A Deathly Silence (RWBY/Drakengard 3)
Update 135 - A Small Victory
Mortifer
Embrace your inner lunatic. Fun times guaranteed.
- Location
- Under a rock.
[X] Survival: Knight of Silver
Today was supposed to be a good day.
When she woke up this morning, the worst case scenario that Mordred could predict was that she would lose in the final round of the tournament. Even in that situation, it wasn't all bad. She didn't have all the glory or all the attention, but she would have still made it far enough for the Kingdom to see her in action. She still would have been second only to the Invincible Girl.
Stripping away that allure of invincibility, earning a victory that couldn't be disputed, becoming the champion and beating Pyrrha Nikos? It wasn't something any normal person thought was possible.
So she did that, and she won. She was the best. Everyone saw her hurt the untouchable champion. Everyone saw her win. People would want her autograph, her siblings would want to congratulate her, even her mother would have to hand it to her, that this was impressive. Maybe even…
...Well, there was no point thinking about that now.
Not when what should have been one of the best days of her life turned into a nightmare.
As she hung over the shoulder of Pyrrha Nikos, Mordred tried not to think about how much pain she would be in once the adrenaline wore off. She couldn't even walk as she was right now, her Aura was gone, and apparently a bloody lunatic had enough sway over the colosseum to smuggle in Grimm and torture rooms, so as far as either of the girls knew, every single person in the building was a threat.
That wasn't even a hypothetical concern, at some point. Pyrrha had looked ahead and seen one of the bastards who had taken the two of them to that Three woman earlier, and he had definitely seen her. The two of them were the finest two warriors to enter into the Mistral Regional Tournament in years, and they had been reduced to cowering in a room and hoping they wouldn't be found.
Pathetic.
"I have a plan." Pyrrha decided. Mordred snapped out of her thoughts to focus on her, and the redhead continued. "He only saw my head. He wouldn't have seen you. And if I fight him, he'll be too distracted to see you sneaking by. The window was right behind him. Do you think you can move enough to go get help?"
...Was she seriously suggesting…
"You're not thinking of fighting without your Aura-"
"I'm in a better condition." Pyrrha interrupted, her voice falling to a whisper. "And I haven't seen you use your Semblance since this all started, so I'm assuming it relies on your Aura to work. I'm more likely to walk away from a fight, and we don't have time to waste arguing."
There were footsteps from outside the room, and the sounds of a door opening and closing. The man was looking for them.
"He's right there." Pyrrha's voice was low, and soft, but Mordred was still on edge. She'd learnt from her mother enough times that whispering isn't always as subtle as you think. "I can distract him. Can you get away?"
...As much as she hated to admit it, Pyrrha was right. Mordred wasn't in a good enough shape to hold someone off, and under these circumstances, Pyrrha trying to run with Mordred would just get them both caught.
If just one of them could get out, they could get help. Three had wanted them alive, so as long as Pyrrha held them off for long enough to get out of the building and to help, they'd both get away like this.
Mordred nodded her head, and Pyrrha let her down to the ground, before moving to the door.
She hated it. She hated the idea of her running while someone else bought her time, she hated the idea of leaving someone behind when she knew she could beat them in a fight, and she hated that she didn't have a choice in the matter.
She was going to have to make it up to Pyrrha when they got out of here.
The door opened, and Pyrrha sprang into action. Ducking out of the way of the man's potential sight as she was, Mordred didn't see the exact interaction, but the opening exchange had lead to Pyrrha forcing the conflict out of the room, and that was all she needed.
Pushing herself up, Mordred tried to walk. She hadn't tried since her legs got busted, but-
Immediately, they gave out on her, but for a moment at least, she had been able to stand. Pushing against the wall, Mordred forced herself upright, and grabbed onto the doorway. Pulling herself towards it, she tried to figure out how quickly she could move upright.
Crawling on the ground, having to drag her whole weight across the ground to get to a window, that would be slow. If she could just push through the pain and lean against the wall, if she could walk rather than crawl, then she might be able to go faster. At the very least, if it didn't work, she'd be able to just fall over again.
Stumbling through the doorway, Mordred saw Pyrrha fighting the bastard who had captured them for Three, but pushed onwards. The sudden blue light from down the hallway didn't concern her, she just had to get through this door, shut it behind her, and get away.
Forcing herself onwards, Mordred dedicated herself to focusing on her task, blocking out anything else. Just need to keep moving.
Get through the door. Shut it behind her. The window to outside was just down the hall, the sounds of Pyrrha's fight was muffled by the door, and all she had to do was move.
As long as she moved, she could escape. As long as she escaped, she could survive. Mordred didn't know what was waiting for her if Three caught her, but judging by all the monsters she kept downstairs, it wasn't anything pretty. If she was caught, she was as good as dead.
Mordred shifted her weight forward a little too soon, put a little too much weight on one of her legs, and they gave out from under her. Hitting the ground, Mordred pushed her arms beneath her, and used them to fling her forward.
This was definitely faster. She was making good time leaning against the wall, but the effort she was putting in meant she'd slip up sooner or later, and getting up would waste more time than just crawling the rest of the way.
The window was right there, and she just needed to make it there, and then make it through. Almost…
The top of her head hit the wall beneath the window, and Mordred pushed against it, as she tried to use it to help stand upright again. If she could get up high enough, she could just fall through the window, and then…
There.
Falling out the window, Mordred cried out as she felt her legs hit the ground. Pain laced through her body like a needle pulling thread, and it took her some time before she could push through the pain.
Her vision was going blurry, but it was fine. She just needed to-
"Are you okay?"
A soothing voice spoke from just out of her line of sight, and Mordred turned her head to face the speaker. With her vision blurry, it took her a while to figure out who she was looking at. In the end, the missing arm and the voice was what gave it away.
"Sir… Bedivere?"
"What's happened?" The man asked, a note of panic in his otherwise calming voice. "How did you get like thi-"
His voice cut off suddenly, considing with a faint tremble in the air, that Mordred couldn't really describe.
The one-armed Knight grabbed the girl, and pulled her away from the building, placing his body between her and it. A moment later, the building burst, an explosion erupting through the air and throwing the two of them away. The Knight's aura flickered, and the force of the explosion slammed the two of them into the ground.
Mordred felt the back of her head hit something hard, and the world faded to darkness.
There was an unfamiliar ceiling above her head, but the details on the wood gave it away. Dark and foreboding. Mother's favourite.
Sitting up in the bed, Mordred noted that her wounds had been healed. She flexed the muscles in her arms and legs for a moment to test them, before she forced herself to stand.
She had woken up in a dark room without windows, in a bed that looked like it was at least a hundred years old, with her wounds healed and without any medical equipment or people tending to her. She wasn't in any kind of hospital, and whatever the reason was, Mother had clearly kept her here out of the way for a reason.
With that in mind, her next move was clear. Find Mother. She'd be the only one here, and she had some agenda in mind, so Mordred would have to deal with that if she was going to get someone to help Pyrrha.
Assuming it wasn't too late. Her wounds had been pretty bad, so if they had healed now, it could have been months. Maybe Pyrrha was already saved. Maybe Pyrrha was already lost.
Mordred felt her grip tighten reflexively at the thought, and took a moment to try to pry her hand apart again.
Only one way to find out.
Walking away from the bed and pushing open the door, Mordred started to look for her mother.
Finding her was simple enough. It was just a matter of following the hallway until she found a room with some light in it. Pushing into that, Mordred entered the room.
"Mother." She called.
The woman in the centre of the room held up a hand, a finger raised, to tell Mordred to wait. In her other hand, she held a book, her head tilting left and right slightly as she finished her page.
"Daughter." The woman replied. "How long have you been awake?"
"About three minutes." Mordred replied. "Where are we?"
"Straight to the point, I see." Mother sighed. "We are in a cabin in the woods. Nobody knows of its existence but me. After what you have gone through, I saw it prudent to keep you somewhere safe. It wouldn't do to lose my precious daughter."
"You know what's happened?" Mordred asked.
"Of course I do." Mother answered ."Once I saw how broken your body was, I simply had to know. I hope that Three woman didn't leave you too scarred."
She knew even that much?
In that case, there was no point beating around the bush.
"What happened to Pyrrha?" Mordred demanded.
"The runner up?" Mother mused. "Within the Intoner's grasp still, I believe. If she's still alive, I'm sure she wishes otherwise."
"What?" Mordred shouted, her hand curling into a fist. A bolt of her Semblances energy curled down her arm in anger, striking out instinctively at the air beyond her knuckles, and the cackling energy was the only sound to be heard for some time.
"Don't be like that around me." Mother's voice was cold as she admonished her daughter. "I hardly had any role in the matter."
"Nobody saved her?" Mordred shouted back. "Why?"
"Nobody was able to find her." The woman replied. "The Intoner covered her tracks well."
"Then how do you know?" Mordred asked.
"How I know things is my secret, daughter." The woman replied. "Though speaking of which, you must be more cautious in the future. Cans are sealed shut to prevent the drink from being tampered with. Drinking one left open is just asking to be drugged."
"For once in your life, just answer a question." Mordred snapped. "Are you just incapable of being helpful?"
"Don't talk to me about helpful, Mordred." The woman snapped back. "I have helped. The Intoner's agents are scouring the Kingdom, and the only reason you are still alive is that I found you before Sir Bedivere took you to a public hospital. Don't accuse me of being uncaring because you are incapable of being grateful, daughter."
This was going nowhere. Mordred fell silent, and gave Mother a moment to enjoy the satisfaction of an apparent victory before she continued talking.
"Believe it or not, Mordred, I only want the best for you." The woman continued. "And you have powerful enemies, now. That Intoner was not alone, and if anything, she was child's play compared to her peers. From what I've been able to track, one of them has already integrated themselves into the upper government of Atlas."
"I don't give a damn about that." Mordred replied. "What's going to happen to Pyrrha?"
