[IC] Remnants of the Past

[Misumichan]

Eve and Yoki were hidden away among the plant life of the forest, they had creeped up on a some ruins rumored to be a hideout for some less than reputable people they've been tracking. They followed the density of Grimm to some ruins in the Emerald Forest and here they were at the base but no one to be seen outside, just a swarm of Grimm.
“This it?” Yoki whispered in disdain.
“This is it!” Eve voiced with certainty. “I saw someone go in there when we were scouting the area!”
“Can we raid it?” Yoki wanted to fight something. He'd been hoping to fight something to work out his frustrations caused his most recent search for the man that murdered their teammates.
“Can't we just be sneaky for once?” Eve asked. He just gave her a disgruntled look and she sighed, “Fine, I guess…” Eve didn't want the ruins to be destroyed. She knew Yoki wouldn't care. “Can you please be careful this time! I would like to investigate the ruins for both historical and investigative reasons…” She looked over at him but he was gone. “Of course he's gone!” Eve huffed. She peered at the ground ahead in the clearing to see where he was since she knew he was invisible she'd look for kicked up dirt as he'd move. She saw the faint trail heading towards the ruin entrance. She decided to wait and see if he would clear anything out of the entry way be it guards or Grimm.
Yoki peeked around the corner and saw nothing just inside but a dead end, but when they scouted the area it became abundantly clear that was the only way in or out. He groaned and drew his chain sword. Yoki released the partitions and in one quick sweep he sliced the Beowolves out front in half. He removed his invisibility and glared over at Eve, “Get over here and work your nerdy magic!” Yoki pointed into the entryway with his sword. “Either you are crazy or this is a secret door…”
“Ooh, yay!” Eve bounded past him, her long curls bouncing behind her as she did. She observed the runes on the wall carefully with a fascinated smile. She picked up her thick note book clipped to her belt and released the latch to open it. As she did so she noticed Yoki looking at her with a soft expression she's never seen on him. “You okay?” Eve asked a bit concerned and confused.
“It’s nothing!” Yoki snapped out of it and switched back to his usual scowl as he looked away. “It's just…” He stopped and turned his back to her. Its nice to see you smiling again… he couldn't finish his sentence out loud. “Just hurry it up will you?! I can hear more Grimm on the way!”
“Okay, okay,” she giggled. “It will take a bit, these runes are way different from the usual stuff but they look familiar so I might have some notes on them.” She quickly flipped through the book careful not to knock any of the disheveled pieces of paper out of it. She finally came across one of the symbols on the wall marked as Dust. She reached into her bag on her back and grabbed a cyan colored dust crystal. She held it up to a slight indent and the Dust rune above it lit up. The door started to open slowly.
“How'd you do that?” Yoki turned when he heard it open.
“There was a lighter blue rune for Dust on the wall so I used this,” she held up the Dust crystal a small piece of it now missing. “It was either this one or one of the water based ones.”
“Since when do you use that light/fuel crap?” Yoki retorted unsure of why she had it.
“For moments like this!” She put the crystal back in her bag. “You never know what you might need in ruins so I make sure to have one of each type and a few extra of the ones I use.” Eve grabbed the two fan-blades clipped onto her back beneath her hair. She opened both of them and pointed down the stairway that was revealed to them, “You want to go first since you wanted to raid?” He scowled bitterly as he walked past and down the stairs. “Just please don't try to wreck it much I don't have much on ruins of this time period. It's way older than anything I've seen!”
“Whatever!” Yoki growled quietly as he descended with caution. When they got to the bottom there wasn't much aside from some equipment for combat and digging and storage crates stacked to the ceiling. The place was dimly lit with Dust lamps making it possible to see there were a few blood stains on the floor leading to the next room. Yoki motioned for Eve to wait as he crept into the next room. It was dark so he was listening on high alert for movement. All he heard was the sound of blood dripping. He looked around and saw bodies of White Fang members shredded. “Looks like something went horribly wrong here…” Yoki whispered quietly as he eased up and looked over the room. Some looked to be done by Grimm and some were in a way he recognized. The state of the bodies looked exactly like how he found Rufous and Cyrus. “That bastard was here?!” Yoki growled furiously. He didn't move as rage was building up he couldn't help but raise his voice, “Eve what did the guy look like?! The one you saw enter here?!”
“Yoki! Ah!” Eve let out a choked cry for help.
