>>5981619
>Name?
Valencia Shaftlight
>Gender?
Female
>Race? (Human, Faunus, etc)
Human

>Name

Marcellus J Fleshlight

>Gender
All man, trans man

>Race

Ebonic

>>5981619
>Name
IIRC, RWBY characters are supposed to be either fairytale and/or color-themed. Going from that, I'll suggest... Shelly Suzume, after the Tongue-cut sparrow.
Female
>Race
Faunus (Sparrow)

Gonna wait for two more options. After that the voting starts, reply to your fav pick and I'll go with that.

I'll only take into consideration the first 5 options for the votation. After that we'll build from there once a winner is decided.

>>5981619
>Name:
Puzzle
>Gender:
Male
>Race:
Grimm

>>5981637
Supporting

>>5981644
Support that’s very interesting

>>5981680
>FedMutC4
Very good ID.

>>5981644
+1
Grimm quest time?

>>5981637
Supporting, especially if we go with egg shell and robin’s egg blue for her color theme

>>5981637
Supporting

>>5981619
this reminded me of Vacuo RWBY Quest. We miss you qm

>>5981638

You're Shelly Suzume. A female Faunus with some sparrow features. You have a few feathers at the side of your head, elbows and behind your back, almost like wings. Too small to fly, but at least they make you look pretty.

>Trait Gained! Enhanced Auditory Sense. You can easily pick up quiet noises and, if you focus, you can easily single out sounds from amongst a crowd. DC reduced for hearing related rolls.

Yeah, you got that right. You can still easily remember your name. Why did you forget it? Oh, right. You got hit in the head. Hard. You can feel the hot stream of blood running down between your eyes, dripping onto the floor. Darn, it hurts.

As you stand up you can easily hear the obvious sound of fire, cracking the silence of the room around you. It appears you are in a train, and an accident occurred. Hot air fills your lungs and bathes your skin. You can still breathe, at least, but it is far from pleasant.

A paper suddenly flies from outside a broken window towards your face. You try to catch it, but it slaps you right across your face. At least you can get some relatively fresh air from this opening, it seems. You struggle to catch the piece of paper that dances in the wind, but after a few tries you manage to do it. The paper apparently says something important...

>Allegiance? (Huntress, White Fang, Salem, Independent, Other?)
>Type of Weapon? (Mix of a melee weapon + a gun. Unorthodox choices are also available if that choice gets voted for)

>>5981717
>>5981715
>posts 4 minutes after the qm
>"I think this just died"
anon I know you're trolling but can I get some of what you're smoking
>>5981713
>Allegiance?
>Other (We don't remember. Clearly we were in deep shit if we got hit so hard we could barely remember who we were, though.)
>Weapon
I'm thinking a sabre/falchion (or a katana, seeing as our last name sounds japanese) with... a pistol, maybe? Heck, maybe we could be one of the like, three people with two separate weapons instead of one giant monstrosity. Maybe they're hand-me-downs from a simpler time...

>>5981713
>Allegiance?
Huntress
>Type of Weapon?
A pair of short swords who's design has a feathery, wing like motif. They can be combined together to form a longbow.

Just throwing an idea out there, I like the idea of someone using an actual proper bow instead of the glass shit Cinder has or the wrist mounted crossbows Robin had.

>>5981737
Oh, another neat idea I think could go along with having a bow as our weapon, we could use our feathers as fletching on arrows, maybe even aa a way of incorporating it into a Semblance

>>5981713
>Allegiance
Independent
>Type of Weapon
Seconding the dual-swords that combine to form a bow-- and I think that using our feathers as fletching for our arrows is also pretty stylish. Anyone got an idea for a name?

>>5981713

"Please, people of Haven Academy, send us help. We can't deal with this no more. Crime is rampant, people are starving, and any kind of resistance is dwindling. We can't ask for help in the usual channels, for they are heavily monitored. We don't know how they got acc..."

What a shame. The last part of the paper was burnt, leaving the message interrupted. No wonder they are still using these kinds of archaic methods like letters, if what the letter told was true about the communication channels being hacked and monitored.

So, more information at least. Haven Academy, that means this train is close to Mistral, at least. Crime is something quite normal here apparently, so that maybe explains the burning train situation? More investigation is needed.

With a heavy sigh Shelly started looking around. After a few minutes of searching under the burning rubble she managed to find one of her curved sabers.

"But... where is the other half?" she muttered under her breath. By taking out her scroll she tried to locate it remotely, but unluckily for her, the screen started to flicker, making it unusable. The only thing she could see was her own name, the 15 digit Huntress code and her Restriction Level, B.

"Looks like something is jamming its signal." she again whispered to herself. Maybe this was also the thing that derailed the train? This deserved a more rigorous investigation. Just like the good old days. It has been quite a few years since she got into a dangerous situation. Looks like early retirement was off the plate, at least for now.

A metallic sound came from behind, and the entire wagon started to shake, almost making her stumble. It was definitely moving. Any kind of slight movement or weight imbalance was absolutely going to make it fall from... somewhere, it seems? A cliff, maybe?

>The hole in the wall near the broken window looked fragile enough. Nothing a mighty slash from her incomplete weapon couldn't solve. And she was confident enough to survive the fall if anything bad happened.
>A quick and precise jump towards a nearby hole near the roof would be enough to get out of this deathtrap. Yeah, the wagon would fall, but she just could outrun it. Agility was one of her strong suits, after all.
>Well... it is probably time to let out just a little bit. Her semblance would work right now just fine, right? (Write-in as for what her semblance should be)

Choosing a semblance right now is optional. It can be done later. And also, no matter the option picked...

>3d10 dice check. DC varies. Picking the best result of the first three answers.

Rolled 5, 5, 3 = 13 (3d10)

>>5981877
>>A quick and precise jump towards a nearby hole near the roof would be enough to get out of this deathtrap. Yeah, the wagon would fall, but she just could outrun it. Agility was one of her strong suits, after all.

Rolled 1, 4, 6 = 11 (3d10)

>>5981877
>A quick and precise jump towards a nearby hole near the roof would be enough to get out of this deathtrap. Yeah, the wagon would fall, but she just could outrun it. Agility was one of her strong suits, after all.

Rolled 7, 5, 5 = 17 (3d10)

>>5981877
>A quick and precise jump toward a nearby hole near the roof

File: train.jpg (225 KB, 1024x1024)

225 KB JPG

>>5981877

Shelly held her breath. The wailing of suffering metal was maybe just half an instant away from falling from whatever high place it was on. "I hope these legs move as they used to." she thought to herself.

She jumped towards the hole on the roof. A small edge of metal caught on her clothes near her right shoulder, riping it apart slightly. At least it wasn't skin, otherwise things would become even messier.

By using both of her hands as leverage she managed to flip in the air, aiming towards a forward wagon while almost flying through the air upside down. As both of her feet touched the next wagon the giant metal beast started to move again on its own, but this time to the side, falling as the rock crumbled underneath its massive weight.

The huntress ran forward, feeling how the wagons started to fall behind her almost as if it was a race between her and the pull of the metal carts. Her muscles ached, her breath got heavier, but a small tint of excitement started to be felt in her heart again. Was this the euphoria of danger again?

With a last jump Shelly managed to land on the tracks of the train. She turned around, and she saw the colossal silver vehicle fall to the side, destroying the rocky side of the cliff. The air was arid and dry, and the sun was close to being dusk. This was a strange event, to see something so big and powerful fall to be forgotten down into a nearby canyon.

After the entire train fell and a giant cloud of dust appeared from the bottom of this abysmal fall, Shelly felt a little bit relieved, feeling the cold droplets of sweat at the side of her head mix with her dry blood. She felt fine, at least. This feeling of adrenaline was addicting for sure.

But now, what should she do on top of this dry and arid mountain?

>Investigating the possible causes of the destruction of the train seemed sensible enough
>A good look at the surroundings might grant some clues. Maybe even focus her hearing to try and sense anything unusual?
>Her health was first. Even when she felt fine she knew she was bleeding from her head. A good first-aid checkup wouldn't hurt.

>>5982243
>Her health was first. Even when she felt fine she knew she was bleeding from her head. A good first-aid checkup wouldn't hurt.
Wouldn't hurt to make sure we're not concussed or about to bleed out before continuing.

>>5982243
>Her health was first. Even when she felt fine she knew she was bleeding from her head.
Head wounds aren't anything to mess with.

>>5982243
>Her health was first. Even when she felt fine she knew she was bleeding from her head.

Can't do anything if you're dead.

>>5982243
>Her health was first. Even when she felt fine she knew she was bleeding from her head. A good first-aid checkup wouldn't hurt.

>>5982243

Breathing? Slightly erratic. Most probably due to the recent adrenaline rush she felt after the situation with the falling train. Dizzy? Not at all, so no mayor loss of blood, probably. Good. There were some scratches and bruises here and there, but nothing too severe.

"Ouch." She gasped, feeling a slight sting of pain near the right side of her chest. Was it a fractured rib? Maybe, most likely, but it seemed small. As long as she didn't force her body to do crazy things for a while it should be fine.

The wound close to her head apparently was in the process of healing. It only stained her fingers when directly touched, no longer bleeding. At least not too much. She tried to look at her own face with a 'selfie' using her scroll, but weirdly enough the static was even stronger than before. Weird, what the hell was dampening her electronics?

So, conclusion? She was roughed up, but nothing too fatal. Maybe her left side was somewhat vulnerable, but nothing her Aura couldn't protect.

Wait.

How was she wounded if she had Aura in the first place? I mean, sure, it wasn't one of her strong points, but still, the only times she got actually injured was when it was completely depleted after some rough missions back then against some Grimm, or maybe even sometimes sparing with her old team, she could easily recall.

She tried to focus, trying to see how her Aura felt. Sure, she hasn't participated in a fight for a while, but come on, using her own Aura? This was almost like learning to ride a bicycle, or even walking! There was no way she couldn't at least show a small flare here and there.

[1/?]

>QM Dice roll, 3d10. DC 17 due to Aura stat.

Rolled 7, 7, 9 = 23 (3d10)

>>5982557

>>5982557

A small flare of a colorful light appeared in front of her hands. It felt warm. Almost sparkly. Exactly as she remembered. It felt nice and warm. But after a few seconds a strong headache assaulted the Faunus. What in the four kingdoms was that? This was completely unnatural. It was the first time something like this has happened. She decided to stop forcing her Aura out.

Once she stopped trying to force her Aura to appear the pain subsided. She felt normal again. Weird. What if she tried that again?

The same. The aura expelled now with a stronger force than before, yet the pain came in even quicker and more violently. Not only that, but her nose started bleeding a tiny bit. Maybe her body couldn't handle her Aura? Maybe this was her limit?

No. Of course not. Not even the slightest. Aura doesn't degrade as fast as the body does. This shouldn't be happening unless an external force was actively disrupting her Aura emission, right? Maybe it was a Grimm nearby? Or some kind of new technology? Obviously this was happening because of something else. It wasn't because of her. Right?

As panic started to slowly set in, thanks to her strong sense of hearing, Shelly heard a few voices moving down below into the canyon, right besides where the train fell. There where quite a few voices here and there. There were maybe... three guys and one girl?

The Huntress approached the edge of the train tracks, and decided hide in order to look down at these new sounds. A few people with melee weapons started to approach the fallen wreckage. They seemed on edge.

In total there where five. Three males and two female humans. One of the females was a faunus with yellow eyes and black spots all around her face. They were bickering amongst themselves. One of the males seemed too agitated, trying to get an answer of the female faunus, but she remained stoic, completely silent, inspecting the wreckage with falcon-like eyes.

Vote a max of two. The less options chosen the more precise results overall.
>Focus your sense of hearing into the explorers that are looking around the destroyed train
>Instead, go for the agitated male, try to hear anything related to his mental state.
>Study the female faunus with yellow eyes. She obviously was the leader.
>Other (Write-in)

>Also, choose a color for the aura of Shelly. This will be her overall main theme so its kinda important.

This would normally require a stupidly high DC due to the long distance, but with enhanced hearing I'm taking this as an autopass.

>>5982573
>Instead, go for the agitated male, try to hear anything related to his mental state.

>Green

>>5982573
Seconding >>5982586. I think Green fits, because the spirit of our fable is about greed, and repaying kindness.

>>5982586
support

>>5982573

The bickering of the man was quite frantic. Almost as if he was terrified of something. By closing your eyes, managed with little effort to single out his voice, blocking the sounds of almost everything else.

"I'm telling ya boss. I saw it with my own eyes! Someone came out of the the wagon and whatever it was it jumped like a damn cat! Someone is up there, I'm sure!"

The faunus girl just shrugged. Ignoring the squeals of the man, still looking at the wreckage as it was being scavenged.

"Miss Sora! Please! Stop ignoring me!" The man continued yelling at her. By the tone of his voice it was easily assumable that he was both scared and enraged.

"Geez. What a loudmouth you are, Lum. If you're sure you saw someone up there why don't you go looking for whatever it was that you saw?" said the 'Sora' girl with an acute tone of voice. It was obvious that she was annoyed by the way she accentuated the end of the sentence.

"Fine! And the boss will hear about it, I'm telling ya! And he will give me a promotion and you will pay for everything you've done to me!" screamed the man. Even without your accute sense of hearing it was most likely possible to hear his crying from your high vantage point.

"Yeah. I'll also make sure he gets you a penthouse and a pet Grimm. Now please get moving. I seriously need to focus." the girl said in a monotone tone of voice, diverting her attention back towards the train.

The man stomped furiously, walking back towards the cliff you were on. It would take him a while to get up, so you still had plenty of time to think of something.

>Try to investigate whatever is causing your Aura to act weird. You need your semblance for what is about to come.
>Set up the environment to prepare for an ambush. Lets make this place your 'nest', Miss Sparrow.
>This wasn't worth it. A tactical retreat was the most sensible option. Time to climb down through the other side of the cliff so that they can't see me.
>Other (Write-in)

If you have ideas for a Semblance it would be a good time to start thinking about one.

Also, Character Sheet is ready. Gonna be updated periodically. https://pastebin.com/fSCfX2eH

>>5982892
>>Try to investigate whatever is causing your Aura to act weird. You need your semblance for what is about to come.

>>5982892
>>Set up the environment to prepare for an ambush. Lets make this place your 'nest', Miss Sparrow.
This guy is apparently more observant than his buddies, so let's take him out first. Time to pull a Batman on these goons.

I don't really have any good ideas for a Semblance right now.

>>5982892
>Try to investigate whatever is causing your aura to act weird. You need your semblance for what is about to come.
For semblance, I'll suggest something based on the fairy tale.
>Weight of Gratitude
Allows Shelly to expend her aura to charge objects with weight, modifying their weight depending how much aura she 'charges' the object with.
It could be used to support herself or teammates by literally lightening their burdens, make enemy projectiles or swings go off-target as long as she sees them coming, and disarm/debuff opponents by making their weapons or clothes heavy-- among other things.

As much as I'd love to wait for more votes and be greedy since the thread is still young I think I'll wait for a few more hours and blend-in all the answers we get and pick based on that.

For the Semblance feel free to spit up ideas and vote for them. When the situation arises I'll eventually lock it in so take advantage that we are still starting and write up your ideas and vote (Geez I sound like a politician).

>>5983223
>Weight of Gratitude
I like this idea.

Just to throw another possibility into the ring

> Tongue Cutting
Shelly is able to infuse her aura into a creature she has struck, enveloping it in a sound dampening field that prevents it from speaking, roaring, or calling out for help.

Could be a useful ability for a stealthy/assassination type build.

>>5981737
>>5981793
If going by the bird theme then Swallow's Tail
>A Native American legend offers a fanciful explanation as to why the barn swallow has a forked tail. Supposedly, one day a barn swallow had the audacity to swipe fire from the gods. The bird then gave fire to humans. To thwart this thievery, the gods shot flaming arrows at the bird. One hit the swallow at the base of its tail, burning away the central tail feathers. Ever since the barn swallow has had two long outer tail feathers separated by a wide space.