"You should care more about this, Mordred." Mother scolded her. "Forget about Pyrrha for now. If the public ever finds out you're alive, your life is as good as over. Give it a few more months, and confirmation of your life could end with Atlas itself declaring war over you."
"...What the hell kind of influence does an Intoner have?" Mordred asked, a bitter tone to her voice.
"Enough to destroy the world." Mother replied. "Worrying about someone in their grasp is a fools task."
"I'm not going to forget about Pyrrha." Mordred replied. "She's the only reason I'm alive. I'm not about to forget about that."
"You've known her for a single day." Mother replied. "I raised you better than this."
"You barely raised me at all." Mordred's voice found an edge again as she growled at her mother. "Once I was old enough to walk, I was basically self raised. And even when you did act as a parent, you aren't even you most of the time."
"Mordred…" The woman's warning was clear, but the girl wasn't finished yet.
"Who am I even talking to right now?" Mordred asked. "We figured it out that there's at least three of you in there. Am I talking to the Warrior, the Witch, or the H-"
Pain shot through Mordred's stomach like an invisible fist to the stomach, and she doubled over, nearly losing her footing in the process. Forcing herself to stand upright out of spite alone, the girl raised her head to look at her mother.
"I will not tolerate this any longer." Her mother snarled. "Twice already, you have shown your temper. Twice, you have lost control. Was it your victory in the ring, or humiliation outside of it, that made you think this was acceptable?"
"I ain't putting up with this shit now." Mordred cut back. "Pyrrha's still in the Intoner's grasp. I'm going to save her. Are you going to help, or are you going to call me a failure for caring about people?"
For a long time, the only sound was the red lightning coursing around Mordred, as mother and daughter glared daggers at each other. A look on disgust on Mother's face was met with unrestrained anger, and for a long time, that's all there was.
Turning away from her daughter, the woman spoke with barely concealed contempt. "The Lord of the Round has requested your presence. I will inform you of his presence. One of his Knights will be along shortly to escort you to him."
The Lord of-
Despite everything, Mordred found herself smiling.
Under normal circumstances, she'd be elated at a chance to meet him. Even now, with the worry about Pyrrha hanging over her head, the concept filled her with hope. Not wanting the new mood to spoil, the girl turned to the door.
Neither mother nor daughter spoke to one another, as one left the room and another continued her novel.
Clad in a hooded robe that concealed her features, Mordred Gwynarian entered what was once the domain of a king. An ancient castle dating back to before the days of Mistral as a unified Kingdom, maintained to the modern day as the base of operations for the Knights of the Round. A collection of Hunters that ranked amongst the greatest in Mistral, known for their loyalty to their Lord, descendant of the ancient kings.
Sitting in the throne of the castle, flanked by two of his Knights and nobody else, sat Arthur Draigwyn. One of the eight generals who sat on the Mistral council, and of them, perhaps the one that commanded the most military power. He sat with a gentle look, a calming smile, even as his gilded hair and regal cape gave him an air of authority.
Standing to his left was the one-armed Knight Bedivere, who's skill in the blade was matched only by his beauty. His cloak covered the space where his missing arm would have been, and his present arm rested by the hilt of his blade.
To his right was the Knight Kay, a less renown, but still famous figure in Mistral. He was perhaps the least combative of the Hunters who had been selected for the position as Knight of the Round, but his presence represented the will of Lord Draigwyn, and when he spoke, people listened.
The two of them were the first to have joined Arthur's honour guard, and it was well known that there was nothing that people could say to Arthur in private that wouldn't eventually make it to the two of them. Even confidential meetings with representatives of other Kingdoms didn't escape their ears.
If the three of them were alone in the room, then it was as close as possible to a private meeting that one got to Arthur, regarding important matters.
The door to the room was sealed shut behind Mordred, and the girl removed her hood.
"Mordred Gwynarian." Arthur spoke, as he stood from his throne. "I am glad to see you well."
"Lord Draigwyn." Mordred replied. "I'm honoured."
Looking to the knights either side of him, Arthur sighed.
"Please." He replied. "You've been through a lot. The formalities are unneeded. Call me whatever you want."
"Is that so?" Mordred asked. "Very well, then. Father."
There was a moment of silence, and Mordred studied the three faces for reactions.
None of them seem surprised. They all already knew, then?
Once upon a time, this would have been the most important thing to Mordred. She hadn't gotten all the facts straight on how that happened, yet. She knew that her parents were close enough on a family tree that it'd be a scandal if it went public, and knowing her mother, chances are that it was her fault.
But for now, Mordred got the feeling that there was more important things to discuss here.
"You wanted to talk to me?" Mordred asked, changing the subject.
"Indeed." Arthur confirmed. "I've heard of what happened from your mother. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that."
"I'm still here." Mordred replied. "Pyrrha's not. I'm not the one who needs to be apologies to."
"I understand." Arthur confirmed. "How much has Morgan told you about the Intoners, Mordred?"
"There's more than one." Mordred replied. "One of them's got influence in Atlas."
"Then you should be enlightened on what the situation is." Arthur continued. He turned his head back, towards his Knights. "Kay?"
The Knight in question cleared his throat, and pressed a button on his gauntlet. A holographic image appeared in the air before him, hovering above Arthur, with a depiction of five women.
"The Intoners are probably the most dangerous people on the planet." Kay explained. "A single one of them could kill everyone in this room fairly easily, and while there's probably enough firepower in Mistral to kill one, their ability to subvert combatants means that one would likely be enough to cripple a Kingdom if needed. Needless to say, someone's who's greatest achievement is winning a tournament for children isn't exactly comparable."
"Be nice, Kay." Arthur muttered, soft enough that Mordred didn't think she was supposed to overhear it, before he continued.
"Perhaps under some circumstances, you could survive fighting an Intoner." He began. "From what we've gathered, Three, for instance, wouldn't take a threat seriously enough until she was close to death, and could be escaped. But if you tried to save Miss Nikos from her, I doubt she would allow that."
"And that's assuming one Intoner." Kay continued. "At this point, as far as we can tell, there are at least three in Atlas, including Three. Their leader, One, is the most dangerous person on the planet on her own, and she has access to Schnee resources and Atlas military resources on top of everything."
"So what's the point of this?" Mordred asked. "You're telling me I can't do anything? That I can't save Pyrrha so I shouldn't try?"
"That was not my intent." Arthur replied. "But perhaps now is the point where we should stop beating around the bush."
Stepping closer to Mordred, to only a few metres away from her, the man extended a hand.
"The Intoners, left to their own, will cause unprecedented chaos." Arthur decreed. "And I cannot sit idly by while that happens. Mordred Gwynarian, I want you to understand what is at stake. And I want you to know there is no shame in stepping aside."
Mordred took a moment to consider his words. "You intend to fight? You intend to save Pyrrha yourself?"
"If I must." Arthur replied. "Open defiance against the Intoners right now would cost a lot, but if there is no other way, I would rather give everything to ensure their evil is stopped, rather than wait and leave their victims to suffer."
"I want to help." Mordred replied. "They're after me already anyway, right? Tell me what I need to do and I'll do it."
Arthur looked down, and sighed. "You are young, far too young. But you are right. You are already a target, and there are already few enough people in the world who would oppose the Intoners this early. Which is why I want to show you where to find allies."
"This is my cue, right?"
Mordred spun around at the sudden new voice, and heard the sound of blades being pulled from their sheathes from the two Knights by the throne as she did so. Without a weapon on her, she resorted to pulling her hands into a fist, and taking a moment to try to force her Semblance into action.
By the door, standing halfway between Mordred and the exit, was an orange haired girl with a pink bow in her hair, and a greenish-grey dress that was several shades lighter than her eyes.
"Salutations!" The girl chirped, ignoring the people in the room who had drawn their weapons. "My name is Penny Polendina."
"At ease, men." Arthur called. "You too Mordred. She's an ally."
There was a moment of silence, as Mordred unclenched her fist and calmed herself, and she heard the two blades return to their sheathes behind her.
"I'm sorry about what you've been through, Mordred." The girl said. "I wish I could have prevented it. I can help you fix this now, however."
"Could you provide a more complete explanation, please?" Sir Bedivere called from his position. "Who are you, for instance?"
"Someone who knows a lot about the Intoners." She replied. "Situationly, at least."
"And what does that mean?" Mordred asked.
"It would take far too long to explain right now." The girl replied. "I'm allowed to know as much as I need to know, for as long as I need to know it. For now, all anyone here needs to know is that you're not alone."
Nobody interrupted the girl, so she continued. "Three isn't the only Intoner to have been sloppy. Four left a survivor while hunting the White Fang, and by now the entire organisation knows. And Sir Draigwyn is not the only person to be waiting for their chance to strike at the Intoners. It should only be a few months before enough pieces are aligned to save Pyrrha, Mordred. Trust me, and I can ensure everyone's efforts are coordinated."
"The White Fang?" Mordred asked. "You expect me to work with terror-"
"The Intoner Four has a passionate hatred for all Faunus, and when a species is at risk, even terrorists can put aside their objectives in favour of avoiding extinction." Penny interrupted them. "And besides, as bad as they can be, I am sure you would rather have them with you, rather than face an Intoner alone."
"...Tch. Fine." Mordred replied.
"We should find somewhere else to speak." Penny said suddenly, looking around. "Sir Draigwyn, I believe you are due to meet with the council, soon. Caesar was seeking to prepare a tournament a few months from now, wasn't he?"
"My absence would be noted if I remained." Arthur mused. "Mordred, would you have an issue speaking with Penny in private? There is a secret tunnel behind the throne that leads to a location nobody will be able to find, so you may discuss this there, if you wish."
"Fine, I guess." Mordred replied. "I want to know as much as possible."
Arthur nodded, and began to move to leave the room. His two Knights followed after a moment, jogging to catch up. As they did so, Arthur stopped, and looked back.
"Mordred?" He asked. "If you need to talk to me for whatever reason, don't be afraid to just come to me. I suspect there is a lot we will need to worry about, once the initial shock of the situation wears out."
