"There's nothing for it. Stay under the radar. Keep up your disguises as necessary. The lot of you now also have official license to trade inside the Kingdom of Mistral as an arm of Vacuo's Shifting Sands Caravan." Their leader spoke, a tight midnight black longcoat hugging his body with some gold trim, making him look more dashing than usual as his ice blue eyes glimmered through the Scroll. "I'm headed to Vacuo to make further deal with our sponsors."
"Got it!" Trifa grinned, trying to make as much of an impression as she could, holding her head up high. "We won't let you down, Adam!"
Adam nodded, his cool features striking and handsome, offering no further words before he cut the call.
"Shit you got it bad, girl."
She turned to glare at Yuma, her steel blue eyes glimmering with a threatening look.
"Shut up." She growled out from between her teeth. "Unless you want me to stick you to a tree, bat breath."
"Oi, oi. You're cutting deep there, little widowmaker." The bat Faunus grinned, stroking his goatee as he let his large bat wings flutter behind him. "Just checking in and making sure you're not making a fool of yourself in front of our leader. Can't believe you'd be this upset about me worrying for a friend."
As if he didn't swing by just to poke fun at her.
"I'm not gonna let my feelings fuck up anything, alright? Stop bothering me already!" Trifa spat, her hands on her hips. "Why don't you fuck with that nameless asshole?"
"I don't need to worry about Goldy going off and doing something stupid because he's simpering after our fearless leader." Yuma shrugged, still grinning like a piece of shit. "And unlike you, he's actually bothering with weapon maintenance.
"Yeah, well he's actually a former Huntsman with a real weapon to match. Of course he's busy looking after his weapon. I just use a regular Atlasean Kalashnikov rifle and a Heat Hawk. I've got underlings to take care of that for me, not that it even needs it. I could leave that in a swamp, pull it out, and still have it work fine."
"Look after your own gear, brat." Yuma warned, his eyes narrowing, giving up his dry jokes for a serious face. "That's what determines if you survive a fight, so at least wipe your own ass. Stop shoving it onto others. It's not like you've just turned seventeen and shit, you're nineteen now and been an adult for two years. Act like it and grow up."
Ugh.
"Fine, fine." She walked past him, waving her hand. "You're right, ok? But I'm still leaving the Heat Hawk to Cid since he's the only one that can make heads or tails of Arc's tech."
"Professor Arc." Yuma corrected, his voice not accepting an alternative.
"...yeah. Professor Arc. Same thing."
She kept walking, feeling slighted that she had to take this shit. She was Black-Knight-2. She came before him in the pecking order of Knights, but just because he was older than her he kept trying to boss her the fuck around. All that and too weak to take the higher number position. Self-righteous prick.
Worst part was that their chainsaw-greatsword wielding former-Huntsman Black-Knight-1 (that kept making it annoying to refer to him because he kept claiming some weird Mistrali shit like 'I have forsaken my name' making it really inconvenient to refer to him) often deferred to Yuma's shotcalls outside of combat.
So much for being ONE if you're just gonna do whatever number THREE says.
Now she felt like shit, because it wasn't like Yuma was wrong either, the fucker.
"Hey!" She yelled into the White-Leo barracks tent. "Who's handling my gun this time?"
A slightly wiry teen with curly black hair and big black rimmed glasses raised his hand. What was his name? Akira? Akahina? All she remembered was that his small goat horns were hidden by his poofy hair and he had trouble fitting into his helmet without shit getting in his eyes.
"Already done with it, Knight-Two." He was casual and calm, not really very expressive at all. "I have it right here if you need it."
Well if it was already done she wouldn't stress it much. She'd handle it herself next time.
"Give it here. Thanks for that. I'll take care of it on my own next time. Just been busy with leadership shit." She handwaved an excuse as she hefted her rifle in her hands, giving it a once over.
It was cleaned and polished well too, though it definitely felt a lot heavier now that she was out of her Mobile Armor.