Weight of Gratitude can work since it would probably help us with not only mobility but could lead to us having some sort of controlled flight either naturally or through the assistance of external sources like tech.

>>5982892
>Try to investigate whatever is causing your aura to act weird. You need your semblance for what is about to come.
Also gonna go with this

>>5982892

The man would surely take a while before he managed to reach up there above the cliff. And even then that's a big "if". This side of the mountain was at least 300 ft. tall. Maybe even more. Stronger priorities where in order, like what was causing the Aura of Shelly to fluctuate and actively hurt her when used.

Taking a good look around didn't grant amazing results. In fact there wasn't much to investigate around here. There were many burnt pieces of machine nearby, crushed rocks, yet something was quite odd. The train tracks were not that damaged. Maybe the explosion of the train was somehow related?

By taking a closer look at the pieces nearby it was clear that something caused the train to malfunction, yet there were no signs of a bomb nearby. The accident was too extreme for it to be caused by human error. Maybe something with a longer range? Something that couldn't directly be seen?

Shelly took out her Scroll, and decided to make an experiment. Obviously it was malfunctioning, but what if that same error helped us track down whatever was causing the disturbance?

Bingo.

By turning around towards the North and walking towards that point, following the train tracks, the signal from Shelly's Scroll got even more erratic. That means that something most likely electromagnetic was interfering with it, and the closer any device was to that place, the worse the display looked. Now, let's try with the Aura.

Shelly focused her Aura outwards from her arms, and thin and elegant streams of a light-green hue danced in the air as if they were strings of silk dancing under the current of an invisible river. And the closer she walked to the North the more violent and chaotic this wild dance from her Aura was.

"Somehow this technology disrupts both technology and Aura. Dangerous. I need to get to the bottom of this." she thought for herself.

A few rocks slipping from the side of the cliff could be suddenly heard. The man was getting closer. He would arrive in maybe less than a minute. "How determined." Shelly muttered quietly. Maybe he wasn't as much of a wimp as he initially appeared to be?

>Wait for him to come up, try and be friendly with him to fish for more information.
>Prepare an ambush. It would be unwise to let this stranger to take the lead. She was a huntress, not the prey.
>There was no need for him to know she was there. Simply hide behind a rock and wait for a better opportunity. Maybe even escape.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5983981
>>Prepare an ambush. It would be unwise to let this stranger to take the lead. She was a huntress, not the prey.

>>5983981
>>Prepare an ambush. It would be unwise to let this stranger to take the lead. She was a huntress, not the prey.

>>5983981
>Prepare an ambush. It would be unwise to let this stranger to take the lead. She was a huntress, not the prey.

>>5983981

There werent't many options to improvise an ambush in this awfully deserted place. No ropes, no cables, no weapons at all. Just rocks, rubble and burnt metal. And endless amount of them, quite in fact.

That would be enough. Most likely.

After the quick construction of a crude sculpture similar in shape to a 'snowman' made of rocks and destroyed cables in the middle of the arid plateau, Shelly hid behind a nearby stone pillar. The sculpture looked extremely out of place, and it wasn't that pretty at all(After all, the materials where mediocre at best), but that was the point. Lure out the man into investigating the flimsy "rock-man" and take him out quickly after he gets distracted enough.

The plan was... succesful, somewhat. The man jumped above the edge, roaring with a battle scream and eager for a fight. In fact it appears he was in a blind rage as he rushed towards the figure with a rusty metal cleaver above his head, slashing it and destroying the poor and innocent 'artistic' creation you just did. He didn't even bother to investigate it first. Well, at the very least he was flummoxed by how his "enemy" was destroyed with his remains on the floor.

It was too late for him to turn around. A precise kick into the back of his right leg, a chokehold around his neck and a quick spin was more than enough. The man quickly dropped his weapon and grabbed instead your arm, trying to break free by using his own strength. He tried to actually bite your arm a few times. What a savage.

"I... I knew it! Once I defeat you I'll get promoted! What a dumbass you are for letting yourself be captured! Now, let me go!" the man screamed, his voice breaking little by little thanks to the lack of oxigen. His legs raised up, kicking the air in an attempt to escape by wiggling out of your grab.

He was an amateur. It was obvious. His strength was almost that of a normal human, so there was no chance for him to actually get out of the grasp of a normal Huntress, let alone yours. He was at your mercy and, to be honest, his delusions of you being the one 'captured' where almost funny. You couldn't help but smile a little bit.

Welp, time for questioning.

>Focus more on the identity of who he is, who is he working for, where they came from, the usual.
>It would be better to directly ask them about what they are looking for here. Ask them more info about the train. Maybe there was something important inside there?
>Priorities where key. Ask them about the stuff that makes your Aura act weird.
>Other (Write-in. Adding details is highly encouraged.)

Also Dice Check for intimidation. DC 21. Kinda high since he's obviously too stubborn and thick-headed even when he's at your mercy. Picking the top 3 dice rolls regardless of option chosen.

Rolled 10, 8, 9 = 27 (3d10)

>>5984290
>It would be better to directly ask them about what they are looking for here. Ask them more info about the train. Maybe there was something important inside there?

Rolled 3, 1, 9 = 13 (3d10)

>>5984290
>>It would be better to directly ask them about what they are looking for here. Ask them more info about the train. Maybe there was something important inside there?

Rolled 8, 2, 6 = 16 (3d10)

>>5984290
>>It would be better to directly ask them about what they are looking for here. Ask them more info about the train. Maybe there was something important inside there?

>>5984290

"A promotion? Please. Just think about it for a second. You're up here, all alone, with someone that clearly outmatches you. Scream and wail all you want, but it will not matter a tiny bit. You see, even if, and that's a big if, your 'friends' down there manage to hear your screams after I'm done with you, they'll simply run away."

You took out your curved saber from the side of your hip with your free arm, and decided to touch ribs with the pointy end. Not enough to hurt him badly, but just enough to let him know how easy it would be to sink it into his flesh. Obviously you wouldn't do this. For god sake, you're supposed to be a heroine, a Huntress, someone that protects others, but if you want to make him talk then the best course of action is to scare him as much as possible to make this talk easier.

"They will run. They will leave you all alone. Did you even think about what can you do to get down there again? You know that climbing upwards is far easier than downwards? What would you do if I left you here? You'd fall if you tried to go down on your own. In simple terms, you're screwed. In more ways than one."

His breathing started to become erratic. He continued to move and squeal, trying to get out of your chokehold, but now it wasn't out of defiance, but raw fear and desperation.

"The only way you can get out of here alive is if you help me with what I want. I'm going to ask you something and you better reply with the truth and only the truth. And if I suspect even for a tiny bit that you're witholding information from me, well... lets just say that some buzzards will have a feast soon enough. So, do we have an understanding?"

The man stopped moving. He started whimpering. Was he crying? Yeah, he was definitely crying. You stopped choking him, letting him fall to the floor. He grabbed his knees in desperation and started sobbing, moving backwards and forth with his eyes closed.

~Did I go too far? Yeah. I think I definitely went too far.~ You thought to yourself. He's now pissing himself. Great... No one at Haven Academy should know about this. Absolutely never. Shelly Suzume, the monster that makes people piss and cry in fear. What a shame.

"We... we were just making sure there were no survivors. The train was... a message for help. We didn't want for it to get out. We were tasked with destroying it. Please don't leave me here." The man said with a quiet tone of voice, crying to himself and avoiding eye contact with you.

Now you feel bad for him.

"Well, the train is destroyed, so good job on that. Plenty of people died. I hope you're proud of what you did." you exclaimed. Remorse was starting to set in. You may have traumatized this man. Retirement really dulled your social abilities.

"No, I'm not proud, but... that... that's not all. Please don't kill me. You must know something." the man interrupted your inner thoughts. He was indeed spilling everything he knew.

(1/?)

>>5984420

"All this... was a test. One of those weird scientist at HQ wanted to test something. A machine, a weird one at that, ya get me?" The man started talking. He was still scared, but little by little he felt more comfortable with you.

"A test? What do you mean a test? And what machine?" you asked him. What was he talking about?

"It was... kind of an antenna, but a fat one. It is powered by Dust, but not normal Dust. This thingie is pretty expensive to make, y'know? It took us a few days to install. Its right there, past that hill." he said, lifting his arm and pointing with one of his fingers towards a somewhat faraway hill north of were you where.

An antenna? Weird.

"And what is the purpose of this machine?" you asked again, trying to see if you could hear anything from that direction. Only the wind.

"I don't know! We just had to build it and activated. And guess what? The darn thing exploded! But it wasn't a fire explosion thingie. It was more of an electricity thing. Even Sora felt it. Her nose started bleeding and she started vomiting right there and there. She even said something like 'damn those bastards actually did it'. I have no idea what it does, miss. Now please can you give me a lift? I don't want to die here. I have a family at Kuchinashi. I have a wife and a cat. I miss them very much. Please?" the man said with puppy eyes.

>This so called 'Sora' may know more. Time to confront her. Get down and go towards them in confrontation.
>You got your information. Now it was time to bail. Get away from the plateau towards the other side, where the coast was clear.
>Other (Write-in)

Also:

>Grab Lum and take him with you. Leaving him to die is just plain cruel. Plus, he's a hostage.
>Leave Lum up there. It is no longer your concern what happens to him. He may also be a hindrance in the future.
>Walk a darker path. He helped kill countless innocents. You know what must be done.

>>5984429
>Other
Continue interrogating him, at least a little longer. We should try to find out who he and the others work for-- and if he knows their semblances, if it should come to a fight.

>Grab Lum and take him with you. Leaving him to die is just plain cruel. Plus, he's a hostage.
Any guy that would break down in tears, piss himself, and so on isn't a hardcore criminal. Try to take the high road, if we can, when we can. Hunters and Huntresses are supposed to be heroes, after all.

>>5984603
supporting this

>>5984603
Support

>>5984429

"I'm not going to help you. Yet." you interjected, crossing your arms and getting closer to him with a stern look on your face. The man started recoiling backwards, trying to get away from you. "You better tell me more about those fellas down there, and a tiny bit more info about your organization would surely sweeten my mood. You want to be rescued after all, right"

A weird feeling of violence washed over you. You felt that you needed to punch him in the face. Where did that feeling come from?

"I mean, what do you wanna know? Most of those dumbasses down there? I don't know 'em. They just assigned 'em with me and Sora. I think I know one of 'em. Jack, they call him. He once tried to put dust in his drink 'cus he read that would make the booze boozier! Can you believe that? Yeah, not the brightest bulb that Jack-ass. Get it? Haha!" the man said nervously. He was coping with his fear with these jokes.

Just a mere glance of your expression was enough to sour his face.

"Fine, fine. I just know that guy Jack. And of course miss Sora." The man continued. "She's our leader' for this mission. She's a real bitch, ya get me? To be honest she's the only one down there that can actually fight. So now you may be asking, why did they send only one capable fighter amongst this group of renegades? Well, that girl is just enough for reinforcements, trust me. A tough nut to crack, let me tell ya. A real tooth in the bottle."

So, only the faunus girl 'Sora' was the one that could actually fight back. The others were most likely fooder. Good news.

"And? Her Semblance?" you asked him, continuing the interrogation while turning around and walking towards the edge to inspect those down below better. Their positions were mostly the same.

"No one knows. I mean, I haven't seen her yet. She has strict orders to not use in public by the higher ups. But girl, let me tell ya, the way she leaves the bodies of rival families? Oh boy, completely cleaved in half, blood painting the walls, truly a gruesome sight. And not only that, but those missions they send her to? They barely take seconds to finish, let me tell ya. Finished in less than an instant. She's a fast one."

Cleaved in half, blood painting the walls and fights that end in an instant. Seems like a 'cutting' type of semblance, apparently. Obviously something to do with surprise attacks. If I were to fight her then I better have my guard almost always up.

"But you don't have to worry about that. That antenna I told ya earlier? Surely fried her well enough, the poor little birdy. She's less scary that way. Nevertheless, be careful if you try to fight her. Her weapon may appear short range but she can easily close that distance in the blink of an eye, aye? Those damn chains of hers."

(1/?)

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>>5985222

Something inside you started to stir. It was a weird mix of fear and excitement. Huh. Weird. Whatever the case, it would be wise to maybe be careful of her. Direct combat was risky, but not impossible, maybe.

"Alright. Good. And your bosses?" you asked Lum, not taking your eyes away from the group from below, wary of them.

"Well, about that. I can't say. I'm not allowed to see them either. I've catched glimpses of the boss of good ol' Sora down there, but other than that I'm still kinda new, right? A diamond in the rough situation, obviously." he grinned, proud of himself. "But that don't matter a tiny bit, miss. Because... behold!"

The man lifted up with his hand a small metal disk. Almost like a coin. As you turned around to look it better you saw that carved on it was the face of a fluffy animal with horns. A kinda round one. Was it a Ram?

"...I don't know what that means." you said to him.

Exasperated, the man answered back. "W-what do you mean you don't know the famous Black Sheep? Biggest deal all around Kuchinashi. No one ever talks bad about them, 'cus those that do simply vanish. So you better not hurt me at all, or they will be angry! And you will pay for it! Did ya hear me?" The man exclaimed again, emboldened and proud by his line of work.

"...You're just a grunt. You know that, right?" you answered back with a gloomy expression.

"N-no matter! I'll climb up the ranks a ton more! People will fear me and will respect me! I'll have three mansions one on top of each other, and each one guarded by a pet grimm! Riches, women and booze! I was promised that!" he said proudly again. His demeanor almost completely changed.

You sighed, but then your ears twitched. Some sounds of conversation could be heard down there. It was the girl 'Sora'.

"Lum hasn't come down yet. And its been a while. Can I trust you all to not hurt yourselves just for a few minutes? I'm going to look for him." Sora said with a concerned tone of voice, getting up from the ground.

"Nah boss, don't worry about him. He'll come down soon enough. Trust us. Probably he got distracted by a box up there or something, trying to get it open with a rock or maybe even his teeth."

The girl Sora grumbled something inaudible to herself, and just sat on the ground again, impatient.

Time was running out. You approached Lum and tied him up with a nearby cable from the disaster of the train. You easily lifted him up with one hand.

>Time to make a deal with those below. Surely they wouldn't want any harm made to his friend, as annoying as he was, right?
>It would be a tiring journey, but a little bit of exercise wouldn't hurt. Time to escape with this tied up dumbass with you and find a vehicle or something like that nearby.
>Wait for whoever is going to get up here, prepare another ambush. You would need to cover Lum's mouth to make the ruse better, at least.
>Other (Write-in?

>>5985231
>>Time to make a deal with those below. Surely they wouldn't want any harm made to his friend, as annoying as he was, right?

>>5985231
>Time to make a deal with those below. Surely they wouldn't want any harm made to his friend, as annoying as he was, right?

>>5985231

You ripped up some parts of his jacket, moving this torn clothing inside his mouth in an attempt to make him quieter by gagging him. While lifting him up on your right shoulder you decided it was time to stop beating around the bush.

Time to meet the ones that attacked the train.

You jumped downwards towards the cliff downwards, step by step and with grace, getting lower and lower by sometimes sliding and sometimes using your free hand for mor stability for the multiple jumps you did. The rhythm of the descent was quite fast, actually, and the man on your shoulder started whimpering again in fear, his voice muffled by the cloth inside his mouth. Its probable he didn't like the fact that you did some spins and flips in the air while doing all this.

You easily landed at the bottom of the cliff, and the renegades quickly turned their attention towards you. Most of them lifted their weapons (Crossbows, pipes, a few swords and axes here and there. Nothing too fancy technologically speaking, which was weird), but the girl Sora just remained seated on the floor, watching you with a grim expression with her piercing yellow eyes.

"I will only say this one thing. I..." you started taling, trying to take the initiative, but you were suddenly cut by some 'Sushes' coming from the falcon Faunus. She slowly started to stand up from the ground as if bothered and tired, and you could easily notice her tall stature. She was quite a few inches taller than you. Now it was easier to see how she looked like under those tattered robes she was wearing.

