#Onyx Cheshire - 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]

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]

🗣 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]

🗣+ Onyx and Violet

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

“I’m beginning to wonder if our placement here on this team was intentional.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m referring to Major Ymir. He is a common link between us. He is an old friend and former teammate of my father and as fortune would have it, your uncle.”

“That is weird.”

“Maybe it’s destiny?~”

“Conspiracy more than likely. Someone planned this and I think the Major knows something about it.”

[teamoliv-archive]

🗣 Onyx and Ivory

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

“Hey, Onyx? What do you think’s going to happen when we get to Menagerie?”

“Likely nothing particularly useful. Still, I cannot imagine why Father wants me to try and have a tower built out here. I have no illusions that this is going to fail, but the price for it was listed. He must have another reason for me being there.”

“I worry about what’ll happen if we can’t get ahold of anyone. We’ll be stranded out there by ourselves. What if these villages aren’t as friendly as we need them to be?”

“Ivory, you’re you. I think we have our safety covered. Even if the White Fang is present there, a majority of their forces are still on the mainland continents if our information is correct. Perhaps this is a front to find information on them?”

“Maybe, but I still don’t like this.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Yellow-Eyed Monster Part 2

Lazuli spun her weapon in wide arcs, blocking and deflecting the oncoming blades that Auburn hurled at her. She was hoping to knock their trajectory off course so she couldn’t retrieve them, but even when parried away, they spun and returned to her.

“How do you like the new addition?” She taunts as the curved blades swirled back to her and locked back into the discs on her arms, which gave off a small glow as the blades returned. “I had this installed when you were busy starving in a cell.” She glares down at Lazuli with a grin on her face.

“I already heard about how you managed to get out, but the difference between then and now is that I know what you can do- and I’m ready for your fancy little trick; so come on, let’s see it!” She leaped from the rooftop and dove at her.

Lazuli braced for the impact, focusing again on parrying and dodging instead of attacking. Auburn’s blows felt heavier than they should have. She had no idea if that was a result of her not being fully recovered or if her opponent was just stronger than she used to be. With Auburn focusing on hurting her rather than the wounded huntress behind her, she didn’t have to worry about defending anyone but herself at the moment, but she still worried. One of Winterfang’s blades missed its parry and she readied herself for a hit from Auburn’s swipe, only for a shot to ring out.

Marianne was leaning against the wall, holding out her sword upright revealing the gun barrel on the side of the hilt. “You’re forgetting someone.” The scarred woman grimaced before snapping her good eye to Lazuli. “You have covering fire, girl! What are you doing?” She sounded more pleading than demanding. They both needed to do all they could to survive in a weakened state.

“Right!” Lazuli moves to attack while Auburn jumps out of the way, sending more blades out in wide arcs around the two. Shots and blows were made to try and deflect them, forcing them to return to their owner.

“Ugh... And here I was hoping this would be easy. Fine.” She plants her feet down and her shadow begins to spread around where she stood, coating the area in a twisted version of the landscape.

“This is all just an illusion,” Lazuli shouts to Marianne, “She’s trying to use the images and sounds to distract us. Just focus on where she is.” This was easier said than done. She heard a voice come from a lamp post.

“Come on! Where’s that semblance of yours?”

That was an unfortunately good question. she wasn’t too sure exactly how hers fully worked yet. She was thinking about something- almost like the fight was a secondary focus, but how did she do it last time? She stood still for a moment, trying to feel what it was that caused her semblance to activate during her fight with Jade. Now, it was only enough to distract her and take a blade to the shoulder.

“I knew you weren’t going to be able to do that twice. Now I get to take my time. Let’s get your leg next.” The blades came from a few directions, spinning and making a high-pitched laughing noise.

“That’s the spot.” Violet says, pointing out to the neighborhood where she fought Ivory and her allies earlier. Something was wrong with it, though. It was still covered in smoke from the fire. This wasn’t normal smoke, though. That looked familiar. 

“I don’t think we’re alone. One of the others that was with Ivory could make these weird eyes in the shadows.” She says, having difficulty explaining it, “Whatever’s happening down there, she either came back or never left that spot.”

