Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"That is so dramatic. Most humans live their entire lives without ever unlocking their aura."

Yang shot her a glower over her own glass "There's a difference between 'locked' and 'lost', Weiss." She muttered before she took another long drink.

This was apparently a two ( Depressed Yang) sip glass, and she frowned as she looked at a lack of liquid in her cup before she huffed and held it out towards Weiss in askance. Assuming it was filled, she leaned back in her chair and let Weiss continue to fill the air with words in such a way that only a Weiss schnee could, for the most part silently listening and any agreement or ire she had with the heiress' words masked in a simple frown.

"I bet you'd make a wonderful mother."

"Not without some drastic advances in science"

For the most part.

Her sigh was wistful, but it didn't sound particularly hopeful. She let a moment or two pass before steering things back to the matter at hand.

"So. You were about to tell me how to operate the relic?"​

She put the glass down after one last sip and planted her hand on the same knee before she took a deep breath. This was a dagnerous, probably stupid game to play. She'd never been a stellar liar, and this Weiss seemed to be picking her apart with her eyes from the word go, so even trying to lie was probably a waste of time. Saying too little wouldn't get her anywhere, and saying too much was gonna get people killed. But she did have one, very important advantage; when was the last time she ever lost a game to Weiss?

"...The relic of knowledge can answer literally any question. The Ozpin of our world was still keeping some heavy secrets from us, but it was able to show us, with both weird visuals and words to ensure that we understood, events that happened literally thousands of years ago. It even stopped time, so that any time sensitive questions could be asked and answered in a way that gave you complete knowledge, so, y'know, really living up to its name there. All of this being narrated by a giant, blue, very naked flying lady." She explained, her cheeks tinging slightly as she glanced away. That was honestly really weird in retrospect. She cleared her throat and continued.

"But it's got limits. It can only answer three questions every... shoot. I think its every thousand years?" she muttered with a small frown before she waved it off. "whatever it was, it was a really long time, and one question had already been used in our timeline before it was even put in its vault. And you activate it by saying the guardian's name. Guardian meaning miss big n' blue."

She let out a breath as she finally finished and leaned back into her chair and snatched the wine glass back into her hand.

 

[MyrtenRose]

The hints of faunus ducking around corners, the faint sounds from above, all the eyes on her that she could feel so clearly...it just got Tock to let out a soft snicker. She supposed she should just appreciate the lengths they were going to for her. Well, and for the Ilia at her back too. And sometimes it isn't, Ilia thought back in response to that statement from the bear, though she vocalized nothing as the pair continued on.​

It was not a seat Bear intended on taking it seemed, as he instead took a step to the side and crossed his arms, tilting his head for the other two to continue their way forward. They were not the only ones in the room; Seated at the head of the table was the tiger faunus they knew so well, effortlessly regal even seated somewhere besides her throne as she listened to the woman who sat beside her with an unfocused interest. A few seats down the other way, a faunus who’s face was masked in a stylized hunting dog’s sat with his feet up on the table and a spear resting against one shoulder, the slow rise and fall of his shoulders showcasing either the epitome of relaxation or just being passed the fuck out.

"Well well well...quite the pack you got running here." Tock commented, eyes roving over all of them one after another...​

As the lizard sisters made their way forward, Sienna and her conversation partner both turned their attention onto them. The other woman was dressed in an elegant dress of pastel blues and whites, trimmed with fur in atlesian style that was a vibrant clash with the bright orange of her hair. She wore no mask to hide what was a genuinely gorgeous face, and it was wholly difficult to discern what kind of faunus she was from looks alone. The only hint was the pin in her hair, a crystalline serpent that coiled up from the apex of her graceful ponytail and seemed to be staring directly at them both. The subtly was lost entirely as she smiled as they approached, the warmth of the gesture offput by the two sharp fangs that showed from her teeth. The lady stood and gave an refined, deferential curtsy to Tock.

“Miss Jade! We’re honored to have a faunus of your reputation as our guest. Please, take a seat, if you’d so like.” Her voice was a balm to the ears, like silk brushing against their soul as she gestured to the chair opposite of Sienna, the only one not to bear the mark of an animal on it. "I apologize for any stress our earlier conversation caused; we simply wanted to ensure you didn't arrive with any ill intentions. These are dangerous times, after all."

...culminating in a look towards the snake. A rather appreciative one, especially at those two fangs. "No need to be so formal. Honestly, do I look the type?" She scoffed playfully, nevertheless striding for and dropping into that chair. "And hey, don't worry, if I came to pick a fight..." Her eyes narrowed in an instant to an intense glare. "You'd know." She let those words hang in the air for a moment before she dropped the fierce look and broke into a fit of laughter. Tock leaned further back in the seat, folding her arms behind her head and propping her feet up onto the table, since they were seemingly kind enough to let her feel at home. Ilia stayed standing near the door, not really feeling up to getting comfortable. "So, y'know, can't help but point out that there's no croc in your Talon squad. Sorta insulted." She commented, still definitely sarcastic.​

Sienna’s gaze was far less warm, one leg crossed and two of her sharpened, claw-esque nails idly rubbing against one another as she leveled a calculated frown at Tock.

Though the attitude soon disappeared as she finally looked towards the one faunus she had come all this way for. Any hint of a smile vanished and her eyes grew more serious, scrutinizing that cold look. Tock bit her lip before she continued speaking. "High Leader Khan." She greeted with a respectful nod. "...we should talk. Alone."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Not without some drastic advances in science"

For the most part.

"You realize who you're talking to, right?" She returned with just enough of a lilt to be playful, fluttering her lashes as she refilled the proffered glass followed by her own. As much as she could always be relied upon to batter a silence relentlessly with words, it was a patient, thoughtful one she lapsed into as she gave Yang the floor to explain, analytic eyes casting a shadow far larger than their physical dimensions as she scrutinized Yang down to the last molecule from the very first word. It was a feeling not entirely unlike confessing a misdemeanor to Goodwitch, only rather than the method of extraction being sheer intimidation it was more... a combination of things. That aspect was certainly there, with the upgrade from ice queen to ice empress of multiple domains (both political and business) certainly having the appropriate effect on her aura of importance and sheer presence.

But it was also more than that. A strange, burrowing affinity for making people feel obliged to her in some way, for cultivating a deep subconscious fear of ever disappointing Weiss Schnee or letting her down. She was Atlas's empress, yes, but she was also its princess. A treasure. A national darling. Before she ever wowed their minds with her fiscal sense and political cunning, she had captured their hearts with her dignity, her song recitals, her smile; a smile that created the projection of one so innocent, yet who had been through so much.

Intimidation was a useful tool, one she was only too happy to deploy when the circumstances arose.

But domination was something else entirely, and that was the weapon Weiss had spent all those years in this den of vipers exercising. In all its insidious glory.

"...The relic of knowledge can answer literally any question. The Ozpin of our world was still keeping some heavy secrets from us, but it was able to show us, with both weird visuals and words to ensure that we understood, events that happened literally thousands of years ago. It even stopped time, so that any time sensitive questions could be asked and answered in a way that gave you complete knowledge, so, y'know, really living up to its name there. All of this being narrated by a giant, blue, very naked flying lady." She explained, her cheeks tinging slightly as she glanced away. That was honestly really weird in retrospect. She cleared her throat and continued.

"Of course Mistral would get the fun relic." She commented mildly with a coy wink as she noticed Yang's discomfort, otherwise just sipping her glass and allowing her to continue.

"But it's got limits. It can only answer three questions every... shoot. I think its every thousand years?" she muttered with a small frown before she waved it off. "whatever it was, it was a really long time, and one question had already been used in our timeline before it was even put in its vault. And you activate it by saying the guardian's name. Guardian meaning miss big n' blue."

She let out a breath as she finally finished and leaned back into her chair and snatched the wine glass back into her hand.

"...I see."

There was no crack in the frozen mask that was Weiss's expression, no uptick or flat note in her tone that gave any indication as to whether she believed everything she'd just been told or not. A moment passed as she finished her wine, and she kept her eyes shut for a second once it was drained of all contents with a deep, heady breath, this version of the heiress clearly still more of a lightweight than Yang despite how much she seemed to drink.

She reached into her inner jacket to pull out a remote, gesturing to it with her other hand in a demonstrating fashion as if showcasing a new product to investors. She pointed the business end at Yang, and with the push of a button the brawler felt her aura returning to her in a surge, warm and comforting as it filled in the icy void in her soul.

"Your face! 'You're holding my soul hostage, Weiss'!"

Weiss made no secret of how absolutely hilarious she found herself as she mocked Yang's words in a thick, boorish impression, letting a few uninterrupted seconds pass as she put a hand to her collar and giggled with undisguised mirth. When she caught her breath enough to go on, an affectionate roll of the eyes and a snort preceded further elaboration.

"Technically I didn't lie. In the interest of sparing you a rundown on all the latest advancements in aura manipulative biotechnology, I'll limit this to twenty words or less. I had them put a chip in you. Remote access. I push a button, your aura goes inside the chip. I push a different button, it comes back. Clever, no?"

She repeated the process once during her explanation, then three or four more times just for the hilarity of it before leaving Yang auraless once again and letting her eyes narrow in a shrewder, more subtle way, crossing her legs once more.