(1/2)

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>>5985941

Her hair was short and messy. Black as the night and with some yellow highlights near the tips. It made her look somewhat of a wild and tamed animal. A small golden and black collar was around her neck, and her clothing was that of a short black jacket with what appeared to be a modified corset as her main apparel. A golden and tattered bracelet was strapped on her left wrist. Plenty of knives where strapped on her belt, and her leather pants and tall boots had quite an unhealthy amount of spikes.

"Lumber. Are you alright? Did this stranger hurt you?" Sora asked, not even bothering to look at you as if you didn't exist, but instead looking at the man on your shoulder.

The man moved his head from side to side. He was saying something, but the clothing around his mouth made understanding him quite a difficult task.

"Good. Now, if you please, miss Huntress, would you please give him back to me? If you do I'll promise I'll end you quickly and painlessly. Who knows? Maybe I'll spare you." the girl Sora said, extending her right hand and smiling at you. She was still far away from you, however, with a posture that indicated that she didn't felt threatened at all. The other bandits just stood there, motionless, slightly trembling in fear.

However, the fact that she wasn't moving closer to you probably meant something important.

>Be aggresive. You're the one with the hostage. You're the one in control. Don't let her intimidate you.
>Be charismatic. Lets play her game of 'fake smiles'. This will maybe annoy her, but you don't care. Her fault for starting it.
>Be passive on purpose. She thinks she's in control, so this may lower her guard. Who knows? Maybe she'll start gloating or something and this way you can fish for info.
>Other (Write-in)

Write-ins and addendums for what topics you want to say or ask during the conversation are highly encouraged.

Also I can answer any question you may all have about the setting or general info like that.

>>5985945
>Be aggresive. You're the one with the hostage. You're the one in control. Don't let her intimidate you.

>>5985945
>Be charismatic. Lets play her game of 'fake smiles'. This will maybe annoy her, but you don't care. Her fault for starting it.

>>5985945
>>Be aggresive. You're the one with the hostage. You're the one in control. Don't let her intimidate you.

Rolled 3, 4, 5 = 12 (3d10)

>>5985945

A few seconds passed without an answer. You just decided to smile at her, all smug in order to provoke her more. Her face quickly showed anger, breaking her facade too quickly. "Well? I asked you a question. Give him back or..." the short haired faunus said, but you decided to purposely interrupt her with a long and loud whistle. Being annoying was fun.

"Hey, dear! I was just thinking about an answer. No need to get upset so fast! Where are your manners? And also, don't forget I am the one that has the hostage, not you. So shut your mouth while I think of a good answer or poor little Lumber here will be made into tiny little chips, badly. Clear enough for you?" you exclaimed with a lound and bold tone of voice, stepping forward with a firm step, lifting a small cloud of sand from the ground.

Sora's expression turned sour again. She tilted her body to the side, almost ready to give a step backwards, but at the last moment she stood her ground while looking at you with some furious eyes.

"Good. See? If you decide to be obedient and cooperate with my demands then everything will be alright. Lil' Lum here might even go back with his family in one piece! Now, for the questions. You're going to tell me why did you attack that train, how you all got here and what that 'antenna' up north is for. Do that and we all will leave in peace and mostly unhurt, and if not..."

Many of the other bandits gulped, reflexively lifting their weapons again.

"Well, you know what happens if you don't cooperate. Understood?" you told them with a cold tone of voice. You're not sure why, but almost all of the thugs walked backwards with horror in their faces. Where did their bravado go? You didn't say anything too... bad? I mean, sure, you threatened to hurt them, but it wasn't that serious.

"You're a fucking monster. Look at you, laughing and grinning like a damn maniac. You're relishing all this, right?" The Sora girl told you with defiance in her eyes, emboldened again. "Leave Lumber out of this. He doesn't know anything of importance. Leave him on the ground first. Do it now or I'll make you."

Laughing and grinning? What was she talking about? You didn't laugh at anything. In fact you felt somewhat nervous at all of this. Where they insane or something?

Your instincts quickly tuned up to eleven. Something's wrong... and also, something was coming.

>QM Roll, DC 23 due to your high Cunning and thanks to being wary of your surroundings.

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>>5986700

>DC Failed. This is good for Shelly.

The Sora girl bended her knees, lowering her stance. You managed to easily notice the sound of metal sliding from her clothes into her hands. Not only that, but tiny yellow sparks started to appear behind her back at the same time as her wings extended.

She was using her Semblance? This quickly?. Thanks to your earlier interrogation you knew her semblance was made for quick and surprise attacks, so you felt completely prepared for this.

In the blink of an eye the winged girl disappeared from your field of view, vanishing almost air. You felt a slight gust of wind come towards your face, mixed together with the sound of metal approaching. The speed was just out of this world.

But speed meant nothing if you expected the attack.

With a quick high jump you avoided whatever happened on the ground, and in front of the place where you just were mere instants ago was Sora, holding two daggers on both of her hands, finishing a slashing motion at the level of where your abdomen was. It took a few moments for the air to notice this sudden appearance, and a strong current of wind blew away a giant cloud of dust.

That was almost an instant dash together with a slashing attack. Bingo. So that was her semblance. Extremely quick dashes. Not too bad, now that you know the trick.

Unluckily for you, fighting with a hostage on your shoulder was hard. You managed to maneouver on the air to fall away from her, but there was simply no chance to counterattack while holding Lumber. At least, it wouldn't be easy.

Once the cloud of dust started to disappear you managed to catch the sight of the falcon faunus turned her head towards you, standing up from her low stance, annoyed and spitting towards the side of the ground. Her nose started to bleed profusely, and her breathing started to become both erratic and deeper. Using her Semblance clearly hurt her a bit.

"Not bad. Those reflexes of yours are no joke. I can count with the fingers of one hand the people that have managed to avoid that. Just who are you?" Sora said calmy, cracking her neck and getting into a low stance again while blood dripped from her nose into the ground.

>Go for the offensive and the defeating blow quickly. The weakness of a fast fighter is the unexpected. Your semblance might help you with this (Use it).
>Fight more defensively. Analyze her. She might have some hidden tricks still.
>Approach a more balanced and dirty tactic. Tire her out. Maybe try to annoy and goad her even more to force her to user her Semblance so that she hurts herself in the process.
>Other (Write-in)

>Leave Lumber aside and fight freely. This would make the entire thing far easier.
>Fight while still having Lumber on your shoulder. You trust that this girl Sora will not want to hurt his friend.

Whatever the option choosen a Dice Check is needed. DC varies for each option.

>>5986718
>Go for the offensive and the defeating blow quickly. The weakness of a fast fighter is the unexpected. Your semblance might help you with this (Use it).

>Fight while still having Lumber on your shoulder. You trust that this girl Sora will not want to hurt his friend.

>>5986718
>>Go for the offensive and the defeating blow quickly. The weakness of a fast fighter is the unexpected. Your semblance might help you with this (Use it).
>Fight while still having Lumber on your shoulder. You trust that this girl Sora will not want to hurt his friend.

>>5986766
+1

>>5986718

>Go for the offensive and the defeating blow quickly. The weakness of a fast fighter is the unexpected. Your semblance might help you with this (Use it).
>Fight while still having Lumber on your shoulder. You trust that this girl Sora will not want to hurt his friend.

Gonna need some dice throws. 3d10, best of the first three votes. DC 23. Failing is not particularly harmful (Unless only very low rolls/crit fails happen).

Also for the Semblance:

>>5983223
>>5983606
>>5983722

If there are no objections alternative options I'll set her semblance as "Weight of Gratitude", which allows her to make things either heavier or lighter by infusing those objects with her Aura, depending in how much she spends.

Normally I'd allow for it to work at a distance at least, but due to the low "Focus" stat of Shelly I think I will limit it to a somewhat short range. (At least for now. She can and will get stronger eventually).

Who would've thought? Kinda similar to 'New Texas', can't remember its name exactly. Also testing out spoilers and other weird words formats cus I'm rusty AF.

Rolled 6, 4, 7 = 17 (3d10)

>>5987402

Rolled 10, 5, 10 = 25 (3d10)

>>5987402

Rolled 1, 8, 10 = 19 (3d10)

>>5987402
>Kinda similar to 'New Texas', can't remember its name exactly
Are you thinking of "Everything is Bigger in Texas" from the Hero Academia quest?

>>5987402

Some Huntsmen on Haven Academy would surely look down upon what your plans were going to be. You're sure some teachers (Maybe even Leonardo Himself) would scoff at you and tell you that this is no way for a Huntress to operate nor fight. That you should retake classes, be better, be an inspiration for others, etc.

Good thing you graduated just a few years back. No one to dictacte what you can and can't do. Freedom at last. Not that you disagree with them entirely, of course, but things are different while on the field. Your team surely would agree... would they?

"You used your semblance. Time for me to use mine. Don't take this personal, if you will." you said to the girl, smirking and feeling proud of your plan. You threw Lumber up in the air, just to catch it again. You repeated this motion again and again, with each throw being higher than the last, almost as if showing off. "Quite the lightweight friend you got here." you said with a cocky tone of voice. Would she fall for the bait?

The Sora girl spat to the side, smirking back. "So, that's your semblance, right? Superstrength? No, a graceful girl like yours surely wouldn't have something so crude. Maybe something to do with gravity? Or his weight?"

She was actually very close to knowing what it was. Very good deduction abilities from her part. That means that...

She took the bait. You were not using your Semblance. At least not for that specific purpose.

She quickly dashed again towards you while her daggers were now hanging at her side from a pair of short chains, however this time her speed was far slower than before. Looks like she was not using her Semblance. Surely whatever affected you took was affecting her as well.

Her daggers quickly tried to find your body, ready to rip it appart. Some of her slashes were dodged, some parried by your single saber you took from your waist and others just quickly stopped before hiting Lum. Using him as a shield indeed was not honorable, but then, your live was at stake. Even with your unassailable defense, you couldn't help but start moving away from her as she had the initiative. The guy squirming on your shoulder was not making things any easier.

Your nose started bleeding again. A sharp pain started to appear at the back of your head. Just a little bit more... a tiny bit more...

And then things changed.

The falcon faunus stood back. Her daggers were hanging from her hands by some chains. With a quick movement from her left hand one of the daggers flew directly towards your face. You dodged, but then the other one was aiming at your legs from your left side was it was also thrown in an arc. You jumped, the heavy body of Lum still making your movements clumsier.

>>5987506

"Come on! Fight back! Weren't you talking shit before?" the girl said again, now with a sadistic smile. Her yellow eyes blinked, and for a brief moment the color red could be seen on them. Then, they turned back normal. What was that? Maybe those were some hallucinations due to the pain. Yeah, surely it was that.

Now the fight was in her favor. The daggers flew from all directions as the girl kept spinning and throwing them towards you. Sometimes from the front, sometimes from the back, from all sides too. It was quite the tornado of slashes. Lumber was right, she indeed was a bitch.

But this wasn't time to doubt yourself. You had a plan after all.

Instead of walking backwards you started to walk towards her, deflecting her blows with your single saber. If only you had the other one... oh well, there would be plenty of time to find it later.

The girl noticed how you were getting closer instead of further away. She grimaced. But it didn't matter. It was a good time to get all the rust off! She attacked faster, but you parried her attacks at a faster rhythm too. She didn't expect for you to fight back this much. Her face started to show signs of doubt. Signs of fear.

This was the moment you were waiting for

"Hey, seed-breath. Catch!" You said to her, as you threw Lum at her while she was in the middle of an attack.

Her face quickly contorted to one of surprise. She stopped moving her chains, opening her arms in order to catch the gagged hostage. Sure, a normal Huntress could easily lift a man. Maybe even two. And you managed to plant the seed in her that Lum was easier to handle, as if he was lighter or something.

Completely far away from the truth.

The far heavier body of Lum hit her right on the chest, making them both fall flat on the ground. The girl started having a tantrum, trying to push up the body of his underling but to no avail.

Your ears started ringing. All the noises on the background were heard as if you were underwater. But you could still walk. And fight. Your adrenaline was high.

>Obviously deal the finishing blow. She tried to kill you, right?
>Time to make her talk. Lets break one of her legs.
>Or maybe threaten one of her allies while she was incapable of moving? That could be fun.
>Wait, what were those thoughts? Just talk to her like a normal person and ask her more info, geez. (Requires Dice Check, DC 10. Best of three.)
>Other (Write-in)

Write ins heavily encouraged for this one.

>>5987424

Also yeah, exactly that one. What a goodie that one, haven't finished reading it however

>>5987510
>>Time to make her talk. Lets break one of her legs.

Also quick bit, all dice rolls are 3d10 unless specifically told otherwise FYI, and if the dice check is far higher/lower than the DC it will be reflected in the results, kinda like crits

>>5987510
>Wait, what were those thoughts? Just talk to her like a normal person and ask her more info, geez. (Requires Dice Check, DC 10. Best of three.)
If something is messing with our collective heads, we should try to keep abreast of it. Crippling her only creates future enmity unless we kill all of her subordinates too-- and massacring randos isn't a very... huntress-y thing to do.

>>5987510
>>5987629
>Wait, what were those thoughts? Just talk to her like a normal person and ask her more info, geez. (Requires Dice Check, DC 10. Best of three.)

Changing my vote to just talk.

>>5987510
>>Time to make her talk. Lets break one of her legs.

>>5987510
>Or maybe threaten one of her allies while she was incapable of moving? That could be fun.

If there are no more new votes for a few hours I'll update with what the majority picked (I like the number three as a magical number but since the thread is still young I'll take what I get).

Also gonna need some Dice throws. Same as always, 3d10, best of three. DC 10, easy as hell to pass, I trust you all blindly to pass it.

Rolled 5, 4, 8 = 17 (3d10)

>>5988055

Rolled 10, 4, 7 = 21 (3d10)

>>5988055

Rolled 3, 3, 9 = 15 (3d10)

>>598805

>>5987510

Weird thoughts started to appear in your head. Your foe laid there, on the ground, technically defeated. Sure, she was still kicking and eager for a fight, but her physical prowess just didn’t let her continue thanks to the Aura-infused obstacle you put on her (Poor Lum.)

Yet still, this weird sensation. You started to concentrate on it. There have been many events that are, in some way or another, connected. Where you seriously laughing and grinning while fighting? What was that with you threatening to kill Lumber up there near the train tracks?

And now? These thoughts of breaking her leg? Threaten her friends? Kill her?

You easily cleared your head from those intrusive thoughts. This was not normal at all. You may have labeled some of them as just ‘stress’ or ‘side effects’ of the accident on the train (After all, you got injured in the head), but then, pieces of your past started to reappear on your memories…

This wasn’t the first time this happened.

Back then at Haven Academy, just a few months after you graduated, similar things were noticed by others. You remember the bothered faces of your teammates.

Is this why you got decided to get away from them, working now mostly as a solo? Is this why you became an ex-huntress?

Is this why Leonardo Lionheart, the headmaster himself, personally told you to get away from Haven and seek treatment?

“Move, damnit! I still can fight! Try to roll out of the way at least, you useless thrash!” the girl Sora said loudly, trying to move but to no avail. Her anger was even stronger than before.

“Hng hmm hng!” the gagged man started to squirm, unable to move at all. His weight was likely increased at least five times thanks to your Semblance. He would be like this at least for a few more minutes.

(1/?)

Train for thought for when things were calmer. But hey, maybe this girl knew something? After all, you could clearly remember her eyes turning from yellow to red for a fraction of a second when you were fighting.

You approached her, confidently putting your single saber back on your waist. You didn’t feel threatened at all (Just tired and with a migraine). And you noticed it again, while she was squirming on the ground.

Her eyes were a light shade of red. Almost pink? Salmon? Weren’t her eyes yellow a few minutes ago?

