Chapter 12
"What is it with you people and landing in caves?"
Aldric stood, his arms crossed, watching Mercury tossing the covering tarp over the Aviator, it nearly scraping the top of the cavernous ceiling above them.
"Seriously. Empirically speaking, in my experience with you three you've landed in more caves than you haven't." Aldric's head listed to the side, as Mercury stuffed his leg under the tarp. A loud sound of air bellowing met their ears, and the entire tarp unfolded in seconds, covering the entirety of the ship. "How'd you three even find this? We're in a gigantic woodland and you found the one cave." He frowned, "is that Mercury's semblance?"
"Aldric, do you ever shut up?" Emerald asked.
Aldric thought back to his last fight with Cubone, and shook his head. "I'd say only when I'm on death's door, but... Yeah, no. Even when my ass is dying I've got a witty remark or two." A light billowing wind dragged at his long coat, "I'm pretty sure it's how I live. Food, water, air, snide rema-"
"I will seriously pay you to shut up."
Aldric chuckled, as Mercury slid down the surface of the ship. "You act as if money really has any value to me." Said Aldric, "like... Seriously. I'm from another planet and you three are taking care of my primary needs." He pulled out his scroll and gave it a wave, before he stowed it back in his coat. "Your threats and offers hold no value."
"Oh man - are you making fun of Emerald?" Mercury called out, as he reached them. "What's she bribing you with? She tried promising some of your trinkets to me, a few days ago."
Aldric jerked his head back, before turning to the mint-haired woman, "oh, well, fuck you!" He grinned, "she's trying to give me money."
Mercury blinked, "Emerald - he's from another planet, and we're pretty much -"
"Yeah, I said that"
"Oh my god you two even think the same." Emerald groaned, crossing her arms. "I never thought I was a bad person. Why am I cursed with this?"
Aldric let his hands drop, stowing them in his pockets. "Probably when you decided to tear me off of my planet." He deadpanned.
"I thought it was when she became a terrorist."
"Aside from the many multiple broken bones you give me every day, I think I like you, Merc." Aldric about-faced, looking outside the cavemouth, where Cinder stood, looking out to the thick forests, the treetops many different shades of red, as fall came by.
"That you mess with Emerald makes you fine in my mind, Aldric." Mercury gave him a pat on the shoulder as the trio approached Cinder.
"I hate the both of you."
"Oh you love me. If he didn't have someone to back-and-forth with he'd only have eyes for you." Aldric shot back.
"He's not wrong."
"Shut it. All three of you." Cinder said in her airy tone, once the three of them made it to her. "Adam Taurus' camp is little more than ten kilometers in that direction." She nodded to the south. "He is less of an amiable creature than his predecessor, and your bickering will not set him at ease."
"Thank you." Emerald groaned.
There she is. Aldric thought, giving Cinder a brief look, before leaning over and making eye contact with Emerald. "Have you ever been beaned in the face by light that imitates metal?"
"Aldric." Cinder grunted, an edge of frustration to her tone.
"That was the last one." Aldric assured. "So all of these folks we're going to meet are animal people." He said, as the four of them began trekking through the thick woods.
"Hybrids, closer to it." Said Mercury. "White Fang is a Faunus organization. Used to be a nonviolent one, but then the last guy got swapped out for Taurus, and now they're robbing trains."
"Plural?"
"Three this last month." Emerald supplied.
"Regular gang of desperados, huh?" Aldric frowned, "and we're hoping to get their help for numbers purposes, I assume."
"And to have a convenient scapegoat. Someone to take the fall." Mercury added.
"Hm." Aldric grunted, following the Legion as they continued through the forest. "So, I don't think I've been let in on why we're seeking Taurus specifically. From what I've read about the Fang, he's taken over here in Vale, but there's a bigger portion over in..." He paused, "I forget where it's called. So why Taurus, when we could go for the other guy?"
Cinder answered, "Adam Taurus is the man we need. His subsect of the White Fang is less pacifistic and more militant than Sienna Khan. He has a certain knack for inspiring loyalty, even in the face of certain death." A beat passed, "Aldric." she said, causing the man in question to jump at the sudden terseness in her tone.
"Uh, was I supposed to know that? Or did I ask something stupid?" What the hell had he done?
Cinder shook her head, "not that. It is something I realized we have not yet discussed."
"I didn't do it."
"Let me speak." She said, as the four of them ambled over fallen trees. "Yesterday at Junior's club. Had we not all but forced your hand, you would have refused my orders."
Oh. Shit, I forgot about this. "In my de -" But Mercury held his hand out, silently shaking his head.
Aldric frowned, but bit his tongue, ducking under a branch as Cinder continued. "I do understand that you've nearly eighteen years of instinct from a world in which you are weaker by far than you are on Remnant. This has led to a self-preservation instinct perhaps disproportionately powerful when compared to those of us that have lived here, with our aura. As such, I am willing to excuse your actions that night as that of one fearing life and limb.