"Actually, you needed to almost fully replace all of the pins." Curly informed, "I already took care of that, but even though the Kalashnikov can take a beating, because your Tallgeese Blanc is stronger than our Leos it's taking more of a thrashing just from you reloading and swinging it around."
Ah fuck. So her Mobile Armor was top notch, but her weapons couldn't keep the fuck up, huh? Occasionally using it as a bat probably hadn't helped even with Aura helping keep the moving parts of the weapon from breaking.
"Shit." She fumed, tapping her foot. She knew that made all of White-Leo Brigade nervous, but she never claimed to be a nice Brigade Captain so that wasn't her issue. "...since you're pointing that out, you got a suggestion?"
"I fixed it with some spare parts, but only the pins seem to not be really holding up. Maybe ask Quartermaster Cid if he could machine you those but with something stronger?"
Well that was a thought.
"Alright. Thanks for the heads up." Trifa shrugged, taking her gun out of Curly Hair's hands. "You did good work… White-Leo-5, right? What was your name again?"
"Akahiro, Captain. I've told you this three times. Am I… am I being hazed?"
"Naw, I'll remember it next time. Probably." She waved him off as she turned to leave. "Thanks for the hand and stuff."
"Mm shrryyy." Ruby's voice was muffled as her teeth buried into his forearm, his jacket having been stripped away. "Ah jsst wamted du-"
"Don't talk with your mouth full." Jaune flicked her forehead, feeling the girl whimper through the fangs that bypassed his Aura (actually it was almost as if his body… registered her fangs as Aura itself and it just merged though his own) and embedded into his arm. "And I can't just let this go, Ruby. You could have been hurt. I was serious that some of the things I have to manage are genuinely dangerous. NONE of that is a joke! You can't just jump into things without looking!"
Ruby looked like she was going to cry, but her new fangs didn't leave his arm.
"Mmm shrryyy. Dunn aeee muuh."
Jaune sighed, feeling bad about having to scold her like this.
It was worse because her new changes allowed her to shift and adjust her appearance and she was currently shrunk down to be a bit smaller, looking really cute and pitiful. He knew she wasn't doing this on purpose, but it reminded him of when she was younger and always begging for hugs and cookies, tugging at his brotherly instincts.
"I don't hate you, Ruby. I'll never hate you. I promise. But we are going to tell your parents about this."
"Nuuu!" She shrunk further out of fear, fully aware she'd become very grounded over this.
Jaune would probably get off with a slap on the wrist, but lectured heavily. Rather he felt like he'd failed Team STRQ as a result of what had happened, even if it had been Ruby getting too curious. He'd honestly taken plenty of precaution, and it would have worked as long as it hadn't been Ruby herself that had tried this.
"Ruby, your parents have a right to know." Jaune finished drawing a bit of blood from Ruby's arm, her jacket having been pulled off and her white blouse sleeve on her left side having been rolled up to the elbow. A bit of blood stained the edge of the sleeve, though hidden now do to the cloth rolling up.
Once it was in his Inventory a Description Window showed up. While he could look at any Gacha Item and get a Description Window right away, anything else required it to be inside his Inventory to do so.
Fuck.
SSR Rarity Consumable/Crafting Component: Blood of Szentire (x1)
Origin: Remnant
Description: The blood which should have contained the blasphemous power of a Damphir, a descendant of Vampires, purified and twisted by an unknown power of LIGHT that dwelled within Ruby Rose that transcended beyond Aura, the Light of the Soul. Though a Racial Change Card: Damphir had been utilized, due to the corruptingly Stagnant influence of LIGHT, the effects have been weakened and altered greatly, creating the first Szentire in existence across many realms.
Due to the influence of LIGHT, many factors of the Undead nature and such as the increased lifespan of a Damphir or Vampire have been Eradicated. Thus it is safe for consumption by the living. However, the dependency on blood that Damphirs could ignore and Vampires were slaves to have instead been increased for a Szentire.
This blood can be utilized as a curative comparable to simple Potions of Healing mixed with the Blessing of Lesser Restoration, and can be utilized to craft greater medicines.
