#Morado Amun - Cutscene

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Duty

Morado didn’t expect to spend all day in the hospital, but the moment he heard the news he had to come running. The elderly huntress Marianne had come along, seemingly mostly as moral support. He managed to prove he was who he said he was to the medical staff and was finally allowed into a more tightly guarded and heavily staffed room than expected. Marianne stayed outside in the hallway.

They found her. Lilac, or what was left of her, was laying attached to a multitude of readers and measurements. He could see through the glass that separated where he stood and the operation theater several surgeons were still picking pieces of stone and ice from her broken body.

He snapped his attention to the nearest person who looked like a doctor. “Give me the details. All of them.” 

The doctor looked at Morado with a morose expression. “It’s pure luck there was anything left of her to save. Apparently that dust apparatus she had attached to herself overloaded. While there was an explosion, her torso was covered in stone and most of her vitals were spared any real damage.” He looked at a thick stack of papers from a clipboard. “However, she’s suffered multiple limb breaks, a heavy skull fracture, and moderate brain damage. Even in the best case recovery will take years of physical therapy and preventive medicine. She’ll never walk again, may be blind in one eye at a minimum, and will need extensive care throughout her life. Of course, MTHS has vacated her position and we’ve not been able to reach her next of kin. You’re the next closest as her fiance.

All the more reason for him to stay in Mistral. It was a damn miracle and he didn’t know if she was even going to know his name by the time she came out of all this, but she was alive. 

“Thank you. I’ll leave you to your work. Let me know if anything happens.”

Morado exited the room with a mix of emotions. He would probably be shaking more than he was if it wasn’t for the cybernetic suit he was stuck in.

The normally masked huntress stood with her hood down and a new wooden mask in one hand. Her burnt face had caught the attention of several nurses during her wait, but she assured them she had already been taken care of years ago. “Well?”

“It’s... bad. Real bad, but with everything that happened it’s still a miracle we even have this.” He gently set himself down on the bench. If he had just dropped down he might break it. “I don’t know what to do...”

“You still plan to care for her after everything that’s happened and all she’s hidden from you.” Marianne noted softy.

“I already dropped the ball once with this. I need to be there for her, not just because she’s still my fiance, but because no one else is going to do it.” His scroll rang, souring his already fragile mood. He picked it up with a gruff “What?”

“....You’re not making this up, are you? No, no, of course not. Hold my wing pack for me. We’ll be right there.”

“What was that about?” Marianne squinted her eyes in an awkward way as one side of her face lagged behind the other where the old burns were worse.

“There’s an SOS outside the kingdom. It’s from an Atlas ship.”

[teamoliv-archive]

🗣 Morado and Ivory

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

“Aren’t you a bit young to be a security guard?”

“Technically I’m still in training, sir.”

“Hey, it’s all good. Intern, huh? Anyway, Lilac’s waiting for me so I need to get in. You can ask her if you need.”

“I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this to a military officer, but you can’t come in here in full body armor.”

“Ssssssyeah. About that. I can’t take it off.”

“With all due repsect, sir, this isn’t a military installation. Unless you have an MP warrant from the General or the Council we don’t allow uniformed military inside our building.”

“No, I mean physically. You can try all you like. It won’t come off.”

“I’m going to have to ask you how that’s-”

“Classified. I know, it’s dumb, but how this thing works requires some clearance. Anyway, if I can’t come in can you just tell Lilac to come out here?”

“Right…” Ivory pulls out a scroll. “Hey, Sterling, can you go get Miss Cheshire and tell her she has a visitor? What did you say your name was again?”

[teamoliv-archive]

🗣 Onyx and Morado

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

“Hey there, Nyx!”

“Morado, was there’s something you wished of me?”

“Just saying hello to my future brother-in-law. Come on, we don’t talk a lot. I think we should get to know each other, don’t you? I mean, we’ll be family soon.”