"As well, I know from my experiences with you and what stories you have told that people from your world are inclined to the why of things. Questioning everything and refusing capitulation until such a time as you know. You, in a situation where you had no facts, instead sought to question me to ensure you had the facts and could thusly make educated conclusions and a sound plan based on said facts. Your mind, as you have often claimed, is among your greatest resources."
There's a but. Thought Aldric, as Cinder turned to glare at him over her shoulder.
"However."
There we go.
"Questioning my orders is not something I will accept in any situations to follow." She warned, lowly. "I do not make these orders out of a sense of laze, or because I dislike you, Emerald, or Mercury."
I'm about to get the 'because I care' speech. Aldric nodded.
"I make these orders because I know you capable of accomplishing them. Because I know you are strong, and because I know you've a trust in my own intelligence."
Well, close enough. "Okay." Trust me, I know what I'm doing, you questioning it all puts us all in danger.
"We are fighting a war, one in which a single wrong move leads to death. Be it on our side, or theirs. I have reasons to make these demands of you. Some you may understand immediately, some you may not, but questioning them leads only to discord, and could kill us all."
Bingo! What's my - whoa. He stopped in his tracks, when Cinder spun around with a flourish of her dress and a swing of her arm, his own pistol in her hand, pointed at his face.
"And I can tell by the look in your eyes you may very well have predicted my entire diatribe from the moment I began it. You seem an intelligent enough man to have made the conclusion." She challenged.
Can she read minds? Aldric arced an eyebrow, but otherwise remained still and neutral.
"I cannot read minds, Aldric. But I can read you." Aldric had to exercise a lot of self control not to blanch at her words. "You wear your heart on your sleeve, as it were. There aren't many things you can hide from us, let alone me. It is an admirable trait, but I also see deeper, that you are more than capable of keeping secrets. That you mask this ability with your humor and snide remarks."
I'm trying to be a terrorist to other terrorists, lady. If you can predict that, I will let you shoot me. Aldric slid his hands into his coat, silently letting her continue.
"But as I said, this is an admirable trait. You do well at it... Well enough that I believe I may have surprised our companions." She frowned at both Mercury and Emerald, who wisely didn't even so much as move, simply watching the conversation. "But this hides a weakness. You think, and perhaps while you do trust us, as do we, you, you do not trust us nearly as much as you do yourself, and that is what leads you to question things you do not yet understand. It is what led you to question me yesterday, and as I said, I cannot tolerate it."
Full circle. Aldric kept unflinching eye contact with Cinder.
"So, I shall be blunt: If I told you to stand there, and let me pull the trigger of your weapon, and that you would be safe, I would need you to follow those orders." She stated, airily, but with a firmness to her voice that Aldric knew she wasn't kidding around.
Aldric's expression remained neutral. I can sense the safety's off, and there's a round chambered. But you pull that trigger, the bullet will bounce away, I'll rip out the branch hanging above you and smack you with it... But that's not your intention. I know your point, but the gun is throwing me off.
She continued, "I understand more than you may think the scope of your skills and the scale of your power. That small dissection I just listed was but a fraction of what I have learned of you in these few weeks." Aldric made a mental note to change the passwords on all of his devices. "While you have not seen me, I have watched your training with Emerald and Mercury, have observed you studying our world, attempting to bridge our technology and yours." Change them twice. "And I have been directly present for your battles against both Neopolitan and Yang Xiao Long. I know what you are capable of, and as such, if I give you orders, I expect you to follow them. To trust me, in that as I know what you can do, I know what I can do with you... Without... Question." She steadied the gun, "now stand there, and let me pull this trigger. You will be safe."
Aldric was pretty sure the doubt he felt only fed her point, and he kept his gunmetal gray eyes locked to hers for the few seconds of silence she allowed him to make one of his characteristic retorts. Emerald and Mercury both looked back and forth, watching the one-sided exchange with awe and interest, respectively. Each of them were all but salivating at the chance to see Aldric square off against Cinder in a verbal sparring match, but Mercury was repressing a grin, at Aldric following his advice.
After another moment's pause, she pulled the trigger, and the sound of metal striking metal and grinding to a halt met everyone's ears.
"You need to clean your weapon." Cinder tossed the gun to him. "Your brain is a weapon, Aldric. And a resource. I do intend to make use of it, and am not discouraging your educative tendencies. But as do you trust your people's knowledge, I need you to trust in mine."
He caught the gun like a knife, using his semblance to catch it by the barrel. "Message received." He grunted, before adopting a lighter tone. "How'd you even get this?" He asked, his neutral expression melting away to a practiced smirk, as he stowed the jammed pistol in his coat.
"You're a far better fighter than you ever will be a thief." Cinder responded, nodding idly towards Emerald, who didn't make eye contact with him. "And your coat interferes with your senses."
Aldric shrugged, "I think it looks badass." He deadpanned, as the four of them continued making their way through the forest. "It's a cape, and a coat, all in one. It's fucking awesome." Said coat billowed as a light breeze picked up.
Mercury now broke his silence, clapping his hand on Aldric's back. "It makes you look Atlesian." He pointed out, as he stepped in front of Aldric and over the felled tree Cinder had stood upon.