“Hey, Sora, that’s your name, right? Weird question, I know, but what is the color of your eyes?” you asked her, crossing your arms in front of your chest.

The girl, infuriated and still trying to get up, looked at you and showed you her teeth in rage. “Stop fucking with me and get this dumbass out of the way so that I can kick your ass!”

“I can make him heavier if I want, so please behave. I know it’s a weird question, but please, indulge me for now.” You said again, trying to keep calm. You started to have some suspicions.

Sora started to get quieter little by little. Weirdly enough her eyes started to change back towards that yellow shade she had earlier. She was still angry, however, just far less than before.

“They're yellow. It’s not hard to see. Why are you asking me that?” she asked again, concerned.

“No. They were red just a moment ago. Isn’t it true, Lum?” you asked back.

Lum nodded affirmatively with his head. The falcon faunus got quiet all of a sudden. Thinking something. “So, they weren’t lying…” the girl whispered to herself.

“I heard that.” You replied, proud of being a smartass.

“Mind your own business, birdie. Now please get this dumbass out of the way? There’s something I need to investigate. And I’m sure it concerns you as well, huntress. I propose a truce, at least for now.” The faunus girl exclaimed, closing her eyes in shame at what she just said, her ego wounded apparently.

>No way. She may not like it, but this was the perfect opportunity to ask her for more info about the train, the attack, etc.
>With the Aura of both of you almost depleted it was a dumb idea to continue this fight. Do as she says, but be wary. Lets trust in this truce at least for now.
>Leave her there with Lum still on her. You can easily investigate on your own. Surely her underlings could help her later on.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5988220
>>With the Aura of both of you almost depleted it was a dumb idea to continue this fight. Do as she says, but be wary. Lets trust in this truce at least for now.

>>5988220
>With the Aura of both of you almost depleted it was a dumb idea to continue this fight. Do as she says, but be wary. Lets trust in this truce at least for now.

>>5988220
>With the Aura of both of you almost depleted it was a dumb idea to continue this fight. Do as she says, but be wary. Lets trust in this truce at least for now.

>>5988220

By deactivating your semblance, the weight of Lumber turned back to normal. Sora sighed with relief as she pushed the poor lad away from her. She stood up from the ground, dusting off her clothes. She grabbed the sides of her head for a while and turned around, showing you her back, as if thinking.

You kept your guard up. You weren’t that trustful of her yet, and you knew the feeling was mutual.

The leader of the groups of renegades called for her underlings. “Alright lads, time we set off. There’s something we need to investigate.”

“But… miss, we haven’t done what we came here for!” One of the guys, holding a rifle, said to her.

“Oh, right. Jack, untie Lum here and continue with the investigation. I’ll go with this girl and search around the antenna. I’d explain more but you wouldn’t understand. Semblance related stuff.” The girl answered back, as you watched the conversation unfold.

“Are… are you going to be alright miss? She’s a huntress, after all.” Jack said in response, looking at you warily.

“Ex-huntress, actually, so don’t expect me to arrest you. I have bigger priorities now.” You answered. Arresting them and taking them back to the main city of Mistral was actually something you thought about, but maybe it would be a good idea to postpone that plan.

“So, you’re not an active huntress? Oh, wow. My apologies. We thought only security personnel were in that train.” The Sora girl butted in with a slight tone of embarrassment, starting to walk north as you followed her.

“That doesn’t make it better, you know? What about civilians?” you said with a concerned tone of voice. Why was she casually talking about this? Plenty of people lost their lives.

“Meh, collateral damage.” The girl answered with another casual tone of voice. Was that a smirk on her face?

Now you really wanted to arrest her. Maybe even knock her out. If only your Aura wasn’t acting this weird you would gladly do it.

(1/?)

A few minutes passed in silence while you walked behind her. You couldn’t directly see it, but you could easily sense it. Her ‘casual attitude’ was just a fake. She was on edge. Same as you.

“So, um… what’s your name, by the way? Mine’s Sora, Sora Windcrest. I think you already knew that.” The girl side, striking up some conversation. The awkwardness just made the tension harder to swallow.

“Mine’s Shelly Suzume. I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but I’m honestly feeling sick with the type of person you are.” You snapped back. Being cordial to her was quite complicated to manage.

“Sheez, stop being such a goodie two shoes, alright? Sorry for trying to kill you, but trust me, if I knew you were in there, I would have tried to change the plans.” Sora answered back with a snarky tone of voice.

“That doesn’t make sense. None, at all. Why would you forgive me when I could easily be working for whoever you attacked on that train? This looks like a half-assed plan to me.” You said with disdain in your tone of voice.

“Because it WAS a half-assed plan, alright? We didn’t knew this train departed this day. It was kind of an emergency. We seriously didn’t want anyone from outside of Anima to know what is happening in here.”

“Then please enlighten me. What are you all doing here? What is going on? Why is our Aura acting this weird?” you started to lose control. You felt completely in the dark. You were right to be angry.

“Look, as much as I want to help you as a fellow ex-huntress myself, I would be shooting myself in the foot if I told you too much. But I also don’t want to leave you completely in the dark. Sooo, lets make a deal!” the girl said, moving her hands inside her coat and grabbing a sharp piece of metal from it, showing it to you.

It took you a while to notice, but it was indeed the other half of your weapon.

“Where did you find it? Explain. Or there will be consequences.” You started to feel even more attacked. She had it with her all this time?

“Relax, I said. I didn’t steal it from you or anything. I just saw it near some rocks back there and thought it looked pretty. It probably fell after the explosion of the train. Soo, for the deal, I’m willing to give it back free of charge, but you can then only ask me one single question. Alright?”

>Be cordial for now. Let’s comply to her request (What topic do you want to ask her about?)
>Bargain for more. It would be in both your best interests to work together, and leaving you in the dark was not going to be helpful at all.
>Remind her that you kicked her ass back then and that you can do it right now again if she doesn’t give you both your weapon AND answer all your questions.

>Other? (Write-in)

>>5989197
>>Remind her that you kicked her ass back then and that you can do it right now again if she doesn’t give you both your weapon AND answer all your questions.

>>5989197
>Bargain for more. It would be in both your best interests to work together, and leaving you in the dark was not going to be helpful at all.

>>5989197
>>Be cordial for now. Let’s comply to her request (What topic do you want to ask her about?)
Ask why our Aura is acting weird

>>5989197
>Remind her that you kicked her ass back then and that you can do it right now again if she doesn’t give you both your weapon AND answer all your questions.

>>5989197

“I have a better deal for you.” You started saying. “You give me back MY weapon, and you answer everything I want to know, and then maybe I will not give you more bruises. How does that sound?”

“Ugh, and I thought I was the violent one.” She said, defeated and throwing you your weapon back with disdain. “Fine, fine. I’ll try answering what I can. And I thought you huntsmen were heroic or something.”

“We are. So, you must understand why I’m so angry with you both taking stuff that doesn’t belong to you AND killing people.” You said again this time, a little bit angrier than before.

“Stop with that, will you? I know you think I was responsible, but I was just following orders. I’m as much as a victim as you are. And yes, I know that my hands aren’t clean, but look at you! By the way you act it’s obvious your past isn’t clean either. You’re just so directly, no tact whatsoever. I’m sure you have taken some lives in the past, so who are you to judge me?” the girl said, scoffing.

“I haven’t killed anyone yet. So, tell me what you know or else I’ll make that change.” You said bluntly. You almost felt bad by what you said, almost as if you had no control over it, but the girl just smiled and laughed.

“Look, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and think that the thing you just said was thanks to whatever this machine is doing with our minds. So, relax, ok? We are in this together.” The girl said by turning back and facing you with a smile. You managed to notice how after she move her head back to look at the front she looked clearly hurt and bothered.

“So, let me tell you what I know.” The girl started saying as you inspected your weapon. “This machine is kind of a modified bomb or something. Kinda like those EMP soldier’s use to deal with machines. However, it was crafted with a certain expensive dust. How does it work? I have no idea. I just know that this dust is not something you can usually buy at any kind of black market. Apparently, it is very good at disrupting both machines and Aura, however it is still very experimental, so whatever side effects it has we didn’t knew.”

So, a modified EMP with a weird type of dust. That explained the train, at least. It also explained your scroll being almost unusable. “And what about our Aura? I mean, sure, it makes it hard to use, but it doesn’t explain anything about the red eyes thingies and all our violent thoughts.” You told Sora.

“Now, that….” The girl started to explain, pausing for a second. “…That is the thing I also want to learn as well. No wonder the guys back at base felt weird around me. I am responsible for most of the testing and stuff, so I guess I kinda got more exposed to whatever those machines are?”

“And how long have you been having these… you know, alterations?” you asked, suspecting something weird.

(1/?)

File: WeirdMachine.jpg (226 KB, 1024x1024)

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“A few weeks, I think. Two months tops. This is just a kinda new prototype, so, what can I say? Maybe the scientists did a breakthrough or something. It is not my job to ask questions. Just to test stuff and make sure things don’t get out of control.” She answered again in a casual tone of voice.

Something didn’t add up.

Apparently, these machines were in fact the origin of the violent tendencies on those that could use Aura well enough (You included). But these machines, at least according to the girl, were just fabricated a few months ago.

But your symptoms started to appear way back. Two years at least. You can somewhat remember your final days at Haven Academy.

You can remember how your team felt weird about you.

“Suzu, the faces you make when you fight… they scare me.” A female voiced said to you.
“Shelly, stop attacking that Grimm. It’s already dead, can’t you see?” A concerned male voice said. Also scared.
“Miss Suzume. I think that’s enough sparring for you. You just broke the arm of your training partner. Go to the infirmary and get checked out, at once.” A teacher said while you were almost ready to graduate. You can still remember the face he made while he scolded you. The disappointment he felt for you wounded you close to your chest.

A few snaps from Sora’s fingers alerted you back again to reality. “Eyes up, girl! Don’t get distracted. I know that you feel a headache, but this is the thing that we installed.” She said, almost proudly, directing your attention to something towards the path you were both walking.

After a few minutes, while you were reminiscing about your past, you managed to spot a metal machine at the base of a tall rock pillar. It was broken from one side, but it still looked completely operational. Long cables filled with a dark red grain-like liquid were pumping inside and outside of this metal carapace. The clash of metal against metal groaned like it was alive. Weird sparks of the same color flew and disappeared into the air from time to time and uneven intervals. And your head. Oh, your head. You felt dizzy, weird, bothered, and a million other words, all at once.

You felt bad being near this machine. Your breathing got faster. You felt on edge. Your chest felt heavy. This weren’t getting better. In fact, they were getting worse.

But you also felt curious. You were a Huntress. You deal with this stuff on the daily, or at least you were supposed to.

>Destroy the machine at range with your now fully functional weapon. It would be far safer to study it after it was just rubble.
>High risk, high reward. Try to get closer and inspect it while it was still operational.
>Try to study it from afar, risking your health less, in order to know more about the machine before you attack it or study it. Maybe Sora was willing to help?
>Other (Write-in)

>>5990169
>>Destroy the machine at range with your now fully functional weapon. It would be far safer to study it after it was just rubble.

This is some bad fucking juju. Knowing they exist and are being field tested on non-related people is hopefully enough to set up a proper search.

>>5990169
>Destroy the machine at range with your now fully functional weapon. It would be far safer to study it after it was just rubble.

>>5990169
>>Destroy the machine at range with your now fully functional weapon. It would be far safer to study it after it was just rubble.

>>5990169

Whatever the purpose of the machine was, whatever it was doing, whatever its purpose was, it was unnatural. Breaking it was your top priority right now. You needed to destroy it.

You joined the hilt of your two curved sabers together. Having them with you again felt nice. You no longer felt incomplete. From the tips of the swords a line made of light started to appear, joining both parts with a slender and bright green line. Yama no Yumi. Your trusted friend and eternal guardian, once again reformed.

You wanted to start shooting. You remember the precision, the feeling of the bright lights dancing in the air and hitting their targets, the feeling of the string made of light against your fingers, the air hitting your face.

“Just so you know, I’m going to destroy this. And I’m not going to let you stop me. Alright?” you said with a stern voice towards Sora. You had a goal in mind, and you will not allow this… individual to prevent you from completing it. If she tried to do that, well… It was easy for you to not be nice.

The girl watched you with a neutral expression. A hint of a smile started to appear at the side of her mouth. “Oh, please. Like I’m going to let you have all the fun.” The girl said, letting both of her daggers hang from their chains again towards the ground. Vials of orange dust were attached to her chains.

“…I thought you were going to stop me?” you asked her. You felt confused.

“And let those nerds fuck up with my head even more? Nah. I’m going to tell them it fully exploded after it fried the train. What are they going to do? Not believe me? I’d actually love for them to accuse me of that. Gives me an excuse to bash their heads.” The girl said, laughing. Was she having fun? Well, you couldn’t really blame her.

You tensed up the string of your bow. Sora started to spin her daggers above her with her chains. And after a brief moment where time almost seemed to stop, you decided to let loose.

Arrows made of light flew besides the flying metal daggers, both aimed towards the machine. The slashes of the daggers ripped apart the metal while the arrows pierced the many cables from the machine. The machine ‘roared’ in response, with gears of metal screaming as its functioning came suddenly to a halt. Black smoke started to appear from what was probably the core of the machine, but the attacks didn’t stop. The barrage continued.

And then the vials of dust attached to the chains of Sora’s weapon exploded, making her daggers completely rip apart the machine. You almost felt jealous at her explosive power. It was clearly more destructive than yours. But it didn’t matter. You tried to cope, thinking that your weapon was simply more focused on precision. That was good enough. Right?

(1/?)

…maybe it was time you added some dust to your arrows. Maybe some fire arrows, or earth arrows. Gravity arrows? That sounds like fun. And explosive ones? So many possibilities.

After the machine stopped working the falcon girl grabbed her weapons back and started to walk backwards, leaving the machine completely unguarded. “I thought you wanted to investigate what that thing was?” you asked her.

“Yeah, that was the plan, but you can have the honors. Besides, now that my head feels better, I just want to relax. Have fun birdie, tell me if you find anything important.” The girl said while closing her eyes and laying on the ground with her hands resting behind her head, smiling. The nerves of this girl…

A cloud of smoke was looming over the remains of the machine. Tiny red sparks could be seen through the blackness here and there, but they faded quickly. Indeed, you felt better. Not that much, but maybe you just needed time. Relaxing indeed sounded like a good idea, but you had better priorities now.

>Inspect the physical remains of the machine. Maybe try to know what the machine’s purpose was? It would be a complex task, sure, but at least you weren’t in danger anymore.
>Check your body first. Test your Aura, your Semblance, maybe even your headache. Your violent thoughts? The other symptoms? Were they gone?
>Let’s see if your Scroll had better signal now. Maybe check in your contacts? Call someone? Check out the details? (Write-ins encouraged)
>Other (Write-in)

>>5991212
>Inspect the physical remains of the machine. Maybe try to know what the machine’s purpose was? It would be a complex task, sure, but at least you weren’t in danger anymore.

>>5991212
>>Check your body first. Test your Aura, your Semblance, maybe even your headache. Your violent thoughts? The other symptoms? Were they gone?

>>5991212
>>Check your body first. Test your Aura, your Semblance, maybe even your headache. Your violent thoughts? The other symptoms? Were they gone?

>>5991212
>Check your body first. Test your Aura, your Semblance, maybe even your headache. Your violent thoughts? The other symptoms? Were they gone?

>>5991212

You closed your eyes for a bit. You tried to use your Semblance, and indeed you could use it with much less of a problem. You tried to make yourself lighter, and after a test jump you flew upwards into the air, spinning in place with absolutely no problem. You suddenly changed your weight again to now be heavy, and you plummeted into the ground at a fast speed. At the last second you made yourself lighter again, and your landing came with just a minuscule amount of dust lifting itself from the ground as if only a small pebble fell.

Your Semblance felt fine again. A little bit rusty, but fine. You still felt tired, however, and the regenerative powers of your Aura would take in just a few hours to kick in after some rest you suspected.

