Man it's hot out here!

Hope you guys are staying hydrated

We should grab drinks later, Jaune's rich so he's playing lmao

Touko frowned at the empty group chat she Ruby and Jaune were using, her messages being the only ones to have gone through in the last few hours. Jaune had at least responded to that last one with what they collectively dubbed the "Lao Emoji" with dashes for eyes and an underscore mouth, but Ruby's icon showed that she hadn't even read the incoming messages yet. Maybe the messages were just too pushy, she was probably coming across like a needy child in need of attention or something. Damn it was she being annoying, this was always how she was, she liked to think she'd kicked the habit but as usual she was a needy annoying little-

No, no, logically she knew why there was no response and it had little to do with her, well okay she was trying too hard to act normal but it wasn't because of that. Ruby tended to bury herself in her work when she had a lot on her mind, and she'd all but shut down after the incident at the dance. It wasn't that she didn't feel bad about what happened, she felt awful, but what had they been meant to do? Fret over the action of each and every student? Even putting aside the sheer impracticality of such an order, it would have killed any interest many of the students had in the dance. Yes, it was an oversight on their part, but one that was understandable. Why would they expect something so brazen? An attack in a concentration of some of the most dangerous people in the kingdom, only an idiot would try something like that!

But it had happened, and even with the attack being a failure, it painted a very clear picture of how brazen this new element truly was.

Sliding her scroll back into her pocket and resuming her patrol of the vip halls, she pushed her mind away from that line of thought, refusing to beat herself up for just trying to be happy, which led to her focusing on the present instead. She was alone, walking in the viewing area for snooty rich people who were too good to watch from the arena like everyone else, and her best friends were either busy or too high strung to even respond to her texts. Somehow, she was one of the lucky ones, her patrol was mainly stationed within the arena itself until the evening, and even then, she was stationed in the immediate surrounding area.

While she was grateful for the accommodation of her potential to overheat, especially with the midday sun being directly overhead, she quickly found it to be tedious, especially with how so many of the rich attendees sneered at her like she was some dirty unwashed vagrant for daring to wear her usual clothes.

A part of her wanted to respond by shoving her own family name in their faces, but, besides being childish, her name probably would have gone over most of their heads anyway, it wasn't as if she came from a dynasty that rivaled Weiss's family. Sure, she'd been rich growing up and her father had some impressive work connections, but what member of Atlesian high society didn't?

Making her way further into the halls, finally reaching the viewing booths, she passed by a checkpoint that marked the end between the vip booths and the start of the section that had been cleared off for security personnel. One of the soldiers, a blond lynx Faunus, waved her past without even looking at her ID card, already having scanned it twice in her previous rotations. Feeling curious, she glanced at his nametag, and noticed his name was 'Àgrios Bronzewing'. She tried to jog her memory for a moment, recognising that his name sounded familiar, but wasn't one she could immediately place. Ultimately deciding to not pay it any more attention than necessary, she smiled as she passed which he returned in kind, probably just to be polite.

This part of the route was spent with her body on autopilot, as she let her mind wander, once again going to her friends. She didn't dare actually pull her Scroll out, lest she be chastised by someone under the impression they outranked her, but she knew no one had responded from the clear lack of notifications or vibrations from her pocket. Again, she knew there was a logical reason for this, likely just being too busy, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was pushing them away.

Had she been too callous? It wasn't as if she'd ignored the incident, but she couldn't help but notice that she was the first one to come back to work after the dance. Maybe that had sent the wrong message, like work was more important than making sure the boys were safe. It was just… the boys didn't need her, Ruby, Jaune, and every member of RWBY was there for them. It seemed like a good idea at the time, they'd defend the boys and she'd check for threats. Not only had there been an attempt on Jet and Jin's lives, but a man had been murdered right under their noses. She just… she had to make sure they'd made adjustments, she had to.

Thankfully, no part of this route required much of her attention, mostly because the whole place was swarming with armed soldiers, making the fact that she was actually expected to be on alert for intruders here quite laughable. She made her way to the three locations marked, specifically the armory, command center, and finally passed by Indigo's quarters, which was yet another viewing booth. Though, this time, as she approached, the woman herself exited the room. Groaning at the coincidence, Touko planned to nod in order to get the bare minimum acknowledgment of the woman out of the way so she could make the interaction as painless as possible, but, much to her chagrin, as if expecting her, Indigo turned with a smile that was obviously forced.

"Ah, Ms Fuchsia, it's good to see you." Her voice was also too high pitched, trying to sound happy but coming across as condescending.

"It is?" Touko asked, trying and failing to remember a single positive interaction they'd had. "Why?"

With a sigh, Indigo dropped her smile, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I'm trying to be polite." The Colonel deadpanned before she forced a cough, going back to that forced smile. "Why don't you come in and take a seat, the current match has been a good showing so far."

She hesitated to accept. The simple fact was, she didn't like the woman, she was too full of herself, and far too eager to let people know how strong her troops and equipment was. If she didn't know any better, she'd say the woman was hoping for an attack. But, on the other hand, by the Brothers had her patrol been boring! At this point, she would have been happy to run into Weiss and get into some meaningless spat.

Cautiously, she decided to enter the booth, finding it to be a strange mix of lavish and military-themed. On one hand, there were satin curtains at the window and a fresh rug that matched her namesake, along with a steak that was so overdone it more resembled a piece of wood than meat..

But, on the other hand, her bed looked stiff as a brick with the bare minimum for blankets, and rather than some fancy outfit lined up, she had the standard white BDU's Atlesian soldiers wore draped over a desk with a riding crop and a standard issue handgun that was disassembled for maintenance. Deciding to ignore the contrasting style of her quarters, she wandered over to the window, tinted ever so slightly blue from the hard light projection stopping any attack from reaching those within.

Looking down, she saw the match that was currently in play. She could immediately tell that neither team was from Beacon, though she only really recognized BRST because they'd been assigned to babysit SJJL while the professors helped with the festival. The other team, ABAS apparently, was completely unknown to her, but the projector showing off the team's Aura for the viewers to follow along had the Atlas Academy logo next to their name.