"That may be true, but my point stands. If you were raised on hollywood movies, video games, comic books, and anime like I was, you'd appreciate the appeal of a heroic, billowing cape, and the function of a trench coat." Aldric argued.
"Again!" Emerald groaned, "he said... What, fifty words? A couple sentences? He talked for two minutes and he couldn't go that long without referencing his home!"
"My parents taught me from a young age that there exists a quote from anything that can make your point perfectly." Aldric shrugged nonchalantly.
Though, he was appropriately concerned with Cinder's comments about him keeping secrets. She couldn't know, could she? How could she? Was she bluffing, telling him she knew and that this was his only chance to not go Green Hornet, or foreshadowing a completely different point? Regardless, it had been scary how well she'd been able to read him, and it stunned him enough such that he didn't even consider firing back. At least now he understood, if not the whole thing, then at least part of the purpose of her spending so much time with him. She was getting a good read on him.
Hours later, as the moon grew higher into the sky, they found themselves approaching a small clearing, with men in white and gray armored uniforms and wolfish masks covering their faces, patrolling the perimeter. Aldric had gotten people in the trees on radar a kilometer ago, but a look from Mercury told him to not say anything about it. When they reached the edge of the clearing, several of the patrolmen had them at gunpoint. Aldric didn't miss the fact that he was the one Cinder made eye contact with, when she ordered everyone to allow themselves to be searched, to identify their weapons.
However, none of the three Fangs that searched him identified his Power Glove. It made him feel confident in his earlier ideas about it being a good surprise weapon, and if he had to guess based off of this, they likely thought they were real gloves, and were just encrusted with dirt. When they found his gun and laughed at how badly jammed it was, and then proceeded to poke fun at him for only carrying one weapon, and a poorly maintained one at that, it only led credence to this theory. Astonishingly, however, everyone was returned their weapons.
Yeah, laugh it up. Thought the crash survivor, as he and the Legion were led at gunpoint through the camp, to an enormous tent in its center. This goes south, I'll break your jaws with solid light.
As they continued through the camp, Aldric felt out with his radar pulse. There were thousands of people here, and considering he'd felt more in the trees, he was certain in that this wasn't the only camp, and probably not even the main one. Aldric couldn't help but grin as he took in all of this information, all of the tactile sensations, it was like a third eye, laying a three dimensional, tactile map of the entire camp, directly in his mind. He saw everything as it was happening, exactly the way it was happening. He saw a few Fangs sparring on the other side of the camp, and distinctly felt the heat of their blades clashing. He sensed one Fang giving medical treatment to another, who seemed to be nursing wounds from the local Grimm. He could see their faces and draw up perfect mental images of them, from the mole hidden in the hairline of the medic to the wrinkled scowl of one of the sparring Fangs. One discovery, however, almost made him stumble, as he'd completely forgotten to expect it. Tucked away behind Adam Taurus' tent, helping a few Fangs with their swordsman forms, was a certain cat-eared Faunus.
God damn... I'd forgotten she would be here. I thought she'd left by now... Thought Aldric, his hands folded behind his back and a neutral expression locked onto his face, as they approached Taurus' tent. So I've seen Ruby and Yang, now Blake... Kind of. I've run into Torchwick and Neo, and several major players from the Legion. I swear, doesn't Weiss live in Atlas? If that's where the Fall Maiden ends up being I'm going to give up on Ozzymandias and the Green Hornet and just go full Joker. Someone's playing with me. But he shook these thoughts from his head as they made it to the main tent.
Warmly lit, and with both side walls lined by guards, Aldric, Mercury, and Emerald were all forced to their knees while Cinder was walked forward. Aldric saw a massive, leather-like map hung on the rear wall, displaying the entire world of Remnant, and standing in front of it, his back turned to the Legion, was the blood-red haired leader of the White Fang.
"That you came here so brazenly speaks of the level of hostility of your intentions; and for that I will at least give you a chance." Said Adam, not turning to face them. "Speak, human."
Cinder folded her hands in front of her, "Adam Taurus. Leader of the White Fang, allow me to begin by saying it is indeed an honor to be in your presence. My name is Cinder Fall." She said, her tone warm and airy, a far cry from the cold fury from just a few hours ago. "I come here to seek an Alliance, between your faction and mine."
"To what end?"
Cinder smiled, "you know as well as I that the world in which we live is a corrupt one. What we seek is something akin to what you seek: Change. We seek to usurp the kingdoms and establish a fairer system, one in which no one faction or person holds all power. Where normal people are just as powerful as Huntsman, and where Huntsman are just as vulnerable as normal people." A pause, "where fau -"
"Save it." Adam waved his hand, now turning to them. "So let me get this straight..." He began pacing, his coat swishing with each step, as he locked his gaze to the ground, looking distant in thought. "You could have gone to anyone, for help. You could have made a deal with a gang leader, or paid off some huntsman that had strayed from their 'righteous path'..." He stopped his pacing to turn fully to Cinder, "but instead, you seek an audience with me." He looked down at her.