“Eve?!” Yoki whipped around upon hearing struggled movement. He was filled with fear that he had her but the man that held her by the hair was a large member of the White Fang and a slight wave of relief washed over him, though now he had this guy to deal with and he had a blade to his partner's throat. “Sneaky for a big guy!” Yoki sneered bitterly. “Do yourself a favor and let the girl go!” He took a step forward.
“Don't you dare take another step!” The man tightened his grip on her and pressed the blade closer to her neck. “What did you come here to finish what he started?! You come to kill me too?! The White Fang will hear about this. Our partnership with your group is as good as over!”
“Yoki! Behind you!” Eve yelled seeing a Beowolf come up behind him about to pounce on him. Yoki didn't even flinch and he barely turned when he sliced it in half vertically.
“Did this guy wear white suit and a top hat?” Yoki grew dead serious.
“So you do know him!” He pulled Eve up higher even more ready to kill the two of them.
“I know him as the man I'm going to kill!” Yoki glared bitterly. “Might be better for you to cut your ties now if you plan on living,” he tried to signal to Eve on what to do.
“What the hell are you talking about?!” Eve managed to let out in her pained state.
“Eve, seriously, what are you waiting for?” Yoki glared at her knowing her Semblance wouldn't let her get cut. “He'll figure it out any second now I was trying to distract him for you.”
“But my hair…” Eve whined.
“Damn it woman!” Yoki bounded closer as fast as he could. The man attempted to cut her throat but the blade just bounced off her. By the time he could process what just happened, Eve had opened her fan-blade behind her slicing off her long hair freeing herself from his grip. Yoki grabbed her as she fell forward and slashed at the big guy, knocking him back into the pile of crates and he was down for the count. “It'll grow back…Your hair is not worth you life.”
“Easy for you to say!” Eve cried slumping down to the floor.
“Get up,” Yoki rolled his eyes. “More Grimm are coming from within. Seems we woke them up with all the noise.”
“You mean you did!” Eve pouted as she got to her feet.
“Let's clear them out so I can go after that bastard that caused this!” Yoki bolted to the next room.
“Oh no you don't!” Eve stormed after him. “You are not leaving me alone again to chase some crazy dude! Ozpin gave us a mission! If anything I'm coming with you!”
“No you're not!” Yoki hissed as he started killing off the Grimm. “He's too dangerous! Do you not see this carnage?!”
Eve paused after taking down a Beowolf and looked around. “All the more reason to not let you do it alone.”
“It's my fight Eve! Leave it alone!” He snapped.
It was silent between them as they moved to the next room to make sure they clear out the rest. In the center was a pedestal on it was some sort of cube with intricate carvings on it. Eve put Tippetarius away and pulled out her scroll for better lighting. She shined it on the cube and the incandescent stone reflected the light nicely.
“Interesting,” Eve grew fascinated by this odd cube. She looked around the pedestal to make sure there were no traps.
“Leave it Eve! It's just some junk they left here.” Yoki growled hearing more Grimm come from the maze of rooms.
“No this is a relic! It looks different from everything here because it is special!” Eve picked it up. “The real question is what would our mystery group and the White Fang want with this?”
“Eve!” Yoki spotted a Creep pop up out of the ground next to her. Eve stumbled back and dropped her scroll. It cracked instantly. Yoki grabbed her hood and yanked her back out of reach of the Grimm.
“Ah!” Eve was stunned as she slammed into Yoki, “Not so great flashbacks to our first mission!”
“Do these ever end?!” Yoki grumbled realizing they were surrounded.

[lantgreen]

A deep thick fog rolled in over night and filled with streets of Vaccuo. A place where Marlin grew up and still remained. With all that's been going around he's kept his personal home more in the status of a bunker. He didn't like people and visitors even more. Marlin strayed from tech, liking the conventional way of things, he thought of it more dependable. At his age he no longer searched for work, instead work came to him. Though his bunker styled home, he had a mail slot on the main street, a sign above it reading:

"Marlin Skyy
Tradesman"

He didn't consider himself a hunter, though his particular set of skills would be classified as such. With his reputation his name was getting around, but only to those who needed him, he wasn't famous or anything. Those who requested his help would drop a letter in his slot, which fell down a shaft and landed in a basket to the right of his desk. Marlin didn't have much furniture, an old metal chest for his clothing, a wooden desk that was barely standing by a nail, and a spring mattress that had a couple decades of wear and tear on it. He often fell asleep at his desk, a bottle of whiskey in his hand, glancing over the letters and tossing most of them in the trash.

