#Lapis Hamelin - Overheard Conversations

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: New Beginnings, New Dangers

“Well, I guess we have good news and bad news. Good news is we get to start Ivory and Molly’s huntress career early. Bad news, we’re surrounded.” The group that now consisted of Team OLIV, Lapis’s younger sister Lazuli, and Ivory’s former partner in crime Molly stood in a ring surrounded by far more Grimm than they had anticipated when they were told of a ‘swarm of monsters a team would be useful to take down’. Swarm was a bit more apt than anyone really was comfortable with; there were dozens of spider-like creatures that would let out screeches as they crawled closer and those jaws looked poisonous. A team they were, but professionals they were not. This was going to take some creative teamwork.

“Alright, everyone, split up and take a section!”

Violet turned toward one section of the creatures as they charged. She flared out her whips and hurled herself upward and over the Grimm, a flurry of cracks and blows staggered several of the creatures while surrounding ones were blown apart one by one.

“I’ve got backup, keep pushing!” Ivory stuck herself in a kneeling pose, braced by one of her targets locking her in place while she carefully turned and blasted at any Grimm that got too close to their area.

“Got it!” She landed on one of the spider-creatures and jumped again, shooting at the grounded monster, causing a spit of bile to misfire and hit the ground. She aimed down and a brilliant flash followed her next shot, blinding the pack with a loud popping sound.

Lapis kept to a defensive, leaving his shield up as he pushed forward slowly. He saw the giant buzzsaw contraption of Briar’s drive through the spiders with her in it, chopping off legs and sometimes abdomens as she passed, but many were making their way to him. He blocked and parried with his shield and weapon, shoving any away that tried to leap at him.

“You know, I could use a little help here!”

“I got it, I got it, I got it, I got it!” Molly ran her weapon through the pack and with a pivot, flinging herself toward Lapis with her hand out. “Tilt-a-Whirl!”

“Wait, what’s Tilt-a-WOOOOAAAH!” Before he finished his statement, Molly grabbed his arm and let the momentum swing them around, throwing her in a circle with her saw being carried in the wide arc to batter and slice the surrounding Grimm. Lapis only had time to brace himself and keep from falling over from the force before he put his weight behind his arm and flung her off into the distance and into an oncoming second wave. She landed frustratingly expertly with the saw’s teeth biting into the oncoming Grimm and her perched on in the inside and waving.

“Woo! Let’s hear it for team attacks!”

Lapis stood up and popped his shoulder to make sure it was still in place. “You’re supposed to plan that out ahead of time! That was my shield arm, too...”

“We got ‘em, didn’t we? Besides, everyone else is doing fine.”

Lazuli watched “her” section of Grimm tangled up in a web. They weren’t dead or even injured, but they were busy. She looked up at the dizzying array woven through the sparse trees around them where Onyx was lounging.

The web tightened as Onyx looked down at Hamelin’s sister with an expectant look. Would that he had the vocal strength to throw his voice again, he’d have reminded her to start firing. Despite her time as the Arena’s prisoner honing her skills and unlocking her semblance, she had little to no experience with Grimm yet.

He tightened it again as the Grimm tried ti wiggle free. Sure he made it look effortless, but he wasn’t going to be able to hold this forever. One creature gets loose and tries to skitter up his wires to get to him. He dodges and rakes his claws around to dispatch it, but now the rest were getting free.

Lazuli wasn’t used to this implicit teamwork that her brother’s team did. She’d have to think of a way to handle what was about to be a rain of spider Grimm. Shooting them directly was only doing so much. She looks up to Onyx and realizes there was at least one thing she could do- but it would be a long shot. “Hey! You trust me, right!?” Onyx clung to his web and gives her an incredulous look. “I need an answer! Are we friends or not?” She heard a barely audible and scraping sound that closely resembled “Yes, now do something!” before she closes her eyes for a moment and springs into action.

“Good enough.” With visible effort, she jumped from wire to wire as carefully as she could before her aura began to glow and manifest a figure next to her, connected at the chest by a spectral chain. Said chain connected to the duplicate of Onyx wasn’t nearly as strong as others were. In fact this was probably her weakest one, but she hoped that would change with her time with Lapis’s team over time. From what she managed to figure out her semblance was strictly related to personal bonds and her duplicates were only as strong and the friendship and trust between her and the one she was trying to recreate. The duplicate Onyx grasped her hand and helped hurl her into the nest. Lazuli swung her weapon with precision, taking out spiders as she ascended while the duplicate followed suit and kept her stable. It couldn’t mimic his weapon’s finer details but she managed to clear out the web before slipping on one more wire and falling.

“Uh oh...” The duplicate faded as she lost focus. To make matters worse the mess of wires weren’t easy to grab. She fell about almost to the bottom before something stopped her fall.

“You need to work on your balance.” Onyx’s scratchy voice responds, having already sped to the bottom to catch her and set her back down.

A loud bang signaled the end of the swarm as Ivory took out one more that was about to lunge at Violet. With the group calming down and brushing themselves off, Violet spoke up. “I think we did it.” Then the rustling got louder, followed by a tree melting.

“Oh right, the big one...” An enormous version of the spiders they had fought before crawled into view, venom dripping from its fangs.

“Everyone get ready!” The group takes up fighting poses again before a translucent stalactite crashes from above into the creature.

Onyx was the first to panic, followed by Ivory. The rest looked more confused and stunned. A figure stood behind them with a stack of paper bunched up in one arm and a quill in the other.

“Pardon the interruption, but my partner and I have business to discuss with the lot of you. I have to say between the number, the open job searching, and your.. distinctive features,” The man glanced accusingly at Molly’s massive buzzsaw weapon, “You are almost comically easy to find.” The Grimm roared again as it recovered from the blow to the head. The man just sighed and with several blindingly fast strokes of his quill, spiked chains materialized from around him and entangled the large Grimm.

“Let’s not waste time. Hari, get rid of that thing.”

“No problem.” A larger man, this one covered in scars shown off by a small vest with a combination of brass knuckles and gauntlets followed close behind. He charged the creature and slammed his fist right into the monster’s jaw, causing it to reel from a dust explosion. Several more blows followed, assisted by more of those aura swipes as the other man kept sketching on his paper. With one more strong blow to the head, the Grimm fell to the ground before it could do anything.

Hari turned to face the six. “See that kids? That’s how the pros do it. Call it a free lesson courtesy of Uncle Hari. Auroras, why don’t you explain this one?”

“Who are these guys?” Lapis muttered to himself. They were easily outclassed. Professional huntsmen had been sent for them? Was this because of Briar and Reynard?

Lazuli cautiously stepped forward. “Who are you? You said you had ‘business’. What do you want with us?”

“Auroras Hallward and Hari Lackey of Blood Brothers LLC,” Auroras responded, “We were sent to locate and escort you to our client. You are of great interest to a few interested parties. Normally confidentiality would prevent me from explaining who that is. However, I have been given leave to extend a more public offer first.”

“You’ve got a couple of options here.” Hari points specifically to Team OLIV, “I’m pretty sure your parents are all worried about you kids wandering around on another continent. We’re here to take you home and put you to work. Onyx, Ty’s got an offer for the four of you. No hard feelings or anything. Come on, your old man’s got a lot planned and he’s willing to give you all jobs.”

