest of us. Doing other stuff with them leads to... well, I know my limits and work to push them higher, but leaving a clone in Port's Grimm Studies class while I go out to play frisbee with CFVY just didn't happen the way I hoped it would... focusing on keeping multiple materialized is hard when any go out of sight..."
"So they don't talk back or anything to you?"
Sun blinked. "No. No, they're just hollow extensions of my aura."
"They never get their own ideas?" Dom asked. "You can't talk to them about stuff?"
"No, it's like just a part of my body. It's like you're asking me if my arm ever just decides to not do what my brain tells it to do, or if I take advice from my toes on which shirt from Neptune's closet to wear."
Dominic slouched a bit. So much for the hope of a kindred split soul. He cheered up immediately, of course. If there's not really anyone who can give me some tips and pointers on this whole magic division business, that just makes me all the more unique and powerful. Special. He rubbed his middle finger, appreciating the gift of the Relic.
The waiter arrived with their main course.
Sun lifted a forkfull of fried rice to his mouth. "Of course, my fanclub in Vale had some other ideas about how to make use of Via Sun."
"Oh?" Dom said, his own fork stopping just shy of his mouth. He didn't bother asking why the man opposite him had named his semblance that. The memory of naming his own semblance - or, more appropriately, having Blake name it for him after an unsolicited astro-optics lesson - came flowing up from the back of his mind. A reflection of light when things are darkest; in the faunus' time of hardship, I will light the way to a new day. His memories went back further. The mines of Atlas. The darkness, the cold. A mole faunus, telling the younger, terrified Adam the myths of their people. Of a time when faunus enjoyed prosperity and freedom. When they basked in the light of day in a world that was theirs.
I will bring us to a new day for the faunus, carrying us through this bleak human oppression back to the glory of our birthright.
Sun chewed for a bit. Swallowing, he continued, "in the stands you could see some of them waving big posters of me, chanting, 'Via Sun, four times fun.'"
"Can you make more than four?"
"I've been trying, but four is pretty draining as it is," Sun answered. "So the boys were getting sort of jealous of my cheer squad, but then we fought on a battlefield that was half water and then Scarlet and Sage went after Neptune instead of me; nearly cost us the match with his little phobia. After that fight we..." Sun kept talking, filling the remainder of the meal with inane chatter about his thoughts on the Vytal Festival's food stalls.
Sun's fangirls' cheer stuck in Dom's ear. By the time they parted ways - Sun going higher into the city, Dom descending - he found himself actually looking forward to bouncing some of these new ideas off of Brazen. I can plan for a way to keep myselves in line later. For now, we're all working cohesively. Their impending interaction with Neopolitan would, if he played his cards properly, be a memorable experiment on a variety of levels. Hopefully, Dom's offer of a new thesis for Brazen to test to further the understanding of their semblance would placate his clone's scorn for his part in Bedlam's clothing appropriation.
Via Sun, four times fun.
Via Sun, four times fun.
He might not be able to pull off four, or even three at the moment... but he could certainly manage two. Two was a number primed with possibility.
He took a winding path - so that he was fully confident that he had not been followed by his legion of foes, not because he was still anxious about how to handle himself. Dom eventually made it back to the warehouse. The windows, as most of the other warehouses on the street, were dark. Unlike the others, the TorchQuik warehouse was in urgent need of repairs. Someone broke a window up top, for instance. It felt like months ago - rather than mere days - that the pair of them had burst in to rescue their wayward clone. He walked in and found himself waiting in the middle of the space, huddled up in one of the spare blankets he'd acquired to keep the captive warmer, Brazen's face illuminated by his identical scroll.
"Don't glare intimidatingly at me like that, I invented that glare!" Dominic protested as Brazen's face fell into Adam Taurus' patent-pending scowl. Dominic sat down on the floor in front of where Brazen sat. "By now you're aware that Bedlam borrowed some of your clothes? Your text earlier seemed a bit miffed about not being told before now, but they're just clothes. Really, I'm the only one who needs to maintain our established look - and that's only because it is something our people in Vale will identify me with." My particular style of fashion, my particular style of leadership.
"The text... we'll come back to that. The clothes thing is the more pressing matter for now." Bedlam said, lying back and looking up at the ceiling. He let his scroll lie screen-down on his chest. "Nobody's fault but my own, really. I should have told you two immediately about it, but with the flurry of startling revelations it just sort of lost itself. I lost track of it."
Dominic's expression morphed from a defensive frown to confused concern. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm not upset about losing that old raggedy shirt, I'm pissed about what was in them."
"Your wallet was on the desk."
"And the fucking Seer was. In. The. Pocket."
Neurons fired in his brain and the pieces fit together. As he registered what Brazen had done, his face resumed its frown - now with more anger than previously. "You brought Salem's spy monster here?" Dominic sprung back up onto his feet. "Where we were talking?"
"It was dehydrated," Brazen defended sheepishly, putting his forearm over his eye so that he couldn't meet Dom's incensed gaze. "I fetched it after spotting Cinder on the elevators, and-"
Dominic cut him off. "How much did it overhear?" Dominic tried to remember what they'd talked about between when Brazen had spotted Cinder and Bedlam's departure. "What if she knows?"