Some of those letters contained requests that were not his style, rescuing lost jewelry, being a bodyguard for some hotshot, or even finding a lost pet. And those that had tasks he was into, didn't pay enough. That was until a light weight letter fell, completely missing the basket, which was full, and landing on the floor near his chest. Marlin looked at it with a face of grimace before reaching down and placing it on his desk. Written to a dear 'Mr. Skyy' which he didn't get often, it was a request from Beacon, an academy from a distant city. The letter was directly from Ozpin, offering a large sum of money if he had succeeded in cleansing ruins that sat just outside of Vale. Marlin hadn't seen an offer with that many zeros for a few years. He had to accept, of course it was perfect for his talents, Butcher of Grimm. Sending a letter back confirming that the deed will be done, Marlin simply stood up from his desk and left with very little supplies, primarily his pouch of dust and a flask.

~~~~

After a couple days journey Marlin had eventually arrived at the ruins from which he was told to clear. He could smell the Grimm already, primarily Beowolfs. From years of hunting such creatures for sport, he could tell the difference from a certain trait they would leave behind. Beowolfs had a strong smell to them, and the place was wreaking of it. Marlin pulled out his flask and took a swig before putting it back into his pocket. His normal attire consisted of a vest that squeezed tight around his torso, low-cut and wide on the shoulders, a greyish-blue tone to it. He wore a set of covert combat pants with plenty of pockets containing more dust and a spot for his flask, these were black. A belt fitted tight held his pouch of dust bearing the same color as his vest, which also matched his boots. A set of boots that woven up to just below his knees, his pants tucked in. He preferred this outfit to best suit his mobility and combat. He didn't wear any hats, the feeling on his large tiger like ears made it uncomfortable, the same reason why he never wore a coat or a cape, bothered his thick tail.

Marlin mentally prepared himself before taking a step forward, as a practitioner of aura and martial arts, his mental balance was important to him. He meditated for a couple minutes before setting his target in his eyes. With a quick manipulation of aura to his legs he sprung towards the cave entrance and made himself known to the creatures inside. A dozen or so Beowolfs charged out, some bigger than others but no Alpha. Marlin smirked pushing his aura to both his hands and feet, leaving his torso unprotected. These Grimm were small and didn't require the needed or wanted buff from his dust crystals. He jumped at the closest one charging, kicking it twice before finishing it off with another kick that swung around his body. The beast was sent back flying only to evaporate mid-flight. "Still got it," he said with a grin, not 'exercising' lately. Marlin fought the remaining Grimm with ease, a couple punches and kicks and they were no longer around. He knew that was no where near what was remaining in the ruins.

Approaching the backside of the cave there wasn't much to see, only a few markings which Marlin studied for a moment, he could see a repeated placement of a dust crystal. He came to the conclusion that this place wasn't just home to Grimm, considering that the ones he just fought were no where near challenging, anybody could come through. He pulled out his pouch of various crystals, trial and error till he found one that fit and worked. The back wall opened as he suspected. "Knew this mission was bigger than it seemed."

Marlin ventured in deeper, coming across various paths to choose from, but mainly following the scent of Beowolfs. The slaying continued, Grimm falling left and right as his fought his way down, his fists and feet glowing with colored aura from dust. Ice and scorch marks left behind as his signature. Though his task was mainly Grimm, his ears caught the attention of a couple screams. Marlin followed the sounds till he came across a cavern, a large one at that. Immediately falling back and only peaking around the corner. He spotted a man in a white suit, slaughtering White Fang members. Marlin should've known the White Fang would use such a cave, but to hear and see them be killed was not his business. He had a job to do and money to earn. He knew best when to stay out of someone elses business, besides, that man could be trying to make a living like himself, hired killer so to speak.

Quickly leaving the area Marlin continued deeper into the cave. He had been fighting for a couple hours, still not finding the Alpha to such a large pack. But the numbers of Grimm were large. Marlin came across another cavern, an even larger one than that which the White Fang was found. This cavern had a couple Deathstalkers rather than Beowolfs, something that took him by surprise but raised an excitement in his veins.

