Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[MidwayLives]

She rolled her eyes and managed to make her smile almost completely hide her heart breaking before she shook her head. "Dunno if you noticed sis, but I'm not exactly rocking the maximum number of limbs either" She replied with a wry grin as she waggled her prosthetic arm.

There was a genuine gasp of surprise as the Masque gazed upon Yang's 'Merlot-created' arm. It looked better than anything the Masque had been able to come up with in her spare time. She'd mulled over getting an arm like her Yang's but with her silver eyes, she felt it'd have been a bit silly. At least not until her best friend decided she was ready to become more like Maria. She couldn't wait for that day!

"Your arm!! It looks so great!! Did....Did Weiss make it for you...?"

It was hard to wrap her head around the idea of it but who else could make something that looked so sleek and...just cool??? Asking for something like that was something Masque wanted to bug Weiss about, after y'know confessing her feelings for her and all that.
​

"Which means you don't need to apologize for anything. But it also means I know you're a fool. A FOOL, RUBY ROSE!"

She blinked and let her guard down for just a moment and that was all it took for-
​

The bold declaration was followed with example as she shot forward to sweep the young rose up in a bone crushing, one armed hug with a nefarious cackle.

"AAaaaaaah!"

There was surprise at first, remorse second for having made Yang take off such a cool extremity, to overall joy. All in quick succession.

The Ruby of Yang's world knew and loved/feared the power behind these hugs. But they were a sign of comfort and something to be embraced. No matter what happened she'd always have her sister to hold her and tell her things would be alright when they looked their bleakest.

The Masque?

She didn't have that.

Maria was as close as it got and as Weiss could attest to, she was a horrific monster most of the time and a sweetheart who genuinely cared for the Masque's growth...any other time.

As Yang held her, she could hear Ozpin's right hand and one of his most loyal minions sniffling in between giggles.

"Thanks...*sniffle* Yang. I really didn't want to fight you." ​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Way shorter than most prisoners of war, from what I remember from history class." She snarked dryly. Her heart clearly wasn't in it though, and there was a deep huff of air as she glowered in the direction of Ilia's voice.

"...look. You haven't even talked to this Ruby yet. Hell, I don't know if you've ever talked to my real sister. But that big scary monster out there you're in a rush to go kick the ass of is a kid. That you want to attack, in broad daylight, with no questions, or trial, or whatever."

There was a genuine simmer of resentmet to her words as she crossed her arms. "I can understand Weiss. She's an adult, she's made some terrible choices, she's a Schnee. Sure. Fine, I buy the distrust, I get it. But if you actually think you're doing the right thing by attacking some one armed girl who's got a smile like that without even giving her a chance to talk... then maybe you're the one I'm misjudging, Ilia. If that's the case then... good luck with whatever you're going to do. I'm going to talk to my sister, and I don't think I'm coming back here."

She didn't sound even vaguely happy with the words, but she nonetheless turned to open the door and leave

"..." There was no reply, not to any of it. At least nothing spoken. A small frown was on her face as she turned away and glanced toward the ground. From that lack of response it was difficult to tell if Ilia thought it was the right thing to do, or if she just believed it was something that needed to be done no matter if it was right or wrong, or...anything else she might have thought about it. Yet she didn't make any actual moves to stop Yang as she left. The faunus wasn't even looking her way as the blonde did so, eyes still locked on the floor. She only lifted her head back up to look over at the doorway after a few moments, when she was confident Yang was out of sight now. There was no sounds of anybody following behind her down the hotel hallway, not a single step.

And it was only when she felt sure Yang had reached the elevator, or the stairs, whichever she took, that Ilia moved to shut the suite door as she stayed in the room and she exhaled. That had been difficult, and it hurt to have somebody think she was that...cold...but...it had to be done. The chameleon had been fine with it for a couple days, letting Yang stay in this hotel hideout with Ilia herself just chilling for those few days. But...as long as the huntress was here, she couldn't make any moves in dealing with the Shadow Fang or anybody else for that matter. Because she would have felt obligated to talk about it with her guest, try to keep her in the loop...which was something she just couldn't do. Not with her double able to spy on her whenever she wished.

She hoped Yang was right, that she wouldn't come back. So that any moves she planned to make, whether against the Shadow Fang or anybody else, could remain only thoughts, with no way for the other Ilia to know of them. So that there was no chance any of them could be forewarned, or that Sienna and the rest didn't have any potential leverage they could use for later, or anything like that.

There was another sigh as she stepped away from the now closed door, striding back over to the window and opening the curtains a crack, just enough to peer through. With all the lights off and her skin a dark black, she hoped they could not notice. That was where she remained the whole time, watching the pair of sisters, praying all the while that Yang kept her word and stayed away when they were through talking.

It was her burden to be alone for now.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

There was a genuine gasp of surprise as the Masque gazed upon Yang's 'Merlot-created' arm. It looked better than anything the Masque had been able to come up with in her spare time. She'd mulled over getting an arm like her Yang's but with her silver eyes, she felt it'd have been a bit silly. At least not until her best friend decided she was ready to become more like Maria. She couldn't wait for that day!

"Your arm!! It looks so great!! Did....Did Weiss make it for you...?"

It was hard to wrap her head around the idea of it but who else could make something that looked so sleek and...just cool??? Asking for something like that was something Masque wanted to bug Weiss about, after y'know confessing her feelings for her and all that.


She blinked and let her guard down for just a moment and that was all it took for-


"AAaaaaaah!"

There was surprise at first, remorse second for having made Yang take off such a cool extremity, to overall joy. All in quick succession.

The Ruby of Yang's world knew and loved/feared the power behind these hugs. But they were a sign of comfort and something to be embraced. No matter what happened she'd always have her sister to hold her and tell her things would be alright when they looked their bleakest.

The Masque?

She didn't have that.

Maria was as close as it got and as Weiss could attest to, she was a horrific monster most of the time and a sweetheart who genuinely cared for the Masque's growth...any other time.

As Yang held her, she could hear Ozpin's right hand and one of his most loyal minions sniffling in between giggles.

"Thanks...*sniffle* Yang. I really didn't want to fight you." ​

"W-well that's good, since I didn't wanna fight you either, dork" she replied back, doing a genuinely stellar job of keeping it together despite that sound. This wasn't meant to be anything other than a quick goof of a hug, but as Ruby's head hit her shoulder like that Yang felt no inclination to rush the poor girl, and she wore a soft smile as she cradled Ruby's head with a soft touch until she'd calmed down.

Whenever that was, she gripped Ruby's shoulder to push her a bit backwards and shot her a smirk. "but while I didn't come here to fight you, I did come here to beat you. Challenge still stands, Rose." she said as she pushed off and walked back over to her arm to scoop it up and re-attach it with a mechanical hiss of air. "You, me, go fish, for all of the marbles" She declared as she turned around with a firm glare that lasted for about a second before it faded into a grin as she waggled a hand and continued

"And by marbles I mean if I win you let me borrow your scroll for a few minutes, and if you win you can make some other request of equally low stakes. Cool?"

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Also no, she didn't give it to me, I just stole it from her" she added off hand in regards to Weiss

 

[Gus Gungus]

Where is that little bitch? If she found a way to fuck up the simplest job in the world, it's comin' out of her ass.