Though he couldn't see it, Aldric could sense Cinder's expression. It remained guarded and warm, without an ounce of mirth, or anything that could even remotely set Adam off.
"You're the one we need." Cinder responded, confidently. "Your skill, and your ability to lead those beneath you. You're an exceptionally valuable man, Adam. And we've put a lot of thought into -"
She was interrupted by Adam, who pointed at her and adopted an angry tone. "Then you're clearly not thinking straight! If you truly understood me, then you'd know that coming here was a mistake." He growled, a scowl on his face. "The White Fang is not an organization for hire. We're a force of revolution!" He declared, clenching his fist.
Aldric saw in his peripherals Emerald and Mercury share incredulous looks. Mercury turned to exchange a glance with him, but Aldric shook his head, his gunmetal gray eyes locked onto Adam's decorated mask, his mind wondering how his butterfly effect hadn't changed the end result of this encounter. Yes, he doubted simply being in this world would change Adam's ideology, but considering chaos theory, he was surprised how little of note had changed, here.
But, then again, I beat the hell out of Yang, and received just as good. The butterfly effect probably just hasn't come full circle, just yet. He considered, an ominous shiver running down his back.
"I believe our plan will be beneficial to all parties involved." Cinder pressed, a sidewards nod of her head; Adam began pacing again, and Cinder continued. "I have... An associate, in Vale. He and I are working on a revolution of our own. But we cannot do it without your forces." She said, watching as the White Fang's leader paced back and forth, his sheathed sword clenched in his off hand. "We need -"
But he interrupted her again; Aldric was starting to like this guy. "What you need is to leave." He growled, turning his masked eyes threateningly to hers, and brandishing his weapon. "You're asking my men to die for your cause. A human cause." He placed his hand on the hilt of his blade, and Aldric noted the amount of disdain lain in the word 'human'. "That is not..." He declared, "an idea, I am willing to entertain." He said firmly, as the sounds of crickets and the night-based creatures of the woods surrounding them made their way to Aldric's ears in the ensuing silence between them.
Cinder let the silence continue for a moment, before she bowed. "Very well."
Mercury must have sensed a snide remark coming from Aldric, because as they grew to their feet, he swatted his arm. Aldric, who at least had some self awareness, enough to know that he should save those kinds of remarks for when they weren't surrounded by a camp of armed men and main characters all willing to die, frowned at Mercury, as the Legion of Doom vacated the White Fang's camp. He distantly heard an exchange between a certain cat faunus and her leader, but it was too distant to make out.
Once they were out of earshot of the White Fang, however, "uh... What?" He did, after all, have a role to play.
Mercury joined in, "yeah, Cinder - what? That was two weeks for... Ten minutes?"
Cinder turned her gaze threateningly to the two talkers of her group, her orange eyes all but lighting up the darkness between them. "What did we just finish discussing?"
"That was according to plan." Aldric deadpanned. "Sending Mercury to get his ass whooped for two weeks, and coming here to talk to Taurus for a quarter of an hour and get rejected, was all a part of the plan." The plan sucks, he didn't say.
"It was." Cinder insisted, raising her hand; Aldric saw a bug crawl out of a white glove, coming to rest in her palm. "Now we know where he is." She turned to Aldric, "did you see it?"
Aldric blinked. Oh shit... Think of - the map. "The map?" He asked, to Cinder's nod. "Were a bunch of 'em. One was local, had our location marked."
"And how is your reading coming along?"
"Well enough to know that they wrote 'Train Comes Here' in big, bold letters, next to an x-marks-the-spot." Aldric deadpanned "What're you thinking? We'll come back?"
Cinder nodded, as the bug vanished from sight and she lowered her hand. "They will be here for weeks yet. We've time." She turned her gaze back forward.
"So what now?" Mercury questioned.
"There is another task we must attend to."
Oh I've got a bad feeling in my bible. "And what would that be?" Is it time to work on the Kratos impression? I can scream but that's about it.
"Emerald. There is an inn, not far from here running down the main road." She turned to Aldric, "Aldric should be able to take you there."
Uh... Shit. I'm going to have to remember those maps better. It had already started fading from his mind, he'd have to pray he could bring it back.
"What are we looking for?" Emerald asked.
"Not what, but whom."
Yup. Gonna have to burn that bible. Aldric thought, as his eyes lowered, seeing Cinder pull two pictures out of thin air, handing them to Emerald and aldric.
"We need to find her. She is important to our plans." She said, as Emerald took it. "Very important."
Emerald frowned at the picture, "okay. You need us to go now?"
"That would be preferable." Cinder said, tersely.
Emerald nodded, and slowed her pace to match Aldric's. "Where are we going?"
"Uh..." Aldric reached in his coat for a compass. "I guess..." He frowned, "east. Main road should be east." Oh god please tell me the main road's east.
Emerald frowned, "you do know where we're going, yes?" She prodded, as she and the crash survivor separated from Cinder and the assassin's son.
"Of course." Aldric pointed ahead of him, "forward!" He smirked.
