Righto. Some business to take care of before we begin.
Guest reviewer Roxas, right? Let's chat for few a moments.
Jaune and Dante's "confrontation" was far from perfect. But I'll get to that in a moment. The way you coupled that bit there after "everyone getting bodied", you make quite a thoughtless assumption. I understand Tyrian was the demonstration of a new, powerful enemy, something else to fear, or at the very least, be concerned about besides Grimm. While Jaune has made some comparative improvements, there's still much to be desired. If you looked a bit more closely, you'd see he was struggling a bit more than the others.
But, I'm not here to pick apart the smaller bits and prove you otherwise, even though it would be fairly simple to do so. This bit here actually made me laugh a bit. "If you were looking for a fight to use as an example of how Jaune sucks and how much better your OC is than him, I think you picked the wrong one."
You're clowning me right?
...
You're not clowning me...
If you honestly believe THAT was the point of the whole matter of affairs, then I suggest you go back and read a bit more carefully next time, if you will at all. That wasn't to prove anything, or more specifically, show how "my character is vastly superior" than him. If that was my actual intention, which it wasn't, don't you think I would've been a bit more blatant about it? Again, I encourage you to read more closely next time.
Secondly, in my belief, meaning I might be wrong, Jaune was at the time still a bit of a weak mess. Understandable given the immense burden he's carrying, but it's specifically because of that burden he's...well, off his game in certain areas. In my cross examination of Jaune throughout Vol. 4, I personally found faults in his overall mentality and way of doing things. Mind you these findings aren't everything he did, but certain bits here and there. If one paid close enough attention, you could see faults in his mentality, words, and actions that could have been detrimental in worse scenarios to everyone else in the group, at least, I believe so. Again, his attitude is understandable given what he and everyone else experienced, and while I fully admit he has made his improvements in certain areas, there is still much to be desired.
Thirdly, this conflict between Jaune and Dante, starting pretty much after my wrapped up collaboration with Xera Stark, was in a way to act upon those cross examinations I made. There was reason for this conflict, like I mentioned in the story briefly when they all reunited. In Jaune's case, this affected him more than the rest, hence conflict between him and Dante. Next, the other point of this was to show and explain how dangerous Jaune's mentality could have been, with the addition of the conflict between the two. Dante triggering Jaune (I actually hate myself a bit more using that stupidly memeish word, but it's the only one I can think of currently) was done in an attempt to dissuade him of such a dangerous mentality, which eventually would have lead to dangerous actions that not only can affect Jaune, but everyone else as well. In short, Dante needed to play the villain a bit to get it out of Jaune's system, due to concern for Jaune himself and the others. Sometimes you just have to be downright mean for someone to understand what they're doing wrong.
So, now you know this wasn't done for something as petty as "proving who's better".
If you wish to say anything more after my response to you, then I encourage you to contact me privately to continue. If not, hopefully we can move on. But again, I politely ask of you in the future to read more closely next time. While I may not always have perfect execution, I do what I do for a reason with detail and planning involved. Virtually nothing is done for only simple and petty reasons in my story.
Now, I was going to ignore this, but I'm afraid I can't. Looking at it always just...irks me a bit with how silly and not well-thought out this review was. (Not you Roxas, I'm referring to someone else now.)
Guest reviewer Coin, I think you're VERY VERY confused. Are you sure you've been reading my story and not some else's? Because I am very sure of what my character's mannerisms actually are and how he actually presents himself, and quite honestly, what you described and noted doesn't match my character in the slightest bit. From the minimal effort and thought you brought forth, I honestly don't think you actually read my story or even paid the slightest bit of attention. So if you're only here just to write nonsense or trashy reviews simply for the sake of doing so, I encourage you to do exactly as you said and go elsewhere. Your senseless negativity and comments aren't welcome or desired.
*Let's out sigh of relief*
Okay, so we're done with that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some monsters to go hunt in Monster Hunter World, and people to slay in Dissidia: FF NT. Enjoy the chapter everyone.
Chapter 31: No Safe Havens
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His eyes opened slowly, his vision incredibly disoriented and struggling to focus. He was breathing rather heavily, and the second he tried to move, he found himself unable to. His body was too sore.
Raum's eyes adjusted to carefully glance around the room he found himself. Last he remembered, he was in the forest. Unless Irene had somehow developed superhuman strength and dragged him off to a village, he had to have been dragged here by someone else.
The room he was in was dimly lit in different corners of the room, the walls themselves resembling a log cabin of sorts. Raum knew he wasn't in an isolated location after he focused his hearing and could hear the swarms of people below.
He was in an inn. And it was breakfast time from the sounds of the rowdiness down below.
The Dark Entity felt something tiny gripping his left hand, and turned his head to see the tiny wolf Faunus child sleeping peacefully, keeping a firm hold of Raum's fingers.
He let out a relaxed sigh before he tried to sit himself up again, succeeding this time, but finding his abdominal area aching greatly. Looking down, he saw that area was bandaged up, as well different parts of his torso. His entire left arm was just as heavily bandaged, as was…
He glanced to his right arm, seeing that it had indeed grown back, but not in its entirety. While the majority of his arm had grown back, half of his fingers had yet to be regenerated.
Raum was getting a certain craving, mainly to dull some of the pain, but...he had remembered why he had given it up in the first place. If he was drinking constantly, how could he care for Irene if his senses were dulled?
"If the others back home knew about this…"
He'd certainly have a day of murder.
But there was something far more important on his mind rather than his peers mocking him.
Who had brought him to this inn?
"Irene! It's time to wake up!" The voice of a woman rang out
…
"She didn't..!" Raum stated panickedly in a whisper.
"I'm coming in!"
"She did!"
Raum immediately forced himself on his back, as if he never moved at all, but not before letting out a silent cry of pain and closing his eyes, hoping she wouldn't realize he was awake.
The door slowly creaked open, Raum hearing a sigh from the woman entering the room as she closed the door behind her, her footsteps taking her to a table. From the sound of it, she brought a tray of food.
A clinking of a dish was heard, and the footsteps approached the bed Raum rested in, her stopping at the side of the bed Raum "rested" in making the Dark Entity flinch a little bit.
Somehow, the silent sigh gave she gave off made a shiver go down his spine.
"Not awake today either I see… And here I was hoping to speak with you today… Oh well."
Raum heard the clinking of silverware against something that was porcelain like. Then, he could feel something round and metallic quickly being forced between his lips with hot liquid, soup from how it tasted.
Regardless, he kept his lips as shut as possible so the spoon would enter no further, but the woman was persistent and eventually forced the entire utensil in his mouth, forcing him to choke and cough violently.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" He whispered angrily, trying not to shout.
"Oh, so you were awake the whole time?" She asked him with a smile, an ominous Aura sweeping through the room that made Raum abandon any sense of anger.
To make sure it was actually who he thought it was, he glanced her over, recognizing her light brown hair, light brown eyes, a long sleeved light grey cotton sweater that was somewhat form fitting, and a dark blue skirt that reached her shins, and light grey slipper shoes.
And of course, he couldn't forget those ridiculous glasses of hers that had lenses that were perfect circles.
It was her alright.
"That was pretty mean of you, you know. If you were awake, you shouldn't have pretended you were asleep." She complained with her soft and smooth voice.
