"You may move freely now, it will be finished soon." Annatar said from behind the easel to the pair of humans, a short man in white suit with black hair and tall female in black dress and white hair.
"May I take a look?"The short man asked.
"When I finish the colors." Annatar said, allowing his hand to paint freely, adding depth, shades and brining life to the portrait.
"I thought you are a smith, not a painter." Woman said with little suspicion.
"A smith?" Annatar scoffed. "True Craftsman does not limit himself to only iron and gold, for it would be a sign that he lacks ingenuity. And those who are proficient with the hammer must study the way of the paintbrush to truly cultivate his skills."
"Then tell me, what else you can do?" Male asked while wine-red and sky-blue mixed on the painting, birthing the Emperor's crimson.
"What I can't do would be a better question." Sauron proudly announced, putting the painting paintbrush away.
"Can you sing?" Woman asked, genuinely curious, and Annatar couldn't help himself but laugh.
"In my homeland I was regarded for my taelnt and voice." He said and put his hand before the portrait. "And although some back there may think they are better than me, I surpassed them a long time ago." His hands glowed, heat drying the painting in an instant. "Both in music, and creation."
When he turned the easel to the pair, and the crowd, showing everyone the image of lightly living room, not too spacy but giving warm vibes. Outside the window could be seen a building made out of red brick. There were furniture inside the room, huge oak table covered by light blue tablecloth. On the cupboard were smaller pictures showing small moments from life, one of the pair in caffe under the moonlight, second depicting the man getting medal for extraordinary work in his workplace. The pair was also there, standing on the rug, which had beautiful Emperor's crimson color. Everyone who looked on the art piece could fell calm and welcomingness flowing from the painting.
"Is this our living room!?" The husband asked in shock.
"It is… beautiful." Wife said.
"It is masterfully made indeed." Annatar said while handling the portrait to them. "I also inquired some puzzles into it, I won't spoil too much, but look on the rug's pattern closely."
"The stripes… there are…"
"Exactly ten, one for every year of your marriage."
Husband took hold of the painting, keeping it as close to himself as possible, like he held a treasure in his hands.
"Thank you, Mister. I am really glad we came to you." He left the forge and walked straight to the car parked nearby, wanting to safely pack his new possession, while satisfied Annatar started to clean up his tools."
"Wait." Woman said, stopping Annatar in a middle of cleaning his brush, and he turned his head back to his guest.
"Yes?"
"The amount we paid for this is… unfair." Human said. "Paintings like this are in the museums, and are considered priceless pieces of art!"
"I'm flattered you said that."
"Also you not only sold it for basically for nothing, it took you few hours, while for others it would take decades!"
With a friendly smile, Sauron took her under his arm, like an old friend of her.
"I would not be so harsh for normal painter, at my beginning it would take me around three days of work. And also, we bargained for the price at the start, right?"
"Yes, but…"
"And we agreed we will not raise or lower the price after the work is done, unless I "Mess it up"."
Before she could replay, Sauron chuckled.
"Believe me, no other than the craftsman understand the value of things he creates. I deemed this exchange worthy of my time."
He looked her directly in the eyes. - You don't need to spare me more coin, for I already got what I wanted.
"Which is?" She asked, feeling her will faltering under the influence of the lava-like eyes.
"Time to go my dear!" Human yelled to her, snapping her out of that trance. She looked back at Annatar, bowed her head a little and walked back to the car, and Sauron waved to them as they drove away, towards their home, their friends.
Wealthy and, preferably, powerful friends.
He saw more and more members of the upper class either showing just outside of his forge, "accidentally" drove by to take a look or sent their men to scout him out. He was more than sure that this couple arrived here at the orders of someone more influential than them. Regardless, future visitors of their home will certainly ask about the painting. Admire it.
Sauron couldn't do anything else than cheer in his mind, for these people were first of many who will come. And as he will become accustomed with local elite, the more willing they will be to listen to his ideas, while also retaining his support in common folk.
A long-term plan, but Sauron got time. Plenty of that.
Annatar looked at the polished floor of his forge, and noticed some stones were marked by paint, probably small drops fell while he painted.
"Yowwick, clear the floor…" He turned to his subordinate, and to his surprise, he noticed that Yowwick is stressed out, his eyes twitching behind the sunglasses from right to left and from to right, like a sheep looking for the wolves hiding between the trees.
"Yowwick?" He asked, but he received no response. – What's wrong? – He said with such coldness in his voice, that even polar bear could get a frostbite, and finally got his subordinate's attention.
"They were Atleasians boss." He said through his teeth, trying to not say it too loud, and Sauron felt immense fear in goon's voice.
"Are they a threat?"
"Not them." Yowwick shook his head in denial. "Fangs."
Sauron rose his eyebrow in silent, expecting a proper response.
"Chief, White Fang hate Atlas more than anything. They constantly attack not only SDC, but also Atlesian migrants and their sympathizers. They especially target those who make business with Atlas as a "punishment"."
"I heard about them." Sauron nodded. "You think they observe us right now?"
"I didn't see them, but I am more than certain they watch us. they certainly know how to hide in crowd."
Sauron looked at the gathered people and Faunus, and although he didn't see anyone with ill intentions, he felt the stench of treachery and malicious intent. He knew that smell too well.
"What kind of threat they pose exactly?" Sauron asked, very curious about this group. "Clearly bunch of disgruntled peasants wouldn't scare someone like you."
"Boss, they are violent maniacs who recently robbed a train full of Dust, burned warehouses full of atleasian goods and even clashed against the police, of course they are a threat!"
"And I thought I am under protection." Sauron wondered out loud. "Will they truly dare to attack you knowing your master? Are they truly that bold?"
"They don't care about balance of power in town." Nathan explained, stressed more than ever. "Our boss's name means nothing to them, the only thing they want are…" Goon paused, and started to think.
"Go on."
"Apparently, they fight for their rights." Nathan said.
"Then why won't you grant them what they want?"