Focusing in on the fight itself, it was clear that ABAS was on the losing side. One of their members, the leader, was out, the child-sized girl somehow having gotten buried up to her neck in the sand in the dunes biome of the arena, and the rest of their team wasn't doing great either. Two of the team's members were engaged with Blitz and Ruta in the arena's other half, a recreation of some kind of volcanic environment. Perched on one of the basalt outcroppings amidst the flows of what she hoped wasn't real lava, a veritable giantess of a Faunus with a reptilian tail was firing at both girls with a pair of equally massive revolvers, while an effeminate looking boy did his best to hold off hit and run attacks from Blitz with a sword.

Their final team member went down the moment Touko found him in the fray, one of the lava flows suddenly rising like a wave and splashing onto his cloak. Just being within spitting distance to the superheated rock drained his Aura rapidly, and by the time he got his cloak and shirt off, he was well past the threshold. With the blaring of the buzzer, the Faunus's long and hairy dog ears flopped down as he realized he'd been eliminated.

With his participation ended, Taimur, who had been trapped in some sort of navy-colored sphere, suddenly stumbled forward. She looked dazed and confused, looking around to try and get her bearings until Sarasvati helped her up and they made their way over to help their team deal with the remaining members of the Atlesian team.

While Touko certainly enjoyed the break from her monotonous assignment, she was confused as to why Indigo would invite her to watch this when her own Kingdom's team was losing, and pretty badly at that. It wasn't like they were on the verge of a comeback or anything, and to be honest, the fight was pretty ordinary in terms of how Vytal tournament rounds went. Then suddenly, things changed, as the effeminate boy in a kilt pulled out a camera and took a picture of the approaching girls, and with it, their Auras near instantly drained to zero.

"The fu- what did he-" she stammered, completely speechless by the sudden instant elimination of two Huntresses in training. Beside her, Indigo similarly reacted with shock, but unlike the other woman, there was more. An almost giddy smile graced her lips as she pulled up the file of Jade Blackmore.

"According to his file, that's his Semblance. Using that nifty little camera as a focus, he can trap the Aura of people in an object, specifically pictures."

"You didn't know this ahead of time?"

"I'm an acting Colonel, not an instructor." Indigo reminded her with a roll of her eyes, before turning her attention back to the boy, now with renewed interest. "Though, I wish I had known ahead of time. A Semblance like that is one that could do a lot of good."

"You understand you're talking about a student, right?"

"Yes, a student who has dedicated himself to using his abilities to protect others, from Grimm and people alike by the very nature of the profession he's going into." Indigo chided, scoffing at the idea that she wouldn't be thinking of the uses for the boy.

She didn't see how this was even a matter for discussion, a Semblance like that was once in a lifetime, she'd be the definition of an idiot to just let it slip by. No, the perception of these naive Huntsmen be damned, she would pull a few favors, have him serve under her after he graduated in a few months, show him the perks of being a valued asset of the Atlesian military.

As they debated, the leader of BRST took quick action against the boy. With the sun still beating down overhead, Blitz was able to charge up within moments, her body being enveloped in a bright light before bursting forward at a speed that not even Indigo or Touko could comprehend, despite the latter being able to keep track of Ruby at full speed. One instant, she's standing on the other side of the behemoth of a woman, and in the next, she's all the way across the arena, throwing the poor boy off the platform so hard he slammed into the hard light shield protecting the audience, and then bouncing off of it onto the platform below. Despite Indigo's posturing, it was to be expected given the circumstances. Sure, being able to near instantly drain your opponent's Aura at range was a powerful Semblance, but there wasn't much that could be done about being thrown from the arena at the speed of light.

"Of course, even an ability such as his can't win every battle on its own, it needs the right support to ensure it is used to its full potential, just like everything else."

"Oh nice, just turn this into some analogy, Atlas's big military is Jade and us lowly huntsmen are his teammates letting him get snatched up."

Indigo turned to look at her guest, having fully dropped the affable host act, now looking at Touko with a curious gaze.

"Have you ever been told that you're a confusing woman?"

"Am I meant to feel a certain sort of way about that?"

"I pulled your file the moment I was given the opportunity to. I like to know who I'm working with, a standard case of vetting, I assure you." Touko let out an annoyed huff at the information, a response Indigo noticed, but didn't acknowledge, continuing in the same casual tone. "You're no Schnee, that's for sure, but the Fuchsia name hasn't lost its prestige quite yet. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of the advancements in Paladin technology knows the name Claude Fuchsia."

Touko bristled at the mention of her father. She hadn't even thought about the man since she'd been given the news that he had started the early stages of cognitive decline, news that she had felt just as numb to upon receiving it as she did now. That had been about three years ago, so chances were that he's gotten worse, not that she cared, he'd made it clear where his priorities were. He hadn't been there when she needed him, and while some thought it petty, she had no intention of being the bigger person.

She wasn't sure why Indigo brought him up though. To rile her up? As some sort of attempt at getting on her good side? Either way, she had no intention of giving her any sort of response.

"I thought you a spoiled product of nepotism, like that Schnee flaunting around with the title of Huntress despite spending less than a year training before being knocked up like so-"

"Don't talk about her that way." Touko snapped, cutting her off before she could make the mistake of insulting her friend any further.

The room grew tense after that. While she understood that she'd just technically threatened an officer of the Atlesian military, she had no intention of taking her words back. They may have gotten along like cats and dogs, but she'd fought alongside Weiss, they had been ready to lay their lives down for one another, so even when she truly wanted nothing to do with the pasty plank of a woman, she still respected her. This bitch didn't get to say she was less of a fighter, much less of a Huntress because she chose her family over combat.

"Perhaps I should get to the point," Indigo said firmly, clearly not intimidated by her sudden outburst. "Help me understand why a woman who was maimed to the extent of needing such in-depth prosthetics would argue against my measures."

"They're an excessive show of Atlesian 'greatness'. You can phrase it however you want, anyone with half a brain can see it for what it is."

"Excessive?" Indigo scoffed, offended at the cyborg woman's audacity. "Trying to make sure the students don't get so injured they require an artificial heart is excessive?"

For a brief moment, Touko was too stunned, too angry to respond to that. She was no stranger to being treated differently due to her cybernetics, but to have it thrown in her face like some sort of gotcha moment? She was so mad her ears were ringing.