Speaking of which, back to it!​

 

[MidwayLives]

"W-well that's good, since I didn't wanna fight you either, dork" she replied back, doing a genuinely stellar job of keeping it together despite that sound. This wasn't meant to be anything other than a quick goof of a hug, but as Ruby's head hit her shoulder like that Yang felt no inclination to rush the poor girl, and she wore a soft smile as she cradled Ruby's head with a soft touch until she'd calmed down.

"Mhm..."

The Masque wanted this hug to last forever but she knew that simply couldn't be.

So she held it for as long as she could until the sniffles stopped.
​

Whenever that was, she gripped Ruby's shoulder to push her a bit backwards and shot her a smirk. "but while I didn't come here to fight you, I did come here to beat you. Challenge still stands, Rose." she said as she pushed off and walked back over to her arm to scoop it up and re-attach it with a mechanical hiss of air. "You, me, go fish, for all of the marbles" She declared as she turned around with a firm glare that lasted for about a second before it faded into a grin as she waggled a hand and continued

"Heheheehee..."

Ruby grinned as she was pushed back and thumbing to herself, she dragged her thumb across her neck.

"You're making a mistake here, Yang! I beat Maria at go fish all the time! You don't stand a ghost of a chance..."
​

"And by marbles I mean if I win you let me borrow your scroll for a few minutes, and if you win you can make some other request of equally low stakes. Cool?"

Hmm....

"...Does taking your new arm count as low stakes?"
​

"Also no, she didn't give it to me, I just stole it from her" she added off hand in regards to Weiss

This time Yang got a hug of her own as Ruby blasted forward using her semblance and wrapped her arm around Yang's waist.

"You're....So....COOL!!!"

Hopping back and taking a seat on the roof opposite Yang, Ruby whistled a tune. It'd helped keep her at ease when she was locked up.

Maybe it'd do so here too...
​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Hmm....

"...Does taking your new arm count as low stakes?"

"It definitely doesn't" She said with a dull snort. "I might not need it for hugs, but I do need it for kicking butt. 'Sides, its got part of Ember Celica inside it."

This time Yang got a hug of her own as Ruby blasted forward using her semblance and wrapped her arm around Yang's waist.

"You're....So....COOL!!!"

Hopping back and taking a seat on the roof opposite Yang, Ruby whistled a tune. It'd helped keep her at ease when she was locked up.

Maybe it'd do so here too...
​

"I know, I know." She with a laugh as she caught Ruby's hug with only a slight stumble. "Its only mostly that other Yang's fault she looks so lame, its gotta be hard to be compared to me by everyone who's met us both. Would make me go a little crazy too, if I was a complete trash fire with no redeemable qualities anyways."

She shook her head and waved Ruby forward as sh turned back towards the door. "Nah, not out here sis, too much wind. Don't wanna lose the cards"

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

They were seated in the building's stairwell as Yang rapidly shuffled the cards with practiced ease, the silence not an uncomfortable one before Yang broke it as she dealt out the cards.

"Soooooooo" She said as she snatched up her hand and fanned the cards out, tone casual as she looked them over. "How's things been for you sis? Kinda disappointed you didn't wait back at Beacon for that conversation I promised."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"What'd you think I meant?! Were you about t'justhithim with the glass?! There wasn't any SETUP for that!" Mercury slurred, sounding a bit... not himself.

Mercury slowly glanced between Lupin and the barlady, face a mask of hushed awe. Also totally out of it in a way that a 17 year old who just pounded two doubles of whiskey like it was medicine he didn't like the taste of could be. Meaning he was well on his way to actually being like, five times more blasted than Neo was from her fruity grenadine juice.

"Whoooooahhhh, so that's how it works! Cool, cool, cuz I was seriously confused on how we actually, y'know, exchange you for money... But I didn't wanna say nothin'."

He suddenly hopped out of his stool, if only to sloppily shoulder bump Neo out of the way before she could order another drink like he was pretty much totally convinced she was gonna do, having no small amount of experience dealing with alcoholics. And also to indicate he wanted another himself.

"...uh... b'maybe just a beer this time... Ulp."

It might've looked and sounded a lot like he just threw up in his mouth a bit, but nobody could prove it.

Emerald, meanwhile, was still totally commited to the performance despite these idiots sandbagging her, calmly sipping her second cosmo at a far more measured and less stupid pace than her nitwit former teammates. Who she wasn't even a little bit surprised to observe had the tolerance of a couple of teenagers sneaking vodka and OJ at their first school dance. Not after the state Mercury had been in by the end of the ball that one time...

"Can you get them some water and more salty stuff? He's here as a favor to his dad. Neo's totally legal but just has the body weight of one of those orphans from Annie, that's all."

Both were apparently just totally ignoring Tyrian until he chilled out from whatever extremist related vendetta he was into, genuinely not even the slightest bit interested.​

"What."

Tyrian looked in the pockets of his jacket and found nothing. The same went for his regular pockets.

Where the hell was he supposed to scrounge up ten thousand lien???

'Force her....' 'MAKE' her tell us...' 'She's no threat to us, it'll be easy...'

The idea as tempting as it was as Tyrian's frustrations began to mount, it wasn't viable. If he threatened her then she'd just feed him bullshit until he backed off and it'd only end up getting him in deeper trouble than he already was. Lien just wasn't something that Tyrian tended to hang onto or give much thought to. Fighting to earn a day's pay was how he'd made a living before and since then he was lucky enough to have had a friend like Trifa who actually down a steady job. But he couldn't ask her to drop money for something that she wasn't even that gung-ho on in the first place. She hadn't wanted to go to war with the Shadow Fang and he did.

"UGhhhhhh....."

Tyrian grabbed the glass he'd been given and took a big swig out of it and then placed it back down.

"Agh....I really needed that. Okay, okay, I don't got that much cash on me. Is there anything I can do fto get the money?? Catch guys like this??" His tail pointed to Lupin. "I'll do whatever it takes, I just NEED that information!"​

The bartender's glass cleaning slowed as her eyes started to widen, a pale of dread sucking the color her features as she processed one of those sentences.

"...You... you sayin Marcus Black ain't dead? It's been... its been almost a year since he's been seen kickin around, everyone's assumed... well shit."

She shook her head and quickly filled a glass of water to slide across to Mercury, and whatever comment she might've made about Neo's magically shrinking alcohol tolerance since the last time she'd seen her was overshadowed by that revelation. "We-heeeeeelllll certainly a man you wanna stay on the good side of. I'm sure you know this, but your father's a bit of a legend, Mr. Black." she said with a mixture of newfound respect and nerves as she refilled the peanut bowl.

She side eyed Tyrian at his question and shrugged, her own interest in the situation waning as it was made clear there was a distinct lack of money involved. "Take a lookit the bounty board if you want. We ain't put em out, just play middlemen 'tween issuers an' bounty hunters. Used to need a license for it but, well, ain't much folk keepin tabs on that stuff anymore" She said with a snort.

Neopolitan didn't even seem to register the glass put in front of her, her fingers tracing along the swirls of wood in the bar top with a taciturn frown as she thought about... something, but what it was was even harder to pick out than normal for obvious reasons.