"Yeah, that's what I've been mulling over since I got back." Brazen said. "I told Salem that Cinder lives, so she knows that much for sure. Beyond that, it's not really clear how alive - if Grimm are alive at all - the Seer is while it is flat. Salem said it had to be hydrated to function for communication? Unless Bedlam is just talking out loud about our situation to himself while he chases Blake, I doubt it heard much from where I stashed it in the room. This building might be a dilapidated shack, but at least the walls and doors are solid. So the secret should still be safe."
Dominic had to acquiesce on the matter of the building's robust construction, at least. "Yes, probably to keep their test subjects contained. So now what do we do? Can we warn Bedlam about the Seer?"
Brazen nodded. "I should probably send him a message with Neo's scroll..." He pulled a second scroll out of the blanket draped over him. "Which is a nice lead-in to the issue of my earlier text..." He gestured behind him.
Dominic looked, and then was forced to consider whether his ability to be angry had an actual limit. There had to be one, right? How much more anger could his simple mortal frame contain? He thought he had been angry before, but now his body began to shake with fury.
Coldly, he managed to ask his twin a question as politely as he was able. "Brazen, where is your captive?" Despite being spoken through gritted teeth, Brazen seemed to understand the gist of it.
"Out and about." He replied nonchalantly. "Dominic, where is my only means of communicating with Salem at a distance?"
"Hey, you already admitted it was your fault we didn't know about that!" Dominic started. "Besides, she might already know everything now, so-"
"Out and about, you say?" Brazen chirped, cutting off Dominic's developing tirade; as if the two issues were somehow comparably problematic situations. A wayward grimm was a minor inconvenience that would be solved once Bedlam returned from his little jaunt after Blake. A murderous mercenary human girl on the loose - who knew where they slept - was an immediate threat. "We don't sleep that much anymore, so it isn't that big a deal." Brazen added, showing off that their thought-processes were still synced.
Arguing with himself promised to be a losing battle. The best solution was to just get out of dodge, the two of them, and resume operations once they were safe again. Vale would be a solid base to retreat to. "We should just get to Vale, both of us. You help me rebuild the Fang, and do what I did before: send a messenger in our place to talk to Salem."
"Assuming she'd even allow that; you don't think she'd feel slighted if we sent her a messenger instead of appearing before her in person, now that she's revealed herself to us?"
"Yeah, because putting the leader of the organization at risk is a smart play for us. She'd see it as the smart move. Come with me to Vale."
"No." Brazen began typing into the scroll. "'Bedlam: Neo has her scroll back. Grimm in your pocket.' How's that sound?"
"I think you know it sounds as good to me as it does to you." Dominic crossed his arms and began pacing around where Brazen lay in a wobbly, circular path. [So he's up north with a monster magnet chasing a team of huntresses that are trained to hunt grimm and are carrying a second monster magnet.]
"...sure he'll manage." Brazen sat up and made an exaggerated sigh, his worried face illuminated by the light of the scrolls in each of his hands. He dropped them onto his legs. [Maybe you're right about going to Vale, but if we can use these things to talk using the connection, I honestly believe it's better to cover more ground. Spreading out, hitting more bases. We have the advantage here; we can communicate while the rest of the world is deaf.]
Except for Salem, with her monsters, they both understood.
Dom walked over and looked into the captivity room. It still reeked of her. His scroll buzzed and he looked at the incoming text, which was just Brazen's aforementioned text-warning to Bedlam. At least we won't have to worry about Bedlam accidentally calling Neo. "So what happened to the plan? I thought we were going to release her together."
Brazen began to blush a little. "We came to an agreement..." He paused, but Dominic just looked at him sternly. That wasn't explanation enough! "She made a devious little escape attempt when I went in to check on her, after you left. She's feeling better, her semblance is up and running again-"
"Comforting." Not!
"-So I figured rather than give her time to escape on her own, I just free her and get a bit of gratitude. She saw it as a power move-"
"Not the best one." But still better than just freeing her with no strings attached. "How do you know she's not hiding here right now?"
"-Then we fucked and went out to eat and buy untattered clothes together, after I discovered Bedlam's little theft."
"Wait, what?"
"Went to a little sandwich shop, then visited a very... secluded store that actually catered to Huntsmen, among other types of folks."
"You fucked?" Dominic was aware that Brazen's face was beet-red in the dim light still cast from the active scrolls, but couldn't tell if it was with shame or arousal at the memory. "A human? Right after releasing her?"
A small part of his brain complained, too. Without me?
"Was trying to figure out how to test my semblance's evolution anyways today. She kissed me, one thing led to another, now we're partners in hunting down Cinder or something..." Brazen trailed off, muttering about maybe looking up some video lectures on semblance theory in the local network.
Dominic was not impressed. "Did you even think about our reputation, our image? We're not fighting to befriend humans, like Sun and Blake and Ghira are! Humans will serve the faunus! She's not our partner, she's our pet at best! She was our captive! Hell, we were hers! Plus, on top of that, now we get to worry about how your little lewd lunatic could be anywhere, but that's fine because at least you got your cherry popped? We need her on a leash! A short leash! Don't we have enough to deal with right now?"