"Oh god she left me with you." Emerald muttered, the shock evident in her wide red eyes.
"How the hell did you get lost?!"
"In my defense, I grew up in a world where navigation was pretty much done for me, and I'd never traveled much farther than my house, on my own." Said Aldric, as he pulled out a tent from his bag.
"You had a compass!" Emerald shouted, as she set up her own tent. "How did you get lost and you had a compass!"
"Emerald, we'll be fine. We get a few hours sleep, wake up, find the road. It is literally that simple." Aldric pressed.
But Emerald, angrily shoving the tent rods into place, shook her head. "How do you go from personable, listening to music and tinkering with your Power Glove, to downright foolish?" She demanded, her teeth grating. "Are all of your people like this?"
Aldric felt tempted to mention how she wasn't helping the situation, but he didn't want to get sickled in his sleep. "For what it's worth I am sorry." He said. "I wasn't expecting to play navigator." He was also pretty sure the problem they had run into was he'd failed to reconcile their position in the forest with the position of the White Fang's camp.
"You've built a reputation smarter than, and if not, at least as smart as Cinder, and you don't remember the map." Emerald growled, frustration leaking into her voice.
"Being intelligent and having a photographic memory are two different things..." Aldric pointed out, as he finished assembling his tent, and turned to the pile of wood they'd assembled. "I would also argue -"
"Aldric, I'm going to say this once. I am very frustrated right now, and your constantly joining Mercury to get under my skin doesn't help. So if I'm short with you, I do apologize, but please -" She whirled around, "shut -" She blinked, seeing the roaring fire in front of her. "Did..." She turned to see Aldric sticking something into the dew-covered dirt. "Did you just start that?"
Aldric nodded, "see? I'm useful for some things." He said, over the light hissing of the fire.
Emerald thought she saw steam rising from the object he'd stuffed in the ground, but she shook her head, sighing. Having lost a lot of her steam at the surprise of having seen Aldric not only start a fire, but do so remarkably silently, she turned back to her tent. "Just get some sleep."
Aldric, however, elected to take another option, pulling up a small log and sitting in front of the fire, his coat tossed over the log like a cape. When he confirmed Emerald was gone, he reached back forward and gingerly pulled the fork out of the ground. Its upper half was glowing red hot, whereas its bottom half was covered in a rapidly receding, thin sheet of ice. Aldric hummed, and stuffed the red-hot fork back in the ground.
Okay... He leaned forward, staring into the fire. How to salvage this. He pulled a scroll from his coat pocket. It didn't have a connection to the Cross Continental Transmit System, but it did still have the things he'd downloaded onto it.
The maps he had were useless, as none were local, but it still gave him a halfway decent frame of reference. He picked the best one - a map of the Kingdom of Vale - and zoomed in on the general area he thought them to be.
Okay... So. He frowned, White Fang camp is... Here, I think. We walked a few kilometers south, then Emerald and I broke off. I know we made it East because my compass said so. Remnant's north and the geomagnetic north are the same as Earth's, so that's not a worry. So the question is, where did we fuck up? He stared at the map. And how can I unfuck up?
His biggest problem, he knew, was the enormous and thick population of trees in these woods. It wouldn't have been hard at all for them to get lost, or turned around for even a minute. They could have taken a roundabout route, or perhaps passed by a bend in the road altogether and overshot it. If he had a vantage point, one really high up, maybe he'd be able to get them back on track, but he wouldn't trust himself to climb trees. It wasn't that he had a fear of heights, but a fear of falling. Getting thrown eighty feet through the air by a demon tended to do that to folks.
The falling issue could a non issue with the Power Glove. The hardlight absorbed vibrations - if he made a Cap Shield and fell on it, yeah he'd still get hurt, but it would be less 'Humpty Dumpty' and more 'Fell a few feet off the stairs'. What's more, he had his semblance to slow himself down even more, so what little force of impact he would have would then be absorbed by the shield and he'd get away scot-free.
He blinked. Now there's an idea, actually.
He'd always said he wanted to fly. What better a time was there to figure out than now? And if he found the main road and fixed things up with Emerald - as well as he could, at least - that was just a bonus. He got to his feet, stowing his scroll back in his coat pocket.
Okay... Okay okay okay. I can pick stuff up easy enough, just gotta... Pick myself up. He held his hands out in front of them, palms downward. And since visualization is half the battle... Let's go Iron Man. His frown deepened in concentration, and all around him the dirt, and even some of the embers from the fire, began to levitate in the air, orbiting around him as if he were a sun, and they, the planets. And... He crouched down, go! He launched himself into the air.
He made it all of six inches before coming right back down, netting little less than a hop. Aldric's shoulders slumped. Oh come on, I jumped higher than that at the ware - He shot into the sky.
"JEEEEEEEESUUUUUUUUUS!" He screamed, as he cleared the treeline in half of a second, likely long since out of Emerald's earshot. "Plan B - plan b - PLAN B!" He shoved his arm in front of him and summoned his shield, curling up behind it and trying to use his semblance to slow himself down as he began rocketing towards the ground again, his body eager to obey Remnant's gravity again. As he crashed through tree branches and grunted with each impact, his entire body tensed as he awaited the sudden stop that would come with his hitting the ground, and in his mind he was visualizing a gigantic net, similar to that which circus performers used for safety.
