…
…
….
Legible text, excellent handwriting, good heft of the card…
The fact that it was a lovely card really didn't help past the major issues that plagued this ID's life.
ID was changed, probably to have given more restrictions so she didn't run…and now… nothing's changed and she may have a… a father? Why? Is there any good reason to do this? This wasn't funny to just do this out of the blue.
…
… Honestly? That was a rather bad lie. This, in fact, was hilarious. Confusing, but hilarious.
It's not official, though. I can just change the name back to the usual.
…
"Is this counted as legal documentation for a person? Like, if I had to prove my identity, a hunter's ID works if you have nothing else?" Paige questioned.
"It can, since it is also verified by the government of your kingdom, but since it is usually on a person's scroll, if you have your scroll, you have all your information needed."
…
…
Paige's eyes slitted like a little angry reptile. "I don't have a scroll right now, Ozpin."
"Oh. I should try to help you get that fixed." Ozpin nodded once and started jotting down a note on his scroll.
"Must. Get. Scroll. For. Independence. Of. Daughte-"
"WOAH WOAH WOAH THERE. What there did you just say?" Paige lunged forwards to wheel around and stare at him.
Ozpin smiled slightly, tilting his head to glance down the hallway.
"I am your current… guardian, of sorts. I am the person responsible for you being able to stay here."
"You… aren't legally… this?"
"It wouldn't allow you to get anywhere I can. It is an additional string of letters that explains who is directly responsible for you. I did the same thing for Ms Rose."
…
…
"You… what?"
Ozpin flinched momentarily. "No relation to the Ms Rose you met."
…
…
She somehow furrowed her eyes to an even more judgmental slit.
"Ah. So this is normal for you."
The two of them continued walking. Paige eventually went back to walking forwards after a few minutes.
She was contemplating the future.
Now what? It started badly, but now… it seems to be getting better.
…
… shit. Paige twitched and started glancing towards the windows.
Usually, when someone says anything like this, the universe comes in to drop a large mass of tragedy onto them. For example:
Paige: I think I'm perfectly fine spending the rest of my life happily with you.
Cassandra: Good. I'm not going anywhere.
(End Extract)
Then, lo and behold, your sister in law comes in to utterly ruin your happy life.
Thus, Paige now saying "It seems to be getting better" is the sign that things will not get any better.
It will get worse.
Much much wor-
…No. That stuff can go to hell.
Because Paige knows fully well how hard it is to fight all sorts of horrible things. Now, all she is currently tasked to do is rather simple. It's as easy as a night on the town.
…
It can likely be done in 12. 1 hour tops to investigate, 5 to get there and do the work, 5 to get back, 1 for anything unusual.
She pictured the name of the individual.
She chose to try to make it appear in her head like a little game screen, for old time's sakes.
Paige closed her eyes and visualised the screen that heralded Death's task.
[Kill Target: 0/1. No modifiers]
[Target Name: Tuskon.]
Who? Can I get any kind of information on this random person? "
[Location: Val-#]
Vale? That… can literally just be a night on the town. I could buy some cheese or something.
But… why did it stop? Can I get a repeat?
[_MODIFIED_]
White text appeared briefly in her head, saying the word "Modified." like an old and annoying software screen-
-She was downed after clutching her head with a vivid flash of light piercing her forehead in pain. The information vanished, replaced by a large mass of spotty darkness.
…
"Tell me what to do."
Nothing changed.
Darkness. Lots and lots of darkness.
"Tell. Me."
…
…
Paige realised this was, or probably was, the answer. She reached out into the darkness and felt… something. A familiar something not quite like her souls, but… close to it. 2000? 3000? Let's assume a lesser.
"What is my new task?"
[Alternate Target allowed: 2000 Grimm. ]
…
"Why was the last one removed?"
…
…
…
They shall be saved.
"Shut the he-"
Ozpin looked at her. "Is something wrong?"
Page had been muttering softly about her task today. Is their mentor another entity in their head, or is this just her own brain communicating with her?
… I never thought I'd have to look up all the legends on the personification of death… but I suspect I'm going to have to do some of that soon.