Raum didn't say a word, only looked away from the woman before she placed both hands on the sides of his face and turned it to face her.
"Now don't be that way."
"Sorry…" he softly said as he averted his gaze from hers, only to look back and stare deep into her amber eyes.
The way she smile at him afterwards...he...enjoyed it. Felt more lively even.
"How did you find me?"
"Well…" she began, "The little one called me with great urgency. Seeing as she can't speak yet, her crying alone was enough to compel to come running. I was really worried and rushed to where you were as fast as I could."
"You didn't have rush here…"
"Of course I had to! You were in trouble!" She replied.
"You didn't have to inconvenience yourself I mean."
"But it wasn't an inconvenience at all! Not when…"
Was she going to say it?
"Not when it was concerning you."
She said it.
Embarrassment, something the Dark Entity rarely felt, washed over him like a wave from the ocean. He wanted to look away, but was still in her grasp, unable to retreat like he intended.
The woman giggled briefly, narrowing her eyes as she said "You try so hard to look and be mean, yet you're such a big softy underneath it all."
She was teasing him…
"It's actually a very cute side of you." She replied smooching him on the cheek, making his face burn red hot.
Teasing him no further, the woman pulled up one of the chairs from the desk near the bed and set it down near Raum's bedside, grabbing hold of his right hand as she did.
"It looks as though your arm has completely regenerated…"
"Yeah…"
"Raum… What happened out there?"
"I couldn't tell you even if I knew, Eren…" he replied propping himself up to lean against the headboard, "All I know is that those guys were bad news. And that trying to take Irene."
"Did you know them?"
"No. But what I saw has me troubled."
"What did you see?"
"They looked normal enough at first. You wouldn't really be able to tell them apart from a human or Faunus… I swear to you now, I'm certain that they resembled Grimm a lot more after transforming."
Eren seemed shocked to hear this, given how her eyes went wide for a moment before turning her head away.
"I'm glad you're safe regardless. Both you and Irene."
"What? Did you think I'd die so easily?" Raum asked.
"No, but you have a knack for being extremely reckless, as evidenced by the numerous injuries you sustained on our last adventure."
"Those were unavoidable."
"Be that as it may, you should take better care of yourself. Especially, since you have little Irene to care for." She said sliding her hand into his, both of them interlocking their fingers together.
"I know that."
"Plus…" She said leaning in closer, whispering to him in a hushed tone, "You wouldn't want to leave little old me by my lonesome, would you?"
He felt a powerful twitch shoot outwards from his heart, Eren finally touching her forehead against Raum's.
"You are the best and most interesting thing that's come into my life so far… Please...don't leave it so quickly."
…
A few centuries ago, he would have called this woman an absolute fool, a complete moron. As far as her knowledge extended, she knew only bits about him. Mainly the part where he was a being of Darkness. Yet she accepted him so easily, and with such great understanding. She even studied him personally.
A few centuries ago, he would have called the current him a fool that needed to hang himself with his own intestines.
But in a way...Eren was like Irene. Something that was very much needed in his stagnant, constantly war filled life.
"This year alone taught me so much. Things that if I tried looking at before, I would've easily thrown them away, treating them as garbage. Yet these fledgling emotions…they grew into something more than I ever imagined."
"Oh? That's very good to hear then." Eren replied smiling.
"You know whose fault that is?"
"I don't know. Would I happen to be one such person at fault?"
"Could be."
"Could be? Why, I was certain I was the main cause."
"You're part of the reason." Raum said as both his and Eren's eyes shifted to the still sleeping Irene, "She's the reason that started it all."
"I see…"
"Jealous?"
"N-Nonsense!"
"That's a lie. I can read you like one of those books you're always shoving your face into."
Eren gave him a rather cute pout with a silent growl of frustration as she pinched his cheeks. But she relaxed her pinching, and instead wrapped both arms around the Dark Entity as they both kept their foreheads pressed against one another.
"I would like just as much attention though…"
"Jealous it is." Raum said with a chuckle.
Eren remained silent, gazing deep into Raum's eyes expectantly.
"What?"
"It's nothing really. I was just thinking how much I like your eyes now. They look...at peace."
Peace…
…
This was what peace was like… It was...enjoyable.
Looks like the white haired hellion was onto something after all…
"That, and I like their color now. Much better than before."
"Color?" Raum asked confused.
"Ah, that's right, you've been unconscious for three days, so wouldn't have known."
Eren leaned back and grabbed a hand mirror from the desk near the bed, moving it in front of Raum so that he could see for himself. His black hair was still the same, chin length and fairly messy. No scars on his face either.
But his eyes…
They used to be crimson red with black slit pupils.
Now…
Now they were a dark emerald green with normal black pupils.
…
He didn't really object to it. Raum actually liked it too.
But to bring about this change…
…
Now that he thought about it, his older brother Lucifer was also correct.
Long ago, he and Lucifer had been engaged in an argument, and of course, as per usual, Lucifer kept his calm demeanor and tone, while Raum was the only one to shout and berate.
The words his brother spoke to him remained personally committed to heart, the weight of them that much important.
"You have power, yes. But that alone isn't enough. It's not nearly enough. With eyes like those, you will never be able to truly become strong. That much is fact."
He understood what he meant now. And…
He was actually quite embarrassed about what triggered the change.
"I like it too. I guess."
"I'm glad we're in agreement then." Eren stated with a giggle as she leaned in closer to Raum once again.
She just sat there, gazing at him with those light brown eyes of hers, and he stared back, waiting for her to make her move.
"If you're gonna do it, then do it already."
"Hmmm? Do what?" Eren asked with a coy smile.
He hated when she did this sort of thing.
…
Not really.
"I'm sorry. You're just too cute when you look flustered and frustrated. Here then, I'll reward you for being a good sport."
The Dark Entity glanced back at Eren, still keeping his mild frustration about him as Eren's face grew closer to his own. A few centimeters away, and-
An amused hum sounded off to their side, prompting both adults to stop suddenly and glance to their side. The little wolf Faunus girl Irene was gone, at least, by her standards she believed herself invisible.
Even though all she did was use the covers to hide herself, and peeked through the opening of the fabric, her tail perfectly stuck out and whipped about.
"You little..! Who said you can get your entertainment value from my personal matters?!" Raum shouted as he swept the covers underneath her and held it up in the air, as if she were now captured in a bag.
The young one gave a few giggles of joy despite Raum's growling, but her head soon slipped out of the "bag's" entrance, her black wolf ears flicking about happily as her small arms soon followed. Those same hands soon pulled her entrapped body towards her adoptive father, allowing her to give him a loving peck on the cheek before nuzzling her face against his, continuing with her giggling fits.
Raum let out a sigh, and let her go about her giggling, noticing Eren too was in something of a giggling fit herself as she sat on the side of the bed, leaning in towards as she nuzzled into him.
"You two haven't changed in the slightest."
The group of five teens stood within the broken down, decimated town of Kuroyuri, gazing upon the beast before them.
The Grimm before them at first glance was a horse-like creature with an equine black main body layered with segments of bone plating, the massive horse's head also covered with a bone white mask with glowing red markings and eyes. Its forelegs are shaped like claws and it has hooved hindlegs that leave a characteristic hoofprint. But that wasn't even the most eye catching part of this creature.
