(A/N)
Sorry for the super late upload! I kinda felt a little bit icky today and ended up trying to sleep off the feeling, but I still got up and finished the chapter as soon as possible. I'm all good, but unfortunately I didn't get this chapter up in a timely manner and I apologize for that. I'm still gonna continue with the schedule that I previously talked about so the next chapter should be up on Tuesday and then Thursday and so on and so forth.
Though I'm not streaming tonight specifically I am still doing it, so if you ever want to pop in then feel free! I'm thinking about starting those writing streams I talked about soon enough and I'd really enjoy if any of you would be apart of that. Although I don't have a specific schedule figured out for it just yet I do want to start doing it so I can easily hold myself accountable for writing time and give you the opportunity to learn about my writing process!
As always if your interested in something like that please let me know, and if not then feel free to enjoy everything I have written thus far!
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A severe lack of energy was more than present within the sand walled room. The small building was located in the northernmost section of the territory governed by the united efforts of the former three Faunus exclusive tribes made one.
It was one of the very few solid staple structures within the entirety of the country, outside of Vacuo City. The sandstone structure stood strong as a signifier of the power and prosperity of those that created it, but now it was inhabited by those that would seek to destroy such creations.
Amongst the emotionless party that filled the silent room, only a single one of them felt the need to speak up. "So," she began loudly, breaking the tension of the quiet room with a single word, "what are we even waiting for? I'm getting bored of just sitting around all damn day for a reason that I have no understanding of at all. This is such a waste of time."
The woman's question and complaints were met by a lazy gaze by one, but an irate scowl by another as he responded, "you've been complaining about the same thing for the past week. It's clear that its not gonna get you any where so why don't you just shut up" he commented with an even voice.
She only rolled her eyes at his response, clapping back with, "I'm just saying though, what are we even doing here? This waiting game bullshit isn't even going anywhere. What's the point?"
The melancholy faced man let out a small sigh before replying, "you see, if you would ever pay attention then you'd already know the answers to your own questions."
"But I don't wanna, I just do what I'm told."
The man's anger spiked in mere moments as he suddenly uncrossed his arms and shouted, "then why are you complaining now!?!?"
"Cause..." she began as she stood from her position sitting on the cool tiled floor, "I'm bored." The moment her words reached his ears the man prepared to shoot back once more, shouting and berating her for the stupidity of her comments, but after his mouth opened to let loose his enraged words his mind stopped them from escaping.
Instead of responding to her comment with anger, he quickly figured that this would result in nothing changing. After all, nothing good ever came from this scenario before.
Once he reclosed his jaw, he leaned himself back up against the wall he was previously propped against and re-crossed his arms to stand comfortably in his former position. Letting out a small breath from his lips he then responded, "Em, if you're bored go do something."
Emerald looked at the gray haired man with an odd expression for a moment, tilting her head questioningly as she considered his recommendation. Within her own mind she suddenly decided that his suggestion was in fact a good one, but before she acted on it, she looked towards the woman in the scarlet dress.
The woman with the long black hair met Emerald's expression with a small nod, prompting the girl to release a small smile. "Alright Merc," she said as she began walking towards the room's exit, "you win this time. I'll see you again soon!"
With that being said, Emerald slipped passed the Faunus woman standing by the door and walked towards the exit of the largest building in the DFA.
After she disappeared from the room's inhabitants list, the room fell silent once more, however this quiet environment didn't last nearly as long as it did before. "I believe it was a mistake allowing Emerald free reign to explore this area" the Faunus woman spoke in a low tone, barely loud enough for those in the room to hear.
Her comment went completely ignored by Mercury who continued to stand by the side of the red dressed woman without care, but said woman looked up from the chair she was sitting at for the first time in a while.
As she did so, the woman's eyes sharpened and a cold expression like that of a hardened killer made its way across her face. "I don't remember asking for your permission Dahlia" she spat out venomously.
Without looking up from her weapon of choice, a massive blade that looked to be a mix between a cleaver and machete but with the size of a great sword, she responded, "that is because you didn't ask. I simply provided it given the circumstance that you've put us in, Cinder."
Cinder's lips curled inwards and her eyebrows squinted as her attention was pulled completely from the Scroll she was reading from by the Faunus woman's comment. "That I put us in?" she scoffed, repeating Dahlia's comment. "And what exactly is this circumstance that I've put us in? Please, tell me" she ended sarcastically.