"Because I am not sure what rights they lack in Vale boss." Yowwick shrugged his arms. "Sure, Faunus are called animals from time to time and Hooligans beat them up…, aaand we fought against each other in the past, but that's it."
For a moment, Sauron remained silent, and then started to quietly laugh.
"I see, so that is all about." Sauron started to clean his tools like nothing happened, leaving his subordinate dumbfounded.
"What do you mean boss?"
"I mean we should prepare some precautions against some unwanted guests." He put away the easel to its designated place. "I will ask Junior for more guards during the nights for some time."
"…Of course boss." Nathan walked to the crowd to relay a command while Sauron returned to cleaning the floor, laughing in his spirit about this "White Fang".
They claim to fight for their rights, maybe to avenge humanities wrongdoings throught the history, but from this short description he saw a very familiar sight.
A self-sustaining, irrational Hatred. Against Atlas for their deeds. Against SDC for their actions. Against humanity as a whole for simply existing on the same world.
Emotion, which condemned Fëanor's sons and elves as they spilled blood on the white shores.
Emotion, which led Uldor to stab his allies in the back during Nirnaeth Arnoediad.
Emotion, which he used well to divide his enemies for all those centuries.
He chuckled, thinking how convenient it is that this world has its own version of Easterlings.
He won't take their threat lightly of course, but now knowing what it is all about, he can plan to use them eventually. If they are as fanatical like Yowwick suggested, then it is even better.
After he cleaned his workplace, he lifted one of his heavy hammers and looked at the piles of steel. Now he has a clear goal for this evening.
Fanatics – They are hard to corrupt, but so easy to control.
"Boss, another bus is arriving." One of the goons said, and Annatar put back the hammer.
"Excellent, watch if there are any interesting guests, and help them get into the queue." He ordered, thinking about a special gifts he will prepare for both desired guests, and unwelcomed fools.
"And here we are." Yang announced taking Blake under her shoulder.
"This one?" Blake asked, surprised to see an unassuming hotel made of a red bricks with pair of Heavy Black doors in the middle, reception desk in shape of a boat on the outside and large title "Elysium" on top of the building. Small groups of people, mostly young adults waited impatiently outside, while cashier at the reception desk checked the tickets.
"That's on purpose, the cool stuff is inside." Yang said and let her go, then looked around. "And where are they..."
"There She is!" Both girls heard, and soon tall black man wearing white T-shirt and blue jeans greeted them before the entrance. "Xiao Long herself!"
"Goose, buddy!" Yang and man apparently nicknamed Goose firmly shook hands and held for some time, until he clenched his teeth in pain. "I see you practiced from the last time."
"Still not enough I guess." He said with painful expression, and when Yang finally released his hand, he whistled seeing it entirely red. "For Brothers grip, it's just me or you got even stronger?"
"You should see me in combat class!" Yang punched the air few times. "I'm on a win roll!"
"Of course you are." He finally noticed Blake standing little behind. "And I guess you made new friends on Beacon."
"Blake, meet Mike, my Gym buddy."
"Hi." Blake greeted.
"And Goose, meet Blake, my partner."
"Ohoho really? Partners already?"
"It's not like that you idiot!" Yang punched him in the arm, Goose jokingly retaliated and both started to laugh after a short "fight", while Blake smiled a little, remembering similar moments like this, that she shared with her friends. A carefree and fun ones.
She quickly shushed them, trying her best to forget.
"Mav is already inside?" Yang asked while they were walking towards the entrance of the hotel, and Goose nodded. "Pretty unusual for her."
"Hey, we camped the best table for an hour, give us some credit! We even got spare coins."
"No need, but thanks guys."
They approached the register, and Blake finally noticed that the cashier is actually a bulky robot, built into the whole thing and its name - HARON - written on its chest.
"Tartaros or fields?" It asked with ominous tone, and Goose reached for his pocket.
"Hey, There is a line here assholes!" Someone yelled towards them, but Goose ignored them and pulled out the silver ticket with word "coin" written in the center.
"Gold and Silver visitors are off-limits to cross the Styx" Robot responded, and checked Goose's ticket. "Welcome in the Paradise."
"What about those two!? One Silver is not..."
Yang pulled out one Silver "coin" from her pocket and handed it to Blake.
"This one is for you and this one..." She then pulled out a golden ticket with an image of a dragon on display, and showed it to the Cashier "... is for me."
Robot scanned the ticket, went silent for a moment and looked at Yang again.
"Welcome to the Paradise, Golden Dragon!" It said with cheerful voice.
"Golden dragon?" Blake asked her partner while she hid the ticket back.
"It's because of temper." Goose whispered to her.
"AND the hair!" Blonde girl said with pride while Automatic doors opened before them.
"Sure, sure, it was because of hair, not because you punched a guy through a roof." Hearing this, Yang looked at her partner with a cheeky smile.
"Maybe you want to hear how he got his nickname?" She asked as they walked down the slowly darkening hallway.
"Hey, you promised you won't tell anyone!"
All three walked into the dark hallway, the only visible thing was long, blue carpet leading deeper to another set of doors, and when heavy doors ominous closed behind them, Blake instinctively turned towards it.
"Chill, everything is fine." Yang said to calm her down.
"Scared off a little dark?" Goose teased, and Blake rolled her eyes.
Scared of the dark? Really? She could literally just sneak to him, knock him out cold and disappear like a ghost without him noticing that she approached him in the first place.
"Oh no, a dark room." She said, and after seeing him grin, used her semblance to appear right beside him.
"Sooo scary." She whispered to his ear and he jumped away in shock.
"How the f…"
Before he could finish, Heavy doors started to open, and whole room was engulfed in light and sound.
She covered her eyes when light blinded her, and only after her eyes readjusted, she uncovered them.
Before the trio was an enormous hall with four pillars being only source of neon lights, with at least thirty tables in the corners, and a dance a floor between those pillars, which constantly shifted colors, enlightening the whole hall from blue to green, to suddenly mixing red and blue to form purple light.
Each corner had its own bar, and large number of waiters run around, delivering drinks to people gathered around the tables, while the band played rock music on the stage put directly before the dance floor.
