Autumn Hills did not have an interrogation room and that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. A town like that just hadn't the need for one until now. However there were plenty of places that could be converted into a makeshift room, it wasn't hard. It just had to be both private and secure which meant that the real issue was deciding on where to do the questioning. After a brief amount of deliberation, it was decided that the best place to do it was above ground in one of the empty houses located on one of the center hills. That would put a bit of space between the suspect and the rest of the town, making things a little less stressful for the suspect while also making it harder for them to escape.
Naturally, Heathcliff would be the one asking questions, it was his investigation and he was the most suited for the role. Meanwhile, Sheriff Slivia would be listening in just out of sight and Carla would be outside with deputies and PRAN to keep the peace.
The Deputies and PRAN were spread out around the hill. They were standing in groups far enough from the house to stop anyone outside from getting too close and close enough to intervene if Erik tried to run. Though their concern wasn't that Erik might try to run. Heathcliff was more than capable of subduing the suspect and even if he somehow failed, there was nowhere to run. There was nothing but an open plain for miles around and the nearest settlement was even further out past Grimm country… Frankly, nothing short of several miracles stacked on top of each other would be needed for Erik to escape.
So why were they standing guard?
They were standing guard to protect Erik from the town. Because if he was telling the truth, then he had potentially put the entire town at risk from the Grimm and for many settlements; That was unforgivable… People were capable of many horrible things if they believed that what they were doing was for the greater good. Already several townsfolk had to be turned away from the house.
As for the house itself, Erik, who was the man who confessed to being the Grimm that had been scaring people in the town, was sitting at a table in the dining room. His hands were shackled together and the chains were attached to the table bolted to the floor… but the real source of security was the man sitting at the other end of the table, Heathcliff.
The Huntsman sat in silence across from Erik, he leaned forward to say something but then changed his mind and reached into his coat. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, got up, walked over to Erik, and offered one to him.
"Thanks," Erik took a cigarette and examined it as Heathcliff watched. It was wrapped in black paper marked with a logo that looked like a gold coin, and what he was hoping was tobacco was an odd silvery color. "I don't recognize this brand."
"It's from a fancy shmancy Vacuo Company called El Dorado, they're a mite pretentious but they know what they're doing. This stuff is expensive but worth every Lien." Heathcliff then took a cigarette for himself before putting away the pack and taking out a lighter. He lit his cigarette first before lighting Erik's and walking back to his seat. Then the two men took a long drag before talking again.
"Thanks," Erik said while leaning back on his chair. "The taste is odd but nice and... wow, I already feel relaxed. What's in this stuff?"
"It's just tobacco mixed with some local herbs and no, that's not a euphemism for drugs. What makes this special is that it has been treated with Dust."
"Dust?"
"Yup, they don't have a lot o' it left in Vacuo but they are really clever with what they do have. These cigs will last for hours... But enough about this, let's talk about you." Heathcliff reached into his coat and pulled out his scroll, "I know that we're already recording." He glanced at a TV camera and microphone in the corner but another one never hurts."
"I get that."
"Cool, so before we begin you are aware that you have the right to a lawyer, right? You don't have to answer anything without first talking to one."
"I am aware and I don't want a lawyer."
"I strongly recommend you reconsider," Heathcliff waited for a response but Erik remained silent. He then sighed and began, "Yer name is Erik Whitebay, correct?"
"Yes, it's correct."
"Yer the third child of the younger brother o' the family's patriarch?"
"Yes but Uncle Brody isn't really a patriarch of anything, we're not as great or as ambitious as some people make us out to be."
Heathcliff raised an eyebrow, "Yer joking right? You folks went into debt to buy the Dust to fix erosion damage, ya don't do that for nothing. Carla sure thinks you had something in mind."
"Carla has always been paranoid… but what does any of this have to do with my confession?"
"It's about setting basic facts straight before getting to the heavy stuff… but you'd rather skip the boring stuff to git to the real meat?"
"You mean the part about me being the Grimm you're after? Yes, but I didn't have anything to do with all that blood! I don't know where it came from, honest!"
"We'll get to that later, more importantly, I want to know just what you mean when you said that you were the Grimm."
"It's my Semblance."