"Do you have so little faith in yourself?" Brazen responded, far too calm for the calamity he'd unleashed. "I didn't let her go without some assurances. I've still got her scroll, and let's be honest: whatever Moonbright is, is something she enjoyed. I think she likes me."
Still basking in the afterglow, the selfish jerk. He hadn't felt his aura change, hadn't detected his semblance being used, but maybe he had to focus on it more to sense that sort of thing at a distance. I wonder if Bedlam can sense our use of semblance wherever he is?
"I... no, it's just... argh. Maybe we can at least get her to illusion herself up some horns or hooves later? I just know this is all going to come back to haunt me. In fact," he took out his own scroll and began typing, "I'm setting a reminder on the calendar application that this is the day I'll have to remind you about when I say 'I told you so' in the future."
Under his breath, Brazen muttered something that sounded distinctly like "I'm gonna delete that," then, more loudly, replied, "not going to happen. Our efforts are complimentary, and she doesn't mind the horns." Brazen stood up and let the blanket fall away. "So what do you think of the clothes, at least? Neo approved this new outfit." He did a slow turnabout, showing off the new pants and vest. Dark, with red and white highlights and zippered pockets. The collar of the vest came up to his cheekbones, and a heavy hood covered his hair and horns.
Brazen pulled down the goggles he had 'found', and Dominic was impressed. Even he had a hard time spotting anything to give away the identity of the wanted terrorist standing before him. Even more, Dominic couldn't help but find the entire outfit rather striking. Dammit, now I really feel like I missed out today. His only consolation was that his outfit had been awesome all along.
"Yeah, that looks good. At least you managed to get dressed." Dominic sat down on the floor. "Well, if that's all the stuff you had to unload on me, I guess now I get my turn to tell you my bad news."
Brazen breathed in sharply. "Please tell me it's not worse than losing the seer."
"Not worse than letting Neo run free," Dominic lashed out. He paused to compose himself and continued, "I was in the faunus district, looking up my civilian contacts down there. Guess what I found?"
"Nothing? Nobody?"
Dominic felt the annoyed grimace he'd been sporting for most of the conversation replaced with a blank, surprised stare at that response. "How'd you know?"
"The girl at the sex shop was upset that her faunus coworker had skipped town and the boss had gone down to protest the departure of the Ghira's group at the docks."
"Oh," Dominic said, the zest of his big reveal undermined. "Well, I was at the docks and saw them off after getting the camera back from RWBY's hideout. I think most, if not all, of our forces captured at Haven are now at sea on their way to Menagerie." Traitors, cowards. When I reform the Fang stronger than ever before, they'll see how right I am. "Hung out with Sun for a bit, too. Figured I may as well, since he's one of the few remaining non-hostile faunus here - that don't share my face - that I can chat with until that ship to Vacuo shows up. Hoping to learn everything from him about how him and Blake managed to foil the Haven business. Lichen and Salt stayed, too. Apparently - get this - she wants to become a huntress when she comes of age, wants to get educated at Haven. Really makes me pissed we couldn't blow that eyesore out of the skyline. Maybe we should take another shot at-" Dominic sputtered, "Sex shop?"
"You hung out with Sun, alone, and didn't shank him?" Brazen made a shooing motion with one hand and said, "and you are here telling me about things you'll tell me 'I told you so' for down the line?"
"Sex shop?"
Brazen rolled his eyes. "Neo's idea, since really: what do I know about shopping? I was not initially thrilled to see where she had led me, but-"
"Led you?" I wanted a leash on her, not the other way around, dumbass-self! Dominic was exasperated with what hisself was telling him. He should have waited, we should have dealt with her together, like we planned.
"- It turned out to be a smart idea: private, good quality stuff, I could go on. I also picked up some other useful supplies." He gestured to a pile of boxes on the desk. "Fireproof handcuffs, should help me out with Cinder if she puts up a fight. Rope and stuff, too." He got up and walked over to the stash, where he picked up one of the boxes. He walked back over and tossed the box to Dom, then shone his scroll to light up the box so that it was slightly more legible to his singular eye. "This one, though, I'd like your opinion on right away."
A package of, if the image on the box was any indication, flaming handcuffs? AsbestOz? He knew that name... a small mining concern that had avoided being swallowed up by the SDC's coercive efforts towards achieving a monopoly.
"The name of the brand." Brazen said as he watched Dom's face closely. "Ring any bells?"
"A human mining company, smaller than Schnee, Mistral-based? Never really made a big deal of itself, stayed off the Fang's radar. Never got into energy propellant, had some other product and didn't abuse the faunus. At least, didn't abuse them as much as others."
"Yes, that, but I'm talking about a more recent reason to take note of the name..." he held out his middle finger, and Dom was reminded of a vending machine in a dark hallway.
People Like Grapes.
[DeliciOz? You think this has ties to the soul parasite wizard Hazel warned you about?]
Brazen nodded. "Who knows how long he has been alive, how many souls he's latched onto for a ride. By now it wouldn't be impossible for him to have gotten into every part of human society. It makes me wonder..."
