Hey everyone. Been a hot minute. Or month? Yikes. I do have a reason for the late update, but I doubt you want to hear excuses, so I'll just say sorry first and foremost. I promised a date and didn't deliver. Irregardless of my reasoning, that wasn't really fair, nor nice. Having said that, the reason why the chapter is so late is because of work. Recently, we've had some staff shortages at work, meaning I've had to pull extra hours on an already maxed roster. To top it off, we've had some major power outages and upgrades running during the night. What that means is I, along with another staff member, had the dubious honour of being forced to pull an all-nighter to keep our backup generators working. And then, be ready for work on short notice again for regular shifts + the extra to compensate for, you guessed it, the staff shortages. That's not so bad, especially with the penalty rates, but it means any and all spare time I had was literally sleeping these past couple of weeks. I did try to get the chapter out earlier, but, well, you can see how well that went :/ Anyways, it's ready now. I do have some important news concerning this story, but I'll save that for the AN at the end of the chapter. Without further ado, please enjoy this latest chapter.
Arc 1 – Chapter 8
Hei crossed his arms whilst delivering a firm glare towards Roman.
"I said no! It's too dangerous. Besides, I need you and Neo to remain here to help watch over the orphanage. I can't run it all by myself."
Roman ran both hands down his face in exasperation.
"Hei, please. You'd be fine! You've been running everything alright enough as it is. It's just… there's nothing really here for me anymore."
"Yes there is!" snapped Hei.
"You've got Neo! You've got the twins; the rest of the kids! Me!" He listed
"But it's not what I want," frowned Roman.
It took not but a second for him to realise how wrong that sounded, and he was quick to correct himself, but the hurt that flashed across Hei's face told him the damage was done.
"That's not what I meant, nor how," amended Roman with placating hands.
"You guys have been great to me. Truly. It's just…"
"We're not good enough for you? Is that it?"
It was childish of Hei, even he would admit that, but his emotions were running high with worry.
Roman startled in surprise.
"What?! No! Of course not Hei! It's just, I can't remain cooped up here forever. I want to expand my sights, see the world, and experience something other than poverty, Hei."
"Not Vale," refused Hei with a shake of his head.
"It's too dangerous there."
"It's too dangerous anywhere Hei! What difference does it make where I go? At least I'll be happy?! Isn't that what you always wanted for me?"
"Not at the expense of your life. Capital cities are entirely different to small towns in the middle of nowhere."
Roman placed a frustrated hand on his hip.
"How, exactly, Hei?"
"I'm not entertaining this conversation, Roman. I said no, and that's it. Forget about Vale. We need you here."
However, before Hei could leave, Roman lunged forward and grabbed his wrist.
"No Hei. How is it any different? Because the way I see it, you're just acting paranoid."
Hei wheeled on Roman.
"Paranoid, you say?" His voice was deadly calm and level, and Roman instantly knew Hei was seconds away from exploding.
"Considering you hardly ever listen to my advice and go about recklessly endangering your life, I think paranoia is hardly an apt word for the sheer worry and fear I feel for you when you are clearly not in my sight."
Roman blew a breath out slowly, hoping to de-escalate the situation, but Hei was having none of it.
"You keep stealing from the Garrison, not for necessity, but because of greed. Benny wants you in a cell so he can beat you to death, and half the townspeople spit on you because you are a Wound, a fact that you haven't done much to hide. I'm struggling as it is trying to keep you safe and alive as it is, and now you want to run off to Vale for some adventure?!"
"You make it seem worse than it really is, Hei," tried Roman, flashing a weak smile. It didn't work on Hei, who only looked furious.
"Really? Because I think it is actually worse. What happens when you get caught in the city, huh? Vale has strict protocols in place to restrict entry. As a Wound, you'd be instantly caught and tossed away in a cold cell to either rot or face experimentation. And that's if they straight out decided not to kill you."
Roman brushed off the concerns.
"I can forge documents and sneak in, easy."
"Only to get caught stealing? The city is more ruthless than a small town. The people that live there are more cunning, ruthless and unpredictable than out here. Most people here will give you a beating. Well, except Benny," groused Hei before continuing.
"In the city, they catch you? They'll cut your hands clean off before hanging you in a public square."
"I won't get caught, Hei. No-one would recognise me there."
Hei stared at Roman with a deadpan expression.
"You're already on everyone's suspect list here as it is. Forgive me for not having faith that you would somehow miraculously improve in a single day after going to a city you've never been to nor experienced."
"Hei, I grew up in the capitol of Mistral as a kid. I'm well aware how the city operates."
Hei's lips thinned as he glared at Roman.
"You were the son of wealthy nobles. You lived a privileged life for most of your childhood. You didn't experience the slums and hardship for a long time. What you think you know translates into only the basics that a city-rat knows by age five. You'd be eaten alive, Roman."
There was a sound of grinding teeth as Roman clenched his fists so hard they began to turn white.
"My life wasn't just one of privilege, Hei."
There was an underlying venom in his words that seethed forth.
"My parents hated me. Every moment of my life with them was hell, and they made no excuses for it. All because I'm a Void-freak."
He sneered at Hei, arms crossed.
"Of course those street rats in the city probably know more than me! But my life experience has taught me plenty of things, including not to trust people blindly, especially when it comes to my own interests."
Hei slammed his hands down onto the table in exasperation.
"Then you should know why I think you dropping everything to run off to the city is a dangerous fools errand! Gods, why won't you just fucking listen for once!"