Heathcliff reached out to his scroll and pressed a couple of buttons, it was still recording but now it was also projecting an image of a Student ID for Beacon Academy. The student was a teenage Erik. "I was going to work my way to this but ya left Beacon during yer second year, correct?"
"That's right, I was a member of Team PUCE. I'm still good friends with my partner from back then, they can vouch that I'm telling you the truth about my Semblance. I can give you their contact info."
"Much appreciated, also good fer you! A good friend is hard to find and harder to keep. But let's get back to business, so tell me in yer own words why you left?"
"A couple of people in my family got sick and had to be quarantined, so I came back to help." Erik then chuckled, "And then I got sick myself. By the time I got better…" He shrugged, "I guess I just underestimated how homesick I was."
"That's surprisingly common, did you have yer Semblance back then."
"No. It was something I discovered last year."
"Explain."
"It happened when I was coming back to Autumn Hills after a trip to Vale, I was helping take my grandma to see a doctor about her spinal disks. It was Dr. Lumen of Meadows Orthopedics, I can give you their contact info as well."
"We'll get in contact with them, and you won't mind if we talk to yer neighbors about the trip?"
"Go right ahead."
"So what happened on yer trip back?" So far nothing he's said has triggered a gut feeling. But that doesn't mean he isn't lying… This would be easier if I was a human lie detector like Robyn.
"The car broke down about ten miles away from the town of Adger, do you know of it?"
"I have, but you say returning from Vale and were bout ten miles away from the town? So you were by the Ramble Woods when the car broke down?"
"Yup, and we were found by a Beowolf. I didn't have my weapon with me and even if I did it wouldn't have mattered. I hadn't used it in years but I still had to do something… so my body became my weapon."
Heathcliff's gut feeling was tingling, there was something about this story that was off but he wasn't sure what. But he did have a good idea where to start, "Why were you near Ramble Woods at all? Why not stick to the highway?"
"My brother said he knew a shortcut so he took us off of the highway."
"Yer brother? You didn't mention him earlier, just how many people went on that trip with you?:
"Well, there was me, my grandma Rosie, my brother Jakob, a sister whose name escapes me was there as well, and there was a friend of the family who I don't know all too well… I don't even know his name."
"Really? It takes several days to get to Vale by car and you traveled with a stranger?"
"But he wasn't a stranger."
"He was too you… but we can talk about that later. Why don't you show it to me, yer Semblance."
"Is that okay? Aren't you worried?"
"No. I'm not."
"Um, okay." Erik was taken aback not by Hethcliff's answer but rather by the matter-of-fact way that he said it. A not-so-small part of him wondered if this was some kind of intimidation tactic but that part was soon squashed. This guy is a Huntsman, a veteran who has killed plenty of Grimm. And those kids he came with, I get the feeling he wouldn't have brought them if they couldn't hold their own.
"Do you need me to take those cuffs off of you?"
Erik moved his arms a little to check how they fitted on his wrists, "It will be a bit tight but, no. My wrists will fit. I'll start when you tell me to go."
"Go."
Erik's Aura flared up in a vibrant blue glow that covered his body causing it to change. First was his hair, it all grew longer, thicker, and wilder as it started to more closely resemble fur. His entire body thickened as his muscles grew bigger and denser. His pupils turned into vertical slits, his nose and ears lengthened, his hands and feet grew bigger, and his mouth grew as well… and then the glow faded away.
"Well… that's impressive." Heathcliff got out of his seat and walked over to Erik to get a better look at him, "Transformation Semblances are some of the rarest kinds." He looks nothing like a Grimm but if someone saw him out at night… yeah, I could see people making the mistake. But why was he training at night?
The answer to that question became apparent when he looked at Erik's legs, they no longer looked human. Rather they were now shaped like the back legs of a dog. "Well, that looks like it would take time to get used to.
"Yup, that's why I was training at night. I was trying to get used to it and… it was really fun," Erik's voice was deeper and had a low growl to it.
"I'd imagine. Can I see yer hands?"
"Go right ahead."
Heathcliff took Erik's hands into his own and looked at the fingernails, they were thicker but seemed to retain an overall human shape, So no claws and I don't see any dirt underneath. But they can still use tools. He then put Erik's hands down and asked, "Can I see yer teeth?"