Atop the horse-like Grimm's back was a skinless humanoid that was fused with the back from the waist up. The humanoid body was black and had a bone white mask covering its face only from the top jaw up, and had long curved horns on its head. It's mouth looked as if it were almost sewn shut, a red glow present within the inner confines of its mouth.
To add to its menacing appearance were two long elastic arms, each with two clawed fingers, arms dragging against the dirt floor as the horse body walked closer to the group. On the back of the human torso were boney spikes along its spine and a variety of weapons from previous battles stuck in it, arrows, swords and the like.
The creature stopped a few meters away from the group, the humanoid body sickeningly straightening out as it took in the sight of the teens before it, letting out an ear piercing shriek not moments later.
But...it suddenly calmed itself, and remained still as footsteps approached from behind it.
"Now now…"
That voice..! No..!
"I know you're eager and all, but do try to restrain yourself a little bit longer."
The menacing creature growled lightly with a huff, as if it were agreeing, and focused back on the teens once more, only it did not budge an inch.
The man walked out from behind the creature, revealing himself to Dante and the others.
Black tattered cloak, Grimm like dragon mask, that sly, almost condescending tone…
There was no mistaking it, it was the Dragon Masked man from before.
"Why, hello again children! Fancy meeting you all here!"
"Cut the crap, you went out of your way to find us! Why?!" Dante asked, gripping his sword tightly.
More importantly, the immortal wanted to know why that Grimm was actually listening to what the man was saying, as if it were obeying him.
"Now now, why so harsh? Can't you accept the fact I'm here to just spend more time with you?"
"I don't believe that for a second…"
"Why, my feelings are quite hurt now..."
Dante didn't like this man, not one bit. It was more for the reason that he couldn't...assess him, understand him and what his motives were for being here.
He knew that the man said days ago that it was because of interest in the immortal...but he found it hard to believe it was so simple a reason.
"Nuckelavee? You can do as you please with the children, it matters not to me. Just be helpful in keeping them away from myself and the boy."
It...nodded to his request…
The creature let out another ear piercing shriek, it's arms extending and shooting forward with great speed to crash into Nora and Ren, but Dante had already moved to intercept.
The only problem was...so did the Dragon Masked man.
He was already dashing in from the side, and drew his sinister, bone-like black longsword and clashed with Dante, forcing him away from the group to leave them with the creature.
When they broke the clash, both immortal and Dragon Masked man were a decent ways away from the group, and the man struck upwards against Dante's blade, the sheer force of it enough to send him flying upwards towards the area of tall abandoned buildings overlooking the entire village.
The immortal grabbed the roof ledge he flew towards to stop himself from moving further, and landed both feet up top, moving back quickly to avoid a slash that cut through the edge of the rooftop floor, nearly cutting his chest.
To catch his opponent, Dante immediately rushed forward towards the man as he almost landed on the roof, blades
crashing into one another. Almost as if they were dancing, something Dante's opponent intentionally made happen, they spun around once and swiped at each other again, this time pushing each other away, Dante on one rooftop, the Masked man on the other building rooftop.
"Hmmm… It's been a decent while since you and I last fought my young friend... I'm fairly surprised that you're still privy to my basic abilities."
Dante didn't give a response, he only grasped his own longsword tightly with both hands, preparing himself for whatever attack might come next.
"Dear me, it really only seems as though it were only yesterday, even though it's been quite a few days now… I can tell you assumed I would help that nice man with the scorpion tail to eliminate your friends. You were very upset at the idea of it and did your best to keep me away from them, hoping they alone would be adequate enough to defeat him."
His assessment...wasn't far off. Dante knew from first glance alone the man was strong, very strong. He knew very well if any of the others engaged him...they would've perished almost immediately.
"I remember at the time that I was thinking of you as rather interesting. I still do to be quite honest."
"I don't." The immortal bluntly replied, overhearing the sounds of the battle below.
"Now why be so rude? I was simply stating my thoughts you know."
"Don't care either way. Truthfully… I don't like you one bit. Usually I'm able to understand what an opponent is like when crossing sword with them."
"Oh? Are you some sort of mind reader of sorts? Are you perhaps a psychic?" The man asked.
"Don't change the subject. Out of everyone I faced… You're different. I can't feel a thing from you at all. I can't tell what you're thinking or what you're planning. But I can tell one thing for sure… You're not entirely focused on fighting me, like I'm just some sort of a distraction."
The man let out a chuckle as loud, thunderous noise sounded below, drawing the warriors' attention for a moment as the ground shook.
"You know…" the man began, forcing Dante to glance back at him, "I was pretty sure you were an interesting individual… Now you're just downright creepy…"
Dante gripped his sword tightly, waiting for even the slightest movement from his opponent.
It was so unnatural to see someone so...calm. Usually, when an opponent presented themselves to the immortal, their calm demeanor came from the air of overconfidence they exuded from their persons, more than certain they would defeat Dante.
Their overconfidence is what led many of them to theirs graves, save for the few that managed to live afterwards throughout the years.
But this man in the Grimm mask…
He was completely unnerving...
"Someone like you shouldn't be calling anyone creepy." Dante replied.
"You just like throwing back insults to your opponents, don't you?" The man said as he raised his sword up in the air to his side, "Say, you were compiling statistical data on me from our first against one another, right? Did you figure out how fast I was able to swing my sword back then?"
"Can't say I do."
Dante grasped his sword with both hands once again, preparing to block a frontwards attack, just in case.
"Much faster than what I showed you. When I used to be a boy younger than you, people were very impressed with the speed of my strikes. They eventually invented rumors that I must be able to manipulate wind or turn invisible briefly when I strike." The Masked man stated.
"I'm not interested in your stories."
"Really? Then do you at least have an idea as to how fast I can swing my sword normally?"
"Not. Interested." Repeated the immortal.
"Oh come on, you aren't even going to gander a guess? Now that's a shame, truly. And here I thought you weren't boring in the slightest. You remember how fast I swung at you last time, right? They looked almost invisible, didn't they?"
They were practically invisible. It was hard to keep track of all of his strikes.
"If I push myself just a bit more...I can strike at you ten times faster."
Dante's eyes went wide briefly, and kept himself completely still, eyes focused on only his opponent.
"I know right? It's fairly difficult to comprehend, much less imagine. So then, why don't I demonstrate for you?"
The air around them thickened and grew heavy, azure blue Aura blazing around the Dragon Masked man as he raised his sword in his left hand upwards and off towards his side, the air shivering and quaking violently under the pressure of his Aura as its visible glow faded out of sight shortly after.
Dante looked over towards the direction his sword point faced, noticing the few tall buildings around them slowly slide down to the ground in a diagonal motion, allowing the teen to notice the single glowing azure blue slice that spanned throughout the whole street block of bisected buildings.
What happened next sent a shiver down Dante's spine. He didn't so much as blink, and yet within an instant the Dragon Masked man had nearly taken his head off had he not instinctively blocked.
Even then, the vicious, bone-like black longsword would have stopped as soon as it made contact with the vertebrae of his spinal column. And if his opponent's aim was just as frightening as his speed, it would have potentially cut into his neck and stop at the ligaments and cartilage, whereas anyone else would lose their head.