"Probably." Mordred replied, as she made her way to and past the throne. "I'll be seeing you around then, dad."
Somehow, saying it so casually made her feel happy. Looking back at Arthur, she noticed a faint smile on his lips as well, even if his eyes seemed clouded by some past regret.
Pushing aside the throne to find the secret passage, Mordred heard Penny enter after her, and seal the passage shut as they did so.
The plan was in motion, it was set. Her father and mother both had a seat on the Mistral Council, and knew enough of what was coming to make the plan. There was something coming in Atlas, and when it came, it would be time to act and prepare.
Mordred's armour had been repaired, and her sword returned. Even if she had to train in secret, she had been training, preparing.
According to Mother, the Intoners were planning on drawing students of each Kingdom to them, to ensure that all eyes were on them when they began acting. This, she said, would be the time to act. It would be easy enough to rig the system and ensure that they could pick one person to bring to the heart of the Intoner's domain.
It could not be Mordred herself, for she still needed to be hidden. But Mother had thought ahead, and by the time Mordred knew about the plan, someone else had already been brought in to fill the role.
Still, at least this means someone else knew about Mordred. At least this meant she had someone she could talk to from time to time.
Smiling, Mordred looked over to the door, as her brother Gawain entered.
"Hey." She called. "Get over here, sunshine. I need something to practice punching for a bit and there's a window for you to get your solar power from if you need it."
"It's nice to see you too, sister." Gawain replied, rolling his eyes. "It's been, what, three months now, since we've had a conversation which didn't start with you proposing a fight?"
"What, did I miss one at some point? I was counting three years at this point."
"There was the one time you needed me to lend you money." Gawain replied.
Mordred snapped her fingers. "Yep, that was it. Foolish of me, I shoulda just beaten you up for it."
Gawain gave a soft smile, before taking a seat. "So how have you been recently, sister? We didn't get much time to talk when Mother showed me this place last time."
"About as good as I can be under the circumstances." Mordred replied. "How're the twins? Lamorak? Life in general?"
"They miss you." Gawain replied. "I haven't been able to tell them about you, unfortunately. Gareth locked the door to your room so nobody can mess with it, so I think she's still expecting you back any day now."
Mordred sighed. "Yeah, I miss them too."
"More importantly, I don't think you properly answered the question." Gawain changed the subject. "How good can you be, under the circumstances? I can't imagine it's been too good for you."
It took a moment for the girl to reply, after that.
"It's been pretty rough." She admitted. "Like, honestly, I've been trying not to think about it too much. Focus on what I need to do and worry about what's happened later."
"I don't think that's healthy, Mordred." Gawain warned. "From what I've heard, you went through an ordeal. I don't think you want to just repress that and hope nothing comes of it."
"I know I can't just do that." Mordred accepted. "But… Well, there's a bit much to handle, isn't there? I spent so long getting to be the best I could be so I could meet father and get him to acknowledge me, and in the end, it didn't really matter. I met him because of something that happened to me, not because of something I did. And I didn't even really get to talk to him about… Everything."
Gawain didn't say anything, so the girl went on. "And like, I got it easy, all things considered. Three was doing some shit down there, and Pyrrha's still with her. At this point, by the time I go in, she might well be some kind of monster. And… It could've been me, just as easily."
Breathing was suddenly hard, for some reason, and Mordred took a moment to calm herself before she continued.
"Maybe it'd be good if I could go see a therapist." Mordred continued. "But I just… Don't wanna think about it for now. Pyrrha's still in danger, and I owe her. After I save her, I can think about what's been going on. I get the feeling that thinking about everything's gonna end in me falling apart, so at the very least, saving Pyrrha might make it more bearable."
"A victory to your name, to help cope with the loss?" Gawain asked. "I see. I can understand that. If that's what it takes, then I'm with you, all the way."
Mordred smiled at him. "Have I mentioned how much I missed talking to nice people? It's been like, Father's nice, but until we've had a proper talk about the whole… Thing… I can't really talk to him about stuff like this. And Mother is Mother. And Penny's only been around once or twice on business, so I can hardly talk to her."
"Whatever you need." Gawain assured her. "If you've had it easy compared to Pyrrha, I've had it easy compared to you, so feel free to rely on me whenever you need to."
Mordred chuckled. "Please. You're just saying that to feel cool, we both know you'd be lost without me."
"I feel like now might be time to get back to that thing where we punch each other in the face for a while."
Mordred laughed, as the two of them got up and Gawain stepped into the sunlight.
"For real though, thanks." Mordred replied. "I needed this. Needed the chance to talk about things, even if I ain't gonna think about them too closely for a while."
Gawain smiled as he took up a defensive position, and Mordred shifted her stance into one more suited for combat.
Not much longer now, she thought as she hit her brother in the nose. Soon, she'd be on her way to Atlas, trying to help kill an Intoner. And when she was on her way out, if all went well, she'd have Pyrrha Nikos with her.
Atlas was burning. In the stolen airship they were riding in, she had seen the smoke, and she had seen the flames. When they had passed by the outer rim, she had seen the Grimm swarming in numbers, that had given it away for certain for Mordred.
This wasn't anything that was going to blow over anytime soon. People had died. In all likelihood, a lot of innocent people. It was entirely possible that the people that Mordred had thought were innocent, and merely trapped in the Intoner's influence as unwitting pawns.
And in the end, this was only the beginning. None of the Intoners had died, and now they knew they had enemies. A lot of innocent people were going to die from this point on.
But then, that was just the way of the world, wasn't it? Innocent people died all the time. Still, Mordred wanted to be a Hunter. She wanted to be like Arthur's Knights. Someone who fought to keep innocent people safe. Not one who killed people who didn't deserve it.
But then, that was a contradiction. The only enemy you could fight who deserved death for certain were the Grimm, and Hunters had stopped fighting Grimm alone a long time ago. Protecting people meant killing people, and your enemies would rarely be people that you can know deserved to die for you.
So then, the question became: Was Mordred doing the right thing?
Despite everything, she was. Her enemy had sought her torment and death without reason. This wasn't a fight for justice or desire, this was a fight of survival. Under the circumstances, fighting against the Intoners was always the right thing to do.
And, more importantly, Pyrrha. She had been saved.
The state of her body was hard to look at, and Mordred had only been able to see her since she and Penny got to the airship, but she was here. Out of Three's grasp. Alive, and still herself. That, at least, was a victory.
If only that could be said about everything.
"It should have been easy." The woman known as Zero spat. "It should have been simple. I was seconds away from killing Three, and I was so close to killing Two. I should have been able to kill two Intoners today. So how did this end with them all alive!"
She shouted at nothing, as she kicked the wall. The wood splintered, and she pulled her foot out of the new hole as she continued ranting.
"And what the fuck was Two doing there?" She demanded. "Since when was she that powerful? I nearly died! She was going for the kill! That's not how she's supposed to do this!"
"It was an unfortunate outing, Zero." The draconic beast said from outside, looking in from the window. "Your engagement is understandable, but-"
"Enragement." Penny corrected.
"Same thing." the Dragon known as Michael dismissed casually. "But-"
"Oh, Penny, are you talking now?" Zero interrupted, a look of anger in her eye. "Why don't Let's talk about the important things. Stuff that wasn't talked about before. Like, I dunno, Six."
There was silence in the air for a moment, as everyone turned to look at Penny.
"Indeed." The White Fang Faunus with the burns began. "I'm curious to know why there's apparently one more Intoner we didn't know about."
"One you were spending a lot of time with in the last few days too." Gawain brought up. "Surely, you or Ciel had to have known."
"Inaccurate." The dark skinned girl interrupted. "The information that Penny has at any given moment in time is restricted. Until the moment we began battling in earnest, she could have well known nothing. She has made errors, but neither her nor I would have intentionally approached someone we knew to be an Intoner all along."
"So it was never relevant until now, then?" Michael asked from outside. "Never relevant for you to know and inform us of? Even when you were explaining the people we would face in Atlas?
Penny didn't answer, and as most of the room looked at her and waited for answers, some slight movement beside her caught Mordred's eye.
Pyrrha's arm was shaking. She didn't seem to notice it, but as Mordred analysed her, she noticed that Pyrrha didn't seem to be noticing everything. She was staring into the distance, her chest rising and falling erratically as her breathing quickened.
Mordred nudged her brother with her elbow, and pointed Pyrrha out wordlessly. Gawain looked over to her, and then back to Mordred, before giving a slight nod.
The two of them stood up, and Mordred approached Pyrrha, ignoring the rest of the room, to tap her on the shoulder. The half-metal girl looked up in surprise at the touch, and Mordred wordlessly signalled for Pyrrha to follow her.
The rest of the room were back to talking with Penny, and Mordred ignored the conversation, as she, Pyrrha, and Gawain left the room, to find one more private.
The stolen airship seemed to be of the mobile barracks variant. Large, intended to carry armies for days at a time, and with dozens of rooms for people to sleep in. Pulling Pyrrha into one, Mordred turned to the girl, and tried to give a reassuring look.
"Hey, magnets." Mordred said, smiling awkwardly. "You okay?"
Pyrrha looked down, and didn't respond.
"Sorry I took so long." Mordred continued. "I'm sure it's been rough."
Pyrrha took a few steps past Mordred, towards the bed at the side of the room, and sat down on it. Her breathing was calmer now, but was still loud, and seemed forced.
Earlier, she had been wearing a helmet. Whatever had happened when Mordred wasn't looking at her, it had involved Pyrrha losing it. The end result wasn't pretty to look at. The girl's had been, to some degree, replaced with robotic components. One of her eyes had been replaced with a rather ominous cybernetic prosthetic, with a red glow to it. Wires were sewn through her flesh, and there were red marks over her face which seemed to be bloodstains that were left unattended to.