"Fuck you." The words slipped out before she could think, along with enough figurative venom to make a Deathstalker keel over on the spot.

Indigo's face darkened, opening her mouth to speak, probably to chastise her and remind her of their positions, but she didn't care, cutting off the Colonel with just as much vitriol as before.

"You know why I hate you? It's because you're just like every other Atlesian egomaniac who thinks they're going to be the one whose genius is going to change the world. Well guess what, you're not. You're going to be just another middling military woman who, at most, will end up as a footnote in some book future generations will have to write about for extra credit."

Having forgotten to breathe, Touko panted as she finished her mini rant, leaving the two women staring each other down, both red in the face from anger just at the sight of each other. Touko watched closely, from her experience, most people like her couldn't stand being talked down to, and out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw the Colonel's hand ball into a fist.

Their concentration on each other was broken by the sound of a buzzer indicating the match was over, though neither of them needed to look over to know that BRST had won, having worn down the final member of ABAS.

Turning on her heel, Indigo stormed over to the door, opening it and crossing her arms as she scowled at the cyborg.

"If you're done with your speech, you can go, you're far behind schedule on your patrol."

Having no desire to stay and argue further, Touko stormed out, but unwilling to give Indigo the last word, she looked over her shoulder, still glaring daggers.

"If you actually give a damn about that kid's future instead of just using him for your own gain, you'll let him have a normal career." she said, turning to leave before she could hear if Indigo had a response to her words, knowing they'd fallen on deaf ears.

As she thought, Indigo didn't even consider letting the boy slip past her, smiling as she started to dial the number of the former General - now Headmaster - Ironwood. She hadn't said a word about her plans for Jade, but Touko still had a good idea of it regardless. It just vindicated the idea in her mind. The others were thinking the exact same thing, and they were scared.


As the green-haired boy waited for Scarlet, he quickly decided that there were too many people around for his taste. Too many hidden faces, too many robes that could conceal a good number of weapons.

There was one girl, seemingly around his own age, who kept taking glances at him, which he supposed could have just been someone checking him out. Another man actually met his gaze for a moment after something shiny caught his eye, realizing only a moment too late that what reflected the flashing red and yellow lights of the food booth he stood besides was in fact not a weapon, but just the man's bracelet, making it very awkward when he in turn looked over at Jet with a confused look. The brunette's green eyes locked with his own crimson orbs for a moment, before the man simply nodded and went back to looking at his scroll, the silent exchange leaving him feeling very awkward.

Normally, he'd tell himself he was just being paranoid and to stop being weird before he freaked someone out, but after almost getting stabbed the other week, he told that part of his brain to shut the hell up and to focus on keeping his Aura up in public, and the darkness steadily creeping further and further into the streets as the last rays of the sun crested over some distant dunes certainly didn't help matters. While keeping his Aura up in training and in combat had become like second nature, keeping it up when there was no obvious threat or safety concern felt oddly tiring.

Eventually, he spotted a familiar red mane crowned with black horns amidst the passersby, practically dragging her feet across the sandstone cobbles. Her shoulders were almost slumped to the point of ridicule, and she bore a tired pout on her face, only for both to near completely vanish in an instant as she spotted him and sped up. As she approached, her shoulders went back down, and the pout emerged back on her face, which got a small chuckle out of him that made him relax just a little. After all, she was never that dramatic when she was actually upset.

"Uuuugh, Jeeet! I need a back rub!" his leader - and maybe girlfriend, he was still a little unsure of that part - whined dramatically as she dropped down into the seat beside him, leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Scarlet, if this is a setup for a boob joke, I promise I've heard them all by now."

Her jaw shifted slightly as if she was still considering making one, before deciding against it, sagging against him more with a tired sigh.

"Lumi's been riding my ass into the ground with this Semblance training."

"How's it coming along?"

"Jet, can I not talk about it for like, five minutes?"

He nodded, knowing already from her tone that the training hadn't gone according to plan, which is to say, she didn't get it right on the first try.

She'd managed to get the shape down, the creature being just as badass looking as she remembered, but doing more with it was off the table at her current rate. Lumi insisting that she needed to be able to 'focus under duress' and forcing her to constantly slash at tiny Griffons that tried to cut and nip at her while trying to maintain her summon had proven that.

Yeah, that was it, the training was just frustrating. Her reluctance to talk definitely didn't have anything to do with her lack of progress. Nope, she was just tired of thinking about it. The fact that she would have loved to show off a cool little blood minion was only like… half the reason she didn't want to talk about it.

"Right, sorry." he said, patting her back, immediately noticing that her comment earlier hadn't just been a joke, the Faunus's back was stiff as a board.

He started to roll his hand in a small firm circle at the center of her back, noticing how she sighed, leaning into his touch absentmindedly. Maybe he should give her a massage. Sure, he wasn't exactly an expert, but if just rolling his hand like that was doing something for her, he couldn't actually make things worse. Then again, would this be weird? Even if he wasn't reading too much into things and they were actually a couple now, it was a bit more… intimate than anything he'd ever done before… No, it wouldn't be weird, they were never uncomfortable touching each other before, so what was the harm?

Scarlet whined once more as she was pushed into an upright position, tempted to elbow the boy for not letting her use him as a pillow, when she was suddenly turned to her side, her back now fully facing Jet and forcing her legs to rest completely on the bench. Before she could ask what he was doing, he answered with his actions, his palms firmly kneading at her shoulders in tight circular motions that made the tension start to disappear from her back.

"Mmph- okay, never mind, keep those hands going and we can talk about whatever you want." she sighed, leaning her head back and letting her muscles relax as he worked out a knot between her shoulders, making her groan shamelessly.

"Hey, do you remember the fair?" she asked, pointing the subject away from the training to something more pleasant. The festival going on around them reminded her of the yearly event on Patch they attended as kids in many ways.

"The one we went to every year? Rings a few bells."

"Ha ha- Ah-" She let out another groan that was just a bit too pleasing to his ears before looking over her shoulder with a smirk. "Stop being good at that, I'm trying to mock your sarcastic ass."

He couldn't help but smile, rolling his eyes. He knew where she was going with this, the various booths selling food, the overpriced souvenirs, and offering rigged games for tiny prizes did have the same feel as their hometown's annual community event, just on a much, much larger scale.