"I DO listen! I hear the whispers behind my back about how I'm a no good nobody from the twins! I hear the screams of the children as their parents try to hide them away from me, like I'm some sort of Grimm come to eat them! How the town despises me and looks down on me with suspicion, disgust and fear!"
Hei clenched his jaw as his frustration mounted.
"And how many times have I told you to ignore what others say, and disregard their opinions."
Roman snorted.
"I've tried. It doesn't work. Case in point, you!"
Hei's voice turned into a gravelly growl as he leaned forward darkly.
"I have NEVER turned on you, nor spoken ill of you or wished harm to fall upon you. Case in point me constantly bailing your ass out of the fires you keep lighting and walking into!"
"Wouldn't have to if you'd just let me LIVE A LITTLE!" Shouted Roman, pent up anger boiling over.
"Brother gods above, you're such a drama queen, you big dummy," came a small voice, laced with boredom.
Both Hei and Roman turned to look at the doorway.
"MINT?! What the hell are you doing eavesdropping?! You're supposed to be outside teaching Red to get firewood!"
Emerald chucked a disinterested stare his way.
"I got bored." She looked thoughtful for a second as a hand pinched her chin suddenly.
"She seems to be doing alright, though?"
"That's not the point," dismissed Hei.
"You shouldn't be in here, alright? We're having a private conversation right now. Go back and do something with Ruby or any of the other kids."
Emerald stared at Hei with a deadpan expression.
"It's hardly what I would call private, considering you too are screaming like cats in heat."
"Where the hell did you learn that expression?" growled Hei.
Emerald shrugged indifferently.
"Melanie."
Hei pinched the bridge of his nose with a low growl, muttering out a curse about 'damned kids'.
Roman decided to take the opportunity to leave while Hei was distracted.
By the time Hei realised, he was gone.
"Argh. For fuck's sake. Roman! Get back here!" There was no response however, and Hei could only let out a frustrated breath. He wanted to scream right now, but there was no real point, and he was tired enough as it was.
He caught Emerald staring up at him with a dull expression, and a frown found its way across his face.
"What did I just say? Go find Ruby or one of the other kids and go occupy yourself."
Emerald shrugged.
"I can't."
"What do you mean you can't? Emerald. Just go listen for once!"
She was absolutely unfazed by Hei's growing impatience.
"I can't," she repeated. "All the big kids are busy right now, and the others are boring."
Hei sighed in contrivance.
"That's not an excuse, and you know it."
"Well… " she looked pensive for a moment. "There is Duck, but he's busy right now with something."
He rubbed his right eye tiredly.
"Busy with what?" came his exasperated voice.
"I told him there was a magic stick somewhere in the building, so he and Rudy went off to go find it."
"It's Ruby," corrected Hei, before his face morphed into one of horror.
"Wait, you purposely sent Duck on a wild goose chase?!"
"Well, he's annoying. What else was I supposed to do? Stab him?"
Hei bolted upright.
"One, don't listen to Neo. Two, this is Duck. He's a moron. What you did was either doom the poor kid, or all of us!"
She scoffed. "It can't be that bad."
Duck squinted as he stared at the strange big fat cigar stick that Tony had confiscated from Roman. It was sitting perfectly on the small desk in Tony's room. Ruby was looking around curiously.
"I found it," he whispered, his voiced laced with wonder and awe.
"The Wand of Power."
"What's it do?" questioned Ruby, amazed.
Delicately, Duck reached forward and scooped into his hands in a cupping motion.
"Torchwick had it," he whispered reverently.
"And he always brings powerful artefacts and valuable treasures. This has to be one of them!"
"Wait, but doesn't he steal, though?"
Duck didn't pay her moral quandary any heed, however.
"Only the righteous can possess such power. And I am the most righteous Duck of them all."
Ruby frowned.
"I think Emerald was right. You are a little cookoo."
"Shush! We mustn't let our enemies know of our discovery." His eyes darted around rapidly, his movements twitchy, as if he expected someone or something to suddenly pounce on him.
"What enemies?"
"The Dark Ones," he whispered darkly.
"Wait. What's a Dark One?"
"The sworn enemy of my ancestors. One only I can defeat, with the aid of a powerful weapon. With this Wand, I can become SuperDuck, and then I can beat them down and save us all. I can save you, fair princess!"
Ruby couldn't help but giggle.
"You're funny!"
Duck's nose scrunched up as he realised Ruby wasn't taking him seriously.
"This is serious," he whined. That only elicited more laughter from Ruby, who promptly grabbed the cigar out of Duck's hands to look at herself.
"So, how does it work, exactly?"
Duck struck a thoughtful pose with squinted eyes.
"Hmmm. Good question. One only the great SuperDuck can answer."
Ruby rolled her eyes, a smile enveloping her features.
"Wait, didn't Tony say something about smoking it?"
Duck's eyes widened to comical proportions.
"You are genius, Ruby! Well, only second to me. But a genius!"
"Um. Thanks?"
He snatched the cigar back from Ruby's hands, holding it tightly with conviction and a plan in mind.
"And there's only one place where we can get smoke!"
"A fire?" suggested Ruby.
Duck shot her a confused look. "What? No, a fireplace."
"Wait, there's a difference?" Now it was Ruby's turn to be confused.
Duck shook his head slowly in disappointment.