“Forgive me if I take that word more lightly than you would expect. Besides that, what would be possibly talk about?”

“Well how’s Atlas Academy treating you? I can give you a few helpful tips from the master about just about anything you want about that school. It can’t all be drills and missions, after all.”

“And what would you know about what I do in my spare time?”

“Come on, I’m marrying your sister, remember? I know all sorts of fun places to explore after hours. Team MSTD knew just about everywhere that wasn’t on classified lockdown.”

“That actually could be of use to me…”

“Then let’s grab some drinks and take a seat, bro. I’m going to blow your mind.”

[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]

Overheard Conversations: The Bad News

Onyx landed on the roof of one of the alleged ‘safe houses’ that had apparently been set up. Publicly funded by the Cheshire Financial Group to keep people safe. If he heard the rumors correctly, several huntsmen and a rogue Atlas contingent had joined in their defense. However, Tyrael Cheshire himself had left. Good. No one was going to notice a battered faunus in one of the rooms, he hoped. Barring that, he could always disappear again.

Vaulting down from the roof, he inspected the door. Seeing as these were repurposed storage units there were no windows to inspect. He would just have to go inside. Nothing was going to prepare him for what he saw.

Had his voice not been damaged, he would have shouted in shock. Instead he just let out a harsh croaking noise.

“O-Onyx!?”

Violet stared for a while at the sorry sight that had become her neatly dressed, confident, and constantly smiling team leader. His clothes were the plainest she’s ever seen them and weren’t in the best condition and his neck was wrapped tightly in bandages. Her eyes instinctively went to his faunus ears. She knew- the whole team did, but she’d never actually seen them up close. Part of her wanted to ask where that scar on one of them was from, but that wasn’t important right now. 

Onyx had no time to react before Violet sprinted forward and threw her arms around her old teammate, causing him to reel back in anxiety for a few moments. Then he finally calmed down and just stood there. Violet started to tear up. “I didn’t think I’d ever see either of you again.”

Morado took a step forward to put himself into Onyx’s view, waving in an awkwardly casual way. “Hey, Cadet, mind letting him go? We can catch up in a bit.”

“Uh, right! I mean, yes sir!” Violet responds, righting herself and backing up a few steps, still wiping an eye clean. “There’s a lot that’s going on. Take your time, but we need to talk.”

Onyx takes in a shaky breath before letting out that same awful croaking noise in an attempt to speak. It still hurt. He shakes his head and searches the room. Settling on a table with a notepad, he weaves through the crowd of Mistrali residents and snatches it.

Morado could tell there was something wrong here. Onyx Cheshire not talking was always worrying regardless of the reason. This time it seemed different, though. He was suddenly very worried about those bandages. “Over here.” He leads him and Violet to a section he had more or less claimed for Dustwing operations and helping the Cheshire “volunteers” manage the safe houses. “Who first?”

[I should have expected as much.] Onyx wrote down on the paper in front of him. [Everything about how Ivory had been acting ever since the academy. I should have seen it.]

“We all should have. We really should thank Uncle Cobalt when he gets back. He noticed. He probably saved us. That guy you talked about, Ler... Leroux? Is that how you pronounce it? Jade. What did he look like?” She looks over Onyx’s shoulder as he wrote out a description. That was him. That was the man who was talking to her brother that day, and the same one Ivory apparently worked for. “Everything... Everything points back to him. Even all this...”

The conversation was interrupted by the slamming of a metal-clad fist against the steel of the storage unit, denting it. 

“No! No! NO!” Morado punches the wall several more times trying to keep himself under control. This couldn’t be it. Would Lilac really just throw away so many people just to get revenge? Did she really think things could just be okay after this?

“Why didn’t you tell me!? Why did you think this was the answer!? I could have helped you, Lilac! We could have done something without... without this! Why is it okay for all these people to die just because they’re in the way!?” His shouting was muffled by the groups going about their business, but not enough where they all didn’t turn and stare at him.

