Fandom RWBY Saga: Mistral [Arc 2 IC]

Tyrian Narcis, Scarlet Vord, Saffron Zephyr"Look. All I'm saying is that I don't understand why you decided to follow me around. School's over, Phil and Coral are going home, and you've never cared about what happens to me on my own time before." The short man in the fine suit said to his blond companion as he waltzed down the street, playing his violin earning smiles from the crowds.

"And I still don't care. I've got no interest in going home any time soon, you've got a knack for getting yourself in trouble and it's been a few days since I've been in a good brawl" came her response, as she walked with her hands behind her head, fingers interlocked. The shield on her back caught the sun and the dragon emblazoned on it nearly seemed to look around as it swayed with her gait. Her scroll buzzed. "Yeah? Got it. Do I have to bring him? Ugh. Fine. Yo short stack! Business calls. We're going down to Sky's place. She needs our help"

Tyrian's playing stopped to a round of applause. "Very well then. It's been some time since I've seen her. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see me again. She has a thing for me you know."

Right. And I'm the Winter Maiden Scarlet thought rolling her eyes.

They made their way to the closest elevator and began to make their way downwards. A few minutes later they sat outside of Skyler's estate, waiting on their teammates. As they arrived and made their way in. Tyrian chattered about a new song he was working on and Scarlet tuned him out.

Tyrian was the first one in. A quick glance around the room revealed a number of faces. Flashing his biggest smile he said jovially "Skyler, darling. You didn't tell us this was a party! I would have worn something actually nice instead of this drab old suit. I see a few familiar faces." He looked over at Cade and Shian. "Ah Miss Night, looking as ravishing as ever. And her... energetic leader...Carl? Chris? Crane? I'm not super familiar with the underclassmen" His gaze swept to the other students of Beacon and Vacuo, winking at Summer and Kya "And some fresh, and very pretty ones as well! Tyrian Narciss, the pleasure is yours. " He gaze stopped on Saffron and his smile dropped slightly. "And my favorite pigeon! Still pecking around for Skyler's scraps are we?"

"Tyrian" came the voice of his beloved Coral behind him, a warning in her voice.


"Ah yes. Best behavior, business attitude. Apologies my love." he said, shamefaced as he stepped further inside to let the hulking form of Philip in.

Saffron glanced up as Tyrian made the introductions. For a brief moment at Tyrian's insult, Saffron wondered how fast he could cross the room and break his nose before he remembered where he was and why he was here. Instead he shifted his focus on the others as they entered. He liked Coral and Phillip and he respected Scarlet.

Mistral TeamSummer was seated on one of the red seats as Phoenix leaned on the back of the same seat. Skyler sat on the other red seat as she took to sipping her coffee. The coffee table is littered with small finger foods along with an assortment of teapots filled with either tea or coffee, and large pitchers of water or iced tea. Summer has taken to the food as they waited in a small conversation. She took a small plate and placed almost one of each food item available on the plate, offering her brother something from her assortment.

When the door opened up again, one of the staff came in and announced the arrival of team WSTN. Skyler got up and greeted the team, “Thank you for coming so quickly, I know you are all on your break but it seems that whatever task that was given to my classmates and my team leader need your help in the matter. Please make yourselves at home, I didn’t know what you guys would have like to drink or eat so I got a bit of everything.”

At the display of food, Phillip licked his lips. Coral tried not to laugh as she motioned him to take a seat, which he did. He took up a spot on the floor as Coral gave him a small plate with food. Once he was settled, and we reined in Tyrian a bit. Summer was about to wave at him when he greeted himself, but Phoenix stopped her as he took a seat on the remaining room on the red seat.

Once everyone was seated and taken to the food displayed on the coffee table, Skyler placed her coffee on the mantle of the fireplace and began the meeting. Clearing her throat she began, “Once again, thanks for coming. I am not entirely sure on the bases of the mission my classmates were given, so I would rather one of them talk.” She looked over to either leader and waited for one of them to step up. Clearing her throat, she places her plate down and stood up, her usual smile was gone as she became serious for what’s to come, “Before we disclose anything, we want to make something very clear. Anything said in this room, does not leave here. I’ll let Saffron take over since this is his home turf and knows more than me at the moment." Summer glanced over to Saffron seeing if he would like to take over, or she would have too.

Saffron Zephyr"Thanks Summer. So at this point, what's happened in Vale has become public knowledge. A massive Grimm attack with some new kinds, the fall of both Beacon and the comm tower again, and rumors of Salem coming back had started floating around when we had left."

Saffron took a breath. As much as he didn't like having to spread the information he knew he could trust WSTN from experience. It was the other three non-Beacon students he was unsure of. "What isn't known, what was intentionally kept secret except from those Huntsmen and others directly involved was the truth behind the new Grimm. These Brutus Grimm are actually people. Some kind of infectant was introduced and transformed them. We, the students of Beacon and thus more easily expendable from the front lines trying to protect Vale,first went to Vacuo where we meet a scientist there. He claims to have found a cure for this but didn't have enough of some rare ingredients. So we split up to go get them, while also working under the assumption that those who caused this infection might know what it is we're looking for and where to get it. We're here looking for Etheria. The hope of course being we could get it here in the capital on one of the levels, even the lower ones."

He looked at the six Mistralian students. "Sky and I maybe from here, but at the very least I'm not super familiar with the city proper. Can you help us?"

Mistral Team
Phoenix paid close attention to the newcomers to see how they were like. So far he really didn't like this Tyrian guy, but he just tried to act casual as he listened to Saffron explain what was going on. Once he was done saying what he needs, Nix looked over to the smaller blonde girl as she seemed to be the one in charge, but when she looked over to the larger man on the floor as he seemed to be stuffing his mouth with more food, Nix was confused, to say the least. The blonde nudged the larger man as he looked up at her before swallowing the food that was currently in his mouth. He handed the plate over to the blonde and turned to Saffron.

"Alright, so what do you need us to help with besides being a guide?" he asked, "Do you have any leads on where this plant is located. I mean it's always good to start in the lower levels but if you are correct about your assumption of being closely watched by those that cause the fall of Vale, we would have to be careful with how we approach anything. Mystral might be artistic and beautiful, but there are more eyes and ears then one would think."