The smoke from the collision faded away, revealing white and black longswords clashing against each other, the Masked man's head tilted sideways slightly, as if he were surprised Dante managed to block his strike.
"You look surprised…" the immortal stated as the smoke cleared away fully, showing that he did indeed block the strike off to his side by wrapping his blade across his body, "You probably don't run into people often that can block your strikes… Am I right?!" Dante shouted.
As he yelled, he moved his sword against the sharp edge of his opponent's as white and black Aura flowed from the blade. When Dante slid the edge of his blade across his foe's, he pushed away the Masked Man's sword, and within that single motion, unleashed an upwards striking wave of his white and black Aura, which immediately crashed into the man and created another dust cloud.
Wisps of the immortals Aura Wave attack seeped through the smoke as it slowly cleared, revealing that the Dragon Masked man had been pushed away a considerable distance, his hand smoking slightly from blocking the blast directly.
His mask had been chipped slightly.
"Hmph… It's official…" he spoke in his calm, cool voice, "You've graduated from being creepy to downright scary…"
Without saying another word, the man struck his blade upwards from the ground and up, raising up half of the rooftop and its corner in the air to completely obscure his body. The impressively clean cut block of debris suddenly surged forwards towards Dante, who decided to stand his ground and cut through it easily with a single strike.
There were two ways the next few seconds were going to go; the man was either going to burst forward from the front, or come in from behind.
When Dante looked forward, he saw no one. And when he looked directly behind him, no one was there. Dante immediately twisted his body towards his left and struck, the edge of his sword making contact with the Dragon Masked man's blade.
He was trying to catch the immortal off guard, and from what Dante could understand, his opponent was getting used to the teen's frightening ability to accurately predict his opponent's movements, meaning the man was attempting to use unexpected attacks and tactics, which he did as they continued fighting across the rooftops.
But what made this all the more frustrating is that when the immortal was rolling with the idea his opponent would be attacking with unexpected movements and timing, he adjusted his tactics to move towards what would have been the most predictable attack.
In short, this wasn't the time nor place for a battle using prediction tactics, not with this enemy.
Dante had to react and rely more on instinct.
Doing so allowed him to keep up with his opponent at a better pace as they moved from rooftop to rooftop, slicing up the concrete and wood and anything that entered their vortex space of slashes.
They would run out of rooftops soon.
Dante took the occasional glance down below when he could manage, watching Ruby and friends down below continuing their fight with that abomination. And from the looks of it, the fight seemed as though it could go either way, possibly more in favor towards the Grimm given the man had appeared.
He just wanted the current fight to end so that he could go and help Ruby and the others. But the Dragon Masked man was intentionally keeping him away, much to Dante's frustration.
When the teen and his opponent came to a clash once more, Dante immediately pushed himself away to create distance, bringing his sword across his body midair and quickly swinging outwards, inwards, and then outwards again a final time, each swing of his sword unleashing a small wave of his white and black Aura.
The super dense Aura Waves he sent out traveled with great speed towards their intended target, but as the immortal expected, the man cut through the waves with ease. That was besides the point, the waves weren't meant to do damage, only to provide an opportunity.
Dante had purposefully mixed in an Aura dagger in one of the waves that passed by his opponent, allowing him to use his Embedded Shift ability to teleport behind him while he was busy with the other two waves, going for a stab to his chest.
But unexpectedly, the man moved off to the side, allowing Dante to pass by as he kicked the immortal's sword out of his hands, grabbing hold of it with his right hand as he stepped on Dante's back and pressed him against the edge of the rooftop. With a single fluid motion, the Masked man twirled Dante's Blade upside down and pierced the immortal's hands with his own blade.
The sword was plunged deep into the gaps between the radii and ulnae towards where his wrists started, effectively pinning his hands to the ground and making him fall to both knees. No matter how much Dante struggled and pulled, the blade wouldn't budge at all.
He was completely trapped.
His gaze moved from his entrapped hands and towards the Masked man, glancing at the bone-like Black longsword in his left hand before his eyes moved up to meet the eye gaps of his Grimm-like dragon mask.
Dante expected an attack, anything that would threaten him. But no attack came his way. Instead, the man gave him a chuckle.
"Careful now. You're completely defenseless you know." He spoke in a chilling tone, raising up his sword as if he were about to strike.
Dante went to move, but he immediately stopped and stared in confusion at his opponent when he chuckled at the immortal.
"Just kidding. I was only messing with you!"
Dante didn't enjoy the joke.
"How about you and I take a little break?" The Masked man asked as he sheathed his weapon inside his tattered, black cloak, taking a seat near the edge of the rooftop where he pinned Dante's arms with his own sword.
"A break..?!" Dante replied with confusion and frustration.
"Mhm. Take a load off. Let's watch the action down below." He said gesturing down below.
Both of the warriors turned their heads down below, peeking over the edge that overlooked the town square, where currently Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora were struggling with the Grimm down below.
From the look of it, Ren was abnormally frustrated, something very outside of the norm. With the clumsy mistakes he was making…
It was very difficult to watch.
"Are you worried they won't beat him?"
Dante's head spun to the Dragon Masked man, who kept his eyes glued to the battle below.
"Ah, so you are the type to worry after all. You probably didn't realize it yet, but there's really nothing you can do to help them. They might succeed. They might die. It's only a matter of time until we receive a final result."
Hearing that made him want to leap down there all the more.
"There's no way that's going to happen."
"That's no surprise." The man said resting his chin in his hand as he crossed one leg over the other, "That response was pretty much within my expectations of what you would say."
"There's no telling what they're capable of… They're a lot stronger than they used to be months ago."
"Hmmm… I admit, I didn't quite expect that. But answer me this. Did they grow stronger because you were absent from stifling them?"
Dante himself didn't expect that question. But the way he said it… Was that really something he had been doing?
"I can tell you're the protective type. It's in your nature to be that way given how strong you are. But did you ever consider that maybe you being overly protective of your friends constricts their own potential to grow?"
…
He'd never considered the thought before…
"Here you are, constantly trying to fight their battles for them so that they don't have to. Understandable given no one really wants to see anyone close to them die. But don't you think you having to step in so many times kills their confidence and motivation to continue fighting?"
…
The immortal couldn't help but feel a sudden sense of shame overwhelming him.
"You know what I think? I think you used to believe people were able to help themselves. I don't know exactly what happened that made you as you are, but it's as clear as day what part of your problem is. The thing is...you've long since lost faith. Deep inside you, you've given up in believing in the ability of others."
The Dragon Masked man looked towards Dante, seeing the teen staring at the ground with a troubled gaze about him.
"Here I thought you'd be better than that, but I guess you are a child still in some ways. Weak on both the inside and outside. I've seen you around a few times here and there, but I don't remember you being this weak. Back then...you were at least a bit more intimidating."
He was right about that much at least… But that Dante… That version of him was someone truly undesirable…
The two heard intense shrieking from below, and focused back on the fight below, seeing the Grimm fighting the group of four down below crippled, and it's arms pinned, completely immobilized. All it could do was shriek as Ren cut the beast apart, starting with it's arms, then it's chest, and finally it's head.
And thus, Ruby and the others survived their encounter, and defeated the vicious Grimm.