…What should I do, Stuck to this chair?
And yet I know
Gonna break away!
It's not my style,
I gotta get away,
Here now and today!
Blake put one step backwards, uncertain if she wants to do this. There were so many people both on the dance floor and in the corners. This cacophony of voices made her too nervous, and Yang looked at her with concern.
"You alright?" She asked, and after a short pause, Blake nodded, showing that she is fine.
She won't let a chance to get another chapter of "Ninja's in Love" to slip away like that. She can take spending few hours here.
"Let's meet up with Mav, and hope she isn't drunk too much already." Goose started to make his way through the crowd, Yang walked after him, and Blake, after leaving a sigh, joined them.
"It's a Golden Dragon!" Someone yelled from the crowd.
"Hello Pete! New hairstyle?" Yang replied.
"Yang!" Another voice greeted her.
"Samantha! New eyeliners I see!"
"You really know all of them?" Blake asked, really astonished.
"I probably know everyone here." Yang answered. "You know, I am pretty popular."
"Especially after you beat up Junior." Goose said after gently pushing another pair aside.
"Who?" Blake run in her head a list of major political figures in Vale and found him at the bottom. "Wait, you beat up Junior Xiong?" Yang chuckled.
"Yeah, that was so much fun. And the best part is that apparently, Hades had some sort of beef against him."
"Hades?"
"The owner." Goose clarified.
"Mhm." Yang waved to someone else in a meantime. "When he learnt that I beat Junior up, he sent me a Golden ticket and also gave a permanent discount."
"He even made a drink to "honor" that fight." Goose added, barely holding back the laughter. "You won't guess how he called it."
" 'Dragon's breath'? 'Burn'?" Yang tried to guess, and each time her friend shook his head in denial. "Oh I know! 'The Punchline'?"
"Nope." Goose grinned. "The Nut Cracker"
Both laughed out loud while Blake looked around, analyzing the whole place. She quickly noticed that above the crowd, on the catwalks walk guards dressed in black, who observe everyone at all time, the catwalk too high for anyone to jump on, but low enough to safely jump from and go straight into the action. She watched how one of the guards pointed at them and said something on the radio.
"They are watching us." Blake said.
"No wonder why." Yang replied. "I used to come here often. In fact, I once won a tournament held here."
"They held a tournament?"
"Yeap. And after I won, they told me I can ask for anything!"
"And what did you choose?" Blake asked, and, to her surprise, Yang's smile faded away.
"Doesn't matter." She answered after a while.
"But she still can't participate in any future tournaments ever again." Goose commented.
"Hey, not my fault that they care too much for their walls"
…Here I am as I stand, I can feel you think,
"Such a waster."
It's okay, I don't care
Didn't wanna stay stuck with the fools.
Skating down Park Avenue, I realise my time is now and here
Ready to go,
Being sensible is just not sensible!
"Goose!" Someone yelled to them, trying to get past the crowd, but luckily for her, he noticed the familiar face.
"Mav!" He switched direction, and soon trio walked through the dancing crowd, and were meet by the girl with green hair and eyes, who immediately hugged Yang tightly, and she answered that with the hug on her own.
"So, after this this two months, how does the Beacon feels? Is it too crumped?"
"Not really, I saw way more people in bars during Free Fridays. But at least those in Beacon can take more than one paunch!"
Both of them laughed and then Mav noticed Blake standing behind slightly behind.
"You brought a friend from Beacon!" In span of a second, she appeared before startled Blake and saluted. – Hello, hi, my name is Casey but friends call me Mav, if you ever need a pilot, I will be more than happy to aid a Huntress!
"Umm… thanks?"
"What food do you like? How does studying at Beacon looks like? How…"
"Calm down you chatterbox!" Yang put her arm on Mav's shoulder and looked at Blake. "Forgive her, she loves talking as much as flying."
"Nothing beats that feeling, I tell you!" Mav eagerly said. "I will be a pilot soon, just wait for my papers to finally arrive!"
In her past, Blake didn't like people who talk way too much than necessary, but after spending month with Ruby, her view on that matter changed and now only annoyed her.
"Come on, we don't have whole night!" Mav gestured them to follow her and she started to run. "The last to come pays for drinks!"
"Slow down you maniac!" Yang run after her, Blake and Goose looked at each other, he shrugged his arms and both walked after the two.
Meanwhile on the stage the first band left with their instruments, all lights went dark, and shortly after, female announcer walked on the stage Enlighted by single searchlight
"Thank you Subdigitals for this evening! Amazing as always!" She looked at the crowd "ARE YOU HAVING FUN!?"
"Yes!"
"I can't hear you!?"
"YES!" More than one hundred voices cried out in response
"DO YOU FEEL INVINCIBLE!?"
"YES!"
Light returned to the Club, revealing another band already starting another song, drums and electric guitars shaking the air, while the lead singer took the microphone:
Target on my back
Lone survivor lasts
They got me in their sites
No surrender no
Trigger fingers go
living the dangerous life…
Blake's ears twitched under her ribbon due all that loud sounds everywhere, She then again covered her eyes due sudden eruption of light. She never understood why humans enjoy such places – Everything is so noisy and lights are blinding her all the time*. Half blind, she lost Goose for a moment while walking through the crowd, but by accident she bumped into someone, making him trip and fall on the ground, his white hat falling off few feet away.
"Watch how you walk you degenerate…" Ghoulish like man with fish like eyes cursed after dropping few bottles of beer, its contents spilling all over the floor and on him, and smell of alcohol reached Blake's nose, nearly making her puke.
"Sorry." She said and reached with her hand to him, but he didn't take it, instead stared at her with shock.
"You…" He muttered, his clothes, at first originally white, now thanks to beer got more brown, shit-like color. Blake tried to focus, but all those bright lights kept blinding her, and she was only able to read part the short text he had on his chest:
"…ster Nickolaus Harrigan"
"Blake, where are you? Our table is this way!" Blake heard Goose calling her, her bow twitched and immediately went in direction of his voice, leaving the startled man behind.