"Now tell me the guardian's name and I'll allow you one hour of access each day in the evening. "​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

...culminating in a look towards the snake. A rather appreciative one, especially at those two fangs. "No need to be so formal. Honestly, do I look the type?" She scoffed playfully, nevertheless striding for and dropping into that chair. "And hey, don't worry, if I came to pick a fight..." Her eyes narrowed in an instant to an intense glare. "You'd know." She let those words hang in the air for a moment before she dropped the fierce look and broke into a fit of laughter. Tock leaned further back in the seat, folding her arms behind her head and propping her feet up onto the table, since they were seemingly kind enough to let her feel at home. Ilia stayed standing near the door, not really feeling up to getting comfortable. "So, y'know, can't help but point out that there's no croc in your Talon squad. Sorta insulted." She commented, still definitely sarcastic.​

The smile grew coquettish at Tock's gaze, and she put a hand to her mouth in faux fear at the crocodile's fierce glare, though in such a way that made it seem like she was merely joining in on the joke rather than mocking Tock. Her eyes scrunched shut when she giggled as Tock broke the act herself, and the snake faunus lowered her hand and gave a nod as she drifted back into her own chair.

"Formality is merely a form of respect, something that all faunus deserve. But as you like miss Jade. I do apologize for the lack of crocodile on the table; I'm sure there was one in past iterations of the Talons, but-"

She immediately stopped talking as Sienna raised her hand, no amount of offense on on her features as she gave Tock a light shrug and a soft smile that really did reach her eyes. Even if those eyes quietly studied the faunus as they spoke.

"High Leader Khan." She greeted with a respectful nod. "...we should talk. Alone."

Sienna own expression didn't shift a muscle as Tock spoke, and not for a good while afterwards. Eventually the claws stopped their rhythmic scratching against each other so that her hand to gesture in a small sweep towards the rest of the table as she closed her eyes.

"My Talons are my closest advisors. Just as I know everything about them, there is nothing they cannot know of me, especially when it comes to our war. That is why you're here, isn't it? I can't imagine that you came all this way for a social call. Not if the traitor standing behind you is any indication. Don't tell me that Salem's leash is only just now starting to chafe?" she asked, a humorless smile finally breaking through the regal frown.

 

[MyrtenRose]

Sienna own expression didn't shift a muscle as Tock spoke, and not for a good while afterwards. Eventually the claws stopped their rhythmic scratching against each other so that her hand to gesture in a small sweep towards the rest of the table as she closed her eyes.

"My Talons are my closest advisors. Just as I know everything about them, there is nothing they cannot know of me, especially when it comes to our war. That is why you're here, isn't it? I can't imagine that you came all this way for a social call. Not if the traitor standing behind you is any indication. Don't tell me that Salem's leash is only just now starting to chafe?" she asked, a humorless smile finally breaking through the regal frown.

"...Does that include knowing all about us?" She couldn't help but ask in one last attempt at a less than serious question. One that stood in contrast to the look on her face. "But fine. Fine." She let out in a harsh growl, swinging her feet off the table and straightening up in the chair before continuing. "We'll do it your way, Sienna." The crocodile unfolded her arms and laid her palms flat on the table in front of her. "You have no room to talk about traitors, love. No more than ya do with leashes. You've been keepin' you and yours pretty busy, haven't ya? Launchin' attacks on multiple huntsman academies, murderin' students and others alike..." Her eyes hardened even more. "...bombin' one of the CCTs into pieces and breakin' the whole damn system. Makin' the whole prospect of communication across the world way more difficult. I just..." She shook her head.

"I don't get it. Maybe ya could explain it to me, why exactly you're crossin' this line. Why you're killin' huntsman and huntresses and kids in training, all people needed for more than just slayin' grimm. Why you're makin' it harder for people, regular people, innocent hard workin' folk that have nothin' to do with any of this to communicate with each other. They aren't involved in your crusade, but here ya are givin' them reasons to hate our kind even more. To justify every bad feelin' I thought ya wanted to fight. Ya want to talk bout leashes? Okay, cool, let's. Tell me why you went and traded up one of those for another far worse one as ya do things that'll only divide us all. Make it easier for him. With all due respect, is it arrogance blindin' ya to the truth as ya go about, tryin' to make a new faunus empire-" Tock's hands curled up into fists atop the table.

"-or have ya just lost your fucking mind?!"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes.

That should've been enough time for Ilia and that stupid overbearing crocodile to have made their little speech and gotten out of her way while she did what she came here to do. It was when a third, lone figure stepped onto the dock from within Tock's airship, flat boots making a muted noise against the walkway as she started a poised, ambling stride for the castle. Every breath she took was measured, every footstep deliberate and pulsing with the dangerously simmering intent of an apex predator as she made her way closer. Lightning streaked across the clouds above, and the walkway was illuminated by the flash long enough to reveal her there in all her dominant glory, a mask of bone-white preparing to enter a fortress of shadow with one simple thought driving her every movement. It tempered her, bound her wild, untameable emotions and spiraling psychosis into a single knot of pure indomitable purpose for as long as this mission was to last.

Even if the end of her life was what cut it short.

Ironically, it was the same thought that first led to her coming undone. The thought that had guided her, sharpened her sword, molded and forged her into the lethal weapon she had become. The grim specter of death that had come to visit the Shadow Fang today, their hatred made manifest, the physical incarnation of their pure, unchecked aggression and violence against humanity given form.

That thought was as follows.

This is the only way.​

 

[Indolent]

Their journey, presumably eventually in a more suitable vehicle than the cramped hot rod, went quite uneventfully. The hours of the days they spent traveling passed by quickly, any stray packs of grimm that ended up crossing their path were minor roadblocks at best to the group. No match for them. Certainly nothing even close to the alpha monstrosity they'd encountered while taking the train to Mistral. The nights of rest went by just as swiftly, evening meals around campfires and the like, plus the sleep needed for all of them. After several days of this pattern more or less going the same, as they reached the crest of one particularly steep hill, they could spot their target in the distance, even in the fading sunlight as night approached.

The vantage point gave them a clear line of sight of a lot of the camp below and to the east. The large sharpened wooden stakes chained together to serve as a rough jury-rigged wall meant to ward off lesser grimm and potential intruders, the giant gate that served as the only way into the camp without jumping over the wall, and even a few of the scattered tents within that weren't obscured by the aforementioned walls.

The more observant and eagle-eyed among them could make out the faint glow of orange that lit up a couple of the tents and the faint trails of smoke that wafted up into the sky above, though there was no obvious signs of any movement. In truth, save for that, it would have been easy to take the complete lack of activity as evidence that the whole place was entirely abandoned.​

------- Flashback Injection -------

When there was a lull in those peaceful moments where they camped to recoup their faculties and get rest, a single member of the motley band meandered out into the woods. Her gait was carefree, replete with confidence that only stemmed from the combination of faith and knowledge in something. That something was the the humming of nature all around, the intermixed sounds of the nightbirds that flitted within the trees' boughs and the frantic roving of the errant rodent in the grass. A solitary howl was met by another in a duet, a wolf baying its whereabouts to the other and more. Gretchen knew there wouldn't be Grimm for miles all around thanks to the melody, a gentle smile lighting on her lips as she just took the scenery in. She always felt at home wherever she was, outside the cities and out in the wild, dangerous though it could be. Brosel was nowhere to be seen, almost a certainty he was out and about the premises.

"I meant to ask you earlier." And just like that, the serenity was lost, the seriousness of Hazel's words filling the void. A somber sigh would come from Gretchen as she guessed at where this was going, turning to face her brother.

"Yeah, you were going to ask me how the heck I knew where you were in Mistral and why I came, why I'm there when I should be home, Dad's going to have a conniption, blah blah bah? Before the whole thing with laser-eyes happened I guess." The twist of her right hand exaggerated her flippant attitude. Hazel hardly reacted, as if he were expectant of the resistant attitude commonplace with his sibling. His silence was her answer, an unspoken inquiry for her to expand upon that.

"The news from the train station about the Grimm attack, brother. That's a gimme, can't overlook that without really trying. Literally the vast majority of people that fit your physical description hail from our family, and our extended side. And it most definitely was not our bandit cousin Huck discovering a spirit of generosity and goodwill. Gods know he's still thinking up small plans in Kuchinashi. Dad definitely doesn't punch a Beowolf in the face either. Plus the attack on Beacon and the school closing down, it's a lil weird more than two teams were coming to Haven after they did the same thing for different reasons."

Her features hardened after the final word, affixing a perilous stare upon Hazel.

"Aaaaaaaand I saw the letter you sent mom. Asking her to figure a reason to not let me go with Dad and the others for the Festival because something serious was going to happen. We both love her and we both know she suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks at hiding secrets. Soon as I noticed she was acting strange, saying it was because of Dad out the blue, I went sneaking. You had to have known that was going to happen, Hazel. Were you just hoping it wouldn't this one time?"

A solemn nod from the older sibling, made in full recognition that she grew more and more the emotional with each word.

"I only wanted to be sure you'd be safe, after Beacon. I knew you'd involve yours--"

"Oh, shut up. I've never asked you to go that far, making sure I'm safe. I don't need it anymore. Yeah, you were there for Beacon, but you didn't need to do that. Any of it. You were nearly dead yourself! That one thing. Especially the one thing you did. I've been pissed about it."

Hazel's eyes were downcast, a veneer of apologetic dejection pervading his demeanor as Gretchen continued.

"I didn't need you to beg Dad to let me come home, the same bastard who borderline excommunicated us from the family because... because of what I did. What we did. I get it, Mom and the family's the best thing when I'm down on myself but. You didn't need to make it a fricking certainty you'd never come home. It was stupid! Who do I blame for that? Not you, myself! You humongous jackass."