Onyx winces as his ears pick up the distinct hiss of steel clashing and strange laughter. Someone was fighting down there. He glances to Violet and sternly nods, pointing to it and deploying his claws.

Deflecting the incoming blades was difficult when forced to stand still, but Marianne was managing as best as she could with Lazuli faltering. She stumbles forward, trying to join the young girl. “We need to get out of here. You’re still exhausted and I am in no condition to fight- URGH!”

Lazuli turns to catch the huntress as another spinning blade came from the back and sliced through her already battered cloak. It didn’t do a lot of damage through the woman’s armor but she couldn’t be taking other wounds. “You’re right, but I can’t get my semblance to work! I don’t know what I did! How are we going to get out?”

“Alright, that’s better. On the ground and pleading for your lives where you belong.” Auburn recalls her blades and takes a few steps forward, only for something to catch her leg and pull her forward. The look of shock on her face pierced through the haze of her semblance.

“Are you guys alright!?” Another girl jumped over the faltering Auburn and rushed to the two. “What’s going on here?” Was that... Lapis’s sister? She only saw her a few times when she had visited Beacon for the festival and once before at Atlas. What was she doing here?

That must be her, the sister Robin was so adamant about keeping away from his matters. Marianne spotted the resemblance quickly. “We are under attack and injured.” She explains.

“My brother went off to find who was responsible for the fires earlier. Someone’s in danger.” Lazuli paused, “You... You were on my brother’s team at Atlas, right!? Lapis Hamelin?”

“Hey! I’m not done with you yet!” Auburn gets to her feet and readies her weapons. She prepares to fling out her blades again, but feels her arm stopped as if someone came from behind and grabbed them. Looking to her elbow, she saw strands of wire wrapped around her arm.

The faunus on the other end of the wires stared with a confident smirk on his face. No, there will be no getting away from this. You have bigger problems to worry about now.

Violet ignores the trapped enemy behind her. Onyx could handle that. “Then we don’t have a lot of time. Onyx knows who’s responsible for that blaze and if we don’t do something, she’ll burn the whole city down! You said Lapis is here!? Which way did he go? There’s no way he can handle this by himself.”

“That way.” Lazuli says, motioning to where he had run off with the injured girl from before. “But we still have to take care of Auburn. She’s not going to stop if I run.”

“First thing’s first.” She pulls out a flare gun and tosses it to the injured woman who looked like she had been to hell and back in those fires. “You don’t look too good. Fire that and help will show up. There’s four shots. Get to safety and fire.”

“You’re with those Atlas soldiers then? Very well.” Without skipping a moment, she slowly started to slip through the nearby alley. “I will be fine if I don’t move quickly. Just go!” 

“I can show you which way my brother went. I know I’m not in great shape right now but I’m coming with you. He saved me, and now it’s time for me to help him, too. I can still fight.”

There wasn’t going to be any dissuading Lauzli otherwise, Violet could tell. If it was her brother she’d probably do the same thing. Hell, that is what she’s been doing. “Alright. Just be careful.”

Lazuli turns to Marianne with a concerned look. “Are you sure you’re going to be alright?”

Marianne stared at standoff between Onyx and Auburn. “I think I will be left in good hands- or claws in this case.”

“Let me go!” Auburn twisted and slashed at the wire, finally freeing herself and facing Onyx with an intense glare. “I don’t know who you think you are but you’re interrupting something really important! I don’t have time to put you in your place!”

Onyx stared back at Violet. There was no time, why was she still just standing there? He swung his arm at them to tell them to move, then he turned back to the girl in front of him. The message was pretty clear: I’ll handle this one. He watches Violet and Lazuli rush off while the older huntress ducked out of the fray.

“Give me one reason I should even bother with you. Who are you!? SAY SOMETHING!” Auburn says, readying her blades again. More wire sprayed around her faster than she saw coming. Dangling right in front of her was an old hospital tag. The name was crossed off and written over.

Jett Huldre Onyx Cheshire

Auburn took a step back. “No. That can’t be right!” She snaps her head up to Onyx and stares incredulously. “How are you alive!? Why are you here!? You were sold! Your parents were killed off! You were supposed to die as some rich asshole’s servant or something, not...”