"Nix was also thinking about giving the lower levels a try," Summer spoke up as she pointed to her twin, "It's a good start as any, but since were are the only ones here that don't know Mistral at all, we'll let you guys lead and input our thoughts when needed." Phoenix crossed his arms as he leaned back into the seat, "So, what do we do now?"

Skyler paced before the fireplace as she tried to think of any way that she can help. She has a team of scientist in her disposal but she didn't want to talk about this mission to anyone outside her trust circle. When she repeated the name of the plant, recalled something. One of her past relatives were Botanists which meant there must be a journal in the reserves that she can use. Without saying anything she made her way over to the spiral staircase to the second floor and began to scan the endless shelves of written documents from past Sharp family members. Once she found the journal written by her Grandmother, Nightshade Sharp.

"Skyler?" Summer called up to her, "What are you looking for?"

Skyler didn't look away from glass door as she proceeded to open it ant aking out the journal in questions. Once she had the door closed once more in lock and key, she answered as she began to look for the plant, "My grandmother was a Botanist before she met my grandfather and became his assistant. She was born outside of the main city, but she took adventured to look for all kind of plants. She must have written about Etheria." She continued to flip through the pages until she found a picture of a plant. The flower was surrounded by a black void but it was illustrated to showing that it glows a faint blue tint.

"'Ethylphinium Laevis, also known as Etheria'" Skyler spoke up, "'A rare plant that grows best on rock formations, and best found in the pitch dark. It can also be found outside in well-shaded areas in lush forests but the plant is normally hard to find out in the forest compared to within a cave. Its pollen is potent in a unique matter that seems to move and look like a small ember ever growing and burning. When not handled correctly, the pollen can react in a bad manner which can cause more damage to not only the scientist but the rest of the plant life in the vicinity, including Etheria plants. The fume that it releases is highly toxic. The effects have yet to be documented in a controlled setting by scientists.'" Skyler stopped reading out loud to skim across the page before finding something else, "I found the plant in the heart of the southernmost mountain near my hometown. I was foolish at my young age, which caused me to not understand the plant. Due to my excitement, I destroyed the small cove of the plant. I have yet to find another patch, but I think I found someone that has. Find the eye and you will find knowledge."

"So we can find it in two places, but what does she mean by the last part?" Phoenix asked at the last statement. Skyler shook her head as she closed the book, "I've never left the Estate growing up, so I don't recall seeing an eye..." The twins looked over to the other Mistral residents in order to see what they thought. That's when Summer noticed the blonde and the taller man looking at each other. She grabbed their attention as she spoke up, "You two know something."

Coral nodded as she locked her fingers on top of her lap, "The Eye is a myth, but you can find images of eyes around the lower levels. No one knows who draws them, but they are always well hidden, that you can walk by it without knowing it was there. Does your grandmother say anything about finding the Eye?" Skyler shocks her head as she stated, "That was her last entry about the plant. The other studies she did have pages added to them, but that one was only covered in two pages. It could have been around the time she met my grandfather. From what I hear, she turned her focus on mechanical science to assist grandfather Azurite."

Kyra would look up from observing the book shelves when Tyrian arrived. She turned her head towards him as he called out the new faces, referring to her and Summer. She quietly shook hear head at Tyrian, and returned to looking around the room, not wanting to interact with Tyrian, as she had been eavesdropping on his conversation with the rest of the group from Beacon. And by the tone of the conversation, it was something she didn't know, and didn't want to join in on.

After a while, Kyra started paying attention to the other faces in the room, and made her way to the group, to listen to Saffron's explanation, which was quickly followed by Summer, starting the meeting with Skylar.

They began to discuss the plant that everyone was tasked with finding. Skyler mentioned that it was a rare plant that grows in rock formations that typically is found in pitch black or low lit areas. Usually in lush forest areas. Having grown up in Mistral all her life, Kyra began to think back on all the times she was in the forests. Either to train or to just explore. The heavy vegetation, at times made things hard to navigate, and it was easy to get lost if she wasn't careful.

When the other mistral members started talking about the eye.

"I have been to the lower levels several times growing up. I've never seen any eye, but I do agree with looking in the lower levels. It's generally going to harbour some sort of valuable information that we could find."

Mistral Team
Skyler was thinking things over as she tapped the journal on her left hand. If dad was here he would know a bit more about this, but he's not here... The knock at the stopped everyone's conversation. Calling out to whoever it was to enter, which revealed to be one of the staff members summoning her. With a single sigh, she nodded and began to descend the spiral steps. "Well, we can either go later or tomorrow morning. I wouldn't want to get there on my last strip of energy," she announced as she looked over to Saffron. She handed the journal off to Phoenix before she continued, "I'll be back in a bit. You guys decide on what 's the plan."

Phoenix looked at the book a moment before following Skyler out from his spot beside Summer. Once Skyler was out the door, Summer took the book from him and began to flip through some pages. "It would be a good Idea for us to rest up," Phoenix announced to those that he traveled with, "It was a rough flight for some of us." He made a point to not look at anyone when he said that. Summer closed the journal carefully and asked, "What do you think Saffron? Do you need a bit to rest up after the whole Jester incident?"

Meanwhile With Skyler

Tyrian, Scarlet, SaffronScarlet snorted. "The Eye? Really?Well it's like Coral said, They Eye as a person or thing is a myth. Usually told to scare children into behaving. I've drawn a couple of them myself, on the higher levels."

Tyrian likewise laughed, though his mirth was directed at Scarlet. "Come now Vord. You should know better than anyone that many myths and legends have their base in facts. The Eye very well may have been a person once. Look at the Maidens and the Silver Eyes. Before the last war with Salem everyone that knew of them, simply thought they were stories. Now we know better." His eyes swung around the group looking for signs that they agreed with them. His eyes focused in on the Rose Twins. "Right? You guys know what I'm talking about, don't you? It's something that everyone like you can do right?"

Saffron's eyes cut to them, both from Summer's question and to Tyrian's questioning of them. Interrupting the response he stretched and yawned loudly. "I don't know anything about this Eye, I grew up with different stories. But, you know Summer, I think you're on to something there. I could use a bit of a rest after the excitement in the sky port. That new trick of mine is pretty draining and to be honest, I barely slept on the flight as is. I suppose anyone that wants to explore the town can? Though...I'd avoid the lower levels without myself, one of WSTN or Kyra if she thinks she can navigate them well enough. We've all spent a lot of time there it seems and know our way around. Let's reconvene here in the morning I suppose?"