Unknown power of Light? That sounded actually… really fucking cool. What the hell? Like a superhero power. Shit, this wasn't the time to get jealous.
Jaune grimaced as he reached out to pull out a Blood Replenishing Pill from the Elemental Nations of Ninkai. Luckily it wasn't impossible to manufacture something similar from the knowledge of the ARK of Humanity. He had a few doses of mundane blood replenishment medication, just in case of an emergency, but he might have to begin some small-scale mass production, just in case.
He popped the pill, cracking the bitter herbal mixture between his teeth. Despite the bitterness, his rabbit Faunus nature allowed him to enjoy the taste of it, though it was a tad dry.
"Fuck." Juniper's voice agreed behind him. While he couldn't interface with his Inventory or Gacha, his Big Brother Juniper (having been summoned through the Gacha) could see and comprehend the Gacha and its insidious bullshit. "Gods fucking dammit. This is it. Proof the Gacha has a sick sense of humor. Still… Light, huh? That must be…"
Odd. Big Brother Juniper's gaze drifted to Ruby's eyes. Wait. Back when he'd first witnessed Summer and Raven fight. What had that scorpion Faunus said?
Especially you, miss Silver Eyes~ Ruby too inherited her mother's silver eyes. Maybe that meant something more. Either way-
"Oh we cannot let anyone find out about this." Jaune groaned. If Ruby's blood could become a miracle curative, that would make her a target. She'd be hunted down and bled dry day after day until the day she died. He would not let that happen.
Her watery silver eyes, on the other hand, were glimmering with the light of hope when he'd said that sentence out loud, growing back up to her normal size.
"This is not to say you're off the hook, Ruby!" Jaune flicked her forehead again, feeling her fangs pull against his flesh as her head jerked back (not painful, weirdly, but almost a strangely pleasant numbness), still greedily supping on his blood.
Shit, he needed blood for his Command Seals too. Should he just use the Dra- no. No he wasn't. Not yet. He didn't want to give up that part of himself yet.
"You- you idiot!" Jaune growled, holding back the desire to curse.
Shit. Shit. Shit. He really didn't want to swear in front of Ruby. She was a precious little sister that needed to be protected. Shit.
"Mmm shrrryy." Ruby mumbled again, slurping a bit this time, greedily still drinking small sips.
This little brat wasn't learning at all from her mistake was she?!
He pinched Ruby's nose.
"Mmmmrrrr! Zzzhhuuunnnnne!"
He let go.
"...Ruby. You know how you always thought that I was magic growing up?"
"Mmmeaaah." She mumbled with her mouth full.
Jaune sighed, pulling out a set of Portable Wardstones (x4) from his inventory and tossing them into the corners of Ruby's room so that nobody outside would feel what was to come.
"Well, firstly. Magic is real. And now that you know that you have to keep it a secret or I'll punish you. I'll prove it first. Consume the Flame of Hope." Jaune turned to show Ruby the crimson tattoo she'd always seen him have on the back of his right hand, letting the Mana erupt from it as Prana (as well as through his body as Od) as he let the magical energy leak into the air. His Big Brother Juniper hovered over to catch the leaking magical power.
Waste not, want not.
Ruby's eyes widened, though not just from the discovery of the sensation of Mana (which was, admittedly, pretty overwhelming if you weren't expecting it) but also oh no. She could taste it as it coursed through his body and blood.
He winced as her fangs clamped down hard, her body thirsting for both his blood and Od as her eyes began to GLOW bright silver, her body growing taller than her normal size for the first time, white feathers beginning to erupt from the sides of her head.
"OW! Ruby!"
The sound of him in actual pain seemed to snap her out of it, finally letting her reel back, the sensation of fangs sliding out from his flesh, somehow seeming to heal the wound as her fang's retracted as she threw herself back and away from him, diving under the sheets of her bed, leaving a trail of glowing white feathers and red rose petals behind.
Shit.
"Sorry. I should have expected something to get weird when magic gets involved. Ruby I'm fine, don't worry."