Her spindly arms arms wrapped around Hazel, an act that came as a surprise to him, as she squeezed, letting loose the tears she'd been stifling with her words.

"You stupid hippopotamus. Why... you can't see Mom again." At that point, she descended into blubbering sobs, the very words, sound, and act provoking a visceral reaction from the older brother. The sensation of helplessness combined with the inherent guilt that came from thinking, knowing, that it was his fault was something that was difficult to pinpoint. It was adjacent to disappointment but in one's self and worse yet. It was never an easy set of feelings to work through. Hazel simply stood there, almost as if he were dumbstruck by the end result since his expectation of a violent and explosive castigation was far off the mark.

It was before long he clasped his hands around her, the act comforting enough to dampen her sobs.

"I'm sorry."

-------------------------------------------

When they arrived for their quarry-- the bandit camp that looked like it would fit the word abandoned more than adequately if it weren't for the orange glow-- the cheery huntress took to a brief observation, fitting the side of her flattened palm to her brow as if it enhanced her vision.

"So I have an idea of how to handle this!" Gretchen broke the quietness, directing her words towards Watts without much ado, casting the silly idea of regarding him as the team leader aside. Given their position overlooking the camp and the decent distance between the two...

"Talk to the birds."

"I'm gonna talk to the birds-- You suck."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"...Does that include knowing all about us?" She couldn't help but ask in one last attempt at a less than serious question. One that stood in contrast to the look on her face. "But fine. Fine." She let out in a harsh growl, swinging her feet off the table and straightening up in the chair before continuing. "We'll do it your way, Sienna." The crocodile unfolded her arms and laid her palms flat on the table in front of her. "You have no room to talk about traitors, love. No more than ya do with leashes. You've been keepin' you and yours pretty busy, haven't ya? Launchin' attacks on multiple huntsman academies, murderin' students and others alike..." Her eyes hardened even more. "...bombin' one of the CCTs into pieces and breakin' the whole damn system. Makin' the whole prospect of communication across the world way more difficult. I just..." She shook her head.

"I don't get it. Maybe ya could explain it to me, why exactly you're crossin' this line. Why you're killin' huntsman and huntresses and kids in training, all people needed for more than just slayin' grimm. Why you're makin' it harder for people, regular people, innocent hard workin' folk that have nothin' to do with any of this to communicate with each other. They aren't involved in your crusade, but here ya are givin' them reasons to hate our kind even more. To justify every bad feelin' I thought ya wanted to fight. Ya want to talk bout leashes? Okay, cool, let's. Tell me why you went and traded up one of those for another far worse one as ya do things that'll only divide us all. Make it easier for him. With all due respect, is it arrogance blindin' ya to the truth as ya go about, tryin' to make a new faunus empire-" Tock's hands curled up into fists atop the table.

"-or have ya just lost your fucking mind?!"​

*Tap, tap, tap, tap*

The only answer Tock got at first was that sound breaking a stone cold silence. The woman who was presumably called Snake at this table pursed her lips and clasped her hands in front of her as she turned to the high leader, and even Hound finally moved, a slight tilt of his head towards Sienna from his relaxed position. The tiger faunus' eyes were still closed with her cheek resting against her fist, and her other claws drummed against the table in a slow, rhythmic fashion.

"You come into my home. To the seat of my power."

*Tap, tap, tap, tap*

"Wearing the leash of the one you serve around your neck like a badge of honor, she who is one of the faunus' greatest enemies."

*Tap, tap, tap tap*

"And the only thing you want to offer, after everything we've seen, after all these years..."

*SCRIIIIIIIIITCH*

The hardened steel cracked and caved under her claws as she dragged them across it, her eyes finally opening in a gaze of sheer fury

"...is a lecture."

She turned her hand over and slowly curled her fingers so she could break the gaze to inspect her claws, showing more concern over any damage they might've done to themselves than her next words

"...Get the hell out, Liadan. The only thing you've given me clarity on is how little you understand of how this world really works, and how you know me even less than I thought. Consider me letting you leave here at all your last favor burned."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"...I see."

There was no crack in the frozen mask that was Weiss's expression, no uptick or flat note in her tone that gave any indication as to whether she believed everything she'd just been told or not. A moment passed as she finished her wine, and she kept her eyes shut for a second once it was drained of all contents with a deep, heady breath, this version of the heiress clearly still more of a lightweight than Yang despite how much she seemed to drink.

She reached into her inner jacket to pull out a remote, gesturing to it with her other hand in a demonstrating fashion as if showcasing a new product to investors. She pointed the business end at Yang, and with the push of a button the brawler felt her aura returning to her in a surge, warm and comforting as it filled in the icy void in her soul.

"Your face! 'You're holding my soul hostage, Weiss'!"

Weiss made no secret of how absolutely hilarious she found herself as she mocked Yang's words in a thick, boorish impression, letting a few uninterrupted seconds pass as she put a hand to her collar and giggled with undisguised mirth. When she caught her breath enough to go on, an affectionate roll of the eyes and a snort preceded further elaboration.

"Technically I didn't lie. In the interest of sparing you a rundown on all the latest advancements in aura manipulative biotechnology, I'll limit this to twenty words or less. I had them put a chip in you. Remote access. I push a button, your aura goes inside the chip. I push a different button, it comes back. Clever, no?"

She repeated the process once during her explanation, then three or four more times just for the hilarity of it before leaving Yang auraless once again and letting her eyes narrow in a shrewder, more subtle way, crossing her legs once more.

Yang was... very leery as the remote got taken out. She was still stuck on the possibility that Weiss had just stuck a bomb in her, and despite otherwise keeping her posture mostly relaxed her face drifted into an involuntary wince as Weiss pointed it at her while she prepared for the worst.

Pretty much the exact opposite of the worst happened. She gasped in genuine surprise and almost splashed the wine all over herself as she tried to grasp at her chest out of reflex, the warm light of her power coursing through her veins and brightening her eyes in an entirely literal sense-

Then it was gone again. The emotional turmoil that wracked Yang's brain wasn't so different than being handed a puppy and it immediately dying in your hands.

Then it was back again. Needless to say, the ensuing flop back and forth that followed didn't amuse Yang as much as it seemed to Weiss, and she endured it with an almost childish pout as she crossed her arms (or rather grabbed what was left of her elbow) and waited for the former heiress to get it out of her system.

"Now tell me the guardian's name and I'll allow you one hour of access each day in the evening. "

That, however, startled a laugh out of her, and she closed one eye as she regarded Weiss with a bemused grin.

"What, you're gonna let me take my soul for walkies?"

She closed the other eye and bit the bottom of her lip, seeming to turn the offer over in her head a few times before she shrugged.

"...Nope!"

She put up her hand defensively before Weiss could get a word in edgewise. "Hear me out! Even if whatever you sent through that portal managed to handle the dozen A tier heroes on the other side, which, y'know, I doubt, you've still got at least a week until they can make it back here with your new toy, maybe even two. You've got time, and I've got some stuff to think over. Like how to adjust to my new life as your pet VCR." She couldn't help but add with an eye roll before she shot Weiss a more neutral glance.

"But really. I just woke up from the longest nap of my life, I hadn't eaten for hours even before I got whipped through the Atlas Express Portal, and this wine is hitting me pretty hard despite basically being overcosted applejuice. The relic of knowledge isn't the only thing I've got the deets on, and I wanna make sure I'm not giving up all my cards just because I'm too hungry to remember how to think."

She put her elbow on her knee so she could rest her chin in her palm, a downright cheeky grin on her face as she raised her eyebrows.

"I've never lost a game to a Weiss, and y'know what? Just because this is hard mode, I don't think I wanna break my streak just yet. So, how 'bout we put a pin in this for now, and you point me towards your fridge?"

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

When they arrived for their quarry-- the bandit camp that looked like it would fit the word abandoned more than adequately if it weren't for the orange glow-- the cheery huntress took to a brief observation, fitting the side of her flattened palm to her brow as if it enhanced her vision.

"So I have an idea of how to handle this!" Gretchen broke the quietness, directing her words towards Watts without much ado, casting the silly idea of regarding him as the team leader aside. Given their position overlooking the camp and the decent distance between the two...

"Talk to the birds."

"I'm gonna talk to the birds-- You suck."

The ride had been a long one, and the fact that it was so uneventful just seemed to compound that fact. The uncharacteristic silence out of team MTEN (obvious exceptions nonwithstanding) somehow grated against Watts' nerves even more than their normal tomfoolery did, and everything that had happened during that last escape and before it left Watts in a sullen and quiet mood himself, none of the usual semi playful bite in his tone as he gave curt directions during the drive and camp setup, otherwise keeping to himself to such a degree that even the most powerful of friendship speeches wouldn't have dented his taciturn state.

As they finally crested the hill that put the camp in sight, a sigh of relief he hadn't known he'd been holding since the moment Cinder got blasted finally escaped him, before he settled into a shrewd glare that raked over the entirety of the structure and the surrounding area. If there was only one light, then...

He glanced over as Gretchen and Hazel spoke up, and gave the Rainharts a simple nod. "A logical start. We'll watch the camp while you do so"

 

[Gus Gungus]

Yang was... very leery as the remote got taken out. She was still stuck on the possibility that Weiss had just stuck a bomb in her, and despite otherwise keeping her posture mostly relaxed her face drifted into an involuntary wince as Weiss pointed it at her while she prepared for the worst.

