"When you said you'd carry one of us, this isn't what I had in mind!" Emerald yelled over the rushing winds. Sword surfing just above the forests of Mistral, Cinder was behind me, confident enough that she kept herself balanced rather than holding on to me, a pack of supplies on her back, while Emerald was tucked under my right arm struggling to find a way to get comfortable. Kind of impossible when she was being held like some old luggage.
Chuckling to myself, I raised my arm, holding her higher.
"Wh-Whoa! Don't drop me!" Emerald yelled out, eyes instinctively screwing shut. After I steadied her on my shoulder, one of her hands falling on my other shoulder and holding on tight, they slowly opened again. Awe overtook anxiety as she gazed out across the endless nature all around us.
The job we'd found didn't pay the greatest, no more than a personal delivery from someone in the city back to family in some settlement. A basic and straightforward job that fundamentally wasn't too different from what we did for Spider. The main differences were the fact that we weren't working for some criminal syndicate and the far larger distance we had to cover.
The latter called for me to be more efficient and refrain from separating a spare blade from my weapon for Emerald to ride on. I could but it'd result in us stopping far earlier to conserve my aura.
Unless necessary I wouldn't be falling beneath half outside of serious fights.
The former was a bit of a benefit through.
I flew just a little higher so we could all get a better look at things around us, but not so high that we'd be an instant target for any passing airborne Grimm. I didn't have to worry about staying out of sight to keep Spider's business on the down low by literally keeping low to the ground.
Monsters aside, Remnant, the parts of it I've gotten the chance to see so far at least, could be a beautiful place. I couldn't have ever imagine myself in my past life taking the time to enjoy any kind of nature but between living on a rural island like Patch, then spending all my time traveling through the great outdoors with the tribe, it was kind of hard not to appreciate it.
I wasn't sure Cinder cared either way, quiet back there, but Emerald was getting something out of it.
She might not have had the cold composure Cinder did in kill or be killed situations, but she was far more open to the idea of new things, barely bothered that the streets of the city she'd been surviving on for so long was just a dot behind us.
XOXO
Trees snapped, raw force ripping their upper portions away from their stumps. Drawing those floating trees towards me, branches and leaves were the next to go before I sent the logs flying towards the mouth of a small cave. One by I drove them into the ground, leaving just enough space for people and smaller animals to squeeze into the cave but not much else. I headed over, drawing over different pieces of vegetation, and slipped between the sturdy logs, all that greenery framed around it.
Not exactly the walls of a city but it would do in a situation like this.
The small cave didn't extend very far, the darkened entrance quickly opening up to a rocky chamber.
"I wish I'd known these existed before." Emerald complained, kneeling beside the small dust powered lamp placed at the center of the chamber, the rest of our stuff organized in a spiral around it, Cinder looking the lamp over alongside her. It was far more expensive than the one she used back in that warehouse and not just due to running on dust or being more efficient, the thing doubling as a heater, and even a weapon in a pinch. Throw it hard enough and the dust in there could create a small explosion. "Where'd you get this?"
Hmmm, I'd give her a solid ten in the acting department, but she came up short in every other area.
"I said try to get a peek under my glasses, not my mask." I said, tapping the wrist of the hand reaching up for my face. The illusion shimmered away on the spot, Emerald appearing in front of me and the curious expression on Cinder's face replaced by a far more neutral, nearly unfriendly, one that was far more in line with her usual. A slight shift and I sent the wide eyed Emerald stumbling past me, a light kick to butt fully tripping her up. "This isn't the place to be playing around."
"Dammit." Emerald cursed, taking a moment to glare over at Cinder who snorted as she finished setting up the lamp, the faint reddish glow now coming from the crystal within starting to heat up the small space, before focusing on me as she stood up. "I don't get it. Your semblance is just telekinesis, isn't it? Are you using that to feel where I am or something?"
She also got an A for creativity. Simple approach to unmasking me aside, most focused far too much on the fact that I could fling around anything that wasn't nailed down and snap bones to think about the more subtle uses that came with an ability like that.
"Your illusions need more work." I said, heading over to the lamp and dropping to a cross legged sit in front of it, Emerald doing the same in the spot in front of her bedroll. Cinder backed away from the lamp, reaching for her swords and taking the time to look the blades over. She was still paranoid about them breaking on her. "I know she looks mean all the time, but you probably should've left Cinder's face alone. The shade of her eyes were off."
"Seriously? That's what gave it away?"
"The shadows from the lamp's light didn't match up with your positioning either. Your voice's distance was a little off too." I pointed out a few other things, Emerald staring at me with an odd cross between amazement and disbelief. "A semblance like yours is all about detail. Skip out on anything and you're giving your target a chance to realize something's wrong."
She might've hit the bullseye when it came to telekinesis also giving her away but even years ago, way back when I first awakened the Sharingan, her semblance would've been no more than a minor inconvenience to my eyes. There just wasn't much she could do to stop me from seeing through her illusions when I saw things she simply couldn't perceive.
I figured it would, but it was good to know my Sharingan damn near nullified her semblance.
"It's not like Grimm will notice any of that." Emerald said, hood dropped.