"I'm referring to you provoking the Tribes in the area, taunting Adam and the White Fang, and creating this fake allying mess with the rest of these Clans. All you've done is wasted all of our times, and if anything put the entire operation at risk by putting us in such close proximity to Shade when your not supposed to make a move on it yet."
"You should be focusing on Vale and Beacon, but instead your making me waste my time here in Vacuo because your feeling petty about Adam rejecting your subjugation," as Dahlia watched Cinder's face scrunch up even further she corrected herself with, "whoops, I meant to say 'alliance'."
Before Cinder erupted, she managed to force the softening of her expression and appeared as though she was fully unbothered by the Faunus comments.
The woman then sarcastically spoke in a sly voice, saying, "oh really? Then, since your so knowledgeable, you should know why I intended to recruit Adam in the first place, and of course why we're still in Vacuo getting him to agree to my terms? I'll even give you a hint, it's not because I'm feeling petty."
Dahlia didn't react at all to Cinder's sarcastic comments, instead responding as if she was being fully sincere. "I believe you want to recruit Adam and the White Fang not only for their man power, but also as a method to easily shift the blame of any disastrous occurrences from yourself and your party to the Faunus."
"Thus creating more negativity, attracting more Grimm, and making it easier for you to do whatever you desire to do within Vale. So, you want to pester Adam until he caves and provides you with support."
Cinder's lips parted in an early sickly smile as she was about to congratulate the woman for having a partially correct answer, but before she managed to get any words out Dahlia continued. "-But the truth of the matter is that none of this would be necessary if you hadn't failed in acquiring the full power of the Fall Maiden."
This immediately soured Cinder's expression, yet she remained silent until Dahlia continued with, "Salem would be quite disappointed if she heard about your failure."
"Don't you ever speak her name again!" She screamed as she shot up from her seat, slamming her hands on the desk in front of her, and shattering the wooden furniture in the process. "You are second rate garbage that has no business so much as thinking her name! To think that you low lives of all people would currier her favor disgusts me."
"You are nothing in the eyes of Salem, and somehow you still think that your voice has meaning. You're lucky to even have a position on this mission! You and your sister! So, I'd recommend that you sit down and shut up before I make your death seem like an accident!"
The Faunus woman's face did not change expression in the slightest bit, only silently listening as Cinder erupted at her bringing up their employer.
But once she finished screaming across the room at the Faunus woman, Dahlia simply moved her sword from her lap to its sheath on her back. "I'd rather not," she began, opening up the room's exit door as she did so, "but still I hope you soon begin to see the error of your decision making."
With that the Faunus woman exited the premises leaving Mercury and Cinder in a room by themselves, the gray hair man still standing unbothered by the statements made by both parties.
He watched as the woman with deep black hair take a deep breath and sit back down, waving her hand and watching as the debris from the now shattered desk rapidly heat up and turn to ash swept away by the light breeze.
Looking down at her expression, he noticed that he was looking at the same Cinder he had known. Straight emotionless face, a pompous air of nobility, and eyes that burned bright with the desire for more.
Peering at her now it seemed as if her sudden outburst hadn't even occurred, but even still the tenseness of the air was far sharper than it was before.
Her and Mercury sat/stood in the dimly lit sandstone room in silence for a while longer, Mercury watching over Cinder while she worked and Cinder staring intently at her Scroll as messages continued pouring in from an unknown source.
With each piece of information gained a new section of her plan was solidified or another portion was reworked, each and every one of these changes happening fully within her amazingly intelligent mind.
Nobody knows her full plan, not even Cinder, this way whenever she makes a move she'll be able to appear like a shadow without anyone noticing her presence, although as of late she's found herself making much more noise than usual.
Somehow, each and every one of her previously solidified plans have been getting uprooted by random forces, causing her to drastically change her plans just to keep things in order.
Starting with the hostile take over of the Xiong Family which ruined her chance at a valuable informant in the City of Vale, but much worse than this was the death of Roman Torchwick.
Roman was her 'in' for at least eighty-percent of the things she needed to accomplish in Vale, and more important than this he was someone she knew well enough to know how to control easily.
His motivations, goals, purpose, likes and dislikes, skills and abilities, and everything else about him was diligently documented by the woman herself.
Roman's death was a massive setback that forced her to rework her entire ideology of her take over, purposing two major diverging paths that she could choose from. Option one is simply in ideology, but in implication was much more... complicated.