Pretty much the exact opposite of the worst happened. She gasped in genuine surprise and almost splashed the wine all over herself as she tried to grasp at her chest out of reflex, the warm light of her power coursing through her veins and brightening her eyes in an entirely literal sense-

Then it was gone again. The emotional turmoil that wracked Yang's brain wasn't so different than being handed a puppy and it immediately dying in your hands.

Then it was back again. Needless to say, the ensuing flop back and forth that followed didn't amuse Yang as much as it seemed to Weiss, and she endured it with an almost childish pout as she crossed her arms (or rather grabbed what was left of her elbow) and waited for the former heiress to get it out of her system.



That, however, startled a laugh out of her, and she closed one eye as she regarded Weiss with a bemused grin.

"What, you're gonna let me take my soul for walkies?"

She closed the other eye and bit the bottom of her lip, seeming to turn the offer over in her head a few times before she shrugged.

"...Nope!"

She put up her hand defensively before Weiss could get a word in edgewise. "Hear me out! Even if whatever you sent through that portal managed to handle the dozen A tier heroes on the other side, which, y'know, I doubt, you've still got at least a week until they can make it back here with your new toy, maybe even two. You've got time, and I've got some stuff to think over. Like how to adjust to my new life as your pet VCR." She couldn't help but add with an eye roll before she shot Weiss a more neutral glance.

"But really. I just woke up from the longest nap of my life, I hadn't eaten for hours even before I got whipped through the Atlas Express Portal, and this wine is hitting me pretty hard despite basically being overcosted applejuice. The relic of knowledge isn't the only thing I've got the deets on, and I wanna make sure I'm not giving up all my cards just because I'm too hungry to remember how to think."

She put her elbow on her knee so she could rest her chin in her palm, a downright cheeky grin on her face as she raised her eyebrows.

"I've never lost a game to a Weiss, and y'know what? Just because this is hard mode, I don't think I wanna break my streak just yet. So, how 'bout we put a pin in this for now, and you point me towards your fridge?"

Despite the eye roll and the parental done-with-this-shit expression Weiss had taken on somewhere about halfway through Yang's sassy counter-spiel (the councilwoman apparently having little patience to give cocky diatribes the time of day apart from her own), the one-word retort that had clearly been eager to leave the councilwoman's lips for a while was emphatic and entirely accommodating, if a bit deadpan. She tucked the remote back into her jacket and promptly stood up, a glyph appearing under Yang's backside to lightly bounce her up to her feet as well as Weiss's platform heels clacked across the wooden floor, bound for the study entrance with wordless expectation that Yang would follow.

"No need to make some big thing out of asking me where the fridge is, Yang. I fully expected you to make this interesting for me to begin with. Or did you think I was letting such a rebellious young lady walk around my manor because I wanted you to be boring?"

As much as she took pride in her ability to sequester her emotions from her decisionmaking rationale, Weiss wasn't a robot. Playing the Atlas game as well as she did required the occasional shot in the arm to keep her sane, a jolt of energy every now and then that kept life interesting. The rebellious spark of her own youth still burned somewhere deep within her, the desire to defy expectations and nonconform alive and well even when she occupied a position that was practically diametrically opposed to those two ideals. She had to get her fun where she could, and she relished these opportunities to do things no councilwoman or CEO should ever have been caught doing, loved the thrill that came with thinking about what a scandal it would've been if word got out.

"But I'm afraid your view of things is mistaken. You were never playing the game, dear."

And esteemed councilwoman Weiss Schnee reducing a vanquished foe to a pretty little doll to play with, a living, breathing trophy in her own home?

Well, now that was scandalous.

She let a teasing tone and light simper carry her next words back over to Yang, Weiss's eyes scanning over the huntress with a vainglorious, self-satisfied air of gratification.

"You're just a piece that's been taken."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

*Tap, tap, tap, tap*

The only answer Tock got at first was that sound breaking a stone cold silence. The woman who was presumably called Snake at this table pursed her lips and clasped her hands in front of her as she turned to the high leader, and even Hound finally moved, a slight tilt of his head towards Sienna from his relaxed position. The tiger faunus' eyes were still closed with her cheek resting against her fist, and her other claws drummed against the table in a slow, rhythmic fashion.

"You come into my home. To the seat of my power."

*Tap, tap, tap, tap*

"Wearing the leash of the one you serve around your neck like a badge of honor, she who is one of the faunus' greatest enemies."

*Tap, tap, tap tap*

"And the only thing you want to offer, after everything we've seen, after all these years..."

*SCRIIIIIIIIITCH*

The hardened steel cracked and caved under her claws as she dragged them across it, her eyes finally opening in a gaze of sheer fury

"...is a lecture."

She turned her hand over and slowly curled her fingers so she could break the gaze to inspect her claws, showing more concern over any damage they might've done to themselves than her next words

"...Get the hell out, Liadan. The only thing you've given me clarity on is how little you understand of how this world really works, and how you know me even less than I thought. Consider me letting you leave here at all your last favor burned."

Tock's glare remained steady on Sienna, even if the tiger broke her own in favor of looking over her claws. She made exactly zero moves to get out of the chair, not so much as a single muscle moving to do so. "Damn, you've really lost it if ya think for one goddamn second that after everythin' we've gone through, everythin' between us...the ONLY thing I want to offer ya is a lecture. I ain't the lecturin' type, Sienna. I ain't the one who comes to just anybody after they've done somethin' wrong and give them that talk. You know..." Tock scrunched up her forehead as she considered and then shook her head very slightly, bordering on imperceptibly. "...You knew that, once." She corrected herself.

"So you better understand how fucking serious this situation is, that I came here to try to figure out how you could have gotten so lost after you turned your back on Salem. After the shit you just pulled?" Tock's head tilted to the side as her eyes narrowed. "You should count yourself lucky I came here with only a plus one alongside me, and not with an army at my back instead. I knew where you were this whole time-" She held out both hands to gesture around them. "-so you better consider it one huge favor on my part that I didn't do that. I didn't want to do that, I wanted to at least hear you out." The croc pulled both her arms back to cross over her chest. "I ain't leavin' till this is through. Not until I hear everythin' I need to. Not until I fully understand what kind of broken logic pushed you to all this." She said with a pained frown, a look that the reptilian faunus rarely wore.

"Yeah, Salem can be manipulative. Yeah, she has her secrets. We all do, as far as keepin' what we know out of the public knowledge goes. But everythin' she does is in an attempt to make the world better, not worse. She sure ain't one of the faunus' greatest enemies...and she ain't one of the world's greatest evils, one that so few people even know about." Tock spat out harshly. "Fine, if you want to think helpin' her means I've got a leash around my neck, fine. I a hundred percent disagree, but that ain't the issue. The issue is me not knowin' who ya even are anymore. The Sienna I knew wanted to make the world better for all of us, not leave it easier for him to roll over everybody and everythin' in the way of his mad goal." Tock's eyes softened greatly as she stared.

"She...she would never have made a deal with the devil." The croc let out a deep sigh. This type of hurt, it...it wasn't one that either her semblance or the nature of her existence hardened her to. "So unless ya want to literally throw me out, provoke a fight and force my hand...we are going to sit here, and you are damn well goin' to explain."​

 

[Indolent]

Well, as far as she knew, the relic was gone. She had no idea what had become of her otherself or even her friends.

She'd been kicked in the face and thrown through a window and clocked square in the mouth.

Picking herself up and brushing herself off, Neo sighed.

Her first try at being a 'protector' and she'd done miserably.

"gr....!"

She swung her fist outwards against the side of a nearby building. Her aura flared around her hand and she ignored the pain seeping through that hand now. Ever since she'd ended up in this world it was one fiasco after another. How could she ever have been so foolish as to think that a Neopolitan would ever get to be happy no matter which world they called home? It seemed that she was destined to watch the only person she'd ever loved die over and over despite her best efforts. Then when she tried making amends in the only way she knew how, she ended up fighting somebody who completely no-selled her semblance rendering her almost entirely useless to the proceedings. Grabbing a handful of her hair, she tugged on it and hissed.

She was a total idiot!

It didn't matter which side she'd fought on! She was no good for either one! Being forced to aid team evil back at Haven had earned her nothing but an admonishment and to watch both another version of herself go through watching another version of Roman die. When she tried lending a hand to the side her other was on, she'd only ended up making an ass of herself. It was frustrating, it was upsetting, it was...

Neo stopped pacing around and looked up at the sky. Would it have been easier if she spoke to them? To try and explain that she didn't care to be their enemy anymore? That all she wanted was to see Roman's murderer's head on a pike??? If she only could?!

...Heh, it probably would have.

Balling her hands up and throwing her head back, Neo opened her mouth and

"Fu..."




Whatever escaped past her lips screamed to the sky above, Neo's face was a mess of tears and running makeup.

Damn it, she'd just gotten it to look how she wanted before this whole mess broke out.

Where the hell would she go from there?

She wasn't an idiot and that's why she'd kept her distance from the others for the most part. After the incident at Haven, they likely weren't going to believe she wanted to be onboard. Or at least they wouldn't unless maybe they heard her reasoning and even then, she imagined some of them would still want to fight her. Trying to take on Ozpin's forces by herself would only be an exercise in how to achieve suicide.

...Though with how things were going...

Neo sniffled and wiped the mascara away.