Dominic's mind raced along the same path of dread and came to the same destination his duplicate had hours earlier: did he plan for us to find the Relic of Choice? Am I an unwitting pawn? Is this all some grand conspiracy orchestrated by a single being over who-knows-how-many lifetimes?
He felt like he'd already spent too much time being paranoid today, wondering how much his actions were predetermined and who may or may not already be three steps ahead of him. [No, it can't be. There's no way he could know that we'd go down that hallway. No way he'd know we'd be thirsty, that we'd choose that beverage, press those buttons. If it was what Cinder was looking for, why didn't she see the vending machine? He wouldn't have let his enemy get his most heavily defended treasure on purpose.]
That wouldn't make sense.
Of course, if he knew the tower would fall, if he knew that Cinder and Salem would continue looking for the Relic, the best option would have been to do what Adam was currently doing with the Relic from Mistral's academy. Ensure that it was relocated to somewhere safe.
[Are we the safer option?] Brazen pulled back his hood and massaged the scalp at the base of his horns nervously. [I know what you're thinking, believe me I know, but it just seems odd.]
In unison they tried to calm themself down together. "It's just a coincidence. A believable coincidence that we're too on edge to see for the innocuous thing that it is. Oz can't be that uncommon a name - it's two letters. It's not like we're seeing the name Belladonna everywhere or something a bit more noticeable than that. If we go down this route, we'll start thinking that everything measured in ounces is somehow part of a plot to use us as a vessel."
They stopped speaking for a moment, the oddness of speaking in stereo still uncanny.
The metric system does have obvious advantages for measurement. I always said that.
"Worst case: so what if the wizard owns another human company, he probably had no real control over it for generations. So what if Salem controls the grimm and talks through them. We've still got our own will. We're not pawns to their schemes. We're free faunus, beholden to none."
As Dom nodded his agreement to what they had just said, he added, "so, what will we do about Neo? What was your plan?"
"Well, she'll have to meet me here eventually for her scroll." He looked over at the door, then up at moon-lit clouds through the broken window. "Maybe a bit late to expect her today, though."
"I suppose a warm welcome will be in order." Dom grinned. His brother may have let the physical sensuality of the petite human distract him from ensuring a correct imbalance of power, but it was something they could remedy. More importantly, it was something he would enjoy remedying. If Neopolitan was going to be useful to either of him, Dominic knew that he couldn't rely on something as ephemeral as love to guide the human's obedience. It might be best to be both loved and feared - it had certainly carried him upwards through the original White Fang - but, if he had to pick one, fear was the better choice. When his people had betrayed him, they hadn't done so because they had stopped loving his cause. They had simply stopped fearing a future where humanity was not brought to heel. When his lieutenants had turned against him in his throne room, he was certain that they would have turned him over to Ghira with gladness - we want what is best for you, Adam. They had hesitated. They must have still loved him, but had stopped fearing him after seeing him defeated by Blake at Haven.
I didn't hesitate. I knew what would happen if they took me down, and despite my love for them, I still fear where Ghira's path for the faunus leads more.
Fear was always stronger.
NEOPOLITAN
Friday Evening
She flipped the switch for the light, tossed her bags onto the motel bed, and did a slow twirl to take in the full view of the room. Mysterious bleached stains on the carpet. The smell of industrial solvent. She felt reasonably secure - a rare thing for her to feel, for the better part of a year, now. She had even let Hush fall to the floor as she joined her bags on the bed and just lay there to look up at the ceiling light.
She'd initially wanted to go straight back to the warehouse. She'd wanted to just tail Adam to see what he was getting up to. But what she'd wanted wasn't always the smartest thing to do, so she needed to get away and spend some time to think her next steps through properly. Her next thought had been to use Roman's stories about his time in Mistral to track down Malachite and her gang, but there was the nagging doubt about what sort of reception she could expect from a group her and Roman had foiled years ago. Sure, the Mistral and Vale gangs were better off now than they had been, but that wasn't thanks to Neo or Roman. The Malachite twins in Vale were friendly, but maybe that was just a holdover from their training. Maybe they'd just been ingratiating themselves with her so that they could keep an eye on what Neo and Roman were up to.
If she was going to go face the twin's mom and the gang, she wanted to be in top form. Even without her scroll, she could tell she was still recovering her aura and her strength. So while Adam seemed to believe she would get right back to work hunting for Cinder, it hadn't been her best day. At least she was liberated now. Sort of. Liberated: not by herself, but by Adam. She wasn't completely free so long as Adam still held her scroll. Just like how he'd held me as he... the memories of what she had done with him broke through to the forefront of her mind. The adrenaline, the feel of his skin against her own, the power and desire.