This path was to rework her entire plan from the ground up, find a new way to infiltrate, a knew way to destroy, and a new way to conquer.
Though the idea itself is simple, in execution its by far the most difficult thing for her to attempt to accomplish.
It may provide her with a bit more security in the form of reaffirming newer pieces to order around and accomplishing her goal, but it also came with an undesired affect that she wished to avoid at all costs, time.
More specifically, time wasted.
Salem was immortal and she had a neigh infinite amount of time to finish her objective, so she wouldn't be pissed about Cinder taking more time acquiring the power of the Fall maiden, but Cinder on the other hand didn't have nearly as much time to waste.
Especially considering the fact that she only had half of the maiden's power, she didn't have the privilege of waiting around for another perfect plan to come around.
The Fall maiden's power could suddenly disappear, die out entirely in both hosts and move to another, or any number of unknown unpredictable factors that she needed to avoid at all costs.
Option number two on the other hand was a lot riskier in a different way, and it irked her even further to think that she would need to rely on pieces that she couldn't move to her liking, but even still in the objective of acquiring further power, and mitigating the Maiden risk associated with it, this was the path that she chose.
"Weak." Her thought was immediately followed by her gripping her hand tighter around her Scroll, feeling how little force it would take to easily shatter the object.
These thoughts continued until a knock was heard coming from the door separating this room from the rest of the building, effectively breaking Cinder from her thoughts and grabbing Mercury's attention.
Cinder's scowl slowly shifted into a faux smile as she cleared her throat and elevated her pitch to kindly state, "come in!"
The shift was as convincing as it was unnatural and was done in such a robotic manner that even her subordinate couldn't help but pay attention to it. The façade that the woman put on glew dully as the Faunus man that knocked on the door slowly opened it to reveal himself.
Cinder's eyes fell upon the low life with minimal interest, taking a moment to recognize who exactly this piece was and where it fell in the grand scheme of things.
As her amber eyes scanned the thing's face she quickly recognized the Faunus as one of the Chief's that worked under the bird, and since it was something of decent importance she kept the façade's radiance glowing for the time being.
"So, what brings you here Timothy?" she asked the man in a sweet tone.
The Tribal Leader was unaffected by her sickly sweet tone of voice, keeping his face deadly straight throughout all of his encounters with the woman. "Mrs. Cinder" he said respectfully, "those from the Chieftain from the Desert Walkers, Jayson Rhyno, and his entourage are here to see you. They're on their way in now." With that being said, Timothy slid out of the door, leaving as if he was never there in the first place.
At the same time Cinder's façade left instantly, scrunching up into an irritated expression, "not even so much as asking my permission first" she thought, softening her expression back to its usual cold expression. Only moments later a large man bursted through the door without warning, taking a few long strides into the room to establish his presence.
"I'm sick of waiting!" He shouted as he entered the room, his entourage of five smaller sized Faunus funneling into the room behind him. "I didn't choose to lend my assistance to your ridiculous team just to sit around in foreign Tribe for days on end! If you needed powerful allies then I believe I've more than provided that service. You don't need Adam or the White Fang! I'm more than enough to accommodate that strength!"
The instant the other Faunus stepped foot into the room Cinder's softened expression dropped, no longer caring to keep up images. When the burly Faunus was finished shouting borderline incoherent nonsense, the half-Maiden venomously spat out, "what have I told you about bringing your goons into my presence."
Her cold stare struck a deep cord within each of the men her gaze met, forcing a sickly shiver to crawl down each of their spines as they slowly began subconsciously inching towards the room's exit.
Though his bravado, nor his confident smirk, left his face, Jayson the Courageous gave the men the nod to exit the room, watching as each of them scurried out as fast as they could to escape the deadly queen's presence.
Once they were gone, Cinder continued with a cool expression, "have you not heard that patience is a virtue?"
Jayson only scoffed, "My Tribe doesn't believe in that nonsense. In all aspects of life one must grab the bull by the horns, and as such I can't be sitting around biding my time while you orchestrate some grand idea."
Mercury looked slightly surprised at the muscle heads statement, bringing a grin to the Rhino Faunus's face. "Oh yeah that's right, I'm no dummy! Of course, I understand that there is a method behind the madness, a reason for the wait."