Cheshire. Those were the people who were paying for Jade Leroux’s operations in the first place. He wasn’t just some operative. He had a brand new name- a family name. How did some doomed cousin she only ever heard horror stories about turn out to be not just a huntsmen but a rich one? “This isn’t how things are supposed to go. No, this isn’t right! How!? Come on, dammit, say something! Are you here just to taunt me!?”

Onyx stood without much fanfare. He still didn’t really know who this girl was or what his old name meant to her. Truth be told, however, he didn’t care. He opens his mouth and forces out a weak croak of a voice. It was painful to speak yet, but he was at least starting to manage again. It came out as a raspy whisper. “No... You’re just in the way. Will you continue to be?”

“I was supposed to be the one who survived, the one who proved we weren’t all weak. Why!? How did you take that away from me, too!? Jett, I am still standing in your way. I have a destiny! I’m going to be the one at the top of it all! Let that stupid little backwoods brat run. I have a bigger target now!”

Onyx forced another harsh-sounding reply. “Do not call me that. My name is Onyx Cheshire, and you will remember it. Prepare yourself.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: True Loyalties

It was three agonizing weeks since Onyx was able to get out of that wretched hospital. His voice was still gone but at least he no longer felt the awful lingering symptoms of being without his old medications. Somehow they managed to clear that up. What was shocking, however, was finding out that his bills have been taken care of already thanks to a generous donation from the Cheshire Financial Group to aide victims of the White Fang’s violence. He knew that wasn’t what actually happened. The note hidden in his room solidified that.

It was from his sister, and it came with directions to come to her home in the city’s upper levels quietly once he got out.

Why was Mistral built against a cliff!? It had taken him forever to get up here and even longer to find the blasted home. As he expected of his sister, the place took up a lot of property in one of Mistral’s most affluent districts. A filthy faunus wandering around drew a lot of eyes that he subsequently ignored. He had half a mind to throw the next jeerer off the side of the mountain. He didn’t have the energy to keep himself invisible the whole time. The building itself was big and the surrounding grounds even bigger. There was an electronically locked gate at the front. He didn’t even get to push the button before he heard Lilac’s voice on the other end.

“Took you long enough, Nyx. Get in here.”

Lilac had soon sat her brother down with a fresh change of clothes, a bath, and a decent meal. He looked way better than he did when he got there. “Geez, Dad really did a number on you, huh?” Before her brother could silently protest, she waved it off, “Yeah, I know what happened. I’ve been watching the entire city for a while now. Come on, I’ve got a few things to show you.” She starts to guide him to a large room that looked to be a personal garage turned into a workshop. Sitting on a table was a sleek set of gauntlets plated gold with black on the finger joints and underlay. The whole mechanism, particularly the reel, was more compact than before. “Go ahead. Try it on.”

The new gauntlets fit perfectly. The underlayer must have been made out of some kind of armored fabric or rubber. No cold steel to deal with there. He flicks his wrist like before and it contracted back onto his arm in a much nicer-looking bracer, only the finger-less gloves that remained betrayed what it did. The smaller reel stayed in place. He looks up at Lilac in a bit of surprise. He had never been hugely close to his sister but they never hated each other either. Even if they weren’t blood, he assumed they were as close as most would be.

Lilac offered Onyx a smile and nodded. “Good. That’s a present from me. You’ll need to be able to get back out there, won’t you?” No, as conniving and stealthy as he liked to try to be, Onyx wasn’t ever one to really back away when he knew he had a fight on his hands he couldn’t avoid. He wasn’t going to take this sitting down.

“I hope you’re ready for this next part, you’re going to need to see it.” She lit up a few monitors showing footage from her drones. Several shots of the attack on Haven were shown, as all manner of other nasty things. Among them were several shots of Ivory speaking with that man from before- what was his name? 

Jade Leroux. It took a moment to click in Onyx’s head. He did recall Father mentioning something about this being why she had left. What was this about?

“Nyxie...” His sister continued, “This guy’s responsible for everything. Everything we care about anyway: What happened to you, what’s been going on with your trip to Menagerie, and Mom... That ‘bodyguard’ of yours has been his mole for years. She was supposed to get close to you... That’s why Mom and Dad wanted you meeting people so badly. They knew but they didn’t want to tip him off either. He was making them too much money to risk that just yet- and that’s why she killed her.”

