"You want us to find Raven?"
"You want the Spring Maiden, don't you?"
True enough, but that offered little to relieve her skepticism. Cinder maintained a perfect mirage of approval, but despite this their guest held no detectable filter over what he said. That, unfortunately, dug up its own issues.
"Oh, very much, but we've already suspected she housed a maiden in her fold." Someone so cautious as the Branwen Tribe's leader wouldn't stand beside danger without an ace in her hand. "And, as I'm sure you know already - following your track record - Vale hides one too."
"Amber... A dying woman already on her last legs." Jay leaned back in his plastic chair. "At best, she has a month before those injuries kill her."
"My my~" Threaten her with some good news. "Is that a guarantee?"
"Will a guarantee get us to Haven?"
Haven academy: his ultimate goal, or so they'd come to believe. Cinder hummed aloud, with an obvious flare so he wouldn't ignore it.
"It might." She leaned it, cupping his stained cheek. Jay had seen better days, but Cinder didn't find his filth-ridden appearance appalling in any way. It gave him this layer of... desperation that got her insides tingly. "But what's in it for you, love~ Why would you be so quick to sell out those friends you've grown attached to?"
"Selling them out?" He sighed and leaned back. The very dark looked to pull the bags under his eyes down. "You're a believer in destiny, right?"
"I do like to think of myself as such, yes." And for good reason, apparently. The way Jay spoke: that certainty in every word. She couldn't quite prove it completely, but she permitted her mind to wander. Rumors of old speak of those able to predict upcoming changes in the world: prophets, or so many called them. Jay Williams, so far, stepped heavily into the role with every accurate mutter of information he shouldn't have known.
"Then you should know that, no matter what any of us do, fate will not change. Things that are meant to happen will happen, no matter what you or I think of it. Hell, for all you know, this conversation might have been on the backburner for years."
"But you don't believe in fate, do you?" Paradoxically, his use of 'you,' that specification of her and not him, offered conflicting ideas. Prophets could see the future, but they could not change it. Allegedly, any attempts to alter the course of the stream would lead to worse detriments than intended, alongside the previously seen tragedy - an element often portrayed in dramatic fiction.
"In my own? No. In Remnant's... Maybe."
"Interesting... Is there something in Haven you want? Something you're hoping might prove your idea true?"
"The Relic Of Knowledge."
"That's a rather dangerous choice. What do you hope to learn from it?"
"You don't want to know."
"Are you sure about that~?"
He looked her dead in the eyes; his face plain, but tight.
"Yes."
A few chortles signified her lean back as she gave him room. A soft shake of her head. A smile tipped along the edge of a grin. A precise droplet of caution she couldn't wipe from her hands no matter how tightly she gripped them behind her back.
"Brave assumption... But I'll let you discover the truth of your assumption once we arrive."
"Arrive? We're going?" There it was: his missing liveliness.
"As you said, destiny cannot be changed."
And when it came knocking, the whole of Remnant would learn who their true masters were.
.
.
"I didn't need your help... But, thanks."
Josh grinned.
"No problem, man."
Sure, it cost him a bullet, but that shot saved the life of a warrior. Granted, he still looked at faunus weirdly, but that was to be expected. Racism didn't go down so easily.
"You a hunter?" Cardin asked, and Josh shrugged before he spit out a little hiss.
"Nah. I'm not exactly what you call "huntsmen material," if you catch my drift."
"That's a little hard to believe when watching you cut down grimm even faster than me."
From the outside looking in, he could see why. The bullets, in line with the butt of the firearm, carried that strange property of obliterating grimm. Josh spared no shortage of that when dealing melee damage to one shot any unlucky hound who drew close. To someone like Cardin, whose life had presumably been spent learning how to kill the monsters, he must have seemed radical.
It was too bad he wound up a glass cannon.
"Sure, I can do damage, but I can't exactly take hits." To sharpen his point, Josh rolled a finger over his cheek and tugged his baby-fat all over in a display of squishiness. "I don't exactly have any aura to work with."
"You're kidding! None at all?"
"Nope." Josh rolled out his shoulders for a second in a go to clear up their stiffness before moving on to his neck. "I can slay 'em, but I can't lay 'em."
Silence subdued them for a few seconds.
"What-?"
"Yeah, I don't know either."
Cardin rolled his eyes, a little too quickly to convince Josh they held any real exasperation.