"I mostly just remember that time you mooed at the cows and your dad got all embarrassed." he said, unable to help but to laugh at the memory, Scarlet joining him a moment later.

"Hey, I was talking to my people!" she said in mock offense, trailing off as she let her mind wander. Even such a silly little thing from so long ago wasn't spared from the shadow that the recent revelations she had about her family cast on her childhood. "Do you ever think… I dunno, that it's weird to think our parents were carrying all this shit on their shoulders while they watched us and Lupin run around?"

"Not really, I think they just wanted what's best for us."

"I wish they were here, y'know? Cheering us on in the stands, letting Lupin drag us around to whatever caught her eye." she whispered, as if just saying she missed her mom and dad was something to hide, which, in her case, it was understandable why she may have felt it was.

"I don't think I could see your parents yelling like those ones you see on the sidelines at junior sports games."

"Mom would." she mused, a fond smile tugging her lips upward as she got the mental image in her head of her mom as one of those soccer moms who screamed at the top of her lungs. "She doesn't show it a lot, but she's competitive as hell."

Jet pondered the idea, remembering how she'd scowl on the rare occasions whenever Scarlet lost a sparring match to him. He supposed he could sort of see it.

They sat together like that for a while, a comfortable silence settling in as he worked on her back a bit more. This was nice, no big event going on, just enjoying each other the same way they had in the past. Things were so much simpler back then, so it was nice to have their lives slow down for a bit. Even with the festival in full swing around them, it didn't feel like it mattered, it was just them… and it was nice.

"I think Jin and Goose were playing some of those booth games down by the grounds, you wanna kill some time while we can?" she asked, looking back over at him with a smile she knew he couldn't say no to.

"Aren't those things rigged?"

"Hasn't stopped Goose from winning him a big monkey plushie." Scarlet said, hopping out of her seat, rolling her shoulder and making a pleased hum. "Do you think she'd win me a cow plushie?"

"Shouldn't you be asking me to win you something?"

"Aww, don't be jealous, we'll call you plan b." She couldn't hide her giggle as Jet pouted at being considered the backup plan, the silly boy. "I'm joking, you big baby. C'mon, I saw this target practice game you can show off at."

Without a word, she grabbed him by the hand and started pulling him along towards the games, just as she'd always done in the past. He wouldn't have it any other way.


As the duo walked off, the emerald eyed man continued to watch closely. It had been a close call when he'd first been spotted, that damn cultist trying the most blatant assassination in Remnant's history had made the boy all jumpy. K sighed, the heightened security was an unexpected and tedious turn of events. Had it not been for the fact that there were two huntsmen that he could clearly see walking by as he waited, he'd have just created a diversion, probably wait for no one to be looking, and off the little twat.

Hell, there was an opportunity for one in the unattended hot oil being boiled in the food stall right beside him. If conditions were ideal, he'd slip behind the stall, give it a little nudge through the fabric, start a grease fire, and use the commotion to drag the cabbage headed boy into an alley and snap his scrawny little neck. From there, he could just wait for the girl to show up looking for her boyfriend, and repeat the process.

But no, the heightened security meant what was an actually easy job for once was made infinitely more difficult, and he had to pick the right moment to make his move so he didn't get swarmed by Huntsmen the moment he so much as breathed out of place. Any form of loud option was off the table, it would have to be quiet and fast. It was during times like this that he found himself missing Thaddeus more than usual. He'd always been better with the quiet, hit and run style plans, but it is what it is, and he'd do what was necessary to finish the job.

For now though, all he could do was watch as they walked off, scowling at the missed opportunity. Mighty pissed, he turned around and began to walk off, only to have a small white haired girl stumble into him, splashing the front of his shirt with her cold drink. Looking down and swearing at the sudden ice cold liquid coating his torso, he was shocked to see another one of his targets, this one so close he could actually smell her.

"Omph-" Luna nearly fell back from the impact, letting the collar of her shirt drop from her mouth as she looked up, realizing what had happened. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I just, the lights were really bright and I wasn't paying attention!"

"It's uh… fine." K muttered, doing his best not to sound irritated at the situation. "I don't suppose you've got napkins at least?"

She sputtered out a non-response, patting her pockets and searching for something to help him dry off, when another girl came up beside them, offering K a stack of small brown paper.

"Oh, Luna, you gotta watch out more. What if that had been more than just a drink?" Juliet said, putting on a forced laugh as she tried to defuse any potential anger in the man. "Sorry about that, we're cool, right?"

Before he could actually answer, the woman shook his hand with an iron grip, the weight of the collapsed HADES shaking around on his wrist like it wasn't even there, before putting her arm around Luna's shoulders and pulling her away, leaving him to dry himself off.

"Not a problem Miss," he said absentmindedly, soaking up what he hoped was a drink that wouldn't leave him sticky by the time he got to his hotel. His eyes lingered on the strongwoman and her smaller teammate, his brow lowering back into an analytical scowl. Based on the tapes, he figured he'd likely have to kill her to get to Luna, which, if the strength she just displayed was anything to go by, would be more troublesome than he first thought. "Not a problem at all."


Asher's silver eyes squinted ahead of him, the faint outline of Onyx's sandrider barely visible even in the light from his own vehicle. Normally it wouldn't be a problem, he'd just let Onyx drive the rest of the way, but their third passenger currently holding on to him from the back seat made that idea tricky.

The cat Faunus currently leading them in the low visibility sped up to try and cut down on how much time they'd be spending in the dark, but in doing so, completely disappeared from his sight. Squinting even harder, he found it fruitless, it was just too dark, and he and Durga would soon be riding completely blind. It was time to pull over, it was just too unsafe when he could barely see a hundred feet in front of him.

"I think we should set up camp." he called out, coming to a full stop, Onyx quickly pulling a U-turn before coming back around.

"Are we far enough out for that?" the Faunus asked, pulling off her goggles now that she didn't need to worry about sand in her eyes.

"We'll have to be, the next outpost is too far out, we go much further out this late and two of us are walking blind in Grimm territory."

Nodding along, Onyx shut off her sandrider and climbed off, the bounty hunters both pulling their bags off and getting the supplies they'd need for the campfire as Durga took the opportunity to stretch her legs, now more comfortable that they weren't traveling blind.