"Sure? But what are you trying to do?"
"I'm checking if yer transformation even could tear an animal apart. I do not doubt that yer strong but fangs and claws go a long way to help."
Erik opened his mouth to expose all of his teeth, it only took a glance to tell that they were still quite human.
"Interesting," Heathcliff wasn't a dentist but he knew quite a few things about bites and the kind of mouths and teeth that made them. It was a skill that any Huntsman worth their Dust would develop over time as a way to learn what they were going up against before ever walking into a Grimm's den… but this wasn't a Grimm.
Heathcliff stepped back and quickly thought to himself, I didn't get a gut feeling off of the teeth or nails. But something doesn't add up. "So why did you train at night?"
"I-I didn't want to scare people."
Heathcliff didn't need a gut feeling to see the flaw with that logic, "Well you did. And you could have put an end to that fear by stepping forward earlier… So why didn't you? Why did you let it go on for so long?"
"I… I was afraid of how people would react."
"Bullshit. Do you really expect me to think that a town like this would reject you for something like that? No. They wouldn't and you know that. If anything you'd become a local celebrity overnight… So why are you lying to me?"
Erik was now incredibly uncomfortable despite the calming effect of the cigarette. But it wasn't the kind of discomfort that a crook caught in a lie might feel. Rather it was the kind of discomfort that occurs when one is caught between something that they want to believe and something that they knew was true. It was a sort of cognitive dissonance.
"B-but Ma told me… Pa said… They said that the people here would string me up."
"Why would they do that? Why kill a guy who did nothing wrong and now has a helpful Semblance?"
"Because I'm a Whitebay."
"Why would that matter?"
Erik looked Heathcliff right in the eyes, "You've been here before, haven't you noticed? Do you think I was shaking at my confession because I was shy? Do you think my family was there to support me because I needed the boost? They were there to protect me!"
"Protect you from what?"
"Tch, I can't believe that we're standing guard for a fucking Whitebay!" One of the deputies outside the house loudly said, perhaps hoping that Erik would hear him. He did not.
The other deputy in the group was quick to agree with him, "It's a damn shame. A gosh darn shame that those Whitebay's are still around here."
Among them was Pyrrha and she was becoming rather interested in their conversation, "What did they do?" Heathcliff told us to try and strike up conversations with the guards to get info but I didn't think that they'd start gossiping about it in front of me.
"Huh?" The first deputy looked at her surprised as though she had asked a rather strange question. "You don't know about the Whitebays?"
The second deputy then said, "Of course, she wouldn't know, she's from Vale. Why would she know about something that happened decades ago in the middle of nowhere?!"
"So what did they try to do?" Pyrrha asked again.
The two deputies started nervously looking around at the hills surrounding the house they were guarding. On those hills were the townsfolk minding their own business and occasionally glancing towards the guards and Team PR-… No, that wasn't right. They weren't looking at the guards, they were looking past them, they were looking at the house behind them.
The house that held Erik.
"Do you see any Whitebays?" One deputy asked the other.
"Nope, I think it's safe…" They both turned to face the young woman who had been patiently waiting.
"So what's up with this family?" She asked for the third time.
"They're cannibals." The second deputy said.
Pyrrha's eyes widened in shock but at the same time she realized that there was something wrong with that answer, "Then why do you let them stay here!?"
"Because it happened a really long time ago," The first deputy answered. "Though there have always been rumors that they never really stopped, they just got better at hiding it."
"It all started-"
"-about 50 years ago-," Brandy said to Nora on their corner of the hill. Just like Pyrrha, Nora was also trying to gather information from the other deputies and even the townsfolk, the entire team was doing the same. It was very likely that the entire team would be told the same basic story by different people who would put different spins on it… perhaps there was a nugget of truth in those stories.
"-there was a Grimm attack, the worst one that Autumn Hills ever went through," Brandy explained."
"What caused it?" Nora asked while keeping an eye on some of the townsfolk passing by, Where are the other Whitebays? Are they underground?
"Grandpa told me that there was a really bad harvest, which normally isn't a deal breaker but the mayor at the time had taken out a loan, a big one to help expand the town."