"You're a strange guy."
"I've been called worse."
The streets almost fell into total silence, calm and reminiscent of a 5AM jog, had it not been for the occasional bout of fisticuffs when packs of monsters spewed in from street corners. Following a little scuffle with a couple of those pig-looking things with the tusks, Josh recognised an upcoming street, and as they passed onto it he pointed towards their saving grace.
"Hey! Let's drop in here; should be safe."
Under a hard squint, Cardin apparently picked up on what he was looking at.
"I've heard of this place. This is that club who ran into some trouble a while back."
"Huh?"
"Yeah." They worked through their chat to hold the perimeter as Officer Coal directed them in. "Some crazy bitch tore the place up, or so it's said."
"Damn." Through a sharp whistle, Josh stood thankful that he'd arrived in Remnant at the time he had. "Glad I jumped in late enough to dodge that."
Once all settled away, Josh rounded to head on in, until he noticed Cardin and his crew turn to leave.
"You guys are going?"
"Yep." Cardin's mace laid comfortably on his shoulder, even when he rotated his head back. "Still plenty of grimm to kill, and people who need rescuing - probably faunus, but eh. Can't call myself a huntsman if I dip out now."
"No, I guess not." A tad specific, but so long as lives were salvaged, it didn't really matter who did the saving. "Go kick some ass."
His reward came in the form of a savage grin, right before the quartet shoved off down the asphalt.
"We're planning on it."
.
.
"Seems a little early for betting."
"Trust me, this has nothing to do with the game."
Junior leaned up to abandon his seat.
"Fine. I can make the time."
"Oh and, keep in mind: this will be a private affair."
"On both ends, correct?"
"Yes. I'll contact you again once things blow over on the streets."
As the line died, Junior spat out an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. For once, he'd appreciate it if things could just turn out simple. Instead, Lil'Miss wanted a personal chat. With Vale swept up in chaos, it didn't take a genius to know more than a few targets had lined up.
Too bad he didn't know which ones.
From his office, he walked out into a scene he just about expected. Several new faces wandered around, many of which clearly didn't belong in the clubbing scene, not counting the children brought in by the Beacon kids and his girls… and Neo, who looked to be entertaining said kiddies with little sleight of hand tricks. People needed good places to hide, and while a club might not be the best in theory, the locals knew it carried better protection than a grocery store.
From the corner of his eyes he spied someone interesting, and wandered towards the badge.
"Haven't seen you in a while." Old Officer Coal: a strange, but welcome sight.
"Junior..." Stern eyes made their rounds over him. "Hard to call it a pleasant meeting, but nevertheless it's good to know you haven't slammed your doors to those in need."
"I'm not my father." Looking at it, any idiot could tell the place had well surpassed its usual expected capacity, but he'd not turn down innocents in a crisis. "How are things out there?"
"About as well as you expect. Grimm stalking the corners and the occasional terrorist - or so I was told before losing my radio and scroll in a scuffle." Officer Coal punched in a cold frown, but the accompanying hazy eyes didn't hit so hard as he turned back. "I probably don't need to ask, but you didn't know anything about this, did you?"
"No. People tend to leave out the details if they can help it. Everyone knew they were stocking up on dust, but I don't think anyone guessed they would be this insane."
"Desperation must be hitting."
For a fleeting second, that hollow tone from his previous call whispered at the back of his mind.
"Yeah. That's happening to a lot of people these days."
Before Junior could really lament the state of things, a familiar voice entered the fray - and subsequently erased some stress from his wound-up muscles.
"Finished the head count." Josh managed to squeeze himself through a crowd of folks lingering by the bar. "Everyone's here." Just as fast, the boy's eyes flicked over. "Junior?"
"Good to see you're in one piece." In leu of their losses up to this point, Junior deemed the little grin which crawled across his mug a welcome addition. Kid abandoned a bit of his shock and settled into a reserved slump during his trip to them. If he had to guess, he'd say Josh didn't expect to see him acting so casual with a cop.
"Yeah, I'm cool." Only for that mood to salt itself. "Rest of the city's not, though."
"Vale will overcome this, trust me. This city's seen far worse." In the underbelly anyway, but perhaps not as much so for the ordinary man. Still, the white lie of sorts quelled Josh's nerves enough, and considering the destruction he'd probably witnessed on the way, Junior considered it a victory.