To say nothing of her body- At least one of her arms looked fully mechanical, and Mordred couldn't tell to what degree the other was artificial and how much of it was simply covered in metallic equipment made to resemble it. Her figure was a lot slimmer, a lot of which could probably be put down to not eating much, but some of which would have had to have involved surgery to cut away excess flesh to make her body fit into that robotic torso. Assuming there was any flesh left in there at all, and Pyrrha hadn't just been reduced to a head on a robot body.
It was, in all honesty, grotesque. The last time Mordred had seen her, Pyrrha had seemed like the poster child for a Mistralian warrior, with looks that would usually be reserved for a model more than a fighting warrior. Even if that image was doubtlessly for PR purposes, to enhance the reputation of Pyrrha never being hit in battle, seeing her reduced to this was…
Evidently, Pyrrha had been thinking something similar. Her hand was softly massaging her throat, as she opened her mouth. Unintelligible moans left her mouth, and the expression on her face turned to despair.
Pulling her hand away, Pyrrha looked at it with a mix of horror and sadness. Then, as her eyes closed and her mouth opened as if to try to scream, she latched one hand to her shoulder, and pulled. Metal creaked and cracked, and the arm was torn from her. The pain on Pyrrha's face made it clear that she could feel it, and before Mordred could even properly process what was happening, Pyrrha threw the limb into the air. A moment later, she clenched her fist, and the metal arm crushed inwards.
Mordred followed the arm with her eyes instinctively, before turning back to face Pyrrha. The girl's remaining hand was over her eye, her fingers positioned in a circle around it, and she began to push inwards.
Mordred rushed in, grabbing Pyrrha's hand, and pulled it away from her face.
"Hold on, hold it!" She shouted in shock. "Pyrrha, stop!"
Pyrrha struggled against Mordred's strength, so Mordred let her Semblance loose, pushing more force into her arm to wrestle the limbs away from Pyrrha's face. Once it was by her side, Mordred wrapped her arms around Pyrrha, and held her arm close to her body.
"Fucking- I'm sorry, Pyrrha." Mordred started speaking fast, as she tried to convey her meaning. "I'm sorry I let Three get away with you, I'm sorry I didn't save you earlier, I'm sorry any of this happened. But please, stop. You're only gonna hurt yourself. Even if Three did do all of this to you, it's not worth hurting yourself just to lose everything she did to you."
Pyrrha's head started shaking against Mordred's shoulder, as if she was sobbing.
"I… This is all fucked up, I know." Mordred continued. "And… I dunno if it's gonna get better anytime soon. I don't think things will ever go back to being the way they were before. But we're alive, right? We've got that. You've got that. Tearing yourself apart is just gonna make things harder."
Pyrrha didn't say anything, and at this point, Mordred was fairly sure that she couldn't, anymore.
"We're gonna head back to Mistral." Mordred said. "We've got members of the Council helping us out, they can hide us. Sir Draigwyn can find a mechanic who can replace everything so we can get Three's touch off of you, we can try to fix as much as we can. It's gonna be alright, alright?"
Pyrrha's head nodded into Mordred's shoulder, and the blonde girl let out a sigh of relief.
"Hey." Gawain said, from behind Mordred. "I… Don't really think I can add anything to what Mordred's said. But here, this was on one of the shelves."
Pyrrha and Mordred disengaged, and looked towards Gawain, who held a book out towards them. Sign Language for Dummies.
"I noticed you didn't seem to be able to talk." Gawain said. "And… Well, maybe we can figure out a way to fix that when we get home, but just in case we can't, you might want this. I checked the chapter index, there's a section for talking with one hand, so you'll be able to make it work in the short term, at least."
"And in the long term, we'll see what happens." Mordred added in.
Pyrrha took the book, and rested it on her lap, as she used her one remaining hand to pull it open.
"Lemme see too." Mordred said, positioning herself next to Pyrrha. The cyborg pushed the book over so it rested half on Mordred and half on herself, as she continued flipping pages.
"I'll just leave you two alone, then." Gawain said. "If you need anything… I should be around the place Zero was talking in before, while people are still meeting. Otherwise, I'll take the room opposite from here."
Mordred gave him a thumbs up, and out of her line of sight, she heard a door opening and close.Neither she nor Pyrrha said anything, as they looked through the book, and started working on the basics of nonverbal communication.
A lot had gone wrong, these last few months. A lot had gone wrong today. Mordred had suffered a bit, and Pyrrha had suffered nonstop. But in the end, they had survived. Even if it wasn't over, not by a longshot…
Wasn't that enough of a victory?
[X] Perfection: Freak of Nature
[X] Contract: Quicksilver Assassin
[X] Sacrifice: Terror of the Unknown
Today was supposed to be a good day.
When she woke up this morning, the worst case scenario that Mordred could predict was that she would lose in the final round of the tournament. Even in that situation, it wasn't all bad. She didn't have all the glory or all the attention, but she would have still made it far enough for the Kingdom to see her in action. She still would have been second only to the Invincible Girl.
Stripping away that allure of invincibility, earning a victory that couldn't be disputed, becoming the champion and beating Pyrrha Nikos? It wasn't something any normal person thought was possible.
So she did that, and she won. She was the best. Everyone saw her hurt the untouchable champion. Everyone saw her win. People would want her autograph, her siblings would want to congratulate her, even her mother would have to hand it to her, that this was impressive. Maybe even…
...Well, there was no point thinking about that now.
Not when what should have been one of the best days of her life turned into a nightmare.
As she hung over the shoulder of Pyrrha Nikos, Mordred tried not to think about how much pain she would be in once the adrenaline wore off. She couldn't even walk as she was right now, her Aura was gone, and apparently a bloody lunatic had enough sway over the colosseum to smuggle in Grimm and torture rooms, so as far as either of the girls knew, every single person in the building was a threat.
That wasn't even a hypothetical concern, at some point. Pyrrha had looked ahead and seen one of the bastards who had taken the two of them to that Three woman earlier, and he had definitely seen her. The two of them were the finest two warriors to enter into the Mistral Regional Tournament in years, and they had been reduced to cowering in a room and hoping they wouldn't be found.
Pathetic.
"I have a plan." Pyrrha decided. Mordred snapped out of her thoughts to focus on her, and the redhead continued. "He only saw my head. He wouldn't have seen you. And if I fight him, he'll be too distracted to see you sneaking by. The window was right behind him. Do you think you can move enough to go get help?"
...Was she seriously suggesting…
"You're not thinking of fighting without your Aura-"
"I'm in a better condition." Pyrrha interrupted, her voice falling to a whisper. "And I haven't seen you use your Semblance since this all started, so I'm assuming it relies on your Aura to work. I'm more likely to walk away from a fight, and we don't have time to waste arguing."
There were footsteps from outside the room, and the sounds of a door opening and closing. The man was looking for them.
"He's right there." Pyrrha's voice was low, and soft, but Mordred was still on edge. She'd learnt from her mother enough times that whispering isn't always as subtle as you think. "I can distract him. Can you get away?"
...As much as she hated to admit it, Pyrrha was right. Mordred wasn't in a good enough shape to hold someone off, and under these circumstances, Pyrrha trying to run with Mordred would just get them both caught.
If just one of them could get out, they could get help. Three had wanted them alive, so as long as Pyrrha held them off for long enough to get out of the building and to help, they'd both get away like this.
Mordred nodded her head, and Pyrrha let her down to the ground, before moving to the door.
She hated it. She hated the idea of her running while someone else bought her time, she hated the idea of leaving someone behind when she knew she could beat them in a fight, and she hated that she didn't have a choice in the matter.
She was going to have to make it up to Pyrrha when they got out of here.
The door opened, and Pyrrha sprang into action. Ducking out of the way of the man's potential sight as she was, Mordred didn't see the exact interaction, but the opening exchange had lead to Pyrrha forcing the conflict out of the room, and that was all she needed.
Pushing herself up, Mordred tried to walk. She hadn't tried since her legs got busted, but-
Immediately, they gave out on her, but for a moment at least, she had been able to stand. Pushing against the wall, Mordred forced herself upright, and grabbed onto the doorway. Pulling herself towards it, she tried to figure out how quickly she could move upright.
Crawling on the ground, having to drag her whole weight across the ground to get to a window, that would be slow. If she could just push through the pain and lean against the wall, if she could walk rather than crawl, then she might be able to go faster. At the very least, if it didn't work, she'd be able to just fall over again.
Stumbling through the doorway, Mordred saw Pyrrha fighting the bastard who had captured them for Three, but pushed onwards. The sudden blue light from down the hallway didn't concern her, she just had to get through this door, shut it behind her, and get away.
Forcing herself onwards, Mordred dedicated herself to focusing on her task, blocking out anything else. Just need to keep moving.
Get through the door. Shut it behind her. The window to outside was just down the hall, the sounds of Pyrrha's fight was muffled by the door, and all she had to do was move.
As long as she moved, she could escape. As long as she escaped, she could survive. Mordred didn't know what was waiting for her if Three caught her, but judging by all the monsters she kept downstairs, it wasn't anything pretty. If she was caught, she was as good as dead.
Mordred shifted her weight forward a little too soon, put a little too much weight on one of her legs, and they gave out from under her. Hitting the ground, Mordred pushed her arms beneath her, and used them to fling her forward.
This was definitely faster. She was making good time leaning against the wall, but the effort she was putting in meant she'd slip up sooner or later, and getting up would waste more time than just crawling the rest of the way.
The window was right there, and she just needed to make it there, and then make it through. Almost…
The top of her head hit the wall beneath the window, and Mordred pushed against it, as she tried to use it to help stand upright again. If she could get up high enough, she could just fall through the window, and then…
There.
Falling out the window, Mordred cried out as she felt her legs hit the ground. Pain laced through her body like a needle pulling thread, and it took her some time before she could push through the pain.
Her vision was going blurry, but it was fine. She just needed to-
"Are you okay?"
A soothing voice spoke from just out of her line of sight, and Mordred turned her head to face the speaker. With her vision blurry, it took her a while to figure out who she was looking at. In the end, the missing arm and the voice was what gave it away.
"Sir… Bedivere?"