"Are you not sure what to do with your weekend?"
"Nothing I can change. It's fine."
"I hope it's nothing too serious."
"It's not a problem anymore." she explained. "Do you still mind if I try to go out tonight?"
…
"I can agree to that." he replied. "Have a good weekend, Page. Enjoy yours."
"Thank you."
…
"WAIT. IT'S THE WEEKEND? ARE YOU TELLING ME I SLEPT FOR TWO EXTRA DAYS?!"
…
The headmaster was gone, probably using his intricate knowledge of his school to sneak away from her at a rapid pace.
…
"That's JUST RUDE. WE WERE STILL TALKING-"
A low whisper appeared right out of the corner with a low flash of green.
"No shouting in the hallways, Mrs Woods."
As she turned to look at the source, she glared at… nothing. The hallway was empty of anything that could have signified Ozpin had been there.
"…hrmmmmmm… annoying old man."
…
"I'm not that annoying, am I?" Ozpin thought as he walked off towards the approximate area of the large tower that was his office. As she saw him through the window, she gave a few muttered words about her annoyances, then looked towards the exit of the academy.
He chose to let her have some privacy, and turned away.
…
…
Paige was getting hyped up for her task, ignoring the infuriating interference from Moon.
"Well, Brandon, up for using all the strength you have to stand with me as we are placed between mankind and the powers of darkness?"
I can agree to that.
"Good! Let's go off and kick some Grimm to the afterlife!"
…
…Wait. Paige. Was that a book joke?
"No time to explain! We have 2000 creatures to slay! Let's GO! GO! GO!"
They started jogging to the entrance of the building, quietly running along.
….
Her robes started rising up as she ran. Normally, you try to run with a billowing cloak and it never really goes off in a theatrical way. It bunches up, or stays flush since you cannot run fast enough to get the proper sustained airflow.
This runner had no difficulty in such things, blurring the building into brown wood and dark sky.
Paige's hair greyed as it flew behind her, her form gliding through the forest. She slowly became the head of a parade filled with hounds and birds and all sorts of strange creatures as she ran. The crowd flowed along in a white blanket across the underbrush, led by the figure that was nearly as ghostly as themselves.
The cacophonous procession, if it could even be called that, appearing more like a misty river chose to lift itself up and take a trip through the woods, wove along past tree and water and stone until it reached a rather significant cliff side leading down to a hilly region of forest.
Their leader tilted their head briefly at the sight, one which was a rather high and dangerous ways up in the air.
She paid no heed and jumped, the creatures following her in a sudden wave into the expanse of sky. Her cloak stretched out, buoyed by the wind and the gallivanting mist that followed her into thin air.
…
After a few seconds to watch the world, she went onto the more practical side of her journey, the creatures flowing ahead as she began to glide along the air on soft wings.
It was nice watching the world go by sometimes.
And so, she watched, and waited until she arrived at wherever she had to end up. Paige didn't care much where, though. Anywhere, really.
….
Paige spent the rest if the day gliding through the air, trying to tell where a good place was to go. When the sun set, she dropped down to the earth and started looking around in any random direction, just waiting for the job to start.
…
You should… I don't know… grab a weapon?
"I want to use my limbs for some. Two K is a lot, don't you know?"
…
I don't think there is a deadline for this. You could just… not do it in a night?
"Eeeeh?! You said… what? A night? That's ridiculous!" Paige cried out.
My point exactly.
"Com-plete-ly ridonkulous."
… Paige…
"Well now I just have to get it done in less than 12 hours to prove you wrong."
…
…
You are annoying sometimes, you know that?
"I had to get good to piss off your partner. It's an acquired skill. Like how…."
Paige whirled out her trusted firearm and shook it towards the sky, metal gleaming in the low light.
"I got an excellent weapon. You'd like the previous owner. Chill guy."
…
A silent light lit up the forest as the gunmetal started glowing with a low flame licking the sides. After a moment, a patch of her sleeve started glowing with the same light, and she muttered a little.