But it never came.
He slowly creaked open one eye. No way... He opened the other one. Is the shield that good? I now fully believe Cap can jump out of helicopters, now.
But when he peeked over the edge of the shield, he found that he hadn't even hit the ground. Point of fact, he was still hovering a good half foot above it. The crash survivor laughed hysterically, not believing what his eyes were telling him.
Okay... Just... Keep doing what it is I'm doing. And slowly, he gained more height on the ground, going from six inches to one foot, and then again to two. Cautiously, he killed the shield, letting his limbs dangle as he continued gaining height, the image in his mind going from that of a net to that of a giant disembodied hand grasping at the core of his body and slowly lifting him up. Slooooowly... He grunted, chest tight and muscles tense from concentration. Slow - shit! He dropped a few feet, but caught himself with a painful lurch and a bark of fear.
He hovered here, ten feet off of the ground, for several minutes, before he oriented himself rightside up. The ground now beneath his feet, and the sky above him, Aldric looked upwards, a determined, if tense, frown appearing on his face. With a thought, he then rocketed back upwards again, straight through the hole in the treeline he'd made earlier. The slipstream he generated briefly brought some debris and detritus along for the ride, but they didn't follow him all the way.
And put on the brakes! Aldric thought, throwing his hands upwards and envisioning a counter force pushing downwards. Instantly he began slowing down, until he was now hovering in the air, more than a kilometer above the forests.
"Heh... Hahaha!" Aldric laughed airily. "Yeah! Yeah, I can fly." He grunted, slowly revolving on an axis as he took in the world beneath him, his coat billowing in the wind like a cape. "I just... Can't go too fast, yet." He didn't want to knock himself out by going anywhere near Mach-speeds, he didn't know how to pressurize his body like the G-Force suits fighter pilots wore. "Okay... So." He cleared his throat, turning his gaze downwards.
He had no clue where he was.
Fire... Fire... Where is our - fire! He saw a dull orange glow through the roof of the forest. Okay, so that's where - FUCK! He dropped another few feet, but was able to catch himself before he got going too fast. "Alright, new plan." He spawned his shield, the hardlight, having been programmed to mimic a metallic sheen, did not generate its own light, but rather that of the shattered moon above them. "Keep you out at all times, just in case. Now... We're there..." He began looking outwards, slowly spinning himself in the air.
Bingo.
Just a few kilometers to the northeast, he found a neatly divided line in the woods. Pushing himself forward, he flew to this line and found a wide road, paved into a path by repeatedly being beaten down by travelers. Now having found the main road, Aldric kept himself aloft and picked up speed, flying northwards until he found a crossroads, with a sign posted. He dropped through the air and landed with a heavy thump and a grunt, but otherwise, with no injuries. He stumbled forward, having to regain his balance after having been so tense for so long, but when he recovered, he looked up to the sign.
Ooooof course. It was so dark out, that the light provided by the moon was insufficient to read the dark writing on the sign.
But, that was where having a weapon made out of hardlight came in handy. Yes, he'd modified the settings to get the claws and the shield to look exactly like their metal counterparts, but everything else? That still had a bright LED blue glow. So, away went the shield, and out came a small orb in his palm, which he held up to the sign.
Versatility over utility. Aldric grinned, as he read off the name of a few distant villages running away from the cross-roads, and an inn in immaculate, expensive-looking lettering running farther still down the larger, main road. Fifteen kilometers... That's like... What, ten? Twelve miles? Goddamn Imperial System. Should've swapped to metric like everyone else. He turned down the main road. So... Average running speed of sixty... Distance of ten... Shit, I'll make it in ten minutes if I run.
So obviously, he took to the skies and made the same distance in three. He felt light headed coming back down, but otherwise, was satisfied with himself. He could run faster than most cars, and could now fly even faster than that. Obviously, he couldn't fly everywhere, and would likely be running more often. Until he figured out how to protect his body against the G-Forces of high-speed aerial travel, this newfound power wouldn't see much use outside of long-distance travel and perhaps maneuvering mid-combat. Any chases he ever got in would likely be done through running.
I will only somewhat complain. Thought Aldric, as he pushed open the swinging doors to the inn. I mean, what looks cooler? Iron Man flying past the cars? Or Captain America and Black Panther out-fucking-running a bunch of speeding cars on a highway? Yeah, I thought so.
Somehow he just knew eventually he'd get in a foot-race with Yang's motorcycle. He just knew it, and couldn't help but imagine the look on her face as he gained on her. If he figured out how to use his semblance alongside it, he could very well outpace all but the best ground vehicles. Now that thought was appealing, especially for the part of him that wanted to mimic the Flash. Not that he'd be getting something that fast down in time for the imminent Fall Maiden fight, but he digressed. Pipe dreams were good for inspiration.