Neo glanced over at where Emerald had been left and her frown only intensified. They hadn't exactly been chums back home and even here, Neo gave more eye rolls and snorts than any actual respect or friendship. Then again, that kind of relationship didn't seem fitting for either of the two women so maybe it was better that way.

Even so, Neo had been completely useless in trying to stop Carneilan from beating on Emerald. Notch it up as another failure of the so called 'Protector.'

"..."

Neo made her way over and hesitantly reached over to try and place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

It wasn't much but Neo didn't exactly have much practice with comforting people. Nobody every bothered to give her the same kindness.

But if she could do this one thing, maybe, just maybe, this could be her one success for the day.​

To put it succinctly: this whole situation completely sucked the bag. Maybe chalk up to some semblance of cockiness on Emerald's part but she had entered the fray with the expectation of things turning out the way they normally did with her unique set of skills and semblance. She never thought she would have gotten rocked the way she did and that in of itself constituted one half of that double whammy. Her world was completely turned upside down in a matter of minutes and she found herself in a position she promised she'd never be in again, never to cry or demonstrate a modicum of weakness. Emerald'd come so far from that, assuring herself she'd never need to lower herself to it ever again.

So in a way, she appreciated that her mind took matters into hand, phasing in and out at random hours of the day, the fleeting moments of lucidity barely informing her that someone-- Neo?-- helped her to her feet. Moved her to an abandoned domicile of some kind adjacent to Tock's place or so, watched over her. The light of day flicked to night the next. It was a swirling influx of emotions compounded by the lingering headache that slowly erupted into a migraine. A side effect of whatever that mental confrontation had been? She didn't want to know.

A day later...

It was manageable. The sniffing ceased. Her crimson eyes were redder than usual but the stern expression on her face dared anyone to comment on them. It was time they blew this joint anyway-- they? Emerald was still in disbelief some that Neo had decided to stick by her following that fracas, following her abrupt hallucinatory meeting with the diminutive girl complete with the promise of crushing her if necessary. Far as she understood it, Neo didn't owe her a single thing. She didn't know what to make of that, appreciation was an alien thing for her to emote to whomever that wasn't Cinder.

"C'mon. I'm so done moping around. Going to hit the seedier joints here, you should come along. Maybe you have an idea, I haven't checked out the locales." Emerald rolled off the top of the box-crates that comprised a crude bedding with egg crate padding strewn over the top. She'd slept in worse. Neo more than demonstrated her utility by pointing the thief to a tavern that seemed as if the faunus Tock would have been right at home.

It didn't take long for Emerald to suss out the who's who, her eyes settling on the gang leader who claimed a table all her own, content to exude a regal air in her wooden chair as if it were a throne. A pair of guards flocked behind her, attired in the same purple she wore. This very much was the space associates and the desperate came to do business with her, transactions ranging from the monetary to something a bit more precious in way of commodities. Intel. Her name was something Emerald thought was incredibly droll though, Lil Miss Malachite. Was she related to the obnoxious twins that worked for Junior, their mother maybe? That explained a lot.

"I really do not care about subtlety right now."

Ten minutes later, a satisfied Emerald excised the dirt from the bed of her fingernails with an impassive expression as she found herself back at the domicile. The little abrupt confrontation was just that, tiny and insignificant, as Emerald extracted the details she wanted.

"The effort wasn't worthwhile for the crap I got from that truffle pig but it'll do," She said towards the other occupant in the room, "We know they've split up, one for Atlas where that creep came from, and the other going south. I think to get their Cinder. She didn't have diddly squat to offer on those I'm looking for aside them and I just angered a criminal organization so the time for decisions is now. I'm redoubling efforts in making it so I can get home. What about you?" Her expression was a pointed glance towards Neo, expectant of a reply of some kind.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Tock's glare remained steady on Sienna, even if the tiger broke her own in favor of looking over her claws. She made exactly zero moves to get out of the chair, not so much as a single muscle moving to do so. "Damn, you've really lost it if ya think for one goddamn second that after everythin' we've gone through, everythin' between us...the ONLY thing I want to offer ya is a lecture. I ain't the lecturin' type, Sienna. I ain't the one who comes to just anybody after they've done somethin' wrong and give them that talk. You know..." Tock scrunched up her forehead as she considered and then shook her head very slightly, bordering on imperceptibly. "...You knew that, once." She corrected herself.

"So you better understand how fucking serious this situation is, that I came here to try to figure out how you could have gotten so lost after you turned your back on Salem. After the shit you just pulled?" Tock's head tilted to the side as her eyes narrowed. "You should count yourself lucky I came here with only a plus one alongside me, and not with an army at my back instead. I knew where you were this whole time-" She held out both hands to gesture around them. "-so you better consider it one huge favor on my part that I didn't do that. I didn't want to do that, I wanted to at least hear you out." The croc pulled both her arms back to cross over her chest. "I ain't leavin' till this is through. Not until I hear everythin' I need to. Not until I fully understand what kind of broken logic pushed you to all this." She said with a pained frown, a look that the reptilian faunus rarely wore.

"Yeah, Salem can be manipulative. Yeah, she has her secrets. We all do, as far as keepin' what we know out of the public knowledge goes. But everythin' she does is in an attempt to make the world better, not worse. She sure ain't one of the faunus' greatest enemies...and she ain't one of the world's greatest evils, one that so few people even know about." Tock spat out harshly. "Fine, if you want to think helpin' her means I've got a leash around my neck, fine. I a hundred percent disagree, but that ain't the issue. The issue is me not knowin' who ya even are anymore. The Sienna I knew wanted to make the world better for all of us, not leave it easier for him to roll over everybody and everythin' in his way in his mad goal." Tock's eyes softened greatly as she stared.

"She...she would never have made a deal with the devil." The croc let out a deep sigh. This type of hurt, it...it wasn't one that either her semblance or the nature of her existence hardened her to. "So unless ya want to literally throw me out, provoke a fight and force my hand...we are going to sit here, and you are damn well goin' to explain."​

"...Always your way." Sienna replied with a thin smile that carried no joy. "Ever the stubborn warrior, planting your feet and through semblance and your human goddess' gifts you declare yourself immovable. Treating me like naught but a child who's broken a rule and needs to be scolded. But not this time."

She stood up slowly, hands planted on the table in front of her. "I'm still working towards that better future, Liadan. For every person in this room. But not the humans. Not anymore. And if you can't figure out why, if my motives are so obtuse to you, then you never really knew me at all. I owe you nothing. Not if you side with them."

She clasped her hands behind her back, and the regal tone in her voice was back so smoothly it almost smothered the raw anger that had been in her tone moments earlier.

"Yet you are, nonetheless, still a faunus. I will never refrain from giving wayward members of our kind a chance to redeem themselves in my eyes, no matter how lost they may be, and you are still owed yours. Leave, Liadan. This is your last chance to do so in peace. Or you'll find out just how many of these years I've spent imagining ways to keep an unkillable threat permanently out of my hair."

There was a knock on the door, and Sienna arched an eyebrow before calling out "Enter." Another shadow fang member stumbled in and immediately went to one knee as he caught his breath. "You have better of had a good reason for interrupting a Talon meeting, initiate. Speak."

The guard's tone was panicked even in its reverence, and his words burst out of him the instant he was given leave to "H-high leader, the bridge, its...


---- earlier -----

Two faunus stood at the gate of the fortress, at attention with gunspears at their side. The rain and thunder did not shake them, though over the hours of their shift, boredom eventually did

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

"Nah."

"Really?"

"Yea. I'm more of a 'live in the moment' kinda girl."

"No, I mean, why we're here. At this gate. We're literally on a mountainside. Who's gonna attack the gate? And its not like we have to worry about airships with the-"

"-Is that someone on the bridge?"

The other guard craned his neck to where his partner was looking, and his eyes widened behind his mask. "I-Is... is that..."

They looked at each other.

"Someone's gotta sound the alarm"

"And someone's gotta hold her here."

"...Rock paper scissors?"

He won.

He wished he hadn't, as the bravest woman he knew planted her feet and leveled her spear at Eve well before she reached them.

-----now------

"..."

Sienna slowly turned her head to tock, a dangerous glint in her eyes as she stared her down.

"...So. You brought more than lectures after all. Bear"

There was absolutely no reason a man so large and so old should've moved as fast as he did. It was like boulder made of lightning that suddenly snatched Ilia not so much by the throat but by the entirety of her head in a motion that sent both fist and faunus slamming into the wall, and despite her full aura, she was unconscious in an instant.

"Tell your pet bull to stand down" Sienna ordered coldly "This one already used up her one chance. She can share yours, but only if you get Taurus under control."

"High leader, I-"

Sienna cut whatever Snake was about to fervently request off with a sharp wave of her hand, never taking her glare off of Tock as she did.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Despite the eye roll and the parental done-with-this-shit expression Weiss had taken on somewhere about halfway through Yang's sassy counter-spiel (the councilwoman apparently having little patience to give cocky diatribes the time of day apart from her own), the one-word retort that had clearly been eager to leave the councilwoman's lips for a while was emphatic and entirely accommodating, if a bit deadpan. She tucked the remote back into her jacket and promptly stood up, a glyph appearing under Yang's backside to lightly bounce her up to her feet as well as Weiss's platform heels clacked across the wooden floor, bound for the study entrance with wordless expectation that Yang would follow.

"No need to make some big thing out of asking me where the fridge is, Yang. I fully expected you to make this interesting for me to begin with. Or did you think I was letting such a rebellious young lady walk around my manor because I wanted you to be boring?"