"Well well, looks like it's over. See? They can manage on their own from time to time. You just have to give them the chance and they'll progress forward on their own." He said standing up, drawing Dante's gaze to him as he unsheathed his longsword from his cloak once more, "Now then… What should I do with you?"
Before he had a chance to move, the man raised his blade in front of his chest, making sure the flat side faced forward as a silvery bullet impacted the base of the blade, forcing him to skid backwards on his heels a bit.
"My my, that was very dangerous of you...young miss."
Dante briefly glanced to his right, seeing Ruby standing there next to him, cocking the bolt of Crescent Rose to eject the casing of the bullet she just shot at.
The immortal was...conflicted to say the least, but afraid more than anything now that she was present.
"It's very sweet of you to come to his rescue, but you should know it's hopeless. He may not have thrown everything at me, but with how he's been fighting as of late, it wouldn't matter even if he did. As he is now, he's a complete disappointment."
Ruby took a glance at Dante momentarily, who intentionally avoided looking her in the eyes.
It was then she did something the Dragon Masked man found puzzling.
She scowled at him, without the slightest hint of fear in her eyes. He could tell she was already angry, and that young Ruby's frustration was only continuing to grow.
He was beginning to find her interesting as well...
"For your own good, the two of you should just give up. Go home."
"That's not happening." Ruby spoke, plunging Crescent Rose into the ground scythe blade first as she went over to Dante and pulled on the longsword stuck in his arms with both hands.
"Ruby…"
"I never...really mentioned this before...but…" she said in strained voice, finally removing the blade from Dante's arms, "Your stories...they taught me a lot. But more importantly...they gave me a lot of things." She said glancing at the pure white blade.
Looking at the weapon she helped create brought an overwhelming sense of nostalgia back to her. She remembered her and Dante's first meeting, how nervous and flustered she was around him. She still was that way to certain extents.
Ruby felt pride in the weapon called Anvil, her lover's weapon. But more importantly, she felt pride in the person she loved.
"I wasn't all too courageous you know? I had dreams at best. I still do. But meeting you, spending time with you, hearing everything you've been through and everything you've accomplished so far… It inspired me to do more. It gave me courage. It gave me hope. It made me always look at a hopeless situation with the idea there's always a chance to win. And he doesn't need to fight our battles for us." she said glaring at the masked man.
"Then what should he do, if I may be so bold as to ask?"
"He just needs to stand by us, and fight with us!"
It was a simple answer, but it was her best one, full of heart.
She knelt down and moved Dante's head to face her, and pressed her forehead against his, whispering "Don't give up so quickly. Not after you've come so far. No matter what, we'll always stand by you. Promise."
…
Why did such simple yet sweet words affect him greatly?
It was incomprehensible as to how her simplicity of words always had such great effect on him. But in reality, he already knew full well what it was.
And he knew now wasn't the time to be sitting down and recounting past misdeeds.
"Thank you." He said closing his eyes briefly to collect himself as he stood up.
He opened his eyes once more and took back his sword that Ruby offered him, giving it a quick twirl in his right hand as Ruby twirled her own Crescent Rose in preparation.
They were ready.
"He's more or less a speed type. Think as if he's me and you, only a bit faster at the moment." Dante whispered.
"I get it. Since we're both speedy types, we can keep up with him, maybe even actually beat him!" She whispered back.
"Careful though. All he's been doing is messing around with me. He hasn't even come close to showing his hand yet, or even a bit of it. If an opening seems too obvious, back off and try something else."
"Got it!"
"Strategizing might you get somewhere, but it won't exactly be enough to beat me. Not as you all are anyway." The man cautioned.
He had a point.
Dante's right arm and hand had been in great condition as of late, but it still hadn't healed, which meant his swings weren't going to be at one hundred percent unless he Shadow Skinned it. And surely, Ruby herself was a bit exhausted from fighting that creature below.
Even so, he knew as well as she did that they'd both push past their limits to win.
The Dragon Masked man let out a soft chuckle. He was both amused and impressed. But more importantly…
He found himself interested in Dante once again.
"Very well then. If the two of you insist that you have a chance of winning against me, how could I possibly turn you down? I suppose I still have enough time to play around with the both of you a bit longer." The man said readying his longsword.
Both sides waited briefly, being absolutely still as they determined who would make the first move. Ironically, the man didn't move at all, despite being able to easily make the first move.
And neither of them would.
Before any attack of sorts was made, a column of blood red flame descended from the skies above behind the Masked man with a thundering crack. As it touched the ground, the flames fanned out into a wide, split burst, purposefully avoiding the Masked man as he looked behind him and let out a sigh
"Always with the dramatic entrances… Though I suppose it's highly effective in scaring the general populace."
Ruby and Dante stood guard, waiting for an attack that might come from the flames at any second. No attack came, however.
Instead, a figure stepped out from the flames.
He had long black hair that reached his waist, where his bangs and top portion of his hair was slightly spiked. He had glowing red irises with black slit pupils resembling that of a serpent.
The new figure wore a completely closed, tight, form fitting black coat with dark red trim, where its sleeves ended just a bit past his elbows, and the dark red lapels of the coat flared out slightly. The ends of the coat where tattered, looking as though they were burned into their jagged, flame-like patterns. In addition, the man wore a pair of form fitted black pants, with knee high black boots that had dark red soles and trim.
He was tall too, about six feet tall from what Dante could guess.
But most ominous of all was that calm smile of his. It almost seemed...permanent, as if he thought himself untouchable or stood high above everyone else.
"So then…this is the boy you spoke of, Aizûr?" The man asked stopping at the Masked man's side.
"That he is, Eradûm." Aizûr replied.
"Hmmm… Did you not say four others were with him? Where are the other three?"
"Down below. She was the only one to join him so far given her ability to move quickly."
"I see… Then she was part of the group responsible for defeating the Nuckelavee just a few moments ago. An impressive feat considering the aggressive nature of the beast. Many a human has fallen against the creature, and yet a group of four children managed to defeat it. Most impressive."
"They have potential to grow into excellent warriors. This young girl in particular." Aizûr pointed out.
The new arrival Eradûm glanced at Ruby briefly, saying "Interesting…", before he glanced to Dante, "I've heard much about you these past few months. Aizûr seems set on the idea you have potential."
"Potential to do what?"
"That is for us to know, and for you to continue contemplating." He spoke, as blood red Aura formed in his hand, soon dispersing to reveal the weapon he now wielded.
It was a black spadroon saber that looked as though it were made from clean bone, where the cross guard resembled blood red muscle fibers twisted together, each end of the cross guard capped in black, diamond shaped spikes. The blade length had to be at least three feet long.
The handle looked as though it could be gripped with two hands, but that was merely for decoration, for the lower half of the handle had the same twisted coil of dark red muscle fibers with a longer diamond shaped, black spike of bone. The guard sported a wavy triangular pattern of black bone that enveloped the back part of his hand to protect it.
"For now...I shall test you myself. Aizûr, you can do as you please with the girl. Kill her if you'd like."
Him saying that made the duo tense up greatly.
"Now now, we aren't here for that, are we?"
"Why are we here if not to kill them?"
"Well…"
"It matters not. Kill her, maim her, it makes no difference. Ensure she stays out of my way."
Aizûr let out a sigh, glancing in Dante and Ruby's directing, "It looks as though we'll have to save playing around for another time."