Onyx stared hard at Hari. Those names were familiar- old teammates of his father before he turned to business. He always did wonder why he had never met them before while Cobalt Ymir was around. Ivory spoke up instead.

“You want us to believe Tyrael Cheshire wants all of us? After what happened to Lilac...” She pauses for Onyx’s sake. She didn’t want to reopen the old wound; it was still his sister after all.

“Wait.” Lapis stepped between Auroras and Lauzli, “You said four of us. What happens to Briar and my sister?”

“That is our other job here.” He stares at Molly with keen intent, adjusting his glasses. “Your mother misses you, you know. She wants to accept you back and you’re welcome to take your friend with you.”

Molly’s pulse raced. Of course Darcie would come looking for her. Why didn’t she think of that? Part of her was scared of how she would have reacted to Jade’s death. She had taken it pretty hard herself, but she had the comfort of being swept up in finally being a huntress. Something was still wrong. “Why would she send mercenaries instead of her own people to find us?”

“We were already going this way and it’s basically getting paid twice for the same job.”

Lazuli looked to Molly worryingly. “Y-You can go if you want, but I need to stay with my brother. Family’s more important than friends sometimes... I.. I get it.”

“Wh-What, no! That’s not it! C-Can’t you just tell her I’m okay? I’ll come back once I finish-” Whatever she was doing.

Violet gave a hard look to Hari at his comment. “Did you really talk to anyone besides Onyx’s dad? How do we know you’re telling the truth here? My dad gave us his blessing to get out here and get our licenses.”

“Ty’s the man with the offer. Besides, Auroras made the deal. Talk to him.”

“Perhaps I should rephrase. Our job, as we were paid to do, is to locate and bring the lot of you two the parties that want you. The offer is a generous one that our employers took time out to offer you. However, your compliance is not a required factor. If you choose to resist, we’ll simply have to take you there by force.”

“And there it is... Everyone get ready for a fight!”

“Can we handle these guys?”

“I don’t think we have a choice. We have to try!”

[teamoliv-archive]

🗣: Lapis and Ivory?

Send me 🗣+ the names of 2 muses on the blog, and there will be a random conversation written involving them.

“Urgh… Dammit!”

“Looks like I win again, Lapis. You up for another round?”

“This doesn’t make any sense.”

“What doesn’t?”

“That’ you’re this strong in practice and duels but when we’re out on a mission, you’re the worst member on our team. By all rights you should be doing fine out there instead the rest of us have to pull you out of the fire almost every time. Even Cheshire’s pulling his own weight!”

“H-Hey! Everyone’s got their own strengths okay? I’m just… not that good at fighting Grimm.”

“Bullshit. You can’t keep winning these without a sweat and then claim you suddenly get ten times worse when out in the field. If you can’t handle what this place is going to expect and keep choking on missions, then leave.”

“Excuse me!?”

“You heard me. Shape up on the missions or drop out. This isn’t a game. Or maybe you should join the specialist program. I’m sure the military would love to be able to tell you what to do for the rest of your career.”

“All I’m hearing is ‘someone wants a round three’. Put your guard up because this time I’m serious.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Because We’re a Team

Lilac stood in front of Ivory, her limbs glowing sickly colors. She was shaking as was her opponent. “Is... Is that it!? You’re almost out of tricks you know. Why do you keep bothering?”

Ivory staggers and leans on her ax. She wasn’t down for the count by any means, but this fight was taking a heavy toll on both of them. In all honestly, she was pretty sure it was sheer willpower keeping her going. She could only hold off Lilac for so long. “All I have to do is keep you here. I just have to hold out!”

“For who!? Who could you possibly have left as backup!? Jade is almost certainly dead by this point and his psychotic partner isn’t about to come to your rescue! Face it, you have nothing left, Reynard! I want to see the hope spill from your eyes before I kill you! What could you possibly be waiting for!?”

_____________

Lapis fired and slashed through several more of the ball-like drones that drove around them, trying to fire or explode to block their path. Lapis lead his sister, Violet, and Molly down the narrow street they were being lead to. “There’s a lot more than there used to be. We’ve got to be getting close!”

“It’s a warehouse half a block down. It can’t be hard to miss with the fight going on!” Molly shouts back. She had only been able to keep up with her injuries, not really participating in the combat despite dragging her gigantic wheel with her.

A barrage of the drones comes flying off the rooftop. “Down!” Lapis urges the three underneath his arm as he holds his barrier upward. The impact created a large explosion that send them all back. After scrambling back up, they turned around to the sound of more beeps and tire screeching.

“How many of these things did she build!?” Violet says double-checking her pistols. “We can’t just keep shooting at them like this, they’re just going to keep slowing us down.”

Lazuli spun around just in time for the sounds to be confirmed with a small group of the ball drones wheeling toward them. She raises her weapon to take more shots and standing. She flips it into its melee form to try and swing at an oncoming on, only for it to be deflected and bounce harmlessly against a wall where Violet shot at it to disable it. She had to do better than this. She had to think back to how her semblance activated that first time in her fight with Jade. All she could remember was being overcome with thoughts and memories of her friends and how much she wanted to protect them. Maybe that was where her part laid. She stands firm and faces the rest of the oncoming drones.

The sounds of her brother turning and trying to protest registered, but she couldn’t quite hear what he was saying. She was too focused. This wasn’t just about saving the person they were after. She had to make sure the people around her were safe as well- 

All with the help of the people in her life close to her. 

Something finally made sense as she makes the single connection all of the images that fought with her had in common. “You guys go ahead. I’ve got this.”

“No offense, kid, but no you don’t!” Molly returns, doing all she could to stay out of the way of everyone’s fighting. “If it was me, maybe I could do something about this but-”

Lazuli stood staring at the oncoming drones, reaching her hand out as if completely ignorant of the oncoming danger. “What was your name again?”

“Why is that important right now!? We need to get to Ivory!” There was no response from the girl. Molly didn’t really know a lot about her during her time at the Arena- Jade had taken a special interest in her and even brought Darcie in to check her out, but she had been absent for a lot of whatever happened to bust her out. “It’s Molly!” She finally blurted out. “There, are you happy!? Now help us out here!”

Lazuli gives a faint smile no one could see with her back to them. “Molly. My name’s Lazuli.” She finally turns around faintly and holds out her hand. “I forgive you.”

“Yeah. Awesome. That’s swell. We’re going to be best friends now.” Molly said dryly, and taking her hand. Her hand trembled for a moment. This was something new- the idea that someone went through everything the Arena could throw at them and she had the... whatever it was to forgive her? It gave her a moment of pause. “Hey, as cute as it is that you’re being nice to me a few minutes before we’re all blown up, how is this helping?”

Lazuli closed her eyes for a moment before letting go. “Just trust me.” She turns to face the oncoming drones and twirls Winterfang to block the oncoming shots, focusing on her breath and some thoughts. She took in the moment- that small spark of a kind gesture, that connection. She spun around and launched herself forward toward the pack of drones and a faint chain flew from her. Attached to it, a difficult to see form spun a circular shape at them and the impact sent them all flying, some in pieces. The shaky mimic of Molly lasted on a second before disappearing again. 

“What the hell was that!?”

“Woah, cool semblance! If you can keep that up we can get to Ivory!”

Lapis met his sister’s confident and serene gaze. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“I think I finally figured this out so... hopefully. But someone needs to stay behind and take care of these things. Molly, stick with me. If you go back there that woman’s going to try and kill you first, isn’t she?”