For some reason, there were people who liked to travel in the cover of darkness, which was fine for treks that would only take an hour or two, most Faunus could do so without issue, but any more than that, and you were risking running into more dangerous Grimm. Asher and Onyx knew those dangers well, having lost more than one bounty because they were desperate enough to brave the sands at night, more than half of them later being found ripped apart. It usually didn't really matter in the end, most were willing to pay out considering the target was still taken care of, but they had no reason to try something so stupid, it was better to start a fire to ward off the Grimm and turn in for the night.

The three gathered close to the campfire, a simple set of logs and shards of fire dust carefully shaved down to serve as tinder that, with a small bit of maintenance, would last into the early hours of morning. They quickly got comfortable, Durga rolling out her sleeping bag as the bounty hunters snuggled up together

"I'm sorry about that, I should have been ready sooner." The older woman said. While no one had said anything about it, she knew she'd held them up past schedule by taking a detour to say goodbye.

"Don't apologize, we sleep like this all the time" Onyx shrugged, reaching down and igniting the fire with an angled strike of her knife against the shards of fire dust.

"It's fine, seriously we get it, I'd feel bad if I had to leave someone before a big event like that too." Asher offered with a small smile, understanding just how hard it was to leave the people he cared for behind, even if it was something that had to be done. An assurance she found comforting.

"Alrighty, let's see what shorty packed." Onyx said, cutting through the air of melancholy and opening up her backpack, scrounging around with an expression that slowly faded in excitement. "Canned beans, some rice, more beans, bread... Dude, did you pack anything with flavor?"

"Relax, that's just what's in your bag." Asher said with a roll of his eyes, a small part of him enjoying her pout. After all, if she wanted the good food in her sack, she should help with the packing next time. "And yes, I packed some salmon."

Her smile instantly returning at the news, she leaned over and planted a quick kiss to his lips. They lingered for just a moment before she remembered they had company and pulled away.

"Good boy."

"Am I going to need to worry about waking up to you two… you know?" Despite her teasing words, there was a bit of worry in her tone, it wouldn't be the first time she'd had traveling companions who couldn't keep their hands to themselves.

"N-no! No I- we'd never-"

"I'm not that shameless." Onyx said sheepishly. "Besides… sand crotch kinda kills the mood."

"Ugh, tell me about it." Durga groaned, glad that she wasn't the only one who'd had to find out the hard way that the desert was a less than ideal place for… fun. The pair of younger fighters both turned to her, wide eyes in shock at her casual admission, much to her amusement. "What, I was young and in love once, sneaking away for a moment of… intimacy."

Onyx couldn't help but laugh, reaching over the fire for a high five, which Durga couldn't help but give, laughing about it with her, even if it felt silly. The moment didn't last long as a deep, wheezing cough cut through their laughter and got their attention, all turning to face the source of the as it stumbled closer between the dunes. It was person-sized, vaguely feminine, and thin as a whip, though any more details were obscured by it's cloak and the surrounding darkness. But Onyx wasn't worried about the approaching woman, instead, she worried about what her ears had picked up on.

"Footsteps." she whispered to the pair, slowly reaching for her guns.

"How many pairs?"

"One, but there was more just a second ago." Onyx informed them, looking around. Her eyes, able to see far better than her human companions, darted around, searching for any sign of an ambush, but there were too many dunes. Their spot was fine against mindless Grimm that wouldn't think twice about passing by a mundane layout of dunes, but it was perfect to be used for an ambush.

"Stay still." Asher called out, warning the figure as it stumbled closer. As it didn't listen, he clenched his metal fist, preparing for a fight.

"Please…" The deep but unmistakably feminine voice wheezed out. "Water, I need- my children."

At the mention of children, Durga's instincts took over, reaching into her own satchel for her canteen.

"It's okay Ma'am, we have wa-" She was cut off as the bounty hunters stepped forward, Asher following his partner's lead as she got ready to fight, finally able to make out the bony horns adorned with red markings protruding from the 'woman's' cloak.

"That's not a person." Onyx said, pulling her handguns from their holsters and opening fire.

The creature dropped its facade instantly, springing into action and moving to evade the shots as it closed in, letting out the unmistakable rage filled roar of a Grimm. For a brief moment, they were thrown off by the creature's humanoid shape, having never encountered one able to mimic a person so well, but they soon fell back into form, Asher running in to meet it head on. The creature attacked in a far more coordinated manner than he was expecting, pulling its arm back for a haymaker aimed right for his jaw, a disorienting blow rather than trying to simply bludgeon him to death.

Not expecting the creature's intelligence, the first of its blows landed, but he quickly recovered and easily blocked the second. Wasting no time, he delivered a quick aura infused punch to its chest, however the strike didn't have the effect he had thought, as rather than surging into the beast, his Aura was… absorbed? Panicking, he brought his metal elbow down onto the mimic's arm, breaking it, but rather than oily blood or the black smoke that typically escaped damaged Grimm, a bone jutted out, tearing through the skin.

Horror set in as the beast's nature became clear to Asher, this thing wasn't just mimicking a human, it had taken one over.

More gunshots rang out, but not at the creature, but instead someone else who quickly closed the distance and leaped at him, thrusting her arm forward with a set of pincer-like blades that would have cut his throat open if he didn't move out of the way.

Onyx swore as she emptied her magazine, not a single shot having landed on the second attacker, and the Grimm having paid the bullets no mind. She managed to pull Asher back before the small woman aimed her gauntlets at them and opened fire with both sets of machine guns hidden inside. Were it not for Durga's quick actions and moving in to deflect the shots, spinning her trident with enough speed to effectively form a wall with the use of a small but powerful cyclone of wind concentrated in her palm, then they'd both have taken the full volley.

Now that they were in sight, they got a good look at their attackers. The girl's yellow eyes were unfocused, and dilated far past what was normal. If it wasn't for how smooth and coordinated her actions were, Asher would have assumed she was high. As she started to quietly giggle to herself as she reloaded her weapons though, he started to reconsider that option.