The armored soldier turned and stooped in front of them. He lifts the goggles on his suit, flipping up mechanically. His tear streaked face met the crowd. This isn’t what they needed to see right now. “I... I need a moment.” He turns to another of his unit. “Doyle, you’re in charge. I’ll be back.”

Onyx watches Morado walk outside only to snap out the wings of his suit and blast himself upward. He prayed this wasn’t about to end badly, but he didn’t expect he wouldn’t go looking for her. He turns to Violet with a look of urgency.

“You’re right. We’ll need to go after him.” She’s tapped on the shoulder as another set of notes is pushed in front of her.

[Lilac isn’t likely to be using her home as a base but he will likely go there first. She must have other places. We’ll need to find her before then. My sister isn’t the kind to take well to things going badly for her.]

“We’ll still have to be on the lookout for Ivory, too. She’s got some help though. Both of us might be able to hold our own.”

Onyx flexes a hand and motions to himself as if to say ‘Leave Ivory to me.’ He writes again. [Finding her will lead us to Lilac. Jade Leroux is elusive and Ivory is her true main target. Show me where you fought them. We will start our search there.]

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Haunted by the Past

Lilac watched the blips on her map, denoting where the explosive drones had settled. The entire district that Jade Leroux had been hiding in was marked. There wasn’t going to be a place for blocks that wasn’t crumbling or on fire.

She hovered her finger over the key where she’s submit the detonate command. She wanted to savor this. She imagined all manor of the horrid man’s deaths- most of them in scorching flames, being crumbled by debris, or slowly choking to death in the smoke. She pictured Reynard was there, too. She was somewhere anyway. If she got both, she’d be pretty happy. If not, it was just a matter of time.

“Say goodbye, Jade. Cassandra Cheshire says hello.”

Shin had never seen so much fire bellow in one place before. Several dozen explosions had just hit the lower section of Mistral. With the tiered nature of the city’s layout he could see it from the higher elevation easily. “That’s...”

Cobalt watched the blaze silently. What in Remnant had just happened!? Whatever had been going on suddenly took a backseat to a legitimate emergency. “Shin.”

“We may very well be the only hunstmen in this whole damn kingdom. I know.” They had arrived just shortly after word of the missing huntsmen and Headmaster Lionheart’s death defending the school. “Weren’t the White Fang defeated, though?” He shook his head. No, that didn’t matter. They needed to move now. Who knows how many people could be trapped down there in those flames.

“Come on, Ymir! We ain’t got time to lose!”

“What the hell is that!?” Were they under attack!? Those were prepared dust explosives. By the looks of them at least a few had hit some pretty volatile targets, too. “Dustwings, mobilize! Let’s get a perimeter going the moment we reach that district! Gather up every huntsmen you can find!”

Violet missed the disciplined calls of “Sir, yes, Sir!” from the rest of the squadron. She was just rushing in with them. This... This was horrible. She didn’t bother thinking too hard about who or what was behind this. The rest of them didn’t. It was time to just get in there and do what a huntress was meant to do. A flag unfurled in the far distance, a level below them. She could only barely see it. 

But she knew that flag; and the Atlas uniform she could only just make out next to it. That was her father and her uncle!

“Follow those huntsmen!” She says, pointing to the area below her.

Auburn wasn’t sure how to properly respond to watching a gas station explode a block away. She was less sure how to respond to a countless number of other explosions hitting seemingly random buildings throughout the area. The booms echoed everywhere and the amount of buildings that weren’t on fire was steadily decreasing.

“Wh-What’s happening!?” Ivory braced herself and watched as the surrounding buildings were catching fire. People were either shutting themselves into their houses or fleeing them. Several had already suffered a lot of injury from the blasts and the rushes of hot air. They needed to get to Jade now.