"What's happened?" The man asked, a note of panic in his otherwise calming voice. "How did you get like thi-"
His voice cut off suddenly, considing with a faint tremble in the air, that Mordred couldn't really describe.
The one-armed Knight grabbed the girl, and pulled her away from the building, placing his body between her and it. A moment later, the building burst, an explosion erupting through the air and throwing the two of them away. The Knight's aura flickered, and the force of the explosion slammed the two of them into the ground.
Mordred felt the back of her head hit something hard, and the world faded to darkness.
~~~~~
It was cold and dark, when Mordred awoke. The bed beneath her was stiff and uncomfortable, and the sheets around her itched.There was an unfamiliar ceiling above her head, but the details on the wood gave it away. Dark and foreboding. Mother's favourite.
Sitting up in the bed, Mordred noted that her wounds had been healed. She flexed the muscles in her arms and legs for a moment to test them, before she forced herself to stand.
She had woken up in a dark room without windows, in a bed that looked like it was at least a hundred years old, with her wounds healed and without any medical equipment or people tending to her. She wasn't in any kind of hospital, and whatever the reason was, Mother had clearly kept her here out of the way for a reason.
With that in mind, her next move was clear. Find Mother. She'd be the only one here, and she had some agenda in mind, so Mordred would have to deal with that if she was going to get someone to help Pyrrha.
Assuming it wasn't too late. Her wounds had been pretty bad, so if they had healed now, it could have been months. Maybe Pyrrha was already saved. Maybe Pyrrha was already lost.
Mordred felt her grip tighten reflexively at the thought, and took a moment to try to pry her hand apart again.
Only one way to find out.
Walking away from the bed and pushing open the door, Mordred started to look for her mother.
Finding her was simple enough. It was just a matter of following the hallway until she found a room with some light in it. Pushing into that, Mordred entered the room.
"Mother." She called.
The woman in the centre of the room held up a hand, a finger raised, to tell Mordred to wait. In her other hand, she held a book, her head tilting left and right slightly as she finished her page.
"Daughter." The woman replied. "How long have you been awake?"
"About three minutes." Mordred replied. "Where are we?"
"Straight to the point, I see." Mother sighed. "We are in a cabin in the woods. Nobody knows of its existence but me. After what you have gone through, I saw it prudent to keep you somewhere safe. It wouldn't do to lose my precious daughter."
"You know what's happened?" Mordred asked.
"Of course I do." Mother answered ."Once I saw how broken your body was, I simply had to know. I hope that Three woman didn't leave you too scarred."
She knew even that much?
In that case, there was no point beating around the bush.
"What happened to Pyrrha?" Mordred demanded.
"The runner up?" Mother mused. "Within the Intoner's grasp still, I believe. If she's still alive, I'm sure she wishes otherwise."
"What?" Mordred shouted, her hand curling into a fist. A bolt of her Semblances energy curled down her arm in anger, striking out instinctively at the air beyond her knuckles, and the cackling energy was the only sound to be heard for some time.
"Don't be like that around me." Mother's voice was cold as she admonished her daughter. "I hardly had any role in the matter."
"Nobody saved her?" Mordred shouted back. "Why?"
"Nobody was able to find her." The woman replied. "The Intoner covered her tracks well."
"Then how do you know?" Mordred asked.
"How I know things is my secret, daughter." The woman replied. "Though speaking of which, you must be more cautious in the future. Cans are sealed shut to prevent the drink from being tampered with. Drinking one left open is just asking to be drugged."
"For once in your life, just answer a question." Mordred snapped. "Are you just incapable of being helpful?"
"Don't talk to me about helpful, Mordred." The woman snapped back. "I have helped. The Intoner's agents are scouring the Kingdom, and the only reason you are still alive is that I found you before Sir Bedivere took you to a public hospital. Don't accuse me of being uncaring because you are incapable of being grateful, daughter."
This was going nowhere. Mordred fell silent, and gave Mother a moment to enjoy the satisfaction of an apparent victory before she continued talking.
"Believe it or not, Mordred, I only want the best for you." The woman continued. "And you have powerful enemies, now. That Intoner was not alone, and if anything, she was child's play compared to her peers. From what I've been able to track, one of them has already integrated themselves into the upper government of Atlas."
"I don't give a damn about that." Mordred replied. "What's going to happen to Pyrrha?"
"You should care more about this, Mordred." Mother scolded her. "Forget about Pyrrha for now. If the public ever finds out you're alive, your life is as good as over. Give it a few more months, and confirmation of your life could end with Atlas itself declaring war over you."
"...What the hell kind of influence does an Intoner have?" Mordred asked, a bitter tone to her voice.
"Enough to destroy the world." Mother replied. "Worrying about someone in their grasp is a fools task."
"I'm not going to forget about Pyrrha." Mordred replied. "She's the only reason I'm alive. I'm not about to forget about that."
"You've known her for a single day." Mother replied. "I raised you better than this."
"You barely raised me at all." Mordred's voice found an edge again as she growled at her mother. "Once I was old enough to walk, I was basically self raised. And even when you did act as a parent, you aren't even you most of the time."
"Mordred…" The woman's warning was clear, but the girl wasn't finished yet.
"Who am I even talking to right now?" Mordred asked. "We figured it out that there's at least three of you in there. Am I talking to the Warrior, the Witch, or the H-"
Pain shot through Mordred's stomach like an invisible fist to the stomach, and she doubled over, nearly losing her footing in the process. Forcing herself to stand upright out of spite alone, the girl raised her head to look at her mother.
"I will not tolerate this any longer." Her mother snarled. "Twice already, you have shown your temper. Twice, you have lost control. Was it your victory in the ring, or humiliation outside of it, that made you think this was acceptable?"
"I ain't putting up with this shit now." Mordred cut back. "Pyrrha's still in the Intoner's grasp. I'm going to save her. Are you going to help, or are you going to call me a failure for caring about people?"
For a long time, the only sound was the red lightning coursing around Mordred, as mother and daughter glared daggers at each other. A look on disgust on Mother's face was met with unrestrained anger, and for a long time, that's all there was.
Turning away from her daughter, the woman spoke with barely concealed contempt. "The Lord of the Round has requested your presence. I will inform you of his presence. One of his Knights will be along shortly to escort you to him."
The Lord of-
Despite everything, Mordred found herself smiling.
Under normal circumstances, she'd be elated at a chance to meet him. Even now, with the worry about Pyrrha hanging over her head, the concept filled her with hope. Not wanting the new mood to spoil, the girl turned to the door.
Neither mother nor daughter spoke to one another, as one left the room and another continued her novel.
~~~~~
Clad in a hooded robe that concealed her features, Mordred Gwynarian entered what was once the domain of a king. An ancient castle dating back to before the days of Mistral as a unified Kingdom, maintained to the modern day as the base of operations for the Knights of the Round. A collection of Hunters that ranked amongst the greatest in Mistral, known for their loyalty to their Lord, descendant of the ancient kings.
Sitting in the throne of the castle, flanked by two of his Knights and nobody else, sat Arthur Draigwyn. One of the eight generals who sat on the Mistral council, and of them, perhaps the one that commanded the most military power. He sat with a gentle look, a calming smile, even as his gilded hair and regal cape gave him an air of authority.
Standing to his left was the one-armed Knight Bedivere, who's skill in the blade was matched only by his beauty. His cloak covered the space where his missing arm would have been, and his present arm rested by the hilt of his blade.
To his right was the Knight Kay, a less renown, but still famous figure in Mistral. He was perhaps the least combative of the Hunters who had been selected for the position as Knight of the Round, but his presence represented the will of Lord Draigwyn, and when he spoke, people listened.
The two of them were the first to have joined Arthur's honour guard, and it was well known that there was nothing that people could say to Arthur in private that wouldn't eventually make it to the two of them. Even confidential meetings with representatives of other Kingdoms didn't escape their ears.
If the three of them were alone in the room, then it was as close as possible to a private meeting that one got to Arthur, regarding important matters.
The door to the room was sealed shut behind Mordred, and the girl removed her hood.
"Mordred Gwynarian." Arthur spoke, as he stood from his throne. "I am glad to see you well."
"Lord Draigwyn." Mordred replied. "I'm honoured."
Looking to the knights either side of him, Arthur sighed.
"Please." He replied. "You've been through a lot. The formalities are unneeded. Call me whatever you want."
"Is that so?" Mordred asked. "Very well, then. Father."
There was a moment of silence, and Mordred studied the three faces for reactions.
None of them seem surprised. They all already knew, then?
Once upon a time, this would have been the most important thing to Mordred. She hadn't gotten all the facts straight on how that happened, yet. She knew that her parents were close enough on a family tree that it'd be a scandal if it went public, and knowing her mother, chances are that it was her fault.
But for now, Mordred got the feeling that there was more important things to discuss here.
"You wanted to talk to me?" Mordred asked, changing the subject.
"Indeed." Arthur confirmed. "I've heard of what happened from your mother. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that."
"I'm still here." Mordred replied. "Pyrrha's not. I'm not the one who needs to be apologies to."
"I understand." Arthur confirmed. "How much has Morgan told you about the Intoners, Mordred?"
"There's more than one." Mordred replied. "One of them's got influence in Atlas."
"Then you should be enlightened on what the situation is." Arthur continued. He turned his head back, towards his Knights. "Kay?"
The Knight in question cleared his throat, and pressed a button on his gauntlet. A holographic image appeared in the air before him, hovering above Arthur, with a depiction of five women.
"The Intoners are probably the most dangerous people on the planet." Kay explained. "A single one of them could kill everyone in this room fairly easily, and while there's probably enough firepower in Mistral to kill one, their ability to subvert combatants means that one would likely be enough to cripple a Kingdom if needed. Needless to say, someone's who's greatest achievement is winning a tournament for children isn't exactly comparable."
"Be nice, Kay." Arthur muttered, soft enough that Mordred didn't think she was supposed to overhear it, before he continued.