"I'm here." She said and walked past Goose. "I accidentally spilled someone's drink."
"It happens I guess." Goose shrugged his arms. "If he come to complain, we will just pay, no worries."
Blake nodded, but felt something was off, but she wasn't sure what it was.
"Hey chief, what happened?" Two men approached the one laying on the floor after seeing him covered in beer. They reached with their hands to help, but he brushed off them off.
"I think I saw a wraith." He said after raising up, his teeth clenched.
"Wraith? Chief, you drunk too much." One of the workers laughed. "Ghosts ain't real."
"Not that kind of ghost you idiot!" He screeched. "A train ghost! The Black Panther!"
Workers looked at each other, now sure that their Leader is more drunk than usual.
"Chief, reports said that Black Panther died few days after the incident." One of them pointed out. "Maybe you just saw things?"
"It's true… they said she died…" Nick muttered, now unsure a little. However, he looked at the direction Blake went in and clenched his teeth.
"She is too familiar." He stated, then turned to his subordinates" One of you, follow me." He ordered, and pointed at second worker. "You, go and inform the rest to look for girl with a black bow on top of her head. Secure all possible ways out."
"Chief, that merc won't be happy if we interrupt the party." One of them argued, and Nick just scoffed.
"Not to mention we are technically not here yet." Second one added. "Lieutenant told us to not stick out if unnecessary."
"This situation is different." Nickolas looked for his hat, and noticed it laying on the floor. "And we have a pest problem, Lieutenant will understand."
He picked the hat with a snowflake with twelve points, cleared it from dirt and put it back on, then looked at his badge, cleared the short "SDPS" insignia from beer.
"And the Golden Bull?" He chuckled ominously. "We pay him for beating up the animals, right?" Men looked at each other, and with sadistic grins, they nodded in agreement. "Then no problem at all."
He tried to get pass few people, but due to his miniscule size he couldn't make his way, so one of his people started to make his way and Nick followed, his crooked teeth grinning in a wicked mockery of a smile.
If it was truly her, he will get very hefty bounty from his superior. But, to be honest, catching her might led him to far more important animal in this zoo.
Station: Limestone avenue.
Jaune dropped out from the bus with a small group of people and looked around. He never was in this part of town, mostly because there was nothing interesting here, just few dust shops and bakery's. But the first thing he noticed was a large traffic in the area.
All parking lots were entirely occupied by cars or small pickup trucks while people gathered around the shops or walked down the street. This large amount of people would be expected in the Shopping mall, not in the district downtown.
Jaune looked again at card he got, unsure if he got the address right, but apparently it was here.
"Hello good Sir!" Someone called to him, and before him appeared a middle-aged man in a black suit, red hat and sunglasses. "I see you hold a card, so you want to meet the Dream Smith, right?"
"I… just came to look, I really don't want anything."
"Maybe you will change your mind after you see him." Man gestured him to follow. "This way mister…"
"Arc. Jaune Arc."
"Nice to meet you, Jaune Arc. My name is Daniel Untich." Both went downstreet while, unbeknownst to Jaune, another man wearing black suit and sunglasses took out small radio from his pocket and turned it on.
"Name:Jaune Arc. Possibly a Hunter." He whispered to it. "Inform Annatar."
As they walked, Jaun looked around in disbelief. This place looked more like a center of a small city, not a quiet neighborhood he heard about. People flooded the streets while hundreds of workers worked tirelessly on repainting, rebuilding or refitting the buildings around, clank of hammers and chatter of the machines heard loud and clear.
"I know this look." Daniel drew him out his thoughts. "It is all thanks to Annatar."
"Who?"
"The Dream Smith boy."
"Ah right. Wait, he pays for all of that?"
"He pays, guides and give advice." Daniel answered. "He is a volcano of energy - always has a fresh idea and works tirelessly. It almost looks like he does three shifts a day!"
Jaune counted something on his fingers. "That means he works the entire day non-stop."
"Yes, and still finds time to organize everything around here." Daniel pointed at a line of street lights. "He not only personally overwatched upgrading the districts street lighting, but also cut some deals with the city to upgrade district's power supply."
"That's… nice of him." Jaune commented while group of workers carrying metal beams walked past them.
"To think it took him two months to, as he called it, 'bring order to Limestone.'" Daniel added nonchalantly, surprising the Hunter-in-training even further.
"Wait, two months? He did that all in just two months?"
"Yes, and I had a pleasure to witness it firsthand. – Daniel pointed at few grocery stores on the one side of the road, and bakeries on the other. "See those businesses? They were struggling before he arrived, and after he settled here, he subsidized them, gave loans and support, which allowed them to recover and then grow. And in return, he always asks the exactly the same amount he invested."
"And all of that from smithing?" Jaune shook his head in disbelief. "I don't think it is possible man."
"Many people say the exact the same words until they met him in person." Finally, through the noise of the crowd, Jaune started to hear the repeated clang of the hammer, then looked the building at the end of the road.
The building was not very impressive, just small two-stories high with roof covered in red tiles, the walls were very clear, probably recently renovated. There were five windows on the second floor, each equipped with red curtains, from the one most on the right small citrus tree was looking on the streets. Everything seemed normal, until you looked on the ground level, there was the forge. Jaune couldn't see the insides clearly, but he could get the gist of it. Over half of the first floor was exposed to the street and it was there were all the people were sitting, some of them eating, drinking or talking with each other, but all of them were looking in one direction, to the most left part of the floor, this was where this whole Annatar has to be working. There was just one more, yet important thing. Maybe not inside the forge, but outside of the building.
"A rather large queue." Daniel commented and patted Jaune's back. "But I think you might be able to reach the Dream Smith."
"I just want to take a look." Jaune raised his hands in defensive gesture. "I really don't need anything." and Daniel just chuckled.