“No... No no no no nonononononononononono!” Molly had frozen entirely. She felt herself shaking but she hadn’t been moving at all, as if it was all pent up inside her. It felt like the fire was closing in around her, he old burns suddenly flaring to life at the memory.

Great! They were both freaking out beyond help! Auburn didn’t like being in a firestorm. Ivory was uselessly flitting in place and Molly... Auburn suddenly bounced back when the girl screamed, dropped her weapon and ran off in the most awkward and jerky manner imaginable. Ivory started to ran after her but stumbled first, shouting after her.

“This isn’t worth it.”

She was going to save her own skin. Damn the other two. They could run off and get killed for all she cared.

Ivory stumbled forward trying to catch up to her erratic partner. “Molly! Molly, wait!” A house crumbled nearby, collapsing under its weight. A huge plume of ash blew in her direction and the running and screaming residents were getting denser as the fire spread. No! She lost her! She turned back to Auburn and- she was gone. Did that little bitch just abandon them? She grips her weapon and forces herself to push through. Find Molly, then find Jade. Simple, right?

Molly could feel herself running. Where to she had no idea, she could only barely see the world around her as it slowed down and sped up randomly, jerking her motions around as she did so. She tripped at least once and Oroboros had clanged to the ground. That didn’t matter, in her mind she was five years old again. She never knew how the fire started or any other details like that. But she remembered the heat, the pain, and the awful sizzling and popping sound coming off of her own skin.

She remembered seeing what was left of her sleeping family. Her older sister, her younger brother, her mom and dad. She screamed their names until her voice gave out and the sounds lost meaning. Everything hurt inside and out. Sirens... She had no idea if there were actual fire and rescue coming, or if she was just remembering the distant blares of emergency that had come too late. 

Where was she even going!? As a child she had spent weeks wandering the streets in burned and filthy clothes until a kindly man gave her a chance at any kind of life again. Now everything was ablaze again. Where was Jade? Where was Robin? Where was Ivory?

Just keep running. She told herself, Everything’s gone.

Again.

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Reinforcements

Taking place on the southern outskirts of Anima.

Wherever she was, it had definitely seen better days. Was it just her or did Mistral have more abandoned and ruined towns than advertised. Violet had never been to Anima before so she didn’t really know one way or the other. Then again, given that Mistral is known for having lots of large Grimm and bandits, that didn’t surprise her. She even read about a start-up kingdom being destroyed by a single massive one though the name escaped her.

These places never had a lot of huntsmen. That couldn’t have helped.

Whatever it was that happened here charred the place. There wasn’t a single log or stone that wasn’t blackened to some capacity. That was more than likely bandits who lit a fire under the city so the Grimm would go after the chaos and the flames rather than them.

Then she heard the snapping sounds. They came from a lot of different directions. Grimm were still here. She didn’t have a lot of business fighting them. She was the only one here, wasn’t she? Violet slid her back foot into a fighting stance and winced at the jolt of pain in her stomach. She had miraculously been found out in that desert and got her wound treated, but it wasn’t fully healed yet. That would take time and better medical care than a dusty outpost could provide.

She saw the beowulves appear in one of the biggest packs she’s ever seen. Individually they weren’t a problem and even small groups were only a minor threat to a trained huntress, but she wasn’t at 100% and counted their number at far too many.

She pulled out her pistols and flared out the whip halves. She needed to keep as many of them as far away as possible. She didn’t need to guess whether or not they saw her.

They charged; so did she.

She twirled into her first strike, creating a ring of spinning metal and cable around her. Several took the blows but looked more inconvenienced than seriously injured. Dodging incoming blows wasn’t impossible, but the jolts of pain in her midsection made it harder than usual. She felt a force slam into her back, sending her right to the ground. She only had enough time to roll out of the way of a second strike, fire at a third Grimm to drop it, and try to get back into position and play keep away again.

This went on for what felt like an hour though it was certainly a lot less. She didn’t have the aura to keep herself defended and light off her semblance. No one would see it below the treeline anyway.

