Here with some Dragonslayer for the forseeable future. Something to pair with the Lancaster each month. This is a rewrite of a story I had a couple chapters out for, but never got to posting the rest. I had a couple comments pointing out some editing, and these subsequent chapters will be the updated version with more content past what was posted. I plan to post these on the 10th of every month for awhile, especially since I have a good amount of chapters to post. These will also be crossposted on Ao3 for those that like reading there more.
I hope this alternate universe keeps your attention. Please feel free to review with anything, I just like seeing feedback of any kind.
CHAPTER 1 - Please Don't Quit Your Day Job I
Yang Xiao Long; ex-assassin, full time party animal, part time DJ, and all around symbol of awesomeness. At least that's what she wanted to put in her resume. The ex-assassin part really seemed like a turn off. It could be replaced with delinquent, but then it becomes the resume of a delinquent. No one wants a delinquent working for them.
Sure, she should probably add something about her degrees and where she graduated, but it doesn't really add any pizazz to it. Catching the eye of the employer is one of the most important parts of gaining a job. Oh well, might as well just put everything in the resume. The Headmaster of Beacon would totally like a bodyguard who's a jack of all trades. Nothing could go wrong with that.
The resume was only needed as a formality. Unofficially, Yang had come into contact with Professor Ozpin after one of her gigs (DJ, not killing anyone) at the school. He'd recognized her from the Remnant blacklist and from the last time they had met, which had actually been a good while, impressive. It was easy to assume that the whole reason Yang had been invited to DJ was for that meeting. She would like to assume that it was because of her amazing skills. Though, officially, she was being scouted as a personal bodyguard. Which is the because of the resume.
She sighed. Being an average citizen on its own was pretty tiring, but all the extra work was wearing her out. It'd only been a year since she'd stopped working as an assassin. Shade Academy had decided that she should take a "break" after one particularly good looking assignment had maybe, possibly, could have, not actually been killed. Totally not her fault. Abs like that would have been a crime to ruin.
Apparently being one of the top assassins and trained by the Headmaster didn't give you any leeway either. It was practically illegal to kill something that good looking. Even if they are an international arms dealer that sneaks weapons to the bad guys through stuffed ponies.
So, here she was. Still on her "break". Yang pushed away from the table, figuring that she could cure her lack of motivation to write any more with some good 'ol milk and cookies. Just like her sister always used to insist they did. Not even the magnificent view of the telephone pole from the balcony would cheer her up.
The sun had already begun its descent as Yang made her way to the couch. Not a bad day for an assassination, if she dis say so her-
"ACHOO!"
-self. Wow, that was a good one. Anyway, most assassins say that night is the best time for a silent job. But Yang thought that a setting sun is one of the best points in a day for it. Play your cards right and a single glint to blind your target will give you a perfect opening. Plus it's way less work then all the planning that goes into a night assassination.
'Work smarter, not harder'. That's what the Headmaster used to say at least. It probably included a few more paragraphs of knowledge stuff, but Yang assumed that was the main theme. Honestly, she was more focused on the "armor" and fighting at the Academy than learning.
Her awesome seamstress/armor instructor Miss Jelavic always said: "Stun your targets with yourself, then a flashbang." Definitely a fan of her work, both her assassinations and clothing creations. She was actually coming for tea next weekend.
Fighting wasn't just hand to hand combat and whatever squirt gun everyone was taught to handle. It was everything Yang could have imagined and everything she hadn't. It went from a dinky pocket glocks to a .500 Magnum, a sword to a chainsaw, even a table lamp to a foam finger.
Man, all this assassination flashback stuff was reminding her of something. It can't be the cookies and milk. Yang had already ate most of the cookies and drank all the milk. Groaning as she pushed herself up, she headed toward her fridge to grab some more milk. The milk-stache disappeared from her lip as she subconsciously wiped it, more focused on whether she was thinking about the always annoying problem of having more dip than chips and vice versa or that one time she had to be a bodyguard on Christmas in Vale.
A small squeak of floorboards interrupted her thinking.