Snapping ice into both his hands and feet he charged at the two. Throwing a direct punch at one of their stingers headed straight for him, it froze on contact and shattered by the shier force of his attack. He slammed his foot in the same one's claw and froze it to the ground before flipping off and dodging an attack from the other. With one missing it's stinger and frozen to the ground, his fight got a little more interesting. His replaced his boots dust with fire, charging at the free roaming Deathstalker. Another jump and two kicks to push back both claws allowed him to strike the armored head with his fist, presenting his body standing upside down while his hand laid on the head of the Grimm, it's armor broken and missing. With a target on its back the Deathstalker struck down with its stinger, only for Marlin to catch it with his feet, flipping backwards using his legs to slam the stinger into the Grimm's head. The tiger jumped down and walked to the last Deathstalker still struggling at its claw frozen to the ground. Marlin removed the aura and placed it all into his left fist, he amplified it with an earth crystal. Using his free arm to catch to the attacking claw and hold it in place, he drilled his fist into mouth of the Deathstalker, colliding with it's skull and shattering the bones within. Watching the beast dissipate around his arm, he turned his head towards the tunnel from which he came, looking at two figures he sensed approaching just moments ago.

[Misumichan]

Yoki threw a wide swing with his sword extended bursting with fire dust. The Grimm in it’s path dissipated. He retracted the blade and sliced at a Creep jumping for him. He caught a glimpse of Eve twisting around taking out a group of Beowolves that had surrounded her with her open fan-blades. She closed one and fired the partitions to extend and pierce the armor of a small Deathstalker. Yoki hid a slight smirk as he knocked back a Beowolf with a kick before slicing it in half with his sword. He looked around and didn’t see anymore Grimm in the room. He listened carefully for more threats. “Sounds like there’s more down that way,” Yoki pointed toward one of the passageways connected to the room.
“Ugh! I want to study the ruins!” Eve complained. She stormed across the room. “And I guess you have a damn ghost to chase!”
“He’s no ghost!” Yoki growled in frustration at her bitter attitude toward this. He couldn’t tell her the truth about who he was. It would break her heart. Little did she know that to her it would be a ghost for her. He followed her begrudgingly.
“He wears white and is hard to find,” Eve voiced bitterly. “Sounds like a ghost to me!”
“Whatever!” Yoki shrugged. Yoki’s ears twitched hearing the sounds of combat. He grabbed Eve by the hood to stop her.
“What?!” Eve hissed.
“Shh!” Yoki covered her mouth to shut her up. “There’s someone fighting ahead! Let’s move with more caution.” Yoki moved in front of her as he crept down the tunnel.
“Now you want to be sneaky,” Eve expressed her disdain quietly. She sighed and shrugged, following after him. They reached a cavern and saw a Faunus destroying Grimm bare-handed. Eve peered around Yoki to see. “Damn, he’s good…” Eve found it impressive that the new man on the scene could take down so many Grimm without a weapon. She then remembered hearing about how hazardous Dust is to the body. Her face turned sour, “Though Dust infusion to the body is pretty reckless.”
“Who the hell are you?!” Yoki grew more defensive as he looked their way, Yoki made sure he was standing between this Faunus and Eve this time. He gripped his blade tightly and his ears tilted downward angrily. “You one of the White Fang? Or you with the creep in the top hat? Who the hell sent you?!”

[lantgreen]

With the Grimms shadowing dissipation behind him, Marlin turned towards the two, pulling out his flask and started walking. He laughed loudly for a couple breaths before speaking to the blonde one, "I'd rather be caught dead than with those losers," he took another swig of his whiskey before putting the flask back into his pants, "Oh, and the guy with the top hat, I saw him, not with him, not my business." Marlin looked at the two up and down, scanning them in sorts, definitely hunters by the way they dressed. He assumed they were apart of Beacon, considering the location of the ruins being so close, which means they know Ozpin.

Marlin stepped closer to the two, ignoring any harsh movements or threats the fox would give. He held a thin protective aura around himself, it didn't cost him much but he was experienced enough to know better than just being bare in front of strangers. "I have no need to tell you who I work for, besides you probably are here because of him anyways." He looked past the blonde staring at the girl, "Ooh hoo hoo, look at you, what brings a fine lady such as yourself down here." Completely ignoring the fox Marlin tried to keep his persona in as much of a less threatening mood as he could. He didn't want to fight, none the less he didn't want to have to kill, especially if these two were working for his current employer.

[Misumichan]

“Say what now?” Yoki was confused and annoyed by the man's vague implication of who he was working for. Eve however picked up on it. “Ozpin sent him you dolt!” Eve smacked Yoki’s arm. “So lighten up a bit.” Yoki rolled his eyes at her, he eased his stance but was still on edge.