She needed a warm bath. Or she needed a cold shower. I can't just let myself be dragged in by Adam's personal magnetism like one of his White Fang goons. No matter how she may or may not feel about Adam, she had to resist her own urges in order to see her mission through to the end. She had to get revenge on Cinder. Adam was just a means to that end for her. I have to make him trust me. I have to make him work for me, just like the White Fang worked for Roman. It was poetic justice, Neo thought: Roman's protegee using the faunus to take down Cinder, just like how Cinder had used Roman and the faunus to decimate Vale. The thought of Cinder's corpse crumpling down to the ground, blood gushing from wounds inflicted by Hush, got Neo's blood racing. She sprung up off the bed and found a delightful bathtub, along with a nice mirror and counter top sink, composing the bathroom ensuite. Taking Adam's virginity was a good start, but I can't leave things to chance. I'll have to put everything into making sure he's on my side - not Cinder's. Even if Adam was working for Cinder now, that didn't mean that his loyalty couldn't be persuaded to shift. If he thinks what we did was all I have to offer, he'll see how wrong he is soon enough. I'll have him wrapped around my pinky. She stared at her pinky finger and was suddenly reminded of how dreadful a shape she was in. The nail was jagged, rough from her stint of roughing it across Anima to get to the city. The rest of her body wasn't any better. She'd meant to clean up upon reaching the city, but spotting Adam had pushed that back. Then she got captured, setting back self-maintenance even further. Time to fix that! After starting the tap to fill the basin with steaming water, she grabbed the kit she'd gotten from Toys 'N Us that was full of necessary supplies: aside from makeup, it also contained a razor and clippers, body oil, shampoos and conditioners, an emery file, nail polish and remover, and floral-scented body wash. She sat it down by the bath and sunk her body in, enjoying the ripples of the cascade of water. It was nice to just sit in the bathtub and enjoy as it filled up. All she wanted was to lose track of time for a while; just a moment of blissful existence to relax before getting back to her bloody business.
Her hands trailed up and down the sides of her body until they brushed against alpaca wool and stainless steel. Oh, right. She took a deep breath and gave a firm tug; tossing the tail over the side of the tub to fall onto the kit. No wonder the motel clerk was giving me a weird look.
With careful, delicate precision, she applied nailpolish to her fingers. Pink, brown, white, pink, brown, white, each nail a different colour until each pinkie was pink and her signature style was back. Not that anyone ever really saw her nails, since she tended to wear gloves in public - they gave better grip on her weapon - but she would know and that was important. Self-confidence. In the bathroom mirror her eyes strayed from her drying nails to the floor where her old clothes lay scattered about. She thought about how each piece and the memories of Roman it held for her; how each necklace was a trophy of success on their climb to the top. Feeling alone without him, she imagined the face looking back at her in the mirror was Roman's rather than her own. His straight-pressed locks, his green eyes, his smile that always convinced her things were right. Even when they weren't.
"Well at least you finally made it out of Vale." Her memory of Torchwick's snarky tone filled her mind, if not her ears. "What're you doing in this dump, Neo?"
Planning out my next steps. She wasn't really sure what those were going to be. I think I don't have any choice but to work with Adam to find and take down Cinder.
"Don't think you can do that on your own?"
It was possible. Certainly she could just go with her original plan of leading a one-woman vendetta against Cinder. When she'd set out from the smoking ruins of Vale, that had been the general idea. Alternatively, she now had options that she hadn't imagined possible before. Further, she found herself in unfamiliar territory - Cinder's old stomping grounds, if the information she'd paid Junior for had any touch of truth. From what she'd seen of the city so far, she could easily imagine the bitch growing up in a place like this.
"You want faunus allies?" Roman shook his head disparagingly. "And here I thought I taught you better than that. I never even learned any of their names - just called them all Patrick or something. Only partially to make sure they hated humans - mostly for my own distaste for them."
Not allies, just... helpers. She couldn't really categorize Adam right now. He might call her partner, and they might act like lovers, but there was still a gulf of distrust between them like the gap between their heights.
"He is a filthy animal, not really the most reliable sort..."
What other options do I have? She plumbed the depths of her recollections of Roman rambling about his childhood, his youth, spent in Mistral. Complaints about his family, the family business, the corruption... then straight to his exodus expedited with his dealings with the Spyders, his travels across the world that created a synchronicity of their first meeting.
"There's other options, better options." Roman insisted as she pulled a brush out of her purse and began stroking it into her coloured locks in an effort to get it back into a state of decency. "What about the authorities? They posted a bounty on her so you know they're after her, too."
Sure, the authorities want to catch Cinder, but they'll also hunt me for my own past record of run-ins with the law. Her eyes softened. Not that I blame you for the life we had together, what we had to do to have some fun.
"You could hide your identity with your semblance."
The thought had crossed her mind. That won't work forever - eventually I'll have to sleep, and I can't maintain my illusions while I'm unconscious. Or when my aura is depleted. One accident and she'd be liable to find herself surrounded by cops, helpless to resist arrest. Roman wasn't still around to return the favour of bailing her out of a cell.
I've been kept captive enough this past week to last me a few lifetimes, thanks. Blurry memories of the ceiling in the TorchQuik testing room, the lingering pangs of fear and apprehension from not knowing Adam's intentions for her. If the authorities found her and realized her connection to Cinder, linked her to the fall of Vale, everything she'd endured at Adam's hands would seem like a happy vacation. She scoffed at the thought that Adam was anything more than a demeaning necessity of her mission.
He's a stupid, savage animal, with his ruffled hair! Besides its superficial similarity to Roman's red headed hue, there was nothing comforting about seeing the faunus. Unstyled and mussed, the man's entire aura suggested how accustomed the creature was to living primatively; completely ignorant of life's finer pleasures that Roman had sought out for the pair of them in Vale.