"Ah. That's where the-"
The axe glistened and fell into her hand as she furiously shook her sleeve to remove it.
"HOOOOOOUND!" Paige cried out. "Come out and heed my command!"
I thought you disliked the theatrical ideas she kept giving you.
"Shut up. What she doesn't know won't hurt her, but if she does…..it'll hurt me."
…your wife is a fan girl of… you. The horror, the horror. You don't want her to know you listen to her suggestions.
"It's annoying to remember them all and she'll make even more if she knows I actually do them."
…
That is a good point, in fact.
This was taking an unusually long time, so she checked The Lens to see if she still had it in. It was, but she couldn't feel anything from it, so she quickly tapped at The Eye of Earth and used the slightly better quality in soul detection it gave her.
One of her orange eyes dulled to a soft brown.
…
…
There they are.
The figure of a wolf emerged from the shadows and stood beside her leg. She scritched it behind an ear, then calmly gave it her order.
It was a rather simple one. Short, clear, easily understandable.
"Grimm. Kill it."
… that dog is going to terrify people if it just… shows up and kills creatures relentlessly. Shouldn't you give it an order to not… I don't know… not harm people? Make it clear the dog won't eat their children or anything.
"It knows better than to kill people."
It still looks… evil.
The wolf was… definitely not normal, looking more like a watercolour silhouette than a classic animal.
"Why? It doesn't even look like a Grimm," Paige pointed out annoyedly.
All hounds look alike in the dark.
"Cats."
You get the point. Give a sign. Make it look… like a friendly dog. Give it some peace signifier.
Paige held out her axe hand and trace the hound's head with the butt of her weapon, leaving behind a glowing symbol on the face of the creature.
It was a nebulous canine with no discernible facial features, and a bright shining peace mark in the centre of the forehead that was burning like a fire.
…
Dumbass.
…
Paige waved her hand out into the darkness and cried out into the night.
"CREATURES! I command you! Go forth, and by the powers vested in you by Death, and the Spectre of Flames, protect the innocent! Guide them home in the night, and make sure with the bare minimum of 2000…. I highly recommend that you KICK ASS!"
An army of lights started blinking into existence in the darkness, rushed past them, and vanished into the night as the ghostly creatures went out into the world.
The first hound stayed behind and glanced at her. It barked once, and she watched it with a confused glance.
"What? Go on, buddy."
It shook itself like it was wet, and blurred into a more domesticated form.
Arf!
Phffffffffffffffft. HAH. You can't get out of your job that fast, can you?
Shut. Up. Brandon.
Nope. Go walk the dog, Paige! You know it wants you to!
….. She did. After all, it was her dog. She knew exactly why it was lying about here.
"Fine. I'll go walk you, Hugo."
The foggy Airedale bounded around her and barked incessantly.
.. uh… you did what? You have a dog and a goat?
….
Hugo. Literary, I think, knowing you. You named it that fast?
"Nope." she sighed. "Brandon, this is Hugo, m- a dog. Hugo, this is Brandon. He's a friend."
… why… do you have a normal dog in your… nearly endless collection of souls?
"Nyx."
…
…
…Ah….
Paige gave a long, drawn out mumbling about the cruelty of this horrible situation….. then picked up Hugo in her arms and molded a pile of the fog billowing around her into a makeshift leash. "It's not like I need to make a physical leash for you, Hugo, right? You're a good dog. You're a nice dog that is 100% going to be a very well behaved ghost dog."
…
"Also, I'm giving you free reign to maul the Grimm into little revenge shreds just in case you were still a bit miffed about dying."
…
"Come on, Hugo! What kind of treatment are we gonna give these two bit creatures that don't compare to your peak dogginess?"
Woof!
Paige's grin fell slightly as the trio went into the woods, illuminated by the various glowing lights they had.
…
…
…
…
"Hugo." Paige whispered with a look of deep betrayal and sadness. "You were so close. That would have been perfect if you didn't say the wrong word."
Hugo… is a dog.
Her distraught face straightened out as she chuckled. "Yeah… I might get better luck next time."
…
…
….