Re: A World of Dust and Souls

[BerrySayRoar]

Wakes up to someone making dumplings, escorted by a man who initially bowed and surrendered his weapon to gain her trust and now she is being treated like some royalty by the white fangs. This is beyond scaring her and more reasons to want to seek a way out. Though she can see there isnt an easy way. In the room with the statue, nisha for a brief second looked at the stautes in wonder, then back to looking at the man before them. He would clearly see that she was tense and very much ready to use her guns if the situation calls.

[Helsing]

He noticed there’s no way that he didn’t, but he simply chuckled at the reaction.

“I understand your nerves, but I’m hurt, truly. After all, is reaching for your weapons the way you should greet your brother?”

[BerrySayRoar]

Nisha eyes immediately widen at what he said. She gave a nervous smile and shook her head, "I think you might be confused. I'm an only child. I never had a brother or sister...I may at one point wished for one but what only child doesn't? Maybe I look like your sis perhaps and am I rambling? I feel like I'm rambling." She can already feel herself on the verge of hyperventilating. She then thought what would Sienna do. She takes a steady breath looks up with a calm face, "You got the wrong girl, now take me out of here."

[Helsing]

The man chuckles, the sound sickeningly sweet. When he opened his eyes again, the slits blinked sideways, testament to his Faunus features.

“I see that father has sheltered you,” he looks away, his features looking errally disappointed, “A shame, he was the greatest among us.”

The door to the chapel opens up, another white fang member. He goes to the knight and whispers something into his ear before departing. The knight rose “Milord, our members are being gathered in the town square.”

“And our casualties?”

“As you predicted.”

The man bowed his head, “their sacrifice shall be remembered.”

He raises his head and looks to nisha “for now however, I believe it’s time you learned a little bit about your haritige, sister. You see, even among the Faunus, we snake are unique beyond the norm. Unlike all other Faunus, we are not born.”

Raising a hand, a literal black snake slithers out of his coat and rests on his fingers.

“No, more accurately we are shed. When we grow old, we shed the skin that binds is and move on reguvinated, but the skin remains. It shifts with the leftover aura within it, the soul desperately trying to heal the remains, but without a mind to direct the soul, the process comes out poorly. By all accounts, it should die there, but life finds a way. The organic material is canobolized, changing to different systems by combining the many elements found within. At the end of the process, a new Faunus is born, one that will continue the legacy of the fathers before him.”

He stops, eyeing nisha with a hungry smile.

“Except of course for you. Because you see, all snake Faunus are male. But yet, here you stand, an amazing impossibility, one that holds the key to everything.”

[Helsing]

It took a while, but the students managed to get all of the white fang members to the town square. They're right outside of the cathedral, which made a perfect vantage point. One that Sterling, Tyson and Ruby took advantage of.

[A Blind Guy]

Sterling reaches the vantage point, seeing the panicked crowd down below. "Tyson, can you get everyone's attention?"

[Helsing]

Tyson just raised his gun and fired a single shot.

The resulting boom made everyone in the crowd got quiet really quick.

"All yours."

[A Blind Guy]

Sterling clears his throat, forcing down the fear and adrenaline that were coursing through his veins.

"All right everyone, now that I have you attention, you have someone we want. You can either tell us what you know, and where to get her back, or you all will have a chat with my friends." Sterling gestures around to the corpses in trees. "Now, does anybody want to go first?"

[Helsing]

Nisha.

The entire room shook with what sounded like artillery shells. The snake man frowned and glanced at the knight who bowed and left the room immediately.

OUTSIDE

No one stepped up. Understandable, most of them were still in shock. Tyson however, wasn't having any of it.

"I'll give them one warning shot."

[BerrySayRoar]

The color on her face immediately drained till ahe was pale. Every single cell in her body was shouting, yelling at her to get the hell out of there. At times she felt like her heart just stopped and refuse to function, leaving her with the fear ahe faint then and there. She took a shaky breath. Her decision made. Not without a little screw you to the creep. She quickly raised her gauntlet gun up ,aiming for the creep's head and fired just as the room shook, causing her bullet to fly way past over the creep's head

[Helsing]

The snake man frowned at the shot, tilting his head, he gave a smile that's was far from nice.

"Sister, are you trying something?"

****

Outside

The door to the church bust open, revealing a bull faunus with red hair, a black coat and a katana at his side. Every white fang member turned to him and they smiled like they were seeing their hero take the field.

Which might not be far off.

"He, whose this guy?" Yang asks, beating her fists together.

"Just another faunus," Tyson said, reloding his cannon.

Ruby smiled at their confidence, but that confidence died when she saw Blake. The bow haired girl was frozen. Her weapon slipped from her fingers, and she looked ready to bolt at a moments notice.

"No... please not him."

From the ground, one of them pointed towards the roof, and the red Bull turned to see the group of students on the church.

Then, he saw Blake.

"Rhajat?" He asked.

"Rhawhat?" Ruby asked.

"We need to run," Blake said, "We need to run now!"

"Seems to be a skill of yours," the bull says.

[Flagmauth]

Sienna glanced over her shoulder at Blake, then back down at the bull who she currently had both revolvers aimed at. "Friend of yours, Blake?" As she spoke she was using her Semblance, growing the roots from the tree nearest the bull out under the ground towards him. If they had to fight she wanted to make sure she got the first hit in.

[BerrySayRoar]

This was Nisha's queue to flee. She turned heel and sprinted towards the way they entered.

[A Blind Guy]

"Eh? Why do we need to run? we aren't going anywhere without Nisha. "

[Helsing]

"Exactly," Tyson says aiming his cannon, "He's got one chance."