"No!" She whimpered from under the sheets, her body clearly shrinking again. "I-I'm no! You can't! I hurt you!"
Jaune sighed as he pulled the sheets back Ruby shivering as she pulled the hood of her cloak down over her head as she curled into a small ball. The feathers were entirely gone now. Rather what had the deal with the feathers been?
Damphirs and Vampires could apparently transform into bats in come capacity, but that had been clearly avian. Almost like Ruby had been turning into some strange variant of angel.
"Ruby. It just hurt for a moment. I'm fine." He sat beside her, pulling her into a hug, feeling her flinch, but ultimately relax under the feeling of his Aura as he rubbed at her back, slowly returning back into her original size again. Her Aura flashed with the sensation of velvet rose petals and the scent of chocolate, though ever so slightly different somehow. "That was my fault. Not yours."
"No. I shouldn't have touched that card." Ruby groaned in his embrace, wetting the front of his shirt with tears. "I'm sorry."
"No, but what's done is done. And you didn't hurt me on purpose, it was just an accident. And now you'll never do that again, right?"
"Never." Ruby nodded with promise, but she wouldn't meet his eyes out of fear and shame.
Jaune frowned, pulling Durindana from his Inventory and nicking his finger on it.
The scent of blood made Ruby's eyes turn up like a small, cute animal smelling food. Her mouth opened subconsciously in anticipation. Kind of like a baby bird. It was really cute.
It would have been a lot cuter if it wasn't literally because she wanted to drink his blood.
He let her suck at the blood dribbling from his finger as he managed to regain Ruby's attention.
"Look. We… I want to tell your parents. But if we do that, Headmaster Ozpin will find out and that gets more complicated. So… this will be our little secret, ok? BUT! I have some rules that are non-negotiable. Do you understand?"
Ruby nodded, drinking innocently as Jaune continued to talk.
HE felt his hands' grip tighten. The wooden greatsword in his hands felt too light. Not right. Though inside was a metal core to simulate the weight, it did not measure up to the same heft of his Ripper.
Yuma, Black-Knight-3, swung a pair of wooden bokken shaved and shaped down to better match the size of his Heat Chetes, spinning in his hands as they crashed against his blade, the nimble bat Faunus leaping up to swing at the side of his head with one of his wings.
HE merely tilted his head, feeling it graze against his buzzcut, the rough leathery limb fluttering by.
HE spun, punishing the overextension by catching his sparring partner across the back.
Yuma spun as he let out a cry of pain, rolling in the dirt to avoid a follow up downswing. The training blade struck down as Yuma spun away.
"Too much enjoyment of the thrill of combat makes you sloppy." HE warned Yuma.
It was one of the things HE despised to see in battle. Why HE allowed Yuma to make leadership decisions outside of it, but rejected his input in the heat of combat. Yuma was a good man in the day to day, but he was far too much a sadist in battle for his liking.
"It is something I, too, struggle with. Something I can slip into that becomes a weakness. The goal is to eradicate that from your style, Yuma. You must become better than me."
Like Adam had.
The twin wooden machetes in Yuma's grip spun back up, the one in his main hand spinning into a reverse grip. Pretty pointless against Grimm or people with Aura, but it would still allow him to be tricky.
The problem was that being tricky wasn't enough when the difference in skill was too great.
There was a reason HE was Black-Knight-One. HE had been the one to (primarily) teach Adam, their leader who had surpassed him in spirit, skill, and purpose. And though HE now fell short compared to the talented youth, HE was still leagues superior to Yuma.
"Alright, alright." Yuma growled, his eyes narrowed. "What should I do to counter big weapons?"
"The best advice is, as always, to simply not be hit."
"Oh fuck you." Yuma dashed back as his greatsword swung at the younger Faunus.
Yuma dashed in immediately after, attempting to leap over the returning backswing, vaulting in the air as if attempting to emulate the early years of Pyrrha Nikkos. But despite his nimbleness, he lacked the build that the girl had in her younger years, getting caught at the ankle and spinning in the air for it.