"Annatar has a saying: "Everyone craves for something" and you know? He delivers exactly what he is asked for. Who knows? Maybe you will change your mind?" And with that, Daniel's scroll buzzed, and he immediately picked it up. "Hello? Oh hey! Yeah, I have time… " He walked away into the crowd, and before Jaune could ask about further details, he was already gone from view, so Jaune never heard what exactly this discussion was really about:
"He is in position, you know what to do."
For a moment, Arc stood alone, picked up his scroll and read few… many messages from clearly worried Pyrrha, Ren and Nora.
"Where are you? Did you missed the transport? Should I come pick you up?"
"Just call if you need something."
"Ren is making pancakes, better hurry, or I will eat yours!"
He took another look at the forge, and again at his scroll, and as he was finally making his mind to go back, someone pat him on the back.
"Hey mate, you look like a good bloke." Tall man in green T-shirt said. "Want to take a look what's inside?"
"We have a free seat at the table 6." His buddy in blue shirt added.
"No really, I…"
"He is already starting his another work, c'mon!" They pushed him to the table without much resistance, and before he could utter a word of protest, he found himself sitting behind the table with a great view into the forge itself.
The interior of the room wasn't looking like a forge, more like a café. Jaune looked around confused for a second, but immediately found the forge proper.
It wasn't as big as he initially expected, but one word came into his mind – comfy. In square seven by seven meters you could find any tool you would ever need to. On the walls there were many shelfs covered in small utensils, probably for jewelry, on which hammers and pincers of all sizes hanged beneath them. On the open sides of this square stood three anvils, two smelters and few more forge furniture which use Jaune could not even guess.
Maybe Ruby would know what are these for.
In the middle of all of this stood, or probably better term for this would be, was moving like the wind, very tall, he had at least seven feet, slender blond man. He wore white robs without sleeves, which fell all the way to the ground. Belt of similar, yet different white matter griddled up his torso. His muscles, visible for lack of the sleeves, were well defined yet not too muscular. His face was perfect, there were no irregularities, moles or scars. Nose was sharp yet not pointy, brows looked like he was spending at least ten minutes in front of the mirror each morning. Yet his most relevant feature were his red, like molten lava eyes, Jaune caught a glimpse of them and for a second he thought that he looked into erupting volcano. Young hunter was straight, but even he had to admit that Annatar was beautiful.
His gentle hands worked on something small, in shape of an egg, while customer, a man wearing the plumber uniform, watched in fascination as Smith's fingers put the parts together, inscribed something on the egg's surface, with such speed and precision that even most advanced robots would have trouble with.
Suddenly, he stopped his work, took the metal egg into his right hand, looked all over it and smiled with pride. He then turned to the plumber and finally spoke up.
"You asked for something, which would aid you in your demanding profession." Smith spoke up, and Jaune found his voice soothing and calming, yet also commanding. Jaune felt an urge to listen to this words, and follow them. In fact, if this man asked him for help, he wouldn't be able to refuse. "Something better than Atlesian pocket knife. And here it is."
Plumber took the egg and looked at it, unamused.
"There are no buttons here, how I would be able to open it?"
"Think about any tool." Annatar proposed, and plumber, at first uncertain, looked at the egg.
With quiet ting, One end of the egg opened, and a long spoon appeared from it.
"Really, you put the spoon into it?"
"I didn't." Annatar smiled. "Think about something else."
With another ting, spoon was retracted back into the "egg", and in its place appeared a wrench. Then a knife, then a small hammer.
"How did you put all those things inside?"
"I told you: I didn't." Smith proclaimed and pat the egg. "This device creates the tool of your desire, or you currently need, so there is no need for searching for the right tool on the occasion."
"Really? Anything?"
"Anything."
Another ting, a lighter in shape of the dragon's mouth appeared, plumber laughed joyfully and reached for his pocket, but Annatar put his hand on plumber's shoulder.
"No smoking in my forge." He said, then waved to one of his workers. "Bring this nice man to the cash register."
As the plumber left the view, Annatar turned to the gathered crowd, then looked at the sky, and from this view, Arc could swear that he looked… nostalgic.
"The moon will soon reach it's peak." He announced, his voice echoed across the street." That means I should soon close and rest." He looked at the gathered people. "But I think I still have strength for one last creation. And the one who receive it will be of my choosing."
He closed his eyes and lifted his left hand into the air.
"And who I shall chose?"
Of course, everyone started to yell, wanting to attract the Smith's attention, but Jaune wasn't one of them. He just came here to take a look, to satisfy his curiosity, and sure, that guy is impressive and all, but he don't want anything.
Plus, he didn't have a lot of money right now.
"And I chose…" While Smith moved his finger through the air, Jaune started to type the message back to Pyrrha, not paying attention to everything around.
"I'm coming back, got distracted a little bit…" He wrote.
"…You." Jaune heard, and something in his body told him to look at Annatar.
His finger was pointing directly at him.
"Congrats man!" Someone from the crowd yelled, and people around him started to clap. Before he could object, on of the guys who gave him a seat pat his back.
"Don't make him wait, come one!"
"But I don't have any money…" As he said that, Smith started to laugh.
"I won't be a issue at all." Annatar procliamed in very official manner. "For it shall be a gift."
At first, Jaune wanted to refuse. He already made his friends worried enough, but he felt a immense pressure from people around him. He saw in their eyes that he should, no, must go.
He left a heavy sigh and walked into the forge, feeling eyes of everyone weighing on his shoulders. He will just ask for something small, like a pen. Yeah, flying pen will do.
He sat on the armchair, and Smith sat before him.
"Tell me your name." Smith ordered.
"Arc." He answered, little nervous. "Jaune Arc."
"Well, Jaune Arc." Annatar leaned towards him, his red eyes staring directly into Jaune's blue. "What do you desire?"
"Could you make me a flying pen?" Jaune asked, taking Annatar by surprise. "I think it's cool, it writes and flies…"
"You can freely say what you want." Annatar interrupted. "Nobody shall judge you."
"Well…" Jaune thought for another moment. "How about another metal egg? If it can make a pen…" But Annatar rose his hand to shut him up. His eyes kept staring into Jaune's eyes, and the boy now found out that he can't turn away from this gaze.