"Silly. Only a fireplace can give smoke. You have yet to master the ways of Duck. It's to be expected. But I will teach you," he offered sagely.
"Now. To find a fireplace!"
He quickly yanked Ruby by her wrist to follow him, and the helpless and confused poor girl had no choice but to follow.
"But wait?! A fire and a fireplace are the same thing!" She screamed as she was roughly dragged away.
They were sat in Hei's room with the door shut, crouching reverently before the fireplace built into the wall.
"Is this really a good idea?" questioned Ruby.
Duck scoffed.
"Ruby. As the protector of the world and grand hero, I know what I am doing. Have faith, fair princess."
Ruby crossed her arms with a pout.
"I'm not a princess," she grumbled.
"Shush! It begins…" whispered Duck ominously and with a tint of awe as a small flicker of fire began to burn in the fireplace.
Ruby eyed the small flame sceptically.
"I think you need it to be bigger," she suggested, only for Duck to look at her with a frown.
"I know that! I'm trying, okay?"
He wasn't. He just sat there staring at the small flame burning with hardly any fuel, watching as it slowly began to burn out after all the effort spent to light it in the first place.
"It needs more wood, otherwise it won't burn properly!"
Duck scowled, feeling caught out for being useless.
"I know that." He eyed Hei's desk thoughtfully.
"Well, we need to get some wood, then?"
"No need," interjected Duck, standing up.
"We have all the wood we could possibly need." Ruby followed his gaze before it settled on Hei's desk.
A pit of unease formed in her stomach.
"Duck. Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Nonsense! It's perfect! It's made of wood, and we need a fireplace to power the Magic Wand!"
"But, isn't that Hei's, though?"
Duck sauntered up to the desk and began pulling the drawers out, revealing inked parchments, small ornaments, and other miscellaneous items.
"Sometimes the hero must make great sacrifices for the gooder good," he answered sagely.
One of the items he pulled out was a strange wooden handle with a metal pipe on it.
"What's this?" He questioned, eying it curiously as he moved it around, before sticking the barrel directly to his eye and looking down it.
"Oh! That's the thing mister Hei used…." She trailed off as she suddenly remembered Hei's words about being secretive.
"Thing? Like what?"
"Oh, um. Nothing. It doesn't matter," deflected Ruby, doing her best attempt to act like it was nothing. It was a pathetic attempt that would fool no one. Except Duck who took her words to heart with disappointment.
"It isn't a magic wand, then."
He tossed the strange contraption over his shoulder and it hit the ground with an empty clang and clatter.
With the drawers now empty, Duck grabbed one and took it to the fireplace and shoved the whole thing in.
It smothered the flame entirely.
Ruby panicked.
"You can't put big things in like that first, Duck! You need to put small things in like kindling to start the fire. It stokes it up!"
"Really?"
"Uh-huh! That's what I was told."
"That's just silly. You need bigger wood to make a big fire!" Disputed Duck, his brow creased in consternation.
Ruby just glowered back at him, and after several tense seconds, Duck became uneasy and relented.
"Okay. I'll get something smaller, then."
Unfortunately, his choice of something smaller happened to be the various parchments now strewn about the area surrounding Hei's desk. Even despite her lack of understanding concerning what they actually were, let alone their contents, she did know enough to understand that they were Hei's, and that he probably wouldn't be pleased if they were damaged. Unfortunately, Duck shared no such concerns and was also quicker in acting.
The parchments were tossed in with no regard, and before Ruby could react, they started to catch fire, their edges smouldering as the flames began to build.
"Duck!" She admonished sharply.
"That's not a good thing to do!"
"But now we have a fireplace so we can power the wand," exclaimed Duck excitedly, totally transfixed on the cigar.
"But those were Hei's! If he finds out what you just did, he's gonna get mad!"
Duck waved a hand at her in admonishment, a stupid grin plastered over his face as he naively scoffed.
"Pssssh. A small sacrifice in exchange for a powerful wand. Now. How do we power it?"
With that, he proceeded to ignore Ruby's concerns and began to examine and shake the cigar. His brow furrowed as nothing happened. No light was emitted, no vibrations, or thrum of magic, nor even a faint feeling of something different.
"As I suspected," frowned Duck.
"Its magic has been locked by the enemy." He glanced at the gently crackling fire, Hei's parchments long disintegrated.
"Only the fireplace can hope to activate it now."
Duck frowned, and instantly, Ruby wanted to shrink into herself as she braced for the next words to be uttered from his mouth.
"There's not enough smoke. We need more wood."
"Duck, no!" she grabbed his wrist in an effort to stop him.
"We can't just keep adding more stuff to the fire. We have to give it a chance to breath and grow! Besides, look how small it is!" She wildly pointed at the cigar in his hands.
"Surely it can't require that much smoke and fire, right?!"
Duck eyed it thoughtfully, before finally looking her in the eyes.
"Ruby. One can never have enough fireplace and smoke. With more smoke comes more power," he sagely inclined his head, wrapped in his own twisted logic.
With those words, he broke free from Ruby's grasp, and grabbed another drawer to toss into the fireplace.
Roman was wandering down the halls, hoping to find Neo for some solace after his latest argument with Hei. That was when the smell hit his nostrils.
Is that smoke?
He was baffled, but his nose did not deceive him. That was definitely smoke.
Walking further down the halls as he followed the smell led him to Hei's office, and his eyes widened as he saw wisps of smoke leaking from the gaps under and around the shut door.
"What the hell…?"