Walking past the group, his face drawn and unusually serious, he left the room and hailed a servant to show him to a room he could stay in.

"What's got his feathers ruffled?" Scarlet wondered aloud. "Last I remember, Tweety was obnoxiously full of energy and himself."

"Eh" shrugged Tyrian "I get it. I know I get pretty cranky without my beauty sleep."

"Not that it's ever helped"

"Anyways" he said, glaring at his teammate. "This was a rather fun little get together. Yet, I must away. I've an appointment at the Arena and I must not disappoint my fans. I bid you lovely people farewell. It was your pleasure to meet me"

Tyrian left the estate and made his way down to one of the lower levels. Walking through the archway to the Arena he glanced sideways at the wall behind the column to his left where a drawing of an eye was peeking through. He sighed heavily. "The Eye huh? Tyrian how do you get yourself into these messes...."

Skylar had left to tend to something else. After she was gone, everyone within the room started to converse among themselves. Scarlet made her opinion of the eye very clear, and when she looked around the room for others to agree, until Tyrian laughed at her view. Kyra nodded in agreement with him. While things might seemed far fetched, even with the eye and it's stories, which she herself has heard countless times, it doesn't mean that the entire muyth surrounding it is false. Like Tyrian said. "Many myths and legends have their base in facts." And Kyra nodded her head in agreement with Tyrian's words, and locked eyes with him when he looked around the room.

Soon after, Saffron mentioned going into the under levels of Mistral. Shortly after, both both He and Tyrian left the room, leaving everyone else behind.

Kyra paced around in silence, thinking about what the two had said. Thinking of a plan that could help.

"I do like what Saffron said. If we are to get what we came for faster, that would mean that we need to gather information. We can't do that a one big group. Instead, why not split up into smaller groups and we Mistral natives will be the guides for the others. We can cover far more ground that way, especially when some of us here, myself included come from Mistral. Meaning we'll have local knowledge." Kyra said to the rest of the individuals in the room.

Mistral TeamSkyler Eden Sharp
Skyler was returning back to the library after her encounter with Lydia. Her mind was in overdrive as she tried to work the message over and over again trying to find a key that might help her learn what it all meant. Her family has been a huge scientific influence in Mistral and to find out that their might be someone playing with human experiments sickened her. Worst of all, it scared her. Not a lot scares her outside of her family's well being, but this was dangerous.

As she rounded the corner toward the guest wing of the estate, she noticed Saffron. Quickening her stride, she caught up to him. "Saff!" she called out to him, "What happened? You seem serious. Did Tyrion overstep his welcome again?"

Rose Twins
Summer followed Saffron out with her eyes, worry clearly written on her face. Her attention was soon pulled back to her twin as he placed a hand on her shoulder. He offered her a smile before he spoke up, "I think he needs time by himself, Sum." Summer nodded and then turned to the others as they talked. She was mainly focused on out newcomers since she had gotten a chance to know Kyra a bit on the flight over. These new faces were exciting to her in a way and it made her curious.

"Well, if you guys are okay with guiding us around," Summer offered a smile to the others, "I think Phoenix and I would benefit on it since we are new to Mistral." Phoenix raised an eyebrow at her wondering if she was sure about going too far from her friends. She just smiled at him before she waited for anyone to answer which was answered by the large blond in the room. "Well, Coral and I were heading to the lower levels before we were called over by Sky," he grinned, "You guys can tag along if you really want to see the lower levels."

"You up for an adventure, Nix?" Summer's eyes shined as she waited for her twin's answer. He just rolled his eyes as he replied with a simple, "Why not..." Summer grinned, excited to explore Mistral. She knew she was here for a Mission, but what was the fun in exploring a bit. Especially when it would help them with any clues on this mysterious eye they are to look for, it even excites. "Should we wait for Skyler before we embark?" Coral asked as she looked over to everyone.

Saffron, ScarletSaffron looked up as Skyler approached. "Tyrian always oversteps." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "No I'm just tired and a bit overwhelmed." He leaned against a wall and slid down, sitting on the ground. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but I wish I could have avoided coming back to Mistral a little longer. Or at least the city proper. Bad memories"

He looked down the hall towards where he came. "Tyrian was just the latest. I couldn't sleep much on the plane. And there was that whole business with the clown. I was fully prepared to kill him Sky. And I wanted it to be slow. I'm supposed to be better than this. I promised I would be. And even besides all that it's been a crazy few months without really having time to decompress."
---
"Don't lose" Scarlet said simply, as Tyrian left. "I don't wanna have to go claim you."

Scarlet thought a moment before shrugging. "Sure, I can play tour guide if you want. I wasn't planning on going home for break for a while anyways. Gives me a way to kill time."

She looked around the group for a moment before looking at Coral and Phillip, a look of revelation on her face. "Guys...they don't know who we are. Tyrian's the only one that introduced himself. Sorry about all that" she said addressing the group. "Sometimes we forget that there are actually people that don't know us. I'm Scarlet Vord, this is Coral and Phillip. We're WSTN (Whitestone). 3rd years at Haven and current champions of the Vytal festival. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Skyler Eden Sharp
Skyler stood for a moment as she listened to everything he was saying. Even after he was finished Skyler just took in the sight of her best friend in the brink of losing his resolve. Silently, she took a seat beside him on the wall and took one of his hands in her own. Giving his hand a reassuring squeeze she finally spoke up, "I knew I should have said no to my mother when she came to take me away..."

Skyler took a moment to think of how to continue but quickly picked up where she left off, "Even when my mother told me about my Aunt, I knew you needed me the most. Sage had his trauma so you couldn't talk to him. I was your only other shoulder to lean on... But as much pain Jester had done to us, we shouldn't stoop to his level, Saff. My father went down the road you almost went on, it still kills him every day. I don't want you to go through that."

Just the thought of the screams that she used to hear in the middle of the night when she was younger, caused her eyes to water. The memory of her father breaking down always stayed in her memory, it was her only lifeline from staying away from the road he took to take revenge on our family. "I'm sorry for leaving without a say," she finally spoke up as a tear rolled down her cheek silently, "We made the promise to stick together and I broke that promise twice..."