When the tiger started hitting on Eve, Yoki felt even more annoyed, “Why you-!” Before he could say anything Eve spoke over him completely deadpan, “Work and research mostly.” She shrugged, completely ignoring his attempts to flirt, she just treated it like an actual question. Yoki just settled for silently raging knowing she wouldn’t let him get a word in. Couldn’t stop him from making angry glares. “You know, tracking down a shady organization and exploring ruins! Things like that…" Eve started walking around the cavern looking at the carvings and paintings on the walls in fascination. Hoping to find some hints to the cube in her Dust bag. “I’m Eve by the way, and that angry fox is Yoki.”
“Did you happen to see where that creep in the hat ran off to?” Yoki tried to hold back his anger. “Any hint of where he might have gone?! Or even why he slaughtered all those Faunus?”

[lantgreen]

Marlin kept a smirk on his face, liking how the two reacted his being, let alone pissing off someone was always fun for him, especially a faunus. She didn't bat an eye when he attempted a flirt but he rolled with it, he has played with a couple girls of this type. "Research eh? So Ozpin sent me down to clear it out so you can find whatever he's lookin for, makes sense." Marlin began to stretch a bit, he didn't like standing still for too long letting his muscles tighten up. With his torso and arms twisting and crossing each other he responded to the aggressive fox. "I came across the cavern with the White Fang, saw him slaughter them, went back to my own business, that's the last I saw of him." He began walking around near Eve but not too close, he liked to keep his own space. While looking at a wall he glanced over to her then back to the wall, "I'm Marlin Skyy, just call me Mar...you can read these things?"

[Misumichan]

“So you just watched as they all got killed?!” Yoki raised his voice and tried to keep himself from beating on the man. “They might not be innocent but they didn't deserve to die!”
“Yoki has a point,” Eve huffed looking rather disappointed. “At the same time though he could have just died too… He's killed two experienced Huntsman that we know of.” Eve's heart grew heavy and it showed. She couldn’t help but miss them. She’s just been avoiding thinking about it lately by diving into her work.
“Eve…” Yoki looked at her with concern before the rage started to flood back. His need to punish the one responsible only grew as he knew Eve would never feel that way.
Eve shook it off and unclipped her thick notebook from her hip and started comparing symbols when Marlin asked if she could read them. “Most places I can. These ones are older than what I've come across before. Though there were some similar runes in Forever Fall so I do have a few notes on them.”

[lantgreen]

Marlin scuffed at the foxes comment, they both had different views on the White Fang, and they both obviously have different ways of thinking. He was about to retort back but Eve spoke up, mentioned how he could have died before stating that the suited man had killed two hunters prior to this meeting. He glanced over to Eve, "I can handle myself just fine," he said in a tone that was a calm statement and not an angry comeback. "Sure they didn't deserve to die, but I'm no hero, I'm only here cause your boss is paying me to be, and his request mentioned nothing about the White Fang," he turned back to the walls, scanning them with Eve. He didn't exactly understand them but he liked to look at it, at least for a short time. Marlin left the side of the cavern and sat somewhere in the middle crossing his legs, he took out his flask and took a swig before meditating like he did before. Balance was important to him, having strong resolve and strict discipline was important to using dust raw in combat. "So, seeing as my job is to keep the Grimm off of ya, where we headed?"

[Misumichan]

“Well, once we clear out the Grimm and investigate the area for whatever signs that this shady group wants with the relic then we'll head back into Vale and report to Ozpin,” Eve explained as she happily scribbled away in her notebook. She paused only to scan the wall more. She'd occasionally pace, scrutinize, glance across the cavern and run for whatever she saw that looked interesting before pausing to take more notes.
“Do you really have to do this now?” You grumbled, hearing the faint sound of movement throughout the ruins. It made him anxious knowing that there was a possibility that the man in white could be one of those sounds. He wanted to finish clearing out the Grimm so he could go after him. It had him uncomfortably pacing with his sword out. “Can't it wait until we are done?”
“This is all likely very vital information about the relic!” Eve passionately raved. “It may be ancient but their secrets are here! I can feel it! I just need to unlock them!” Eve went back to reading her notes as she walked. “We could always split up if you are really that antsy.”
“No way I'm just leaving you here when there's dangers lurking about!” Yoki pouted slightly, sitting down with his sword across his lap. He also wasn't about to leave her alone with Marlin, he didn't trust him for many reasons already.