As he finished the initial statement, he stared dead into the burning eyes of the human woman and icily spoke, "however, the fact that you need to plan your steps and coordinate your actions proves that you are simply too weak to impose your will onto another." In an instant the room suddenly became super-heated, growing to a temperature unbearable to the average person, even those that are used to the dry heat of Vacuo's desert.
Faster than Jayson could react a small ring of flame suddenly appeared beneath his feet, the ring glew brightly like a hot iron before exploding violently, sending the confident man soaring out of the room.
As his feet were taken from beneath him, Jayson caught flame, flying into the wall on the far side of the room and crashing straight through the solid structure like an arrow through paper.
Luckily for the large Faunus man Cinder managed to hold back the strength of the attack, so the moment he crashed through the wall he slowly skid to a stop, laying helplessly as the rest of the structure crumbled down on top of him.
Only Mercury was able to watch as the glow emanating from Cinder's right eye started to dissipate , and at the same moment a smirk made its way across the woman's face as the Faunus only then began rising from his stupor. "Oh, what was that again? I don't believe I heard you properly?"
Jayson slowly clambered his way out of the pit of sandstone and ashes that the woman put him in, barely being able to get his five senses realigned after being rocked by a force that he never experienced before. "Y-you," he began, trying his hardest to stand back to his feet.
However, once he put all of his weight back on both feet, he suddenly collapsed back onto one knee, heaving in the foul scent of burnt flesh and leather as he tried to catch his breath. "Fuck" he whispered under his breath, not loud enough for anyone but himself to hear.
"Hm, that's what I thought" Cinder said with a haughty smile. "You will do as you are told. If I say wait then you will wait, if I say fight you will fight, and if I tell you to die guess what you will do?"
She paused for a moment as if she was waiting for a response from the damaged Faunus, but after she didn't receive one, she gave the man a small fake frown. "Die. The answer is you will die. So, after you get up and clean yourself you are going to-"
Cinder was suddenly interrupted in the middle of her sentence as the door which used to be the only exit in the room was opened without warning.
The already peeved woman was more than prepared to shoot off a few more shots to make her point, but before she did so the voice of an elder man spoke up, immediately being followed by a familiar evil cackle. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything Cinder" the Elder said in a calm, unbothered tone.
"Kekekeke, did you loose your cool or something Cindy? Is he dead? I bet he's dead! Hahaa!!!"
"Ugh, Tyrian." The woman's face cringed when she saw the pair that had entered the room, one being the cunning Faunus elder that was more than eager to provide any support needed to get a cut from the destruction of Vale, and the other a maniacal scorpion that would do anything for the chance to cause chaos in any advent of his choosing. "You're not interrupting anything" she said, keeping her expression straight, but not cold.
Tyrian's head tilted eerily to the side as his tail began unraveling from his waist and poised itself in the air. "What's up," he began in a low growling tone, "I can't get a hi or something?" As Tyrian's sinister grin disappeared and gave way to a deadly cold stare, Mercury noticed the shift in attitude and quickly uncrossed his arms, standing in a position that put his left foot in front of his body. "I thought we were partners Cindy?"
Before things escalated further, Cinder calmed the tension by ignoring the killer scorpion's antagonizing comment and instead asking, "why are you holding a body sized bag Tyrian? Don't tell me this is what was so special you needed to attack the White Fang directly for?"
The scorpion's smile suddenly returned in all of its maniacal luster as he roughly dropped the large white sack onto the sand and opened it up to reveal an extremely sickly looking Faunus woman. "Tada!!! Look what I got!"
The woman's skin was a disturbing pale coloring with numerous patches of a purple bubbling substance slowly expanding across it. Her horns looked to be rapidly weakening as they lost their former luster and appeared to be incredibly frail to the touch, turning from powerful antlers to weak tree branches.
She didn't make any sudden movements at all, only sweating profusely while simultaneously shivering rapidly. Her eyes were closed shut, she was coddling herself in an eerie fetal position, and she seemed to be completely unaware of her surroundings entirely.
Instead of looking at Tyrian directly for answers, Cinder rolled her eyes harshly and placed a glare onto the man that was more than likely responsible. "What is this? Would you like to explain why you wasted a day and a half of my time waiting for you to kidnap a sick woman?"
Before Reese was able to respond the scorpion Faunus chimed in with, "she wasn't sick when we found her" he said with a straight expression. "I gave her the little stinger-stab-stabby-stab-stab."