It was like his entire focus was on this pair of red eyes, staring directly into his very being. Jaune tried to blink, but his eyes refused to do so, and for a moment, two red eyes seemingly merged into one…
"I see." Annatar turned away to one of his workers while Jaune blinked few times, trying to comprehend what happened. "That's all for today Yowwick, tell the people to leave."
"Sure boss." He nodded and Yowwick took a stand before the crowd. "Alright everyone, Smith is going to get some rest, you are more than welcome to come back tomorrow!"
"Thank the brothers." Jaune said, and wanted to get up.
"Not you." Annatar said, and Jaune stopped. "Sit." And the blond boy sat back on his armchair.
As people dispersed and workers started to close the forge, Jaune grew more and more anxious.
"Look man, I appreciate the offer but my friends are waiting for me and…" But Annatar interrupted him with only two words, spoken with such cold that Jaune's throat wasn't able to utter a word.:
"You lied."
"There you are!" Yang said as Blake and Goose finally made it to the table. "I thought for a moment that you got lost."
"And you both came last, which means…"
"Which means I am paying Mav." Yang said and waved her hand to the nearest waiter. "Yuh-hu hey, we are thirsty over here!"
"What for you?" Young waiter pulled out the notebook, trying look happy, but clearly, he was just tired and couldn't wait for his shift to end.
"The Dreaming Pearl." Goose said.
"The Restless Corona please!" Mav asked.
"Strawberry Sunrise, but no ice!" Waiter wrote that on his notebook, then looked at Blake.
"And for you?"
"Water."
"Oh c'mon, don't be a wimp!" Mav teased, but Yang shushed her.
"If she doesn't want to drink, don't force her." She said, not noticing a shift in Blake's expression after being called "a wimp".
"Wait." Blake said to the waiter as he wanted to leave with the order. "Do you have a White Goose?"
Waiter blinked few times, shocked to his core while Yang and her friends stared at Blake blankly.
"You sure?" Waiter asked for confirmation, an after Blake nodded, he whistled in respect. "Alright, I will get you that." And he walked away, and Blake looked like she didn't notice all those questioning stares. Only after some time of awkward silence she decided to speak up.
"What?"
"What 'what'?" Goose inquired. "What the hell is this "White Goose"?"
"Something wimps shouldn't drink." Blake retaliated and Yang snickered while Mav rolled her eyes.
"Anyway." Yang decided to change the topic. "How have you guys been? Something interesting?"
"Well, council decided to send my unit to the countryside." Goose said. "To, yet again, investigate the attacked train."
"Are they seriously sending police to investigate that train crash again?" Yang asked with annoyance in her voice, Goose nodded and Blake tried to look less suspicious than ever." Last I heard, Hunters already gathered and provided all the evidence. "Goose shook his head in disagreement."
"Apparently, SDC is not satisfied with the results and demand more action. Can't blame them, that was hell of a lot of dust the Fangs stole. But considering the risen activity of the Grimm there… Makes me and my colleagues nervous."
"But why they are also sending the police?" Mav frowned. "I am sure those SDC guys can handle anything."
"Because Council don't want to leave SDC unchecked." Blake spoke up, dead serious. "Company will do anything to punish those, who dared to raise their hands against them."
"Isn't that a good thing? Punishing those who commit crimes?" Goose asked, and Blake gave him a cold glare.
"That's police's primary goal." Blake agreed, but her face was still like a stone. "But not SDC's. Police want to arrest those who are responsible, SDC wants to capture those, who company executives deem responsible. Believe me, they will find someone to punish, but not exactly those who actually attacked their train."
"Jeez, I heard that SDC can be ruthless, but you are just overreacting." Mav said, oblivious to the reality, just like many.
"You wouldn't said that if you saw what they and their private army did in Vacuo." Blake replied, sour images of senseless brutality appearing her head. The sheer amount of destruction this company caused there would be enough to turn the public's opinion against them, but nobody believes evidence provided by the White Fang. After all, SDC has large influence over media, and was quickly able to hide everything under the rug, marking all it all as "minor incidents". And, to be fair, even Blake at first thought it wasn't that bad.
She clenched her fists, remembering some members of the Fang speaking about so called "Schnee Dust Protection Service" – a private army of SDC, whose official goal is to protect mines and SDC property, but in reality their primary objective is hunting down the White Fang, suppressing striking workers and even destroying settlements inhabited by Faunus population in response to acts of sabotage. From what she heard from her brothers and sisters, they do that with sick pleasure.
She never met this organization, as they operate in Atlas and Vacuo and they are not in Vale yet, but after seeing her brothers and sisters faces marked with burnt iron, with deep wounds and broken, deformed bones, she never dared to question SDPS's existence. For those members somehow survived SDPS "cleansings", most weren't so lucky to escape.
"Alright I get it, SDC suck." Yang remarked after seeing Blake in this state, wondering about her partner's reaction. "And I'm sure that Weiss would start the argument about it."
"Wait, no way you have an actual Schnee on your team! " Mav said in shock.
"We actually do." Yang confirmed.
"Regrettably." Blake added quietly, feeling that someone is watching them.
"What is she like?" Mav asked, and Yang scratched her chin and thought how to answer that without badmouthing her sister's partner right away.
"She is… fashionable, that's for sure. Has a very cool toothpick." She counted on her fingers. "Oh, and she makes a very good tea."
"That's… good I think?"
Waiter burst out from the crowd, in his right hand he held a plate with two bottles and two glasses, large one containing a red-yellow liquid, the second, small glass filled with transparent drink.
"Your order here." He gave each the ordered drink, and while giving Blake's one, he looked at her nodded. "Good luck." He said and left, going towards the another table. Yang took a look at Blake's drink.
"Looks like water." She said.
"The good stuff is inside." Blake replied, drunk some, shivered a little and left a loud huff.
"May I taste some?" Yang asked, and Blake looked at her, then at her drink, then again at Yang, shrugged her arms and passed it to her.