Molly stood up a bit more firmly, trying her best to ignore her weakened state and roared her weapon. “Dammit, why do you have to be right!? Alright, but if you’re going to save Ivory, I’m not letting anything happen to us either. I’ve been through worse. Let’s go.”

Violet quickly heard a different beep and checked her scroll before pocketing it with a nod. “Let’s not waste any time. Onyx will be here soon. He’s following my signal. Come on- we’re almost there.”

_____________

Ivory let loose a broad swing to crash through a barrier of pointed icicles that appeared in her way. Lilac had taken to launching projectiles and obstacles to wear her down.

I have to keep going. I have to trust Molly will find help.

Jade couldn’t be dead. She had this... feeling she couldn’t shake or describe. There was an assurance in the back of her mind that Molly was going to come back and that she’d show Lilac that people did care about her enough to come back for her. Her companions- they were a team, right!? Her team would come for her. Jade, Robin, Molly... they’d be here.

“Face facts!” LIlac shouts, landing on the ground and shuddering as more and more dust courses through her. She was running low on the painkillers and was starting to feel the searing sensation of it in her blood. “There is no one coming to get you! No one cares about you! You betrayed everything you’ve ever had and now you’re paying the price for it!”

“IVORY!” “REYNARD!”

The shouts were said in unison as shots rang out, peppering the area around Lilac in bullets.

“What!?”

“What!?”

Lapis and Violet managed to batter the old door off what was left of its hinges to stare down Lilac Cheshire, weapons drawn.

“You know, out of everything I expected to show up- this was not it. Why are you here?” He tone was ice cold as she glared down at the two figures. No, wait... There was one more.

“...Why? You three of all people?”

Onyx strode silently into the doorway as well. He rubbed his neck knowingly. He wasn’t really wanting to strain his voice further- but perhaps he’d have to.

“Because...” He began harshly and slowly, “This must stop.You’re accomplishing nothing anymore. You’ve destroyed everything but what you set out to.”

Ivory stared at them for a while. Onyx, Violet, Lapis... they had shown up. The team she was going to sell out to Jade. This wasn’t right. It wasn’t supposed to work out like this. Why were they here? She didn’t deserve their help. This had to be a coincidence.

Violet kept her gaze on Ivory, though. “It’s over.” She says in a kinder tone that she had imagined it sounding, “We’re here now. You can rest.”

“Wh-What...? No, this is some kind of joke! You can’t just show up and save me like this! It doesn’t make sense! Why!?”

“Why? Because we’re huntsmen and huntresses and it’s the right thing to do. Because someone came to us and said that the only person they care about was in danger. Because no one else was going to stop this psychopath from destroying the entire district and all those people just because she hates you.

“And because, as much as I want to say you deserve everything that’s coming to you, we’re a team and we’re going to end this as one.”

Lapis steps forward, gripping his weapon tightly and holding back the urge to charge right now. This was the person responsible for the deaths of so many of his friends- and a lot of his own old hatreds. It was like staring down all of his personal demons rolled up into one wretched person. “So... you’re the one, huh?”

Lilac scrunches her face and continues glaring. “Whatever it is you think is going on- it doesn’t concern you.”

“Pineyard,” he continues, “Logging village a little bit outside of an old dust mine that got attacked by a riot wielding your weapons.”

“Seriously!? Let me guess, you’re here to avenge your stupid little town, right?”

“Not anymore. This is about something way more important than that. Killing you won’t bring anyone back- but I sure as hell can make sure no one else has to go through what we did because of you. I have a feeling you’re not going to stop here.”

“We’re not here for us. We’re here to stop you for the sake of the people we care about. We can deal with Reynard’s boss later. Right now what matters is you don’t hurt anyone else!”

“You see that, Lilac!? I’m not alone. Maybe I don’t deserve it. They probably should still hate me for what I did, but right here right now I’m going to hold my promise. We’re stopping you and I’m going back to Molly alive.”

“We all are. I can’t call myself a real Goodfellow if I backed away from this now. My dad wouldn’t, my mom wouldn’t, I think even Robin wouldn’t... This is where I’m supposed to be and what I’m supposed to do.”

“I told you this was madness the moment I heard about it. Now...” Onyx lets out a cough and wipes his face, gritting his teeth and resuming.

“Don’t strain your voice, Onyx, we’ll call the shots. Just focus on the fight. Ready team?”

“So that’s how it’s going to be? Fine. I’ll rip you all apart myself.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Interlude: Picking Up the Pieces

Violet wasn’t sure how long she had stared at her uncle’s body at the modest funeral they had put together. Several grateful people in the kingdom had helped donate materials or money to give a proper burial one of the huntsmen who helped save people from the attack that was currently being blamed on cult that grew out of a White Fang splinter group. She hadn’t heard about Cobalt Ymir’s death until after it was all over. It had taken several weeks for things to return to what was as close to normal as they could be anymore.

“Do you think he would have been proud of us?”

“If he knew half of what we had to do to get here, I’d say so. Lapis stood nearby with what was left of their team. They were the only ones of the four present save for Lazuli who decided to stay for emotional support. Ivory didn’t dare show herself and he didn’t even want to think about Onyx right now. Everything about the end of that fight still haunted him. “He believed in us, even when we didn’t.”

Violet forces a smile and nods, wiping some tears away. “You’re right. What matters now is that we don’t forget that.” She turned around when she heard her name being called.

“Hey there, Sundrop, I hope I’m not interuptin’ anything. I need to talk with you for a bit, okay?”

“Sure. Hey, Dad, I don’t think you ever met my partner from Atlas. This is Lapis and his sister, Lazuli.”

“It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

“You guys need a minute?”

“Actually, you might want to stick around for this.” Shin explains, “We’re going to have to head back home soon.”

“We can’t go so soon!” Violet protests, The Dustwings aren’t really in good enough shape to help the city rebuild yet. They’re going to need huntsmen and huntresses out here.”

“You’re right, but I want to know if you noticed somethin’ about those safe houses. Notice how empty they are?”

“They look packed to me.” Lazuli notes, watching the throngs of injured and recently homeless crowding around the area. ”Violet’s right. There’s too many mouths and not enough help. We can’t just... not do something. Maybe you need to leave but we can’t. If we send a letter home I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“That’s exactly the problem. Tyrael Cheshire packed up his goons masqueradin’ as help and left already. He snuck his way back to Solitas and to be blunt, our families might be danger. The Dustwings will have help soon. That militia that saved Haven’s still around, I think.” Shin looked to Violet with a nod. “I spoke with your brother.”

“You found Robin!? What happened?” Violet caught her breath and cursed herself for having missed him again. “Where? What did he say?”

“That ‘Red Arena’ might be gone but it won’t be long before Cheshire just throws his money into a new project. Robin claims he’s going to target us soon. We need to get back to Mantle to make sure nothin’ happens to them.”

“Dad....” Violet shook her head, “Mom’s a huntress, too, I think the two of you can take care of yourselves. I- I can’t leave yet. The Dustwings need help and we’re here to do exactly that. Besides... we have some people who need us more than ever now. Lapis and I might have homes to go back to, but half of us don’t.”