And what about your mental state? After closing your eyes and doing some introspection you felt… fine? Almost the same? Maybe less ringing inside your head, no migraine nor nothing similar. But you still felt it. Deep inside your head. Almost as if a pair of invisible eyes were watching you from the distance. Never blinking, always vigilant.

Whatever you have is far more permanent to what happened to Sora. However, her symptoms were awfully similar to yours. It would be a nice idea to ask her more about it.


“So, Sora. How does your head feel? Do you no longer want to break stuff? Is your rage in check? No weird red eye stuff?” you asked her while she was on the ground with a smile, almost as if relaxing.

She opened one single eye, watching you while resting. “Nah, I feel like always.” She closed them again, yawning.

This wasn’t normal. You needed help. You always thought that whatever you had was something temporal. Maybe just some shell-shock after some Grimm hunting missions. After all, everyone at Haven told you to just ‘rest it out’ and that you would be fine. Maybe some therapy along the way would work.

But no. Whatever this was, there was more to it. You were lucky to find someone with a similar diagnosis. The machine you just destroyed was a key element to learn more about what happened to you.

Your thoughts were interrupted by Sora. “You don’t feel better, right? I can easily tell even from here. You better learn more about hiding your own emotions, girl. I could even help you out, but you’d owe me one. I know a guy here and there in Kuchinasi that may give you some insight. Wanna hear me out?”

This girl was offering her help. Again. She was being awfully nice as of lately. Weird, because you expected her to break the truce the moment she felt fine.

>Accept her help and hear her out. This thing inside your head was a bigger priority, and just thinking about it alone in a rocky desert was not going to help you.
>Decline her offer. As nice as she was being, she still tried to kill you. She couldn’t be trusted. You had to do this on your own.
>Inquire more about why she’s acting like this, offering her help so much and being so amicable.
>Other? (Write-in)

>>5993294
>>Inquire more about why she’s acting like this, offering her help so much and being so amicable.

>>5993294
>Inquire more about why she’s acting like this, offering her help so much and being so amicable.

>>5993294
>Inquire more about why she’s acting like this, offering her help so much and being so amicable.

>>5993294

>Inquire more about why she’s acting like this, offering her help so much and being so amicable.

Dice Check, 3d10, DC 21. Best of three. Losing is not bad. Having a high result will have a great impact on the story.

Rolled 10, 6, 8 = 24 (3d10)

>>5993522

Rolled 3, 10, 9 = 22 (3d10)

>>5993522

Rolled 5, 8, 10 = 23 (3d10)

>>5993522

>>5993294

“Stop. This is weird.” You started your argument. “I know that this machine was doing bad things to our heads. I’m completely aware of that. However, I still don’t understand why you’re being so helpful to me. Just a few minutes ago we were trying to kill each other. We don’t have anything else in common!”

Sora just smirked at you again. “Only that in common? You got that part wrong, sister. Say, girl. Why don’t you try to guess what else we have in common?” You could easily hear the smugness in her voice.

Another thing in common? Seriously?

“Well, we both are good fighters?” You tried to guess.

“Of course, we both are. But remember, I am better. You just got lucky. And no, its not that. I’ll give you one more guess. And don’t you dare be a smartass.” The girl answered back to you. Looks like losing her fight still was a sore spot for her.

So, another different thing. What else did you have in common with this girl? Maybe our attires? No, they were completely different. Our weapons? Absolutely not. This got to be something else.

After a few moments of studying her, you tried to guess what could it be. Maybe there was something on her that could give you a clue? The girl opened her eyes to study you back. This was a game to her. As your eyes darted all around her body that’s when you noticed a small ‘white’ symbol embraided close to the side of her shirt, similar to a circle, very well hidden from view. You couldn’t see exactly what that symbol was, but its color… it was similar to that of…

“You’re a member of the White Fang?” You asked her.

The girl lifted her index finger in front of her mouth, almost shushing you. “Don’t let the others know.” She stood up from the ground, dusted off her clothing and started walking back from where you two originally came from. You decided to follow her.

“Just that? Just because I’m also a faunus is that you decided to help me? Isn’t that, well, basic? Simple? Vain?” You asked her back, perplexed. Seriously just for that?

“No, it isn’t, and you shouldn’t think like that. You must not say those things. You need to be proud of who you are. This is not laughing matter, y’know? Thousands of faunus everyday get mistreated, get abused, just because we’re different. What do you say? What do you think of this conflict we’re in?” The girl said with a sudden conviction on her voice. Some of her words appeared to be just the repetition of something that was told to her, but her conviction made you believe that she indeed fully believed in them.

(1/?)

What was your posture on this?

>Neutral. Sure, some faunus were mistreated, but not all of them. If anything, today most of us were somewhat equal, the differences being almost non-existent.
>Reserved. The White Fang surely had some good ideas, but they were prone to take things to the extreme quite often. Killing humans was not the way to resolve this.
>Open-minded. As much as you hated the thought of other faunus not being treated as equals, you couldn’t help but feel bothered by the current state of things. Slavery of faunus is still very well known to exist, specially here in Mistral…

>>5994094
>>Reserved. The White Fang surely had some good ideas, but they were prone to take things to the extreme quite often. Killing humans was not the way to resolve this.

>>5994094
>>Reserved. The White Fang surely had some good ideas, but they were prone to take things to the extreme quite often. Killing humans was not the way to resolve this.

>>5994093
>Open-minded. As much as you hated the thought of other faunus not being treated as equals, you couldn’t help but feel bothered by the current state of things. Slavery of faunus is still very well known to exist, specially here in Mistral…
IIRC, the problem with racism as RWBY portrays it, is that the Faunus are *actually* justified, even in their more extreme acts that the narrative wants the viewer to think is wrong. A race war was fought in recent-ish memory between Faunus and Humans-- which the Faunus unequivocally won-- but, despite winning the war, slavery and open discrimination still exists in many parts of the world. We don't need to be an open terrorist like Adam Taurus, but... Shelly should at least have sympathy for why tensions are so high.

>>5994094
>>5994217
Changing my vote
>Open-minded. As much as you hated the thought of other faunus not being treated as equals, you couldn’t help but feel bothered by the current state of things. Slavery of faunus is still very well known to exist, specially here in Mistral…

>>5994094
>Open-minded. As much as you hated the thought of other faunus not being treated as equals, you couldn’t help but feel bothered by the current state of things. Slavery of faunus is still very well known to exist, specially here in Mistral…

File: WhiteFangSymbol.png (121 KB, 1979x1979)

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>>5994093

“I… I think that…” You felt the doubt creep in with your voice. Indeed, this was serious, and she had a point too. Of course, you would never condone what those criminals are known for. Attack settlements, kidnap humans, acts of terror, the list goes on. Truly horrific acts…

…But you also hated how many Faunus were still in captivity, specially here in Mistral. Racism was something that most faunus lived day by day. There were some rumors about how the famous Schnee Dust Company still employed hard labor for their mines and what not. They were definitely not a group of people you’d love to help.

You cleaned your throat. “I think that you have a point. I do agree that we get mistreated from time to time. I remember when the White Fang did pacifist strikes to fight for their rights. My mother was is one when I was a kid, I think. But now… those acts of terror… I’m sorry. As much as I appreciate your concern for me, I do not agree with those acts at all.”

The Sora girl kept quiet. Thinking. She just slightly smiled. “That’s fine. It would be weird for you to just agree with everything I said at first. I had my doubts too at the start. Look. I’m going to help you out because we are kin. No need to repay me, but I’d appreciate it if you did it in the future. And…”

The group of bandits that were accompanying Sora were starting to be seen at a distance. They raised up their heads, noticing you both coming back again. They had their weapons at the ready. Lum, the guy you ‘kidnapped’ earlier, was leading them.

“…don’t tell them anything, ‘kay? Just follow my lead and do what I say. And trust me…” Sora continued saying in whispers, grabbing your hand and giving you a small symbol crudely made of linen. “…we’ll get those bastards for messing with our heads. Alright? Let’s formally extend our truce.”

You discreetly took the symbol, quickly putting it inside one of your pockets from your waist.

“Alright lads. Change of plans. That machine exploded, but the test was good enough. Let’s go back home. And also greet our new youngling! What was your name again?” Sora cheered while her underlings watched you with a confused expression. Lum look horrified.

“Erm… my name is She… Susie. My name is Susie. A pleasure to meet you all.” You stuttered. It’s not that you were bad at lying, but this plan was just too improvised. At least Sora could have told you earlier…

(1/?)

“What do you mean a new underling, boss? That bitch tried to kill me! She even attacked you!” Lum screamed at both of you as you were getting closer.

“And I managed to touch her heart with my words and now we’re friends! Somewhat. She still owes me a lot of money, but that’s the price for me deciding to spare her life. I’m such a charitable soul, I know. Now, just apologize to Lumber here, Susie, and we’ll both go back home!” The girl said in a cheerful manner.

…You were starting to have doubts about this plan.

Lumber moved closer to you, inspecting you with a concerned expression. “I still don’t trust her, boss. She was a real sack of rusty nails to me back there. Are you sure she can be trusted?”

“What, you doubting me dumbass? Trust me. She’ll behave. She just can’t afford to move out of line right now. Right Susie?” The girl said with a smug face. She winked at you once.

You just decided to not say anything. Your expression was sour enough to explain whatever was inside your head right there and there.

“Another poor soul under Sora’s thumb.” Lumber said while looking at you with sadness. “That’s what I told ya back then. She’s a real bitch. You shoulda had left her alone, but no. No one listens to Lum. Shame on y’all. Damn Sora and her blackmails. You know she also promised me a statue in my name?”

“Enough chit chat. Time to go. I’ll wait a report on the train from y’all. Let’s go back to the ship. Its a little bit far away, but no worries, we got plenty of supplies.” The Sora girl grabbed a nearby backpack, throwing it at you. You easily grabbed it with your hands. “Those are our supplies. Carry them over Susie will ya?” Sora said. The smugness on her voice was enough to make you almost feel nauseous.

(2/?)

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But, well. She promised help for whatever condition you had with your head. And its not like you truly owed her anything (Even when she was indeed helping you right now by helping you ‘infiltrate’ whatever organization she was in). You could easily leave at any time. And this was also a splendid opportunity to investigate those that created that weird machine.

You decided to follow them. At least for now. Practically speaking this was just the better plan. You seriously didn’t want to walk an unknown number of days with no food and water to reach whatever weird place this was.

But well… these were hours of walking. You might as well focus on something while you walked with them.

Choose one:
>Focus on your physical body. Offer to carry all their equipment while walking. Poor Lum’ looks like he’s going to faint at any second.
>Let’s talk to them all. Study them. Learn their motives, their names, their organization, anything of importance. You were always a shrewd lass, almost a silver tongue, even.
>Some introspection would be nice. Let’s just be quiet while on the road. Think of yourself. Your weaknesses. Your strengths. Your emotions. Your mental state. Just yourself.

>>5994815
>>Some introspection would be nice. Let’s just be quiet while on the road. Think of yourself. Your weaknesses. Your strengths. Your emotions. Your mental state. Just yourself.

Gotta know yourself first.

>>5994815
>Let’s talk to them all. Study them. Learn their motives, their names, their organization, anything of importance. You were always a shrewd lass, almost a silver tongue, even.

>>5994815
>>Some introspection would be nice. Let’s just be quiet while on the road. Think of yourself. Your weaknesses. Your strengths. Your emotions. Your mental state. Just yourself.

>>5994815
>Some introspection would be nice. Let’s just be quiet while on the road. Think of yourself. Your weaknesses. Your strengths. Your emotions. Your mental state. Just yourself

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>>5994815

>Focus changed from 2 to 3. More Aura capacity. The Semblance’s range changes from Short to Medium.
>Trait “Rusty” changed to “Slightly Rusty”.
>New Trait: “Stoic”. Better overall resistance against external effects related to illusions, emotions and mental changes.
>Current Character Sheet: https://pastebin.com/fSCfX2eH

You weren’t feeling healthy at all. You felt tired, hungry and you had plenty of bruises and closed wounds.

But weirdly enough you felt better than before. Your Aura started slowly healing your wounds. The sun started to set down, with tiny white dots appearing far away into the horizon second by second. The hot and dry sun changed that was bathing you earlier changed to that of a cool and pleasant breeze against your face. Were those clouds at the distance? Looks like it was going to rain in a few hours.

The other, well, ‘bandits’ started to talk to each other. They were mostly silent, overall. They didn’t trust you that much. And you couldn’t blame them. You were an enemy of them after all, but circumstances changed. Now you were ‘following’ this Sora girl. A member of the White Fang and from another organization. ‘Black Sheep’ was it? Sounded like a criminal family. But you were just faking being her ‘underling’. She knew well enough that you were a match for her. Maybe you got lucky? Who knows? But she was willing to help you. She claimed that it was because you were a Faunus, just like her. But you couldn’t help but feel that she would eventually ask something in return. That was just her type of personality.

You decided to stay silent on the journey while walking with these renegades. They asked little about you, and you just told them a part of the story. For them, you were ‘Susie’, an ex-huntress that was being ‘blackmailed’ by Sora. No more details were said. And that was fine for you. There were other questions, however, that were more important.

What was going on with your head? Apparently, you laughed and grinned when you were involved in violent situations. But that can’t be right. And you couldn’t help but admit that, indeed, some of your methods were more… violent. Cruel, even. Why? You just do as you think is right in the moment, but something happens that changes you. And you feel bad about it.

You feel bad about it because this is exactly what your former teammates told you was happening. But you didn’t believe them back then. They were surely exaggerating. I mean, come on. You? You always thought of yourself as someone just. Someone kind. Peaceful. The only reason you agreed to retire early was to please them. Maybe it was just stress. You just needed some rest and bam, back into action with them. Like the good old days.

(1/?)

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But now you believed them more. There was something wrong with you. Two years at least you were acting this way. Maybe more.

After some hours of walking, you saw a small ship hidden behind some tall pillars. It was somewhat small. Half a dozen was the maximum capacity, it appeared. Was it a modified cargo ship? It had some machine guns installed outside. Well, at least you weren’t going to be easy targets for the Grimm.

“Get yourself comfortable. It may be small but don’t worry it is fast.” The girl Sora said while the other bandits started to get inside. “If we don’t find any problems on the way I think we’ll get there in three hours tops.”

“I have mixed feelings about all this.” You replied. “About you helping me. I mean. Thank you? That doesn’t make us allies, however. You killed some people back there and…”

“Please stop with that, or I might get second thoughts about all this too. I’m helping you because we are kindred, mostly. And I’m also a little bit curious about what is happening to you. Besides, you need to pay me back.” The girl exclaimed with her arms crossed.

“You mean, when I defeated you?” you asked back, smiling a bit.

“You were lucky and you know it. We both weren’t at the top of our game. And you fought dirty, may I remind you?” the girl faked a smile, obviously being bothered by that comment again. “So, you better behave yourself, pretend to be my underling for now, and maybe I’ll not cut you in half while you sleep. Understood?”

“Does that work on the others? As in, trying to make them crap their pants every time they see you?” you replied, unbothered.

“Hey, as long as they fall in line. Just don’t disrespect me in public and we’ll be golden. Then after we find out more info about that machine and what is going on with your head you can pay me back and we’ll go our separate ways.” Sora exclaimed, walking towards the ship and going inside.

(2/?)

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(2/?)

Well. You had some hours of free time. You’d arrive at Kuchinashi soon enough. An infamous city south of the main capital of Mistral. You’d heard that it was a den of crime, stolen goods and plenty more. Maybe it was a good idea to lay down there, after all. Find some information, investigate again.

Getting back in the game after this long felt good.

How did you spend these few hours?