"But be careful, it is very strong…" She wanted to warn beforehand but Yang drunk it all in one go.
Her eyes widened and turned red, she started to cough and her entire body shook, then her hair ignited, making everyone gathered around freak out.
"What is this!?" Mav rose from her seat and jumped to Yang, trying to put out the flame while Goose looked for some water or fire extinguisher.
"I told you, it is very strong." Blake looked worried that she might accidently hurt her partner, she reached with her hand but quickly retracted it after Yang's hair again turned back to normal, her eyes turned lilac.
"Whoa-ho-ho!" She said, grinning widely. "Now that was a kicker!" She looked at her partner and laughed. "And you drink that!? I felt like my entire body is set aflame!"
"It went in flame…" Blake commented quietly, and Yang took her under her right arm.
"I would never suspect you of drinking something like that!" She said, laughing out loud. "There is still some hope for you!"
"Hope for what?" And Yang scoffed hearing that.
"Don't act like you don't know."
"I really don't." And after hearing this, Yang left a heavy sigh.
"In the Academy you act all this gloomy and mysterious, barely speak up and all that. It's frustrating! It's like you hide something."
"I don't!" Blake's face turned pale while Yang eagerly nodded.
"I figured that already. I think you are just shy!" She pulled her closer, and Blake left the sigh of relief. "I am sure that you are actually far different person beneath this mask of "I am loner, I love books"! And you know what? I want to know that Blake!"
Blake frowned. "That's why you brought me here? To know me better?"
"Was there ever any other reason?" Yang asked the question instead, and for the first time in years, Blake found herself not sure what to think.
She used to always suspect an ulterior motive from everyone, especially humans, and always kept her guard up. In fact, she only once allowed someone else besides her parents to get closer, and that turned out be a mistake. A mistake, which will haunt her forever.
With Yang however, things were different. Sure, she found her annoying at times, and at first didn't like her that much, but with each day, a strange thought started to grow: That Yang is genuine.
The way she interacted with everyone around her, spoke her mind without hesitation, showed affection to Ruby – it all painted a picture of a good, and extraordinary person. Blake of course thought that it was just a façade, and sooner or later, Yang will show her true colors.
But that moment never came. And that was confusing.
And finally, when Yang basically blackmailed her to go to this club, she thought that it was finally this moment, and all masks will fall. Turns out, they didn't.
Or maybe Yang wasn't wearing any in the first place?
"Yang, I…" She wanted to say, but her six sense rung in alert, as she felt someone watching them. Her ear twitched, picking up through the noise and music a quiet conversation between two men nearby:
"That's her?"
"She matches the Ritter's description."
She tilted her head to the left, and in the crowd she found two bulky humans, staring directly at them.
One of them tried to discreetly point at her and waved to someone to come over, which confirmed her worst fear.
Someone recognized her.
Was that this tiny man from earlier? Not the time to think about it.
"…need to go the bathroom." She rose from her chair and walked away, and as expected, two humans went after her.
"She is strange, you know?" Goose said, following the girl in black with his stare. "Never seen eyes like these before."
"Yeah, I wonder what do you see in her." Mav added, looking directly at Yang. "I mean, she looks good an all, but I don't think…"
Yang wasn't listening, she found Blake's abrupt leave rather odd, and looked around for a cause. She quickly noticed two large guys tailing her partner.
She is less than an hour here and already has creeps stalking her? And Blake probably don't know how to deal with them.
Yang on the other hand, knew exactly what to do.
She picked up her strawberry sunrise and got up from her chair.
"Hey, if something starts to explode, burn, or crush, just lay low, will ya?" She told them, and Goose hid his face in his hands.
"Not again…" He said while Mav only chuckled.
She went into the crowd following the two with a playful smile. This evening couldn't possibly get any better.
Well above the crowd, Head of the security picked up his radio. After listening for a moment, he turned and approached the well hidden balcony, on which stood a single, red couch.
On this couch sat a person covered in long, black and red robes, which matched her long and bushy black hair. She hid her face under the white mask, which resembled the face of enraged Nevermore.
"Persephone, Golden dragon is on the move, should we intervene?" He asked, and she looked at him.
"No." Voice distorted by mask replied. "I want to see it. Is Cartez in position?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Tell him to engage after the SDC, not earlier. I know how he loves proper duels."
"Understood." Security officer opened his radio and relayed orders, all the while Persephone's gaze followed Xiao Long with great interest. For months she heard only good things about the daughter of Taiyang, but she never trusted the outside sources that much, always preferring to witness everything firsthand.
"Show me if you are worthy of my time."
"Excuse me?" Jaune asked, both confused and scared by Smith's sudden declaration.
"You lied about something crucial. - Annatar said, his voice cold than winter. "Which pains your heart like a thorn."
"No no no, you don't understand..."
"I do." Annatar looked at Jaune, his eyes were like gaping maws of fire, able to pierce through his very being. - You try desperately to hide it, yet your body and soul tells me everything I need.
Annatar stood above him, covering the boy in his shadow like enormous, black tower.
"You set yourself on the path to destiny, hoping that one day, you will also be like heroes of the old. But you didn't realize how rough the road ahead is, did you?"
Jaune's body screamed, trying to make him get up and run as fast as possible, far away from the Smith and never look back at his forge. His muscles reacted like small mammal reacts in presence of an old and cruel cat, it wanted to flee from what appeared to be an apex predator.
Jaune's mind however kept his instincts in check. He saw what Annatar does, right? How he helps his neighbors, creates wonders and works tirelessly. Those gentle hands wouldn't hurt a fly, those eyes could not possibly lie. That man is probably the least dangerous man in the entire city, maybe even in the entire Kingdom. He shouldn't be worried or feel threatened.
Then why his body is shaking?
"And each obstacle raising before you holds you in place, binds you like chains bind a prisoner, making you unable to move forward, yet you also don't want to back down."
Annatar walked slowly in the circle around his guest, sometimes disappearing from Jaune's view to reappear shortly after right beside him.