Not below the tree line!

She wasn’t sure if she could even do this, but she had to try. Putting all her energy into dodging the mass of claws, fangs, and terror before leaping over the swing of a particularly large one and vaulting herself upward. She aimed a shot upward and the barrel glowed with light.

Come on...

Instead of her flash ringing out right in front of her, the combination of trying to force it forward and the gunfire shot it into the sky. A extremely loud flashbang cracked into the sky. She prayed someone would see it. She wasn’t going to be able to do that again.

She landed clumsily, but thankfully wasn't harmed. She was still in the middle of a pack of angry Grimm, though.

The wind picked up out of nowhere. The gusts felt almost razor sharp. Even the Grimm were howling in pain.

Then the footsteps and the gunfire came.

Atlas troops!? There were only a few of them but that was very clearly Atlas equipment. She couldn’t count them but there were less than a dozen- and was one of them flying!?

“You okay, kid!?” The flying soldier shouted down from above. He swooped through another group of the Grimm, sending them flying- some without all of their limbs. It looked like the air itself was slicing through them. The mechanical wings on his back collapse as he skids onto the ground next to her. He makes a waving motion and the small squad he was apparently commanding started taking out the flanks. There were still a lot left.

Then he took his wings off. They folded outward like a case that could be snapped shut. He pointed the opening toward the funneling crowd of Grimm and it started to radiate energy.

“You’re going to want to stand back!” He shouts, bracing what was now a rather hefty particle cannon. 

The blast was an enormous stream of light purple light that left a large streak of dirt where ground and structures used to be. Violet had to shut her eyes tightly being so close to it. The guy using that thing was probably lucky he was wearing those goggles. After that, what was left of the pack had begun dispersing. Once things started clearing up the other soldiers began rushing about the scene, apparently looking for any hidden survivors. she wondered if they planned where their commander was going to shoot to prevent any possible casualties. No major buildings were in the way of the blast after all.

“Who else is out here?” He turns to her. “Where’s your family? Are there any other survivors? Are you a huntress on the scene?”

Violet takes a moment to right herself. She stood up straighter and tried to see what she could about this guy. She managed to recognize a rank insignia and a patch on the armor’s shoulder she wouldn’t have recognized if she didn’t see the wings. “I’m fine, Lieutenant.” She says, “There’s no one else here. I was an Atlas cadet actually. As far as I know, this place was abandoned. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“The hell’s an Atlas cadet doing all the way out here?” Morado muttered to himself but didn’t bother to disguise his volume. It wasn’t a problem if the kid heard him. “So you’re alright? Do you need medical attention? We have a medic with us.”

“I probably should get checked up.” She agreed, “What are you guys doing out here, anyway? Is the military trying to protect the other schools or something?”

“No reason not to explain it since you’ll hear it later anyway- We’re AWOL. The General demanded all Atlas forces pull back to the kingdom. Not even Mantle’s got its protection right now. We decided to compare the last ‘great idea’ the brass had to what happened and Beacon and refused orders. People out here need us,” He looks over at Violet as living proof of his point, “Obviously. Huntsmen have been disappearing, too. When one kingdom falls to terrorists, that’s a disaster. When a second one is suspiciously undermanned, there’s something else happening and I don’t think they want to admit it.”

Dad would have been proud of these guys. She prayed they weren’t a rarity in the army. She was lead to a place to sit where a medical trooper pulled out a first aid kid. Standard Atlas army suite, but it was still good. She lifted up her shirt to reveal the bandaged wound on her stomach. The winged commander looked away, shifting his focus to watching the search. After a few more moments she finally spoke up. “You’re with the Dustwing Project.”

The soldier buckled in a mild surprise and/or panic. “How do you know about that!?” He asks with more worry than anger in his voice.