With worry and dread, he opened the door, and was instantly greeted with a sight that blew his eyes wide open and mouth agape, an action which left him instantly hacking as smoke came pouring out.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
The windows in Hei's office were wide open, and smoke was billowing out as the fireplace roared ablaze. It was crammed with a half disassembled desk that once belonged to Hei, and smoke was billowing out.
Ruby was lying on the ground, currently coughing her lungs out, all while Duck was prancing around gleefully with a lit cigar in his hands, screaming "I HAVE THE POWER NOW!"
With only one look at the situation, Roman acted.
He ran in as quick as he could to grab a half conscious Ruby, tossing her over his shoulder before grabbing Duck by the back of his neck, the baggy rags and jacket making a suitable makeshift handle. Duck let out an annoyed protest as he was hauled out of the room, grasping the cigar tightly, all while Roman began screaming bloody murder about a fire.
In seconds, the twins were in the hallway to check the commotion out, as were several other orphans, young and old alike.
It didn't take long for everyone to start grabbing towels and buckets of water from the well to fight the fire burning in Hei's office.
"What the hell, Torchwick!" screamed Melanie.
"Are you trying to kill us?!"
"Me?! I'm the one that found the fire in the first place!" screamed Roman as he tossed water into the room to smother the creeping flames.
Tony ran in with a heavy blanket to start smothering the fireplace itself while Miltia and DJ raced to extinguish it with several wooden buckets of water.
"We can ask questions later," snapped Tony. "Just focus on extinguishing the fire!"
It wasn't until the fire was nearly fully put out that Hei himself arrived, a look of shock that quickly morphed into fury etched into his face.
"What is this?"
Duck, in his ever-so-helpful state, was quick to answer with much enthusiasm.
With a wide-eyed expression, he clutched the cigar like it was a precious treasure.
"Look what I found! It's the Wand of Power!"
Hei blinked in dumbfounded stupor as he took in the smiling visage of a soot-covered Duck holding a lit cigar nearly as big around as his forearm.
"What?-I?"
He shook his head before turning towards a thin-lipped Tony and bug-eyed Roman.
"Will someone please explain to me? What the actual fuck is going on?! Why is there a fire in my office? Why is Ruby not outside learning from Jess and Tommen? And why is Duck holding a fucking cigar?!" He snatched it out of Duck's hands vehemently as he eyed everyone furiously.
Tony cleared his throat before speaking up in a cold tone.
"While I can't answer why there was a fire, nor why young Ruby is not outside learning her duties, the cigar is something I confiscated off of Roman yesterday after you left the orphanage. I did intend to notify you, but ended up distracted."
Roman went ashen-faced as he mimed for Tony to shut-up, only to stop when Hei's narrowed gaze fell upon him like a hammer. He wilted, but not without attempting a half-hearted guilty smile, which failed miserably to calm Hei down.
"Roman. Why do you have a cigar?"
He cut him off before he could make any excuses.
"Scratch that," he bit out, holding a hand up.
"I'll return to that later. Why was my office on fire, Roman. Answer me that."
"Hey, why are you looking at me like that?! I didn't do anything!" He protested weakly, only to get a derisive snort from Melanie as she crossed her arms. Miltia bit back a chuckle.
"Considering your tendency for destruction with fire, forgive us for doubting you, Torchwick."
"Oh fuck you," he flipped Miltia off with a scowl, before gesturing to Duck and Ruby.
"Ask those two. I found them in your office when the place was on fire."
Hei cocked an eyebrow.
"Really now?"
He levelled a stern gaze at the two, and Ruby felt herself wither under his glare as her coughing ceased. Duck showed no such compunctions, only staring back proudly.
"We activated the Magic Wand!" He exclaimed.
Hei glanced at the cigar dubiously.
"This? Really?"
Ruby couldn't take the pressure and disappointment, so she blurted out in aid of Duck.
"We just wanted to get the fireplace going."
Hei did a double take on the cigar, and then Ruby.
"All this to light a fucking cigar?!"
Ruby wilted into herself. She felt like she wanted to crawl in a hole and die as Hei fumed.
He let out a deep sigh as he ran a palm down his face, his eyelids being pulled down along the way. He was visibly struggling to contain his anger.
"How did you even light it in the first place?" He wanted to know.
Duck piped up.
"Oh, that was easy! We used your parchments and desk to start the fireplace."
There was a collective groan from everyone when those words left his mouth, albeit a few amused chuckles hidden in there.
Roman was quick to correct Duck's grammar. "You wanted to start a fire. Not fireplace kid."
Hei was despairing, and he quickly paced into the room, staring at the damage.
"Why? Why!" He threw his hands up in defeat.
"God dammit Duck!" He wanted to scream uncontrollably.
Melanie bit back a snigger. That was the wrong thing to do, as Hei wheeled on her, lips pursed and hands clenched.
"And where exactly were you?"
Melanie flinched and looked caught out as Hei's gaze bore into her skull.
"Oh, um…" she at least had the audacity to look ashamed, unlike Duck who was still sporting a proud smile.
"Right…" nodded Hei. "Well, I expect this mess cleaned up in its entirety by sundown today. Duck! Ruby!"
Duck perked at his name being called, though Ruby just hung her head in shame.
"You two will be cleaning this mess you made. And then you will be seeing me after dinner tonight to discuss your punishment."
"Punishment?" Duck looked lost.
"But we just unlocked the magic wand, and now the Dark Ones are ready to be attacked!"