Still it was commendable that Yuma attempted to swing at him with both wings and blades despite losing his balance in the air as his wings additionally adjusted his landing. His wings were strong natural weapons that should not be ignored. Many Faunus with Aura and natural weapons still refused to use them, feeling that they were feeding into the 'feral' stereotype, but giving up a natural advantage was no different than rubbing dirt in one's own eye.
And as Faunus with Darkvision it was doubly a restraint.
It was true that Aura put a Faunus into (usually) a deeper connection to their animalistic side. There were many that failed in the middle of their training to become a Huntsman as a result of it. For some it was still less impactful, others extremely so.
For example, many rabbit Faunus would often suffer meekness, though it would also grant them greater awareness. It wasn't uncommon for rabbit Faunus to have Semblances related to their senses as a result. Such Mental and Sensory Type Semblances were also rare, but they did not often give a direct combat advantage.
Canine Faunus often had either Defense Type or Leadership Types, where their Semblances could additionally bolster the defense of oneself or allies or let them empower their own force of will, even sometimes forcing their power of will onto others.
Those such as cat and monkey Faunus often leaned into Semblances with Speed or Trickery. Sometimes both, though fairly straightforward in nature. The daughter of the Chieftain, Blake Belladonna, had one that encompassed both, an exemplar of their people. He wished the best for the quiet but kind girl.
If she were to wed the young Professor Jaune Arc, Menagerie's future would truly be secure beyond doubt.
HE ceased to defend himself against Yuma's blows, his sparring partner attempting to attack from multiple angles as he used his training greatsword as a shield. But Yuma was too focused on the obvious weapon, allowing him to catch the bat Faunus by surprise with a roundhouse into his ribs.
"The body too, is a weapon. Do not expect to be attacked merely from the obvious weapon in your opponent's hands. A true combatant is more than the sum of their weapon. The body itself can deal as much punishment as it can endure. Learn to use your Aura to expand your senses if you must. Your Mobile Armor is not perfect. Nothing is. Do not expect it to bear everything. The unexpected is born in battle, wounds will become inevitable. And the best method of allowing your body to heal and recover is to never take damage in the first place."
From the way his sparring partner's eyes narrowed HE knew that HE was beginning to irritate Yuma. But despite that Yuma was taking his lessons seriously. Unlike Trifa who had received Huntress training and was overflowing with natural talent with a bad habit of coasting off of it, often blaming her weaknesses on her smaller Aura reserves than the Huntress regulation, Yuma had no such training.
Yuma was talented as well, but not nearly as much as the girl. The bat Faunus learned only by doing and his Aura reserves could even be described as pitiful. Low enough that Yuma had already been fighting more or less without Aura used to bolster his defenses, purposefully weakening its protective properties to instead enhance his own senses and reaction time.
HE blocked another set of Yuma's swings, parrying and forcing the bat Faunus to duck, blocking his kick using the twin training machetes.
That meant not only did his Aura mute less pain, he'd feel it more acutely. Even so, without tears, without letting himself fall prey to his own pain, the captain of the Blue-Leo Brigade fought on, hoping to instead learn more. Do more. Be more.
This time it was HE himself that took a blow as they clashed, a series of kicks, elbows, wings, and blades from both combatants ending with one of the training machetes chipping at a portion of his own Aura as it cleanly struck his shoulder for the first time.
"Good. That is improvement." HE complimented honestly. "A spar well fought."
"Heh." Yuma panted, finally letting himself collapse to his knees. "About time I got a clean hit in."
"You were a former petty thief that had only learned to fight to defend yourself over the course of a year. I am a full Huntsman, though my license has now been revoked."
Yuma took his outstretched hand, leaving his training weapons on the ground as he pulled his sparring partner and student up.
"You never told me why you quit, Goldy. You're not old or nothing. You're in your thirties, right?"
"Yes I am." HE admitted. "I quit only two years after beginning my career as a Huntsman."
"Why though? For what reason?"