"Cigars, fine whisky, and the lien to pay for more than we could ever need. The White Fang taught Adam to respect none of those; they probably see them as too 'human' to be considered valuable."
At least he fed me and was fun. Adam and Roman were similar in that key regard... even if they differed in how they managed to entertain her.
"Well, if the authorities aren't on the table, there's still other people who want Cinder taken down."
Yes, he was right. She's not been the first interested person to approach Junior for information on Cinder. The partner of Beacon's champion student, Pyrrha Nikos, had gotten to Junior first. With his teammates backing him up, and not being delayed by the hope that their loved one might turn up at a pre-arranged safehouse as Neo had been, they had been first to barrage the broker the litany of questions that had led Neo to Mistral.
"Nikos' team would be stronger allies than Taurus; they did make it to the finals round of the tournament."
Problem with that is getting them excised from the veritable cluster of enemies that comprise team RWBY. It was despicable how many friends Jaune and Ruby had, despite their individual weakness. How did those children manage to get so many friends while I'm not even able to keep a single one? She couldn't even manage to keep her imaginary friends!
The answer was clear to her. The reason why Jaune and Ruby had so many friends was because they were normal. Her muteness had always held her back, kept her down and alone. Even her parents had scorned her. She was an invalid, too troublesome to bother befriending. Unmatched eyes for an unmatchable girl.
Adam's eyes were the same, but he had been able to hide those with a mask. Her mind strayed to wondering how many people had seen his eyes like she had.
Moronic faunus, with his piercing blue eye and lifetime of scars! Sure, both he and Roman had troubled pasts that had indelibly led to lives on society's outskirts, but Roman had never cared for causes.
"Causes get you killed." Mouthed Roman-in-the-mirror. "I was always just in it for myself - and you, of course, my dear. Adam's horns belie his herd animal tendencies. He's always been part of a larger group. It's the simple nature of the beast."
Like the RWBY girls. Neo hated them so much. Just like the cliques at school, excluding her. Forcing her to admit her deformity made her weak.
Maybe I could have allies, too, if I hide my scars like Adam does. But her semblance couldn't shroud her silence.
"Of course, now that Adam has been separated from his herd, he yearns for allies. He would be easy to twist to your will in his present state." Roman nodded, sagely and wise with his years of experience. "Plus, he clearly had a positive reaction to your advances, which makes everything easier there. Even so, there are still other options to consider."
She finished brushing her hair and lay the comb down by the sink.
"You could always just hire some muscle. They'd be a lot easier to deal with than Adam. As much as he's wounded presently, he's still a rabid creature at heart." The words Neo imagined Roman would say if he were here, still alive, resonated with her. Adam had seemed to be unstable: at times doting on her, feeding her, while at other times he seemed to despise her. There was never any rhyme or reason to his mood swings; not that, bound as she had been, she would be capable of alleviating whatever had precipitated the change.
No, I can't hire mercenaries. I have so little lien to my name as it is, and with the Kingdom in disarray, mercenaries will set their own rates. I'd have to play the part of a mercenary myself just to afford that sort of thing. With my luck, I'd be found out as having ties to Cinder and taken in for a bounty myself. Adam is strong enough to help, seems to be committed to the same goal so he won't ditch when the fight breaks out (even if he fights against me to keep Cinder alive, at least I know he'll be there for the whole scene), and working the Adam-angle has already rewarded me. Thanks to him, I have confirmation that she was still in the city this week!
"Unless he told you that just to string you along."
The thought upset her, and she turned away from the mirror. Adam wouldn't have lied to her, would he? Not about that. He'd offered that info so willingly, seemed so happy to give it to her.
Now she wasn't sure.
No, having the faunus work for my cause here is what real-Roman would have done in my situation. All I have to do to get Adam to work for me like they worked for Roman would be to offer him a little bit of utility. Neo was confident that she could do that for Adam, by some means or another. She let her hand run down her floral-scented and smooth stomach, tickling at her navel. I might not be able to make grandiose speeches like you did, but there are other ways to make promises.
It would be simple enough to keep Adam blinded by lust, even if she couldn't conceal her actions from him like she did from most with her semblance.
Foolish boy, thinks he's so sexy and strong, but he's wrong! She almost had to laugh: there was no way Adam, who she had just today cleansed of his virginity, could best her at seduction. There was no chance of her craving his touch, longing for his embrace like some besotted school girl. I never did confirm what his semblance did - it was probably just a fluke because of how sick I was. That's what I get for roughing it in the woods! She could be anyone her partner wanted, anyone he desired; her semblance gave her the edge!
Neo realized that her mirror-bound illusion had shifted from depicting beloved Roman, her only friend in her harsh life, into the (barely cosmetically similar!) image of Adam Taurus. Shocked at how her mind had lost focus, she dismissed the construction. The glittering pieces fell off the mirror, breaking apart into nothingness. She took a deep breath and wondered what Adam was doing.
Is he thinking about me?