Cinder feigned shock at the reveal, "oh, wow, that changes everything!" she yelled sarcastically. "Then would you please tell me why you wasted a day and a half of my time waiting for you to kidnap a now dying woman?"
The Elder didn't react at all to the sarcastic response of the human woman, "you see, this woman is a very important individual to Adam, and thus she is an incredibly important asset in trying to complete your objective. Not only this, but.." before he continued he peered over to the now standing Jayson who was fully aware and listening to their conversation, "I have reason to believe that the Tribe that she controls is... under siege of sorts, making her incredibly valuable to us."
Cinder's glare only worsened as she stated, "you think a dying hostage holds any value?" After the comment she only let out a long sigh before adding, "I must've given you more credit than you deserved. Your not nearly as intelligent as you make yourself seem." Reese remained entirely calm as he was berated by Cinder for his pore decision making, even giving credence to her claims by nodding along with her points.
However, once she finished her comments, he walked around to the other side of the dying Faunus woman and grabbed her face, so she faced himself. "I take it you understand how I'm trying to assist you, but you don't believe in its effectiveness. However, what you have yet to take into consideration is that Adam and his people have no true idea of the health status of Anaya."
Cinder raised an eyebrow at the topic, but she remained quiet so the elder could continue. "Although we both know that a hostage with a time limit isn't nearly as valuable as you may need it to be, to Adam and his party all they know is that we have a hostage. So, as long as we keep her alive long enough to secure you some kind of deal with Adam and the White Fang."
He paused for a moment, turning to face the woman that he had made a deal with, "though I don't know why you want the White Fang's help so much, I can't say it's my problem to deal with. I said that I would help you secure his assistance, and you said to do so by any means necessary, so now that I've done my end of the deal, I want to ensure that you honor yours."
While what he was saying wasn't entirely false, nor did it truly have any impact on the decisions she would make moving forward, Cinder still decided to humor his idea for the moment considering she didn't have the opportunity to put Option 2 into place quite yet.
"Okay," she spoke slyly, "I'll... consider your idea. And do not worry, as long as it is successful you will have anything your little birdy heart desires."
Jayson grunted loudly at the comment, now standing tall against the wall furthest from the rest of the group. "Anything he desires, don't make me laugh. You don't have the ability to grant wishes, no one does" as he finished his initial comment, Jayson turned to face the Elder and exclaimed, "don't tell me you chose to ally yourself with this human for such a bullshit reason?"
Reese only scoffed at the question, "please, it is a form of expression, hyperbole you imbecile. How about yourself though? Did you choose to abandon your entire Tribe for something as foolish and impossible as the chance to destroy a Kingdom?"
"Only the weak call ambition foolish" he snorted back. "By my own strength I will see to it that my goals are accomplished and my ambitions are satisfied, but you would rely on the strength of others to do your bidding. Embarrassment" he commented with a final grunt.
Before Reese could reply Cinder coldly stated, "the only way either of you are getting anything but vaporized is if you prove useful." As she spoke, Cinder gradually bent down to inspect the venom injected woman that Tyrian had kidnapped, taking her still beautiful face in her left hand in a surprisingly gentle motion. "With that in mind, how long does this woman have to live?"
Reese shrugged his shoulder and turned to Tyrian for an answer, but the murderous man only laughed maniacally before saying, "I have no idea!!! Some people die super-fast! Some people die super slow! So far I think it's going slow, but if you wanna check you gotta see how hot she is! Right before they die the body is like a cooking furnace, the skin burning to the touch! If she's anywhere close to that, then she'll probably die like.... now-ish."
Cinder exhaled a quick breath before rolling her eyes and lifting her right hand to place it gently over the Faunus woman's antlered forehead.
The closer and closer her open palm got to the woman, an odd sensation of rabid excitement and mind-numbing hunger began erupting in her right-arm, a feeling that she learned to associate with the portion of Salem living inside her hand.
The moment she felt the desire to consume her eyes shifted to focus on the woman in front of her, taking in features with a renewed set of interests.
After all, she had only felt this powerful desire for consumption once before, and during that time she let the opportunity to acquire a full maiden's power slip from her grip.
"Is this... possible?" She thought the question, finding herself pausing her actions entirely as the thought of an amazing possibility came to her mind. The opportunity to make right what she had done wrong, to fix a mistake made in the past.
The chance to go above and beyond what was asked of her. The possibility of gaining power unfathomable, a strength that no one had ever seen in Remnant, becoming her own.