Melanie shot him an amused grin.
"The only Dark One here is Hei."
Hei shot her an unamused frown.
"You've just volunteered to help them. Now, Roman, where are you slinking off to!"
Melanie was left spluttering, while Roman was quickly cornered by Hei before he could leave.
"Why did you have a cigar in the first place?"
Hei's tone was tense and warning.
"Er, well you see Hei…"
Roman tried his best to splutter out an excuse, but Hei was unmoving and just levelled him a terse stare with his arms crossed.
"Let's not get too hasty on the punishments here, aye? I'm sure it was an accident with the kids."
"Do not change the subject Roman. Though, on the idea of punishments, I'm seriously considering some more creative ideas right now."
Tony, whether out of pity, or simple efficiency, decided to interject and answer on Roman's behalf.
"Roman was busy with his escapades, and happened to bring back a cigar on one such event. As I said earlier, I confiscated it as I knew you would not approve."
He levelled a glare at Duck and Ruby.
"How it came into the possession of these two is indeed… a mystery."
Hei watched Roman for several seconds more, making him squirm.
"I'm sure…" he finally drawled out.
"Roman. You're going to help clean this mess. And then we'll discuss your punishment as well."
"Er-what?! But I didn't even do anything!" He protested.
"I literally just finished speaking to you about endangering your own life recklessly. You smoking whatever shit is those cigars is likely a one-way ticket to the cemetery. Especially if you bought them from who I think you did."
Roman tilted his head in confusion.
"Who said anything about buying them?"
Hei's lips thinned and his head shook with barely contained rage.
"I'll be having words with you later Roman. Now get this mess cleaned up!" With that, Hei stormed away.
Tony's lips curled down.
"Well, you've done pissed him off now children."
Melanie scowled in his direction.
"We're all children, dumbass. The oldest of us is what, seventeen? Barely an adult. So don't act so high and mighty. Pompous ass," she groused that last sentence under her breath.
Tony however took it in stride and smirked back at her.
"Well, behave like a child, expect to be treated like one. Now get to work, deary." And with that, Tony strode off.
"Hey, don't call me deary, asshole! Are you listening to me?!" He wasn't, and Roman, despite his new dilemma, couldn't help but chuckle at Melanie's misfortune.
"He's not paying you heed, you know."
Melanie just growled in response, ignoring Miltia's soothing hand for support on her shoulder.
"But hey, that's what you get for running your mouth off to the big man," smirked Roman.
Melanie's eyes widened.
"Oh eat a dick, Torchwick! Everyone could hear your screaming match with Hei earlier!"
"Language!" chided Roman mockingly, striding up to cover Ruby's ears preciously.
"Now, I know this is an unfortunate set of circumstances for us all, but let's just behave like one big happy family for a minute, and work together, aye?"
Melanie swatted his hand off of her before he could embrace her and Ruby in a hug, as patronising as it likely was going to be.
"That sounds nice," chimed Miltia innocently.
Melanie's neck strained as she turned to deliver a twisted smile to her sister.
"Miltia? Kindly shut up and don't encourage him."
Two days had passed since the incident in Hei's office, and while the small group did their best to clean up the mess, the damage had been done. It was only because the walls had been stone and mortar that the whole room wasn't destroyed. However, as for its contents? Hei's desk, or what little remained of it, was worthless timber fit for firewood at this point. Any and all documents stored in the room had been destroyed. Several trinkets and ornaments had survived, including the Flintlock which Hei was quick to recover.
The door was scarred and burnt, as evidenced by the charred wood on the one side, and had to be completely pulled down and reassessed later to see if it was salvageable.
A lack of soaps and animal-based detergents meant that the whole building reeked of residual smoke, even two days later. As such, many of the windows had to be opened to air out the building.
The gossip had already spread throughout the orphanage about what had happened, and already Ruby and Duck's names were being brought up in a mixture of shock, disappointment, awe, pride and conspiracy. People didn't know what to think and ultimately were divided in two camps. Either it was funny and worth a good laugh in retrospect, albeit reckless. Or it was something of concern and likely heralding a new dark age of terror.
Hei had already caught Tommen and Jess arguing about the matter and had to shut their gossiping down as it threatened to cause more harm to the two children in question.
What wasn't mentioned, but Hei was aware of, was how Roman's name was mentioned in conjunction with the fire. He was no stranger to how some people felt about him, but he still did his best to absolve him of direct input in the incident. However, looking back in hindsight, he shouldn't have publicly dragged Roman into the matter when it was clear he didn't have anything to do with it really, other than bringing the cigar into the building in the first place.
No, that honour went to Emerald for stirring Duck up. And lo and behold, Duck delivered. Instead of being ashamed of his actions, however, the young boy took it all in stride, like water off a duck's back.
Honestly? Hei felt the name suited him.
He took a deep breath.
Punishment had to be doled out, and after getting them to clean the mess they made up, Hei had to think of a meaningful one.
It was Roman who helped him considerably on that front.
He suggested that Duck be stuck on cleaning and kitchen duty with the bigger kids to keep him tied down and hopefully burn him out. As for Ruby, he had suggested taking away her spare time for a week or two and have her focus on strictly learning new, useful information.
Hei smirked at the memory. Kill two birds with one stone by punishing her, as well as teaching her some important information and knowledge.
What Roman didn't expect was for Hei to delegate Roman the task of teaching Ruby as punishment for bringing home cigars to smoke.