He paused. It was personal, but his student might find inspiration in it. Hmm.
"Originally I was on probation. I am Mistral born. Even so my heritage was hideable and I disguised myself as human. In Mistral to do so is a crime and I gained my license not as a Faunus but as a human. When it was found out, I was to serve penance. To work without pay in service to the Kingdom. In doing so I once worked upon the Siren Ferry as a Huntsman guard. As long as we were docked, I was allowed to be free and volunteered to assist in the building of the Solar Farm when it was first conceived."
"Huh. That's awesome. So you just stayed for our little slice of paradise?"
HE shook his head.
"No. I was there during the Glacial Incident. When Grimm sought to tear down our Kingdom before it could finally be allowed to stand. But I was without a weapon. It was upon the Ferry when it fired upon the Defiant Blue. I hid at the Farm, deciding to live. To fight another day. I was afraid. But as I hid, I saw it. Gold and green tearing through The Burrower. The frozen miracle. The sight of a warrior, pulling children out from the sands, delivering them back safely to Kuo Kuana. I saw it and I was ashamed. For I had not fought. I had not contributed. Back then I decided that it was it. That I was not meant to be a Huntsman."
Yuma frowned at that.
"Huh. Wait then why are you here now if you decided you didn't want to fight no more?"
"Though he has now surpassed me, I trained our leader, alongside many other children of Menagerie after that. It is our leader that swore me into silence of the details of that day. It was he that reminded me then that I may still pay penance. I failed to save paradise. I will not fail to save my people beyond its gates. It is why I have abandoned my name. I shall only reclaim it once my mission is complete, or it is required upon the mark of my grave should I fail."
"...I think you might have rubbed off a bit too much on our dear leader."
"Ah, my Tallgeese returned. I was half convinced I would have to make excuses and request for another." Red Mane laughed as the thin man scowled at him past his bushy mustache. "My thanks for saving me the trouble."
Despite it being more unkempt than he'd remembered when he'd first met the man, there was a light of manic passion and competition still gleaming in his eyes that weren't there before.
"Feh. I made a deal, thus I will honor such." Arthur Watts replied hotly, having returned the Mobile Armor after having observed and tinkered with it personally. "Though I did refit it to be able to additionally be fueled by Dust, as you've requested. Logical, as batteries alone are limited in application compared to their weight, despite the strength of their reusability."
"Ah, but the Faunus of Menagerie have built up some pride of being nearly fully eliminating the need for Dust in their society. It is one of the reasons my King wishes for their technology. A world without Dust." Red Mane chuckled, "Even though it's already making their operations a bit troublesome. Their poor quartermaster is being supplied Lightning Dust in a disguised 'generator' to use to charge their equipment. They cannot exactly gain a steady trade of supply from Menagerie in Animus."
"Aside from the craftsmanship which is mostly due to Arc, there's nothing of value to be had over what the amateur has added." Arthur spat, not at all impressed. "Rudimentary at best. Anyone can match measurements."
"I do believe you take your own talent for granted." Red Mane mused as he opened up to inspect the Tallgeese's internals. "It is breathing for you, but for others it is falling down a mountainside, scrabbling one's hands upon the rock to slow the fall."
"I do not wish to hear about falling from grace from you." Arthur sneered, turning to begin to step back into his invisible airship, currently still on the runway of Red Mane's private airstrip. "The only reason you were used as our liaison to The Crown was because once you lost your value, you became the most expendable."
"And you have my every thanks." He grinned, his teeth baring as he grinned widely, his hands spayed wide. "For now for the first time, I can truly see this world's glorious light."
Despite the eyes he had torn out with his own hands and the blindfold he wore, Red Mane could sense the look of disgust on Arthur's face. As long as he held fast onto his faith, as his courage was fed, his Semblance Purple Heart allowed him to transcend his own limitations.
"You have fallen low, Lionheart."
"Yes, but it is at my deepest that I have finally once more found courage, Watts." Red Mane laughed, his Aura bubbling up inside of him. "Purpose in a manner I feel as if I've never had before. Thus I do not have need of fear."
