"Jay Azur? Yeah, I think I've heard of him before." Pithaya's voice echoed. "One of my girlfriends who visits the night market frequently said something about him once. He's a regular around there."
Kagami ran across the rooftops silently. She had Asher's red bandana over her nose and mouth. It was a moonless night which helped her keep to the shadows. The air was cold and still where she was but down below the main street was bustling with life and lights. The Night Market.
"Not a regular for good reasons though. He's, what do you kids call them these days, a womanizer? I think that's what you say."
"Nobody uses that word." Kris muttered under her breath as she pushed her way through the crowd of late night shoppers. She had her leader's green hood up and over her head, shrouding her face, and her hands in the pockets of her long red jacket. She glanced at everyone as she passed by. None of them stood out.
"He has a reputation of luring women away and well, you know. Sometimes they never come back. Not sure how he keeps getting away with it. You'd think with how often he does it Vacuo would know his face. But they don't. He's a mystery. And the women that have seen his face don't give much information about what he looks like. Like they're afraid of the answer."
Standing behind the stands, Elise peered around a corner and into an alley. Seeing nothing, she disappeared into a trail of smoke that weaved in between peoples feet as she moved across the street to glance down the next alley.
"Did you girls score a bounty on him? Did one of the women hire you? How much is it worth? Do you have to kill him?" Pithaya's low chuckle echoed into nothing.
No one hired them. They weren't going to make any money. And hopefully no one would have to die. They didn't think that far ahead yet. First, they needed to find Jay.
Slowly breathing in, Cheyenne exhaled. She was crouched on the edge of a roof looking through the shadows. Sometimes it was helpful to be a Faunus. Seeing in pitch blackness was definitely a very helpful perk. It let her see what her friends couldn't. "Anything?" She asked into her comms.
"Nothing." Kris said before sighing.
"We can always come back tomorrow night." Kagami spoke up. She was at the far end of the market and started making her way back down. "This isn't going to be a quick run and done kind of thing that we're doing."
"Patience is the key to hunting." Elise glanced down another alley. "Somedays you come back with nothing. Other days you come back with a twenty point buck."
"I don't think a single one of us understood what that meant." Kris scoffed with a light chuckle.
The farm girl rolled her eyes and sighed. "Whatever. Losers."
Kagami lightly smiled while eyeing the busy street below. "We'll patrol for a little longer and then I guess we can call it a night."
"Roger, roger." Cheyenne smiled. Blinking, she tilted her head. Her brow furrowed at a little boy who was clearly asking for help from passerbyers. With a sigh, she jumped down onto the street and made her way over towards him. "Lost, little guy?"
"Yeah." He exhaled while pulling his dark blue cloak around his body. "My daddy and I were looking for a gift for my mommy. I wandered off a little too far..." He lowered his head and sniffed.
"Hey, don't worry." She held out a hand. "How about you show me where you think he is and I'll walk with you?"
He glanced up at her between his messy light blue hair. After taking a deep breath, he grabbed her hand. "He's this way. I think... I don't know."
"Then let's walk this way." She smiled as they made their way down the market.
Passing by her, Kris raised an eyebrow but kept walking with the flow of the crowd. "Uh, Chey? Whatcha doing with the kid?" She asked into her comms.
"He's lost his dad. Just going to help him real quick." She replied.
"Well, be careful." She sighed while stopping at a stand to check out the goods. With a furrowed brow, she glanced over and tilted her head back to eye the little boy. She had never really focused on sensing auras before. That was more of Kagami's area of expertise. But she was getting older. Her senses were growing stronger. And something felt off about his aura. Something wasn't right.
Kris slipped away and slowly made her way between the crowd of people to follow her friend.
"Were you guys shopping down here?" Cheyenne asked as she eyed a few of the stands with items for sale. One of them had dream catchers for sale. She was intrigued.
"No..." The little boy trailed off while gripping her hand tighter and tugging on her arm. He then pointed towards an alley. "We live down that way if you want to just take me home. I'd like that."
"No problem." She smiled down at him while leading the way. Once they got halfway down the alley, she felt him let go of her. "Hey! Keep holding my hand! It's not safe for someone your age to walk around alone." She quickly turned around.
Standing with his shoulders rolled back, he softly sighed. He knocked his cloak off his shoulders and revealed his heavily toned arms underneath. He had on a black sleeveless vest that was unzipped and showing off his abs that were sharp enough to cut diamonds. "I'm thirty-eight, kid." He spoke with a very, very deep and rough voice.
With wide eyes, she stepped back. She was at a loss for words.
Luckily for her, Kris wasn't. "What the fuck?" The redhead let out with a disgusted stare at the man who was shorter than her.
Glancing over his shoulder, he eyed her. "Hm. Usually I only like one woman, but I can make two work."
"Wait what?!" The Faunus exclaimed.
"Uh..." Kris slid a foot back. "Kagami? Elise?" She mumbled while watching him pull out a large pair of dual katar from under his cloak. "I think we found Jay."
"Kris? Kris!" Kagami shouted after getting no further answer. She bared her teeth and quickly started sprinting across the roofs. "Elise!"
"Be there in a sec!" She shouted back while turning into smoke and reappearing on a roof. She scanned the area before spotting her leader and shifting back into smoke to move beside her.
Down below, Kris parried against Jay's weapons with the blades of her candy canes. She grunted each time. She was actually barely managing to parry his attacks. She had taken a nap earlier but she was feeling exhausted. Her attention was slipping.
Her's wasn't the only one.