In the courtyard, the man simply smirked.

"Feel free to try."

With Sienna, Blake gave a nervous glance to everyone else.

"He's Adam Torus, captain of the White Fang. And... an old friend."

"I wouldn't call us friends," Adam says, "The term I'd use is far more intement than just friends."

Tyson blinked, "Blake am I aiming a cannon at your boytoy?"

A moment of silence fell between the court, someone snickered, and Tyson blinked again.

"Oh my god that came out of my mouth. I've been spending to much time around you people."

"Then leave because he'll kill us!" Blake screams.

Adam tilts his head, "Is that how you remember me?" his hand gripped the hilt of his sword a little to tight, "Nevertheless, you have slaughted my brothers and sisters. State why you've done this."

[A Blind Guy]

"Well, besides the obvious fact that you all are violent terrorists, you kidnapped our friend which we do not take kindly."

[Flagmauth]

"Give her back, and we'll leave you and your buddies be, hm?"

[Helsing]

Nisha

The doors slammed shut, and even more strangely, tree roots started to grow over them. It was like looking at Sienna's semblance, albeit at a slower rate. They weren't growing, more like, adapting to the door, digging into it and subliming it into it's wood.

"It seems they don't want you to leave." The snake man said, "But if you want to, I should tell you that the correct way to leave for one such as us," he points to the end of the hallway, where another door lead to... somewhere in the church.

"Oh but wait," he said, clapping his hands, "We're missing a guest."

Then he reaches to the ground, touches his shadow, and his hand goes straight through it and keeps going.

****

Outside

Sienna felt it. A tug on her leg, and then suddenly, she wasn't in the courtyard anymore. She was sitting in... wait, this was the church.

"Now, now we can begin in earnest."

And a creepy looking motherfucker staring at her through hungry slits.

***

Back Outside

For a second, there was stunned silence.

Then, Adam unsheathed his sword, and Tyson fired his cannon. And in a moment of impossibility, the faunus flashed crimson and cut the shot. The two halves impacted his back and he launched to the rooftop. Blake jumped back on reflex, but she needed have bothered, nor did the other members of team RWBY as they readied themselves for the worst.

Instead, Sterling's instincts flared and his rapier clashed with a red katana who's wielder definitely wasn't there a second ago.

"Good reflexes," Adam said, he sounded genuinely impressed.

[Flagmauth]

Sienna felt something grab her by the leg and instinctively twisted in place to look at it "What-" And now she was suddenly inside...somewhere? The church? "-the...?" It only took her a fraction of a second to decide that the creep in front of her was probably related in some way to the sudden change of scenery. That in mind, she brought her revolvers to bear on him and fired half a dozen rounds, point-blank.

[BerrySayRoar]

Nisha's instinct to flee basically ran dry. She is now in survival panic. She swiftly opened her fans and charged straight for the bastard only to stop upon seeing sienna

[A Blind Guy]

Sterling blocked the incoming attacks and materialized 3 rifles, firing at Adam from three different directions while Sterling kept his guard up.

"You're not so bad yourself. Why are you abducting my teammates? "

[Helsing]

Outside:

The Bull faunus broke off from the deadlock before his sword became a blur. Aura strikes leapt from his blade, slicing straight through Sterling's aura constructs like they were nothing. He even just tilted his head to the side to dodge a sniper shot from Ruby, with one hand redirected Yang into a building.

And well, he didn't need to do anything with Blake. Poor girl hadn't even moved.

Weiss charged, but his aura flared crimson, and while her strike struck home, it didn't even phase him. With all the effort of a man striking down a bug, he smashed her across the head with his sword sheath.

"A long story, one that you won't be a part of."

In a flash, he was in his face again, his katana gleaming, and again, only Sterling's instincts save him from a strike that probably would've taken his head off.

***
Inside:

The bullets fired, they hit home.

Except, they didn't do a thing.

Because there was a shield between him and them. A shield of orange aura, a shield that buckled and bent. A shield, that when turned, blasted Nisha with the concussive force of dozens of bullets.

Feedback.

"Rather rude, I hadn't even said a word yet."

[BerrySayRoar]

It took a moment for nisha to register that she was laying on the floor hugging her chest. Her chest felt like someone shot a powerful pressurized air cannon at point blank. She sat up and registered another thing, he has her semblance

[Flagmauth]

Okay, that was weird. That was Nisha's Semblance, but...her fields weren't orange. Nor did they tend to hit her. The sheer absurdity of that threw Sienna for a loop, causing her to just stare for a second or two before replying. "Yeah, 'cause you just teleported me here for a nice chat, I'm sure," she said, loading the last two words with about as much sarcasm as she possibly could.

Sienna pulled one arm back and made a flicking motion with her wrist, throwing a pair of apple seeds from where she'd hidden them in the sleeve of her jacket. The two sprouted before they even hit the floor, rapidly uncoiling into lengths of knotted roots that reached out towards the unknown man to wrap around him and entangle his limbs. Probably wouldn't hold him long, but it was more intended to be an annoyance to keep him occupied so Sienna could go check on Nisha - which she promptly turned and ran toward her fallen teammate to do.

[Helsing]

Inside:

The vines grew, they spread, and the statue shifted. Somehow, the stone moved, the girl on the right holding the plant turning to look straight at her.

And when it did, something wrapped around Sienna's leg. A root, exactly like hers holding her back. Others went out and stopped those going towards the man. Wait they weren't trying to stop them, they were snaking around them, like they wanted to grow with them but only managed to slow them down.

"And the First Daughter has shown herself," the man grinned, "Thank you, however, we need one more."

From his robe, his hand blurred, and a knife went straight for Nisha's head.

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