Ah, that's what she'd forgot about. The intruder. Since Yang was on the second floor, that must've been the fifth step squeaking. Man, she hated that step. Not much anymore, though. The intruder was just about up the stairs as Yang finished pouring the milk down the sink. What a valiant waste, giving up your support for the deliciousness of cookies for her. It wouldn't be in vain.
Yang made her way to the wall closest to her, situated on the corner of the hallway from the stairs. More squeaking reverberated throughout the house as they opened and closed doors. As the third squeak came around, which meant one more door to go, Yang looked around to find out her intruder was quite the attractive man. A sleeveless hoodie, with cargo shorts is not too shabby. Problem is that while you're able to carry a ton of more tools for an assassination, but sacrifice speed and stealth. Too much ruffling, and just horrible fashion sense. At least the sleeveless hoodie brought out his biceps.
She assumed the intruder was an assassin based on that. But the dead, heh, giveaway is the dual short swords. The fourth squeak reached her ears and Yang flung her head back behind the corner. She was lucky. He was more focused on searching, he wasn't very aware of his surroundings. Quite the rookie mistake if she did say so herself.
She took a quiet, slow breath and swung her glass around the corner. The glass shattered and sprinkled on the floor, small tinks accompanied them. Yang quickly slammed the assassin against the closest wall with her left forearm, pressing hard against his collarbone. Though she was dominant with her right hand, which had the other half of the broken glass, she still had a good amount of strength in her left. Totally strengthened by months of training.
Yang pushed the glass poking the chin of the assassin, getting slightly distracted by the fact that his hoodie was sleeveless and the muscles were right there. Shame she didn't have an extra hand. The lack of sleeves became evident as it was creating a great peek in the chesticle area. He definitely paid attention in armor class, at least in the distraction aspect. Not so much with the armor part.
"So, uh, first of all, I'm Yang. Yang Xiao Long. Also known as Firecracker to most, probably you too. It's because one time at band camp…" A scowl was all she received. "Oh, manners. Uh, so, what's your name?"
Something wet slide down her cheek. Did he just spit on her?! "Okay, wow. Not cool. Like, I can't even wipe it off. Am I not speaking in the right language? Sabes que eres muy atractivo?"
His scowl deepened, but a slight tinge of red showed up on his cheeks. "Ha! Okay, well since you're so fun I'll let go. But please don't run. I don't want to get the origami out." Oh, maybe she should try something less complicated. Spanish is too hard. "Do. Not. Run. You. Regret. It."
"I can understand English and Spanish. I mean come on."
Yang exhaled in relief, "Man, that's great because that one sentence was the best I've got." Silence. Tough crowd. She let go of the yet-to-be-named-assassin and headed back over to the fridge, stopping to sweep the glass away with her foot. The assassin shifted behind Yang, but something didn't seem right.
She went with her gut and spun around, raising the broken glass bottle in defense. And surprise, surprise, there he is with his two swords drawn. Both come down, parallel and possibly aimed to chop her arms off. Smart, because what can someone do without arms? Actually a lot, but the bleeding out would definitely limit them.
Crossing her arms, Yang's left hand redirecting the sword to only skim her clothing and right hand doing the same with the bottle. After dropping the bottle, she quickly rushed forward, throwing a right hook to stun, then grabbing the wrists of the assassin and pulling him towards her. A knee to the chest and the hard twisting of his arms sufficed to make him drop the swords.
She expected that to happen and already had commandeered the swords before they hit the ground. The assassin seemed to be left handed, meaning she should probably go for the said hand for an incapacitation. But since it was better to be safe than sorry Yang gave him a quick shove and drove the blades into his shoulders. A loud cry was what she received, along with a slight amount of struggling, but ultimately the assassin fell relatively silent as he fell into unconsciousness. Yang rushed to get the Neosporin and a few bandages.
That's all I have for you this month. I know it's nothing crazy and not much, but these first chapters were written originally as a one-shot, now broken up, and they are pretty quick on the pacing. The pacing will slow down after everything has been established and we get past that. Thanks again for reading!