Onyx felt like he would have been speechless even if he hadn’t lost his voice. He wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t gotten reason to suspect it from what Leroux and his father had said to him. Looking back, Ivory was the only one who could have made a vehicle explode the way it had. This made too much sense, including Ivory’s awkward attempts to comfort him so soon after his mother had died. She hadn’t left his side after she found out he was in the same car. It was strange at the time, but that really was when she started sticking to him as much as she did ever since.

Was all that trust he placed in the one person he could really call a friend all just an elaborate lie!? He didn’t want to believe this was the whole story, but that didn’t matter right now did it? He tried to speak only making a few choking noises still.

“I’m sorry, Nyxie... I am. But I couldn’t let them keep trying to use you like that. Dad can handle himself. He knows what happened, but I don’t think he’s willing to move against him. We can’t just keep letting them do as they please.

“At least not to the Cheshires. I say it’s time we remind them who they’re trying to manipulate and burn them for even trying. It’s time for revenge. Mom wanted Leroux dead and I’m going to show his little tools what happens when they think they can attack us like that. I have some friends who are going to be causing a lot of problems soon. We just need you out of the lower levels for this.” She gives her brother a pleading look as she walks over to a mannequin wearing some kind of tubed vest. “I want you here with me when we do this. We’ll get this done, no matter what we have to do or who gets in the way.”

How long was Lilac holding this grudge? It seems like she’s been harboring this for years and planning the entire time. Why not tell him sooner!? Was she waiting to get him away from Father? He watches a map on another screen. There were several blips showing something sending a signal from various public buildings, including the hospital he was just at. A lot of these were lower-income neighborhoods- the residential ones. He points at it carefully.

“That’s how we’re going to do it.” She says, turning toward the screen, “I found out Leroux’s operations are somewhere in that district. Just killing him won’t send enough of a signal of who he thinks he’s messing with.” There was a venom in her voice that Onyx had never heard before. It was pure bloodlust. “So I’m blowing the entire district. If he wants to pretend he’s as dangerous as he says, let’s see him deal with this. I’ve already got armed people going after his favorite little spots, too... and whatever else they want. It was part of the idea.”

She turns back to smiling when she locks eyes with Onyx, but something about her seemed a little unhinged. Had his sister always been this way and he just not noticed? He very seldom saw her. “I need to introduce you to my contact sometime, Onyx. I think you’ll like her.”

The entire district!? As much as Onyx wanted to play off a lack of concern over civilian casualties, he had to admit this had him horrified. Seeing a plan that would result in hundreds burning to death purely to make a point was... disturbing. Perhaps his time in Menagerie had softened him, perhaps he never was as callous as he thought he was when he came face to face with the consequences of Lilac’s plan... 

Maybe he was just a coward. 

Either way, he couldn’t hide his revulsion and horror. He unravels the gauntlet back over his hand on reflex and took a step back as if a large Grimm had just materialized in the room.

This is what Father was saying when he mentioned you ruining everything, didn’t he?

“Onyx...?” Lilac tilts her head. Maybe this was a bit too much all at once. It was a lot she was asking. “You don’t have to do anything.” She says, taking careful steps forward, “Just stay here. I’ll do the rest. We’ll get rid of them and then we can make Dad listen.”

Stay here. Yet another who wanted him to just lay about and do what he was told... He wouldn’t have expected it from his sister as well as his father.

Well thank you for the weapon, Lilac, but I will be taking my leave now.

His sister’s eyes narrowed, half in anger and half in disappointment. “I get it...” She walks over to the tubed vest and puts it on. He watches for a moment as she starts to fasten something to her arms-

Needles? She was sticking them into her... Another look revealed some kind of dust cocktail on the back in numerous small doses. She throws her thick rubber coat on over this and turns to face him.

“One more time, Onyx. Stay here. You don’t have to think this is right or even a good idea, but don’t go back out there until I’m done! I will force you to if you don’t-”

He had already made up his mind. Lilac had clearly gone far past any point of reason if she was so willing to annihilate an entire city block to kill one man, let alone whatever that vest was for. He unleashes a flurry of wires, forming a barrier between the two of them. 