The other one was the Grimm hybrid. She appeared to have a bony mask grafted to her skin, complete with a twisted crown of horns emerging from the matted mess of her hair. The remnants of her old, tattered clothing was mostly obscured by the cloak, but now they could see why she wore it to begin with, to hide the growth of the black, leathery skin that replaced the mass lost from prior wounds, and the black veins that ran like rivers beneath her still human flesh. The creature in control was uncaring, yet seemingly not unaware of the agony its host felt as he forced the bone back into its arm with a sickening crack as a mass of black goo held it in place, before activating her Aura to mend the bone.

With the initial shock out of the way, the three of them prepared for a fight, it was three against two, and even if this Grimm was strange, it was still just a Grimm. The girl would need to be questioned, but after that, it didn't really matter. But, before they could move, they suddenly felt… off. He couldn't explain why, but he felt slower, and his arm felt heavier. A quick glance to Onyx showed a similar reaction, looking confused at her guns as if they'd suddenly gained more heft.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement, and, turning to face the threat, he saw a hauntingly familiar face as Henna closed in from the side. With how slow he moved, and the fact that she was already close enough to touch him by the time he realized what was happening, he didn't have the chance to react as she slashed at his chest, the force alone sending him flying.

The women reacted in turn, with Durga moving in to engage while Onyx opened fire, but neither were able to do much more than use their better range to keep the dagger wielding Faunus at bay.

Asher groaned as he got to his feet. It was the same woman who'd attacked him and Durga last time, and now she had help. This was bad, even without looking, he could feel just how deep he'd been cut, and for some reason, his Aura was taking longer to heal… shit, it was her Semblance!

"She's weakening our Auras!" he called out, pushing through the pain and running in to help Onyx defend Durga, when the possessed woman cut him off. With her physical abilities being amped by the Grimm parasite, she was far less affected by the radius of Aura dampening, and with a single powerful blow, sent Asher flying directly into Onyx, sending them both sprawled out on the sand as it advanced on them.

Durga was doing everything in her power to keep the assassin at bay, her amethyst eyes alight with Maiden magic as she had to boost her own strength just to keep up. Even that wasn't enough however, as she overextended a thrust with Trishul that her opponent exploited, forcing the weapon up and moving past the prongs as she swung at her stomach in an attempt to eviscerate her. The only thing that saved her was that she was fast enough to pull Khanda from her sash and swing just in time to catch her attacker off guard, her Aura stopping the blade from taking her arm off at the elbow.

Before she could attack again, Lavender jumped onto her back, her Semblance creating extra arms to lock around her neck as she tried to stab into Durga's back from behind. Only an inch of hard metal was able to get past her Aura beforesomething grabbed her, something hot and scorching as well as something so cold it burned. She barely had time to register the pain before she was thrown to the ground, managing to roll out of the way just as the Maiden brought her trident down right where her head had been.

Still reeling from the near death experience, Lavender jumped back, and with that added distance, was now fully able to comprehend what had grabbed her. The woman had seemingly sprouted eight additional arms from her back and shoulders, but unlike her own Semblance, these weren't constructs made up of Aura. Instead, they all surged with a different power. Four of them represented the elements, fire, water, earth, wind, but the rest were different, being composed of electricity, ice, lava, and the final one looking to be some combination that shifted in color and form.

"Wha-" The young woman was left almost speechless. For a moment, she thought it was another hallucination, but no, it was real and that was no Semblance, it wasn't even Aura, but she could feel the otherworldly power radiating from the woman, epitomised by the brilliant purple flames that framed her eyes. "What is that?"

"It's magic, child." Durga explained, passing her trident to her new arms while her sword remained in her hand. As it was passed along, each of them imbued the weapon with a different element. "A power that's far too dangerous for me to let you steal."

"Steal?"

Looking to her sister, Lavender was met with nothing, just a cold determined look from the older woman as she stared the Maiden down. Uncertainty hit Lavender like a truck. Were they trying to take this power? Was… was that what this was about? No, no Henna wouldn't have her murder someone for something like that, would she? For some reason, she wasn't sure, maybe it was the lingering venom she'd dosed herself with to numb the guilt keeping her from thinking clearly, but no matter what, she couldn't let Henna fight someone with that sort of power alone. After they'd beaten her, she'd get her answers, there just had to be more to it than that.

For a brief moment, Durga's eyes softened at Lavender's ignorance, recognizing how the girl had no idea what she was getting into, but soon her gaze hardened. If she didn't act, she'd never see Sarasvati again, and that was something she wouldn't allow.

Onyx swore as the Grimm let her bullets bounce off of its Aura, she and Asher's weakened abilities turning what should have been a simple kill into a fight for their lives. She felt helpless as Asher tried in vain to land a hit, his stance uneven due to the unfamiliar restriction his arm brought with no Aura, allowing the Grimm to easily move around his blows and retaliate with hits that felt like he was being hit by a car.

But, not willing to just lay down and die, he put all of his weight and a good amount of the stored dust into a strike with his mechanical arm, a blow that, even in his weakened state, would take the possessed woman's head clean off her shoulders. It was a blow that never landed, as Gillian punched him in the throat, his Aura subconsciously focusing on the vital area being the only thing saving him from his neck snapping from the force. Doubling over as he struggled to breathe, his good arm was twisted and wrenched upwards, a cracking sound echoing through the dunes as its hand grabbed the back of his neck and started to siphon away his Aura.

"Asher!" Going into a panic at the sight of his Aura being pulled into the creature's own, Onyx sprang into action.

Holstering her handguns that had done nothing to the beast, she pulled her knife from her belt and ran in, ready to stab the beast in the eye. But, before she could make it, Asher's weakened Aura gave out and the pinpricks of crimson light that were its unfeeling eyes turned to meet her. The Faunus managed to strike first, thrusting her blade at its throat, only for the uncaring Grimm to raise its arm, allowing the knife to sink into the host's flesh before the black goo in its veins latched on, keeping it in place and pulling it out of its assailants hands.

Now without a weapon, Onyx was forced to try and punch through the creature, but, just as with the young man who had tried before her, it was pointless. It let her land the punch to its mask, scraping the skin from her knuckles, before it grabbed her by the throat, lifting her up and starting to drain her of her Aura just as she had drained him.

She fought, kicking and screaming, causing Asher to look up, his heart sinking as the monster watched, tilting its head curiously as it reached up, shoving its thumb into her mouth as it grabbed her jaw, unbothered as she bit down.