"And without that harvest, you wouldn't have the money to pay back the loan?" What kind of loan was it and how did they get it
Brandy nodded his head, "That's what Grandpa told me, and he told me that it was gnawing on people's minds something real fierce. It was so bad that a pack of Beowolves showed up, thankfully most people were able to retreat inside the hills."
"But not everyone."
"That's right, and the Whitebays were one of them."
Jaune took that bit of information in and tried to imagine it, he tried to imagine an entire family caught outside during such a disaster. He tried to imagine what they might do, what could have possibly led them to commit the taboo of cannibalism just to survive… and he drew a blank. He just couldn't figure out how a scenario like that would lead to cannibalism, he couldn't even figure out how cannibalism would help anyone survive a Grimm attack. If anything the guilt would have made things worse!
"Is something wrong dear?" asked the older woman talking to Jaune. She wasn't one of the deputies, rather she was one of the local farmers who, according to her, was taking a break and decided to head to the house where Erik was to see what the big deal was about… while carrying a hunting knife for "Self-Defence."
"No. No, there's nothing wrong." Jaune quickly answered before following up with, "So how did the town survive the attack?"
"We got plenty of able-bodied people around here and a couple members of our community were retired Huntsmen, but it wasn't easy. My dad was given a nasty scar…"
"And what about the Whitebays? How do they come into this?"
"They took advantage of the chaos to feed their…" The woman then leaned in and whispered, "They were feeding their appetites."
Jaune's brows furrowed, "Were they attacking the defenders?" I don't need a gut sensation to know that this sounds off.
The woman laughed as she stepped back, "Oh of course not! However, I have no doubt that they would have tried if they thought they could pull it off. Nah darling, the Whitebays ate the others who were trapped outside with them… or at least that's what I heard."
"Wait, that's what you heard? If you didn't actually see it, then who did? And if someone did catch them in the act then why are they still here?"
The woman scratched her chin as she thought it over, "I can't seem to recall who caught them or why we didn't run them out back then when we could have. But just like how we don't doubt the sun is going to rise in the morning, we don't doubt that the Whitebays did something… I guess we just haven't done anything cause we legally can't. Otherwise, them cannibals could sue the town and they'd probably win."
"I'm sorry but I have to say that this sounds like a…-" Jaune wondered what was the best way to ask but ultimately decided to just be blunt, "-rumor."
The woman gave him an annoyed look that quickly vanished, "Well it was nearly 60 years ago and I was just a little babe at the time, but ma said that it was the mayor and sheriff who found out… I can't remember what their names were."
"I have one more question if you don't mind."
"Whatever happened to the debt?" Ren asked Mayor Carla who was standing next to him and a couple of other deputies.
"It was forgiven," she answered as though it was the simplest thing in the world.
"It was?"
Carla gave Ren a confused look, "Doesn't Beacon teach you about the laws involving this career?"
"They do but they don't cover everything all at once, they spread it across the semester because nobody would be able to remember anything otherwise."
Carla nodded, satisfied with his answer. "That's fair, to be honest, I'm not completely sure of the details either. But what I do know is that the Kingdoms are far lenient with settlements that show promise and Autumn Hills did. That Grimm attack and the debt would have crushed the town, everyone would have packed up and left and that's a lot of time resources that would have gone down the drain, especially since we were expanding."
"So Vale decided that the cost of forgiving the debt was smaller than the cost of losing the settlement?"
"Yup," Carla shook her head out of mild disgust. "We're trying to do our best to survive in a world of monsters and yet everything boils down to money."
Ren considered the story he had just been told, it felt very incomplete. I just hope that the others can fill in the gaps. "So let me make sure that I'm understanding this correctly; About 53 years ago there was a mayor named Tomas Goldsand and he took out a loan from the Vale Treasury department to expand the settlement."
"That's right. He was taking a risk but he believed in this town."
"But Autumn Hills fell behind the payment schedule, and a bad harvest made everything worse… Do you know why the harvest went poorly?"
"Sorry kid, but good ole Tomas never recorded why the harvest went bad. But I can tell you this, sometimes shit just happens and when it does, you just have to deal with it."
Well, that's unhelpful, Ren thought to himself before asking. "So then after the harvest went bad, there was a Grimm attack and after that… the Whitebays were discovered or more accurately, they were suspected of cannibalism? Why?"