“My uncle is a Major, sir.” She explains. The medical officer had undone the bandages and was inspecting the wound. She overheard the muttering of it healing well, but slowly, something about fresh bandages and mild painkillers, and wanting to meet whoever did this. There was also a question about her other scar she ignored. “By the way, I’m looking for someone, do you know if you’ve seen them? Blonde and green-eyed like me. He’d be in his early 30s, about five-ten, and has two weapons with him. A blade and a sickle. He’s-”

The soldier apparently heard enough. There was a sense of recognition on his face. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Goodfellow, Sir. Violet Goodfellow. I’m... looking for my brother.”

“Robin Goodfellow!?” Apparently they knew each other. “I graduated Atlas with that asshole!” He stopped before he said anything else. “Uh... no offense. We didn’t get along.”

Violet was more irritated by the fact that she wasn’t offended by this at all. Then again, Robin did try to kill her. Best leave that part out for now. “So... have you seen him?”

“Sorry, but we’ve been too busy playing damage control with all the missing huntsmen. I get you want to find your brother. It’s the principle of the matter, right? Still, you’re safer with us. We can’t slow down but we can keep an eye out while we’re trying to help out.”

Violet stands up now that the bandages are resecure and smooths out her shirt again. The medic gives a cue and the soldier turns around again. She manages to look him right in the... er... reflective visor. “Alright.” She had to admit this was probably going to be easier travelling with them- or at least safer. “Just be warned, I’m looking for a few people, actually. I’ve... uncovered something, something dangerous. I don’t have the full info anymore but I can give you a summary. I might know where your missing huntsmen have gone.”

The soldier smirks. “Fair enough. Give us a summary on the way out of here. I’ll introduce you to the squad soon; I’m Lieutenant Morado Amun. That over there is Medical Officer Ash Dickinson. You’ll hear a few of the guys call him ‘Doctor Dick’ so... ignore that.”

Violet chuckles. “Atlas Academy, remember? I’ve heard worse from the drill instructors.”

A soldier rushes toward them with his scroll. “Sir! S.O.S. from a nearby village. They say there’s armed bandits surrounding the area!”

“Fair enough. Anyway, welcome to the Dustwings, Cadet Goodfellow. I’d give you an introduction but we’d better get moving!”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Insubordination

“Lt. Amun, what the hell are you doing!? You heard the order! All Atlas personnel are to fall back!”

The call came over short wave service coming from Mistral’s CCT. “Sir, with all due respect, you can’t be serious. The General’s calling for us to hole up in Atlas while the people who trashed Beacon are still out there? We managed to zero in that they’re operating out here in Mistral! Why are we withdrawing!?”

“We don’t question the General’s orders, Lieutenant. He must have a reason.”

“Permission to speak freely, sir?”

“You already are. Why ask now?”

“The last time the General had a reason that sounded like a bad idea, a school got blown up.  Let’s not let that happen again. Our presence at Beacon wasn’t a deterrent but our lack of one’s going to send the wrong message.”

“That’s not your place to speak, Amun.”

“What happened to protecting the kingdoms where the huntsmen can’t? Are we only defenders of the world when it’s convenient for us!? We can do something out here, Colonel! We should be trying to help Haven defend itself not running away!”

“You are out of line, solider! You WILL report back to Atlas and you’re likely to receive disciplinary action! That’s an order!”

Morado had to stop himself form laughing. He had already made his decision the moment he heard that stupid ‘order’ to pull back. “I’ll report back after I prove to everyone we’re not self-serving cowards. You can even replay that one during my court martial. Lieutenant Morado Amun out.”

Morado clicks off the scroll and turns to the small group of soldiers still with him. He was the one with the experimental flight suit grafted to him but the others had equipment to spare for themselves. He could fly away if they tried to restrain him. “If anyone here wants to leave, I don’t blame you.” No one moved. A few smiled.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s head to Mistral! If we’re lucky one of the Colonel’s ships is still nearby. Hopefully he won’t mind us taking it.”