Shin let out a sigh. “You know, he told me you’d say that. I guess I should accept you’re a big strong girl now. Here.” Shin holds out a scroll to her. “Hold onto this. We managed to get some replacements for everyone. It’s got a message for you, too.”

“What’s it say?” Lauzli says, peering over Violet’s shoulder.

Violet opened the scroll to an audio message. She recognized the voice instantly.

“Hey, Sis.

Sorry I didn’t catch you when I talked to Dad. Well, I guess I’m sorry about a lot of things. I know it won’t make anythin’ better but this is all I’ve got for now. You did a good job out there, you know? I’ve got some information on this scroll you’ll need to know. Jade didn’t work alone. He’s got friends- and if you stick around, you’ve gotta watch out for them, and don’t think his old paycheck’s going to forget what happened to his daughter, either. But, hey, you kids took down some pretty nasty people. So long as you stick together, you’ll do fine.

“I’m not gonna say you won’t ever see me again, but I’ve got my own things to take care of right now. In the meantime, keep bein’ who I couldn’t, and tell that tin can of a Lieutenant I said hello, would ya? We went to Atlas together.”

“I'm bad at showin’ it, but I love you, Violet.  Make everyone proud.”

“Robin... I just finished crying...” She smiles and rubs her eyes gently.

“So you’re staying then?” Lapis asks after a few more moments. “We’ll need to find Reynard soon. I don’t really want to leave her or her crazy friend unattended.”

”I can go find them,” Lauzli replies, “I think you guys need to get a few other things straightened out. Don’t you both have people to say goodbye to still?”

______________

Ivory takes a deep breath, having gotten far away from the small gathering in the ruined square. She and Molly made it a point not to be seen by anyone. They were recognized by a lot of the populace in the district. She feared retaliation for Jade’s failure to protect them as promised. The news that he had been killed had not been kind of either of them, but Ivory felt a strange serenity in it. Though, she had her family and Onyx growing up. Jade Leroux was a lot of things to her- a mentor and master first and foremost but to Molly he was the closest thing to a father she likely had. She entered one of the ruined houses where they promised to meet. “Hey, how are you holding up?”

Molly sat in the middle of her ring weapon, letting it rest on the floorboards. “About as good as I can be. Honestly, I’m glad we’re both still alive but...” She balls her hands into fists and starts shaking.

“What are we going to do now? No one here’s going to give us anything. They have new real heroes now, right? They don’t want us. Even your stupid team is being talked about.”

“Yeah, well as far as fuck-ups go this could have been a lot worse.”

Ivory spins around and draws her ax immediately. “What are you doing here!?”

“I’m here to come clean, okay? I’m layin’ it all out on the table to let you figure out what to do next besides sit here and not know. Yes, I killed my uncle. I basically killed Jade, too. I’m not askin’ you to forgive me for either of those things and I ain’t here to gloat.”

“Then what!?” Molly darts up and spins around, standing with her wheel around her. “You’ve always hated us!”

“You’re right.” Robin says, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it. “You want to know why? I want you to look at my little sister and then ask yourself, what if she wound up like you? How about you look at Darcie and her crazy parade and ask if you want to see each other in a place like that years from now?” He watches the two girls stare at him and then each other in awkward silence. “You’re wasted potential is what you are. I made my choice when I had a mind to do so. You were snatched away as kids. I ain’t blind. You two are damn near siblings to one another and as weird as it’s gonna sound comin’ from me, I’m glad for it. So I’m tellin’ you right now- you can either sit here and cry over what you lost like Lilac Cheshire did, or pick yourselves up and have your own fuckin’ lives for once.”

“And do what? We can’t just become huntresses just like that! What, do you think we’re just going to pick up our stuff show up with your sister and her friends and walk off into the sunset like some stupid fairy tail!?”

“Why not? S’what I’m doin’. Well, sort of. See, I’m plannin’ on makin’ Tyrael Cheshire’s life a livin’ hell and all his buddies with his creepy business partner at Ciar to boot; so I’m grabbin’ my old team together. We’re about to make some noise and make off with whatever we can in the process.”

Ivory trembles as she thought of Onyx, holding his bloody body in her arms. “We all fought together in the end.” She mutters to herself, “M-Maybe we can do it again.” She turns to Molly and holds out her hand.

“I’m not doing this without you, you know that. I promised I wouldn’t abandon you. You won’t be alone again.”

Molly didn’t say anything for the longest time. She heard Robin’s footsteps leave the building without even saying goodbye. “Sure, fine, just stalk off...” She says to herself before staring at Ivory. Her mind flashed a moment to that girl from the Arena.

‘I forgive you.’

“Fine.” Her reply was reluctant and slow, but maybe something good could come out of this. “You know... I always wanted to be a huntress as a little girl.”

“We can at least give a shot, right?”

_____________

“It is going to take a while to rebuild.” The elderly huntress says, having donned a new mask and walking the streets. The kingdom had already heard rumors of the elusive “Mother Marianne” sighted in Mistral- it was time to show that face again.

“Yeah.” Morado still hadn’t even begun to process everything he had learned about his fiance in recent weeks, let alone grieving. “We’re staying right here, though. Mistral’s not about to turn us over to Atlas needing us as much as they do. Besides, I should have been able to stop this. Lilac... If I had known maybe I could have done something more to help her.”

“Some would take you for a fool, but I believe we need more people like you in this world, Lieutenant. But if I may be so bold as to give you some sage advice, don’t dwell on who you couldn’t save. Look to see who you can. It will never get easier. I can promise you that.

“Every victim, every lost soul, every life lost still hurts me whenever I come across it. Having a heart is not a weakness, but do not let it turn into guilt. You have to be the one these people look up to now. You’re all they have left anymore.”

“Lieutenant!” “Marianne!”

Lapis and Violet rushed to their side, breathing heavily. They had been running back and forth looking for them. “There you are. We needed to talk to you.”

“Did something happen?”

“Well, sort of? Not yet. We’re going to be leaving soon. Lieutenant, if I could have permission to-”

“Granted.”

“That was... quick.”

“We’re grabbing Reynard and her crazy friend to try and set them back up. Hopefully in a way that won’t get anybody arrested or killed this time, but we need to get them out of the kingdom first- at least until things calm down some more.”

“Rather noble of you to give them a second chance.” The elderly huntress replies, “They will need good guidance to put themselves back together, let alone on the proper path.”

“Let’s just say we owe our team leader a favor. Before that collapse, he still tried to reach out to his sister even when she tried to blow us all to kingdom come. If he could believe in a second chance like that, we can.”

“Besides, there’s still whatever Robin left on this scroll. Something about another operation like Jade Leroux’s. Apparently he wasn’t alone.”

“If I may see that?” Marianne had a feeling she already knew what it was about. Jade’s sadistic other half was just as ruthless as he had been and perhaps even more twisted. “I would like to copy this. You will not need to worry about her.”

“I hope you don’t plan on keeping me out of the loop this time. If there’s something else going on, we’re staying to help.”

“It is a long story, I will have to tell you later. For the time being, children, do not worry about Darcie. I have an old score to settle with her. I worry that Leroux’s death will make her more unpredictable, though. It is best if you leave that to us. Go find your friends and get ready to go.”

______________

“We’re almost there.” Lauzli announced, leading Ivory and Molly out to a clearing outside the kingdom. It was surprisingly easy for them to leave with all the commotion. She stayed a small distance from the two, but kept feeling eyes on her.