The look of horror on his face was well worth it. Ultimately, Hei had compromised and agreed to co-train the girl, but Roman would still have to do the heavy lifting. He was not thrilled at all.
And it was those events that led to his current predicament….
Ruby stared in confusion at the crudely drawn parchment map on the table, all while a defeated Hei and Roman sat slumped over and or leaning back in their chairs, exhausted.
"I thought you said teaching kids was easy, Hei? What exactly happened to that?"
Hei slowly angled his head to face Roman, an irritated expression written across his features.
"Oh, can it. You're the one that suggested she needs to learn where we are and how to read a map."
"I meant just some basic geography concerning where we are and a few neighbouring landmarks!" hissed Roman.
"Yeah well, leaving it at that is just plain stupid. We might as well explain all the different main factions and groups and where they are located as well so she can avoid trouble!"
Roman glared back at Hei.
"Yeah, and I said it's too much for her to learn in one go. She's already spent the past four days learning who everyone is, the chores and getting up to speed on her rules and conditions."
Hei pinched the bridge of his nose.
"And like I said, it's only some basic knowledge! I'm trying to get her up to speed so she doesn't wind up getting hurt or worse. The Malachite twins had to learn this shit plus more in less than half the time, and they managed!"
Roman leaned forward, slamming a hand down onto the table.
"Yeah, well, they came from a syndicate background where they were raised with that stuff constantly! Of course they were going to pick it up more quickly! Red's only, what? Five! I'm no expert on kids Hei, but I don't think one can expect them to be that capable."
Ruby's eyes darted between the two as they bickered, and she began to wilt the more they spoke.
"I'm not saying she needs to be an expert," argued Hei.
"But she does need to know."
"And how are you going to get it through to her then?" growled Roman. "Because clearly your methods aren't working."
Hei glowered at Roman.
"Be my guest then. Go on, teach the kid the map!"
Roman stared intently back at Hei, until he finally turned away and let his shoulders sag.
"It's just… it's not working," sighed Roman, all prior vigour lost.
Hei locked his eyes with Roman, before he too exhaled deeply and let himself calm down.
"I'm trying…" mumbled Ruby, clearly bothered.
The two young men cast each other a glance, before Hei spoke up.
"It's alright Ruby. We'll try again until it makes sense."
"Mmm-kay," nodded Ruby dejectedly.
Roman frowned.
"You up for it again?"
She nodded, somewhat resolutely.
"Alright. From the top. We're in the kingdom of Vale. There are three other Kingdoms. You have Atlas to the north, Mistral to the east, Vacuo to the west. There's some wars and politics, but no one really knows too much about it nor is it truly relevant anyways."
Hei frowned at Roman's last sentence, but let him continue unabated.
"Now, we're here," Roman pointed to a spot on the crude parchment map, in somewhere that accounted for the middle of Vale.
"This is us; the town of Saint. I know," he dismissed with a wave.
"They went all out in the naming, and still managed to get it wrong." He scoffed.
"Ain't no saints here."
Hei took over.
"And up north, is the grand capitol of Vale. Vale City."
Ruby furrowed her brows as she processed the information.
"Wait. So the city for Vale is also Vale?" Roman and Hei nodded slowly.
"But that's so confusing?"
Hei shrugged.
"Look, we don't make the rules, kid. Now, as for each main Kingdom? Mistral is what we call a traditionalist kingdom. They cling to their past and heritage and are one of the wealthiest kingdoms. They also have the highest amount of criminal organisations. Between that and their massive slave trade, they are dangerous for you. Never go there!" Hei's tone brooked no argument, and Ruby sat with rapt attention.
"Next is Atlas. They are the main technological powerhouse of the world, with some of the greatest minds and Arcane inventions developed. They also are run by the military and take anything new and different as a threat."
"They're also a bunch of real snobby elitist assholes," added Roman not-so-helpfully, ignoring the glare Hei cast his way.
"What he said…. Never go there."
Ruby nodded slowly.
"As for Vale… they're a mix of the two. Embracing tradition AND the Arcane." Hei sighed, rubbing his face.
"I'd normally say never go there, but we're here, and out of all the other kingdoms, it probably is the safest for you so long as you stay away from the major settlements."
"Uh, Hei?"
Hei's lips thinned. "What, Roman?"
"Isn't Saint a large settlement?"
"Why yes, it is Roman.," bit out Hei sardonically. "Your point?"
Roman ignored the antagonising and pointed look Hei was throwing his way.
"Well, isn't that a bit of a contradiction to what you just told her?"
Now that she thought about it, Roman did have a point.
There was an awkward silence before Hei finally decided to speak.
"The last Kingdom is Vacuo, though I'd hardly call it a Kingdom, and more a bunch of tribes and nomads. Harsh land from what I've heard. And one steeped in war, slavery and constant hardship."
Ruby was about to call him out for dodging the question, but Roman cut in with something else.
"You seem to know a lot about these things, Hei."
The man in question suddenly looked uncomfortable as he fidgeted in his seat.
"My prior job meant I had to be well informed of a lot of things, including the goings on in other Kingdoms. Though, I'm hardly what you would call informed. There's a lot I don't know about these Kingdoms. There. Does that make sense Ruby?"
She slowly nodded. "I think so, now."
Roman and Hei both sighed in relief.
"That's good. Any questions?"