Choose 2:
>Some practice fights with Sora would be good enough to train your melee capabilities. At least this would make you more comfortable when the situation worsened (And you were sure it would happen eventually).
>Practice your arrow shooting while you were flying inside the machine, aiming at clouds and what-not. This was your specialty, after all.
>Ask Sora about the vials she uses on her weapon. That’s a creative way of using dust to fight. Maybe you could learn something about it?
>This would require a lot of willpower from your part, but… Maybe text your former teammates? See how they’re doing? Ask them about something? (Add write-in about the topic of discussion).
>Other (Write-in)

>>5996266
>>Some practice fights with Sora would be good enough to train your melee capabilities. At least this would make you more comfortable when the situation worsened (And you were sure it would happen eventually).
>>Practice your arrow shooting while you were flying inside the machine, aiming at clouds and what-not. This was your specialty, after all.

Time to get back into fighting shape.

>>5996266
>Some practice fights with Sora would be good enough to train your melee capabilities. At least this would make you more comfortable when the situation worsened (And you were sure it would happen eventually).
>Ask Sora about the vials she uses on her weapon. That’s a creative way of using dust to fight. Maybe you could learn something about it?

>>5996266
>>Some practice fights with Sora would be good enough to train your melee capabilities. At least this would make you more comfortable when the situation worsened (And you were sure it would happen eventually).
>>Practice your arrow shooting while you were flying inside the machine, aiming at clouds and what-not. This was your specialty, after all.

>>5996266
>Some practice fights with Sora would be good enough to train your melee capabilities. At least this would make you more comfortable when the situation worsened (And you were sure it would happen eventually).
>Practice your arrow shooting while you were flying inside the machine, aiming at clouds and what-not. This was your specialty, after all.

>>5996266

>Melee changed from 3 to 4. We’re now on par when it comes to skill to a top student. Maybe Pyrrha or late volumes team RWBY individually speaking.
>Ranged changed from 4 to 5. We’re now in the reign of a professional Huntress. Maybe slightly below Cinder.
>Current Character Sheet: https://pastebin.com/fSCfX2eH

As much as you wanted to know more about the fate of your teammates, what is happening at Haven, more information about your past and current condition, your priorities right where far different. You needed to step up your game when it came to fighting. You felt a little bit embarrassed about it, but your life was most likely at risk. There was no point in reconnecting with them if you were dead somewhere out there.

You decided to ask Sora to spar a little bit. She eagerly agreed, however due to the relatively compact room you were both in it was hard to go all out. Even still, with both of your styles being somewhat more related to medium-long range, you both were handicapped, and as such the fight was closer than it seemed. She managed to hit you a few times here and there, and you did the same to her. She liked to fight dirty, and if it wasn’t for your Aura your nose would have been broken.

You decided to stop the spar. Sora easily claimed that she defeated you, but realistically speaking this was a draw at best. Nevertheless, you felt better when it comes to fighting in melee range. No one expects an archer like you to actually bite back.

True, you were an archer, yet you haven’t shot many arrows. That machine from back then was a still target. Where was the fun stuff? You left towards the outside gate of the vehicle, easily climbing and landing yourself on top of the flying machine. By using just a tiny amount of your Aura you made yourself heavier, making you hard to blow away when it came to the wind.

The strong currents of wind blew your face. You felt at home here. If a fisherman felt at peace while in a lake, this is the place where you felt something similar. By taking out your weapon, Yama no Yumi, and conjoining both sabers you created a bow and just… started shooting.

A cloud here and there, pierced reshaped as a ray of light coming from your bow penetrated it. There were some flying birds here and there, and you made your arrows made of light bend while on the air and fly with them, dancing through the sky, illuminating its darkness and scaring those poor souls. “Don’t worry, I’ll not hurt you. Just enjoy the lightshow.” You muttered to yourself.

After a while you saw it far away into the distance. A small nest of lights hidden at the side of an immense cave formation. The ‘egg in a viper’s nest’. Kuchinashi. It was time to land inside the plane back and think about a plan with Sora. As much as you disliked it, she was the key for you to blend in.

(1/?)

…

“So, what’s the plan, Sora? Something tells me that introducing myself as a huntress would not be the most optimal plan.” You asked her while covering yourself with some long and black robes that were missing pieces here and there.

“Oh, it would be. If you want to die a quick and painful death, that’s it.” She laughed a bit once the flying machine started to land on some helipads at the top part of the city. “You see, most Huntsmen aren’t well appreciated here, if you catch my meaning. Be mean. Be harsh. And trust me, you’ll blend in eventually. And call me Boss, unless you want me to kick your teeth in.”

You scoffed at that last comment. “Right, right, I know. I am a bandit that you found near the train, picking out valuable stuff from the wreckage, and after that you decided to take me ‘under your wing’, right?”

“You have good memory, birdie. Now, stay quiet while I inform of what happened to the upper nobles. I’ll let you accompany me for now. Investigate and be the quiet one. Understood?” The girl said still smiling. She was enjoying this shift in power.

“…right. Understood.” You replied coldly.

“Nah, do it again. Properly, this time.” The girl smirked back.

“I understand… boss…” you said while closing your eyes in frustration. Saying those words was made with great effort from your part.

“Good job, birdie! You learn fast.” Sora said while patting you on the back of the head. Somewhat forcefully. “Oh, look. My boss’s down there.”

After those words you looked down. A flying machine the size of your head with a bright circular blue light was at its center. A drone. Well, apparently this ‘Black Sheep’ family indeed was powerful. That looked like Atlas tech.

The girl Sora jumped towards the landing pad, smiling. All the other bandits jumped with her. You did the same, trying to stay close to your ‘boss’.

(2/?)

“Miss Windcrest. A pleasure to meet you. We are happy to see you’re still in one piece. How was the operation?” the Drone said in a robotic voice, with slight masculine tones to it.

“It went fine. Train got destroyed. No survivors. Sadly the train had little to no loot, and the machine you told us to install? It blew up on its own after a while. Little Susie here almost got killed by a falling rock pillar thanks to that explosion, isn’t that right?” Sora patted you on the back.

“…yes, that’s correct.” You answered coldly, looking at the ground.

“Hmmm… I don’t recognize her face. Who is this person, Miss Windcrest?” the drone said, flying around you and inspecting you. Its orb changed from color and size from time to time.

“Oh, she’s…” Sora said, but was quickly cut off by the drone.

“No, no. I’d prefer if she told me herself. Who’re you? You weren’t part of this operation at the start, I’m quite sure.” The drone said, its gaze never separating from your figure. Sora quickly got quiet, and she looked to be a little nervous.

>Stick with the original plan. You were a mere looter that was near the train when it fell, and you decided to loot it. Sora then recruited you.
>Slightly twist the story. Claim you were a bounty hunter eager to find some valuables, then you met Sora and you defeated her in battle. Maybe her bosses would treat you with more respect?
>Say the truth in a vague way. Claim your memory’s fuzzy, that there’s something wrong with your head, and that after pairing up with Sora near the accident that you were promised help. You would not play the ‘underling’ part at all.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5997355
>>Stick with the original plan. You were a mere looter that was near the train when it fell, and you decided to loot it. Sora then recruited you.

>>5997355
>Stick with the original plan. You were a mere looter that was near the train when it fell, and you decided to loot it. Sora then recruited you.

>>5997355
>Slightly twist the story. Claim you were a bounty hunter eager to find some valuables, then you met Sora and you defeated her in battle. Maybe her bosses would treat you with more respect?

>>5997355
>>Stick with the original plan. You were a mere looter that was near the train when it fell, and you decided to loot it. Sora then recruited you.

>>5997355

“I’m… forgive me, but I’m afraid I’m a little bit confused by all this.” You started answering to the drone, trying to keep your voice low and stuttering a bit. As much as you disliked lying you couldn’t help but recognize how easy it was. “My name is Susie. I was just a mere vagrant from nearby. I was hungry and that’s when I heard an explosion. What I saw was this train falling from a cliff and, as much as I hate it, I guess my greed won. I wanted to see if maybe the train had supplies of some sorts, or maybe food, or at the very least some Lien cards I could pick. Instead, I found these… people looking around…” you said, gesturing towards Sora and the other bandits.

The drone kept quiet, dancing around you with its piercing gaze never separating from you, inspecting you. You saw the eyes of Sora looking at both of you. She looked serious, concerned. Afraid.

“A looter? I see.” The piece of technology replied, keeping quiet for a time. “Miss Windcrest, we don’t understand your fascination to take every vagrant you see that needs help under your wings, but you must understand that here in the family we don’t tolerate weakness nor disobedience. Is this… Susie, someone we can trust?”

“Of course, she is. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have picked her up. When have I let you down when it comes to decision making?” Sora replied, her cocky tone of voice reappearing.

“A few times, to be fair.” The reply was cold. Sora winced in shame slightly, her pride slightly wounded. “Miss Susie. If you would please, we would like to have some words with you. Miss Windcrest, go inside and wait further instructions. We shall deal with you shortly.” The drone said, flying away towards a nearby wagon with a thick cable on top of it. It appeared to be a tramway. It was bright, clean, and it had bright transparent blue windows made of an energy shield. Quite the sophisticated technology.

Sora did a light bow and walked away with a concerned expression. She was nervous. She really appreciated you, in a weird way. The drone continued hovering towards the wagon while you followed closely. Once you both got inside the metal wagon a blue forcefield made of dust appeared, preventing you from getting outside. Inside there were a pair of small seats. The drone hovered on top of one, as if ‘sitting’. This would be quite amusing, but you couldn’t help but feel in danger inside here.

“Now please, take a seat, miss Susie. We would like to ask you a few questions. And don’t worry, you are not in danger. As long as you keep truthful to your responses, of course.” The drone said with the same courteous tone of voice. Was that amusement in its voice?

(1/?)

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You decided to comply, sitting on the other side inside the wagon while it started moving downwards into the heart of the city. Neon lights surrounded eastern-looking buildings at the distance. Most of them were well maintained. The bright broken moon in the sky accentuated the roofs with a glowing white beauty. An urban ocean made of neon and decadence. Very good first impressions, you must admit, but an acute sense of hearing could easily tell you that appearances were deceiving. A few kids cried here and there, pickpockets were counting up their rewards, a man in an alleyway was getting beat up.

A rotten apple with a golden skin.

“Indeed, quite a beautiful city, isn’t it?” The drone said, apparently noticing you inspecting the beautiful landscape of the city. “It is thanks to our hard work that this place looks as beautiful and energetic. As hard as it is to believe, this place was quite a slum back in the day, but things are changing for the better. Trust us.”

A man just got stabbed inside a house not that far away from you. Furniture fell. You could easily hear his screaming and gurgling. His kid was crying for ‘papa’.

“I believe you fully. Indeed, it is beautiful.” You replied coldly. What an awful place.

“How pleased we are to hear that. Now, for the matters at hand… for better or for worse, a few of our members recently… became indisposed of continuing their work. I’m afraid this was quite a permanent and unpleasant event for most involved, but alas, this gives you quite a unique opportunity to join our ranks. However, as charitable as we are, we’re afraid we need to make sure your skills comply with our high standards. Not that we distrust of Miss Windcrest’s opinion of you, of course, but we need to make sure that you can be reliable.”

You felt somewhat disgusted. Working for a criminal family? Would you really step so low? All for your investigation? Was it worth it? Maybe you should go solo, seek answers on your own, but of course, maybe having their help could also be useful…

(2/?)

“First, we would like to test you. You must understand that actions speak far louder than words. And they tend to be far more accurate. We would like to avoid accidents on the job in the future if you were to be accepted. Nevertheless, what do you consider yourself good at, miss Susie?” the drone asked.

So, the task they’re going to give you is related to what you think you’re good at? Well. You are a graduated huntress with a few years of experience. And not only that, you were the leader of your team, after all. And for very good reason too. Almost top of your class. Indeed, you excelled at many things, but one of your strong suits definitely was…

>I’m a really good fighter. When it comes to taking and giving punches, technique, force, defense, style, whatever. This was definitely your bread and butter.
>I’m quite good at espionage. As silent as a cat, as perceptive as an eagle. Dealing with information and/or technology was definitely one of your strong suits. Students at Haven always asked you to give you the answers at the written exams…
>I’m a good leader and diplomat. Quite knowledgeable too. Plain and simple. My tactics are quite up there, and those that follow them always end up reaping some sweet rewards. People just want to help me when they can. I’m very likeable.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5999571
>>I’m a really good fighter. When it comes to taking and giving punches, technique, force, defense, style, whatever. This was definitely your bread and butter.
When in doubt be a good fighter. Being a really good fighter is never a mistake.

>>5999571
>I’m a good leader and diplomat. Quite knowledgeable too. Plain and simple. My tactics are quite up there, and those that follow them always end up reaping some sweet rewards. People just want to help me when they can. I’m very likeable.

>>5999571
>I’m a really good fighter. When it comes to taking and giving punches, technique, force, defense, style, whatever. This was definitely your bread and butter.

>>5999571
>I’m quite good at espionage. As silent as a cat, as perceptive as an eagle. Dealing with information and/or technology was definitely one of your strong suits. Students at Haven always asked you to give you the answers at the written exams…

>>5999571
>I’m a really good fighter. When it comes to taking and giving punches, technique, force, defense, style, whatever. This was definitely your bread and butter.

>>5999571

>New Trait: “Combat Prodigy”. When it comes to fighting, either against a Grimm or another humanoid, a single opponent or many of them, you can easily outshine most others. DC’s of all rolls related to combat slightly reduced. Your fighting style is flashier than most others, which can influence people in certain ways.

“Well… I’m good at fighting, I guess…” You answered, looking at the window to calm your nerves. “I know, I know. Too cliche, but what can I say? I can count with the fingers of my right hand the fights where I didn’t end up winning. I guess I’ve lost a few times, but that was a long time ago.”

The floating sphere kept quiet for a while. “Splendid. Wonderful. Then I have the perfect task for you. Let me guess, it is your first time here in the city, right?”

“Right.” You answered with a monotone tone of voice. At least there was no need to travel outside the city.

“Well then, in that case let me give you some background information. There’s a certain fighting school here in the city. It is more likely located near the Central Strip, yet where exactly that’s something for you to investigate. To put it bluntly, the school is barely a shadow of what it formerly was in the past, however a new face has appeared and is apparently trying to make it glow again. Your job is to go there and make sure that whoever is in charge becomes, well… not able to continue.” The drone explained, showing little hints of doubt with its trailing voice.

A little sting was felt inside your chest. Really? Something this immoral this fast? Absolutely not. You would never kill someone in cold blood. Much less for these criminals. Maybe it was time to bail? Find answers on your own? You didn’t really need the help of those people. At least not to this extent.

“I…” you started explaining your refusal, but the drone quickly interrupted you.

“Ah, miss Susie. We’re so glad you’re eager to get our approval. Your smile is saying everything that we need to know. However, before you get any funny ideas, you must know that we’d prefer if the target remains… alive. We wouldn’t want to be bothered by huntsmen, right?”

(1/?)

Smiling? What? You quickly looked at your reflection on the energy shield that was surrounding the wagon. It appears your face was ‘stuck’ on a somewhat happy grin. You touched your face in desperation, trying to stop the smile, and you succeeded little by little, at least this time. Even you started to feel scared.

“Don’t get sad, miss Susie. It is only a preference, after all. If the target does not wish to hear your helpful advice, then by all means you’re free to do whatever you want with him. However, our main concern is making sure that unofficial training school becomes dismantled. Anything else is just secondary. Now, any questions?”

This darn thing keeps happening to you. How bothersome. You barely heard the bot’s explanation, being much more concerned with what just happened to your face. This weird bloodthirst you had was indeed something serious. You could sense it. Was it always this bad? Was it getting worse? Let’s hope not…

“Yeah. Any info about who this guy is?” you decided to ask, masking your desperation with curiosity, trying to keep up with the façade.

“Not much, we’re afraid. Only that he goes by the nickname ‘The King of Hell’. Too corny for our taste, but oh well. Not much we can do. You, however, feel free to turn this so-called ‘king’ into a ‘clown’ by whatever means you desire. Just remember, avoid killing him if you can.”

(2/?)