Skyler was normally a pillar of authority and calm, but she had always been able to break down with Saffron. This was the first time she had ever cried in front of him.

Rose Twins
Summer's eyes flew open the moment she heard the team name. Pheonix slowly began to pull away from his twin as he waited for her excitement to explode. "You guys are team WSTN! The WSTN! By the brothers! I have always wanted to meet you guys. I thought I would meet you at the arena, but this works as well!" Summer exclaimed, her eyes shining with so much joy.

Phoenix pushed Summer back to her seat slowly from her shoulder, "Calm down, Sum..." Phoenix rolled his eyes at her before turning over to the remaining three members of WSTN. "It's nice to meet you guys," he spoke to them with a small smile, "My name is Phoenix Rose and this is my twin sister, Summer Rose."

When the twins started to pipe up about wanting to go around and visit the city since a lot of the students aren't Mistral natives. The tall blonde offered to take the twins down to the lower levels since that is the whole objective of everyone being here. To find the eye. "Be careful not to run into the animals in the lower levels." Kyra spoke. And then came the formalities, when the new students introduced themselves as team WSTN, and Summer got super excited about meeting the vystal champions. Clearing her throat Kyra decided to speak up since they didn't have anymore time to waste simply sitting around when they have a task to do. "So. Are we ready to depart? Or should we wait a bit more for the others?"

KarenAKAMint
Saffron reached his arm not holding Skyler’s hand around and flicked Skyler in the ear. “Dummy. Family comes first. Do you think for a second if I’d known why you had been called away I wouldn’t have told you to go? Leaving without a word was bad, but one of the adults And besides…I’m not sure I haven’t gone down that road.”

He sighed. “I’m not sure what exactly your dad did….but at least it wasn’t left open. Me? I-“ his voice caught. “I don’t know how things are. And that might be worse. Last time I was here…I….abandoned my partner.”

Saffron shuddered.

“I still hear her calling out for me to help her when I sleep.” Saffron wanted to stop talking. He didn’t want to bring all this up, not when they had a mission, but he couldn’t. “I used to do the Trials. To train. Always the Grimm though. The nastier the better. I refused to fight other people. It wasn’t worth it. It was easier to show off against Grimm and not risk death. One of my fans, Viridian wanted to train with me. I put her through the same training I did, figured she’d give up after a while. Mountain training isn’t easy on most people. But she didn’t. Tough girl. Skilled too. I seem to have a knack for finding them” he joked, nudging her. “We went out into the forest, trying to find something that was a challenge.” Saffron’s face darkened. “We did. We found a nest of Sphinxes and Manticores. There was only maybe half a dozen there. Should have been easy. But we didn’t know there was more. We wound up swarmed. So I ran. I ran and left her behind in the woods. I don’t even know if she’s dead or alive. I’ve never even checked Sky. And it kills me. Then I ran again. I thought Beacon would get me away. So I applied there, forsaking mum’s name. The son of Nora Valkyrie: a coward? I couldn’t live with that shame. I promised her memory to do better. Be better. See things through to the end no matter what that ending was...even if it was mine. It’s why when Beacon collapsed I almost fought your dad to go back and look for Iris and any stragglers.”

This time it was his turn for a tear as he leaned against her, resting his head on her shoulders. His voice was hardly above a whisper at this point. “Now I’m back here and the first thing I did was to come a hair’s breadth away from breaking that promise again. And probably would have if your knives didn’t come with settings now.”

Jester Nightmarish, his story

"I wonder how far did that ship drop take me anyways?... Well before I crashed it… I wonder if that pilot was able to crash land the ship without killing everyone?" Jester thought to himself as he walked through the large forest. It had been a long day of walking with his luggage on his back. After hours of walking Jester stumbled upon something, a house or rather an abandoned homestead. The building seemed to be a two-story house with some collapsed buildings around it. "Huh, looks like I have a ghost homestead to myself for the night," Jester said mentally coining the phrase ghost homestead. Jester then headed into the building, notice old claw marks across the exterior and the broken door. "Place must have been attacked by Beowolves and they either killed everyone or the people fled," Jester said to himself looking over entrance to the building before walking in.

Jester looked around what he assumed was the living room. As he did so he noticed a small picture frame with a male Faunus, a female human, and a Faunus child. Jester picked up the picture frame and looked at it deeply, and smiled slightly under his mask…


As the bad memories followed the good Jester just dropped the picture to ground, clenched his fist and moved on. Jester went on to explore more of the house, after dropping his luggage off in the living room. First stop was the kitchen where he looked through the old cabinets for any canned food left behind. Jester found a few cans of beans and some dried fruits. While neither were appetizing, they would have to do for his dinner for the night. He put them off to the side and moved on the searching the upstairs of the building. Once there, he opened up the first room to the right and found what seemed to be the kid's room. Jester walked in to see if there was anything of value left. That’s when stepped on a toy train on the floor. Jester then kneeled to train and picked it up. The model of that of one fancy trains the Schee dust company used, back at Jester first major heist…


Jester left the kid room behind, finding nothing of any use in the end. Jester continued searching the upstairs, finding only more junk with no use for his survival. After searching a while he came back downstairs with only a small music DVD he grabbed in his search. The artist's name and picture were no visible on the front of the disc. Jester took no care of that in the end and put it into his scroll to play it. After a moment of booting up, sweet music began to play. Well sweet until the vocals kicked in and Jester was hit with a beautiful voice from his past…


Jester turned off the music and stayed quiet in silence. Then after a moment of silence, he slammed his fist into a nearby wall. “What the f**** is with this house and bring back these damn memories!?” Jester yelled holding his fist that put a hole in the old wall. Then he dropped down to his knees. “Why does shit always go south… why can’t I just keep anything good....” Jester said now sitting on the floor near where he sat his luggage. He pulled it over and pulled out the stuffed animal cat, Candybar. “Trix where are you now…”


Jester put Candybar back into the suitcase, before grabbing his mask and taking it off. “When I was sane and Jack, sh*t went wrong. When I became Jester, shit still goes wrong!” Jester said throwing his mask. “No matter what the f*ck I do, I lose. Maybe that bird should have just killed me…” Jester said depressed. Jester sat on the floor in silence for a long time.