Then Lilac started to spark as the machinery she attached to herself whirred to life.

The visible parts of her skin began to glow with a bright violet light and arced lighting her hair and eyes started to glow along with it. She buckled under the pain while waiting for the painkillers to start coursing through her system and dull the feedback from the dust.

“I guess we’ll be testing both our new weapons, huh?” Her voice had a sickly static to it, like it was masked behind a radio- likely a side effect of the lightning dust. So this was only one chamber, huh? What would happen if she used others? Or combined them? Well, best not overload herself now. She didn’t want to kill her brother anyway.

She outstretches her hand and starts building up aura augmented with the dust. With a quick flash, a wave of electricity danced through the metal wires.

Onyx had to take a quick leap back to avoid the arcing lightning. It wasn’t going to kill him, he wagered, but it would heavily incapacitate him again. No, he couldn’t stand here and fight. He needed to get out of here. Mustering as much strength as he could, he snapped free the maze of wire and forced himself to flash out of sight. He hadn’t used his semblance in weeks. It was going to take a lot more concentration than normal and he didn’t assume his sister didn’t have a security system in play, too.

For whatever reason, Lilac wasn’t following, but he heard her over an intercom that played over speakers she had installed in various points in the home. 

“There’s still time, Onyx! I’m doing this for us! For our family! If this is because of that militia then remember it was Jade’s idea to send you there in the first place! Are you going to tell me you’re letting him get to you!?”

No, this wasn’t about Leroux. This wasn’t about them either. This was about himself- and a pledge to never let anyone else make his decisions for him no matter who they were. The door to the final exit in the hallway slammed shut. He had to push himself into a right door that opened into a parlour. This was clearly a middle room since there were no windows. He’d have to keep going.

That’s when he heard all the beeping. Several ball-liked drones wheeled out of hiding places and started to chase him. A few had small arms mounted into them and began shooting. It wasn’t much trouble dodging to deflecting the shots. These little things didn’t seem to be all that accurate and had difficulty making sharp turns. They were not meant to fight against a trained huntsmen. One spray of wires tripped up their pathfinding and send them crashing into each other, beeping sadly.

He ducked out of another door and down another hallway. Windows! Then came the loud slamming noise as the metal security shutters started falling. He’d have to move fast and race them to get out one of them. He was only just getting there before a large mass of stone slammed into his path.

The colors in Lilac’s dust-infused form had shifted again- yellow this time. Her hair’s color mostly stayed the same but the glow that came off of it and affected her aura clued him as to what she was using. “You’re only going to get yourself hurt again!” His sister shouted, “Don’t you see that!? I’m protecting you!”

No, no you’re not. You’re trying to just keep me out of your mad crossfire.

That shot had slammed into a wall and nearly broke it. An idea formed in his head as he decided to pull something risky, he moved in an obviously telegraphed manner that he was going to head in the other direction. This wouldn’t fool most people but Lilac never had any formal fighting training. She wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. All she knew how to do was throw raw force at the problem until it stopped moving. As expected, another large earthen shot flew in front of him. Speeding up, he intentionally let it slam into him and the wall behind him.

Right at the window shutter. The thin metal creeked and groaned under the impact and Onyx felt that now too familiar feeling of his aura breaking. It was enough to shatter the glass behind him.

He rolled behind him and tumbled out the busted window into the grounds below. He ached yet again but at least this time he wasn’t being electrocuted or having the life choked from him. He throws out a wire at a street lamp and swings off down the street, lashing to new points as he keeps going. There was no way she was going to be able to follow that quickly.

He only hoped he could find a way to stop this...

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Payment

Mistral General Hospital

“So how did they find him?”

“Apparently he was one of the faunus fighting at Haven. I still don’t know what happened there but apparently Menagerie set up a militia to attack the White Fang, I guess they weren’t as popular with the faunus as we thought.”

“I still think it’s a ploy, but we’ll see what the police find. Anyway, what about the new patient?”