"Well, it was because some bodies were discovered in their possession."
"By who?" How did they get the bodies during the attack? Or was it after?
"It was the sheriff back then… though I'm going to have to look up their name. Why?" Caraa gave the boy a puzzled look.
"Why what?"
"Why are you asking… no, I'd imagine that Heathcliff was the one who put you and probably the others up to this. Why is he so curious?"
"It is part of the investigation… and while we're one that subject-"
"You want to know why we never kicked out the Whitebays?"
Ren nodded.
"It's because we had no concrete proof, that family was always a bit odd but that's not a crime neither is storing the bodies away and neither is cannibalism."
"It's not?" Ren calmly asked while reaching for his scroll to look it up as Carla watched with slight disappointment. She was probably hoping that I'd have a funny reaction, too bad my Semblance makes that impossible.
As for whether she was telling the truth, it took him a couple of minutes but he soon found that she was telling the truth… mostly. The act itself wasn't illegal but that came with many caveats. An obvious example was if you killed the person that you then ate, then you would be charged for murder but they would also charge you for trying to destroy the evidence through consumption. And in the situation where you just happened to find a body lying around and decided to eat it, then you could be possibly charged with obstruction of an investigation and the family of that body would be very cross with you and likely sue… Cannibalism wasn't technically illegal, but committing the act almost certainly required committing acts that were illegal or at the very least were close to it.
The only way to do it without getting into trouble was out of survival, specifically, you had to be in a situation where your life depended on it and the other person either consented or died before they could. And even then you would likely face public scrutiny for the rest of your life.
"But none of these exceptions would apply to the Whitebays," Ren said when he was done reading.
"But do you know what does apply?"
"What?"
"Innocent until proven guilty. We know that they did it but proving it is another matter altogether and now it's too late. All the ones that we knew for sure were cannibals who died about 30 years ago, but old grudges are hard to let go and nobody ever really forgets in a town like this.
"It makes you wonder why they stuck around."
Carla quickly glanced around before sighing remorsefully, "That family helped build this town, they grew up here. It's still their home even if they aren't welcome anymore. Besides, it's not like they aren't trying to make it up to us."
Ren recalled what he had learned on the way to town, "The erosion, they paid for the restoration and you reimbursed them."
She nodded, "A lot of people were angry at me for doing that but they would have been just as angry if I hadn't. The idea of the town owing the Whitebays anything is a thought that they can't accept… It's stupid. It's just so stupid, this generation of Whitebays has done nothing wrong but people just can't let go… as if any family doesn't have a few skeletons in the closet. I just want people to move on already."
"It is stupid."
The sun was rising over Mount Glenn and as it did it painted the sky in a dazzling array of warm colors that clashed with the ruined city… or at least that's what Corporal Josuha Greenstone liked to imagine what it looked like. Though to be perfectly honest he wasn't even sure that it was time for sunrise, the abandoned subway and excavated tunnels where the White Fang had made their base did not come with windows. All they had to tell time were their scrolls and those digital screens got tiring after a while.
But the corporal wasn't looking at a screen, he was looking at a mirror and holding a file up to his horns. He was hesitating, not because it would hurt, it wouldn't. There were no nerves in the parts that he'd trim and there wasn't any social stigma either. Many Faunus with horns, antlers, and tusks would regularly trim them, it was as normal as getting a haircut, and just like a haircut many got creative with it… and that was why he hesitated.
He liked how his horns framed the sides of his face. But vanity was such a stupid reason and he knew it! But he had worked so hard on maintaining his appearance. To file down his horns was no different from taking a pair of scissors and ruining a perfectly good haircut before walking outside where everyone could see you…
But then again, the horns were a weakness. Roman Torchwick proved that to him quite thoroughly when he confronted him on the surface, That annoying cane that the thief called a weapon proved that it did deserve to be called that after the beating it gave him. Greenstone was a veteran with a distinguished career and yet that dandy twink handed him the most embarrassing defeat he had ever experienced.
"I have no one but myself to blame for this," Greenstone steeled his will and brought the file close to his horns-
*Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding*
He put the file down and silenced the alarm on his scroll, filing down his horns was just going to have to wait till tomorrow. As if I hadn't told myself the same thing yesterday. The corporal chuckled at his procrastination before gathering his cases and his halberd before stepping out of his tent to do what he had been doing every day since he first got here: Try and contact the main HQ to report on Adam's frankly disturbing plans.