“So odd to see you willing to be patient for once,” Eve giggled. She had stopped in front of the passageway they came in through. Yoki tensed upon seeing a large figure in the passage coming up fast. “Eve! Behind you!” Yoki jumped to his feet but Eve was already on it. She slammed her notebook shut and it echoed loudly throughout the cavern. She turned and hit the big guy from before in the chin with her book before he could grab her. “Fool me once...!” Eve jumped and kicked off his chest, allowing her to put some space between them. As he stumbled back, she unclipped one of her fan-blades off her back. Eve glared at him with childish anger, “I'm not losing anymore of my precious hair because of you!”

[LemonZest1337]

Diana Seraph

Diana sat in the shuttle that was to take her to Beacon academy in Vale. She had arrived before the pilots and was sharpening her sword in the back of the ship. She didn't look up when the pilots walked past and they knew all to well why. Why is Ironwood sending me to Beacon?... What are him and Ozpin planning... she glanced towards he pilot seat as on of the pilots called out "We're heading out now! Buckle up, this is going to be a long flight!" Diana rolled her eyes and sheathed her sword then put on her seat belt. I'm not a child... she thought to herself her stone cold gaze set on the closing cargo door of the Ship. Strands of light tried their best to keep the cargo bay of the shuttle lit but they were no match for the heavy steel door.

The pilot hadn't lied. The flight was extremely long. She looked out one of the many windows of the craft and let out an annoyed sigh, I hate it when he keeps me in the dark... As she caught sight of some birds flying along side the craft she would forget her troubles for a brief moment. Then the bird would look at her and instantly redirect its flock and flee, this made Diana hiss and retake her seat. This has to be important... And confidential, if he's not even letting ME know what is going on... I guess I'll just have to wait and see now won't I?... Diana let out a long winded sigh and slowly drifted off to sleep.

----

Diana woke to feel the shaking decent of the craft landing. It couldn't have come sooner, she wasn't keen on sitting down. Tho to be fair Diana wasn't keen on a lot of things. She undid her seat belt and stood up then slightly unsheathing her sword just to check it was alright. It was. It was always fine. It was one of the few things she could fully depend on. She then got out of the ship waved thanks to the pilots all while not making eye contact. She then pulled out a pair of extremely dark sunglasses and put them on, she did this to greatly reduce the effects of her semblance. But it was evident to those she made eye contact with that it didn't block out that much of her semblance.

She made her way through the school towards Ozpin's office not looking at anyone as she power walked through the halls. Time to get some answers... she though as she stepped into the elevator. She then pushed the button on the elevator and started to ascend. "Time for answers..." She repeated to herself, she was really not a fan of being kept in the dark, especially by General Ironwood.

[lantgreen]

Marlin sighed at the commotion, he couldn't have any peace when he wanted it. Without hesitation he stood up from his crossed position and rolled his neck. "He cut off your hair? I was kind of diggin the messy cut," he said whilst stretching lightly, always enjoyed being limber. The man was indeed tall, even though he wasn't a Grimm, Marlin figured that part of his mission was to protect these two. With his new target being a human he needed to tell how strong he was. With quick concentration he focused his thoughts on all the aura in the room, two strong presences besides himself, one coming from Yoki, the other the White Fang member. He walked steadily past his two temporary teammates patting Yoki on the shoulder, "He'll be all your's in a sec." Approaching the tall man he could tell he couldn't do any damage like that of a Grimm, but he was still tough. In order to use the other part of his semblance he would have to drop his own aura. Marlin did so, dropping his guard completely leaving himself bare, but he wasn't concerned about it. The tall man raised his sword and swung at Marlin. With a quick duck, step forward and his right hand grabbing the wrist that held the sword, he was able to place his free hand on the stomach of the White Fang. In an instant he was draining the man's aura, feeding himself, though knowing he couldn't do this for long as the man was fighting back, Marlin jumped up freeing his limbs. With two kicks to the head to stun and using that recoil to push himself back, he landed beside Yoki. "Go for it," he said looking down at his hands as he was filled with a new aura, doing this was like a 'high' for him.

[Misumichan]

“None of you understand!” Eve pouted, still sad her hair was now so short in the back. “It was so long…!”
Yoki rolled his eyes. “More precisely she cut it to escape him.” Yoki clarified to Marlin and he jumped in. Yoki grew annoyed that Marlin was telling him what to do. But when the big guy landed next to him he was ready to dish out another beat down on this guy nonetheless. The large White Fang Member was recovering quickly and slashed up at Yoki with his sword. “Somebody doesn't know when to quit!” Yoki growled as he blocked it with his own. They clashed a few times but Yoki shoved him back as he stumbled a bit.