Entering the inn, he found himself assaulted by warm air that provided a stark contrast to the chill of the night outside. "Welcome to Bron's!" He heard an elderly gentleman call out, waving from the front desk.
"Shut the door." Another, raspier voice called out, from the dining area. "Letting the warm air out."
Aldric did just that, slipping his coat off and hanging it on a coat rack, not really sure of what he was doing aside from memorizing where this place and the road were.
It occurs to me... Aldric thought, as he sat down at a table in the sparsely populated dining area, and looked up at a television screen, it showing minor news he didn't really care for. I'm unsupervised right now. Like, more than my nightly walks, even. And they'd stopped taking bi-nightly watches of him a day before Yang. I wonder if I can't use this somehow... He hummed, leaning forward and blankly staring at the television. Well... What the fuck can I do? I doubt hotels have public-use computers, let alone inns in the middle of bum-fuck nowheresville; and even if it did, I don't know the contact information of anyone important, so I couldn't send them a message.
"Can I help you, sir?" Asked a female sounding voice.
Aldric looked up and saw a faunus woman with dear-ears poking out from her scalp, looking down at him with a platter held vertically against her chest. After a moment, she took a half step back, the look on her face changing to one of fear, and Aldric didn't realize why until it occurred to him that the frown on his face could be mistaken as fierce in most circumstances. Considering the stuff he's been through, that his frown had evolved this way didn't surprise him; what did, however, was how quickly he raised his mental guard around her. It was as if he'd suspected her of being Legion of Doom-levels of able to fuck with him, and had instantly categorized her as not only a mental equal, but superior, and thus someone he had to be incredibly careful around.
Damn, two - or was it three, now? - months of nonstop lying, tension, and getting the holy living snot beaten out of him had really ruined some of his people skills.
He shook his head, "oh, I'm - I'm sorry." He said, swapping out the frown for a smile. "Been a long few days." He chuckled. "And, err, that depends." He said, reaching into the back pocket of his jeans, and pulling out his wallet. He had a few lien cards given to him 'for emergencies', with ties to Cinder and Mercury's accounts. "What kind of soda do you guys have?" Might as well enjoy an hour or two away from the Legion.
The faunus' demeanor changed instantly at the warmth in Aldric's voice, and she leaned forward, "well..." Aldric couldn't help but notice how pronounced her cleavage became from the pose, and it made him wonder if bartenders and waitresses here in Remnant were paid like ass, like on Earth. "Depends on what you're looking for, sir." She said, with a nod and a wink. "Is there something specific?"
Am I hot by Remnant standards, or have I always been good looking and the chicks in highschool would rather... No, I'll let this one die out. Aldric shrugged with a quick sigh, "you've got me at a disadvantage, ma'am. I know flavors, not brands. Er..." What does root beer taste like? Wasn't it... Shit. It was in Fallout... Sunset something. Build more mass with sass... Sunset Sass... Sunset - Sarsaparilla! "I know it as root beer. Got a... Sarsaparilla taste to it?" Did Remnant even have Sarsparilla? Or was he confusing the shit out of her?
Apparently yes to one and no to the other, as the faunus woman nodded. "I think I know exactly what you're talking about, sir. Would you like that hard or soft?"
"Pardon?"
"She means..." Came the same raspy voice from earlier, as the speaker turned around, revealing a thin man in a tailcoat and a pirate-like tricorn hat. "Alcoholic or non-alcoholic." He growled.
Nice Jack Sparrow hat. Aldric nodded, "soft, then." He said, "how much will that run me?"
"Only two lien, sir." Said the bartender, before she lowered her voice and leaned in close, "don't... Don't worry about him, by the way. He's a... A regular."
Aldric nodded, "gotcha." He grunted in thanks, before the bartender retreated.
Aldric let out a breath of air, leaning back in his chair and taking in the atmosphere of the inn. Built like a log cabin, it had a warmly lit interior and just enough background noise from the TV and a fire to be considered peaceful. Unfortunately, this peace was ruined when the regular came lumbering over, falling into the seat opposite Aldric, who opened his eyes at the thudding noise and the squeak of wood on wood.
"So... Tell me, kid." Tricorn rasped, nodding to Aldric. "You got somethin' 'gainst runnin' 'way?"
Aldric blinked, squaring his gaze on the man. "Say again?"
"Do... You... Have... Somethiiiiing... 'Gainst running away?" Tricorn drawled, the man's breath smelling of liquor.
Why is the rum gone? "You're going to have to be more specific, sir." He said, leaning against the table.
"Oh, Gruno, please!" Came the bartender's voice, as she filled Aldric's mug with his requested drink. "Leave him alone, he's not -"
"An' I'm not causin' any trouble neither!" Gruno slammed a cybernetic hand on the table. "Jus' askin' questions! Kid shows up in an inn alone, siss down ata bar, covered in scars, you ain't curious?"
I think I liked your name better when I thought it was Tricorn... Aldric looked down, and saw the scars the man was referring to, the ones on his arms, most of which from his time fighting Cubone. "Could be a huntsman." He pointed out, with a sidewards shrug of the head.