“Right, police found identification at the scene. Jett Huldre, faunus, age eighteen, Mistrali native. They found him injured an unarmed. Heavy throat trauma and vocal chord damage. He’ll take a long time to heal, a few months at least before he gets his voice back. We have him on painkillers and oxygen support until further notice. He hasn’t woken up yet.”

“Does he have any family?”

“None we can find. Even with all those scars police say they don’t have anyone on record that matches his description either in citizen registry or at the academy. He should be grateful the Cheshires showed up like they did for Beacon. They’re paying for the whole thing- make sure every injured we find gets medical treatment. We’re getting paid extra too. Gods know that’s probably the only reason the hospital is suffering so many faunus in here.”

“Wait, who-? Oh! Miss Cheshire!”

“Don’t mind me, doctor. I’m here to oversee the patient recovery. We are paying for this so my job is to make sure you’re doing it right. I want to see some of the patients, so if you don’t mind?”

“Oh, of course. Right this way. I don’t think you’d want to bother with that one but-”

“No. That one’s fine. Go back to your job. There’s a lot more coming in.”

Finally alone, Lilac walks into Onyx’s room. He had it to himself thankfully. It was a bit of a dingy one. Of course the faunus were getting the less-maintained rooms. Well, it was better than nothing. Still, seeing her brother in this condition, let alone in a place like this made her consider exactly how much detonation to put under this place later. Her taking over of reconstruction efforts in Mistral while Dad was still busy with Beacon and the press gave her ample opportunity to set up the next phase of her plan.

For now, though, she sits down.

“Hey there, little bro.” She knew he was still out cold, but she did talk to Mom’s grave like this, too. “I don’t know whether I should be proud of you or call you an idiot. I guess it doesn’t matter now. I know where you are and that’s what matters. I need to keep watch you know. This next one’s going to be a doozy and I’d rather you be outside of the splash zone for this one.”

She pulls out a scroll and pushes a few buttons. A small rolling drone wheeled under the bed, hidden in the back. “I’ll have eyes on you, don’t worry. We’ll get you a new weapon too, better than the last one. Come find me when you wake up. When this is all over, I’ll make sure you’re safe. Mom would have wanted it that way.”

She leaned in and kissed Onyx on the forehead, gently patting his head and making sure not to touch his damaged ear.

“Uh... Miss Cheshire?”

Lilac turns around to a nurse that had entered the room just now. She gets up and brushes off her coat. It seems the nurse had seen or heard nothing by the blank expression on her face.

“Most people wouldn’t even be taking care of injured faunus like this.” She says, masking her voice with a false gentleness, “You do good work here. Let me see a few others, then I have to speak with traffic control.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Gala Plans

“You requested to see me, Father?”

“I did. Clear your schedule. We are to be attending Ciar Industries’ gala in the coming weeks. It will be attended by their head of engineering as well as the company head’s daughter. I expect you to be on your best behavior when I introduce you.”

Andrasta Ciar was nearly ten years his senior. He must know this. Hopefully this was for business and nothing else. “Let me see that.” He snatches up the RSVP letter. A copy was already mailed out. “Wait... Six? Who else is coming?”

“You, myself, Lilac, Lt. Amun, Ivory and . I will want my head of finance with me if we are to speak of any real business deals.”

So Father thought he could talk them into something interesting did he? That would be the only reason for bringing Redmond Reynard with them. As the company’s accountant and head ‘fixer’ he was responsible for all the dealings that weren’t in the books. He must have done something nice if he was allowed to come to the event- let alone with his daughter for once. Ivory never did get to spend any real time with her parents. Lilac was no surprise. Ciar Industries had been a thorn in her side for a while. Her fiance was likely just there for the ride- the only truly innocent party among them. “So I am to play my part and keep miss Ciar occupied while you speak with Dr. Xanthos, is that right?”

“Precisely. No company is genuinely that incompetent and yet continues to have events such as these. No, they have other plans and if I cannot just find out what they are, I would like to see if there’s any money to be made with it. We do need a backup in case my other Mistral contacts fail us, after all.” He had been losing his patience with Leroux lately anyway.

[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: Silly Meta Stuff 2

“I’m happy to announce I’ve brought something to share with the family.”