The wagon suddenly stopped in mid-air, near the rooftop of a tall building. Its gates opening up and the shields were powering off.

“Before you go, miss Susie, make sure to grab this Scroll and some Lien. This way we can make sure you’re okay out there. Feel free to explore the city as you wish and do whatever you want, but don’t spend it all in gambling, if you will.” The flying sphere continued rambling. A small compartment opened up from its side, and inside there was a scroll and some Lienn cards. It wasn’t that much, but it was no small amount either.

You sighed, jumping towards the rooftop and using some acrobatic moves to land towards the floor down into the streets. This one was particularly quiet, since the only people around where at least four or five hooded figures sleeping at the base of a building with plenty of empty bottles of liquor at their sides.

Time to find this ‘King of Hell’, apparently. You took out your scroll and started looking out for more information about this city, and after some brief investigation you thought of some places where you could find any leads.

>Head towards the famous tavern “The Skillful” directly. It was a safe haven of sorts where plenty of huntsmen visited. Good place to find for information.
>There was a nightclub called “The Blind Mouse” where there was an important even happening. Definitely a good place to look out for rumors.
>Maybe the local Sheriff’s office could be helpful. Surely, they know more about the criminal world of this dirty city.
>No place seemed good enough. Explore on your own, feel the streets, understand its people, become one with the city. Who knows, maybe you’ll find something interesting?
>Go somewhere else? Or maybe do something different? (Write-in. Kuchinashi is a vast city so most places you could think within reason should be available.)

>>6001486
>>There was a nightclub called “The Blind Mouse” where there was an important even happening. Definitely a good place to look out for rumors.

>>6001486
>>Head towards the famous tavern “The Skillful” directly. It was a safe haven of sorts where plenty of huntsmen visited. Good place to find for information.

>>6001486
>>There was a nightclub called “The Blind Mouse” where there was an important even happening. Definitely a good place to look out for rumors.

>>6001486
>>There was a nightclub called “The Blind Mouse” where there was an important even happening. Definitely a good place to look out for rumors

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>>6001486

‘The Blind Mouse’. What a weird name, but you’ve heard far worse in your lifetime. You decided to go there, anyway. The Sheriff’s office would most likely not be able to help you, since their influence didn’t sound that strong here in this filth of a city, and the tavern? Maybe it would be a bad idea for you to head directly there. You’re trying to lay low, after all. And who knows? Maybe a nightclub would help you relax a bit, find info about this fighting school, meet some influential people, get some friends, etc.

You walked through the empty city streets, moving towards what the map on your Scroll said was the location of this club. A few minutes passed. Some eyes here and there were watching you behind either some windows or broken doors hastily boarded up. Luckily for you, no one decided to stop you in your tracks.

The rhythm of the place quickly changed pace, however, as you turned towards the Center Strip. Far more people were here and there. Pickpockets and scoundrels thrived here, as people were drowning the stalls looking for goods of most kinds, almost like an open market. Dust, weapons, even some drugs were on full display. No authority at all nearby. It was truly a lawless place.

As you walked together with the river of people you came to a sudden stop. The thing was… you just couldn’t move. You were bumping shoulders with people at your sides, at your front and also behind you. And they weren’t moving either. Some of them called out in frustration, but after lifting your gaze you easily picked up what was the deal with this turn of events.

At the distance you managed to see the cartoony face of a mouse with crossed eyes on top of a building. One of the eyes blinked rapidly, signaling that it wasn’t that well maintained as it had an electricity failure, most likely. The lights inside were off, however. Weird for a nightclub, specially in the middle of the night.

And then, the main gate opened, revealing a bright light behind as some people with a black and red uniform, together with some Grimm-styled outfits, walking outside with what appeared to be assault rifles on their hands, accompanying three men blindfolded in front of them, clearly hostages of some kind.

The people around you quieted down as they started watching what was happening as well. Whispers could easily be heard within the crowd. “Is this the event?” said one girl. “I hope so. But doesn’t it look weird? Aren’t those the owners? Why are they like that?” said another man.

The three blindfolded men were quickly hit on the back of the legs by the armed men, falling to their knees in front of the crowd. Then, the guns lifted, aiming at their heads. Was this an execution of some sorts? Why were the people not reacting? Maybe this was just a show? Even then, it was plainly horrible. These people were in danger, if only you could…

(1/?)

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“Enjoying the event? Can’t blame ya. Nice teeth, by the way, but just you wait. Here comes the main course”. said a voice at your right. A tall male teen with donkey ears was grinning at your side, looking at the front with an eager expression.

Some lights moved from the side of the building, focusing their attention towards the open gate. A tall girl with what appeared to be electronic butterfly wings and insect antennae started getting out of the nightclub. She was tall, her make-up was black and ruined, she was wearing a skintight silver suit with many cables all around and… was her face broken? It appeared to be made of metal. Was she an android or something?

“Greetings, people of the jeweled city of Kuchinashi! I am your host for tonight, Vespera! Bringer of both amazing and fun news!” the girl said, screaming at the crowd as if cheering with them. Some people in the crowd started screaming in excitement, chanting ‘Nocturne! Nocturne! Nocturne!’ over and over again.

The girl closed her eyes and listened to the crowd. She was enjoying the cheers. “Oh, I love you all, my fans! I am so eager to tell you what is happening! Might as well jump right into it, no?” the girl asked again. This time more people started cheering up. The faunus boy at your side was jumping up and down, clearly a fan of her.

“You all know this place. ‘The Blind Rat’ or something. And what a good place it was!” the girl continued with her performance. “I remember when this club was the main attraction of Kuchinashi way back in the day. The drinks were good, the music loud, and the entertainment? The best in all the four kingdoms. No doubt about it. But I’m saddened to see its current state. Filled with lowly bandits, stinky drunks and prices that make you wish to get robbed outside. Don’t you all agree?!”

The people cheered again. This time it was almost everyone. Except for you and a few others, of course.

“I’m afraid this was all thanks to these three imbeciles.” The girl moved her arms, signaling the three blindfolded men. The guards lifted their weapons, aiming at their heads. “They destroyed the reputation of this place thanks to their corruption. To their greed. They no longer wanted to serve the people, instead more interested in serving their own pockets! But that will no longer be a problem. You see, I’m happy to announce that I will take over this place! Change it for the better! All for you!” the girl screamed again. How was her voice getting amplified? No normal human nor faunus could speak with such a strong voice.

(2/?)

Some flying robots appeared from behind the giant construction of the ‘Mouse’ above the building, covering it with a big piece of cloth and spraying paint on top of it as if decorating it.

“I present to you all, The Dead Butterfly!” the girl screamed, and the lights inside the establishment lighted up in many bright and purple colors. Artificial smoke could be seen at the sides, neon lights flared up in the sky. Truly an amazing spectacle.

“And now…” the girl exclaimed again, and all the people got quieter as they noticed her soft tone of voice go slightly lower. “…for the fate of these failures. What shall it be, people? What shall be their punishment for carelessly taking advantage of us? Shall we end their lives? Exile them so the Grimm eat them up? Or maybe we should take their sight! For they no longer are deserving of enjoying what they robbed the people of this city!” the three men, after hearing this, started to say something to her while the crowd started cheering. You could easily hear them thanks to your enhanced hearing.

“Please, spare us! We didn’t do anything wrong! We haven’t robbed anyone! Why are you doing this to us?!” they exclaimed in desperation to the android with the broken face, yet she ignored them, only smiling at them slightly.

She took out a whip from her hip which quickly danced above her, quickly straightening and shortening itself, transforming into a bright rapier with neon colors. She started to approach the three men. The crowd suddenly got quiet, eager to see what happened next.

She was going to cut their eyes. Literally. In cold blood. You felt it in her intentions. She, indeed, started to move the edge of her blade towards the face of the first man.

>Speak out. Stop this madness somehow. Scream something to get her attention. Intervene while you still can. You were a huntress, right?! Your duty is to save people.
>Keep quiet. It would be unwise to blow out your cover. It would be better if you didn’t watch this… gruesome display.
>Other? (Write-in)

>>6003551
>>Speak out. Stop this madness somehow. Scream something to get her attention. Intervene while you still can. You were a huntress, right?! Your duty is to save people.

>>6003551
>>Speak out. Stop this madness somehow. Scream something to get her attention. Intervene while you still can. You were a huntress, right?! Your duty is to save people.

>>6003551
>Speak out. Stop this madness somehow. Scream something to get her attention. Intervene while you still can. You were a huntress, right?! Your duty is to save people.

>>6003551
>Speak out. Stop this madness somehow. Scream something to get her attention. Intervene while you still can. You were a huntress, right?! Your duty is to save people.

>>6003551

You never felt something like this before. It was like a burning hand grasping and squeezing your heart. Your Aura started to flare. Yeah, you had problems inside your head. Of course, it was proper to remain undercover. And it might be too notorious for your taste, sure. Your mind knew this was a bad idea overall.

But your heart. Your heart screamed to do something. To intervene. How would you be able to look at yourself in the mirror if you just simply didn’t do anything? Isn’t this why you became a Huntress? To save others? To help people?

You touched the faunus boy at your side, using your semblance to both make himself heavier and yourself lighter. Then, with a quick jump, you used his body to push yourself and do a high jump aimed directly towards the android girl.

SLASH!

Your movement was quite fast. You’re sure most people didn’t even saw what happened. But the results were quite obvious. The girl with a metal face reeled back with an astonished look on her face after the blow from your right saber. Her rapier was in front of her face. She blocked it. But nevertheless, you saved one of the guys in front of you at least.

The cheers of the crowd quickly got quieter as they understood what was happening. Weirdly enough they didn’t start running from the fight. Instead, you saw some lights flaring up from amongst the crowd. They were taking their scrolls and aiming at both of you, recording and taking photos.

“A Huntress? Here of all the places in Remnant?” said the android with the butterfly cyberwings. “My, my. You’re quite the exotic breed, you know? Or maybe you’re just too bold and stupid to get out of hiding. What do you think you’re doing, interrupting my show?” she brandished her rapier again. It turned again into a long and elastic whip with neon lights all around it.

“Isn’t it obvious? What you were about to do was a crime. An atrocity, at least. It is my duty to stop you.” You said defiantly towards her. The guards surrounding her lifted their assault rifles again, this time aiming at you. The people kept looking in amazement. Some cheered at you, yet most of them still didn’t knew how to react.

(1/?)

The girl put her hands on her hips, as if studying you. She smiled slightly, and then she turned around to face the crowd once again. “Looks like a hero has come to defend the innocents, once again! Just like in the good old days! And we all thought that huntsmen were done for! An applause, please, for the hero of the day!” The girl lifted both of her hands to point at you, smiling. The people started to cheer and clap. A few ‘boo’s were heard here and there, but they were the minority.

Was she… actually hyping you up? You were sure she would get mad at you for stopping her plans.

And then, her right wrist started to move upwards. She was aiming for an attack directly towards your chest. She dashed towards you, and your sabers clashed against her rapier. You could hear her whisper after watching you from behind the blades. “Let’s give them a good show, shall we?” she bounced back towards her initial place after the clash, spinning in the air and showing off.

The girl aimed with her rapier towards the three blindfolded men, pointing it back again towards the entrance. The guards went towards them and started leading them inside the establishment once again. The girl turned her back towards you as she inspected both the crowd and her minions. “We wouldn’t want to get interrupted by those hindrances, right?” she said to you, cracking her whip once again. The lights at the side of the establishment turned and aimed towards both of you, giving you focus. Electronic club music started blasting from nearby music amplifiers. Almost as if all of this was planned.

>Giving your back towards a trained fighter? Such a clumsy mistake. Attack her while she had her back turned towards you. Take advantage of the situation.
>Stay on the defensive for now. Test her. You didn’t knew her Semblance or tricks. Could an android even have a Semblance?
>Beat her at her own game. She wanted to give the people a show? Very well. Lets ruin her reputation by taunting her and mocking her as the people recorded you both.
>Other (Write-in)

>>6004825
>>Beat her at her own game. She wanted to give the people a show? Very well. Lets ruin her reputation by taunting her and mocking her as the people recorded you both.

>>6004825
>Stay on the defensive for now. Test her. You didn’t knew her Semblance or tricks. Could an android even have a Semblance?
Attacking while her back is turned isn't a very heroic thing to do-- nor is shit-talking in case she's actually a performer (however unconventional).

>>6004825
>Beat her at her own game. She wanted to give the people a show? Very well. Lets ruin her reputation by taunting her and mocking her as the people recorded you both.

>>6004825
>>Stay on the defensive for now. Test her. You didn’t knew her Semblance or tricks. Could an android even have a Semblance?

>>6004825
>>Stay on the defensive for now. Test her. You didn’t knew her Semblance or tricks. Could an android even have a Semblance?

>>6005357
>>6006594
>>6006824

Dice roll. 3d10. DC 14 to pass, DC 26 to crit. Best of three.

Rolled 10, 7, 8 = 25 (3d10)

>>6006911

Rolled 2, 8, 6 = 16 (3d10)

>>6006911
>>6006912
Damn so close to the crit.

Rolled 2, 8, 5 = 15 (3d10)

>>6006911

>>6004825

You attached both ends of your sabers together, creating a bow. You lifted your arms and aimed directly towards her head. You decided to execute a simple warning shot. The greenish arrow made of light flew directly towards the target and, at the last second, it diverted its course to land at a wall, grazing on purpose the side of her head. “Turning your back against an opponent like me? Bad choice.”

The cybernetic gal turned around with a slightly surprised yet amused expression. “Oh, but I don’t have to worry about anything. You see, you’re so beneath me that I’m not fearing for my life in the slightest.” She cracked her whip-rapier back in place, elongating it as sparks of various colors started to fly from around it.

However, she decided to stay in place. You clearly had the range advantage, so why wasn’t she approaching you? You suspected some kind of trick beneath all of this. You decided to hold your breath, feeling the cheers from the crowd of people fall on both of you.

And then, you shot again with your bow a barrage of greenish arrows, prodding at her defenses. It was definitely a lightshow, and people saw in amazement as the trail of light made shining strings just in front of the club.

The whip of the android quickly started to spin around her own body, deflecting and blocking your projectiles. As contact was made between her weapon and your arrows, tiny explosions of dust from various bright colors started to surround her own body. She indeed was quite good at defense, but it didn’t matter. You trusted in your abilities, and overall, you didn’t sense any danger coming from her, always ready for any kind of sneak attack and the like.

You felt movement from behind you. You glanced around, but it apparently was just a fan whistling and cheering you up. Just a mere distraction. You quickly turned around to face the cloud of smoke and dust that was in front of you, expecting a counterattack from the girl since your guard was open for a second, but to your surprise nothing happened. The smoke started to dissipate and you continued to observe attentively. Maybe you were just a little bit too paranoid, but how couldn’t you be? You didn’t like to fight in places with many people. After all, only someone sick in the head wants to do collateral damage.

After the smoke dissipated you saw the figure of Vespera slowly start to appear. Small sparks of electricity could be seen at her side. She had a small hole at the side of chest where her ribs should be, yet it was all cybernetic. Indeed, she was completely a robot, yet she still felt like a normal person.

“And I thought that I was good at ma-ma-ma-king shows.” Said the android, her voice repeating itself signaling that indeed she was damaged. Her movements became slightly erratic, yet the android didn’t seem to falter at all. Quite the opposite, she was smiling and enjoying all of this.

(1/?)

You decided to keep quiet. Mostly on the defensive. You still had no clue about what her Semblance was, so it would not be a wise idea to go on the offensive even when her guard was down.

The girl decided to walk forward, leaving a trail of a black liquid thanks to the open ‘wound’ at her side. Her eyes changed from a natural purple to a completely red and bright tone. Her eyes started to move quickly while looking intensely at you. Yet you felt the same. What was she doing?

Her eyes turned back to normal after a while. You kept aiming at her, but apparently, she didn’t care at all. Instead, she turned towards the crowd again. “And it appears this heroine has the upper hand! Will Ku-kuchinashi finally break away from its darkness? Find the light? If we want for this city to embrace justice then we must embrace our heroes!”