"Perhaps under some circumstances, you could survive fighting an Intoner." He began. "From what we've gathered, Three, for instance, wouldn't take a threat seriously enough until she was close to death, and could be escaped. But if you tried to save Miss Nikos from her, I doubt she would allow that."
"And that's assuming one Intoner." Kay continued. "At this point, as far as we can tell, there are at least three in Atlas, including Three. Their leader, One, is the most dangerous person on the planet on her own, and she has access to Schnee resources and Atlas military resources on top of everything."
"So what's the point of this?" Mordred asked. "You're telling me I can't do anything? That I can't save Pyrrha so I shouldn't try?"
"That was not my intent." Arthur replied. "But perhaps now is the point where we should stop beating around the bush."
Stepping closer to Mordred, to only a few metres away from her, the man extended a hand.
"The Intoners, left to their own, will cause unprecedented chaos." Arthur decreed. "And I cannot sit idly by while that happens. Mordred Gwynarian, I want you to understand what is at stake. And I want you to know there is no shame in stepping aside."
Mordred took a moment to consider his words. "You intend to fight? You intend to save Pyrrha yourself?"
"If I must." Arthur replied. "Open defiance against the Intoners right now would cost a lot, but if there is no other way, I would rather give everything to ensure their evil is stopped, rather than wait and leave their victims to suffer."
"I want to help." Mordred replied. "They're after me already anyway, right? Tell me what I need to do and I'll do it."
Arthur looked down, and sighed. "You are young, far too young. But you are right. You are already a target, and there are already few enough people in the world who would oppose the Intoners this early. Which is why I want to show you where to find allies."
"This is my cue, right?"
Mordred spun around at the sudden new voice, and heard the sound of blades being pulled from their sheathes from the two Knights by the throne as she did so. Without a weapon on her, she resorted to pulling her hands into a fist, and taking a moment to try to force her Semblance into action.
By the door, standing halfway between Mordred and the exit, was an orange haired girl with a pink bow in her hair, and a greenish-grey dress that was several shades lighter than her eyes.
"Salutations!" The girl chirped, ignoring the people in the room who had drawn their weapons. "My name is Penny Polendina."
"At ease, men." Arthur called. "You too Mordred. She's an ally."
There was a moment of silence, as Mordred unclenched her fist and calmed herself, and she heard the two blades return to their sheathes behind her.
"I'm sorry about what you've been through, Mordred." The girl said. "I wish I could have prevented it. I can help you fix this now, however."
"Could you provide a more complete explanation, please?" Sir Bedivere called from his position. "Who are you, for instance?"
"Someone who knows a lot about the Intoners." She replied. "Situationly, at least."
"And what does that mean?" Mordred asked.
"It would take far too long to explain right now." The girl replied. "I'm allowed to know as much as I need to know, for as long as I need to know it. For now, all anyone here needs to know is that you're not alone."
Nobody interrupted the girl, so she continued. "Three isn't the only Intoner to have been sloppy. Four left a survivor while hunting the White Fang, and by now the entire organisation knows. And Sir Draigwyn is not the only person to be waiting for their chance to strike at the Intoners. It should only be a few months before enough pieces are aligned to save Pyrrha, Mordred. Trust me, and I can ensure everyone's efforts are coordinated."
"The White Fang?" Mordred asked. "You expect me to work with terror-"
"The Intoner Four has a passionate hatred for all Faunus, and when a species is at risk, even terrorists can put aside their objectives in favour of avoiding extinction." Penny interrupted them. "And besides, as bad as they can be, I am sure you would rather have them with you, rather than face an Intoner alone."
"...Tch. Fine." Mordred replied.
"We should find somewhere else to speak." Penny said suddenly, looking around. "Sir Draigwyn, I believe you are due to meet with the council, soon. Caesar was seeking to prepare a tournament a few months from now, wasn't he?"
"My absence would be noted if I remained." Arthur mused. "Mordred, would you have an issue speaking with Penny in private? There is a secret tunnel behind the throne that leads to a location nobody will be able to find, so you may discuss this there, if you wish."
"Fine, I guess." Mordred replied. "I want to know as much as possible."
Arthur nodded, and began to move to leave the room. His two Knights followed after a moment, jogging to catch up. As they did so, Arthur stopped, and looked back.
"Mordred?" He asked. "If you need to talk to me for whatever reason, don't be afraid to just come to me. I suspect there is a lot we will need to worry about, once the initial shock of the situation wears out."
"Probably." Mordred replied, as she made her way to and past the throne. "I'll be seeing you around then, dad."
Somehow, saying it so casually made her feel happy. Looking back at Arthur, she noticed a faint smile on his lips as well, even if his eyes seemed clouded by some past regret.
Pushing aside the throne to find the secret passage, Mordred heard Penny enter after her, and seal the passage shut as they did so.
~~~~~
Regardless of how you spent your time, it will pass. The busiest man in the world would find that time will not slow for him, and if one does not use their time, it will move on without you. As the days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months, Mordred found that she had done very little with her time.The plan was in motion, it was set. Her father and mother both had a seat on the Mistral Council, and knew enough of what was coming to make the plan. There was something coming in Atlas, and when it came, it would be time to act and prepare.
Mordred's armour had been repaired, and her sword returned. Even if she had to train in secret, she had been training, preparing.
According to Mother, the Intoners were planning on drawing students of each Kingdom to them, to ensure that all eyes were on them when they began acting. This, she said, would be the time to act. It would be easy enough to rig the system and ensure that they could pick one person to bring to the heart of the Intoner's domain.
It could not be Mordred herself, for she still needed to be hidden. But Mother had thought ahead, and by the time Mordred knew about the plan, someone else had already been brought in to fill the role.
Still, at least this means someone else knew about Mordred. At least this meant she had someone she could talk to from time to time.
Smiling, Mordred looked over to the door, as her brother Gawain entered.
"Hey." She called. "Get over here, sunshine. I need something to practice punching for a bit and there's a window for you to get your solar power from if you need it."
"It's nice to see you too, sister." Gawain replied, rolling his eyes. "It's been, what, three months now, since we've had a conversation which didn't start with you proposing a fight?"
"What, did I miss one at some point? I was counting three years at this point."
"There was the one time you needed me to lend you money." Gawain replied.
Mordred snapped her fingers. "Yep, that was it. Foolish of me, I shoulda just beaten you up for it."
Gawain gave a soft smile, before taking a seat. "So how have you been recently, sister? We didn't get much time to talk when Mother showed me this place last time."
"About as good as I can be under the circumstances." Mordred replied. "How're the twins? Lamorak? Life in general?"
"They miss you." Gawain replied. "I haven't been able to tell them about you, unfortunately. Gareth locked the door to your room so nobody can mess with it, so I think she's still expecting you back any day now."
Mordred sighed. "Yeah, I miss them too."
"More importantly, I don't think you properly answered the question." Gawain changed the subject. "How good can you be, under the circumstances? I can't imagine it's been too good for you."
It took a moment for the girl to reply, after that.
"It's been pretty rough." She admitted. "Like, honestly, I've been trying not to think about it too much. Focus on what I need to do and worry about what's happened later."
"I don't think that's healthy, Mordred." Gawain warned. "From what I've heard, you went through an ordeal. I don't think you want to just repress that and hope nothing comes of it."
"I know I can't just do that." Mordred accepted. "But… Well, there's a bit much to handle, isn't there? I spent so long getting to be the best I could be so I could meet father and get him to acknowledge me, and in the end, it didn't really matter. I met him because of something that happened to me, not because of something I did. And I didn't even really get to talk to him about… Everything."
Gawain didn't say anything, so the girl went on. "And like, I got it easy, all things considered. Three was doing some shit down there, and Pyrrha's still with her. At this point, by the time I go in, she might well be some kind of monster. And… It could've been me, just as easily."
Breathing was suddenly hard, for some reason, and Mordred took a moment to calm herself before she continued.
"Maybe it'd be good if I could go see a therapist." Mordred continued. "But I just… Don't wanna think about it for now. Pyrrha's still in danger, and I owe her. After I save her, I can think about what's been going on. I get the feeling that thinking about everything's gonna end in me falling apart, so at the very least, saving Pyrrha might make it more bearable."
"A victory to your name, to help cope with the loss?" Gawain asked. "I see. I can understand that. If that's what it takes, then I'm with you, all the way."
Mordred smiled at him. "Have I mentioned how much I missed talking to nice people? It's been like, Father's nice, but until we've had a proper talk about the whole… Thing… I can't really talk to him about stuff like this. And Mother is Mother. And Penny's only been around once or twice on business, so I can hardly talk to her."
"Whatever you need." Gawain assured her. "If you've had it easy compared to Pyrrha, I've had it easy compared to you, so feel free to rely on me whenever you need to."
Mordred chuckled. "Please. You're just saying that to feel cool, we both know you'd be lost without me."
"I feel like now might be time to get back to that thing where we punch each other in the face for a while."
Mordred laughed, as the two of them got up and Gawain stepped into the sunlight.
"For real though, thanks." Mordred replied. "I needed this. Needed the chance to talk about things, even if I ain't gonna think about them too closely for a while."
Gawain smiled as he took up a defensive position, and Mordred shifted her stance into one more suited for combat.
Not much longer now, she thought as she hit her brother in the nose. Soon, she'd be on her way to Atlas, trying to help kill an Intoner. And when she was on her way out, if all went well, she'd have Pyrrha Nikos with her.
~~~~~
The day had come and gone, and as Mordred tried to rein in her exhaustion, she took the moment to reflect on how it had gone.Atlas was burning. In the stolen airship they were riding in, she had seen the smoke, and she had seen the flames. When they had passed by the outer rim, she had seen the Grimm swarming in numbers, that had given it away for certain for Mordred.
This wasn't anything that was going to blow over anytime soon. People had died. In all likelihood, a lot of innocent people. It was entirely possible that the people that Mordred had thought were innocent, and merely trapped in the Intoner's influence as unwitting pawns.