Ruby struck a thinking pose, with a hand under her chin. "Actually, there is one I do have. What's all this outside of the Kingdoms?" She gestured to the space in between the rough continents.
Hei's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"That's… the sea." At Ruby's confused expression, he elaborated.
"Think of a really big lake, but with water as far as the eye can see. So much water, that there is no land anywhere to be seen."
Ruby sat with wide-eyes, enraptured.
"Really?! Would it… would it be safe out there then?"
Hei chuckled at her excitement, but Roman frowned.
"Isn't there supposed to be another nation out there? Across the sea? Meninge or something?"
Hei stilled, his laughter subsiding as his jaw clenched. Ruby took note of this and was quick to comment and ask what was wrong.
"There are… rumours… of another land. One that has been discovered by Mistral."
"Really? What's it like?" Inquired Ruby innocently.
"I don't know. No-one really knows. What little I have heard is that it is a land filled with strange beasts and monsters." He shuddered, and Ruby shrunk into herself, already afraid.
"They call it Menagerie…."
Ruby pulled the small cloak into herself more tightly as she walked down the cold open street with Roman by her side. The beginnings of dusk cast an amber hue over everything and gave the snow a faintly gold look. Unfortunately, that was the closet imitation to wealth that these slums would ever see, and everywhere Ruby looked she could see people dressed in rags shambling into and out of buildings as stalls began to close and people prepared fires to stay warm. Those that held no home started to take to the alleyways to at least get a windbreak from the freezing winds starting to slowly pick up.
Roman kept close to her side, dressed in his signature white fur jacket with his newly requisitioned cane tucked under one arm. While he exuded an air of confidence as he walked about, head held high, she noticed the way his eyes were constantly moving. Assessing everyone and everything.
"Why do we have to be out right now? It's getting dark and it's getting cold," frowned Ruby.
"Part of your punishment kid. You gotta help me get some parchments real quick before Trevor closes his shop for the night."
"It's your punishment too," she grumbled.
"Yeah well, if you didn't burn down Hei's office, which I might add was mighty impressive, then we wouldn't be out here. I wouldn't be out here." He adopted a funny look as if he blamed her, which to be fair, was accurate.
She glanced around as they weaved down an alley.
"Are you sure it's safe for us to be out alone like this? Aren't I supposed to remain hidden? And aren't you a known thief and…" she wanted to say Wound, but she didn't want to upset him. Roman noticed, and couldn't help but slightly wince.
"It's okay. You can say it. It's the truth after all. I'm a Wound. And…" he blew a breath through his nose, disrupting a bang hanging down too low. "I know I'm not exactly the strongest." He shot her a confident smile.
"That's why the next thing to learn is always have a backup plan."
"Is that why you have the cane?"
"Hahaha. Not quite. That's more for style points kiddo. No, Neo's my backup."
"Really?! Where is she?" She looked around frantically, but couldn't find any sight of her.
Roman clamped a hand down onto her shoulder to stop her from moving so fast.
"Calm down Red, or you're going to draw attention to yourself. She's tailing us in case we have any bad run-ins. Not that we will," he assured her, before gesturing to the roof of a building nearby with an incline of his head.
"Up there. On your right. See the building with the three chimney stacks?"
Ruby squinted as she tried to follow his gaze, before seeing a tiny outline of someone crouched low on the rooftop.
"Ahhh. I think I see her," she nodded.
"She's always nearby. Keeps an eye out for me."
Ruby couldn't quite grasp why she was so far from them however, even if the building was only a couple metres away from them.
"Simple," shrugged Roman.
"Anyone thinking to get the drop on me will find her getting the drop on them real quick. You'd think it wouldn't work, but she does have an active Semblance. Give her an Aura shard or two, and she can give even the garrison a run for their money."
Ruby shot Roman a disappointed look. "Does everything revolve around fighting and stealing with you?"
Roman shrugged with a smirk. "Guilty as charged."
Ruby looked away, her eyes exploring the aisle they were nearly out of while Roman kept talking.
"That's the garrison barracks right there. Let's try not to get their attention."
Ruby followed his gaze before settling on a church that was currently under renovations. The spire which held a massive bell was intact, but scaffolding could be seen leading up to the peak, and all around the base of the building were sandbags to stop flooding and offer some protection.
The church itself was centred in the middle of the open street, with plenty of space all around it, offering a clear view of anyone trying to approach it.
Not a tree could be seen at all, not even a decorative bush to offer some sense of nature. Just thousands of paved bricks that made up the entire street, and a wall of dilapidated buildings and tents.
She was looking at the different buildings, including open windows and different alleyway branches when her heart suddenly stopped.
"Now, so you know…" Roman's voice drowned out as her eyes widened in terror and her heart dropped to her stomach.
In the alley to her left stood a figure in a cloak.
The brown cloak obscured most of his body in shadows, but there was no mistaking the white clothes, complete with leather belts and straps, nor the frenzied manic grin of the psychopath staring right back at her.
She let loose a whimper of terror as an arachnid tail, complete with stinger, swayed out from the cloak, poised low. Meanwhile, Tyrian's face lit up with glee as his eyes locked with hers.
"Hey Red, you alright there?" Roman's voice interrupted her shock, and she broke her gaze away from Tyrian to look up at him. Roman looked down at her with concern.
She let a small whimper escape her lips before shooting her eyes back to where Tyrian was. Only to now find an empty alleyway.
"You alright? You're kinda freaking me out here, kid?"