Gruno shook his head, "nuh-uh. Young's you, you ain't graduated yet. You'd be with th'rest of yer team. So where'd you get'em scars?"
"Gruno, please..." The bartender came sliding over to Aldric's table, "I've got a high shelf waiting on you if you go back. On the house!" She said, desperately, Aldric could see a similarly desperate shine in her eye.
I wonder if it's because she didn't say 'no' to his earlier point, or if it has something to do with her winking at me earlier. Aldric accepted what he prayed was a mug full of root beer, and leaned back in his chair, deciding he'd see this play out.
Gruno seemed tempted by the offer, but shook his head. "Nah. Nah - lissen, kid. 'Syer name?"
Aldric frowned, "Drake." He grunted.
Gruno grunted, "srange name. Okay Drake -" He burped, "if iss yer folks doin' the scarrin', I've ssstill gotta few tricks up my sleeve. You donna run away like that." He slurred, listing back and forth.
Aldric shook his head, "thanks for the concern, mister Gruno. But it wasn't my folks that did this." He said, taking a sip out of his mug.
Oh thank god. Close enough to Root Beer for him to ignore the difference; he took another sip.
"Then... Who... Did?" Gruno growled, glaring at Aldric with two dark green eyes.
"Gruno - Gruno, come on." The faunus lightly grasped his shoulder, but Gruno shoved out of her grip.
"Shut up yeh Faunus cunt the humans are talking!" Gruno barked.
Aldric sensed a lot of heads turning his way with the radar pulse, now noticing how some of them were wearing hats and coats similar to Gruno here.
Not pirates, too far from the sea for that. Is this a gang? The matching outfits would fit the bill, but it'd certainly be a strange choice, to say the least. Aldric leveled his iron gaze to Gruno. The question is, is he so concerned because he's drunk, curious, and now won't accept no for an answer? Or is there something boiling underneath the surface? Aldric's eyes briefly flicked down to his arm. Former soldier, maybe? Doesn't carry himself like a Huntsman...
Cutting his thoughts off before the pause became pronounced, Aldric said, "that wasn't very nice."
"The fuck are ya, a faunus lover?" A new, deeper voice asked from somewhere else in the dining area; Aldric's radar pulse pinged him three tables to his rear-left.
His eyes, however, were locked onto Gruno's arm, and the Atlesian symbol painted on its wrist. There was a name, and it certainly wasn't Gruno.
Gang it is, then. Aldric raised his gunmetal gray eyes back to Gruno's green. "I don't want any trouble, sir. I've come a long way... Just want to sit a moment, and rest." He said, briefly casting his eyes up to the bartender.
She seemed to have a fearful look in her eyes, jumping between all the other patrons as she slowly backed away from his table. Aldric started to wonder if there wasn't something more going on, if this was a regular occurrence here, or she was just very aware of the tension in the air.
Before Gruno could speak again, "if I offended you, I'm sorry. How I got the scars is... Kind of personal. Strictly speaking, I haven't even told the folks I work with, about it." How did he gut stuck in the middle of a brewing bar fight? Did Cinder choreograph this? Did she somehow have a hand in it, or was his luck really that bad?
Gruno growled, the liquor on his breath nearly making Aldric gag. "I want a name, Drake. No one hits kids 'n my watch."
Aldric frowned, "but... Insulting bartenders..."
"Fuckin' faunus. Difference." Gruno grunted.
Oh am I about to take the moral high ground here? I don't think there's anything more ironic than that. Really. Aldric sighed. "I should go." It would probably be for the better if he just avoided this.
He made it halfway to the coat rack before he caught eyes with the old man behind the counter, who mouthed the words 'Help Us', and briefly looked down to Aldric's gun. Aldric frowned, and continued walking, before he heard an angry grunt, and skin striking skin, and then a barked order for more drinks. He had been halfway through lifting the coat, and with a deep sigh, he let it drop.
Yup. The guy about to kill a goddess is going to take the moral high ground. There is a god... He thought, approaching the door. And he has a sense of humor. "Manners." He said, reaching up and twisting shut a lock with a loud, metallic 'clank'. "Maketh..." He locked the second door, sensing more eyes turn to him. "The man." He reached down and swung a bolt in place, with an equally loud 'thunk'.
"You know what that means?" Aldric asked, as he turned to what he would only ever describe as a pirate gang.
Gruno, in response, lumbered drunkenly to his feet, scowling at Aldric.
"No?" Aldric questioned, as he approached the dining area again, seeing a discarded glass on the table to his right. "Then let me teach you a lesson." And with a grunt, he heaved the glass off of the table, it flew through the air and right into the man's head, sending him falling to the ground in a heap.
The man's crew instantly looked to him, and then to Aldric, back to Gruno, and then back to Aldric when he drew his pistol - still jammed and uncleaned from earlier in the day - and slammed it into the table with a loud metal-on-wood 'thunk'.
"So." He grunted, "we going to stand around here all day? Or are we going to fight?"