 

[MyrtenRose]

She shook her head and waved Ruby forward as she turned back towards the door. "Nah, not out here sis, too much wind. Don't wanna lose the cards"

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

They were seated in the building's stairwell as Yang rapidly shuffled the cards with practiced ease, the silence not an uncomfortable one before Yang broke it as she dealt out the cards.

"Soooooooo" She said as she snatched up her hand and fanned the cards out, tone casual as she looked them over. "How's things been for you sis? Kinda disappointed you didn't wait back at Beacon for that conversation I promised."

When the pair disappeared beyond that door, it was a few seconds later that the unseen chameleon pulled away from the window and let the drapes fall back into place. She stepped through the hotel suite until she was at the foot of the bed. At that point she dropped down just in front of said bed, sitting on the floor with legs folded and her head/back leaning against the edge of the bed. Ilia stared silently at the scroll she tossed before her for quite some time. The light of its screen was the only thing illuminating the darkness as well as the turmoil that spread across her face with her skin color returning to normal.

After a while she called the number that had been left there by the person who gave her the room. "Hey." She started when the call was answered. "Can I...ask you something? You'd...you'd be honest right? If...If I asked you to be? No bs?" Ilia asked with way too much desperate hope in her voice, considering who she was speaking to.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

When the pair disappeared beyond that door, it was a few seconds later that the unseen chameleon pulled away from the window and let the drapes fall back into place. She stepped through the hotel suite until she was at the foot of the bed. At that point she dropped down just in front of said bed, sitting on the floor with legs folded and her head/back leaning against the edge of the bed. Ilia stared silently at the scroll she tossed before her for quite some time. The light of its screen was the only thing illuminating the darkness as well as the turmoil that spread across her face with her skin color returning to normal.

After a while she called the number that had been left there by the person who gave her the room. "Hey." She started when the call was answered. "Can I...ask you something? You'd...you'd be honest right? If...If I asked you to be? No bs?" Ilia asked with way too much desperate hope in her voice, considering who she was speaking to.​

The last few weeks had not been kind to Lucie Morstern.

All the other talons were mighty warriors. All clever, all strong, and all terrifyingly lethal. Some had other talents, of course, like Wolf's astonishing tracking ability even without her semblance, or Bear's calm leadership, but all of those were additional traits to one simple truth; they were killers of a breed that even the most notable threats on Remnant had to take heed when they came to knock, lest they find their head removed from their shoulders.

Snake was the exception. She was no fighter. Even after unlocking her aura she found it was weaker than most others', and her body wasn't suited to the rigors of training. She even lacked the lethal intent most others had; she was required to reach a bare minimum of self defense to earn her place in the fang to start, but her hands shook if she held a weapon, and the sight of blood called to mind far too unpleasant memories even if it wasn't her own. Yet she sat at the table with giants, and her words were heeded the same as all of theirs, because Sienna Khan saw what so many had failed to over the years;

Just because she wasn't a killer did not mean she wasn't dangerous.

Atlas had been going so well for so long. There hadn't been a whisper of suspicion against her for years as she did her work. Even as Weiss Schnee tried to project an image of reform to the atlesian faunus, still they resented her; crimes both real and imagined circulated the rumor mill like salt into water, invisible and deadly if ignored. The work she did here funded so much of what the Fang used, from technology to recruitment. Plans had been in motion since well before the fall of Haven to truly take advantage of it all, and give the faunus a major push towards the victory they all craved. Everything was on schedule right until Blake Belladonna, in all her bravery as the Weapon of the Faunus, the glorious right hand of the High Leader, decided to fuck it all up.

Argus was a disaster for all of the Shadowfang, and nowhere was that felt so keenly as in Solitas. Without the CCT tower, Snake was the de facto head of the cells here, and so she had a front row seat to how quickly and violently their numbers had been culled in what, in what she knew at the time, was an entirely unprovoked and sudden act of aggression from Schnee and her military puppets. They had plans for this; in a many ways it was inevitable, yet the timing was so quick and brutal that their numbers had been almost cut entirely in half by the time she'd finally managed to get everyone to safely go to ground. The rebuilding process had just started, and it was going painfully slow; far slower than the missive she'd recieved from the Right Hand expected her to be. All those lives lost, and the hand only saw it as a reason to send more to their deaths in what would, in the end, be complete open warfare, against the mightiest military in Remnant. Even if and when their benefactor joined the fight himself, the death toll would be atrocious. It was heartbreaking, and it was infuriating. This was not how the shadowfang was meant to operate.

At least... not yet.

She was looking out over the Atlas skyline from her office, contemplating just how to reply to this debacle of a message when her scroll rang. A glance washed away the frustration with genuine surprise as she looked at the number, and her voice was soft as she answered.

"Ilia? Its... its good to hear from you, if unexpected. Are you alright?"

The question had her biting her lips with a frown, and her words were careful if not unkind.

"...It would depend, dear. I'm perfectly comfortable with promising not to lie to you, but there are things I may refuse to answer. Atlas has not been kind to the Fang of late, and trust is not something I have quite the same supply of I did a month ago, not with so many lives in my charge. But ask, and I will answer what I can. What is it?"

 

[MidwayLives]

"It definitely doesn't" She said with a dull snort. "I might not need it for hugs, but I do need it for kicking butt. 'Sides, its got part of Ember Celica inside it."

"Hmph!" Masque huffed. "Then just tell me who you have a crush on if I win!"

Maybe it'd help her with the own feelings stirring throughout her...
​

"Its only mostly that other Yang's fault she looks so lame, its gotta be hard to be compared to me by everyone who's met us both.

"You're better than my Yang. By a country mile!"

"You don't hit me or call me nasty things! I think that alone pushes you over the top in being the best sister ever!"

Sister certainly wasn't the word that the Masque's Yang would have used to describe their 'relationship.'

Following along after Yang with a skip and a hop, she settled down onto the floor and watched as Yang dealt the cards.
​

"Soooooooo" She said as she snatched up her hand and fanned the cards out, tone casual as she looked them over. "How's things been for you sis? Kinda disappointed you didn't wait back at Beacon for that conversation I promised."

Although it'd certainly seemed like the Masque enjoyed Yang's company/detested the idea of fighting her, the question she'd been posed struck a nerve. Taking her glance away from the cards in her hand, she tried to think about how best to get across what she'd been through.

"I did try to keep the promise! I did, I did!!!" The Masque exclaimed with a stubborn frown plastered across her face.

"After you left with your friends, they tended to my stump and I was stuck in a hospital room for a while. My vitals needed to be checked and the bandages on my stump needed to be changed every couple of hours or so, real boring stuff. But nobody talked to me or wanted to talk to me. I'd think about Blake, Weiss, and even you! Then after a while authorities wanted to talk to me, they asked me questions, 'why did I do what I did' 'who was I working with' and some of them weren't very nice to me. I get it though, he told me form the begining that people wouldn't be nice to people like me who wanna help him." Even as she conversed with Yang and played games with her, her loyalties hadn't seemed to change. "Do you wanna know what I did when they asked me all that stuff though? I put my lips together and..."



She giggled and almost dropped her cards in the midst of that laughter.