Officer Coal stepped out and laid a firm hand on the boy's shoulder.
"You did good; be proud of that. Not many are willing to do what you did."
"Um, thanks... Is there anything else I can help with?"
"At the moment, no, unless you can point me to the nearest public line."
Junior figured it best to step.
"We've got one over there." He pointed towards the hallway leading into the washrooms, on the right of the front door.
"Really?" Officer Coal tempted a steady hum. "So you've finally caved in."
Junior wouldn't word it like that, per say.
"Too many partygoers off their rocks kept badgering staff for calls after having lost their scrolls. Had that installed a few months ago to cope with it. It's completely free, so there's no fumbling with lien while packing up the line. It should get you in contact with your lot all the same, but be careful what you say."
"Believe me, I'm aware this'll be no ordinary payphone. Thank you. Your help is appreciated."
Officer Coal took off, his pace steady and smooth. Compared to most of the cops Vale employed, old man Coal always was the easiest to deal with. No constant badgering. No bribes. No weasley deals. Just a sturdy fellow from time to time with the right questions when situations got desperate.
"How are things here?" Josh said under a quiet tone.
But right now wasn't the time for reminiscing. Junior let his eyes scan the crowd one more time.
"Most of the boys are doing what they can; several standing guard out back, and a few in some hard to see places out front. We don't want to attract any grimm, and we're trying not to scare off any frightened folk either."
"They feed on fear, don't they?"
"They do, but their other senses work just fine, so we can't exactly stand out in the open and welcome them in."
"Crap..." Josh spat up an uncertain face. "I probably don't want to ask this, but have you gotten word of the others yet?"
"I have." On that topic, he could relax. "Count this as our lucky break for today. They arrived a little earlier, carrying all those kids you see."
"They did?"
Junior thumbed towards the usual hall.
"They're held up in Jay's room, having a chat with that Blanco fellow. Head on in if you want. I'm certain it'll take a load off of their shoulders."
"Right. Thanks!"
Just like that he watched Josh zip off as composed as he could. Junior didn't need his semblance's help to tell how the boy felt. He would, on the other hand, employ it on the newbie who slid her way through the crowd to stand before him. Although he could actually use his semblance on her, he wasn't so sure he'd delve into any lies she may have.
Partly because she didn't tell any.
"You didn't expect to see me today, did you?"
"Not at all. I assumed you would be swamped with the troubles out there." Junior sifted through the people behind her. "I don't see your friends anywhere either."
"It's just me."
"Well… Now's certainly not the time for drinking or partying." Junior refused to clench his jaw, but he knew for certain she wasn't here for a casual evening. "I can only assume your mother broke her silence and put you up to this."
"She did."
"And it looks like you didn't brush her off."
"I laid the ground rules. Nothing requiring a trip to the cleaners."
"Then what does she want from you, or I suppose in this case, from me?"
"I need to get in on the next meeting you hold with the other three. I'll be standing in for her, in a sense."
If alarm bells were ringing in the background before, then that right there blew a fog horn straight in his ear. But he couldn't say no, not to this.
"I'll contact you when we gather. But just so you know, I'll have to seat you in your mother's place. That isn't going to be a problem, is it?"
"I can tolerate it that long; I just need to deliver a message, and then I'll be gone."
"And, if you can say, who might that message be for?"
"Not you."
"Then it's none of my business."
"Thank you. I'll be going now; my team needs me."
A far cry from the ordinary girl who'd usually walk in with her group looking all timid; business always changed people. If anything, he should be thankful he didn't need to whip out any cleaning services in the wake of her arrival. Velvet Scarlatina and Lil'Miss Malachite in the same room...
Junior exhaled long and hard. He could smell the incoming shit-show from here.
Author's note
…
Another mellow chapter.
Looks like Cinder's taking Jay on a trip, but will Raven be so eager to settle with the one holding her hostage? Cardin gets a little more screen time, but from Josh's view. And to cap it off, Junior's dealing with both a personal encounter to come with Lil'Miss, alongside the appearance of Velvet.
Suitably packed, if I do say so myself.
Note: Chapters going forward for a time may be shorter than usual - yes, even shorter than this. Due to a change in schedule on my end, I might not have the time for longer chapters, so be wary of that. Uploads should still be out at their usual times.
Until next time.