"Your efforts are admirable, yet with each passing day, burden becomes more and more unbearable. But why you won't share it with someone?"
"I don't want to trouble anyone..."
"Maybe." Annatar interrupted him and put his hand on his right shoulder. "Or maybe it's because you fear the consequences." Annatar took the hand and resumed his walk. "You fear that when truth finally comes out, you will lose everything you care about." Smith stopped after seeing boy's pained expression, thought for a second and again looked directly into hunter's eyes.
"Correction: Everyone."
Jaune looked at his feet, feeling of shame covering him like water covers rocks on the beach. He lied his way to Beacon, thinking that something will happen there, his true potential unlock, radioactive spider bites him or something like in all the books and comics he read. Instead, none of that happened, but he was able to finally make good friends.
But he never asked to be their leader. It was not his choice.
"I see." Annatar said after seeing this reaction, and his voice turned compassionate. "You tried your best to show everyone that you are as capable as them, yet each attempt ended with failure."
"I don't want anyone's pity." Jaune finally spoke up. "It's true, I cheated my way to Beacon. I did everything I can to be the best leader possible, but I just can't keep up with everyone. It is nothing you can possibly "forge" man." He finally realized what he just said after seeing Annatar's amused face. "Wait, no, I shouldn't..."
"What is said in the forge stays in the forge." Annatar said, calming his guest little bit. "Your secret is safe with me."
Jaune left the sigh of relief. This guy is not that bad at all.
"However, you are under a misconception."
Jaune gave Annatar a terrified look, but to his surprise, Smith started to lit the fires under the Furnace.
"What are you..."
"If we want to finish this before dawn, I need to prepare everything now." Annatar said, showing coal into the furnace to feed the flame.
"Finish what?"
Annatar showed more coal into the fire, which quickly consumed the fuel, raising higher and growing brighter.
Annatar looked at his guest with amusement. "I could make you a sword that cut could through light, gauntlets that would make you as strong as a dragon, or helmet that would make you impervious to harm and cold."
Jaune looked at his arms, thinking that being strong like Yang or Nora wouldn't be that bad...
"But those are mere toys, trinkets which I can make in hour or two." Annatar picked up a bar of gold and put it into the smelter to liquify it. "None of which would solve your true problem."
Annatar looked at the melting gold, his eyes as red and bright as the flames.
"Which is?" Jaune asked, hoping that he won't regret it.
"Your fear and self-doubt created a mental block in your own head." Annatar answered, and after seeing that Arc didn't understand, he thought for a bit. "You consider yourself worse than your associates at every turn, don't you?"
"I mean, they..."
"Do NOT end this sentence." Annatar said with such power that Arc nearly jumped on his seat. "I won't tolerate such foolishness. Not anymore."
Bright flames licked the shiny metal, slowly liquefying it.
"So, why do you think I can't reforge you?"
"Wait, what? Your semblance is going to work on my mind?" Jaune asked with suprise, and Annatar, for the first time in a while, genuinely laughed.
"Semblance! I don't need such a thing." He declared as the fire started to melt the metal. "Some need time, others want few gestures, many act after a promise. But for you..."
He watched how gold lost its sturdy form and melted, now more than ready to work upon, capable to contain the power. His eyes now shined like stars, excited at the prospect of a true, proper craft.
"... A Ring will suffice."
* If you also had four ears, you would avoid night clubs too.
Authors notes
Again, I don't own RWBY or LoTR. Nor the lyrics from the music:
Skillet: Invincible
Subdigitals: Break away
It took me a lot of time. Why? Let's just say studies are hard. Really hard.
But I think we are slowly getting there.
And, as you noticed, I allowed myself a little additions to the world. I will try to make those additions make sense, so here I present my line of thought:
SDC is presented as this amoral company who exploits its workers, abuse Faunus and many shady stuff. Yet we don't actually see their bad actions. Or we see them but in comparison to the White Fang, they seem like no big deal. So, I decided to show RWBY's Arasaka much more... darker side.
Also, Yang's friends - We are just told she is very popular and has a lot of friends, but we never actually see them!
Anyway, now for the reviews (And I am both shocked and grateful for them, like holy...)
In response to Teo Char:
Go for it mate! I will be more than happy to read about that!
Sauron's gifts ain't that magical! It's just masterfully made! (wink, wink). Seriously though, his items are clealry magical and, in some cases, overpowered. Story about elephant going viral? Well, yes. More the merrier!
As for Jaune... shit. But stay with me here!
His problems will be solved by magic, a very powerful one.
The question is: What price will he pay? And what problems this magic will cause?
In response to E
Thank you, I am more than happy to read that! And thanks for the advice, I will consider it.
I couldn't change it right now, because I was in the middle of writing the chapter, and lacked mental strenght to come back and change EVERY SINGLE LINE, but in the future I think I will chnage my way.
In response to IkarusFalling.
Thank you very much!
In response to old666
I think it will be quarter what the story is about! And I agree, their clash will be sight to behold!
In response to Octavio Constant:
1. Will he put Weiss in her place (or just humble her)? Yes. For the reasons you mentioned? Probably not.
Will her views about Faunus change? Also yes.
2. As you are probably reading this chapter, yes, he has issues with the Fangs. And his issues will be expanded.
3. Sauron's loves when someone threatens him, because it marks them as not only his enemies, but also shows that they are arrogant. It is pretty easy for him to exploit it.
But in response to hypothetical question, hypothetical answer. - He could sway her, rather easily but only sway, changing her alliances would take too long and cost too much.
4. And this is my favourite question:
I held a debate with Konsilio about the matter and the answer is yes, such creatures will appear. However, I shall not reveal their nature now, it would be a way too big spoiler.
In response to guest:
My update schedule... I don't think it exists.
Making this chapter took me a month. I think the next chapter will be faster, but no promises.
The rule is: I post it when it's ready, on the weekends.
Gotta catch the wave...
That's all for now folks, have a good Christmas, because I probably won't post next chapter before it (in most extreme case, I wish you Happy New Year)
See ya!