“H-Hey. Kid.”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for... you know... back during the fight. Not the ‘saving me’ part the... ‘I forgive you’ part.”

“I managed to figure out what your old boss was doing. How he was doing it. You guys didn’t realize did you?”

“We’re... still... processing that.” Ivory states, trying to ignore a suppressed angry look from Molly. The idea that their emotions were being directly toyed with through a semblance was a heart-wrenching thought, but a long time without it present felt strange. Things made a bit more sense with that context but she worried what that took away from her actual feelings. Where did any actual ideas or thoughts begin and Jade’s old influence end? Was that really a bad thing? She couldn’t imagine Molly wasn’t going through a similar internal crisis.

Lapis was standing firmly next to a large rock, his gear ready to go already. “You all set? I know a few nearby villages that know my face. We can get you some work and get your feet wet. You sure this is what you want to do?”

“What else do we have anymore?” Molly admits, her tone more flat than it used to be, “You sure you’re okay having two people who tried to kill you follow you around?”

“Oh, I’m not worried, we put our best in charge right beside yours truly.”

Ivory frowns, unable to really bring herself to reach for her ax like she used to. “It’s not going to be the same without him.”

“No one said it has to be.” Violet keeps walking through the trees to another figure waiting nearby.

“I did say we put our best in charge.”

_____________

Tyrael Cheshire had been quieter than usual ever since returning to Atlas. He had been absorbed in work both regarding retrieving money from Jade Leroux’s failed operation as well as the troubling news of the deaths of both his children. The official record deviated from what actually happened, of course, but it affected him nonetheless. Today would be when that turned around.

“Sir, Auroras Hallward here to see you.”

“Auroras Hallward of Blood Brothers LLC at your service, Mr. Cheshire. We will offer you the absolute best in elite mercenary services! No job out of the question for the right price and-”

“Auroras...”

“Fine, fine. Take all the fun out of it. Really though, Tyrael it’s been nearly twenty years since you seriously contact us and it’s for a job? Cobalt has seen us more than you and he’s on a military schedule.” The man removed his hat and adjusted his glasses before setting a large stack of papers on Tyrael’s desk.

“I heard you both just came back from Mistral. How was that?”

“Cobalt is dead.”

“I’m sorry. Repeat that?”

“One of my investments tried to manipulate and double-cross me and got Cobalt’s family involved. He was killed for his efforts to remedy the situation himself.”

“So that’s why you called us, is it? Is this because you don’t want to mix business with pleasure for the sake of revenge or were you just being kind enough to allow the rest of your old academy compatriots to share in it? He was just as much Hari and I’s friend as he was yours, you know. But surely, you wouldn’t call us for simple revenge.”

“You’re correct. I have a list of people I will need you all to hunt down. First is Robin Goodfellow, the man who killed Cobalt and was, to my understanding, instrumental in helping Leroux’s operations fall apart. The next is a group of young huntsmen and huntresses that are responsible for my daughter’s death. Find and bring them to me, dead or alive. In the meantime you will be covering for Redmond while he reestablishes my presence in Mistral.”

“That’s quite a lot for us to do at once, you know. It won’t be cheap. Of course, if you had told Hari that we were after Cobalt’s murderer I’m sure he’d jump at the chance to do it regardless.”

“Not... that that’s an invitation to work for free. We do still have a business to run. You know how it is.”

“Where is Hari by the way? I specifically asked for both of you to show up.”

“Currently locked up, I’m afraid. With our workforce cut in half it’s been a bit difficult to keep up the money to-”

“Auroras, you charge millions. You simply haven’t given yourself the time.” Tyrael waves a hand and two large briefcases are placed one on top of the other at the side of the desk. Tyrael slides Auroras’s stack of blank papers aside and lets it open to reveal a large amount of lien. “Half of your payment down as per your usual.”

“This is... actually more than usual, Tyrael. You’re not about to add another job onto this are you? You know we don’t stack work.”

“The second one isn’t for you.” Tyrael replies, “That is to get Hari out of jail. Do that, then begin your work. You are to kill Robin Goodfellow, find what remains of my son’s old Atlas team and bring them to me, and make sure that Leroux’s associates do not swipe away what is still rightfully ours.”

[teamoliv-archive]

🗣 Lapis and Ivory

Send me 🗣+ the names of 2 muses on the blog, and there will be a random conversation written involving them.

“I’m not even sure I can count the amount of things you need to start explaining.”

“Trust me, I know.”

“Well we’ll have plenty of time once we save your sorry hide. This isn’t even counting what you put my sister and her friends through.”

“In my defense, that one was Molly.”

“Yeah, we’re having a nice long chat with her, too.”

[teamoliv-archive]

🗣+ Lapis and Lazuli

Send me 🗣+ the names of 2 muses on the blog, and there will be a random conversation written involving them.

“I still can’t believe we’re following this crazy girl to go save Reynard.”

“It’s a little surreal, isn’t it? But look at what’s going on; the fires, the captures, it’s chaos out there. Someone has to do something. Why shouldn’t it be us?”

“You’re right. It’s like Goodfellow said- We’re the good guys. This is what we do.”

“Besides, I think this will lead us to who destroyed our home and killed all our friends.”

“All the more reason to prevent it from happening again, right?”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Yellow-Eyed Monster

“I really hope we’re not lost.” The had been carrying the injured huntress Lapis had apparently brought with him to find her for nearly an hour now. She hadn’t heard from the others yet, though, so there was no telling if they had found Shani or not.

“Me too,” Lapis admits, hoisting Marianne over his shoulder. It was hard to determine where help could actually be with everything either destroyed or blocked off. They managed to stay ahead of the fires when they started, thankfully, and had stuck to the burnt out areas in the meantime. Everywhere was empty, though.

Turning a corner, they found a nearly destroyed neighborhood with a large crater in the road. “Man... what happened here?” This wasn’t just the fires; a fight had broken out sometime earlier. It wasn’t old either. He could hear an engine buzzing. Lapis wasn’t sure what kind of vehicle it was, but it didn’t sound very big. From around the corner, a swerving wheel took a turn too hard and the ‘driver’ flew out and collapsed on the ground. The wheel kept going for a short while until it fell over and what was now revealed to be a sturdy bladed saw slowly rotated to a stop in a pitiful sputter.

“Ugh.... H-Help....” The girl that was flung from the weapon was face first on the ground and looked very bit of a mess. Her clothing was torn, her hair looked awful, she was covered in old burns, and just looked like she had gone through hell and had just forced herself out of it.

“What...? What was that?” Marianne titled her head up to look at the figure on the ground, but Lapis kept a distance.

“You! You’re-! You were with him!” Lazuli starts, drawing her weapon. “She’s one of Jade’s people, be careful.”

“Please... You need to help. It’s Ivory, if I don’t do something she’s going to die!” The girl looked like she wasn’t going to be in any condition to fight and the pleading voice made it difficult for Lazuli to keep her weapon steady. She looked right at Lapis. “You! You were on her team right!? She showed me pictures! Please, you have to help!”

Lapis stared at Molly questioningly for a moment. This wasn’t what he was expecting to hear. He watched Marianne while keeping his weapon ready in front of him. This could still be part of that trap he worried about. “Is she telling the truth?” The old huntress was very good and picking out lies.