And in the end, this was only the beginning. None of the Intoners had died, and now they knew they had enemies. A lot of innocent people were going to die from this point on.
But then, that was just the way of the world, wasn't it? Innocent people died all the time. Still, Mordred wanted to be a Hunter. She wanted to be like Arthur's Knights. Someone who fought to keep innocent people safe. Not one who killed people who didn't deserve it.
But then, that was a contradiction. The only enemy you could fight who deserved death for certain were the Grimm, and Hunters had stopped fighting Grimm alone a long time ago. Protecting people meant killing people, and your enemies would rarely be people that you can know deserved to die for you.
So then, the question became: Was Mordred doing the right thing?
Despite everything, she was. Her enemy had sought her torment and death without reason. This wasn't a fight for justice or desire, this was a fight of survival. Under the circumstances, fighting against the Intoners was always the right thing to do.
And, more importantly, Pyrrha. She had been saved.
The state of her body was hard to look at, and Mordred had only been able to see her since she and Penny got to the airship, but she was here. Out of Three's grasp. Alive, and still herself. That, at least, was a victory.
If only that could be said about everything.
"It should have been easy." The woman known as Zero spat. "It should have been simple. I was seconds away from killing Three, and I was so close to killing Two. I should have been able to kill two Intoners today. So how did this end with them all alive!"
She shouted at nothing, as she kicked the wall. The wood splintered, and she pulled her foot out of the new hole as she continued ranting.
"And what the fuck was Two doing there?" She demanded. "Since when was she that powerful? I nearly died! She was going for the kill! That's not how she's supposed to do this!"
"It was an unfortunate outing, Zero." The draconic beast said from outside, looking in from the window. "Your engagement is understandable, but-"
"Enragement." Penny corrected.
"Same thing." the Dragon known as Michael dismissed casually. "But-"
"Oh, Penny, are you talking now?" Zero interrupted, a look of anger in her eye. "Why don't Let's talk about the important things. Stuff that wasn't talked about before. Like, I dunno, Six."
There was silence in the air for a moment, as everyone turned to look at Penny.
"Indeed." The White Fang Faunus with the burns began. "I'm curious to know why there's apparently one more Intoner we didn't know about."
"One you were spending a lot of time with in the last few days too." Gawain brought up. "Surely, you or Ciel had to have known."
"Inaccurate." The dark skinned girl interrupted. "The information that Penny has at any given moment in time is restricted. Until the moment we began battling in earnest, she could have well known nothing. She has made errors, but neither her nor I would have intentionally approached someone we knew to be an Intoner all along."
"So it was never relevant until now, then?" Michael asked from outside. "Never relevant for you to know and inform us of? Even when you were explaining the people we would face in Atlas?
Penny didn't answer, and as most of the room looked at her and waited for answers, some slight movement beside her caught Mordred's eye.
Pyrrha's arm was shaking. She didn't seem to notice it, but as Mordred analysed her, she noticed that Pyrrha didn't seem to be noticing everything. She was staring into the distance, her chest rising and falling erratically as her breathing quickened.
Mordred nudged her brother with her elbow, and pointed Pyrrha out wordlessly. Gawain looked over to her, and then back to Mordred, before giving a slight nod.
The two of them stood up, and Mordred approached Pyrrha, ignoring the rest of the room, to tap her on the shoulder. The half-metal girl looked up in surprise at the touch, and Mordred wordlessly signalled for Pyrrha to follow her.
The rest of the room were back to talking with Penny, and Mordred ignored the conversation, as she, Pyrrha, and Gawain left the room, to find one more private.
The stolen airship seemed to be of the mobile barracks variant. Large, intended to carry armies for days at a time, and with dozens of rooms for people to sleep in. Pulling Pyrrha into one, Mordred turned to the girl, and tried to give a reassuring look.
"Hey, magnets." Mordred said, smiling awkwardly. "You okay?"
Pyrrha looked down, and didn't respond.
"Sorry I took so long." Mordred continued. "I'm sure it's been rough."
Pyrrha took a few steps past Mordred, towards the bed at the side of the room, and sat down on it. Her breathing was calmer now, but was still loud, and seemed forced.
Earlier, she had been wearing a helmet. Whatever had happened when Mordred wasn't looking at her, it had involved Pyrrha losing it. The end result wasn't pretty to look at. The girl's had been, to some degree, replaced with robotic components. One of her eyes had been replaced with a rather ominous cybernetic prosthetic, with a red glow to it. Wires were sewn through her flesh, and there were red marks over her face which seemed to be bloodstains that were left unattended to.
To say nothing of her body- At least one of her arms looked fully mechanical, and Mordred couldn't tell to what degree the other was artificial and how much of it was simply covered in metallic equipment made to resemble it. Her figure was a lot slimmer, a lot of which could probably be put down to not eating much, but some of which would have had to have involved surgery to cut away excess flesh to make her body fit into that robotic torso. Assuming there was any flesh left in there at all, and Pyrrha hadn't just been reduced to a head on a robot body.
It was, in all honesty, grotesque. The last time Mordred had seen her, Pyrrha had seemed like the poster child for a Mistralian warrior, with looks that would usually be reserved for a model more than a fighting warrior. Even if that image was doubtlessly for PR purposes, to enhance the reputation of Pyrrha never being hit in battle, seeing her reduced to this was…
Evidently, Pyrrha had been thinking something similar. Her hand was softly massaging her throat, as she opened her mouth. Unintelligible moans left her mouth, and the expression on her face turned to despair.
Pulling her hand away, Pyrrha looked at it with a mix of horror and sadness. Then, as her eyes closed and her mouth opened as if to try to scream, she latched one hand to her shoulder, and pulled. Metal creaked and cracked, and the arm was torn from her. The pain on Pyrrha's face made it clear that she could feel it, and before Mordred could even properly process what was happening, Pyrrha threw the limb into the air. A moment later, she clenched her fist, and the metal arm crushed inwards.
Mordred followed the arm with her eyes instinctively, before turning back to face Pyrrha. The girl's remaining hand was over her eye, her fingers positioned in a circle around it, and she began to push inwards.
Mordred rushed in, grabbing Pyrrha's hand, and pulled it away from her face.
"Hold on, hold it!" She shouted in shock. "Pyrrha, stop!"
Pyrrha struggled against Mordred's strength, so Mordred let her Semblance loose, pushing more force into her arm to wrestle the limbs away from Pyrrha's face. Once it was by her side, Mordred wrapped her arms around Pyrrha, and held her arm close to her body.
"Fucking- I'm sorry, Pyrrha." Mordred started speaking fast, as she tried to convey her meaning. "I'm sorry I let Three get away with you, I'm sorry I didn't save you earlier, I'm sorry any of this happened. But please, stop. You're only gonna hurt yourself. Even if Three did do all of this to you, it's not worth hurting yourself just to lose everything she did to you."
Pyrrha's head started shaking against Mordred's shoulder, as if she was sobbing.
"I… This is all fucked up, I know." Mordred continued. "And… I dunno if it's gonna get better anytime soon. I don't think things will ever go back to being the way they were before. But we're alive, right? We've got that. You've got that. Tearing yourself apart is just gonna make things harder."
Pyrrha didn't say anything, and at this point, Mordred was fairly sure that she couldn't, anymore.
"We're gonna head back to Mistral." Mordred said. "We've got members of the Council helping us out, they can hide us. Sir Draigwyn can find a mechanic who can replace everything so we can get Three's touch off of you, we can try to fix as much as we can. It's gonna be alright, alright?"
Pyrrha's head nodded into Mordred's shoulder, and the blonde girl let out a sigh of relief.
"Hey." Gawain said, from behind Mordred. "I… Don't really think I can add anything to what Mordred's said. But here, this was on one of the shelves."
Pyrrha and Mordred disengaged, and looked towards Gawain, who held a book out towards them. Sign Language for Dummies.
"I noticed you didn't seem to be able to talk." Gawain said. "And… Well, maybe we can figure out a way to fix that when we get home, but just in case we can't, you might want this. I checked the chapter index, there's a section for talking with one hand, so you'll be able to make it work in the short term, at least."
"And in the long term, we'll see what happens." Mordred added in.
Pyrrha took the book, and rested it on her lap, as she used her one remaining hand to pull it open.
"Lemme see too." Mordred said, positioning herself next to Pyrrha. The cyborg pushed the book over so it rested half on Mordred and half on herself, as she continued flipping pages.
"I'll just leave you two alone, then." Gawain said. "If you need anything… I should be around the place Zero was talking in before, while people are still meeting. Otherwise, I'll take the room opposite from here."
Mordred gave him a thumbs up, and out of her line of sight, she heard a door opening and close.Neither she nor Pyrrha said anything, as they looked through the book, and started working on the basics of nonverbal communication.
A lot had gone wrong, these last few months. A lot had gone wrong today. Mordred had suffered a bit, and Pyrrha had suffered nonstop. But in the end, they had survived. Even if it wasn't over, not by a longshot…
Wasn't that enough of a victory?
[X] Perfection: Freak of Nature
[X] Contract: Quicksilver Assassin
[X] Sacrifice: Terror of the Unknown
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- Location
- CA
Hurray, more Pyrrha!
...
Aw man, this is really really messed up, ain't it. I'm happy to see Mordred and Pyrrha reunited, but knowing that we will most likely never get to imagine them dulcet tones of "I'm sorry!" is bittersweet indeed. I really like that both sides of the conflicts, everyone is suffering in their own way and their struggles are valid, not one side trumping the other (if only because the RWBY cast on the Intoner side make up for the Intoners, semi(?)-sans Two). Nearly everyone here who joins up with Zero do it because an Intoner wronged them and caused them intense suffering ... but the full scope on the exceptions are still obscure, I see.
[X] Contract: Quicksilver Assassin
...