"They got so red in the face! i wish you could have seen it. They didn't think it was funny as I did though. They threw me in a cell that dampened my aura so I couldn't use my semblance. Even with it, I wouldn't have gotten too far. I'd lost Crescent Rose-rebuilt her though!-and didn't know where she was. I sat in that cell for..."

The Masque's eyes seemed to grow distant as if she was looking past Yang and beyond.

".....For a very long time." She settled on, bringing her eyes back to meet Yang'.s

"I got fed but I never got to leave my cell and the cot wasn't very comfortable. Some of the guards didn't like my whistling and told me to shut up or else. But I like to think that it's what helped me stick through all that time alone. I was hoping that he'd have sent someone to rescue me. Someone who'd come in like my knight in shining armor to set me free and we'd ride out together!" The Masque's enthusiasm seemed to grow higher and higher as she stood up and waved her arm around while still holding onto her cards. "AND THEN IT HAPPENED!!!"

She sat back down.

"But not for a while though. I was thinking about what you'd said to me all that time. I couldn't wait to tell you why I'd stayed loyal to him all that time in that cold cell. He sent someone to save me and she did. I never got her name but she was tall, had one eye, and gave me this sword!" She gestured idly to the golden sword strapped to her back. "I left the other one..." She murmured something unintelligible under her breath. "....And I knew it'd hurt his feelings if I didn't take my chance to escape. So I did after tying the other blade to my stump. I didn't kill any of the guards. I didn't really want to. Even after they'd been so mean to me...."

"But I should have been more considerate of your feelings!!! Sorry about that, Yang.."

The Masque tacked on near the end of her recap on what she'd been up to. "I escaped and eventually made my way back to him. I mostly spent my time trying to rebuild Crescent Rose and a new arm but I got too frustrated trying to make my arm...." Sparing a brief forlorn look at her empty sleeve, she sighed. "Then my Yang told me we had a job to do and here we are! I wanna stop by and see Weiss though! Get her to make me a new arm! Like the one you yoinked!"

"What about you, Yang? Been keeping busy? ...Are you doing okay?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

...She had been right.

The pain was excruciating. Lying there, with just the faintest amount of the anesthesia that had already been administered before lingering still, as they went about performing the surgery they needed to so that she might walk again. The agonizing feeling coursing through her, jumping from nerve to nerve...it pushed her resolve to not cry out or scream in pain to its utter limit. Never in her life were her teeth gritted together this tight. Yet, in spite of that stubborn desire to not yell out, the howls came out all the same. They were muffled, of course. Only those currently in the soundproofed room heard the screams of Raven Branwen in all their piercing shrill loudness. There were a few points where she feared she would black out. But she refused, clung to consciousness with ferocity and sheer grit. She persevered through the pain.

By the time the lengthy procedure finished, she was still up and aware. It had been one hell of an ordeal. One she knew she would never forget for as long as she lived, however long that time might be. Once all was done, the doctor and nurses started on about physical therapy and the time it would take for her to acclimate. She didn't let them finish. Instead she stood up, moving to stride on as normal. It didn't go as she intended, with her faceplanting by the third shaky step. They rushed to her side but she waved them off with a fierce snarl, pushing herself back up again and trying once more. She got six steps in this time before she collapsed. Raven laid there quivering in frustrated rage at the sheer humiliation of this but she refused to give up or give in. There would be no wheelchair, no crutches, no being helped by any of the staff. If she had to drag herself along the floor to get out on her own, that's what she would do. She tried one more time and this attempt had her stay up as she exited, albeit slowly and shakily.

But none of that was on her mind by the time she found and stumbled up to him.

She looked down at her brother in thinly veiled disappointment, the drunken oaf passed out in his chair. Her arm slowly extended, reached out to swipe that flask right out of his hand and absolutely chucked it with overwhelming disdain as far as she could to let it smash against some distant wall of the place. A few moments after that, one hand moved to backhand Qrow across the face in a bid to wake him the hell up. She wasn't planning to go easy, it seemed. If that worked, and he woke...she smacked him again, the same hand coming back for the rebound blow. "Listen here, little brother." Raven growled, the inflection in her voice telling him with absolute certainty that he was not to interrupt what she was about to say.

"I didn't follow you as you traversed across Anima, didn't retrieve the relic while you were all busy fighting, didn't gift it to you, didn't endure what you said to me back then, didn't go through what that grimm bitch tried to do to me in the ocean between Anima and Solitas, didn't spend all this time thinking about what you said, didn't reveal to you what I did on that plane, didn't go through all this shit, for you to just fall to pieces and fall back into drinking because you don't think you are strong enough to handle it without it."

She shook her head. "You are. You reminded me of that when you called me out on...everything." Her eyes softened for the briefest of seconds before the harsh look came rushing back even more intense than before. "If even I can make the attempt to be better than I was, than you sure as hell can. And you sure as hell will." Her eyes flickered about, scrutinizing his own deeply. A moment later, she leaned down, planted both hands on either armrest of the chair he was in and leaned in uncomfortably close to his face.

"SO DIG DEEP, FIND YOUR BALLS AND GET YOUR FUCKING HEAD BACK INTO THE GAME!"

She didn't pull away an inch, eyes still narrowed in a fierce glare as she observed him. "They need you, need both of us. At our best. And that's what we're going to give them."

She dared him to argue so much as a single word of any of that.​

 

[MidwayLives]

The bartender's glass cleaning slowed as her eyes started to widen, a pale of dread sucking the color her features as she processed one of those sentences.

"...You... you sayin Marcus Black ain't dead? It's been... its been almost a year since he's been seen kickin around, everyone's assumed... well shit."

Maybe he didn't have an opinion on it or he'd just been too ignorant to see it but something didn't seem right here.

"...What's the big deal about Mercury's dad? Come to think of it..." Tyrian looked around at the other folks who made up the staff for this bar. "...Do these three run this place???"

What an interesting turn of events!
​

She side eyed Tyrian at his question and shrugged, her own interest in the situation waning as it was made clear there was a distinct lack of money involved. "Take a lookit the bounty board if you want. We ain't put em out, just play middlemen 'tween issuers an' bounty hunters. Used to need a license for it but, well, ain't much folk keepin tabs on that stuff anymore" She said with a snort.

....Hunting bounties???

If that Lupin guy had been anything to by, anyone on that board would have just been a waste of Tyrian's time! The Shadow Fang were here in Mistral and if he screwed around catching random assholes for chump change, who knows if he'd ever find a lead again?! He'd come in here furious and ready to kick some ass and now he sat at the counter, his head in his hands as he tugged on his hair in a petulant manner.

"Ughhhh!!!!!"

What was he supposed to do here?! Trifa hadn't signed up to be a bounty hunter and she wasn't going to want to stay cooped up in the motel all day. It'd been one brash decision after another on his part. From declaring that he'd take on the entire Shadow Fang organization to sitting here at a bar apparently(???) run by his old colleagues. Trifa wouldn't go for it if he asked her and he didn't want to beg either. That kind of groveling was beneath him. Really it seemed like he only had one option infront of him...



To drink.

And drink he did as he took another big swig out of his glass.

​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"...It would depend, dear. I'm perfectly comfortable with promising not to lie to you, but there are things I may refuse to answer. Atlas has not been kind to the Fang of late, and trust is not something I have quite the same supply of I did a month ago, not with so many lives in my charge. But ask, and I will answer what I can. What is it?"