As Jester was stewing in his depression, a small number of Beowolves began heading to the abandoned house, sensing Jester’ negative emotions. Jester looked outside the window next to him to see them coming. “I guess these guys will finish what bird couldn’t...” Jester said debating on fight or just letting them kill him.

As debated living and dying went back to thinking about Trix and Lectrie. Those thoughts turned to the possible end of the world brought on by Dagger and those working with and for. “Even if I murder and criminal, there are still people worse then me… hurting those I care for…” Jester said standing up. “Jack, Jester, minor criminal, expert merc, whatever I am, guess it better now than never to get things straight, and do at least a little good for the world,” Jester said to himself as a Beowolf knocked down the door and charged at Jester.

Jester quickly pulled out his bladed brass knuckles and stabbed the Beowolf from under its chin, into its head. “Okay, who's next?” Jester grabbing bombs form his bag as more Beowolves charged cabin...

A Raven in the Forest
Starring: Jester (Chazghost) and Rook ( Chak )
Special guest star: Raven

A lone blackbird flew through the night, its eyes roving the darkness as it sought out its prey. It knew not what exactly its prey was, save for the fact that it was sentient, a Faunus or Human no doubt. Someone had been stalking these woods, stalking this birds territory and killing her men. This was, after all, not just a random raven in the night, but the one known as Raven, the ruthless bandit that had long since forsaken the going on of the world in exchange for amassing her own secret powers.

It didn’t matter, after all, if the world ended, as long as her own world survived.

But as of now, it had been threatened, and this could not, and would not, be allowed. Watching a potential target as she flitted through the tree branches, Raven rounded about and informed her men. An ambush may not have been her preferred method of confrontation, but it would serve her purposes seeing how she actually wanted to get as much information as she needed from this man before she decided what to do with him.

Jester was still thinking on the random USB he found buried by a man who died shortly after the act and his town in the abandoned home. He hadn't a clue why a man in a lab coat ran through the forest or why he buried a USB but whatever the case the information on it was strange and made little sense to him. But for now, the night drew in and Jester needed to get some rest. So Jester went tall and sturdy tree. Jester securing his bags to him he climbs the tree and went about resting on some sturdy branches for the night.

Having watched as the man she’d followed commenced an ascent into the boughs of a tree, Raven’s immediate sense was that this was not her actual target. Whoever was hunting them wouldn’t have been so foolish. Still, he may have seen something or bore some knowledge on what she wanted to know.

Waiting until the man fell into a slumber, the woman let him pass into the realm of dreams as her men took up position around him. There would be no simple escape. Alighting to his branch, she retook the form she’d been born with and slid her blade from its scabbard. Letting the tip fall until it rested inches from the man’s face, she kicked his legs to wake him.

“Rise, fool. You’ve come to rest in my forest. I will know why. Who are you, and what are you doing here.”


“Who’s a fool… oh…” Jester said annoyed waking up. He was annoyed until he noticed a blade to his neck and woman holding. “I’m going to assume your not proper Mistral police, being you don’t know who I am,” Jester said badly cracking a joke. “I’m Jester Nightmarish, expert thief, explosive maker, and many other things” Jester said introducing himself. While he would ask the woman her usually being she had a sword to his neck he figured it wasn’t the time for it yet. “The reason I’m here is that I escaped from airship after I was wrongly arrested by the Mistral police. If you want proof of that here should a crashed airship down that way, with maybe a body or two depending on if the pilot crashed landed it well enough.” Jester said pointing the direction he came from

Raven narrowed her eyes at this revelation. Granted, given that this fool had certainly made it easy for her to sneak up on her. It all told her everything she needed to know. This couldn’t have been her assassin, especially considering that should his story of crash landing hold true, he’d only just arrived.

“Jester Nightmarish…” came the woman’s voice. It held a tone of both disdain and disregard, with a helpful dose of contempt, “It sounds like the moniker of a child demanding attention from his elders and betters.”

There was a wave of laughter from the men around them, all standing at the ready, all watching eagerly, filled with anticipation to see what their boss would do.

“This is generally a time where I would offer to let you join me. I could always use someone new in my ranks, especially with how hard it can be to obtain a solid explosives technician. A good thief has their uses as well.” Raven spoke clearly. She’d made the pitch to plenty of people before. None of what she’d uttered was a lie either. Still…

“So why shouldn’t I just dispose of you?”

While Jester was slightly annoyed by the bandits making fun of his name, he knew they were not wrong and that his name was a bit strange and childish. “Why shouldn’t you kill me? Well, why would you gain by killing? My shit in my bags and that’s about it. But keeping me alive would let us talk business. You see I’m more or less merc, doing a job for those who pay well. And while I’m currently on an important job for a client doesn’t mean can’t possibly help you with another, especially if you can provide help with my original job. Which would namely be a ride back to the big city” Jester explained calmly like this was just a regular client talking to merc. Though the threat of death made this more unusual nothing Jester hadn’t dealt with before.

Raven didn’t even bother to give a hint of an answer as the ‘expert thief’ offered her business. Her business was just fine, and outsiders or others that may have dragged her into the sights of Salem and Ozpin’s foolish war were nothing she could suffer to allow existence near herself. The offer given was but one to draw out more information from those desperate and willing to give any answer to continue their lives. In stating that there was nothing she should kill him for, he ultimately proved that there was no reason for him to even be kept alive as well, or at least that was how Raven reasoned it.

Lunging forward, the tip of Raven’s blade had but a scant handful of inches to clear before it should have pierced into Jester’s throat. That scant few inches, the precious second that should’ve been used to clear the space, was but milliseconds slower than the ring that came arcing out of the darkness, a hefty ‘thunk’ resonating alongside a gay giggle that echoed amongst the boughs of the trees. Not even a second later a svelte form came sailing in from the direction the ring had come, and she caught herself easily as she lounged in the inside of the bladed hoop, light and airy, fearless of the keen edge she now rested on.

“Grannie Raven, it’s been so long. Oh, and I see you’re timing is still off ever so slightly, as you’ve missed your mark yet again,” the girl spoke cheerfully, a broad smile tugging at her cheeks as she referenced the near miss the man behind her had just avoided, “It is ever so uncanny, is it not?”