"What makes you think I'll let you split us up?" Dante asked.
"I don't quite think you understand your situation, so allow me to pose a question for you. At what point did you think you still had control of this battle as soon as I appeared?"
That air of confidence wasn't just for show… This Eradûm had to be as strong, if not stronger than the Dragon Masked man, now identified Aizûr, if he could make such statements so easily. If that was the case...then he and Ruby were in more trouble than he realized.
Even so...Dante had not done what he mentioned earlier. He hadn't shown Aizûr his full hand. The problem was if he did, the levels of destruction to the area would be immense. With that in mind, the immortal had a theory he had been working on during these past few months. He hadn't the chance to try it, given the explicit dangers involved to others, but if he was correct about his theory...he could fight at full strength even with others around.
But what to do now? They didn't seem to have any particular problem with killing Ruby outright just to get her out of the way. At least, Eradûm didn't. From the way Aizûr spoke and acted around him...it was like he didn't enjoy entertaining the thought either. Would he not seriously harm Ruby? Or would it be a facade made for the immortal to let his guard down?
Dante hated not having the upper hand this time… And his concerns only grew by the second now that there was a second, potentially more dangerous enemy to fight.
Were they actually doomed?
A streak of white flame descended from on high, crashing into the rooftop between the two groups and surging forwards towards Aizûr and Eradûm, the newer arrival stepping forward to swing his sword across his body to disperse the pure white flames.
A new figure gently landed in front of Dante and Ruby, but to the immortal, this man was indefinitely someone he recognized.
He was a tall, muscular man, about 6'3, that looked to be in his forties, had messy white hair, crimson colored eyes, and enough facial hair around his mouth and on his cheeks to be considered a beard.
His attire consisted of white kimono with a black kosode underneath, the sleeves wide and short enough that they just barely reached over his elbows. He also wore a white hakama, and back tabi socks with almost silvery zori sandals. There was also a black sash around his waist that kept his kimono together, It's ends draping off towards his left side.
Tucked in the left side of his black sash was a katana with a white sheath, with the edge of the blade facing downwards instead of upwards. The handle was colored white, while the compressed hexagonal guard and butt cap of the handle were of black metal. On the end of the butt cap was a small, white tassel.
His most prominent features by far, however, were the pair of white fox ears atop his head and the large, nine white fox tails that proudly stood up behind him.
There was no mistaking who this was.
Tenma Kitsukami, Inuba's father, had stepped onto the field.
"Tenma…" Dante barely managed to say, still in disbelief at seeing him there.
He had been gone for such a long time. No one knew where the previous head of the Kitsukami clan had gone to, or what the mission he set out on was. And now, right at this moment, he stood before the young immortal in his brilliant glory, like a beacon of flame.
Hope had truly been rekindled now that he was present.
"Oh? So you've finally made yourself know have you?" Eradûm asked glancing at Tenma, relieving the elder kitsune's attention, "We've never managed to fully identify you due to how you've effortlessly managed to thwart our efforts within the recent years. It seems I'll have a chance to put an end to you myself."
Tenma merely scoffed at his statement, crossing his arms, "You talk too much, you know that?"
He was still the same as Dante remembered him; a deep, charismatic voice with the commanding presence of an angry god.
Tenma suddenly looked back to Dante, but the glance he gave him was...far too serious than his usual.
"Hey… Say something already, old man…"
The elder Kitsune simply walked over to Dante slowly, who had still been waiting for Tenma to say something to him.
Instead, he stopped directly in front of the immortal and head butted him.
The force of the head but was so strong, it made Dante reel backwards until his feet were off the ground, where his upside down head quickly bounced twice on the rooftop ground before crashing against the edge, sending him off the roof.
Dante quickly optioned himself upright and flailed his arms to grab hold of the edge before plummeted down below. But instead of being allowed to climb back up, the immortal looked up to find the sole of one of Tenma's zori sandals plant itself in his face, intentionally trying to kick him down the building.
Another forceful kick from Tenma, and Dante was finally sent plummeting below, screaming "WHAT THE HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL?!".
Ruby looked on in shock, her head constantly turning back and forth between where Dante fell and the elder Kitsune, who glared at an equally confused Aizûr and Eradûm. All he gave them was a silent "Hmph" before he grabbed hold of Ruby, and instantly blurred out of sight in streaks of white flame.
"Now that was quite an unexpected surprise…" Aizûr said stepping forward, glancing over the edge of the rooftops to notice the other group of three from below were also missing, "Should we go after them?"
"There's no need. They know full well escape is impossible unless we cease to live or we retreat, both of which neither of us will be or do. In any case, they'll come straight to us soon enough. For now, we'll allow them to regroup and strategize. After all, it'll be amusing to see what they scrap together."
Small blurs of white flashed about the abandoned town of Kuroyuri, moving from alleyway to alleyway until it reached an enclosed back alley.
Ruby's feet found the ground once more in the shadow of alleyway, seeing Jaune, Ren, Nora, and a still breathing Qrow within the alleyway. All of them, save for Qrow, turned to look towards Tenma, who knelt on the ground and kept his entire large hand over Dante's face, who was still currently yelling in a muffled voice.
With a glance of annoyance, Tenma looked down to Dante, "Would you shut up already! I know there's things you want to ask me! But you gotta shut up right now and-!"
Just before the elder Kitsune could breath another word, the sole of Dante's shoe found itself buried forcefully in Tenma's face, forcing him away to grab hold of his face as he groaned in pain silently.
Dante sat up straight and took in a deep inhale before he angrily stated in a hushed tone, "I know that you idiot! I was yelling because you were making it hard for me to breath!"
"Oh! S-Sorry!" He replied apologetically as he rubbed his face.
Dante rubbed his own face briefly and stared at Tenma, who stared back after rubbing away the pain.
"You're not imagining or dreaming this up. I'm actually here right now."
"Yeah, I figured that out for myself after you nearly suffocated me."
"Heh… Still the petty complainer…" Tenma replied with a chuckle.
His expression however grew more serious as he looked off into the distance, very likely in the direction where Aizûr and Eradûm remained.
"Look, I know you've got a bunch of questions for me. Where I've been, what I've been doing. But to tell you the truth-"
"Not interested."
Tenma seemed rather surprised as he looked back to Dante who grabbed hold of his longsword and propped himself into a squat.
"There's nothing I need to ask you. Whatever you've been doing all this time for the last five years, I'm sure you had your reasons for saying nothing to anyone about anything. Not even your family. Truthfully, there's no good way for me to ask you about it right now. All I know is that we'll get to it one day. Just make sure you give an actual explanation to your family when you see them again."
"Hmph… Seems like you've matured."
"And you're still the same immature old man. Go figure." The immortal said standing up.
"So, who're the these guys? Your friends?" Tenma asked glancing at Ruby and the others.
"Obviously."
"Hey, it isn't always so obvious."
"Just give me a break already..."
"I did that when I head-butted you."
Dante let out a growl of annoyance, as he walked past them all to check on Qrow.
"So then, are guys friends with that idiot?" The elder Kitsune asked, moving his head to the six to avoid a rock hitting his head.
"Um… I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose."
"I know. I've heard about you." Tenma replied as he too stood up and crossed
"Y-You have..?"
Tenma being as tall as he was was fairly intimidating for the young girl, who felt as though she were a tiny speck at the moment.