She kept it really brief as her voice trembled, not trusting herself to be stable enough to speak at length. "Did...did Eve Taurus...did she rejoin you guys?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

She looked down at her brother in thinly veiled disappointment, the drunken oaf passed out in his chair.

If the whiff of liquor no less fresh or potent than when she'd first been wheeled into the operating theater was anything to go by, Qrow had been roughly measuring the hours since his older twin went under the knife by way of how many flasks' worth he could polish off, the practically empty bottle of Jack next to his chair seeming to indicate just how long he'd been sitting here listening to Raven's muted screams rattle faintly through the wall. Or simply how many mils of whiskey her younger brother could actually polish off in a few hours.

He was actually somewhat less comatose by the time she appeared before him, though no more sober and currently occupying one of those drunken half-awake states straddling the fence between consciousness and its opposite. Not even his severely inebriated brain could stay blind to the indomitable will on display as she appeared, though, Raven gutting up and forcing her way through steps the doctors had told him she wouldn't be capable of for months, and though blurred and unfocused the eyes that turned over to meet her widened with at least a smidgen of something Raven hadn't seen them regard her with in more years than either one of them could count: Awe. Mingled with overwhelming, disbelieving relief, even as he brought up a hand to shield them from the light.

"Hey..."

Her arm slowly extended, reached out to swipe that flask right out of his hand and absolutely chucked it with overwhelming disdain as far as she could to let it smash against some distant wall of the place.

That woke him up some, but it didn't stop him from being completely taken aback by whatever the hell it was all about. "...Hey!"

A few moments after that, one hand moved to backhand Qrow across the face in a bid to wake him the hell up.

"HEY!!!!!!!"

she smacked him again, the same hand coming back for the rebound blow.

"Listen here, little brother." Raven growled, the inflection in her voice telling him with absolute certainty that he was not to interrupt what she was about to say.

"I didn't follow you as you traversed across Anima, didn't retrieve the relic while you were all busy fighting, didn't gift it to you, didn't endure what you said to me back then, didn't go through what that grimm bitch tried to do to me in the ocean between Anima and Solitas, didn't spend all this time thinking about what you said, didn't reveal to you what I did on that plane, didn't go through all this shit, for you to just fall to pieces and fall back into drinking because you don't think you are strong enough to handle it without it."

She shook her head. "You are. You reminded me of that when you called me out on...everything." Her eyes softened for the briefest of seconds before the harsh look came rushing back even more intense than before. "If even I can make the attempt to be better than I was, than you sure as hell can. And you sure as hell will." Her eyes flickered about, scrutinizing his own deeply. A moment later, she leaned down, planted both hands on either armrest of the chair he was in and leaned in uncomfortably close to his face.

"SO DIG DEEP, FIND YOUR BALLS AND GET YOUR FUCKING HEAD BACK INTO THE GAME!"

She didn't pull away an inch, eyes still narrowed in a fierce glare as she observed him. "They need you, need both of us. At our best. And that's what we're going to give them."

She dared him to argue so much as a single word of any of that.

Spoiler

Qrow couldn't do much else than sit there and listen as Raven tore him a possibly justifiable new one, not exactly the picture of lucidity even with his twin having bitchslapped him all the way back to something vaguely resembling it. His stunned incredulity as she just straight up started bullying him up and down the block like they were kids again slowly gave way to a guarded, inscrutable glower somewhere in the thick of her tirade, not exactly oblivious to the fact that it wasn't terribly unlike the one he'd reamed her with back after the fiasco at Haven.

A fiasco, in hindsight, that had marked a turning point during this whole foray into another world, one they frankly just never really recovered from as they suffered setback after setback and got smacked to and fro even more viciously and repeatedly than what she'd just subjected him to. Those were barely even love taps compared to the beating Qrow Branwen felt he'd been taking lately, quite frankly. She was gonna have to hit a whole lot harder than that if she wanted to get through, and his eyes reflected it as they narrowed in time with a rising growl at the back of his throat.

"That's not the POINT, Raven!"



He lurched forward just as aggressively (if a bit more unsteadily) to butt heads with the other ex-bandit, planting his own hands on the back of the chair so he could push his skull against hers with active resistance.

"There isn't one. None of what you just said has a point! I ain't 'falling to pieces'; up until a few months ago I did this for years and I was FINE. In case you hadn't noticed, we've hit a major wall, we're STUCK fighting some other world's battles with no accessible way of getting back to ours, YANG has STOCKHOLM SYNDROME, AND I JUST WATCHED YOU GET YOUR BACK SNAPPED IN HALF LIKE A MATCHSTICK AFTER LESS THAN TWO MONTHS OF LISTENING TO MY BRILLIANT ADVICE! AFTER SPENDING YOUR WHOLE LIFE getting off SCOT FREE! So forgive me if I feel the need to take the edge off with whatever I can find. You're too freakin' stubborn to admit it, so lemme make it nice and easy for you: I DID THAT! I'M TO BLAME! C'MON, WHATEVER THE HELL THIS SUDDEN CONSCIENTIOUS BIG SIS ACT IS SUPPOSED TO BE I KNOW AT LEAST PART OF YOU HAS TO BE KICKING YOURSELF FOR LISTENING TO ME, THINKING YOU SHOULDA STUCK TO MOM AND DAD'S SURVIVALIST CRAP SINCE IT'S OBVIOUS THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL I'M TALKING ABOUT!"

He paused, a haunted look falling over his own crimson eyes as he broke contact with the ones directly opposite him, staring at the floor with a subdued shake of the head.

"...I never have. You know exactly who I am. You know what my semblance does. We BOTH know that how bad this all is, how bleak it's gotten, the fact that you're a frickin' cripple, a BIG part of all that is on me. Maybe even all of it."

"This should be obvious by now, but I'll spell it out for you anyway. Yang, Ruby, even you all have a way better chance of pulling this thing off together if I'm not in the picture. So I'm really not sure what I'm gonna be doing tomorrow. Maybe pulling out, keeping an eye on things at a distance, trying to help things whatever way I can from afar. Maybe I'll just disappear. I dunno. But tonight?"

He stood up, and went to shove past her with a lurch so he could follow the trail of whiskey over to where she'd launched his flask, shoulders slouched and hands deep in his pockets.

"I drink. And as glad as I am to see you up and moving around, don't think I won't put you back in that wheelchair if you're gonna get all uppity about it. Not like you ever cared about my booze habit, anyway. I seem to recall the last time the two of us were in a tavern you even bought me a glass of this stuff, not to mention ruined my shot with that looker of a waitress who brought it over. So screw off; that's just one of a billion reasons you got no place lecturing me. Or anybody."

From one bird to another, he flipped her the one on his hand, snatched up his flask, and made to peace out before her janky ass legs could ever even dream of catching up with him.​

 

[Indolent]

Neo huffed and shook her head no.

Neo had kept her distance from Cinder and her other acolytes. The only thread that tied her together with them was Roman and he'd been snipped out for what...

Felt like forever at this point.

Through whatever circumstances had brought her to this alternate world had also brought Emerald.

She was all Neo had.

She couldn't leave her like this, alone in a world full of emptiness.

Neo was at a loss.

