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

>Name

Marcellus J Fleshlight

>Gender
All man, trans man

>Race

Ebonic

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

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

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

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

>>5981637
Supporting

>>5981644
Support that’s very interesting

>>5981680
>FedMutC4
Very good ID.

>>5981644
+1
Grimm quest time?

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

>>5981637
Supporting

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

>>5981638

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>5981619
>Name
Sir Matthew Simone

>Gender
Man

>Race

Human, Aryan

I think this just died.

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

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

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

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

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

>>5981713

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

225 KB JPG

>>5981877

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Can't do anything if you're dead.

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

>>5982243

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

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

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

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

Wait.

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

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

[1/?]

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

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

>>5982557

>>5982557

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>Green

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

>>5982586
support

>>5982573

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just to throw another possibility into the ring

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

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

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

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

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

>>5982892

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

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

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

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

Bingo.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>5983981

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

That would be enough. Most likely.

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

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

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

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

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

Welp, time for questioning.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>5984290

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now you feel bad for him.

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

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

(1/?)

>>5984420

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

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

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

An antenna? Weird.

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

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

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

Also:

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

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

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

>>5984603
supporting this

>>5984603
Support

>>5984429

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(1/?)

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>>5985222

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>5985231

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

Time to meet the ones that attacked the train.

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

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

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

(1/2)

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>>5985941

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>5985945

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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>>5986700

>DC Failed. This is good for Shelly.

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

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

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

But speed meant nothing if you expected the attack.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>5986766
+1

>>5986718

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

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

Also for the Semblance:

>>5983223
>>5983606
>>5983722

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

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

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

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

>>5987402

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

>>5987402

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

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

>>5987402

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And then things changed.

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

>>5987506

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

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

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

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

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

This was the moment you were waiting for

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

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

Completely far away from the truth.

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

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

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

Write ins heavily encouraged for this one.

>>5987424

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

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

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

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

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

Changing my vote to just talk.

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

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

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

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

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

>>5988055

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

>>5988055

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

>>598805

>>5987510

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

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

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

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

This wasn’t the first time this happened.

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

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

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

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

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

(1/?)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>5988220

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(1/?)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>Other? (Write-in)

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

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

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

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

>>5989197

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(1/?)

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

226 KB JPG

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

Something didn’t add up.

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

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

You can remember how your team felt weird about you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>5990169

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(1/?)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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