"It's him! I saw him! The bad man that killed my mom! He was right there!" She gestured wildly to the empty alley, only for Roman to look at where she was pointing before looking back at her with a frown.
"There's no-one there, Red," he said softly.
"He was! You have to believe me!"
Roman looked back before frowning.
"You're probably just imagining things." That didn't calm the distressed child in front of him, so with a sigh, he took her hand and led her forward.
"Look. Tell you what. I'll keep an eye out. So will Neo. No-ones going to hurt you Red. Not with us around. Trust me," he shot her a charming grin that, if it didn't reek of arrogance, would have been calming.
Ruby, however, did at least recognise it for the attempt it was.
"I… you promise?"
"I promise," nodded Roman warmly.
"I…" she took a deep breath before tightening her grip on Roman's hand. "Okay."
"See! All good. Personally, I think you just were seeing things. You've had a busy couple of days, and while that Aura Shard did help your injury, it's still healing. How is it faring, anyways?"
The two lost themselves into a new conversation to keep Ruby at ease. They kept walking forward, through the bustling throngs of people wrapping up their daily business, unawares of the pair of eyes watching them.
Tyrian watched as the girl was led away by the tall boy dressed in a white jacket. Letting loose a frustrated growl, he turned to face Hazel.
"We had her. Right there. Why wouldn't you let me just finish her off?"
Hazel frowned.
"There is an entire garrison of Hunter's nearby in that church. Any move we make now would have only attracted their attention."
"And?" Tyrian flashed Hazel an irritated look.
"We've killed Hunters before. I've killed Hunter's before! And let's not discuss the encampment we slaughtered earlier. Was there any challenge they posed there, hmm?"
Hazel sighed.
"She would also summon her Grimm, most likely. Add them to the foray, and we'd have our hands full."
Tyrian sneered.
"It sounds more like an excuse to me."
Hazel shot him a contrived look as he crossed his arms.
"The setting isn't right. If we act to hastily, we risk exposing ourselves to the entire town. All it would take is for one person to flee and spread the word to the next village before Ozpin would clue in to our presence. We would inadvertently also alert any other Grimm-Whisperers in hiding, making our future quarry dig into hiding even deeper."
Tyrian flashed him a vicious smirk.
"Then it's simple. We leave no survivors!"
Hazel regarded Tyrian for a moment, his expression unreadable.
"Killing townspeople isn't going to change what I just said. Besides, it's hardly fair to involve regular peasants into our own mess when they themselves hold no stake in it. Now, the moment has passed. We will have plenty of opportunities to isolate and corner the girl without her, nor anyone else, being the wiser. We know she's here. It's just a matter of tracking her movements to find the right spot and time."
Hazel went to turn and leave, but Tyrian called out to him, stopping him in his tracks.
"And what if we can't 'isolate' her? What then, Hazel?"
"Then we make a way to isolate her."
Tyrian shook his head slowly as he let loose a low chuckle.
"Oh Hazel. You yourself admitted that we can't kill her easily, not without causing a major ruckus. So. If a ruckus is inevitable," Tyrian's tone went savage as his grin went feral. "Then why waste the fucking time playing pointless waiting games?!"
Hazel was about to retort but was cut off by Tyrian.
"I'll give you until this time tomorrow night to wait for your 'optimal' time and place to strike. If you can't isolate her by then? Then I'm going to walk right up behind her and cut her little head clean off of her shoulders. And I'll burn this whole town down in the process if anyone gets in my way," he added lowly.
"Such is the will of our Goddess."
It was at that moment that Hazel was once again reminded that his companion held no loyalty nor love for anyone, friend or foe alike, except for one being.
Tyrian truly was a psychopath with no remorse.
"An opportunity will present itself, so that we can avoid any needless bloodshed," assured Hazel, though it felt more like it was aimed at himself than Tyrian.
The crazed faunus merely leaned back into the shadows of the alley, chuckling lowly as if he knew a secret that Hazel did not.
"If you say so, Hazel. If you say so. We both know that's not going to happen, however."
Hazel frowned as he regarded his companion. There were some days where he wished he only had to operate by himself. Today was one of those days…
AN: So, decided to focus this chapter on character relations and motives a bit, as well as some subtle world building to paint a general picture. Now, for the announcements.
Because of the setbacks getting this chapter out on time, I've come to realise that trying to do weekly updates isn't something that is overly viable. At least, not in a 'write a chapter once a week' format. I still like the weekly update, so I intend to keep it. Unfortunately, I don't quite have that sort of time, so here's the plan going forward.
There are only 3 chapters left in this arc, and I will try to deliver them weekly to finish this arc off. At least there won't be a terrible cliffhanger requiring resolution immediately. After this arc is complete, I'm going to take a break from publishing chapters, likely for a couple months, say three or four as a rough estimate. I'm not too sure. This way, I can bank some chapters in advance and focus more on my writing skills. Then I will return with the next arc in the same weekly format. Only this time, the chapters should be better quality, not feel as rushed, and maybe be even better quality? And if I get setbacks in my life, there will be a chapter ready to go irregardless at the push of a button, sans another power outage.
This will also allow me to work on some other projects. I will unveil them as time goes on, but by having some content banked, I can free up my time for other things and hopefully slowly expand.
I've had an idea of a Star Wars fanfic in my mind for a while.
The next chapter will be released this Monday, as per the normal schedule (9th October).
Next chapter will be Monday 9th October 2023. I'll see you then at some point with an update.