As much as she took pride in her ability to sequester her emotions from her decisionmaking rationale, Weiss wasn't a robot. Playing the Atlas game as well as she did required the occasional shot in the arm to keep her sane, a jolt of energy every now and then that kept life interesting. The rebellious spark of her own youth still burned somewhere deep within her, the desire to defy expectations and nonconform alive and well even when she occupied a position that was practically diametrically opposed to those two ideals. She had to get her fun where she could, and she relished these opportunities to do things no councilwoman or CEO should ever have been caught doing, loved the thrill that came with thinking about what a scandal it would've been if word got out.

"But I'm afraid your view of things is mistaken. You were never playing the game, dear."

And esteemed councilwoman Weiss Schnee reducing a vanquished foe to a pretty little doll to play with, a living, breathing trophy in her own home?

Well, now that was scandalous.

She let a teasing tone and light simper carry her next words back over to Yang, Weiss's eyes scanning over the huntress with a vainglorious, self-satisfied air of gratification.

"You're just a piece that's been taken."​

"You hear that? She thinks I'm rebellious" Yang faux whispered to one of the paintings they passed as they walked, sounding indiscernible from a middle schooler bragging to her friends about her crush even to Weiss' crushing abilities of analysis. She snickered to herself before drifting into a soft frown. as she kept in step with the the Schnee family head.

Yea, she was still a prisoner, even if this was the world's biggest single occupant prison. Yea, Weiss had seen through her easily enough, and knew Yang was scared and angry about all of this underneath the jokes and genuine ventures into warmth. Yea, Weiss literally had her soul in the palm of her hand.

So what? She was freaking Yang Xiao Long. Taking the pain, the hurt, the terrible things that happened to her and turning all of them to her advantage wasn't something that her semblance gave her.,she was the one that made that semblance. She'd been taken off the board but she was still on the table. Let Weiss think they were playing chess; Yang was playing Shogi.

...God family tabletop night really had turned her into such a nerd.

 

[Indolent]

The ride had been a long one, and the fact that it was so uneventful just seemed to compound that fact. The uncharacteristic silence out of team MTEN (obvious exceptions nonwithstanding) somehow grated against Watts' nerves even more than their normal tomfoolery did, and everything that had happened during that last escape and before it left Watts in a sullen and quiet mood himself, none of the usual semi playful bite in his tone as he gave curt directions during the drive and camp setup, otherwise keeping to himself to such a degree that even the most powerful of friendship speeches wouldn't have dented his taciturn state.

As they finally crested the hill that put the camp in sight, a sigh of relief he hadn't known he'd been holding since the moment Cinder got blasted finally escaped him, before he settled into a shrewd glare that raked over the entirety of the structure and the surrounding area. If there was only one light, then...

He glanced over as Gretchen and Hazel spoke up, and gave the Rainharts a simple nod. "A logical start. We'll watch the camp while you do so"

"Cool. Be back in a jiffy, I need to get closer." She spun on a dime, turning immediately for the treeline down the sloping way of the hill with Brosel waving farewell from the comforts of the scarf. Before long, she crossed the threshold into the interior of the trees, a soft humming as she skipped along with her eyes above. A chirp here, another there, and she found herself following the inviting sounds to a small gathering of finches of a vibrant gold. Gretchen's eyes lit up, as she remembered eavesdropping on the overlapping conversations ranging across the whole of her homestead, with the majority stemming from these birds. A pair were clearly in something of an argument over a theft of grass seeds, feathers ruffled with the agitated movement of their tiny feet, another simply observing with amused chirps. The huntress looked for a... more wizened pair, eager to move away from the gossipy personalities.

Well, they all were gossips, some were more focused than others.

"Hello!" She called up, her arms clasped behind against the small of her back as she fixed herself into an adorable gaze upwards towards them all. Almost in unison, the scores of goldfinches leveled beady stares down upon her, their songs cutting short. Were these birds equipped with the faculties to emote proper, their features would have encapsulated the definition of quizzical aptly enough. Then their songs returned, outlined akin to a series of commentary rather than the natural orchestra they typically were.

<< LOOK SHE'S TRYING TO TALK TO US >>
<< SILLY HUMAN SILLY LIKE HER SENSE OF FASHION >>
<< MUSTARD IS A FAR CRY FROM GOLD YES >>
<< WHAT'S MUSTARD >>

Gretchen's brow managed an imperceptible twitch, finding herself slighted by the disrespect they displayed in a matter of seconds. She indicated with the outstretching of her left arm towards the bandit camp in question, eager to push past that into a line of questioning. Before she could even ask the question, they started in again.

<< THAT EYESORE >>
<< SO HAPPY THEY'VE ALL GONE >>
<< WAIT WAIT THERE'S TWO LEFT >>
<< YEAH THE SCARY FLYING ONE AND THE ONE EYED >>
<< ONE EYED IS SO NICE SHE GAVE ME A SNACK >>
<< WHY'S SHE POINTING TOWARDS IT >>

"... Ooooh, they're here." Gretchen squinted, appreciative this was going much easier than she expected.

<< WAIT DID SHE UNDERSTAND US >>
<< NO WAY >>

"Thank you! I've got what I need. By the way, that one watching you two fight stole and ate the seeds! It's just so obvious. God I forgot I hated you stupid birds back home." A flourish of the hand in a wave and she was gone, ducking past the occasional branch on her way back to the others. The finches stared in disbelief... before slowly craning for the offending one in question, who seemed to blanch to the extent its color faded.

<< YOU MOTHERFUCKER >>

"I'm back already! I know, I'm amazing, I work fast and all. It's like we thought, they're here but it's just the two we want. Everyone else is definitely gone, like they all packed up. Seems like they've just been here, waiting on their return or something." As an addendum, indicated with a thumb over the shoulder with the camp to her back.

"Also sent Brosel to check on Cinder first hand. I think we could approach the camp now and if she's bound or anything, Brosel will free her."

 

[Gus Gungus]

He wished he hadn't, as the bravest woman he knew planted her feet and leveled her spear at Eve well before she reached them.

The window between when they spotted Eve during her slow, inexorable approach to when the raging bull was proximate enough for words, violence and an untold number of other things was like the climb up to the the drop of the steepest, most terrifying rollercoaster to ever exist. Only way worse.

It was the latter that ended up coming before the former, as a clap of thunder and flare of brilliant white lightning was cut in half by a sword of vicious crimson as Eve crossed the last few meters up to the guard in a blinding dash and drew her sword, painting the world a swath of red.

The head of her spear clattered to the floor at her feet a moment later, and Wilt was already sliding the last inch of the way back into Blush again with a quiet snik.

"Sienna."

She intended to pass either with directions or without, and depending on the depth of the guard's devotion to her tigress overlord she was left to continue not contemplating her place in the world and its mortality either conscious and afraid or in an unconscious, though blissful, heap.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"...Always your way." Sienna replied with a thin smile that carried no joy. "Ever the stubborn warrior, planting your feet and through semblance and your human goddess' gifts you declare yourself immovable. Treating me like naught but a child who's broken a rule and needs to be scolded. But not this time."

She stood up slowly, hands planted on the table in front of her. "I'm still working towards that better future, Liadan. For every person in this room. But not the humans. Not anymore. And if you can't figure out why, if my motives are so obtuse to you, then you never really knew me at all. I owe you nothing. Not if you side with them."

She clasped her hands behind her back, and the regal tone in her voice was back so smoothly it almost smothered the raw anger that had been in her tone moments earlier.

"Yet you are, nonetheless, still a faunus. I will never refrain from giving wayward members of our kind a chance to redeem themselves in my eyes, no matter how lost they may be, and you are still owed yours. Leave, Liadan. This is your last chance to do so in peace. Or you'll find out just how many of these years I've spent imagining ways to keep an unkillable threat permanently out of my hair."

"...….You've really gone mental." It was not an easy thing to admit, especially judging from the pained and distressed look in her eyes as she forced herself to keep staring at Sienna. "I don't know what bullshit you're spoonfeedin' yourself to even think that attacking multiple huntsmen academies and destroyin' one of the only things lettin' the world communicate is somehow like some punk kid needin' a lesson in manners. How can you stand there, look me in the eye and say that you're doin' everythin' for the dream of a better future? All you're doin' is givin' more and more humans a reason to hate every single one of us, while you help him edge closer to his dream of the future. Not yours. If you have your way and slaughter all the humans you can and stand by to let him take the rest...whatever faunus empire you're lookin' to make? I guarantee you that they're next to go. But..." She sighed deeply, rising out of her seat and if allowed by the collection of Talon members scattered around, stepped closer to Sienna so that they were standing only a little less than foot away from each other.

For a moment it seemed she was about to try reaching out to place a hand on the tiger's shoulder but that amounted to only a few twitches of movement, her arm ultimately staying by her side. Tock's yellow eyes scrutinized Sienna's own yellow ones, tryin' even now to look for anythin' she once recognized in the tiger faunus. "...If you're that far gone, to actually threaten me like that...then I reckon we're long past the point where words could reach ya. Or whatever's left of the best parts of you, if they even still exist at all--"​

There was a knock on the door, and Sienna arched an eyebrow before calling out "Enter." Another shadow fang member stumbled in and immediately went to one knee as he caught his breath. "You have better of had a good reason for interrupting a Talon meeting, initiate. Speak."

The guard's tone was panicked even in its reverence, and his words burst out of him the instant he was given leave to "H-high leader, the bridge, its...