"Good Morning Sir!" a couple of grunts said with an earnest salute as he walked by.
"Good Morning," He answered as he returned the salute and continued on his way without missing a step. Unlike before, he wasn't going out of his way to avoid being seen by everyone, there was no need for that level of secrecy anymore.
"Then it looks like we're about to engage in some jolly cooperation."
That was what Roman had told him back then and to the man's credit, he had proven to be helpful. He was still an unlikable asshole but his desire for self-preservation was a boon that saved Greenstone's ass back then. And now thanks to Roman everyone thought that Greenstone was heading out to the more dangerous areas of Mount Glenn to do some scouting and scavenging on Adam's orders.
That of course was a lie. But without Adam around to contradict it and his Lieutenant being a mass of muscle, anger problems, and no brains, that lie was all but gospel to the Grunts…But it was a lie that wasn't going to last forever but that was a problem that they could solve when they got there.
"Sir!" One of the junior officers ran up to Greenstone just before the man could enter the tunnels leading topside.
"Yes?"
The officer saluted before continuing, "Sir, about a week ago a scouting party was able to recover a Dust Powered Scooter with an attachable cart. It has been repaired and it is available for use if you would like it."
"That… would be incredibly helpful, but what about the noise."
"Already accounted for, sir. It's an electric scooter and the mechanic who repaired also modified the engine to further limit the noise. It's slower now but it won't make enough noise to draw Grimm and it's still faster than walking."
"Then I'll take it!" Well, this is convenient.
"Sir, I'll retrieve it for you immediately."
A smile crept across Greenstone's face as he watched the officer run to get the scooter. It was nice seeing someone so earnest in this place. They reminded Greenstone of himself back in the early days of the White Fang, back before they started committing acts of violence… back before anyone would listen to them, and before any progress was made… The organization was so toothless back then that racists would attack them just because they could, just because they knew that they would get away with it.
One event in particular stood out to him… Everything changed back then in Mistral when those bigots ambushed our convoy in the woods and tried to gun us down in broad daylight. I can still remember Ghira trying in vain to reason with those thugs yelling out slurs and taking shots. Meanwhile Adam and Sienna were out there fighting back but not killing them, merely knocking them out. And then one bigot went straight for Ghira with his guns blazing, he got close. Adam was able to stop him by killing the man which sent those cowards running. But Ghira was mad at Adam and that led to the first serious argument between Ghira and Sienna who defended Adam… she was right but I wonder if she'd feel the same if she knew what monster Adam was…
By the time the officer came back with the scooter, the smile on Greenstone's face was gone. Wiped out by the bitter memories of the innocent idealism of youth running face first into cruel reality… When Ghira Belladonna stepped down as leader he did so with great remorse over how his pacifism accomplished so little. The reality of the world was that the White Fang couldn't remain clean if they wanted change… but there was a difference between Sienna's philosophy of violence when necessary and Adam's bloodlust.
And that was a difference worth risking his life for.
"Here it is Sir." The Officer came back with an old beat-up scooter covered and the cart already attached, the paint on both was old, chipped and faded but it was still an unmistakable hot pink. "I apologize for its color Sir, we did not have any paint to spare."
A small smile returned to Greenstone's face as he took the keys to the scooter and loaded his cases into the cart, "It's no problem. I just hope that the owner was able to survive."
"Stay safe Sir, the White Fang can't afford to lose good men like you." The officer glanced at the cases and gave the corporal a knowing nod before saluting again and walking away.
Greenstone did not return the salute, he had frozen up out of both shock and fear. He knows. How does he know? Did Torchwick sell me out!?
He started glancing around, looking for the guards coming to arrest him or Banesaw coming to publicly execute him on the spot or or or… Nobody is coming? He held his breath waiting for the shoe to drop and reveal just how fucked he was but, nothing happened. Nothing besides people starting to notice just how tense he looked, This is becoming embarrassing.