She suppressed the errant thought about her new 'partner'; she'd had enough of those thoughts while wallowing within the warm water in the tub. She had thought that getting to Mistral would mark a notable step forward in her quest, but she felt like she hadn't really gained much. Maybe Adam didn't know where Cinder was, maybe he did - maybe he was working for Cinder, maybe he was looking for her. Had everything he had told her so far been honest? Why can't things just be simple and nice for me? Why is life always a struggle? Was it really too much to ask to be comfortable, to be happy, despite it all? Instead, here she was, consorting with society's fringe, worried about being seized in her sleep. At the very least, allying with Adam would allay her concerns about getting arrested while she slept a little. It wasn't like he could turn her in without getting caught himself!
No, if he decides I'm not useful he'll just kill me.
With that comforting thought prominent, she tried to plot out some manner of strategy for her next steps; Roman would prioritize that if he was in her position. With no reasonable alternatives, she would commit to partnering with Adam. However, it would be foolish to think that she could just go back to the warehouse expecting Adam to welcome her with open arms, a tasty midnight burger with onion rings, and her scroll. Barbarian, he'd probably make her work just to get back what he'd taken from her. What will he demand of me?
She summoned a little miniature Torchwick on the counter top and took a moment for a melancholy smile at how it strutted around the sink, twirling its little cane. The differences between Adam and Roman were obvious to anyone who'd met them. A difference of style, a difference of race, a difference of goals, a difference of, well, EVERYTHING! They weren't similar beyond a slight physical resemblance: tall, red hair, outlaw.
"Neo, this is a fine mess you're in," Torchwick mouthed at her, making her want even more for her scroll with recordings of him talking. She just wanted to hear his voice again right now. Even if it was just him chattering to one of Junior's men while she had candidly taped him from behind an illusion. Even if it had nothing to do with solving her current problems, she knew just hearing his voice would guide her along. Just like it always had.
She squinted at miniature Torchwick. Is that right? His nose seemed off. Maybe it was the steam-diffracted light of the cheap motel bathroom, maybe it was just because she wasn't used to being taller than him. Or, she began to suspect as her fears bubbled up from within, I've already forgotten that about him. I've already started to forget his face. Her chest began to heave as her breaths quickened into hyperventilation.
I need my scroll.
I need my pictures, my videos, my recordings!
She couldn't let his memory fade from her mind! Not until he was avenged, at the earliest! Preferably never. He'd been her only real flesh-and-blood friend! She felt terrible - she was being a terrible friend, forgetting how straight and narrow his nose had been. No wonder I only managed to have one friend in my entire life. I'm so bad at it, I don't deserve friends, a freak like me deserves to die in a gutter, alone.
If it hadn't been for Roman, even her semblance wouldn't have been much use to her. Only he had seen how much of a boon it could be; only he had had the vision and intelligence to guide her, to turn her into a true criminal. All she had imagined with her semblance was phantasmal friends for herself; mute, like her. Hollow, like her.
I'd be happy to let Adam fill me up, her bathwater-brain piped up as she spiralled down into a well of darker emotions. Adam can be a friend in ways that Torchwick never wanted to be, in ways that Junior's muscleheads that she'd tried dating were incapable of being. Tall, strong, satisfying...
"You can't replace me with some dirty faunus, Neo," Miniature Torchwick reprimanded her from the counter. "My nose is fine, you're just not used to being taller than me, is all it is." She wished she could actually hear his voice, but at least she could still remember what it sounded like. His beautiful, melodic voice that made everything better. She needed that vision and intelligence that had guided her up out of the prison of her prior life.
Adam didn't have vision. With one eye branded by the mining company, he barely had sight. She scoffed at the thought of how long it seemed to take him to read - be it restaurant menus or her imagined lines of floating text. Communicating with him was going to be a chore, made harder by the fact that letting him know she couldn't speak seemed like a premise barely short of suicidal.
Mini-Torchwick spoke to her fear. "It's true: just like how a farmer kills weak livestock, that's how he'll view humans. He wants humans to be slaves to faunus, 'serve the faunus'; he'll have no use for the handicapped. In the wild, herd animals leave those who can't keep up behind to be picked off by wolves, knowing that the weak were holding them back. Never thinking that they could be capable in their own rights in different ways, like you are."
Adam didn't have intelligence. He was an uneducated, boorish faunus loaf. Although not being able to read with his one eye might be the root cause of that, not his race. At least his stupidity had kept him from perceiving her handicap so far, kept him from having more reason to discard her.
Adam DID have her scroll, and therein lay the source of her apprehension. To get it back, she'd have to return to him. The motel bathtub was replete from her rigorous attempts to get the recollection of her time with Adam off and out of her. Little Torchwick gazed up at her from where he was soundlessly rapping his cane against the sink faucet, clearly disapproving of how she had sullied herself by laying with that beast. That inhuman brute. Silently castigating her for how she had relished relieving Adam of his chastity. How she had clung to his obsidian horns, hands gripping tightly as she wrapped her legs around his-
Nope. Those were bathwater thoughts, and bath-time was now over. Now it was strategy time.