"I've run into your uncle Qrow a few times on my journey. We worked together a few times, shared a few drinks together, and had some occasional fun."
"Seriously old man? I thought you said you had some super secret mission to take care of!" Dante spoke up as he continued examining Qrow.
"Get off my back you little brat. I took a break now and then because I needed it." Tenma shouted back, "Anyway, your uncle talks about you and your sister a lot, says how he proud he is of you guys."
"Oh… Well, thank you."
"Don't mention it. And you three?"
"Uh, Jaune Arc, sir."
"Lie Ren."
"Nora!"
"Hmmm… Pleasure to meet you all." Tenma nodded before looking to Dante once more, "Hey brat, listen up a moment. I forgot to mention one more thing."
"Yeah?" The immortal replied.
"You can't tell Inuba I was here. At all."
…
It very likely had to do with the fact she'd want to find him and ask him to come home, something he couldn't do because of his "mission".
"You're asking me to tell a pretty hefty lie to my partner, old man…"
"I know, but…"
"I never said I wasn't going to. I'm just telling you I'm not going to like doing so if she asks." He said as he joined Ruby's side, "So, what's the plan, old man? What are we going to do about those two?"
"To make this perfectly clear, running isn't option whatsoever. The only way we're getting out of here is if they're dead, or decide to retreat. And I highly doubt they'll do the latter."
"What makes you so sure?" Jaune asked.
"Both of them are extremely powerful. And the newer arrival, Eradûm or whatever, doesn't seem like the type to just let us go or let himself get beaten. He's too proud to let anything like that happen. If we run, he'll likely chase us down and try to pick us off one at a time. So like the old man said, our only option is to fight here." Dante stated as he looked to Tenma, "Which begs the question, how are we going to fight them?"
"Simple. I'll take on Eradûm or whatever his name is, and the rest of you will take on the other one."
Aizûr…
"Sure you got what it takes to solo him?"
"Tch, who do you think you're talking to?" Tenma proudly stated.
"Five years old man. You could've gotten a bit flabby in that time for all I know."
"You ever stop being such a smartass?"
"Oh, you know me, that's virtually impossible."
"I figured." Tenma replied with a scoff, "You guys got it? Back up the idiot and follow his lead. That other one, Aizûr… He isn't a pushover in the slightest. Be extra careful."
"You got it!" Ruby answered.
"What about Qrow?" Jaune asked.
"I put a barrier in this alleyway that erases Aura Signatures and will keep out Grimm. He'll be fine."
"Sure you got this old man? I wouldn't want you straining yourself too much."
"Ugh… Just shut up already you little brat." Tenma said as he and Dante walked ahead towards the alleyway's exit, "Now, let's go get this done."
"Are you sure they didn't just run away?" Aizûr asked sitting on the edge of the roof, chin resting in his hand, "That fox is a sly one you know. He's slipped our grasp every time, even when we tried sending people to capture him."
"He has a keen enough intellect to constantly make his escapes. But as it is, he knows this time he has no other option but to stay and fight for those children. Otherwise...they'll die."
"He'll get angry you know…"
"The boy?"
"Him too." Aizûr stayed as he looked to Eradûm, "But you know who I'm talking about. While He did give us freedom to roam about, He did also tell us to kill only when necessary. I'm sure you remember this since He looked to you in particular when he spoke."
"And?"
"And, I don't think killing any of them is necessary really. There's no point to it really. After all, we were the ones that attacked them."
"True. We have no real motivation to kill them. Not even that sly fox despite his meddling. It's actually quite amusing to see how he escapes our brethren always. In fact, I may as well face him instead of the boy."
"Oh? So I get to play with him a bit more?"
"Play to your heart's content. You best be prepared however."
"Hmm? How come?"
"They've returned."
Dante darted up from the edge behind Aizûr and swung, the latter quickly standing up and bringing forth his vicious looking black longsword, flipping it into backhand style as he block Dante's downward strike. He turned his head to side after hearing a gunshot, and raised his leg mid swing of Ruby's scythe and halted the weapon by pressing the sole of his foot against the pole.
Ruby and Dante were both locked in place, with Aizûr's ally, Eradûm, seemingly moving in to assist. Before he managed another step, a streak of white flame cut through the bottom of the floor, creating a wall of sorts to block off Eradûm. The corner edge of the rooftop he stood on slowly slid down, and as it it did, he looked behind him to see Tenma on the streets below, repositioning his blade as he leapt high above and clashed with his opponent.
Even with Tenma upon him, Eradûm kept his calm smile about him. That was until Tenma made his next move. When he struck at his opponent, the elder Kitsune did so by grasping the blade with both hands. Now that he was locked in a clash, he was free to use his other hand.
With a light chuckle, Tenma brought back his left hand, palm facing the air as it pointed in Eradûm's direction, and brought back his center finger to pinch it in between his thumb.
Eradûm's eyes widened briefly, realizing Tenma was by far much more powerful than he let he on. By the time he wished to react, it was too late. Tenma flicked his central finger at the man, unleashing a pressurized, focused column of flame that flung Eradûm back with great force, sending him crashing through numerous buildings in the path behind him.
Now that Tenma had Eradûm preoccupied completely, Ruby and Dante were able to keep their focus on only Aizûr. Even so, he didn't make it easy for the duo. He was quite easily blocking and worrying their attacks, despite their well coordinated front, but even with his on point guarding, he was forced back little by little, their fight taking them down to the streets below.
Ruby and Dante moved in for a cross clash, thinking Aizûr had no time to turn around. Clearly they were mistaken, given that he instantly spun around and simply raised up his sword vertically, blocking both of their weapons. Despite Ruby's scythe nearly wrapping around his neck, he gave them both a light chuckle before pushing both himself and the duo away to give each other space.
Jaune, Ren and Nora quickly rounded the corner, and joined Ruby and Dante as they readied themselves for Aizûr.
"Now this is quite an interesting turn of events." He said with his usual calm voice, returning his blade to its normal position before pointing it at the group "I suppose it's time for me to hold back less."
(Omake: Skyla's Reckoning, by Xera Stark)
It was surprisingly small.
And squishy.
And it wiggled around every time she touched it.
Like it was ticklish or something.
"You're so tiny," Skyla whispered in awe, picking it up. "And cute…"
Irene just smiled back at her as her arms dangled over Skyla's hands, holding the wolf-child up beneath her shoulders.
Sky's eyes trailed down the small girl's body and found her wolf tail idly flicking back and forth behind her hanging legs.
It was so fluffy…
"Okay! Uh, you watch over her for a little bit. I need to go find someone," Ciel explained, popping back out of a nearby tent.
They were camped out around a fire now, a couple other tents scattered about. Lounge chairs were here and there.
It seemed like a campout for two, maybe three. But Skyla had no idea where Irene's real caretaker was.
And why Ciel was wolfsitting her. For some reason.
"Who're you trying to find?" Skyla asked, peering around Irene's bushy tail to see Ciel filling a small travel bag.
"Oh, just our friendly neighborhood girl in the cloak. She specializes in this kind of thing," Cielexplained, throwing everything together before tossing the half-zipped bag over her shoulder.
Skyla and Irene watched it disappear into a portal.