Cinder continued forward, pressing her palm to the woman's forehead with a wide grin, sudden excitement littering her face.
The moment her open palm of white skin touched the sickly caramel Faunus woman's she immediately felt it, warm.
Anaya was warm, not hot, not cold, but warm, as if her internal body temperature hadn't been effected at all by the venom that was coursing through her veins.
However, beyond even this, Cinder found the answer to all of her problems. "She's warm but otherwise not abnormally warm, " she began, keeping her face entirely masked to those around her, "so, it appears as if we have the time to continue on with your plan Reese." As she finished the statement, Cinder stood up from inspecting the woman named Anaya and discreetly tied the bag she was in closed.
Once that was finished she gave a quick glance over to Mercury, and once their eyes met he immediately moved to pick up the bagged woman and slug her over his shoulder, none of the other Faunus in the room objecting to the action.
From there Cinder turned to Reese once more and asked, "since this is your plan, you can take lead" she stated, keeping up the appearance of continuing with his idea. "If this woman is as important as you make her seem, I highly doubt Adam would allow you to capture her without some kind of resistance. So, what kind of threat will we need to handle if we wanted this idea of yours to move forward smoothly?"
Reese allowed a small smirk to escape his lips as he put his hand to his chin, beginning his explanation with, "well, this is just the topic I was about to mention. While taking this valuable asset from the White Fang we were spotted by an unsightly individual that I unfortunately had no previous knowledge of, so the entire operation went less than smoothly."
The Faunus Elder then paced a bit between Tyrian and the room's exit before continuing with, "essentially we were chased out of the camp, and I believe that we are still being chased now. We were able to put quite a bit of distance between ourselves and Adam's party by pushing the horses to the limits and giving them some performance enhancing substances on the way, but if they are still pursuing then they should arrive here shortly."
Cinder raised an eyebrow in mock curiosity as she asked, "then who exactly is a part of this party?"
Reese swiftly responded with, "I believe it is Adam and three of his cohorts, though I do not believe they are apart of the White Fang. I believe it would be best if we simply approach them before they arrive and show them the hostage to immediately make the deal, that way we may avoid any unnecessary confrontation and move forward without delay."
The fiery eyed woman let her mask slip for a moment, showing a deadly glare that could stop a breath in an instant, but as soon as it appeared it left, leaving those present to question whether or not it existed in the first place. "That's not going to happen," Cinder began, "I'm not risking her getting captured after she just got acquired."
As she looked around the room, her eyes suddenly laid upon Jayson and a small smirk came to her lips. "This is what is going to happen. You and Jayson will take your people and confront Adam's party, delay their advance as long as possible, and if possible," she paused for a moment, side eying the Elder as she did so, "kill them."
The Faunus Elder suddenly reeled back in surprise as he sputtered out, "But-"
"No buts!" Cinder shouted, no longer giving a care to hide her face, "do as I say and you'll get your reward." The ember dressed woman took a look around the room once more to see if there were any disagreements amongst the party, but once she saw none she continued. "Reese, you will also use whatever power you have to put a stop to Adam and his group, I don't care what method you use."
"May I at least make use of Tyrian once more? He is quite a powerful help and I'd rather not put my own people into a conflict they have no business being involved in" the Elder asked, looking towards the powerful woman for an answer.
"No" she replied harshly, not giving any room for argument. "Now hurry up and get on it. Jayson," she said in a stern but soft tone, "I trust that you will show me how strong you and your Tribesman truly are through this encounter. Do so and I guarantee your position as King in the future."
The massive man snorted at her comment, standing up tall and proud as he began walking towards the door that he entered through. "There isn't a person in Vacuo stronger than I am."
Once he launched the door open, the Faunus man swiftly turned the corner and loudly announced, "come on men! We've got a hunt to complete" his voice getting quieter and quieter with every passing second.
Once Jayson made his exit, both Mercury and Cinder looked at Reese expectantly, and without another word spoken between them Reese let out a heavy sigh and exited through the same door his contemporary had moments ago.
"Sooooooo," Tyrian said as he placed his arms innocently behind his back, "where are we goin? What's happenin? Kekeke, are we gonna blow some shit up?"
In response to the scorpion's burst of excitement Cinder gave the man the sweetest smile she could muster before saying, "of course Tyrian. But first I need you to tell that woman to delay picking us up once more."