“Nyxie, you’ve outdone yourself... This is... dumb. Really dumb.”

“Please explain to me why we’re opening ourselves up to this criticism?”

“Oh, it’s just a harmless game. Also the forces that be thought it would be funny.”

“I maintain this is a waste of time but so be it. Hmm... Nothing for this semblance nonsense.”

“Yeah, I can examine the mechanics of stuff I touch. I became an engineer for a reason. Nyxie’s got his invisbility and you’ve got that whole ‘unstoppable momentum force’ thingy. You know, Dad, have you ever considered that not being able to have your movement stopped could cause some serious damage if you-”

“Would I be alive right now if I didn’t know how to control my movements? This is ridiculous. Get the next one over with. Tragic backstory? Hmmph, as if anyone’s life is banal enough to have no sadness to it.”

“It refers to overly upsetting histories, Father, and seeing as we’re your children...”

“We all know what happened to Mom, Onyx. Don’t worry, we’ll get blood for that. That being said... we half qualify for ‘dead parents’. So, dr-”

“No drinking! You’re all in my office for one... Now, stop staring at me.”

“But the next one says ‘stoic and emotionless’, Dad. Isn’t that you half the time?”

“Being too emotional would not do well for me. Next is invalid. None of us have a disability or are haunted. Anything that would involve most of us would begin at our offices or wherever Onyx has rushed off to. What’s so important about that event that an airship would be there? Who are those people?”

“Beacon students; no one important. We can skip all of those remarks. I’m the only faunus here and none of this applies to me either. Besides, I’ve already done this.”

“Nyxie was at Beacon for the Vytal Festival but I wouldn’t put it past Jacques to call in a favor while we were there. He didn’t though. That fanfic thing doesn’t work with us either. What about weapons...”

“I doubt anything like what any of us use has been anywhere.”

“I don’t know, Dad, your sword is the size of a person. Then again, you do have a habit of planting it in the ground and beating people against it so maybe that excuses it. Okay... angsty!”

“What even does that mean? Again, we can skip the questions about Rose’s team. I keep my distance from anyone involving Weiss Schnee.”

“What the devil does ‘overpowered’ mean?”

“I mean... maybe? We’ll figure that out later. At least Dad. Me, I have no idea... Can I say no? I’m saying no. How many did we get? A bunch of maybes I think... A lot of this was specific.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Drinking Game

Slightly meta discussion over this found on @teamlarl blog.

And in other news...

“So... what is this?”

“Criticism of basic cliches found in a lot of people like us. I wanted to see how we measured up.”

“Starting off is something about the semblance. None of us apply here. Invisibility, a force field, conjuring targets, and... well I suppose that flashbang might count as ‘light maniuplation’.”

“No way. I can’t make light sources, I can’t shoot lasers, I can’t do ANYTHING but make a little light ball go ‘flash’ and ‘bang’. That’s it. Nice try, Onyx.”

“We’ll make up for it here. Tragic backstory... Alright people, grab a drink and sound off. Raised to be a bodyguard and assassin from ten years old...”

“My brother tried to kill me and I’m trying to find out why.”

“Have you met my family?”

“I grew up in a woodcutting village. It was boring. I don’t think that counts.”

“You are way too angry at the White Fang and faunus in general for that to be true... Wasn’t there something about a mining riot ruining a good chunk of that village?”

“I haven’t told anyone about that yet...”

“I found it in that secret folder the writer keeps all our information not displayed in the profiles. Now drink mister!”

“You don’t know the first thing about-!”

“Does the name ‘Lily’ ring any bells?”

“You have no right to say that na-!”

“DRINK!”

“.....How about we move on to the next one. Both parents dead? Well the fact that my father is still alive is the cause of a large majority of my current problems so... no.”

“My folks are still around.”

“Mine, too.”

“Ditto. Okay, next is... stoic and emotionless...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“You know you don’t all have to stare at me... My drink is right here. And what about you, Reynard? You do that... weird blank thing when you fight.”

“That doesn’t count! I’m not emotionless I’m focusing!”

“Bzzzzzt! I’m calling foul. You do a creepy chant and everything.”

“You....... wear glasses?”