Taking aim, Cheyenne fired a shot at Jay only for it to narrowly miss Kris. It came so close it singed a few of her hairs.
"Hey! Watch it!" The short redhead snapped with a glare. She then grunted and flew back into a wall from a kick.
"You should watch it." Jay smiled while bouncing up and down with energy. He then spun around and raised both his weapons in an x to catch the Cheyenne's war club from hitting him. He grinned while moving his face closed to hers. "Oh I like it when Faunus are feisty." He purred.
She narrowed her eyes and bared her teeth back at him. She took a step back and withdrew to prepare for another attack.
He smiled and slipped back. Kris jumped over him and collided with her teammate. They both fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
"Are you guys even trying?" Jay teased while pacing around them. "Come on now, get up. I'm not ready yet. I like to play a little bit before-" He grunted and stumbled back as a pair of boots collided with his face.
Landing on her feet, Elise narrowed her eyes while pulling out her rifle. "Why don't you pick on someone your own... size..." She blinked while seeing him stand up straight. Her head cocked to the side. He was shorter than Kris. "Uh...?"
"Dammit." Jay hissed. "Another?" He took a few steps back to head out of the alley.
His back hit something.
"Going somewhere?" Kagami raised an eyebrow with crossed arms.
He scattered away from her and quickly glanced between her and the brunet. "Okay now, four's a bit much. Even for me, ladies."
"I'm gonna kill him..." Kris muttered while pushing herself up to her feet. She was panting.
"Not before I do..." Cheyenne quickly added while sitting up.
Elise eyed them. "Are you guys okay?" Her brow furrowed.
"Peachy." The redhead snapped.
"Yeah, you look great." Jay agreed while keeping his distance.
Kagami narrowed her eyes. He was stalling for time. But why? She eyed her friends before it dawned on her. She immediately reached back and drew her sword. "Elise! Attack now!" She lunged forward and locked eyes with Jay's blue eyes.
"Huh?" The brunet squeaked before grabbing her baton and attaching it to her rifle. "Yes ma'am!" She pushed off with her back foot and shot forward.
With a low growl, Jay brought up both his katar and blocked both of their weapons. He grunted as his smaller body was pushed back. He sharply exhaled before slipping underneath and rolling away. After jumping back onto his feet he punched with his weapons.
Sparks danced between Kagami's sword and Jay's katar as they clashed while Elise's rifle took a heavy scuff from the attack. They both shoved him away. As he stumbled, they spun around to hit him again. His back hitting a wall.
Elise took aim with her rifle, firing a blue dart at his feet that exploded in ice that encased his ankles.
Walking up, Kagami flipped her sword around in a reverse grip. With narrowed blue eyes, she let out a shout and swung the pommel in his direction.
Gritting his teeth, he brought up both of his katar and covered his face. As it easily bounced off him, he let out a weak chuckle. "Tired, huh?" He smiled and brought his weapons onto his feet before stepping forward and kicking her in the chest.
She fell back and skidded a few feet. With labored breaths, she closed one eye. She grimaced slightly while keeping up with her mimic. "Yeah... and you?"
He rolled his eyes while walking over, albeit slowly. "Never better." He eyed her body up and down before grinning. "Never better." He took one of his katar and gently poked at her chest.
"Hands off, creep!" Elise shouted while swinging her rifle like a bat into his face.
He flew back, both his weapons falling from his grasp.
"That's what I thought..." Elise trailed off before stumbled forward a little and dropping to one knee. "What the...?"
Jay snickered as he slowly pushed himself up. "Hehe, tired, huh...?" He grinned while stumbling as he stepped forward. "Limbs heavy...? No energy...?" He blinked and eyed his hands. "What...?"
"You tired...?" Kagami tilted her head up to glare with one eye open. She smiled.
His eyes widened with fury as he slowly stepped towards her. "Why you little... what did you do...?!" He shouted.
"Hey...!" Elise glared over at him while standing up.
"Shuddap...!" He bared his teeth. His attention went back to Kagami. "I'm gonna-" He was cut off as a red blast from Cheyenne's rifle exploded around him. Coughing heavily, he waved off the smoke. His eyes then widened seeing Kris standing in front of him.
With a shout and a forced breath, the short redhead brought her leg up and slammed her foot into his chest. He was thrown back. His body hitting a wall before falling into a dumpster.
"Elise...!" Cheyenne shouted on her knees while dropping her rifle. "Dumpster...!"
Slowly blinking, the brunet took a deep breath and dispersed into smoke. She appeared beside her friend and crouched over her. Deeply inhaling, she closed her eyes. Both of them disappeared in smoke that trailed towards the dumpster.
Feeling herself on her feet, Cheyenne stumbled forward and slammed the lid closed on the dumpster. Holding her hand against the latch, she bared her teeth and let her semblance rust it shut.
Seeing the cultist trapped inside, Kris fell to her knees with her arms between her legs.
"Kagami... you're good..." The Faunus mumbled while leaning up against the dumpster and sliding down it.
The jadette heavily exhaled and rolled her head back. Her eyes returned to tea green. She stared up at the night sky and the hundreds of stars. She panted heavily for what felt like forever before finally catching her breath. "Okay... that could have gone better..."
"Yeah um, what could have gone better...?" Elise sat down with a heavy huff.
"Weakening or draining or whatever semblance..." Cheyenne tilted her head towards her. "Kagami copied it so we could be on an even playing field..."
"Don't worry, Chey had to explain it to me too..." Kris softly chuckled before scowling and rolling her head back. "Gods, I want some coffee..."