His eyes widened. It was going to pull her apart. His breathing grew heavy as the realization set in, along with the fact that he was powerless to stop it. Memories flooded in. The night he had met her when she saved him, bringing him under her wing and showing him the ropes of being a bounty hunter, drinking after a successful job and stumbling home with her, the first time she had kissed him…

For a moment, the battlefield was lit up by a blinding white light. The mask screamed in agony, its mouth opening and allowing Gillian to do the same. Taking her moment, Onyx pulled her gun from its holster and fired a single round into the mask, shattering half of it and causing the possessed woman to drop her. Falling to the ground, Onyx was too dazed, her head smacking against the dunes and rendering her unconscious.

Asher tried to move, but that power had exhausted him, and without his Aura, he couldn't move a muscle, already starting to lose consciousness.

The possessed woman didn't take advantage of this like he feared though. Instead, she immediately reached for the mask and started to pull, tearing away pieces of her own skin as she pried the Grimm parasite away from her, before throwing it away into the sand, where the glowing red light of its remaining eye faded as it turned dormant.

Gillian gasped and heaved. Free, after years of the endless pain and torment that had become her life, she was free. Her legs suddenly gave out, too much of the muscle being held together by now inactive Grimm goo, and one of her arms fell off just past the elbow. The cold realization set in that she was helpless, and just a few feet away were two people that had been happy to just use her moments ago. If they won, she'd be made to wear the mask again, that thing would be in the driver's seat, and she'd be forced to sit back and watch in silent agony. She started to hyperventilate, looking around for something, anything to free herself from that fate. Then she saw it, the cold metal of Onyx's handgun lying right next to her unconscious body in the sand.

No, never again, she was never going back to that hell.

The last thing Asher saw before losing consciousness was the husk shakily putting Onyx's gun against its temple with her remaining arm, and firing, freeing herself from whatever hell she had been forced to endure.


Durga was fighting a losing battle, constantly switching her attention between Lavender and Henna The women moved in tandem as they closed in, when one attacked, the other got in close and cut at her, slowly but surely wearing down her Aura. Knowing she couldn't continue like this, she waited for the exact moment they went to switch, with Lavender falling back with a sting from her tail meant to keep her from retaliating. Using the brief opening, the arm of condensed wind on her back raised its fist, and with it, a sandstorm surged to life, spinning around them mercilessly in a controlled gust of wind. Next, the Maiden raised her arms of earth and flame, causing the sand to clump together as the surrounding air superheated, creating a storm of glass shards that slashed into their Aura's as they flew past at high speed.

Weathering the storm, Lavender grit her teeth. Trying to dull the pain, she created Aura arms to wrap around herself, and, seeing her chance to end things, she ran in, watching closely for the Maiden's movements. The woman swung down with her sword, and seeing the opening, Lavender moved her arms to catch the blade mid swing. Rather than shoot or stab the woman, she thrust her stinger into her shoulder, and pumped as much of her venom as she could in that split second of contact before she jumped away.

She'd done it! Soon the woman would fall unconscious, and she could get her answers.

But nothing was ever that simple, as the arm of electricity pointed her trident at Lavender, and a split second later, a bolt of lightning shot forward, throwing her back as her Aura shattered from the force. With two of the assassins down, Durga turned her full attention on Henna, who watched closely as Durga moved in, before smirking as she saw the woman stumble. She tried to keep her focus, keep her control, but dizziness took over, and everything started to blur together.

Her control only lapsed for a moment before she used her magic to steel her mind, but Henna only needed a split second to close the distance and plunge her dagger into the woman's chest.

Wracked with pain, her trident fell to the floor as her extra arms faded away. Weakly, she clutched the weapon that had been thrusted into her hard enough to puncture her sternum, forcing herself to pull away and focusing her Aura, but, trapped within the clutches of Henna's Semblance, she couldn't heal on time, the blood loss and shock making her knees go weak. Before she knew it, she had fallen to the sand, looking up at the stars that had once guided her in the sky.

Feeling herself start to grow weaker, Durga thought of her daughter, just as she'd been instructed to do. She imagined Sarasvati's beautiful face, the soft red eyes she'd soon be faced with. She only had moments to decide what she'd say, thinking of how proud she was, how she was sorry, that she'd never wanted this for her little girl, but knew she would be able to handle the responsibility…

Suddenly, agonizing pain ripped her from those thoughts as Henna's blade pierced her thigh, screaming as the skin and muscle tore as the fanged woman dragged her back into her grasp. Fear and adrenaline took over, and, even knowing she was about to die, she fought, kicking with her good leg to try and stop her murderer from climbing on top of her, an act that she knew was fruitless. She raised her hand to try and hold her back, resulting in three of her fingers being severed in one quick, yet wrathful swing from her serrated dagger.

Her voice was starting to go horse from all the yelling she'd done, the agonizing pain making it hard to think clearly as her instincts told her to get away at any cost, but she was far too weak to fight back, the most resistance she could muster was using her elbows to crawl away as her vision started to blur. In her daze, she felt a pair of impacts against her lower back that, at first, felt like a set of punches, before her mind, starting to lose its grip, registered the agonizing pain of being stabbed in her left kidney. The second blow wasn't just a stab, however.

The golden eyed snake made sure she was looking right into the Maiden's eyes as she dragged the blade up, carving through her stomach.


The blood curdling screams caused Lavender to stir. Things were much clearer now, no blending colors or seeing the wrong faces, and she could clearly feel her hands sinking into the cool sand as she rose to her feet. For better or worse, her venom had finally worn off.

She could smell the blood before she saw it, a mix of copper and iron that hung heavy in the air. By the time she actually saw the red ichor staining the sands, the screams had died down into weak whimpers, interrupted by wet sounding coughs. Following the sounds, Lavender froze at the sight of Henna, nearly completely drenched in blood with a downright euphoric look on her face.

Her sister had the woman pinned down by her hair, an unnecessary act due to the state she was in. She had been completely disemboweled by the deep and repeated slashes to her gut, the sight making Lavender dry heave. Her disgust went unnoticed by her sister, as the older woman slowly and methodically dragged her dagger out, resulting in a pitiful little gasp from the woman as her one good hand limply pulled at the fist tangled in her hair.