Aw man, this is really really messed up, ain't it. I'm happy to see Mordred and Pyrrha reunited, but knowing that we will most likely never get to imagine them dulcet tones of "I'm sorry!" is bittersweet indeed. I really like that both sides of the conflicts, everyone is suffering in their own way and their struggles are valid, not one side trumping the other (if only because the RWBY cast on the Intoner side make up for the Intoners, semi(?)-sans Two). Nearly everyone here who joins up with Zero do it because an Intoner wronged them and caused them intense suffering ... but the full scope on the exceptions are still obscure, I see.
[X] Contract: Quicksilver Assassin
- Location
- singapore
[X] Sacrifice: Terror of the Unknown
Alexander89
Pet the pretty kitty? Y/N
- Location
- Italy
[X] Sacrifice: Terror of the Unknown
The trauma train is picking up speed not-stop.
The trauma train is picking up speed not-stop.
SoothingCoffee
Umumumu
- Location
- The Library
[X] Contract: Quicksilver Assassin
Exterminatus
Tsukumogami User
- Location
- Southern California
[X] Sacrifice: Terror of the Unknown
Dream Logic
An offseason swallow
- Location
- In transit
[X] Sacrifice: Terror of the unknown
I love the way this quest deals with pain both physical and emotional (especially how they deal and feel about it in the immediate aftermath) and a few random thoughts.
- I was really rooting for Summer to drag Indigo down with her as a traitors reward. Also I wonder what color Saga is? Because I think in DR3 the intoners are implied to be based on people she met. Maybe indigo is the template for 3?
-How much pain did Pyrah feel when she started crushing the prosthetics? Because not having touch/pressure/pain sensors would be inefficient and three doesn't seem the type to skimp on that. Much less the other effects on the rest of her body.
-Mordred's commentary seems to imply that Arthur and Morgan aren't brother and sister by blood but are probably first cousins instead. (It makes it seem like interfamily marriage happens for titles but that doesn't work with siblings and first cousins would make more sense from a scandal perspective)
-JesusChristBanditBoss. If this was what she got for an escape what would have been the aura punishment? Skinning, nail pulling and eventually being posted outside blindfolded and deafened waiting for a Grimm to kill you until the dawn where it repeats with a worse torture set?
- I said it before but I feel more pity towards four then any of the other intoners. It's just that of them all she seems like she was born with impulses that would drive her to hurt herself and others and there's a good chance One lets that play out because it makes it easy to keep Four under her thumb.
I love the way this quest deals with pain both physical and emotional (especially how they deal and feel about it in the immediate aftermath) and a few random thoughts.
- I was really rooting for Summer to drag Indigo down with her as a traitors reward. Also I wonder what color Saga is? Because I think in DR3 the intoners are implied to be based on people she met. Maybe indigo is the template for 3?
-How much pain did Pyrah feel when she started crushing the prosthetics? Because not having touch/pressure/pain sensors would be inefficient and three doesn't seem the type to skimp on that. Much less the other effects on the rest of her body.
-Mordred's commentary seems to imply that Arthur and Morgan aren't brother and sister by blood but are probably first cousins instead. (It makes it seem like interfamily marriage happens for titles but that doesn't work with siblings and first cousins would make more sense from a scandal perspective)
-JesusChristBanditBoss. If this was what she got for an escape what would have been the aura punishment? Skinning, nail pulling and eventually being posted outside blindfolded and deafened waiting for a Grimm to kill you until the dawn where it repeats with a worse torture set?
- I said it before but I feel more pity towards four then any of the other intoners. It's just that of them all she seems like she was born with impulses that would drive her to hurt herself and others and there's a good chance One lets that play out because it makes it easy to keep Four under her thumb.
Mortifer
Embrace your inner lunatic. Fun times guaranteed.
- Location
- Under a rock.
Yeah I'd never put a trap behind mystery boxes or invisible text
Don't look at my former dead quests especially not that TTGL/Nasu crossover that certainly wouldn't provide evidence one way or another of what I'd do
Trust me do I look like the kind of GM who'd make his readers suffer through bad things happening to his characters
Now if you'll excuse me I need to look at the comments saying this is messed up and praising my ability to write people's reactions to pain and feel all warm and fuzzy inside
Thebigpieman
I've got this, I think.
- Location
- United States
Put off voting for a bit but now I'm here.
[X] Sacrifice: Terror of the Unknown
Time to take a stab at the unknown.
[X] Sacrifice: Terror of the Unknown
Time to take a stab at the unknown.
Weapon Stories
Mortifer
Embrace your inner lunatic. Fun times guaranteed.
- Location
- Under a rock.
So I have decided that I keep forgetting about the weapon stories so it might be more convenient to either drop them or put them all in one post, threadmark it, and then just update the threadmarked post.
Given that I am a stubborn fool who doesn't know when to stop, I am not going to do the easy solution.
I think I owe you guys a Part 2 on Milo and Akouo and I do think I should give you guys a Five and Ilia weapon story once I give Ilia's weapon a name, but I'll want to do that all at once and before I do that I'll have to head home and check my old hard drive to see if I had notes saved for Pyrrha's weapon story, which'll be a few hours, so for now I'll just put this here and you guys can guilt me if I haven't updated anything in five or so hours.
(By the way, a good friend of mine recently started a RWBY/Kingdom Hearts/Multicross Quest over on SB and maybe if I advertise it here for him he'll advertise this for me over there so if you're bored and waiting for more Mort-approved RWBY content you should go read One Sky, One Destiny. It's still new enough to only have two updates but it's good stuff)
Given that I am a stubborn fool who doesn't know when to stop, I am not going to do the easy solution.
Ruby had another nightmare tonight. She wouldn't say what it was about, but she doesn't have to. I don't think she was actually asleep, when I dragged her out of the house and into a Grimm ambush. All because I wanted to find out more about my mother. Some big sister I am.
Dad's distant, Qrow's never around, and it's just me and Ruby most of the time. I'm all she has. No mother figure, nobody else willing to put in the effort needed to look after her, nothing. It's up to me, and I saw how that went down back then. I can't be selfish like that again, not while she needs me.
???
???
Dad's distant, Qrow's never around, and it's just me and Ruby most of the time. I'm all she has. No mother figure, nobody else willing to put in the effort needed to look after her, nothing. It's up to me, and I saw how that went down back then. I can't be selfish like that again, not while she needs me.
???
???
Three boys stood around a fire, with a young boar roasting over it. On any other day, the there of them would have been enemies. But they had suffered enough, and on this day, fortune had smile on their hunt. For today at least, they could be their differences aside.
As they dug into the flesh of the boar, the oldest of the boys began to brag. Hunting a boar was dangerous, even a young one like the one they had killed. He spoke of how he had lured it away from larger boars, tricked it into a trap. Even if the other two had helped him kill it, he was the one who had made it possible.
???
???
As they dug into the flesh of the boar, the oldest of the boys began to brag. Hunting a boar was dangerous, even a young one like the one they had killed. He spoke of how he had lured it away from larger boars, tricked it into a trap. Even if the other two had helped him kill it, he was the one who had made it possible.
???
???
The scorpion and it's child had travelled together as long as they could remember, always searching for a place where they could belong. Everywhere they turned, nobody would ever trust a scorpion. It was in their nature to sting, they said. Eventually, the scorpion and child encountered the frog at the river.
The scorpion begged the frog to understand, that it was more than it's nature implied. All the scorpion needed was for the frog to help it and it's child cross the river, to escape from the uncaring eyes who called it untrustworthy and treacherous. The frog, however, refused them. It had heard the tale a thousand times, and had no desire to be stung in the middle of the river.
???
???
The scorpion begged the frog to understand, that it was more than it's nature implied. All the scorpion needed was for the frog to help it and it's child cross the river, to escape from the uncaring eyes who called it untrustworthy and treacherous. The frog, however, refused them. It had heard the tale a thousand times, and had no desire to be stung in the middle of the river.
???
???
There was once a great King, who ruled their subjects as best they could. The Kingdom suffered from famine and droughts, and with resources scarce, the King led the Kingdom as best as they could, ensuring everyone contributed in one form or another. All for the good of the people.
Every living soul in the Kingdom was forced to adapt. Actors did not contribute to the survival of the people, so they were forced to become warriors. Artists, once held in high esteem, were unable to justify their lives, and were to produce food. Scholars and playwrites became thieves and bandits. And for those that wouldn't adapt, a way was found for their pointless existences to feed the hungry.
???
???
Every living soul in the Kingdom was forced to adapt. Actors did not contribute to the survival of the people, so they were forced to become warriors. Artists, once held in high esteem, were unable to justify their lives, and were to produce food. Scholars and playwrites became thieves and bandits. And for those that wouldn't adapt, a way was found for their pointless existences to feed the hungry.
???
???
My name is Five. In other words, I have Five older siblings. I have had Five role models to watch in my life, and by doing so, I have realised the secret to happiness. Life is grand.
???
???
???
???
???
???
They say that when the world was new, and still undefined, there was a lionhearted lizard and a careful chameleon. The two were close friends, and though the world was dangerous, they were able to survive by looking after one another.
???
???
???
???
???
???
I think I owe you guys a Part 2 on Milo and Akouo and I do think I should give you guys a Five and Ilia weapon story once I give Ilia's weapon a name, but I'll want to do that all at once and before I do that I'll have to head home and check my old hard drive to see if I had notes saved for Pyrrha's weapon story, which'll be a few hours, so for now I'll just put this here and you guys can guilt me if I haven't updated anything in five or so hours.
(By the way, a good friend of mine recently started a RWBY/Kingdom Hearts/Multicross Quest over on SB and maybe if I advertise it here for him he'll advertise this for me over there so if you're bored and waiting for more Mort-approved RWBY content you should go read One Sky, One Destiny. It's still new enough to only have two updates but it's good stuff)
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Mortifer
Embrace your inner lunatic. Fun times guaranteed.
- Location
- Under a rock.
So uh about that whole "Being able to rely on me" thing
uh
Well the weapon stories have been updated now and that's all that matters.
- Location
- Washington
[X] Contract: Quicksilver Assassin
I've finally caught up! Now I can contribute, too!
I've finally caught up! Now I can contribute, too!