Marianne stared at the girl for a while. Her own face was still mostly obscured by a hood but her scratchy voice appeared to pierce through the conversation with a pointed question. She tries to steady herself, but it was clear she was having difficulty doing anything more than standing. “What is your name?”

“Look out!” Lazuli caught the glint of something whirling by and threw herself into the mystery girl’s way just as two blades swung by them. Lapis deflected another that looked to be aimed in his direction.

The blades swung back to a figure on a half-collapsed rooftop as they snap back into the circular holsters at her wrists. “I should have figured I’d find you if I followed her.” Auburn gave a cheerful smile with a wicked look in her eye. “Isn’t this just a treat? I get to see you surrounded by bunch of people who can’t defend themselves. Well guess what you’re stuck doing until I feel like I’m done with you. Want to make this simple? Get up here and let me finish what was supposed to happen back in that fight.”

Lapis wastes no time firing, but the girl just jumped out of the way when he raised his gun, letting him chase her with the bullets and she jumped from roof to roof, until she plunged herself into a collapsed part of one of the buildings and out of sight.

The other girl rose to her feet shakily. She jolted around with arcing static as she stood. “I hate to break it to you, but that won’t work... I trained her this last year. Besides, we don’t have time for this!”

“She is trying to attack us as a distraction. If we can leave, then we can rescue your friend.” Again she tries to stand up straighter and Lapis catches her as she buckles.

“Neither of you are in any position to go anywhere! Besides, I don’t really owe Reynard any favors lately. I’m sure she can take care of herself.”

“We’re huntsmen, Lapis. Are we really any better if we leave someone to die?” Lazuli interjects, “Auburn’s after me. I can protect Marianne. You go with that girl and help. Besides, I’ve seen her fight, if she’s in that condition the situation’s really bad. I’ll catch up.”

Lapis gave a stern stare to the burned girl but nods. “Fine. But you’re not driving that thing.” He points to the buzzsaw, picking it up. “I’ll carry this. Can you run?”

“Y-Yeah... Thank you.” She starts to dash ahead in a clumsy way, still trying to fight back the pain of the dust she’d been injected with.

“Wait. Wait!” Marianne tries to shout as the two rush away. “What is your name!?” She stood there with a look of shock half visible under her hood. There’s no way...

“Been waiting here this whole time you know.” Auburn says as she kicks down an already half busted door only hanging on one hinge.

“What is your deal!? Why go through all this just to get at me!? That’s half the reason you didn’t help us in the first place, right? Why do you hate me so much!?”

“You know, I would have thought it was obvious but I guess that just goes to show just how much dumber than me the rest of you are. There’s just so much to hate about you! I crawled my way out of everything thrown my way because I know how important it is to be strong. I was ready for the world no matter if it was ready for me or not. I’m smarter, stronger, and wiser than any of my peers and I was destined to be the one at the top. Then you show up with a sob story about your precious little mining town, some hacked up weapon whose design you stole from your brother, and no semblance, and all of the sudden you have all the friends, admirers, attention; and when you finally get your semblance you manage to live through something you absolutely shouldn’t have!

“Everything you have, everything you don’t deserve! It. Should. Be. Mine!” Auburn readies her weapons with a dark look on her face. “And I’m going to kill you to take it all back!”

“Th-That’s it? You’re just jealous!? I-I can’t believe you! Everything the rest of us went through was just because you couldn’t stand not having what someone else did? Well sorry, but I’m not going to fight you because you want it. There’s someone here right behind me who needs my help- and I’m going to defend them. Now let’s go.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Unexpected Aid

“What the hell happened!?” Lapis’s first words on seeing the battered Marianne were probably the wrong ones, but it was the only thing that he could think of. It looked real bad. Did being chased down by that guy with the hat really take that much out of her? Just how strong was this guy?

Lazuli and her friends gazed on in a muted shock. The blood was something she had been unfortunately desensitized to during their time as the Arena’s prisoners, but her brother’s reaction was worrying.

Mother Marianne let out a bloody cough, her mask no longer hiding the numerous burns and scarring on her face. She looked up at them with her one good eye. The fact they were more concerned about the fresh wounds than the old ones was comforting at least.

“We need to get you to a hospital.” Lapis says, rushing over to help the old huntress to her feet. “What happened out there?”

“Put up a hell of a fight in what she did.” A voice came from the direction of a squirrel who had hopped up on a small ledge.

Lazuli had to double-check to make sure she was seeing this correctly. The animal was new but the voice was familiar. “Wait, you’re-”

“That’s the guy who was arguing with Jade when we were first caught!” Arvinda blurted out, staring at the squirrel with her ax drawn, but the blade inactive.

“Hey, cool it!” The animal replies. It appeared to be straining to have its head forced toward them somehow. Occasionally the squirrel would fidget and move around as if it was held in place against its will. “Besides, you hack this thing up it won’t inconvenience me much. You’re not gonna find me; this thing’s just the messenger. Now shut up and listen to me. You want to know where your little friend is, right?”

“You know where Shani is!?” Lazuli called back. “Is this more of your stupid games? We’re not going back to your bloodsport.”

From several buildings down, Robin let out a irritated sigh. Kids were always so impatient. He kept his eyes closed for now considering he couldn’t see in front of him anyway. Displacing his senses into animals he touched was useful but inconvenient in other ways and just plain disorienting if he used more than one. “You want me to answer the fuckin’ question or not? Truth is, I swiped your friend out of there a while ago. She was off to some other place to take care of some owed debt. I didn’t bother figurin’ out exactly where. You listen up and I’ll tell you where I hid her. In exchange, you keep off my back while I sort out some business of my own.”

This sounded way too much like a trap for Lapis’s taste. It was still a bit hard to take that Goodfellow’s missing brother was one of these monsters. “Why should we believe you. What do you get out of this?”

“Mostly, rubbin’ this in Jade’s face. I didn’t like his plan to keep usin’ students for the games. Left a bad taste in my mouth. Sides that, gettin’ my sister involved is where I draw my line. Call it the one of the few standards I’ve got. Go ahead and call the goddamn police to go with you if you really want, but I’m not stickin’ around here anymore.”

Lapis watched Marianne lift her head to stare at the squirrel. She lifted a hand up to touch where her mask was. Now that she was closer it looked like her nose was broken, too. 

“We can trust this...” She says with reluctance. “I saw that rage against what your sister went through with my own eyes.” Without another word the squirrel departs.

Lazuli saw the determined look on her friends’ faces. They’d have to take the bait either way. “We’ll need to split up. How are you guys holding up?” Lauzli asks her friends. The three of them nod. They were just as shaken as Lazuli still was given the long time they spent but they could help. “You guys go find Shani. Lapis can I can help her. We’ll meet you at the hospital.”

“Take this with you.” Lapis tosses one of them his scroll and motions to Marianne. “Her contact is in there so we can touch base. Don’t do anything too reckless. We still don’t know if this is a trap or not.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Following the Trail

“What happened here?” Lapis stood in a practically empty street. There were pock marks and a huge ditch that looked like it had been blasted into the pavement. A fight obviously happened here but how long ago? He kept his gaze on the huge scar in the road. “That wasn’t made by a normal weapon.”

“Agreed. However, Grimm are unlikely to enter a protected city. No, there were people fighting here.” There was no sign that the locals who had shut themselves up in their homes were going to talk. If anything, they could be tipping off whatever crime lord ran these slums.