"You will have need of it, should you forget why you are here." Arthur warned, the bay of the Osprey closing behind him. "You best remember why it is in your best interest to obey the Queen."
It did not matter. Red Mane saw it now, though he'd been blind before with eyes to see. Salem wanted next to nothing to do with the world. It was merely a means to an end. The only last remaining way she could retain the attention of the man she once loved. Though love had rot and soured into hatred, if she'd truly desired it, the Grimm would have overrun Remnant a long, long time ago. She simply had the numbers to take down every Kingdom one by one.
It was funny that it was Salem the Queen of the Grimm, the one thing that he'd once feared the most in all the star, was a greater coward than he. To accomplish her goal, all she had to do was walk forwards, and yet she sat back in the castle that reminded her of the good times she'd once had with her former husband. Torturing herself with the memory.
The Red Mane of Golden Sands laughed.
Though his King was mortal and a coward both, too drunk in his power and having no understanding of how he was but a frog in a dried up well, he'd given Red Mane the only thing he himself had ever needed.
Thus if his King demanded it, he would rebel against The Queen herself.
"Awwww." A mechanically warped voice cooed from the darkness of the Auroric Osprey's hold as Arthur walked past him towards the cockpit. "We're not going to cut him down for betraying our Queen?"
"Patience, Tyrian." Watts sighed, why had he been relegated on playing babysitter to the zealot?
Hazel and the Queen's darling little Arcana both had the freedom to go about their day to day as they pleased, but because he was clearly the one most suited for leadership he had to manage the bloodthirsty lout. Normally this position of clear importance would have been both a privilege and a pleasure, but Tyrian only sought to make things as difficult as possible.
"You'll certainly have the allowance to act soon. Besides, regardless of his newfound courage, what challenge could a blind old lion be?"
"You see, Arthur, that's what you lack. A killer's instinct. That's why being around me isn't uncomfortable for you at all." With a blur of movement inside the dark space, metal claws flashed against the crack of light, holding the door opening towards the cockpit in place. "Should someone plan to kill you-"
The curl of an armored tail crawled along his chin as Tyrian indulged himself far too much in his own theatrics. Arthur did not let such a thing detur him, leveling an irritated look at his work associate.
"-it would be too late. For all your wisdom, you'd never see it coming. For all your disregard, he'd been ready to cut you down the moment it was asked of him, what's he calling himself now? Red Mane of Golden Sands?"
Arthur rolled his eyes, pushing the tail away, requiring the effort of Aura to do so.
"I've had enough of your nonsense, Callows. The Queen said that you are to obey my orders while we are aboard the Osprey and I expect you to obey her words."
"Oh, of course, of course." The clawed hands let go as Tyrian giggled shrilly, warped by the mechanical voice filter. Fingers pulled away with individual clacks as they loosened from the door, allowing Arthur to walk past the shadow of Tyrian's current form. "But do remember that I wish to test out your new toy, turned artifact by our Goddess. As our Goddess requested. I must show her what this, he he he, collaborative effort can do…"
Arthur ignored him, stepping into the cockpit where a slew of paper sheets where he'd inked down observations of Arc's technology, alongside a laptop with a holographic projector, revealing the layout of the more important technology that laid within the Tallgeese, the foundation for the next form of Remnant's warfare.
"There is no concern for that. We have a few settlements where Lionheart's replacement will soon be sending out a few of her best Huntsmen in training alongside their minders for missions. We will be preparing ourselves to ensure they have an accident with our strange new Grimm." Arthur called out over the Osprey's internal broadcast system. "It's certainly in need of a lot of adjustment and growth, requiring every bit of data that can be gathered. So make sure to push it to the limit, Callows, as you cull the baby chicks."
"He he he he." Tyrian's voice cackled back through the cockpit's speakers as the Osprey rose from the sand dusted airstrip. "Tossing a fox into a den of baby chickens? What a monster, you are, Arthur. What a Knightmare!"