She'd been doing who knows what after Roman died and had no idea of the connection Emerald had to Cinder/how the battle at Haven transpired.

So to see her clearly struggling was difficult to put it lightly. The girl had been out of it after the fight with Carneilan and Neo had tended to her without complaint. There weren't many figures in Neo's life growing up or otherwise that'd shown they'd give a damn about her besides Roman. So when she saw Emerald in that sorry state?

She tried to do what he would have done for her.

Being friends though was something Neo hadn't expected to come out of Emerald's mouth. The word itself more than anything else. Neo had thought the two of them on a similar wavelength. They worked together, they'd have eachother's backs without complaint, they'd help out when need be, but friends? No, that's what other people called eachother, people better than the two of them could ever hope to be in this lifetime or any other.

...Well, maybe, the other Neo had a shot. Now that she didn't have her murder-happy older self fighting with her over a boy who would never have loved her the way Neo wanted. He'd have just been a face trying to fill the void of another. Her other could continue to grow and be better than her and for as long as she continued to stay here? Neo would do whatever she could to make that a reality.

And she'd be there for Emerald too.


Once again, there was that hesitance lurking within Neo bubbling to the surface.

She'd taken Malachite and murdered her without a second thought. If the lady wished to be in their way? Then there was no need for subtly or trickery when deciding how to deal with her. Neo simply brought out Hush and skewered her like the pig that she looked to be. Call her cold-blooded, she knew many certainly would and she couldn't blame them. This kind of sick enjoyment was part of why her other self had opposed her so vehemently in trying to gain her Roman's affection. Maybe she should have asked Emerald to leave the room. Or at least been a less messier with the death.

She'd never seen Emerald kill anyone personally but it was just the idea.

Killing for her was as euphoric as doing daily stretches was for someone else. It worked off excess stress and calmed her mind and soul. It let her feel happiness when it'd been so disparagingly bleak in this world. For the two of them anyway. She couldn't read minds. She couldn't know how it felt for Emerald to kill. To take another's life.

So to see this affecting her so much...

Neo took another step forward...


Neo shook her head once more from side to side, this time a bit more frantically.

She couldn't let Emerald fall into thsi rut. To be consumed by despair.

It'd doom not only her but the both of them and Neo wasn't going to let the other girl worry anymore than she already was.

She threw up her hands in reply to the question.

She didn't know how she'd gotten here, who'd sent her here, and why?

It couldn't have been a semblance or if it was? It was one of the cruelest she'd ever seen or experienced. To force her to go through the greatest tragedy in her life not once but twice? To see a woman with a semblance just as devastating as hers reduced to such a state? They were as much of a monster as Ozpin or Salem.

The truth was that Neo had no answers and she didn't know how to comfort Emerald. She didn't and it was pissing her off and threatening to push her over the edge of her own precariously perched mood.

"....!"

Activating her semblance if only so briefly, Neo glanced over to a welcome image that always made her feel better.

The illusion quietly shattered and Neo turned towards Emerald.

Her mind was awash with thoughts. Many of which she didn't want to stop and figure out right now.

She just wanted to get past this horrible feeling welling up inside her. She wanted nothing more than for it to go away!

Just! Go! Away!

Emerald suddenly felt a small presence on her person.

View attachment 712098

It was Neo holding her tightly.

The edges of her eyes holding back the faintest signs of tears.

*sniffle* ​

It was the little bits and pieces of everything since that start that cascaded down onto her psyche, some outright ignored, others blatantly pushed back, and the rest she was ignorant of though not so much blissfully as just purely oblivious. Her first night in this world's Beacon was a near revisit of the Fall, accentuating old feelings in conjunction with the burgeoning realization she was alone. The weeks that followed weren't any easier, becoming all the more dramatically insufferable as the thief accounted for the sequence of events and made her way to Haven. It was a risk not without threat of life or limb she undertook to bypass the villainous coalition on the academy grounds to rescue the Branwens, one of whom could very easily have eliminated her. Stranger yet was forcing into place the understanding and acceptance of working alongside that obnoxious brat Ruby Rose and her compatriots. Even with the knowledge they were far more than likely to acquiesce and assist her in returning home, which really was only the logical conclusion to be arrived at knowing that if this world's Ozpin was anything like her Salem, especially without the buffer that was Cinder, she would simply have only been a means to further an end, cast aside when her utility had run its course. The events that followed didn't make things any easier, Roman's death and its impact on his team, that of Neo, Emerald, and Mercury. For them to experience the emotional woes they did left a mark on Emerald more than she realized as she observed them from afar. Then the battle with the creepy, crazy General Carnelian left another, a trauma she'd buried within a day. The bizarre circumstances where she was complicit in a person's death and maintaining a criminal organization without an iota of scruples was a harrowing experience even with Neopolitan's help. There wasn't any moment in time she could have taken to consider and confront those roiling feelings inside, she couldn't afford the distraction. Emerald knew she had to keep on the move and it was enough to dissuade them from breaking the tension, to spill and overtake her.

Until today, she'd run into a memory in the form of Penny. Who'd returned from the dead by some means and outright castigated her, denominating Emerald as anything but a good person. The statement that the thief had any intention of becoming anything but good wounded her more than she realized. It was the first time anyone had frankly called her out for her actions and it was a profound realization in that she typically wouldn't really have cared anyway yet she did, which only convoluted the issue furthermore.

It was enough to rip open the stopgap for the rest to flow freely, culminating in the Emerald that was on the precipice of becoming a sobbing, blubbering mess. Until a Neo embraced her, her arms ringing around her waist with these teary doe eyes gazing upwards to her.

The hardest parts had been when she was alone before entering into this bizarre partnership with Neo. One might think she had gotten used to living the solitary life before she met Cinder and Mercury, that Emerald would take to it anew like riding a bike were she to find herself on her lonesome once more. But that was the rub of it, she had tasted what she saw as a family, at least a group of similarly minded individuals she could stand and cherish. Even with the taciturn, brusque demeanor of Mercury's she could weather any storm and endure it all the better by bullshiting with the assassin's son. Cinder was occasionally warm though these moments were far and few in between, oft times electing for the stern side of the maternal. Well, that was really the only side she ever saw but it was cherished all the same. The loneliness had hurt, missing them more so.

She just hadn't realized she transplanted some of that realization onto this Neo, valuing her presence and sticking up for her. Doubly so when she could very well have easily abandoned the thief that night following the General's attack. There was something about it, a connection that had formed between the two beyond the fact they hailed from the same world and worked with one another once upon a time. These eyes that gazed up to her now was enough to pull her back to the forefront of these emotions, the proverbial replacement of the gauze for her wounds which staunched the gaping bloodletting that would've otherwise transpired.

Disgusting analogy aside, Emerald did respond. Though there was a second's worth of hesitation in these mocha arms of hers, the thief finally admitted her appreciation for her diminutive partner by returning the embrace. The gesture persisted for minutes, Sustrai recognizing the awkwardness of it all with the ultimate decision that she didn't care. She needed this. Neo probably did too. So when the sentiment in the moment had faded, that was when the embrace was disengaged with a series of suppressed sniffs as crimson eyes leveled over onto these chocolate and strawberry ones.