“What’s that?” A smaller scoring of the road caught her eye and the masked huntress stepped closer to something that looked almost like a buzzsaw had cut through the road, swerving around and getting away from something.

Lapis watches the wavy rip in the pavement cautiously. “We’re following that, aren’t we?” He says, pulling out his gun and keeping it at parade rest.

“It is our only clue. It runs deeper into the slums towards an abandoned school district. We may have finally located their hideout’s general location. Or at least one of their safe houses. Getting in is going to be the tricky part.”

A few miles of following the trail brought them to an increasingly armed series of back alleys. They looked like pedestrians but too many of them were too watchful and had the telltale stance of someone who had a weapon at the ready. Two armed strangers were going to catch attention. “Hide your weapon if you can.” The entrance to several buildings were guarded but it looked like they were letting someone in to the abandoned school building itself.

Marianne recognized him immediately. Robin Goodfellow walked up to the entrace while the guards very quickly got out of the way. “Hey there. Here for the games,” He says, flicking his hand up in a lazy wave, “The new event’s startin’ soon, right?” A few other men and women followed. Several looked like high-profile Atlas socialites and wealthy business owners.

“Think we can get in through that way? It looks like they’re taking guests.”

“These buildings always have side entrances. However, you should not be facing that man alone. Stay here. I will try to provide a distraction while you head in through the back.” With that, she scaled the alley wall and crouched up on the roof. She fired.

She rose up and continued to fire, plinking shots off of fencing and walls. Several gate guards pulled up firearms and started returning fire, which she easily blocked with her blade.

Robin grabbed his hat and ducked only long enough to pull out his off-hand weapon and return fire. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kiddin’ me! What the fuck are you doin’ here!?”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t come after you, Goodfellow?” She calls back down to him. “Now, where are they!?”

“You know, Lady, you’re really startin’ to piss me off!” Robin returns fire again, his bullets shattering the concrete lip of the roof’s edges. The huntress deftly skipped back and was unharmed. Great. “Hey! Tell the boss I’ll have to miss the show. I’ve got somethin’ to take care of.”

That was as good as he was going to get it. Watching the huntsmen rush after, he almost tripped over himself at the sound of ‘Goodfellow’. He thought of his old Atlas partner and her missing brother. He was pretty sure he was the only one out of the team to have been told about him. So he was involved in this mess? That was going to complicate things.

No, there’s no time to worry about that. Focus on Lazuli.

He needed to get into that building. Taking advantage of the distraction, he rushed along the half-wall with the old monument sign, using both to cover his movements as he reaches a rusted back entrance likely used by cafeteria staff to load up food for students before this place shut down. He pulled out his rifle and shot at the two guards on that door before rushing in to knock them out. They were too distracted by the bigger shootout to respond in time. He kicked in the rusted door only to be met with pain in his leg.

He sucked in a breath and tried again. This time, he steadied his shoulder and readied his semblance. With a heavy shove, the old metal finally gave way. Several people in the back room responded with shock and one was knocked out by the flying door. The smell hit him before anything else. It was rancid. What was worse was the sudden drop of a corpse on the ground by two men carrying it into an open freezer. What the hell was this place!? To think he was worried about whether or not he’d be doing the right thing by shooting anyone just a few moments ago.

“Hey there.” He says with a cold calmness, leveling his gun at the surprised thugs. “I have a few questions about where my sister and her friends are. And what the hell’s in that!?”

A few too many of the thugs panicked seeing their unconscious fellows on the ground behind Lapis to respond otherwise. They ran. “Tell the boss!” One shouted.

“Oh no you don’t.” He got one in the leg, who collapsed in pain behind the others. Lapis walked up to the man and turned him around, planting his foot on the man’s chest and leveling the rifle into his face. The old missing poster fell onto his the man’s face.

“You didn’t answer my questions yet. WHERE IS MY SISTER!?”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Reflections

A conversation taking place a few weeks into OLIV’s visit to Vale

“You’re still not upset, are you?”

“No, just disappointed.”

“Let me guess, you fought with someone again, didn’t you? What was it this time?”

“It’s not important. I’m half convinced I’m not going to find anyone worth talking to here even with the other academies visiting.”

“This is kind of what I mean when I say you being too rigid is hurting you, you know. How about you stop arguing with people and try to talk to them. You don’t even try to see the good in anyone around you.”

“Let’s count down. Every faunus I’ve met so far has been aggressive, belligerent, or had some kind of problematic past that was their own fault. Every self-proclaimed ‘heir’ to anything has been either self-serving and conniving or so blatantly useless I’m shocked they got in. I don’t know a whole lot of huntsmen hopefuls who aren’t hero wannabes or sociopaths looking for an excuse to fight things. Do I even need to get into the military suck-ups at our own school?”

“A lot of them are still trying to be good people, Lapis. They deserve credit for that at least, don’t they?”

“You don’t try to be a good person, Goodfellow. If someone can’t tell the difference on their own, they shouldn’t be making those kinds of decisions.”

“Then who does? You? You’ve apparently thrown everyone else out of that category already!”

“....”

“Yeah, thought so. You keep complaining about how awful everyone else is, even our friends half the time. Maybe you should start by not being an ass to everyone around you.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Silly Meta Stuff 6

The madness continues.

“And what’s this?”

“Oh no...”

“Well isn’t this amusing? I’ve always been one to watch for patterns so I think I’m going to go ahead and see how well I measure up to someone else’s attempt.”

“I’m seeing ‘fanfic’ and relations to a Beacon team ringing fairly heavily here. I presume that is their frame of reference? I think many of these can be skipped in this circumstance. I was never given the pleasure of speaking to Ozpin’s surprise prodigy or her team. I was told they were even given a senior mission in their first year. I still can’t believe the lad made that decision...”

“Do we really have to do this again?”

“You already did this? Well I’ll spare you the embarrassment. Let’s see... The simple one... a semblance? I’d have to say that one doesn’t apply.”

“You never actually showed me that.”

Marianne extends her hand and a sickly green mist sprays from it, dissolving the glove on her hand revealing a scarred and damaged hand. The nearby signpost crumbled into rotted mulch.

“....What happens when you use that on people?”

“I can’t.”

“GOOD!”

“Don’t be so shaken, it’s not as gruesome as you believe. Next is... oh dear.”

“Tragic backstory?”

“Are you surprised?”

“Let’s see... old masked woman who lives in the forest, sounds like a halloween decoration, and has a semblance that literally rots things? That doesn’t really strike me as someone who had it easy. Your parents-?”

“Died of old age, mercifully, but I suppose that still counts even though I doubt that’s the intention of its inclusion. I’ll take the third as well. You’ve just seen my hand. The rest of me isn’t much more appealing.”

“So the mask isn’t just for show, got it. I was wondering what that coughing was about earlier. Anyway... faunus.”

“Human, none of this applies. I’m not... angsty, am I?”

“Creepy and foreboding but not ‘angsty’. Bad news, though. I found overpowered.”

“Hush, young man. I’m a mentor figure. It comes with the territory.”

“Still racked up more drinks than I did.”

“I think I will call that a sign that we’re overdue for stopping to eat. We’re close to a settlement so let’s see if we can’t trade for something cooked.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: The Decision

The following conversation takes place following the White Fang attack on Beacon Academy and subsequent battle. 

“No one will blame if you don’t stay.”