“All of you, please, give an applause to miss Susie!” the girl screamed towards the crowd. The hype was too strong to be ignored, and the people started screaming back and clapping, chanting your name. “Susie! Susie! Susie!”

How did she knew that? Was she analyzing you somehow? You managed to spot small flying drones above the crowd taking pictures and recording you. What were those things doing here? What was happening? Why were you suddenly in the spotlight? The coordination, the speed of everything that was happening, it was as if everything was planned.

But then, it clicked.

You had a strong hunch. Nothing was planned. Quite the opposite. The Vespera girl didn’t expect your intervention at all, so why were you suddenly being recorded? The lightshow, the cameras, her hype, your information being leaked. The mere fact that the person in front of you was actually a full robot.

This girl had quite a grasp in technology, and she was using it in real time to enhance her show, painting you as the “Heroine” and painting herself as a “Villain” of some sorts. Not only that, but it appears she managed to hack one of the scrolls you had. But why? Why was she painting you as a heroine?

A few of the drones flew from behind the mouse head towards Vespera, slowly repairing her wounds. The tiniest hint of a smile could be seen on her face. Despite that, she just kept quiet. Waiting for your next move.

>End the fight quickly. You clearly were far more skilled in combat than her, so this should be easy to do. Besides, you needed to make sure the patrons inside the establishment were safe.
>Play into her game. She thinks being branded as a famous heroine is bad? Who knows, maybe the people of this city indeed needed someone to give them hope.
>Question her directly. How did she discover your name? Why was she doing all of this? She clearly loved the attention, after all.
>As weird as it seemed, maybe fleeing was a good option. You never liked the attention, and being branded as a ‘heroine’ would hurt your chances with the ‘Black Sheep’ family

>>6008234
>>Question her directly. How did she discover your name? Why was she doing all of this? She clearly loved the attention, after all.

She's definitely gonna monologue. The real question is if it'd even be the truth and not some dramatic bullshit.

>>6008234
>>Question her directly. How did she discover your name? Why was she doing all of this? She clearly loved the attention, after all.

>>6008234
>Play into her game. She thinks being branded as a famous heroine is bad? Who knows, maybe the people of this city indeed needed someone to give them hope.

>>6008234
>Question her directly. How did she discover your name? Why was she doing all of this? She clearly loved the attention, after all.

>>6008234

You slightly lowered your guard as you straightened your back, keeping your gaze locked in with hers. She lifted one of her eyebrows in response as you started talking. “Nocturne, was it? Very well. Miss Nocturne. How did you find out about my name? Why are you doing all of this? This fight is meaningless. There’s no point in taking other people’s lives just for what? A few minutes of fame?”

The people kept quiet as you started questioning the android girl. She quiet just for a few seconds, obviously thinking an answer. The wound at her side was almost closed thanks to the drones flying close to her.

“Isn’t it obvious? I do it all for the show. It is my duty to make this city lively and entertaining for its inhabitants. And for justice too, obviously. Everything that I said about those three is true. They were ripping off the people here, letting dangerous deal and people be inside their club with no care nor disregard for what happens to the civilians inside. Isn’t it my duty, OUR duty, to protect all of these people? Isn’t my duty to make living in this hellhole of a city a far better experience?” The girl smiled as the people cheered her on. The focus of the cameras was now on her.

“I see.” You retorted. “So, you do all of this for show and for justice, yet you were eager to end the life of those three just because of that? Where’s the justice in that? That’s no way to resolve conflict! Why not go to the authorities? Report them?”

Indeed, this city was filled to the brim with criminals, drug dealers, slavery and everything in between. But everyone just seemed to accept it as the norm, and that was wrong. Maybe pointing that out would be enough to shake some sense into the people?

Vespera smiled again at you, however this time it was obviously from childish amusement. She started laughing, and a few people at the front started to do it too (However, plenty of people were quiet, thinking about your words).

“It is obvious that you’re an outsider. You don’t know our way of life. And I can’t blame you for it at all. It is obvious that you come from better, far better places.” Her tone of voice suddenly turned serious, almost sad. “But things are different here in Kuchinashi. You can do almost everything here as long as you have the skill, the power or the money. Instability is bad, yeah, but that is the cost of freedom. Do you want us to be as uptight as those bastards up there at Atlas? Where soldiers can send you to prison just because you looked bad at one of them or badmouthed them? I say nay!” The people started booing and cheering at the same time.

They had a point. Things were tough in Atlas. You have never been there personally yourself, but indeed, having a military state made things quite difficult for some people. But they also had good intentions, and a fair bit of order does wonder for the quality of life of the people.

(1/?)

But you weren’t dumb. You knew that this argument would fall in deaf ears. It would be a wise to reframe this more into your favor. Point out the flaws in her logic directly.

“Atlas is not good, I agree with you on that, but making Kuchinashi the polar opposite will not make things better. You call it instability, but it is far worse than that. How many people die here daily? What happens to those that have no power or money? Do you think starving children on the streets is a fair price to pay to get drugs here and there? It is bad. I am no heroine at all, but I don’t need to be one to know that the way you are living here is bad. And I feel sorry for you for not knowing about better alternatives. I truly feel that way.” Those last words surely felt like salt in a wound. Quite a touchy subject, but it was the truth, after all. You never wanted the attention. You just wanted to stop senseless violence.

The cheers of the crowd got quiet again. People looked at each other, not knowing how to react. They expected a show, but instead they got a cold bucket of water to the face with the truth. The crowd started to disperse, some angry at the show being over, bored or simply leaving in shame.

Vespera, on the other hand, noticed the crowd of people slowly dispersing. Unexpectedly, she didn’t try to stop them at all. The inexpressive face of the android was hard to read in terms of emotion.

“What a mood killer you are, miss Suzu.” The girl said softly. Wait, she just called you Suzu? Wasn’t it Susie? “Let me try and salvage at least a little bit of this.” The android said to herself, sighing.

“Very well people, apparently the show’s over.” The girl said to the remaining group of people in front of the establishment. “I promise you the next one will be far better. Now, if you want to go, please go and do so safely. Or if you want to stay, the drinks are free tonight. I will leave this place mostly alone, for now.” the girl said to the crowd, but her tone of voice was clearly concealing a cold fury.

“Miss Susie, Suzu, Shel, whatever your true name is, please come inside. Let’s have a quick drink.” The android said, putting her rapier on her hip as she lifted her hands in invitation outside, faking a smile towards you.

>Agree to go inside with her. Not only because you wanted to talk to her about how she knew your names, but because you wanted to make sure the patrons were fine.
>No. Not only she tried to harm some innocent, but she also tried to fight you. Demand the liberation of the patrons here, right now in the open, and prod for more info.
>What was she thinking? You were duking it out just a few seconds ago! Finish the fight. Stay on guard. She wasn’t alive, she was a robot. It was fine to destroy her. At least to send a message that you’re not someone to be trifled with.

>>6010378
>>Agree to go inside with her. Not only because you wanted to talk to her about how she knew your names, but because you wanted to make sure the patrons were fine.

>>6010378
>>No. Not only she tried to harm some innocent, but she also tried to fight you. Demand the liberation of the patrons here, right now in the open, and prod for more info.

>>6010378
>Agree to go inside with her. Not only because you wanted to talk to her about how she knew your names, but because you wanted to make sure the patrons were fine.
Eh, why not? Anyone who can get working robots and intel on us within a few minutes of meeting needs to be dealt with sooner or later. They might be helpful to our cause.

>>6010378
>Agree to go inside with her. Not only because you wanted to talk to her about how she knew your names, but because you wanted to make sure the patrons were fine.

>>6010378
>>Agree to go inside with her. Not only because you wanted to talk to her about how she knew your names, but because you wanted to make sure the patrons were fine.

>>6010378

As the android girl started to walk inside the establishment, you felt some pats on your shoulder. As you turned around it was a small crowd of people. Most of them with surprise and joy in their faces. Even the faunus you met earlier at the crowd was here, holding a mace on his hands and extending it towards you. “May I get your autograph, miss? It was a pretty good show! But you must work on your speeches. But I’m sure you will get better in time. You have a new fan. “

A boring speech? So, they think you were part of the show? How clueless. It wasn’t a show at all. On the contrary, you really meant what you said. You just sighed while grabbing the pen and writing on the handle of the weapon ‘Be better, please’ as you started walking inside the place. A few whistles and applauses could be heard here and there, but you decided to mostly ignore them as you walked inside the place.

The first welcoming sign you noticed when entering the dance club was the soft and eerily harmonic music in the background, almost a mix of soft strings with synths and a soft female voice humming in the background. It was quite pleasant, you had to admit…

…yet everything else was quite a gut punch on the senses. The smell was of old and stale alcohol on almost every surface, mixed with the deep and annoying smell of smoke and other unknown substances. The lights were constantly blaring from a few broken headlights as they danced around the place. Was that an old vomit stain on the corner? Gross.

What surprised you the most was that there was another Vespera girl with a long dress in front of a nearby DJ table, with her eyes closed as she mixed and played the music. A few two other androids were on the bar table at the left side taking some drinks (Could an android even drink alcohol?) and the ‘original’ one was starting to take a seat at the other side of the bar. You managed to easily notice the guards with Grimm masks surrounding what appeared to be the three patrons that were still blindfolded and sitting on the ground near that corner of the place.

“A hardened warrior should have an equally resilient stomach. Bartender, give me the strongest shit you can muster from this shadow of a place.” The android girl that you fought earlier with said to a hooded figure behind the bar.

“My pleasure, miss.” Responded the hooded figure with a female tone of voice. She quickly grabbed almost every bottle, mixing a tiny bit into a pair of shot glasses and putting them in front of you both. You noticed how this hooded figure was also another ‘copy’ of Vespera with a faulty eye.

“Now, please, sit beside me, miss… lets go with Shelly?” the girl with the rapier on her hilt said to you, not even bothering to turn around and meet you eye to eye.

(1/?)

File: TheBlindMouseInside.jpg (387 KB, 1024x1024)

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As you walked towards that empty seat you started to think. So many copies of this girl. You saw at least five in total. And each one of them acted very human like. Whatever AI this girl was using was too advanced. Was it even AI? Was this an ambush of some sorts?

“Miss Shelly, I can easily sense your reprehension. But please, relax. This model right here is the only one that has some sort of acceptable combat module.” The android sitting right next to you told you. Her smile… This was very likely a lie.

“Well, now that I am here I…” you started explaining, but you were quickly interrupted by the Vespera sitting next to you.

“No. You don’t get to make demands. I still can easily kill these sacks of greasy meat with a simple order. I want you to answer some questions.” The girl said, her tone quickly shifting to a far more demanding and hostile one.

“I thought you wanted me to be a heroine? You implicitly promised back there that you were going to liberated them if I won. And I did. What would the public say if they discovered that you’re just a farce?” you answered back, with vile anger remarking the last words. You were not going to let this… villainous diva take control of the situation.

The girl stayed quiet. She took the entire drink, not even reeling back. The simple smell of whatever blend of muck was enough to make you nauseous. “It is not a farce…” you heard the whisper of the bartender.

“Fine. Looks like we both got on the wrong foot. How unlucky we are. What do you say if we start over? My name is Vespera, Vespera Nocturne. I’d ask for your name but I’m afraid I don’t know if you will be lying to me or not.” The Vespera girl answered back.

“Well, to be fair, it is hard for me to act cordial when talking to someone that has active hostages with guns pointing at their heads.” It was the truth. You despised people like that.

“Oh, please. You talk as if you were the paragon of righteousness. But you can stop pretending know. I know you have skeletons in your closet too. Tell me, why are you faking your identity, miss Susie?” the hostility could be heard again.

“Isn’t it obvious? Anonymity is a safety measure, after all.” You replied back. You couldn’t help but fall on the defensive slightly.

(2/?)

“Anonymity. Yeah. Now, what did you do with the real Shelly? Did you steal from her? Or worse, killed her? Of course you did. You can’t hide your secrets from me.”

…what? What was she talking about?

“What do you mean? I’m not following you at all.” You replied with confusion.

“Fine. If you want to act like a fool then I’ll treat you like one. You have two scrolls on you. The most recent one tells me you’re just called ‘Susie’, and it was created a few hours back. Quite the amateurish move, I must say. And the other one? Miss whatever-your-name-is, why do you have the scroll of a dead Huntress?”

Dead? What was she talking about?!

Panic started to set in. You quickly started to look inside your belt for your scrolls, but you were quickly interrupted again.

“Don’t worry. The display of that scroll is fried. You should take better care of your things. Here, let me show you.” The Vespera girl said, lifting her hands and projecting a holographic list in front of her.

Many names and pictures could be seen on that list. Apparently, it was the list of most huntsmen known in both Mistral in alphabetical order. As the list started to scroll downwards. Most huntsmen and huntresses had their names on red, with only a small amount of them having the name on either yellow or white.

“And here we go. Shelly Suzume. Huntress from Mistral. Graduated a few years ago.” Vespera started saying, touching your name and picture on the list. The name was red. “Killed in action on a Grimm attack some months ago. Look! You even look like her. Now, care to tell me why you have her original scroll with matching ID’s?”

You couldn’t believe it. But the list was in front of you. As you started to investigate the details on your profile you started to feel worse and worse. Every detail about you on the database was correct. Your name, date of birth, name of your teammates, even your grades.

This database wasn’t fake.

This was real. You were branded as KIA.

Your breathing got faster. You wanted to scream. You didn’t know what to think. This girl was your enemy, but she had no reason to lie to you.

So, who lied to you? Maybe this was a prank? Maybe a mistake at Haven academy? A false report? No way. It just couldn’t be.

>Hold your emotions in. Try to think of a lie on the spot. You didn’t want for this girl to see you in this weakened state. You could deal with this later. The life of the hostages was first.
>This couldn’t be happening. This Vespera girl was actually doing you a favor in showing you all of this. Maybe you could try asking her for help? In getting more information about all of this?
>Stand up and go towards a nearby empty spot. You had to make a call towards the headmaster at Haven. Ask him directly about this. Mr. Lionheart. Surely he would have some answers for you.
>Other (Write-in)

>>6012183
>>Hold your emotions in. Try to think of a lie on the spot. You didn’t want for this girl to see you in this weakened state. You could deal with this later. The life of the hostages was first.

>>6012183
>Stand up and go towards a nearby empty spot. You had to make a call towards the headmaster at Haven. Ask him directly about this. Mr. Lionheart. Surely he would have some answers for you.

>>6012183
>>This couldn’t be happening. This Vespera girl was actually doing you a favor in showing you all of this. Maybe you could try asking her for help? In getting more information about all of this?

>>6012183
>This couldn’t be happening. This Vespera girl was actually doing you a favor in showing you all of this. Maybe you could try asking her for help? In getting more information about all of this?

Alright so to keep things brief

I'm gonna post an update after 24 hours if the 3 vote thingie is not met and pick the majority, as much as I'd love to reach the 3 vote limit we must admit that we are still young so not many people are in here (We need to fish for more people, no shame in admiting that)

And for the other thingie, if someone could clarify to me what's the deal with the bump/sage limit so that we don't get lost in the last pages of the catalog after being pushed this far that would be neat-o (Would love to be put on the front page again, don't know if its possible. Again, feeling no shame in wanting to reel in more participants and/or viewers)

File: RWBYQstSeason1V1.jpg (928 KB, 1024x1024)

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Almost forgot, here's a rough image of our title logo page thingie

>>6012183
>This couldn’t be happening. This Vespera girl was actually doing you a favor in showing you all of this. Maybe you could try asking her for help? In getting more information about all of this?

>>6015612
Threads stop bumping after 5 days but most players sort by last reply so it shouldn't matter much. But we're also in page 9 so a new thread would be in order. Do you know how to archive threads?

>>6016008
Not yet but lets try it.

Also, for everyone, NEW THREAD:

>>6016690