"... We're a sorry pair aren't we?" She muttered, scoffing at the circumstance before shaking her head and rubbing away the offending tears in the corner of her eyes with her wrist. "S'not the time for it, sorry. We, uh, we probably should find the others?"

Okay, maybe as much as she didn't care, the awkwardness still struck full force.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

She kept it really brief as her voice trembled, not trusting herself to be stable enough to speak at length. "Did...did Eve Taurus...did she rejoin you guys?"​

"Ah"

Snake was calm and polite as she answered, but she didn't sound sad about her next words

"Yes. She did. A talon herself after a month of work."

Short and to the point herself, as she waited to see how Ilia reacted to the news

 

[Indolent]

the sidestreets and alleyways eventually took them just before where one joined with a main thouroughfair, a large van idling inside of it. Penny opened the back and gestured inside with a beaming smile for the incredibly basic seating within. "The meeting location is a short distance away, so please take a seat and I will drive us efficiently and safely to our destination!"

"Hello, Penny! And... new recruits?" A melodic voice rang out from within the interior, the owner craning her head around the driver's seat courtesy of lack of seatbelt. The fair face the voice belonged to was an intrinsically curious one, high cheekbones with green eyes set above them with a kind smile that enamored you to her. Her scalp was adorned in a wave of almost-curly white hair, draped over her fore with a pair of ears the same color extending out from the side lengthwise that spoke to her reality as a faunus, her left pierced with the right dangling a tiny bell from the center.



"I see your investigation went without incidence, Penny. Is that all of them?"

And also, yes, she was the one driving. She brought the van, she drove it. >:|

 

[MyrtenRose]

Qrow couldn't do much else than sit there and listen as Raven tore him a possibly justifiable new one, not exactly the picture of lucidity even with his twin having bitchslapped him all the way back to something vaguely resembling it. His stunned incredulity as she just straight up started bullying him up and down the block like they were kids again slowly gave way to a guarded, inscrutable glower somewhere in the thick of her tirade, not exactly oblivious to the fact that it wasn't terribly unlike the one he'd reamed her with back after the fiasco at Haven.

A fiasco, in hindsight, that had marked a turning point during this whole foray into another world, one they frankly just never really recovered from as they suffered setback after setback and got smacked to and fro even more viciously and repeatedly than what she'd just subjected him to. Those were barely even love taps compared to the beating Qrow Branwen felt he'd been taking lately, quite frankly. She was gonna have to hit a whole lot harder than that if she wanted to get through, and his eyes reflected it as they narrowed in time with a rising growl at the back of his throat.

"That's not the POINT, Raven!"

Oh here we go.

"The hell it isn't!" ​

He lurched forward just as aggressively (if a bit more unsteadily) to butt heads with the other ex-bandit, planting his own hands on the back of the chair so he could push his skull against hers with active resistance.

"There isn't one. None of what you just said has a point! I ain't 'falling to pieces'; up until a few months ago I did this for years and I was FINE. In case you hadn't noticed, we've hit a major wall, we're STUCK fighting some other world's battles with no accessible way of getting back to ours, YANG has STOCKHOLM SYNDROME, AND I JUST WATCHED YOU GET YOUR BACK SNAPPED IN HALF LIKE A MATCHSTICK AFTER LESS THAN TWO MONTHS OF LISTENING TO MY BRILLIANT ADVICE! AFTER SPENDING YOUR WHOLE LIFE getting off SCOT FREE! So forgive me if I feel the need to take the edge off with whatever I can find. You're too freakin' stubborn to admit it, so lemme make it nice and easy for you: I DID THAT! I'M TO BLAME! C'MON, WHATEVER THE HELL THIS SUDDEN CONSCIENTIOUS BIG SIS ACT IS SUPPOSED TO BE I KNOW AT LEAST PART OF YOU HAS TO BE KICKING YOURSELF FOR LISTENING TO ME, THINKING YOU SHOULDA STUCK TO MOM AND DAD'S SURVIVALIST CRAP SINCE IT'S OBVIOUS THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL I'M TALKING ABOUT!"

Her harsh stare didn't let up in the slightest as Qrow pressed his head against her own in this show of defiance. "You...you fucking IDIOT. Fine? Fine?! No. No. It's taken me a long time to realize it but none of us were fine after she was gone. Tai retreated into himself, gave up on the life of a huntsman just as much as I did! You threw yourself into the job even more because it was the only thing you felt gave your life purpose...and me? I was the worst of us all. I gave up on Yang before she could even talk, left the idea of experience of something new in favor of returning to something more familiar: the tribe. And why? Because I was afraid! Salem, she's...I thought she was just a horror TOO BIG for any of us to handle, so I fell back onto something I thought I could handle. You call that fine?? We were a team, and my leaving started the avalanche of events that tore that team apart. And you and me? We were more than a team! We're twins, a pair of people that are supposed to have each others' backs to the end, and I...I DIDN'T. I turned my back on yours!" It sounded at least somewhat like she was calling herself out by the end of that just as much as she was with her brother.

"So don't sit there and tell me you were fine going it solo! None of us were! No matter what we told ourselves at the time. As for the rest of that..." She shook her head vigorously. "Yeah, we're in a rough spot right now, but that comes with being a huntsman, doesn't it?" Raven pointed out. "It is always an uphill battle ahead of us, and the two of us are among the very few huntsmen and huntresses that know just how much uphill it truly is. We're no closer to home yet, but that doesn't MEAN FOR ONE SINGLE SECOND that you should drown yourself in alcohol, little brother! And she's one of the reasons why! Yang may be foolishly stubborn but she still needs you and me at our best. You are not going to find the best version of yourself at the bottom of any bottle." Raven pushed her skull further forward against his own.

"Don't give me that bullshit now. I didn't get off scot free in the end, brother. My choices cost me my team, my daughter, my tribe, the closest person to a friend I had left, everything. As you saw fit to remind me. It cost me everything I thought important. That is where my choice to return to the teachings Mom and Dad gave us brought me to! My whole world crumbled around me, BECAUSE of me! I tried to deny it, tried to avoid accepting it, but I couldn't. Not any more, not after what you said. So listen to me and listen clear, what happened to my back? THAT ISN'T YOUR DAMN FAULT. I don't hold you responsible in the slightest, and if I'm being honest...maybe I needed to suffer that for all the mistakes I've made." There was a hint of sadness in her eyes but it burned away in the red hot anger nigh immediately.

"SO, DO NOT DARE CLAIM YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, WHEN YOU ARE STANDING HERE, NEXT TO ME, AFTER EVERYTHING MY POOR DECISIONS COST ME!"​

He paused, a haunted look falling over his own crimson eyes as he broke contact with the ones directly opposite him, staring at the floor with a subdued shake of the head.

"...I never have. You know exactly who I am. You know what my semblance does. We BOTH know that how bad this all is, how bleak it's gotten, the fact that you're a frickin' cripple, a BIG part of all that is on me. Maybe even all of it."

"This should be obvious by now, but I'll spell it out for you anyway. Yang, Ruby, even you all have a way better chance of pulling this thing off together if I'm not in the picture. So I'm really not sure what I'm gonna be doing tomorrow. Maybe pulling out, keeping an eye on things at a distance, trying to help things whatever way I can from afar. Maybe I'll just disappear. I dunno. But tonight?"