She- She was alive? Henna was keeping her ailve!? Why? She understood why a woman this powerful might need to die if she meant to do them harm, but what did they gain from cruelly dragging out an already agonizing death? But, somehow, that wasn't the tipping point, it was her fellow Faunus's face, her eyes staring deep into their enemy's dull, lifeless-looking orbs in ecstasy, and bearing a wide, sadistic smile that reached from ear to ear.

There hadn't even been time to process what she had seen before Henna decided it was time to end it, raising her dagger to the woman's throat and making sure Durga was looking her in the eyes so that no one would occupy her final moments but herself, before starting to saw away at the woman's throat. Despite the already fatal amount of blood that had been lost when she severed the arteries of her neck, blood briefly squirted out, splashing Henna in the face. A fact she didn't mind in the slightest, absentmindedly licking her lips clean of the metallic-tasting fluid.

Lavender turned to look away, unable to watch Henna gleefully behead the woman for some sort of sadistic pleasure. This proved to be a mistake as her uneasy stomach couldn't handle the sudden turn, and, falling to her knees, bile forced itself from her mouth, soaking into the sand below her as the sound of vertebrae snapping and flesh tearing echoed throughout the silent dunes.

She didn't dare turn to look, even after she had nothing left to give in her. Her mind raced to find an explanation for torturing a woman to death… but found nothing.

She knew the state her father's body had been found in, Henna had been sure to detail. Tyrian had fought tooth and nail in his last moments, worn down between blade and bullet wounds littering his body before a single powerful strike bisected him at the chest. She'd always believed that the blood-churning descriptions were a necessary evil, to make sure she was fully aware of the cruelty their enemies were capable of and why they needed to stop them, why using the Grimm and attacking Huntsmen was a necessary evil to stop this hidden cabal controlling the kingdoms.

But if that was the case, what purpose did inflicting a slow and agonizing death on a defenseless woman serve? Would her daughter also hear of the state her mother had been left in? Would she be made to know that her mothers legs had been cut so deeply that her bones were visible through the wounds? How she'd been stabbed and slashed so brutally that she looked like a Grimm had feasted on her stomach? That she'd been decapitated only a few yards away from the people meant to protect her?

The thought made her gag, and had she not already emptied her stomach, she would have now.

It made no sense, if Henna was willing to do that, if she'd expected her to do that, then why had she told her the details of her father's demise? To be cruel? To foster her own hatred? Why? Why would her sister do that to her?

Why… why had she helped do that to someone else?

She couldn't think of an answer, not before a dull thud against the sand told her that Henna had finished her morbid task. Reluctantly, she turned her head back, and Henna stood up, her eyes glazed over as if in a trance, blonde hair slipping from her grasp as the head fell onto the sand. A moment later, her eyes burst into flames, or… that was what Lavender first thought had happened. What billowed from her face was no fire, it burnt too bright to just be fire, and bore no heat. It was the same energy that had emanated from Durga as they fought.

Reality set in hard, she had been telling the truth, Henna stole her powers for herself.

"Hen-Henna?"

The tanned woman blinked, coming back to her senses and turning to her sister. The yellow fire-like energy from her eyes fading as she looked over at the younger woman.

"Lavender…" Her voice grew lighter and she smiled, as if nothing was the matter. "Are you okay?"

"You… Why were we targeting her?"

"She was an enemy," Henna grew confused at the question, not used to Lavender doubting her, so she spoke bluntly. "If given the chance, she'd have used these powers against us, we only acted first."

Lavender's mind raced as she tried to follow the logic. Yes, she was a threat, that was why they'd killed her, it was basically self defense… except they had tracked her down, when she was isolated with only two other people, not moving towards anywhere of importance.

"But she was a Huntress, why did she wait so long?"

The older sister's eyes narrowed, her sister being shaky from witnessing such abilities was expected, but this was starting to sound like actual doubt. It was the sort of questioning her ignorant younger brother would ask, the sort of question a younger and stupider version of herself would ask.

"Did… did we do this just to steal her powers? I'm wrong, right? Tell me I'm wrong." The silence that followed was so thick she could choke on it. There had to be more to it, if Henna would just tell her it would be okay, at least then she'd have a reason. "Tell me I didn't help you kill her just so you could take her powers!"

"I've had enough of you questioning the will of our Goddess!" Henna snarled, pointing her dagger at the girl. With the gesture, the flames around her eyes returned, and a powerful burst of wind shot out from her.

She was done, done with the doubt, done with the questions. Hadn't she done enough for this girl? To feed, clothe, train, and love her when no one else would? But suddenly their brother comes along and now she's questioning her?

Lavender stumbled back in shock, falling over from the wind before freezing in fear. She… pointed her weapon at her. Her sister had just threatened her because she dared to ask a question.

Seeing those pale yellow eyes looking at her with fear snapped Henna out of her anger. Realizing what she had done, she lowered the weapon and stepped forward, guilt swelling in her chest at how the younger woman flinched. She tried not to get angry, it was understandable she'd be scared, Henna herself didn't understand why she had done that.

"Lavender… I… This was an order from Her Grace directly, not a petty grab at power." she spoke gently as she approached. "Do you trust me?"

For the first time since she'd started calling Henna her sister, she wasn't sure she did.

"I do." she lied, looking at her feet.

Henna nodded, reaching down to offer a hand to the smaller woman who, reluctantly, took it. Feeling her tremble, she pulled her sister into a hug that did nothing to calm her.

"Good, now what about the Bounty Hunters?" she asked, only sparing the three other bodies a glance.

"They're dead."

"Are you certain? One of them had Silver Eyes, they need to be dealt with."

"They weren't breathing." Lavender lied once more, hoping her shaky voice would be attributed to her shock rather than lying through her teeth, and that Henna wouldn't realize she hadn't even looked their way. "She must have killed them by mistake while using her magic."

"Good." Henna said, buying the story and turning away, stopping only for a moment to make a detour and pick up the discarded mask a few feet away, staring at it bitterly. Gillian had deserved worse, but what was done was done. Now they'd need to find a replacement. "We need to go, the Huntsmen will check the area first thing in the morning when they don't hear back from them."

Lavender nodded, doing everything she could to avoid looking at the body as she walked by, silently following Henna into the darkness of the night.