Greenstone decided to move on and began driving the scooter through the tunnel up to the surface and as he did he wondered just what the officer knew what his true mission was. If the officer somehow knew that he had been trying to get into contact with Sienna. And he wondered what he should do about it if the answer was yes, he wondered if there was anything he could do about it while in the middle of this temporary base where he was surrounded on all sides… and that last thought was a wake-up call.
"By the Brothers, I'm an idiot." He said to himself once he was past the last checkpoint. "If that guy was going to turn me in then he would have done it while I was carrying the cases. Instead, he went out of his way to make my job easier. I wonder if I should mention him to Roman… nah, he probably already knows."
Greenstone rode out of the tunnels and into the light, the Sun was overhead and the sky was clear. "Looks like it's getting close to noon, my internal clock isn't handling the dark very well."
He stopped the scooter, pulled out his scroll, and brought out a map that had all the places he already tried crossed out and the place he had yet to try circled. The map had considerably more Xs than it did circles, but thanks to the scooter he could travel further and there were places that he had wanted to check out but couldn't until now.
"You know what? I'm going to try that mall near the center of the city. If it doesn't work then I'll try the places around it. That office building looked pretty promising too."
He started up the scooter again fully unaware just how complicated his day was about to become…
1 Hour and 47 Minutes Later… He was standing on top of the abandoned office building twiddling with his equipment trying his damndest to get a signal. He was checking and double-checking that all wires were properly connected and that all the dials and switches were on the right settings and soon the only thing left to adjust was the antenna.
"Good thing Roman isn't here. He'd laugh his ass off if he could see me now." Greenstone said to no one in particular as he stood on his tippy toes on top of some stacked cases as he tried to find the best spot for the antenna. He bent and twisted his spine and limbs into shapes that he didn't think were possible, all in hopes that he could catch one signal, one sign that his struggles weren't in vain, something that he co-!
*Beep*
It faded almost as soon as it had appeared but that was it, he had found a signal! "YESSSSSS! HAHA! YESS! YOU'RE FUCKED NOW ADAM! FUCKED!"
In his excitement, he lost his balance and fell off the stack of cases onto the concrete of the roof. If it wasn't for his Aura then he would have surely cracked his skull. And while Aura could block the damage it did not block the pain, but he didn't care. He was so excited that it probably wouldn't have mattered if he didn't have Aura, there was no way that he was going to let pain or even death stop him now.
"Ouch, oh shit! Is the antenna okay?!" he scrambled back to his feet fearing the worst but to his immense relief he found that the antenna was fine. "O thank the Brothers! Okay, I gotta mark this spot and get some equipment to hold the antenna. And then I gott-!?"
*Bang*
Greenstone gently put the antenna down and out of the way before taking up his halberd in both hands. He knew the sound of gunfire and could tell that the source was far closer than he would have liked. They must have heard my earlier shouting, is it a White Fang patrol? No. There is no way that they would be this far from the base.
*Bang* *Bang*
It sounds like some sort of shotgun, it's getting louder. Shit, I parked the scooter in front of the building, they might see it.
*Bang*
There is one shooter and the pacing of their shots seems to be well-controlled, they know what they are doing but what are they shooting at? Are they some kind of thrill seeker or are they a Huntsman testing their skills? Can I somehow convince them that I'm a civilian? No. Not while I'm in uniform.
*BANG*
That last gunshot was much closer than the others, too close. "They must be recoil dashing… then it is a Huntsman," Greenstone whispered to himself as he waited for the shooter to arrive.
*BANG*
A body flew over the side of the building and landed on the roof, it was a teen. It was a teenage girl with long beautiful blond hair, dressed in earthy clothes that showed off her built body, and on her wrists were yellow gauntlets that had smoking gun barrels built into them. She was the Huntress that he had heard coming and now her violet-colored eyes were locking with his.
"We've been looking for you," The Huntress said as she took up a boxer's stance while eyeing his halberd.
"I'm flattered, but I'd prefer a woman closer to my age." Shit, I really don't want to fight a kid! There's no winning that! Either I lose and nobody will ever let me live that down or I win and everyone will call me a Kid Puncher!
"Then how about you put the halberd down and I'll introduce you to some of my professors? Your friends will be so jealous of you if you manage to land an experienced Huntress."