Any strategy she came up with had to ensure that she got that scroll. He'd mentioned his interest in using the Spyders network to help find Cinder – which even Neo had to admit was a good idea. If she was going to meet with Malachite, it wasn't like she could use charades to communicate to the crimelady. With intercontinental communication at a standstill, the most valuable bargaining chip she had to get into Malachite's good graces was on her scroll: pictures of the woman's twin daughters in Vale, alive and well after the Fall of Beacon. Lacking the lien to pay for hired muscle (all she had was her clothes, weapon, and what Adam had provided her with), proof of amiable relations with relatives would hopefully be enough to not be scrutinized by the woman as a source of potential income herself. Malachite knew things – everything, to hear her tell it – which made her a threat as much as a resource. So she needed a reason to not be handed over to the cops, long enough to get some info on Cinder's whereabouts. Neo began gathering her cosmetics from around the room into their original carry kit. The container then got shoved into her purse, where it sat atop a couple of condoms and other mementos she kept in there... plus some candy wrappers and other garbage, because her purse was a mess.
How would Adam figure into her plans to make contact with Malachite? It would probably be wise to keep as much from him as possible, informing him only of what she needed him to know for him to suit her purposes. Just enough to keep him satisfied that she was working for him, being an asset to his plans. All she needed him for was his help in subduing Cinder. Just because I'm pretty confident I outclassed Nikos doesn't mean I'm dumb enough to discard potential tools to make it a one-sided fight. After all the effort she'd expended on this trip, she wanted to make the climax a sure thing. Then maybe they could torture some information out of her broken body - she didn't need limbs to tell them who she worked for – before killing her to settle her debt to Roman's memory. Killing Cinder would likely upset Adam if she didn't do it correctly; even if she did, their partnership would find little reason to continue afterwards. She'd just be a loose end to him, he'd be a threat to her. It all seemed to lead to an inevitable double-cross scenario, so she'd have to plan for that, too.
Do I plan to have a plan to keep him from trying to kill me, or do I just make sure I get the first shot in?
Getting the first shot in on Taurus hadn't worked out so well for her last time.
"You'll just have to make it count for more this time, Neo. No holding back: make sure you take him down for good with the first shot." Miniature Roman advised her. It was solid advice. She had to play to her strengths: her ability to get in a sneak attack by leveraging her semblance or her feminine wiles. Otherwise she'd be opening herself up to Adam's strengths: his faunus' senses making him immune to her semblance's finer elements, his rippling abs, his corded, muscular arms that would wrap around my throat and force me to...
"Neo!" Miniature Roman waved at her to bring her attention back to the present.
Alright, so I go back to the warehouse, as Adam told me to. Adam won't just hand over the scroll, especially not after having had a taste of her earlier. No, he'd probably come up with some excuse to get her stripped down again; make her cold and bare in front of him on the concrete floor as a power play. "Why not show me how you look in your new clothes, Neo?" He would ask if she wore her old clothes. "I liked your old outfit more, I think, Neo." He would state if she showed up in her new garments. Well, she could outsmart the stupid faunus there. Her semblance would make quick work of that. Realizing that his short-sighted, simple, animal brain had been outwitted, he would huff aggressively before lunging towards her and-
"Focus!"
Neo stopped herself and pulled her still-drying hand away from where it had been creeping towards. This isn't good strategy! Clearly being naked in the bathroom talking to herself wasn't the best way to conceive of her grand plan. Letting Mini Roman shatter on the counter top, she strode out into the bedroom and looked out through the window. Her room had a lovely view of a dumpster and a brick wall. Thankfully, she couldn't really enjoy the view in the darkness of twilight. Of course, Adam wouldn't have any such problems with his faunus senses, would he? No, he'd be quite at home in the gloom. She would have to wait until dawn before going back to the warehouse to retrieve her scroll. Otherwise she would be playing on his turf again, stumbling around in the dark building like a blind person. As if being mute weren't bad enough! It would be terrible strategy to go back there without the protection of daylight, even if she did desperately want to get back to hi-
No.
Desperately wanted to get back to her scroll. Back to having her scroll, that's what she wanted.
Yes, that's what I was thinking.
She looked at the bed and clucked her tongue; it was a poor excuse of a thing, but far better than anything she'd find in the warehouse to sleep on. I'll sleep here rather than on concrete or the wooden desk, or worse: the restraining table again. No amount of blankets and pillows could convince her to get back on that thing. In the morning, she'd be well-rested and ready to face Adam as an equal in the light of day. It was the safest possible course that gave her the most chances of surviving if things went sideways. Adam had had hours to prepare for her return already, a few more hours wouldn't make whatever trap he set up any more dangerous to her.
Of course, there is one large, warm thing that I could sleep on at the warehouse...
She slipped into the bedcovers and surrendered to the thoughts that had occupied her through her bath, letting her hand go where it wanted as she thought about what manner of tail getting her scroll back would entail. In the morning, she'd be ready to face whatever Adam's faunus brain had in store for her.
Author's Note: Remember to test your fire alarms regularly and change the lint catcher in your dryer.
As for the final fight with Yang and Blake, I do intend to make this fanfic canon compliant through Volume 7. I guess if reviews demand it, maybe I'll write a "what if" minichapter where Bedlam gets a happier ending.
Why does everything I type sound dirty when I say it aloud?