"Yes!!" he shouted in excitement. "Can do Cindy!" Once he gave her the confirmation that he could complete the task assigned to him, they watched as he exited the building through the large hole in the wall where Jayson once crashed into.
As soon as Cinder and Mercury were alone once more, Cinder sat down in her chair and pulled her Scroll from her hip, rapidly tapping a bunch of keys as she prepared a message to one of her companions.
Once she was finished, Cinder suddenly moved her Scroll from her hand to a band across her thigh, effectively storing the device as she stood from the wooden chair. Once she finished rising from her throne, she turned to the man and said, "Mercury, find Emerald and that second-rate woman we're moving."
Without wasting a moment the gray haired man moved to open the door for Cinder, only exiting to walk down the hall by her side once she made her exit first. However, as soon as they began walking through the linear halls of the building, while still looking forward, he asked, "what about the bird and rhino?"
Without batting an eye, she replied, "what about them? If they prove to be useful they'll come along as well, but we won't be wasting any time waiting for them."
Mercury quickly responded, "Understood." Once he did so, the man took off with his prosthetic limbs, exiting the building and entering the Camp-City atmosphere of the DFA's territory to look for both Emerald and Dahlia.
...........
"Who are you! Show some identification and state your purpose for being here! If you don't do either of those things, you'll be better off going back where you came from!"
"Like I told you before I aint got it, but you gotta let me in. Cheese is mad thirsty!" Zeb stood tall above the four guards that circled him with their weapons drawn, each of them more than anxious at his sudden appearance.
It has become more and more often that people travel to the lands of the DFA looking to trade, find a more stable location to live, and numerous other things since the land has slowly become more and more famous.
Since this has been happening the massive Tribe has begun implementing border checks that ensure that everyone that enters the premises is not a threat.
More often than not, people in the desert don't have ID's, but there are numerous Tribes and Clans that have identifiable symbols and thing of the like that make it easy for other desert dwellers to identify them.
Also, people tend to have a reason for wanting entry and they don't typically appear to be too much of a threat.
The Faunus that had ran across the desert following the ass of a group of horses however had none of this, and that combined with his terrifying stature, powerful looking weapons, and odd circumstances for appearing made him appear like a threat.
No horse, no luggage, and no companions except for a cat, he didn't even have so much as a water pouch.
So, they've been held up refusing him entry, but too afraid to forcefully move him away or imprison him, for about ten minutes now. "What is your reason for being here!?!?" another of the guards yelled at the mysterious blonde.
Immediately following the guard's question, another one of them yelled, "Who are you?!?!"
The massive Ram Faunus only rolled his eyes as he said, "I told you already," Z began, "my name is Z and I'm lookin for water for Cheese. My horse" he mentioned pointing to the cat on his shoulder, much to the guards confusion. "I mean my cat."
"Look, people, I've been through a lot just to get here, left the Kreeps, got lost, had to kill a bunch of black worms, destroy a couple big ass crabs, and all this damn running just to get here. Just let me inside so I can get Cheese, some water and maybe a lil bit of food, then I'll be on my way. I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be here anyway" he thought, seeing as the place he was seemed to be much larger than the White Fang camp.
Once he finished speaking, each of the surrounding guards looked at one another with a expression that Z did not care to recognize, but he still listened as one of them lowered their weapon slightly and said, "Oh, so you're a hunter?"
Zeb's eyebrow raised slightly as he heard the question, but before he could respond another one of the guards added, "from the Kreeps Tribe it seems."
From there the other guards backed off slightly, choosing to lower their weapons as the man no longer seemed like much of a threat, although they were more than suspicious but just wanted to get the man out of their way. "Are you?" another of them asked for confirmation.
Zeb looked down at the no longer aggravated guards with a hint of confusion evident on his face, but still he decided to go with the route that seemed easiest for himself. "Yup, that's me. Z, hunter of the Desert creepers or whatever. So, you gonna let me inside now?"
As he asked the question, each of the surrounding guards looked to one another for confirmation, and with a single nod from all of them individually, they collectively decided that this Z character was far more trouble than he was worth.
So, the head Faunus man amongst the spear wielding guards gave him the permission needed. "Yeah, you can come inside. All you need to do is check-in at the Hunters Guild before your able to take on any jobs or further explore the city. It's the massive brown marquee about a dune inside, you really can't miss it. Just head straight and it'll be on your left."