"We'll get you home. No worries. It's still just so weird that you fell here from your own reality, though…"
"This hasn't happened before?" Sky asked.
"Nope. But I'll be back soon."
"Well, first time for everything, I guess," Skyla replied, lowering Irene back down to her own two little feet as Ciel gave the two of them a goodbye wave.
And then disappeared.
"Whelp…" Skyla quipped idly, glancing down at the little wolf-girl in front of her, two wolf ears perked as dark blue eyes stared up at her own.
She was too cute.
"What do you wanna do?"
Irene cocked her head adorably at the question and shuffled a little in her dress, tail and cloth swaying as she reached up to take Skyla's hand.
The small girl led the brunette to a crate of supplies, tiny hand letting go to push the lid open and lean over the edge of the box to start digging around inside.
After a few moments, she pulled out a stack of Uno cards.
Then with a little excited 'hmph', she thrust them up at Skyla and gave her a gleaming smile.
"Oh, cards it is!" Skyla realized, taking the deck into her hands as she smiled back.
About half an hour later, Ciel came back to three-quarters of the forest on fire.
It was a disaster.
She had to dump an ocean's worth of scattering water just to put it out as she ran through the trees in search of the encampment.
When she finally found it, wild creatures were gathered at its center, surrounding Irene and Skyla as they-
"Oh no you don't!" Ciel yelled, dashing in to summon her scythe.
Ciel was about to take one of the bears' head off when something purple jumped in front of her. The white reaper slammed her heels into the ground just to stop her blade short of the friendly figure in its way.
"Ciel! I was afraid you'd miss it!" Skyla exclaimed, bouncing around on the balls of her feet as she snagged the white-haired girl by the shoulders.
Skyla looked… completely unharmed.
The brunette happily dragged Ciel into the crowd of animals, which was more of a rough circle, now that she looked at it. And before she knew it, Skyla plopped her down next to Irene, who was intently looking at the few cards she held fanned out in front of her.
There was a squirrel pointing to some of the faces of the cards with its head, looking up to Irene in question to see her shake her head.
Then the squirrel tried again.
Ciel watched as it went on for a few more minutes before Irene gave a firm nod and plucked one of her cards out of her sloppy fan.
With speed and childlike excitement, she slammed it down onto the loose pile of discards at the center of the large group of wildlife with her own wild gleam in her eyes.
Right next to her, a mother wolf stared with wide dark eyes at the card Irene just used on her.
A Wild Draw 4.
The little wolf-girl's face contorted in an innocent but oh so wicked smile as Irene grinned at the wolf, sitting back down in her seat as she waited for the animal to draw its heavy sentence.
"What is… going on…?" Ciel wondered allowed.
The wolf mother seemed to get over her shock before snapping its gaze to Irene, who didn't so much as flinch as it growled behind a closed maw.
It leisurely got up and took a few steps over to the girl, eyes narrowing as Irene beamed up at it.
Then it lunged.
Ciel tensed as she went to shoot up in worry to get in its way, only to stop as she was dragged back to the ground by Skyla.
Anger and shock at Skyla settled in as she watched the gruesome scene unfold, only to melt away when she saw what was actually happening.
Irene burst out laughing as the wolf on top of her nuzzled her stomach with its cold nose. Her dark blue dress was pushed up and disheveled, the mother wolf licking at the ticklish skin of the girl's belly relentlessly while holding her down.
The small wolf-child was in tears as she squirmed and giggled, trying to curl away from the spiteful attack.
"Skyla…? Please explain. I was only gone for thirty minutes," Ciel finally breathed out, turning to gaze at the girl beside her in total, unadulterated confusion and surrender.
"Don't look at me! Irene invited them!" the girl replied with a pitiful grin, gazing down at her own cards.
"Okay… then why was the forest on fire?" Ciel asked.
"Oh, there was a dragon here earlier," Sky explained. Her voice almost sounded like it wasn't at all unbelievable… what she just uttered. "It kinda rage quit after I skipped its turn a couple times in a row."
"Huh…" Ciel slowly muttered, eyes drawing around the circle of stray animals all watching the attack unfold. "How many times?"
"Ten."
"Ah…"
Irene's breathing started to get a little hoarse and shallow now.
Ciel eventually seemed to resign to something as she got comfortable on the ground and folded her legs under herself, giving Skyla a competitive grin.
"Count me in for next round."
Weapons Illustrated 13
"I'mmmmmmmmmmmm Ruby!"
"I'm Dante."
"And welcome to our 13th episode of Weapons Illustrated!" Ruby stated proudly with excitement, "Boy, we sure had an interesting day huh?! We fought a really werid and tough Grimm, met some weirdos, and met your partners's dad Tenma! He's so cool!"
"There's nothing cool about that old man other than how he fights. Honestly, I'm pretty sure he has a brick for a brain."
"Ehehehe... So, since we saw him today, why don't you talk about his weapon?"
"Well, I guess we can." Dante said stepping forward, "Today we'll be talking about old man Tenma's katana, SunCutter. But before we go any further, there's some prior explanation to go through first."
"Like~?"
"Like how the FoxFire of the Kitsukami clan burns hotter than the sun."
"Woah..!"
"Yeah, woah. As it's name suggests, SunCutter uses FoxFire that burns hotter than the sun in order to quickly cut down enemies with devastating results. But it isn't as simple as just making it do so and stay like that."
"Meaning?" Ruby pressed on.
"Meaning the effect isn't constant. See, there's a condition to be met first before Tenma can use its power like that, and he has to charge it up first. This is done through two processes at the same time, those being Tenma has to manually fuel his blade with FoxFire produced from his Aura, and he has to clash blades with someone in order to build up the required energy needed."
"And then he slashes his way to victory!"
"Singular."
"Huh?" Ruby asked in confusion.
"SunCutter's special cutting ability is only a single, charged strike. Even so, with the speed of the slash, and the devastating power backing it, it's still a terrifying technique overall, even though if it's one attack."
"So, it burns hotter than the sun and all, but...what exactly does that mean when it makes contact with someone?"
"Well, when the attack connects, it simply cuts through anything virtually. That, and it quickly disintegrates the cut target until they're nothing but a pile of ash due to the built up energy being released."
"No way..."
"Yes way. I heard a rumor once from his wife, Kareina, that when Tenma releases his full power, he can actually cut a target with that ability nine times."
"Nine?! Is that a bit...well...overkillish?!"
'Well, yeah, it would be if it was just a single small target. But back in the day before Tenma and Kareina met, he traveled around the Apparition World slaying all sorts of villains and monsters. Some of those monsters being as tall as skyscrapers. While SunCutter's special technique essentially disintegrates a single humanoid being within the matter of a few seconds, it takes much longer with larger targets, like those big monsters I was talking about. Hence why over the period of a few years, Tenma maxed the ability out to nine slashes. What make's even scarier is that the old man can adjust the slashes range, that way it can reach targets from a distance too."
"That's just scary to even think about..."
"It was scary just seeing it... Anyway, that's everything about Tenma's sword SunCutter. Simple, but sometimes the simplest things can be just as destructive."
"No kidding... Well folks, I guess we'll see you next with Ciel and Leo. See you next time!"
Really busy killing monsters. So not much to say at the end here really.
So with that...
I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.
Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!
Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.
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Bye-bye now!