“Let’s just say that finding out your semblance is literally a bright flash of light isn’t easy on the eyes... Took me a while to learn to close my eyes at the right time and... Yeah... I wear contacts most of the time.”

“You heard them, Reynard. Drink. Moving past the stupid ones: none of us have a disability or Grimm blood in them? Do Grimm even have blood..? Anyway, skipping these?”

“Agreed. Alright, none of us have been in a fanfic so half of these don’t apply...”

“Okay. Faunus funtime. Onyx!”

“I am neither wolf nor dragon but look at this one... Bad news- we fit. Allow me to fill in the blanks. Ahem... ‘A cat faunus, a redhead assassin, a mercenary with a secret, and a trigger-happy girl are put on a team together. Will they survive?”

“No fair! You can fit anything in those last two parts! I mean ‘adverb noun’? Really!? That’s not a cliche that’s a template!”

“Yes, but we haven’t had a drink in a while... And you haven’t had one since ‘tragic backstory’ and I feel like being petty.”

“What’s next? Weapon blatantly ripped off of Final Fantasy? I don’t think we qualify there... We’re our own team so there’s no fifth member ever... I don’t think anyone’s mean to us for the sake of it.”

“Credit where credit is due, Hamelin, it’s usually the other way around with us.”

“Hey, guys. I found angst.��

“Is there a measure?”

“Nope. Just says ‘angsty’. Drink up, people.”

“So have we ever treated Team RWBY with any sort of brain-numbing patronizing?”

“Not really in the way this describes. Alright we covered semblance already... None of us are secretly Grimm... Okay... overpowered or underpowered?”

“We’re all basically at the same level as any second-year team would be, right? I mean except for Reynard. Another drink you for and your obnoxious weapon.”

“Hey! My weapon isn’t that bad.”

“You’re supposed to be somewhere on the lower level of the show’s antagonists for some reason. Yeah, I peeked too: so sue me. But, you’ve actually lost more fights than you won so...”

“Yeah, but we still can’t beat her.”

“Hey, I’m tied to this blog’s antagonists, what do you want from me!?”

“I’m sorry, repeat that one for me?”

“Nothing! Anyway, I think we’re done here. So what now?”

“I thought that was obvious!”

“We shove this under Team VNLA’s door and have them do it! Maybe they’ll drink less than we did.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Job Opportunities

“You know, Hamelin, one day I’m going to be leading my father’s company. I’ll need my own supporters and bodyguards. If you’re looking for better-paying work than a mercenary perhaps I could make you an offer.”

“Let’s see here... Get paid more money than I have ever seen in my life before to stand around and look imposing all day and occasionally tackle morons? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal outside of one problem.”

“I assure you I can make anything happen. Please, name off your little problem and I’ll make it go away.”

“Well outside the obvious problem of working for you? How about the fact that you’re exactly the kind of selfish conniving bastard that people want dead? Who gets shot first in that equation? I don’t know about you but I like the idea of being able to live to spend my money.”

“If you say so, but you’re missing quite an opportunity here. Ask Ivory what life in the Atlas high life is like sometime. I will reward loyalty very greatly. We’re not so different you and I. Neither of us particularly care what lesser people think of us. The huntsmen, the military, the common rabble, you’ll be above it all with the rest of us lofty few.”

“I think you’re missing the point. There’s one very big difference between us, Cheshire. I may not give a damn what anyone says or thinks of me but I’m not going out of my way to hurt people to suit my own ends. Sure, I’m not going out and trying to play hero for free like all those suicidal wannabe saviors out there either, but I’m living my life on my terms. Not yours. Not anyone else’s. You define your success entirely on what you make other people do no matter who you have to crush under your fancy little boot to do it. I’m not being paid to do your dirty work like some good little dog.”

Lapis turns and leaves the small dorm room, almost slamming the door behind him. He was glad he stayed as calm as he did. He was tired of this conversation coming up again and again.

I know your reputation, Cheshire. You’ve got more enemies than you want and you’re stupid if you think you’re hiding it. That was your sister’s symbol on those weapons. One day someone’s going to kill you. I don’t plan on doing assassinations when I hit the merc world- but I’ll make an exception for you.