There was a slight cracking of the branch under Raven as she realized her weight would not allow the branch to hold up much longer now that her granddaughter’s weapon had sunk halfway through its width. Cursing, she narrowed her eyes at her troublesome kin as a portal opened behind her, “Rook, I should have known. Well, I suppose you’ve set yourself against me, but I will not fight on your terms, not against your accursed stacked deck.”

Throwing herself backward, Raven disappeared through the tear as her men that had been surrounding Jester began to clear out, some of the braver ones glaring at Rook in anger as if toying with the idea of assaulting. For Rook’s part, she just smiled and waved before turning her head to face the man she’d intervened on behalf of.

“Soooo… you did something to cross Grannie, which means you can’t be all bad,” she grinned, still reclining on the inside of her Dancer’s Ring, “Care to share?”

Jester was caught off guard when Raven went to kill him but it seemed lady luck was finally smiling on him as he saved in the nick of time. His savior, a girl with ring blades, was able to do what few others could scare of Raven. Jester coughed a little after the girl asked him to share. “If you simply call traveling through the forest crossing Raven then... Wait, Grannie? You're her granddaughter?!” Jester said in surprise when it hit him he was speaking to Raven granddaughter. “...I guess that more of the question for a few moments later. My airship crashed, I managed to escape before it did and since then I’ve been wandering the forest trying to get back to town, so I can get back to my work” Jester said calming himself a little. “Now, how does the granddaughter of one infamous bandit's mange to scare off said grandparent?” Jester asked.

Rook gave a roll of her eyes at the mere notion that she scared Raven. Certainly, it could have appeared that her grandmother was scared of her, but the honest truth was that Raven just wasn’t stupid. One didn’t become one of the most feared, nor one of the most successful, bandits by making foolish decisions or taking needless risks. And, as much as she didn’t flaunt it, Rook’s semblance, and its pervasive ability to seep into just about every action she took, from the mundane to the extreme, most certainly put the concept of ‘impromptu brawl against her’ under the category of needless risk.

“Mmm, in order then. Indeed. Yes, I am. That sucks, glad you’re alright. Aaaand finally, she’s not afraid of me. But she knows I’m here now, which means she can, and will, plan for me, and will come back for me with said preparation and planning. Which means that, heh, one could say my luck has run out.” Rook giggled again, mostly due to her pun and how little weight it actually held. Her luck never ran out. Contorting herself around, Rook got her feet under her and stood, giving a heft of her back as she pulled her blade from the branch and let the ring rest easily as it lung off her left shoulder. She then proffered a hand to the man before her, “Rook, by the way, nice t’meet’cha. Perhaps you and I can be travel buddies? Least till you get back to the city?”

“Jester,” Jester said accepting the hand Rook was offering. “Having a traveling buddy a lot better than just walking around the woods alone. It's been mainly boring as all hell.” Jester said grabbing his bags. “And sorry for confusing fear with caution, still a drowse from waking up with a sword pointed at me. My life seemed to have become fairly interest as of late.” Jester added before jumping down from the tree. “By the way chess piece, why do you and your dear old grandma hate each other?” Jester asked curiously.

Finishing the shake, Rook waited for Jester to start heading off in whichever direction he was inevitably headed for when he asked his next question. For but a moment, just a scant tenth of a millisecond, Rook’s everpresent smile twitched as if threatening to break to a slightly more neutral expression. Instead, though, she gave a slight shake of her head and responded.

“I don’t hate anyone, Jester. I just know the difference from right and wrong and know I can make a stand where others can’t. Oh, that and because it’s just so much damn fun sometimes.”

As Rook’s answer came, she noted that Jester had seemingly picked his course of direction. Dropping out of the tree after him, she deftly half-skipped along, humming lightly as she pondered where the man’s current goal was going to lead her off to.

Kyra had decided to venture out on her own for recon, ahead of the others. Just to make sure that nothing was following them or the likes. She decided to go to the forest, to scout out the area a bit. Which was when she saw the burnt house, and the same individual from the landing pad. He had entered the house, and Kyra had no idea what he was doing. But something about him looked familiar. Living in Mistral, that same individual from her memory might have appeared on the news at some point, but she jut couldn't put her finger on whether her intuition was right or not. Nevertheless, Kyra quietly moved closer, to the edge of the woods where the house was.

The boy kept talking to himself, and at times seemed like he was reminiscing about something. Perhaps he had some past with this house or the likes. And it seemed like with each time he was looking back or thinking, he grew increasingly more frustrated. She heard movement from the woods, and went to search for a different vantage point, to ensure that her cover wasn't blown. Turned out to be a beowolf that the boy quickly took care of.

She continued to follow him, and always made sure she wouldn't be caught. Eventually he climbed a tree to rest and became a perfect opportunity to take a closer look. So Kyra slowly approached the tree, but stopped short when a blackbird had appeared and transformed into a woman, surrounded by henchmen, as she drew a sword. The female then kicked the boy to wake him up, and the two seemed to be in deep conversation. That was when Kyra finally heard the name of the boy. "Jester."

The two continued to converse when the woman tried to attack Jester, but was stopped by another female who had just appeared. The events unfolding before Kyra became a bit too confusing at times but, eventually the woman had disappeared, and her henchmen scattered, while the giggling girl stayed behind to converse with Jester. Kyra had placed a hand on one of her swords incase she were to be discovered, but it seemed like the two were having yet another conversation, when eventually Jester decided to start traveling once more, with the girl iin tow.

After witnessing this, Kyra decided that she would not pursue any further, since it was already getting late. Instead, she began heading back to the academy, with the information she now had to inform the others and to also ask a few questions herself.

Skyler Eden Sharp
Skyler listened to everything that Saffron had to say. She wanted to tell Saffron that he didn't do anything wrong, but she knew very well that that wouldn't help. Words could to so much to people like herself and Saffron. So she just lent him an ear and a shoulder to speak his mind. When he leaned his head on her shoulder, she placed her own head on top as she placed her vacant hand on his cheek.

"We all fall victim to our demons," she breathed out, "Especially those that harm the ones we truly love. My father once told me that when he found me after one of his breakdowns. I never knew what he meant, but as I grew older I understood." She paused for a moment, just enjoying the simple silence they were both sharing. It was odd to her, to have this silence with Saff. Skyler has always thought that Saff was like the sun, so bright and full of life. Her light in her darkest moments, especially when she had fallen ill.