“He's mine!” Eve finished clipping her notebook to her belt and she jumped in with both halves of Tippetarius out. She she slashed across his chest, upwards as she spun around and struck with the other in the same way and his aura visibly dropped. Eve closed her fans and combined them end to end making it a staff. She spun it around and hit the guy in the gut knocking him near one of the other passageways. She turned back to the men with a slight smirk on her face, “My sweet hair has been avenged!”
“I don't get how you can be so childish sometimes,” Yoki closed his eyes and shook his head. When he looked back at her he saw the large Faunus had gotten back up and was about to strike at Eve. “Eve!” The sound of urgency in his voice prompted her to turn around quickly. She was about to intercept the strike but something else already had. She could see the thin glint of a wire around the blade. It wasn't long after when she saw another around his neck but before she could even move the big guy's head was removed from his body. She froze as she watched the head go flying and the body slump to the floor.
Yoki's eyes followed the bloody wire knowing exactly who it was but he didn't move until he caught a glimpse of that white suit in the hallway. “You bastard!” Yoki dashed after the laughing man as he vanished into the shadows.
“Yoki! Wait!” Eve called out after the shock somewhat passed but he was long gone. Her face darkened, she had a bitter taste in her mouth about what had just happened none of it sit well with her and it was all starting to hit her.

[lantgreen]

Marlin watched the two fight in unison, they sure fought like hunters, and as a team, as expected. Though Marlin didn't pay too much attention to the fight as he was enjoying an overflow of aura. He swayed a bit, letting the energy flow through his body as it chose to, like a rush of adrenaline without the fast heart rate. The fight continued and eventually Eve pushed the guy back and shouted in victory. "Yeah you go guys, WWWWOOOOOO!," he shouted in a child like manner, literally buzzed. The celebration ended quickly however when Yoki killed it, though it was for good measure. The White Fang member stood back up and raised an attack on Eve, Marlin couldn't help but let out a gasp. Before long the man no longer had a head, ripped off by a wire, Marlin leaned to the side and saw the suited man from before in the distance. Yoki charged and the man vanished. Marlin's tone changed with the situation, he could be serious when he chose to, high or not. "Well ain't that shit, he was here for two seconds and now he's vanished," tilting his head and gesturing his hand to fresh corpse, "And with the dummy dead, we can't get any information out of him, looks like we hit another dead end."

[Misumichan]

“Well he did let one thing slip earlier. The White Fang is working with the group we've been tracking. I guess that man in white is a part of that group. Though something went wrong.” Eve pulled out the cube relic from her dust bag. “What worries me is whatever they want this relic for, it's not good.” Eve took a deep breath trying to shake the sour mood. “I think it's time to leave, I need to to report to Ozpin. My scroll is smashed so it's back to Beacon.” Eve called to Marlin as she walked back to the way she came in, “You coming with, Marlin?”

[LemonZest1337]

As the elevator doors slid open revealing Ozpin's office to Diana her she looked over at Ozpin who was chatting with General Ironwood. Ironwood turned his attention over to Diana he was used to the initial shock of her semblance, Diana made sure to only look at Ozpin and Ironwood for a short moment. She then looked off to the side as she'd trained herself to do. Ironwood put an arm behind his back and nodded to Diana, "It's good to see you arrived safely Diana. I have no doubt you wish to know why I called you here." Diana nodded "Yes I do sir. If it wouldn't trouble you." Ironwood let out a soft sigh "Not at all. I do not particularly enjoy keeping my agents in the dark. But sometimes it is necessary." Diana looked down at the floor and narrowed her eyes trying to guess what Ironwood was up to. "The reason I didn't tell you my plan until now is..." Ironwood let out a pained sigh.

"I'm putting you on a team." Diana choked and looked up at Ironwood "But general!" Ironwood simply raised his hand and Diana lowered her head again. "See this is why I waited until now to tell you. It would have been much harder to convince you to get on a shuttle if you had know this." Diana took a deep breath and was instantly calm, she knew Ironwood was right. "When do they arrive..." Diana asked with a hint of disdain. Ironwood turned to Ozpin expecting that he wold know the answer.

[Misumichan]

"It's uncertain at this time," Ozpin replied with a heavy sigh. "It seems we have lost contact with them. I sent them out on a mission a couple days ago so as long as things go according to plan they should be back relatively soon." He paused to observe the woman Ironwood chose to join with them to fend off the real evils in this world. He could tell things would likely start off rather unsteady, but then again things with Eve and Yoki tend to.