"Grimm aren't the only thing you should be worried about." Cinder muttered without looking up from her weapons. I was going to say she shouldn't underestimate the intelligence of Grimm but that was just as true.
Cinder and I had left the city knowing that but the reality of what kind of place she'd stepped into was only just settling in for Emerald, her amazement dropping as she dropped her gaze down to the lamp. The hold her hands had on her cross legs tightened.
"I wouldn't worry too much about anything like that. We aren't the kind of group anyone out here would normally target." I said. Between our weapons, Emerald's getup, and my mask, easy targets wasn't something anyone prowling the wilds would label us as. "And if anyone does try something, I'll handle it."
Emerald looked up. Then nodded, still looking a little put off. There was nothing that could be done about that; it was just an aspect of any long distance travel in this world that those bold enough to undertake it had to get used to.
Reaching behind me, I pulled out three different wrapped bars from my satchel, tossing one to Emerald who caught it just before it hit her face.
"Chocolate?" She questioned, pulling it down to look it over.
"Got to have something to enjoy after a long day of travel." I said. "Want one?" Cinder glanced up from her weapons, before setting one aside and holding out a hand. I tossed it over then got to enjoying my own, mask adjusted so I could eat.
We'd lucked out with this cave but that little covering I did was only good for fooling the weakest of Grimm. Any with a few years under their belt and survived encounters with humans would notice that it was manmade in an instant. People were a whole other variable that could go any number of ways.
"We'll have two watches." I said while we were eating. "Cinder and I will handle them."
Cinder nodded.
"Sounds good. More sleep for me." Emerald said through a yawn, only one half of her bar eaten, the rest rewrapped and set aside for later as she fell back on her bedroll, a groan leaving her once she hit it, the rocky ground still there. "Not sure how much I'll be getting in this place though."
XOXO
Muffled snores left Emerald, all but her long green hair stuffed into her bedroll. She was out cold, barely reacting to any of the sounds beyond or in the cave, not so much as stirring when Cinder and I swapped for the night. I figured she'd be a light sleeper with all the thieving to get by on the streets of the city. Maybe her own aura practice and all the traveling was what got her like that.
As for Cinder, well, I don't think she knew what the word rest meant and that still held true in her sleep. She'd taken first watch and it ended over an hour ago, but she'd only just fallen asleep. She hadn't remained still for long though, currently shifting about at random, her breaths rarely steady.
Some things had a way of haunting people at all times.
I'd have to be careful not to wake her.
Pushing off the craggy wall I'd been leaning on, I headed towards the cave's blocked entrance. I peeked between the logs and out into the moonlit darkness beyond, waiting.
My semblance wasn't just a natural enemy to Emerald's illusions but the greatest tool to enhance it. I tested it with small harmless illusions back in the city but couldn't push it to the max on random people.
Couldn't really justify screwing with the minds of people going about their day to day.
The bushes ahead shook. Not long after they were flattened, a sizable Ursa prowling forward. Bone armor with a few chips in it and a missing eye? It was a major that'd seen some battle. Its ominous eye fell on the cave's covering as it advanced. And it was old enough to spot human activity.
My aura, the same mint green as Emerald's, snaked forward, trailing between blades of grass and crawling up the Grimm.
It froze.
Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Emerald, through no fault of her own, or maybe just a lack of initiative, limited herself to only taking into account the major senses most thought about when it came to understanding the world. Her semblance helped her get by despite that self imposed limit, but a limit was still a limit.
A complete waste of potential when her semblance gave her unrestricted access to her target's perception.
The Ursa took an agonizingly slow step back, balance lost as it tried again.
Our equilibrium and sense of time. Essential things when it came to establishing a position in the world. And I could wreak havoc on both with Emerald's semblance.
Its age working in its favor, the unsteady Ursa retreated into the darkness after realizing something it couldn't quite perceive was wrong, and I pulled my aura back, no attempt made to stop it.
It wasn't perfect though, at least not on Grimm. Trying to figure things out from many of their hulking perspectives would take some effort and might even be impossible if the creatures had too many senses I lacked, but on another person?
I pushed away from the covering, my aura changing back to match Glynda's in an instant as I settled back in beside the lamp. And not a moment too soon, Cinder shooting up from her bedroll. Her hand landed on the handle of one of her swords, eyes sweeping across the dimly lit space.
"You got nightmares too, huh?" I questioned as her wide eyes locked onto me.
She slowed her breaths and rose with a grunt, sword and discarded jacket taken with her as she headed towards the much colder mouth of the cave.
I'd hand her the olive branch where there was opportunity but if she ever wanted to talk about her past, it'd be by her choice alone. Wouldn't be much of a point if it was forced out of her.
XOXO
Powerstone Goal = 500
(A/N: For obvious reasons, Talon's illusions will be damn near indistinguishable from reality especially as he gains more experience with it. Brother just keeps becoming more and more of a force to be reckoned with honestly. With Emerald's semblance, if he wants you dead, most people will definitely be at his mercy immediately.
Very interesting. I like his generally agreeable disposition but I honestly can't wait to see him lock in and deal with someone/people he's actually looking to kill with no questions asked.
And for those interested in reading ahead to that here's the link:
patreon .com/ thirdratewriter
See you all around!