She suddenly quieted when that interruption came barging in. When the guy was finished saying what he needed to, Tock's eyes started to widen. Oh hell. That was the only thought that managed to pop into her head before the energy in the room got far more intense.​

"..."

Sienna slowly turned her head to tock, a dangerous glint in her eyes as she stared her down.

"...So. You brought more than lectures after all. Bear"

There was absolutely no reason a man so large and so old should've moved as fast as he did. It was like boulder made of lightning that suddenly snatched Ilia not so much by the throat but by the entirety of her head in a motion that sent both fist and faunus slamming into the wall, and despite her full aura, she was unconscious in an instant.

"Tell your pet bull to stand down" Sienna ordered coldly "This one already used up her one chance. She can share yours, but only if you get Taurus under control."

"High leader, I-"

Sienna cut whatever Snake was about to fervently request off with a sharp wave of her hand, never taking her glare off of Tock as she did.

"..." The croc couldn't help but wince at the sight and sound of the poor girl being attacked like that. By the time she looked back to Sienna, the tiger's cold glare wasn't met with a troubled or dismayed look, but with a hardened scowl of her own. The look of somebody more than prepared to do whatever needed to be done. "Two things. One, she's not my pet bull. You're the one with pets." Her eyes flickered around to the various Talon members gathered in the room. "And two...what happens if I refuse? Only a handful of these guys and you? Gotta say, I like my odds if it comes down to that." Her voice was completely steady, not a single word in it betraying that statement as the absolute bluff that it was. Even fighting just Sienna alone wasn't something she would relish being forced to do, and the Talons were no joke.

Both hands moved to rest at her hips, body language appearing every bit as unworried as her words as she stared Sienna down.

"So what's it gonna be, huh? How many faunus are you gonna have to hurt to make this better world of yours? Am I next?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Also sent Brosel to check on Cinder first hand. I think we could approach the camp now and if she's bound or anything, Brosel will free her."

"Oh hey there, little fella." Cinder said quietly, the decidedly not bound teenager reaching out(if allowed) to pet the creature. Animals were the only life other than her fellow maiden that she'd seen for some time and this one was too adorable to not try petting.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Some time afterward, Weiss leaned back in her study's primary leather seat with eyes fixated on the portrait of her paladin inscrutably, tipping the last of a glass that had found itself refilled more than once since the kitchen back down the hatch with a soft exhale of the involuntary kind once all its contents had disappeared. Unless Yang really wanted to cement the whole puppy analogy by following her around like a lost one, she had finally been content to leave her unwilling guest to acquaint herself with the place once they concluded their business in the kitchen, which featured a fridge way fancier than any Yang had ever seen have its every feature pointed out in a far more smug manner than she had ever had a fridge described to her before. Then again, she'd probably never seen a fridge with its own ice cream maker before either.

Now, Weiss's legs were curled under her in the chair and her cheeks were slightly flushed as she nevertheless used the time to touch base with one of her more valuable pieces in play. The decision to excuse herself had been conscious, one born both of obligation to keep a prior appointment and a healthy awareness of how much was too much to compromise her lucidity around a foe; however defanged and powerless that foe might have become. Not that there was anything wrong with having a glass of wine or five two in the afternoon. So what if she allowed herself these little vices to help cope with the stress? She wasn't her mother.

And she certainly wasn't compromised enough to refrain from carrying herself with the highest level dignity and authority while she dealt with one of the more unsavory among her current associates, albeit one without any sort of tie to Ozpin himself. Another insufferable blowhard, albeit one with the wits and hunger for scientific advancement to almost justify his erratically pompous ways. Almost.

"I trust there hasn't been any difficulty with the transport of your specimens, doctor." Most would've phrased that as a question, but it was one Weiss already knew the answer to.

"Why not in the slightest, m'girl," the tiny man framed by her scroll crooned, an air of self-satisfaction to rival her own as he curled the cybernetic digits on his right hand idly in gesticulation. "My pets are safe within containment, and the last of my island's essential equipment has been fully integrated within the academy, as well. You've more than held up your end of our little arrangement. To think—Atlas Academy, repurposed into my very own private laboratory! The very walls that once mocked and shunned me shall now bear witness to the fruits of scientific discovery the likes of which NO MAN ever dared dream, the path to a peace humanity has NEVER KNOWN!"

Weiss had never felt more thankful for her policy of not letting her more unscrupulous contacts see her face during these calls than in that moment, as she pulled a face like all the bitter notes of the preceding bottle of wine had caught up to her tongue at once. Surely he wasn't about to-



"All my life I've been reviled." His countenance was solemn, the scroll feed panning to the right as Merlot stepped up to a tank of green, viscous goo, where a geist immediately warped and twisted its way through its confinement to stare at him from the opposite side of the glass, eerie and still like a distorted reflection. "Even before the catastrophe at Mountain Glenn was linked to my company, even before my time among the halfwits here at Atlas Academy, as far back as when I was a mere boy. The fools thought I didn't notice all the pointing fingers and hushed laughter every time I turned my back, every time I DARED commit the felony of asking a simple question: What if? What if there is more to these warped, misunderstood creatures we call Grimm than our forefathers were ever brave enough to consider, more that they can teach us than the simple artless crafts of sword and survival? Of course, 'twas only the implications of my questions they ever heard; Salem and Ironwood and all the fools who ever scorned me. What if we were wrong? What if humanity has been living inside a prison of its own making longer than anyone can remember, because of our hubris, our insistence on struggling meekly against the laws of the world we live in rather than embracing them?!"

"The simple truth they were all too blind to see is this: this world may be ours, but we are not its ultimate lifeforms. The killer perfected, the ultimate predator exempt from all known food chains and ecosystems, that distinguished title belongs to the creatures of Grimm we've been so quick to demonize, and in our war of attrition with them through the ages one thing has become terrifyingly apparent: we cannot win. So who is the fool, who is mad, hmm? Did one of our greatest minds not once hypothesize the definition of madness is to repeat the same acts, time after time, expecting to yield a different result?! Did we not once believe the sun revolved around our world, and to think otherwise was to folly?! Thewisemanwithvisionunheardofwillalwaysbetreatedwithcontempt,thatissimplytheway,thenatureofthispettyspecieswecallman-"

"Blahblahblah progress, blahblahblah eugenics blah-"

"SHUT UP, DOCTOR MERLOT!"

The explosion was so atomically devastating that Yang was sure she heard something all the way across the manor. Merlot's face on the screen looked genuinely crestfallen, comically taken aback by the sheer disinterested anger booming through his end of the call. "Wh-Whaa?!"

"THIS LINE IS TO PROVIDE IMPORTANT UPDATES AND SHARE YOUR PROGRESS WITH ME! IT IS NOT SO YOU CAN WAFFLE ON AT ME LIKE A LONELY, SENILE OLD FOOL AFTER I ASK YOU ONE QUESTION! I'M TOO BUSY TO INDULGE THIS KIND OF NONSENSE! IF YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOUR MOTIVES AND HISTORY AND DISILLUSIONMENT WITH SOCIETY THEN BOOK A DINNER WITH ME, OR BETTER YET, IF YOU'RE THIS STARVED FOR CONVERSATION CONSIDER MAKING SOME FRIENDS WHO AREN'T GRIMM!"

"Hm... Well, do you have anything available in the next two weeks?" That other suggestion was just preposterous.

"I don't have anything free for the next six MONTHS!" She yelled before at last reigning it in, huffing. She wasn't prone to outbursts like this anymore in a professional context; not really. Merlot's long-winded droning provoked irritation and boredom in her at worst, her heart as dispassionate and inert as ever. But her demeanor and, remiss as she was to say it, her stature meant men like this had a habit of getting a bit too comfortable around her, started taking for granted what they could and couldn't get away with in their presence. That could lead to all kinds of notions and scheming, so it was better to nip it in the bud and get them under control before it became an issue. Judging from the sobering look on the professor's face, her tactic had worked. "So please understand how precious my time is. We have work to do and a window of opportunity that's only going to get smaller, and you'd better take care to respect that. Have you commenced work on the arm I had sent to your lab?"

He sighed, disappointed but accepting of her missive. "The blueprint is drawn and a preliminary model is 3D printing as we speak. I'd recognize Polendina's design anywhere. For posterity's sake, I feel it prudent to mention he is technically a greater authority on assistive cybernetics than I; To match the complexity of his work I've had to integrate some of my more... interesting biochemical technology, but, well. Observe the results with thine own eyes."

A sinister smirk overtook his lips as he held his mechanical limb aloft again, cybernetic eye pulsing a hue that matched the vibrant red of whatever ominous liquid was pumping through the tubing running throughout the cybernetics. The attached hand grasped a metal flask, and with the barest modicum of effort he crumpled the entire thing like it was made of cardboard. There was a reserved aspect to Weiss's eyes as they observed that crushing grip, fingertips momentarily brushing against her neck.

"And it'll be as effective as before?"

"Oh, quite so. Doubly, if its capacity for killing is what you had in mind." His smile deepened, as if she needed any further confirmation the man was just a creep whose talk of progress and shunning was an elaborate story to hide his sick admiration of a species he'd always identified more with than humanity itself. Her sigh was heavy, dissatisfied, and at its limit with this conversation as she dropped her chin into her hand and let her lip curl while her eyes drifted back over to the knight painting again.