"I'm not sure it would help," she spoke, looking at the wall across from them, "I don't think you are a coward. Everyone is afraid. Fear blinds us and as much as you want to hate yourself, we shouldn't. Life is meant to show us things that we love, things we hate, things that sadden us, and things that we fear. We'll fight through the very end, Saff. Together and always."

The door to the library opened with everyone talking in hush voices, not wanting to disturb anyone in the Estate. Skyler could hear their footsteps, heading away from her current location with Saffron. She was grateful for that. Lifting her head off his, she nudged him, "If you want you can enjoy a nice bath in the guest wing, it's was built to resemble the Mistral Bathhouses. Or we can just stay here, whatever you want."

Pheonix Rose
Summer and Phoenix followed the Mistral experts out of the Sharp Estate. It was past noon, and the streets were much more lively than before. Summer kept asking Scarlet, Coral, and Phillip question, but Pheonix just kept an eye around him. He was mainly trying to remember his way back but as thought about how Ophelia was doing or is she was even okay. The faster he can do that the faster he can get to Ophelia. He's been playing the act that he's fine but deep down he was counting the days to get to her. She was alone and more than likely being tortured as he went on this mission. He would do anything to hear her voice or just see her. As he thought about her, he began to see things that made him wonder if the except that Skyler had read to them was actually true.

Eyes of many colors seemed to appear around him. Some were intricately painted, others were hidden within artworks, and some just seemed out of place. He was about to point them out when he heard a familiar voice. "Well, well, well... when they say all things come in three I didn't believe it until now." Dagger said as she rested her hand against her bulging belly as she leaned against a wooden doorway. Raising her hand she waved her hand to get his attention. Pointing at him she smiled, "Phoenix Rose, my half sister's boyfriend. Or is that finally over with hmm?"

“Dagger…” he spoke not acknowledging her question. He wasn't in the mood to humor her. Anytime Dagger was involved, things always seemed to go wrong. Phoenix hated the woman but he tried as much as he can to keep calm just to get answers she might have about Ophelia and her current state.

Rubbing her belly she mused through a smile. "Oh, so you recall who I am, wonderful." Her eyes sharpened as she looked him up and down. "I guess from your silence you two are still together. What a pity for you." Tilting her head she ran her finger across her lips and smiled. "You know I have something for you. It may help you." Turning around she opened the door and stepped inside, "Come on in." Looking at him as he grew hesitant she raised a brow and rolled her eyes. "If I were going to kill you it would be when I'm not six months pregnant. Get in before someone robs you." She said walking in further, only to stop and turn around. "This is for Ophelia just as much as it is for you, Phoenix."

Phoenix kept his face calm as he just stared at Dagger. Calmly he crossed his arms and replied at her comment about killing him, “You might not be able to get your hands dirty but anyone can be inside waiting for me to come in.” Phoenix was more than happy to hold his ground, but when she brings up Ophelia, he began to think of what to do. His curiosity and wish to help Ophelia as best as she can take over as he followed Dagger inside.

Phoenix just followed her in, taking note of all the things in the room. The inside of the building was clean but old, shadows cascaded around the sides of the spacious building, hiding the series of ropes, sofas, doors, and charts lining the walls. The noir style of the room was fitting, the darkroom was ominous there was a fear of danger lurking around, yet Dagger felt right at home in it. He didn't leave a stone unturned to memorize everything, from the furnisher in the room, the shadows and how they are being cast, any other light sources that might be used to destroy the current shadows. The way he achieved it was as if he was looking for anything that might be in the shadows or hidden around the room.

“You’re certainly right and yet you followed me in any way.” Standing beside the wide desk she looked over to him, “she’s really got you wrapped around her finger huh?” Letting out a callous scoff she shook her head and added as she moved over to the cushioned chair, “just like the rest of them. Though I’m not surprised, she was made to be perfect. Something the rest of us will just have to deal with.”

“I only care about whatever you have to give me, so I can leave as soon as possible” Phoenix spoke as he stood before the desk between them, “You wouldn't want to have a group of huntsmen coming to find me. They know of you and they won't stop to get you apprehended.”

Letting out a heavy sigh of relief as she finally sat down she pulled out a smoothie from the mini-fridge under the desk and began sipping it. “Anyway here you go.” Sliding a piece of paper out from under a stack she lifted it up to him to take. “The rest is just data. DNA inputs, gestational cycles, illness reports. But this. This is the meat of it.” A smile grew on her face as she said. “It’s funny I just stepped out to get some air after reading the truth and there you were. Like fate.”


He looked at the file being pushed toward him. Taking the file as he continued to look at her, he brought the file close to read. Even in the darkroom, he was able to read as if it was a well-lit room. As he read on, his face began to show his concern. It wasn't very hard to figure out some parts, but it was the update that confirmed his thoughts. He moved his eyes back to look at Dagger before she asked, “Why give me this file about you and Ophelia? Why incriminate yourself?” Phoenix tossed the file back on the table, not sure if he should take it or not.

“Incriminate myself? Oh no. I am not the criminal here. I’m the victim. At least by that file. I’m the target child.” Leaning back in her chair she felt the cushioned chair encompass her very pregnant body. ”The real Ophelia Shayama kidnapped by Cinder and trained to be her weapon. No, that file isn’t about me and ‘Ophelia.’” She said the last making quotation marks as she mentioned her half-sister. “That’s about Cinder’s real daughter and the artificial girl they made in a lab.”

”There’s three of us you see. Me, daughter of Opal and Charles Shayama, Cinder’s abandoned daughter, Shula, a red-haired bitch with a pension for broken things like her father Adam Taurus. Or in that file The OFS-A. And then the ‘half-sister’ to us both that connects us together. Daughter, Blondie, Dee, or Ophelia as you call her, genetically made to be perfect and powerful. It’s absolutely disgusting.” Picking up another page she looked at the DNA sequencing page, “you know they even adjusted her pheromones to make her appealing to almost everyone?” She scoffed and grew a bit quieter, her mind wandering to dark corners. Looking back at Phoenix with deadly eyes she smiled. “So tell me. How does it feel to be sleeping with a fake girl?”