She tried to move to smack him again, to slap the notion that any of this was his fault right out of that messy haired skull of his, but despite her close proximity she was too slow in doing so.
​

He stood up, and went to shove past her with a lurch so he could follow the trail of whiskey over to where she'd launched his flask, shoulders slouched and hands deep in his pockets.

"I drink. And as glad as I am to see you up and moving around, don't think I won't put you back in that wheelchair if you're gonna get all uppity about it. Not like you ever cared about my booze habit, anyway. I seem to recall the last time the two of us were in a tavern you even bought me a glass of this stuff, not to mention ruined my shot with that looker of a waitress who brought it over. So screw off; that's just one of a billion reasons you got no place lecturing me. Or anybody."

From one bird to another, he flipped her the one on his hand, snatched up his flask, and made to peace out before her janky ass legs could ever even dream of catching up with him.

"I...maybe you're right, on that least." She admitted, eyes locked his back as he retreated. "Maybe I am the last person on Remnant who has any right to lecture you." She made no effort to follow or stop him, because she knew she could not. She could barely walk, and much as she didn't want to admit it, that move to grasp both armrests of the chair he'd been in? It had been just as much to support herself in standing here as it was to bring her face closer to his in the personal chat they needed. "But I'm not doing this for me. As crazy as that sounds, given how selfish I've been for so long." She dropped into the seat he vacated, no longer able to force herself to stand. "Yang needs us. Not afar, not separated, not from a distance or wherever the hell you plan to be after tonight, but together. As maybe the world's leading expert on walking away...trust me when I say you'll regret it. You wouldn't be helping any of us by doing that."

Something that seemed to occur to more than just the two of them, as in the moment just before he went to snatch up his flask? The heel of a second, not crippled Raven Branwen stepped down on top of it, preventing it from being snatched up. That was a split second before a firm hand thrust out to push him back the way he came with enough force that he'd end up by the chair again. "I'd listen to her, if I were you." The other Raven advised, differentiated from her double not only by not being crippled but also in the changed outfit she wore.

"Don't do this. Be better than my brother." The not crippled non-maiden pleaded.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"... We're a sorry pair aren't we?" She muttered, scoffing at the circumstance before shaking her head and rubbing away the offending tears in the corner of her eyes with her wrist. "S'not the time for it, sorry. We, uh, we probably should find the others?"

Okay, maybe as much as she didn't care, the awkwardness still struck full force.

"Oh my god hurry it up..."

"Perhaps I should play some showtunes to better pass the time, Maste--"

"no!" She interrupted with a loud whisper, or as loud a whisper could get while still being a whisper.

Jennings' faceplate flashed briefly with a : ( but it went unseen with Gwen's utter focus elsewhere.​

 

[Indolent]

"I... please do not take this the wrong way Gretchen, but it is not them disappearing forever that has me concerned" Penny said with a small frown hidden behind her Incredibly Devious Disguise as they walked at a brisk pace through the back streets "It is them coming back and doing harm. The Emerald and Neo of Remnant one were part of a small group directly responsible for Beacon falling entirely in Remnant one. Many people died in the attack on Beacon here, but the loss of life in the other Vale was approximately three hundred and eighty five percent worse, and included mr. Ozpin and the fall maiden. They are very dangerous individuals, and I should have been paying much closer attention."

"... I knew they weren't good people but I didn't expect them to be that bad. No. That's worse than bad. Practically evil. Almost five times the death toll of Beacon?! I can't even imagine that, especially since they were kinda sorta nice to us, helped us out at Haven, apparently tried fighting Carnelian. But, still. Doesn't excuse all these things. It sort of does put everything into perspective with the vague picture Miss Tock outlined for us back on Anima when she was talking about visiting one of her contacts and finding these two instead running the place. Wait. Wow. The implications. And we were among them unknowingly..."

Gretchen's shoulders dropped, her arms drooping in place as her eyes widened, "I'm an horrible judge of character."

Hazel frowned, concerned that his sister was so quick to admonish herself as Brosel stepped up to the plate and attempted to assuage her.

"No!"

It was a very emphatic no, and Penny immediately clasped her hands together tightly, her expression still hidden. "Not that I do not think you would do a good *hic* job defusing any anger *hiccup* in a calm manner or anything of the *hic* sort!" she was quick to clarify. "Any frustration the general may feel with me will be justified; I will be okay."

the sidestreets and alleyways eventually took them just before where one joined with a main thouroughfair, a large van idling inside of it. Penny opened the back and gestured inside with a beaming smile for the incredibly basic seating within. "The meeting location is a short distance away, so please take a seat and I will drive us efficiently and safely to our destination!"

Truth be told, the siblings were kinda gently let down by the simplicity of it all. It made sense they'd leverage an inconspicuous mode of transportation but they'd honestly thought it'd be another airship. At least it made for some variety in the adventure.

"Hello, Penny! And... new recruits?" A melodic voice rang out from within the interior, the owner craning her head around the driver's seat courtesy of lack of seatbelt. The fair face the voice belonged to was an intrinsically curious one, high cheekbones with green eyes set above them with a kind smile that enamored you to her. Her scalp was adorned in a wave of almost-curly white hair, draped over her fore with a pair of ears the same color extending out from the side lengthwise that spoke to her reality as a faunus, her left pierced with the right dangling a tiny bell from the center.

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"I see your investigation went without incidence, Penny. Is that all of them?"

And also, yes, she was the one driving. She brought the van, she drove it. >:|

Gretchen's dour attitude evaporated soon as Fiona's personage entered view, the huntress letting slip a noise that seemed happier than sad. She's so freaking cute, wow.

Unfortunately this had the side effect of her coming to a halt, barring the others from entering the van amid her exceedingly obvious gawping. Hazel, amid his exasperation, hoisted her into the van and claimed the very back for himself.

 

[Indolent]

"Oh my god hurry it up..."

"Perhaps I should play some showtunes to better pass the time, Maste--"

"no!" She interrupted with a loud whisper, or as loud a whisper could get while still being a whisper.

Jennings' faceplate flashed briefly with a : ( but it went unseen with Gwen's utter focus elsewhere.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Ah"

Snake was calm and polite as she answered, but she didn't sound sad about her next words

"Yes. She did. A talon herself after a month of work."

Short and to the point herself, as she waited to see how Ilia reacted to the news

It was rather hard to make out if Ilia said anything in response, thanks to the sudden jarring noisy thuds of a scroll being thrown at a wall so hard it bounced off and further bounced a couple more times as it clattered to the floor. Yet somehow it miraculously stayed functional, and once that noise of that settled some soft sobs could be heard. Snake had promised not to lie, had been...willing enough to help her with unlocking her semblance, and...well, despite herself, there was a degree of wanting to trust the other faunus at her word. Plus...she couldn't exactly see a member of the Shadow Fang and a human coming together to try to lie to her with the same story...so...it had to be true. That twisted Yang's reveal was corroborated by Snake. Eve really had...after everything...

There was some faint sounds of movement as Ilia crawled over to the scroll. A few seconds later there came an even fainter:

"...why?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

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[MyrtenRose]

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Half a world away she suddenly shot awake in pure horror for an unknown, unexplainable reason.