"It wasn't, doctor. It never has been."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"...….You've really gone mental." It was not an easy thing to admit, especially judging from the pained and distressed look in her eyes as she forced herself to keep staring at Sienna. "I don't know what bullshit you're spoonfeedin' yourself to even think that attacking multiple huntsmen academies and destroyin' one of the only things lettin' the world communicate is somehow like some punk kid needin' a lesson in manners. How can you stand there, look me in the eye and say that you're doin' everythin' for the dream of a better future? All you're doin' is givin' more and more humans a reason to hate every single one of us, while you help him edge closer to his dream of the future. Not yours. If you have your way and slaughter all the humans you can and stand by to let him take the rest...whatever faunus empire you're lookin' to make? I guarantee you that they're next to go. But..." She sighed deeply, rising out of her seat and if allowed by the collection of Talon members scattered around, stepped closer to Sienna so that they were standing only a little less than foot away from each other.

For a moment it seemed she was about to try reaching out to place a hand on the tiger's shoulder but that amounted to only a few twitches of movement, her arm ultimately staying by her side. Tock's yellow eyes scrutinized Sienna's own yellow ones, tryin' even now to look for anythin' she once recognized in the tiger faunus. "...If you're that far gone, to actually threaten me like that...then I reckon we're long past the point where words could reach ya. Or whatever's left of the best parts of you, if they even still exist at all--"



She suddenly quieted when that interruption came barging in. When the guy was finished saying what he needed to, Tock's eyes started to widen. Oh hell. That was the only thought that managed to pop into her head before the energy in the room got far more intense.



"..." The croc couldn't help but wince at the sight and sound of the poor girl being attacked like that. By the time she looked back to Sienna, the tiger's cold glare wasn't met with a troubled or dismayed look, but with a hardened scowl of her own. The look of somebody more than prepared to do whatever needed to be done. "Two things. One, she's not my pet bull. You're the one with pets." Her eyes flickered around to the various Talon members gathered in the room. "And two...what happens if I refuse? Only a handful of these guys and you? Gotta say, I like my odds if it comes down to that." Her voice was completely steady, not a single word in it betraying that statement as the absolute bluff that it was. Even fighting just Sienna alone wasn't something she would relish being forced to do, and the Talons were no joke.

Both hands moved to rest at her hips, body language appearing every bit as unworried as her words as she stared Sienna down.

"So what's it gonna be, huh? How many faunus are you gonna have to hurt to make this better world of yours? Am I next?"​

"If there was any chance you'd really sacrifice that girl just to get a swing at me? Then at least two more." Sienna answered coolly before she turned around.

"But we both know that's not how this is going to work. For as indestructible as you can be, as impossible as you are to kill, there's still one part of you that's always been easy to cut at. So go put that soft heart to work something useful for once and either put Taurus out of her misery or in my custody. Or both these girls will be corpses before the night is out."

She started for the door on the other end of the room. "Hound, Tiger, go with her. Make sure this gets done."

"Haaah? Don't know why you're even bothering sending her in the first place then." Hound's growled back. His voice was rough and jagged, and the only sign it was anything but lazy overconfidence that birthed the words was the practiced ease with which his spear spun across his back almost of its own accord before he caught it across his shoulders with a satisfying clang as he stood up. "But fine. C'mon, arena meat. Guess we get to play crocsitter."

Sienna paused at the door to shoot him a subtle glare before she gave one last order. "Bear, Snake, take this Ilia to the dungeon. If Miss Jade hasn't done her part in ten minutes... kill her."

Bear and Snake exchanged a glance before they both nodded.

"...As you order, high leader" Bear replied, stepping away from the door so the impromptu faunus trio could get by and Ilia stayed out of Tock's easy reach. His tone was grim and joyless at the order, but the way his mask stayed trained on Tock until she was out the door was proof enough of his willingness to follow it nonetheless. Sienna finally glanced back at Tock with one narrowed eye and a slight tilt of her head, expression inscrutable at the angle.

"...I know you've always had a fondness for clocks, Liadan. You do your best work under the pressure. So tick tock."

"....A rather tasteless time for jokes, my lady..."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

The window between when they spotted Eve during her slow, inexorable approach to when the raging bull was proximate enough for words, violence and an untold number of other things was like the climb up to the the drop of the steepest, most terrifying rollercoaster to ever exist. Only way worse.

It was the latter that ended up coming before the former, as a clap of thunder and flare of brilliant white lightning was cut in half by a sword of vicious crimson as Eve crossed the last few meters up to the guard in a blinding dash and drew her sword, painting the world a swath of red.

The head of her spear clattered to the floor at her feet a moment later, and Wilt was already sliding the last inch of the way back into Blush again with a quiet snik.

"Sienna."

She intended to pass either with directions or without, and depending on the depth of the guard's devotion to her tigress overlord she was left to continue not contemplating her place in the world and its mortality either conscious and afraid or in an unconscious, though blissful, heap.​

Shadowfang weren't just brainless thugs. Even as an initiate, she'd had a daunting test of abilities just to get in the door, and the weeks of training since had been grueling, if rewarding.

Seeing it all amount to nothing more than a half step forward before her weapon was sliced right in front of her shattered any preconceived notions she might've had of a glorious death as this bridge's heroic defender, and what was left of the spear clattered to the ground as she slowly put her hands up and stepped back as she slowly shook her head and squeaked out an answer.

"...I-its like... my third week here dude. D-don't know her s-schedule. B-b-but the throne room is n-n-n-near the center? I-is that useful enough t-t-t-to not... uh..."

She watched as Eve strode past her before she even finished the rest of her sentence, and stood frozen with her hands still up for a good few minutes even after the bull faunus was gone.

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...I-its like... my third week here dude. D-don't know her s-schedule. B-b-but the throne room is n-n-n-near the center? I-is that useful enough t-t-t-to not... uh..."

"Good, my legs are getting tired."

There was a dark, bitterly humorous twist to the words she bit back with as her stride carried her past without breaking or slowing, a juggernaut of sheer confidence and poise that promptly disappeared inside the keep.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"I'm back already! I know, I'm amazing, I work fast and all. It's like we thought, they're here but it's just the two we want. Everyone else is definitely gone, like they all packed up. Seems like they've just been here, waiting on their return or something." As an addendum, indicated with a thumb over the shoulder with the camp to her back.

"Also sent Brosel to check on Cinder first hand. I think we could approach the camp now and if she's bound or anything, Brosel will free her."

Watts' face scrunched up in a frown as Gretchen passed the avian intel along, not yet looking up from where he was kneeling on the hill and observing the camp. In fact, he seemed even more focused, scanning the trees carefully for some unknown variable.

"That's really them? I only expected her to stay here a few days, and for us to pick up the trail from here, I didn't..."

He didn't finish the thought, instead standing up to his feet and dusting off his slacks.

"No matter. If we can avoid a wild goose chase, so much the better. Now-" he started, turning around to face the group at large with a curt tone and his hands clasped behind his back. "-We've already tried fighting her once, and there's a good chance she'll hold Cinder hostage. Hazel, Tyrian and I will talk to her first and attempt to convince her to simply let Cinder go. MTEN, you three should use Neo's semblance to get close and wait; if things go south, then it doesn't matter if we lost last time; a fight is our only option."

He turned back towards the camp with a grim frown and started the trek towards it.

"Lets hope it doesn't come to that."

 

[MidwayLives]

​

She started for the door on the other end of the room. "Hound, Tiger, go with her. Make sure this gets done."

The one currently behind the 'Tiger' moniker had said nothing up until this point. It wasn't really her place. She did what was asked of her and that was enough. Still, sitting around was starting to leave her more than a little antsy. Given that she'd gotten to earn a seat here by butchering her predecessor, she was always in the mood for another fight.

Perhaps a more eventful one if she was being honest. Killing the former Tiger hadn't been anything personal. Just something that needed to be done.

Rising from her seat, her 6'10 frame towered over just about everybody present but Bear. Some thought she looked intimidating. She supposed so but she never really paid her height much mind. In her younger years she looked just like any other girl. Just freakishly strong was all. Her tiger ears were hidden away by her mask and the rest of her was masked away in something similar to a boiler suit. Didn't need to go through robes every time she used her semblance if she brought her own attire.

Unzipping the mouth of her mask, she spoke plainly.

"It'll be done. Nothing to it."

Tiger had heard of Taurus before and knew that she wasn't to be taken lightly. Good. Maybe it'd finally force her to actually put some meaningful effort into a fight for once.

If she had to die? Well, shit happens.
​

"Haaah? Don't know why you're even bothering sending her in the first place then." Hound's growled back. His voice was rough and jagged, and the only sign it was anything but lazy overconfidence that birthed the words was the practiced ease with which his spear spun across his back almost of its own accord before he caught it across his shoulders with a satisfying clang as he stood up. "But fine. C'mon, arena meat. Guess we get to play crocsitter."

Tiger didn't complain or voice her opinion-whatever it might have been-of Hound and her needing to accompany Tock. Her opinion wasn't why she'd gotten to where she was and compared to her peers? Her semblance was pretty lousy.

All it did was puff up her muscles.

"Give me a minute."

Her frame was tall and relatively lean but not too outrageous. Her aura began to flare and Tiger's entire body seemed to shake as her arms, legs, and soon the rest of her began to bulk up. Grunts of exertion escaped past her lips as she did so but she seemed to stop once she noticed small tears in the sleeves of her outfit. Besides, this was respectful enough, wasn't it?

"40%. Taurus won't go down easy."

Still, as unimpressive as she thought her semblance to be? She made due with it regardless.
​