Phoenix took every last work that Dagger had spoke to him as he looked dead into her eyes. So much hate in them. It was not toward her or Ophelia, it was more toward the woman that would ever to that to Ophelia. The same woman who hunted down his own mother many years ago. To think there is a mother out there, willing to cause so much harm to their child without a single care in the world, it just disgusted Phoenix. As he watched her, he took note at her eye moving toward an area in the back of the room, but he didn’t flinch to look back, he just kept still.

Even when Dagger gave him a smile with so much promise of his death in her eyes, he took in what she said. He lifted up his head a bit to show that he wasn’t affected by what she just said. “You might have clear evidence of her origins and what was done to her, but at the end of the day, I see ‘Shula’ as the victim. You might have been kidnapped, but it’s clear you have gotten pleasure from this new life they have given you. She still is mistreated and used.” He took a single step closer to the desk, taking note of any sound of movement behind him as he continued to stare Dagger down, “You say she was made to attract, but the last time I checked, she and I never liked each other in the start. I knew she was faking, from the very beginning.”

Taking a deep breath he continued, “Underneath every lie, there is a truth. Some are bad, others are good. No matter what it is, I know she had no choice in the matter which makes her the victim. Not you. Cinder is the one behind all of it, even if you believe that you are the victim. Maybe you both are, but at the end of the day, Cinder will pay for her crimes.” He stepped back again. He was done here. Phoenix had humored her enough and he could feel the light coming from his back pocket as it showed he was being called. More than likely being his sister. “If that’s all you had to show me,” he announced, “I’m out of here.”

“No that’s all. You’re welcome to the file if you’d like.” She said motioning to the pages. “Oh and Phoenix, Ophelia probably doesn’t know this, it would devastate her. I mean she’d realize why her mother never loved her, why Shula got away with so much and why I was always more important. She’s not even human, just some broken toy made to replace me. That’s going to be a fantastic breakdown. She may even have an attack right then and there. If she doesn’t get the proper transfusion she may die right then and there.”

Picking up her smoothie she sipped it. ”Have fun deciding on whether to lie to her or not. Oh, wait. Didn’t you say underneath every lie is the truth.” Tilting her head she mused happily. ”Let’s hope your poker face is better than ‘Ophelia’s.’”

Phoenix eyed the file on the desk one more time before turning away from it and walking out of the darkroom. Dagger was right about having to lie to Ophelia about it but if it ever came up, he doesn’t know if he would ever be able to lie to her. Honesty was hard to get across in their relationship in the beginning, but if it’s to keep her safe, he would die with this secret. Once he came out to the lower levels he pulled out his scroll to see two missing calls from Summer and an incoming call from her now. He answered it, “Hello?"

"Finally! I thought something happened to you!" Summer's voice rang through the other end of the call. He sighed as he replied, "Yeah, sorry got distracted" He can make out the sound of a fight going on in the background, but he was able to quickly decipher it is a street fight that Phillip was talking to Summer about along the way.

"What got you distracted?" Summer asked before she quickly began to cheer Phillip on, "Go for a right hook to the abdomen! Woo!" He grinned at his sister's excitement before he replied, "Nothing important, Send me your location and I'll meet you guys there." Summer turned away from the fight as she asked, "are you sure everything is okay? You sound off." He sighed, "Yes everything is fine, I should be there in a bit.” With that, he activated his semblance and made a beeline toward his sister’s location.

Summer Rose
Summer was so enthralled with the three members of the WSTN team that she had never even noticed that Phoenix had stopped following them. As she walked and talked with Phillip and Coral about the underground fights they usually go too, she kept looking over to Phillip. Summer had heard a lot about him and Coral, but she was always curious about the rumors were true about his hight and his strength. Being around Titan for a large portion of he life, she had yet to find another individual to match his hight or fighting strenth.

Summer has figured out that, hight wise, Phillip was up there. No pun intended, but it just fascinated her how a man can be so tall. She had always thought that Titan was the tallest, but here stands this tall man before her. Coral was just a few inches shorted than she was but it wasn't much of a difference. But from how she looked, talked, and just cared made you not believe that this woman was a fighting machine, one that Summer had admired before heading to Beacon.

"So you two just come down here and fight?" Summer asked as she looked over to Coral. The smaller woman nodded, smiling brightly at Summer, "Yup. It was also the thing that had me and Phillip meeting." Summer grinned like a little kid, "Really!? What happened?" Coral and Phillip filled her in one their origin story, from Phillip's upbringing to Coral saving his life. It made Summer like them even better.

They were well into the lower levels when Phillip stopped the group and headed off to a scary-looking individual. After they talked for a moment, someone announced the start of the fight. "Well, here he goes," Coral leaned over to Summer and whispered. Summer watched in excitement. After a while, she looked behind her to comment with Phoenix, but when she notices that he was no longer there with them, she began to panic. Calling and calling him, he finally picked up his scroll.

Once he had ended the call, Summer returned to her entertainment. Cheering and yelling at the men fighting. Coral was doing the same as they both cheered on the tall blond man. Summer smiled over to Phoenix once he finally arrived back to the group, but her smile broke when she noticed someone looking at her. Normally she wouldn't mind but she noticed their eyes were pale white. The person was blind, but yet it looked right at her.

Summer continued to look the individual before they walked away within the crowd. She gasped when she noticed the eye tattooed on their neck. "What?" Phoenix asked her, taking ahold of her shoulder before she ran off to whatever she had seen. Summer pointed over to the direction the person had walked off to and replied, "I just saw a guy with an eye tattoo."

Phoenix looked over to the direction she was pointing at as he exclaimed, "What? How did he look like?" Summer turned to him as she described the man. He was dark-skinned, with well-kept hair that was dark at its roots but graduates into a vibrant purple color to its tips. He seemed to be adorned in a colorful cloak and many pieces of jewelry that made him glimmer even in the low light of the lower levels. Which was odd to see someone straight out showing it's wealth to everyone unless they knew who this person was. But even above all of that, she explained how she believed the man was blind due to his pale eyes.

"Do you think that's our guy?" Nix asked her. She shrugged as she replied, "I'm sure. I mean the guy was wearing intricate jewels all over his body. Hell, he had things in his hair. Besides, it's too much of a coincidence for him to just walk away after he watched us for so long." Nix was clearly unsure as he sighed, "It would be way too easy, Sum." Summer turned to him fully as she waved her hand around, "It's just like the except said. It knows things way before anyone. It has to be him."