"For the time being I think it might be best that we take this opportunity to inform you of what it is we really do here." Ozpin leaned forward in his chair, "Only a select few are privy to this knowledge, your new teammates included.”

[LemonZest1337]

Ironwood nodded to Ozpin the looked over at Diana "Diana, what you hear here must never leave this room. The only others you can talk to about this outside are Ozpin and your new team... I have doubts of the security of the Cross Continental Transmit System... So all of your briefings must be in person behind closed doors. Do you understand?" Diana looked up at Ironwood "But Ironwood, how will I inform you of my progress?" Ironwood gestures to Ozpin with the hand that isn't behind his back. "That concern falls to Ozpin, he has yet to fail or give me reason not to trust him. So I expect you to show him the same respect that you show me." Diana could see in Ironwoods eyes just how serious he was, even with her semblance affecting him his intense look did not change.

Diana nodded reluctantly "Yes sir General Ironwood." She then turned to Ozpin and looked down at the floor in front of his desk.

[Misumichan]

“There are forces in this world that seek to destroy humanity, and I'm not talking about the Grimm.” Ozpin stood up and walked over to the window. “There is a group out there that follows a certain individual that seeks to destroy everything humanity's built. Their plans are unknown to us but that is what your team is for.” He turned back to face Diana, “We want you, Miss Seraph, to help us find out what this group is planning and to help us stop them.” He paused able to see that there was a bit of uncertainty still lingering about her. “I know this is quite a daunting task we ask of you and we've only scratched the surface, but for humanity's sake we need your help to save it.”

---

Eve stretched as they made it out of the forest and into Vale. Marlin had followed her but they didn't really say anything to each other the whole time. Eve was uncertain of what to do, without her team from school around she was the greatest when it came to socializing unless it was someone she knew well.
Eve sighed as they boarded the airship to take people from Vale to Beacon. She loved the view as they rose up above Vale. The sun was beginning to set and city lights were coming on one by one. “Were we really in there for that long?” Eve mused aloud as she took in the view. “Well I guess time does fly when you explore ruins.” Eve couldn't help but smile as Beacon came into view. She always felt at home at Beacon. It's one of many reasons she decided to work for Ozpin instead of freelance like most Huntsman and Huntresses. She took a deep breath of air as she stepped off the airship, "Ah! Home sweet home!"

[LemonZest1337]

Diana stood there looking at the floor as Ozpin spoke to her, she was not really sure how to take the information she was just given. She looked briefly at Ironwood who nodded to her. She hadn't met Ozpin before but had heard the occasional use of his name, most of the time by Ironwood. So she was unsure how credible he was but Ironwood trusted him, so Diana couldn't see any reason not to trust him as well. "So you're asking me to assist you with finding and eliminating a threat to civilisation as we know it? Then there is no choice." she simply nodded showing her acceptance of the task. "Excellent. Then my stay here is over, it was good talking to you Ozpin."

Diana watched Ironwood as he began towards the elevator and she bowed slightly. Ironwood almost smiled "You server this man well. No matter what he tells you to do you must trust him, and please try to get along with your new team. Good luck Diana." "Thank you General. And I will do my best." Ironwood near smile formed into a full one. "Good to hear. Farewell." with that Ironwood stepped into the elevator, pushed the ground floor button and put his arms behind his back as the elevator doors closed.

Diana was now alone with Ozpin, she made her way over to a wall and lightly leaned on it while looking down at the ground. She had no idea what to say and honestly she still wasn't sure about Ozpin. He seemed. Off. She didn't know why she felt this way but she couldn't help it. Nevertheless she had to push her feelings aside and focus on the mission.

[Misumichan]

“Ozpin I’m home!” Eve announced happily as she walked through the elevator doors. She then realized that Ozpin was meeting with an Atlesian agent. “Oh sorry I’m not interrupting am I?”
“Not at all Eve, do come join us,” Ozpin smiled at her and motioned for her to some in. “It’s good to see you’ve returned safely, I was beginning to worry when we lost contact.”
“Yeah my scroll got smashed but you know there’s never a need to worry with me!” Eve said walking up. She glanced over at the redhead she figured was sent by Ironwood. “Who's she?”
“This is Diana Seraph,” Ozpin gestured to Diana. “She was recently informed of the it is we do here. We'll get to why she's here in a moment.” Ozpin directed his attention to the man for hire, “I see you ran into Mr.Skyy on your mission.I wasn't certain if the rumors were true, it seems your reputation precedes you after all.”