The General’s words were probably mean to be more rallying than helping. No one really wanted to leave who felt they could help. This did not mean everyone stayed.

“What do you mean, ‘we’re leaving’?” Violet snapped bitterly. “You’re serious! You’re seriously going to leave all these people to die to save your own skin!”

“I believe I made my instructions very clear. There is no point in dying for this. There are far too many Grimm not to mention insurgents and from what I’m seeing, the military’s hardware has either failed them or we’re in the midst of a coup. Either way, staying is worthless. Get on this ship! I am making that an order!”

“Violet, we can’t fight this. Onyx is right. All we’d be going is dying with everyone else. We need to evacuate. This place... This place is lost. We have to accept that.”

“You’re worse than a coward, Cheshire. Isn’t this the whole reason we’re here!? Is that what you want people to see!? All the armed huntsmen running away!?”

“This coming from the man who refuses to call himself one. This is Ozpin’s mistake for not seeing this coming and refusing the warnings. Let them burn and die in their own folly. Anyone foolish enough to stay and fight deserves whatever fate they’re given.”

“I can’t believe you... Uncl- Major, please talk some sense into them!”

“My duty is to evacuate those who wish to flee. Apart from that I am to see you safe home to your families. If your team leader chooses to evacuate then I will ready the ship.”

“Fine. Save your own sorry hide, but I am not getting on that ship. I don’t care what your ‘orders’ are.” Lazuli and the other younger pre-academy students should have evacuated by now, but he didn’t know for certain.

“He’s right. What would Dad say if I came home with my tail between my legs?”

“And what would he say to me if I came back with your corpse? No, am not allowing you to go out there.” Cobalt takes a step forward. Lapis draws his weapon. Violet hesitates to do the same.

A single shot is fired behind them. A large wall of reinforced ice dust separates them from the rest of their field of view. “This is not our fight. Get on the bullhead.” He looks up as a large Grimm circles around them. He points his gun up and fires at it. The creature dissolves in a fireball before it hits the ground.

“You worthless, self-serving bastards! You’ll leave them all to die!” Lapis rushes forward without another thought.

Ivory takes a quick sidestep, using the long reach of her weapon to arc around Lapis’s guard and quickly strike him down in the back. She angles her weapon again and fires the gun backward, launching the flat of the blade against the back of his head. A crater formed in the ice wall behind them, spraying shards everywhere. He was knocked out cleanly.

Onyx gave a stern stare to the shaking Violet. Whether it was in fear, rage, or some combination of the two he didn’t care to analyze. “So would you like to spend the rest of our trip to safety out cold as well?”

Violet could barely hear her own thoughts over the sheer blinding hatred of just abandoning what was probably one of the worst events in modern history. “You are worse than a coward, Onyx Cheshire...” She mutters in a low venomous tone, mirroring Lapis’s earlier condemnation. Dad had said that the Cheshire family was one of utter monsters, but she hadn’t seen it up until now. Ivory didn’t surprise her. She never did seem to do anything but take his orders. “Fine... If I don’t have a choice, I’ll go.” As much as she would rather go out fighting at least trying to save lives than do this, she knew she wouldn’t even be able to get that far if not even her uncle would step in to keep Ivory away from her. She stared the person she now refused to call her team leader. “Count yourself lucky if I ever speak to you again.”

She turns her head angrily to her uncle. “Put me in the cargo hold if you have to but I am not going to share this ride with them.”

“I would not advise that...” Cobalt mentions, “It is a long way to Atlas.”

 “Drop her off in the shipyard for all I care. We’re leaving this failed academy to its fate.”

Ivory hoisted Lapis over her shoulder. He was heavy. She watched Violet insistently tuck herself in with the crates and boxes in the back while Major Ymir got everything ready with the pilot. Tyrael must have pulled some strings with the right bribes again. They had the ship to themselves. She glances to Onyx. “Are you sure this is the right thing to do?”

“This is the right thing to do for us. That’s all that matters.”

“....You’re right. Let’s go.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Budget

“I still can’t believe you two paid for it all.”

“Hey, they’re our friends, too, and well... you guys aren’t as well off as we are so...”

“I really don’t like how often you two do this...”

“What, do you assume you’ll owe me when all is said and done? I’m not a spendthrift, you know. Allowing my excess to go to something useful just makes sense.”

“He’s right, though. Onyx has a crazy budget plan. He’s got both of our pocketbooks on a ledger. When he says we can afford something, he’s never wrong.”

“Generosity just isn’t something I expected out of you considering, you know, the rest of who you are.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Practicalities

“What?”

“You’re wearing a skirt. I just noticed that.”

“Yes, what about it...?”

“Isn’t that a little impractical with a sniper rifle? I mean I’ve seen some students with that ‘combat skirt’ thing that flares out and has the petticoats so I get that but aren’t your legs restricted in that thing?”

“I’m laying down most of the time.And I wear leggings. I don’t see what the problem is.”

“It’s impractical. No wonder your balance is so bad.”

“Says the guy who still can’t beat me one-on-one. You know, sooner or later casually criticizing other people just because you don’t understand something is going to get you hurt.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Silly Meta Stuff 3

“Alright, Sis... I’m doing this because I want you to succeed. Now you’re going to start Atlas in a few years and I want you to look at this.

“What... is this? Uh... I actually don’t know what my semblance is yet. I’m kind of worried though. Tragic backstory?”

“Why worry?”

“The village, Lapis... I was ten when the riots happened. I still have nightmares... How much is that going to affect me when I start fighting?”

“You don’t have to worry. I went through it already. I’ll try and help you through it.”

“Mom and Dad are still alive. I definitely want to keep it that way. I’m not really good at being emotionless, I don’t have any disability, we don’t have anything to do with Grimm, who are all these people this keeps referencing?”

“Belladonna’s team. Don’t worry about it. You haven’t even met them.”

“Well here’s one I can say for certain. My weapon is based on yours.”

“Wait, what?”

“Well why not? I mean you’re the only hunstman I know anyway. We all look up to you, Lapis. You told us you’d come back a hero! I think you will. Why not emulate that?”

“I’m definitely ‘underpowered’ but that’s because I’m still in training. So how’d I do?”

“I think you have a better shot at the hero thing than me, Lazi. Besides, I’m not a huntsman, remember?”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Sleepless Nights

“AAAH! ...Okay... just a dream... Just a dream.”

“Ugh.... Nnnngh, guys... It’s three in the morning.”

“Lapis..? Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah... Just a nightmare.” He glances over to the other set of bunks. Onyx and Ivory were still asleep.

“You’ve been having those a lot lately, but I guess we all have, huh? I wonder how common it is. Was it the same one?”

“Yeah.”

“You know, maybe you should talk to someone. The school has counselors, you know. It’s not like anyone would know.”

“... Maybe. You might have a point, though. How many of us have to deal with this? The place could be packed... Then again, maybe they’re too scared or proud to bother. I mean Cheshire does his share of thrashing in his sleep, too, and I don’t see him biting the bullet and talking to anyone anytime soon.”

“Good point...”

“By the way, who’s Lily? You kept muttering to yourself and it was the only word I could make out.”

“Go to bed.”

“Alright, fine. ...Hey, Lapis?”

“What?”

“It’s nice to see you drop the emotionless tough guy act, even for just a little bit. Even if it was for just a few minutes.”