Once he finished giving the explanation, another one of the spear wielding Faunus mumbled, "if you were a Hunter you should've just said so in the first place." The comment was just loud enough for Zeb to hear, but he didn't react to the statement at all.
Instead he smiled and said, "thanks for the help!" With that comment spoken he quickly walked into the 'city' with his long strides as he headed towards the tent that the head guard told him about, hoping to somehow find some food and water for his cat on the way there.
As he began walking through the city, taking in the sites of a bustling crowd of Faunus mixed with the numerous tents of vendors selling their wares to any and everyone that was willing to pay or trade.
Of which he figured he had nothing on him that he could trade for a bite to eat and some water to drink.
Although he figured he could let Cheese loose to steal something from any of the vendors, when he asked him if he wanted to, he refused, not wanting to leave Zeb's shoulder, so instead he headed straight for the unmissable marquee.
As the guard stated, it was exactly how he described it, a massive brown tent with ton's of people moving inside and out of its wide-open interior.
There was a long line of desks with receptionists at each and every station taking and talking with people, and on the other side of the tent was an entire kitchen that was hustling with employees serving the hungry Hunters that continued moving in and out of the pavilion like structure.
"Busy" he whispered to himself, choosing not to waste anymore time by walking straight to the first open receptionist desk.
The place that he approached had a bright smiling woman working behind the desk, and once Zeb made his way to standing in front of the small desk, she greeted him with that same smile.
"Welcome to the Hunters Guild" she said with a radiant grin. "How may I be of service?"
Before speaking, Zeb quickly checked his surroundings to make sure that the woman was speaking to him specifically, and when he found that there was no one else in his immediate vicinity he turned to face the Faunus woman. "Uhm, hi, I was told that I gotta register here before I can go do other shit. So, can you register me as your service?"
"Of course! All I need you to do is fill out this form here," she said as she pulled a piece of paper from underneath the wooden desk, "and once your finished we'll have your Hunter ID finished in about an hour or so. Feel free to wait around, eat, drink, train, or whatever else you feel like doing while you wait for your card to be created!"
Zeb flinched back slightly at the woman's comment, "I'm broke" he replied bluntly, bringing a sad smile to the woman's face. "Anyway, could I get a free meal for Cheese?" he asked as he motioned to the fluffy orange kitten on his shoulder.
The receptionist looked around for a moment, taking in the options that she could provide the newcomer before saying, "well there is no such thing as a free meal here so I can't give you anything, but you do have a couple options."
"You could take one of the jobs that are posted on the Hunts board," she said as she motioned to the large brownish board that had numerous pieces of paper pinned to its surfaces "but you can only start those after you get your Hunter ID."
Zeb swiftly shook his since he wasn't planning on doing anything extra like that, and plus he would've had to wait for an ID to complete it anyway, which he wasn't doing.
After seeing his declination to her initial offer, the Faunus woman started looking around frantically for something to help Z out. "Uhm, I'm sorry but there aren't that many options, they all take too much time. Honestly, the only option you have to gain a bit of money quickly without an ID is completing the Human's challenge."
The Ram Faunus's eyebrow raised at the last option she presented, "human's challenge? What's up with that?"
The receptionist woman sighed, "well, there is this human woman that appeared here about a week or so ago and in her free time she's been occupying one of the training grounds to fight any who challenge her. Nobody's beaten her yet so there is a bounty on her head for the first person to take her out in combat, and it's a pretty large sum. Luckily for you, the human woman just showed up not to long ago and we've all been waiting for the first contestant."
Zeb's face lit up with a smile, "perfect, I'll do it. Show me the way please!"
His excitement was met with harsh skepticism from the receptionist as she commented, "are you sure? This human woman is incredibly powerful, nobody has even managed to land a hit on her. I understand the gung-ho attitude but are you sure you want to get embarrassed by this human?"
"I don't get embarrassed, so please lead the way" he said with a bright smile. Once she listened to his response the receptionist shrugged her shoulders and proceeded to point Z in the right direction, showing him where the grounds were located.
By the time the Ram Faunus began walking across the training grounds a crowd had already begun to form.
Apparently, word of mouth is insanely fast as Hunters from around the pavilion followed behind Z as he headed to the grounds where he'd be meeting with his meal ticket, and once he arrived he quickly found that the woman was quite interesting appearing. Zeb was quickly greeted by glowing green eyes, beautiful brown skin, and, of course, short emerald colored hair.
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