"Sure, and why don't you put the shotgun gauntlets first?" She's a student at the Academy?! That means there's a professor around! And if I get on the Academy's shit list… but I can't let myself get arrested either, the train is nearly ready. Adam would just launch the attack anyway!
"Sure." The girl then dropped the stance and lowered her arms.
"Are you for real?" Greenstone didn't lower his weapon, This must be a trap.
For a moment a disappointed look appeared on her face when he didn't lower his weapon but it was soon replaced with determination, "Well, it was worth a try," She then pointed her gauntlets at the ground and bent her knees as though she was about to jump.
*Bang*
She was now soaring above him and raining down blasts from both of her shotguns, some shots were to control her descent and the rest were aimed right at him.
As for Greenstone, he responded by using his halberd to deflect the shots while using his Semblance to shift the concrete of the roof to form a barrier around the equipment. It wasn't very thick or strong but it was better than nothing and it was the best he could in the circumstances, especially when doing so weakened the structural integrity of the roof.
The girl landed and came charging at him only to run into the tip of his halberd but it didn't stop her. She endured the hit and tried to grab his weapon only for him to pull it back and jab at her again but this time she blocked it with her gauntlet and shoved it aside before taking a step into his guard and forcing him to step back to keep his distance so he could continue to keep her away with thrusts and cuts. She'd block most of them and the ones she didn't block would hit her, she never dodged.
The fight continued on this way and that perplexed Greenstone, What is up with her? The way she's fighting is just way too reckless, I'm going to win as long as I keep off the edge of the roof. Is she really a student at an Academy? There's no way she is, they wouldn't ever let in someone this stupid unless there's a reason she's doing this. Her eyes… she's not worried, what's her plan? And is it just me or is her hair slightly glowing?
He thrusted for what felt like the hundredth time and she once again deflected the strike but this time the deflection was strong enough that it sent a vibration down the weapon and into his arms, "What?!" He unintentionally cried in surprise as it all clicked together, Her Semblance is similar to Adam's! She is getting stronger the more the fight drags on, she's trying to destroy my weapon!
He dropped his halberd, activated his Semblance to cover her legs in concrete, then pulled out his dagger pistol, and aimed it right at her… or at least he tried to.
Before he could point it at her, a familiar-looking handgun attached to a black ribbon flew in from behind him and wrapped around his neck before he found himself getting pulled down to the floor. "What!?"
A second girl appeared from behind him, her hair was long and black with a big black ribbon perched conspicuously on top, her footsteps soft and quiet as though she was an expert in stealth, her clothes black and white, and her eyes were a familiar amber… before he could fight back she was already taking the length of the ribbon and using it to restrain him as the blond broke out of the concrete shackles.
"What took you so long Blake?" The blond asked as the glow faded from her hair.
Greenstone's eyes widened, Blake? As in Blake Belladonna?! I have to talk to her! I have to explain what's going on! He dropped his pistol, flared his Aura, and began to struggle against the ribbon around his neck. If he could just pull it off then he could explain everything.
"Yang, help me out!" Blake shouted as Greenstone pulled against the ribbon.
"Sorry dude, but it looks like it's gonna be lights out for you." Yang was now standing over him with a fist raised, he only had a second before it came crashing down.
"Stop Adam!" He squeaked out.
Both Blake and Yang paused, then they glanced at each other and nodded before Yang kicked away his weapons and Blake loosened the ribbon around his neck, "What did you say?" She asked him.
He didn't wait to catch his breath, "Blake, you have to stop Adam." He gasped for air and continued, "He's going to ruin everything if you don't!"
Author's Notes: So the mystery in Autumn Hills just took a few turns and we have only scratched the surface of the town, literally! And some of you might have noticed that the dates of the story changed depending on who was telling it, that was on purpose. The Grimm attack happened half a century ago, the details have been muddled and that's going to pose a challenge for PRAN.
Though you guys are smart, I'm sure that at least a few of you think you figured out what happened. I just hope I can do your expectations justice.
As for the RWBY side of things, I wanted to give Greenstone a much better showing while also establishing the weakness of Yang's reliance on her Semblance. But I didn't want it to be a one-sided fight, if Blake hadn't shown up then it would have been a close fight that could have gone either way.
More importantly is that this meeting is going to have consequences, some good, some bad, and many of it will be far-reaching.