"Stop right there, criminal scum!" One of many shouts came from below, nearby officers already converging on the chase. Yet, even with so many of them working together, some cutting off streets while others tried to outright follow her, Emerald didn't lose her cool, easily cutting across streets and ducking into alleyways, gates scaled long before those behind her could do any more than turn the corner and catch a glimpse of her fleeing figure.
As she emerged from an alleyway, weaving around the crowds ahead and sliding down the railing of a stairway leading to a lower portion of the district, I reached the end of the roof I was running across, firmly planting my foot on its edge and leaping. A bit of aid from carefully applied telekinesis saw me clearing the street and stairways entirely, landing on the building beside the alleyway Emerald had just slipped into.
The calls from the local police had already faded, all the pursuers left in the dust. Cinder had tried to follow me, but she was far too tired to keep up, and I'd just told her we'd meet up for training later.
Despite being on her own, as far as she knew anyways, Emerald only stopped to take a look behind her and check on the ring she pocketed before taking off once again, no longer running but hurrying her way through the streets, soon just another forgettable face among countless others.
She was good, no doubt having been faced with similar situations many times before this, but I had no trouble tracking her.
Dropping down into an alleyway and blending in myself, I trailed behind her.
Keeping her in sight wouldn't be a problem. What came after was where the real issues started.
XOXO
I'd seen her semblance.
And, at least from what the show depicted, there wasn't much room to debate that fact that Emerald had been loyal to Cinder, not Salem and whatever insane endgame she had. Theoretically she could be left alone, no longer a threat to anyone but those she stole from.
Silently climbing in through a cracked window, I landed on the rusted metal of a catwalk. Down below, a massive collection of old containers, crates, and barrels filled up the abandoned warehouse I'd followed Emerald to, forming a sort of maze. And Emerald herself was slowly making her way through it, quietly shimming between the containers and ducking beneath different stacks of crates.
As I quietly made my way across the catwalk, stopping just above her, Emerald arrived at what I could only assume to be her home. With the containers and crates all stacked high enough to act as walls, she'd stopped in a small space with little in it. A sort of camping set with a tent, bedroll and several crates to play the part of furniture, an old lamp placed on one.
Twisting the knob of the lamp, the thing's small flame lit up the small space without spreading to the entire warehouse, Emerald unclipping her weapons from the back of her waist and placing them next to the lamp.
But, just like with Cinder, there was always a chance that things didn't work out that way. Butterfly effect and all that. I couldn't really see her joining up with Salem without Cinder's influence but that didn't mean I could just discount her.
Dropping into a cross legged sit at the foot of her tent, Emerald pulled that small ring out from her pocket, raising it up to examine it. After rolling it between her fingers a few times, she slipped the piece of jewelry on, admiring it.
A young thief who either didn't have the confidence or creativity to put that semblance of hers to better use. All things involving Salem aside, it was honestly a shame for someone with her abilities, be it that semblance or pure agility, to be scrapping by on the streets.
Hmmm, she looked about the same age as Cinder and that girl could do with an actual friend. I was more her teacher than anything else, Cinder still not what I'd call comfortable around me. Maybe someone who she didn't have to get anything from would fit that role better. And it'd give me the perfect opportunity to observe more of what Emerald's semblance was capable of.
Hand placed on the edge of the rusty railing, I threw myself over the edge, a loud thump and clatter of the container below me filling the spacious building.
Emerald's eyes shot up to me.
"That's quite the semblance you got." I said. She silently stared, wide eyes only breaking contact to look at her weapons. "Don't-" Predictably, she shot for them. She only managed to get a finger on one of their handles before both shot up and I caught them, spinning the weapons to a stop by their triggers. A pair of dark revolvers, already equipped with transforming functions by the look of them.
An expensive piece of equipment for someone living like her to have and even more indicative of her situation.
"Can't blame you for trying. I am in your home." I said, lowering the weapons, careful not to point them anywhere near her. Emerald, aura up and glaring, took a cautious step back towards some of the crates.
"You're a huntsman?" She asked while continuing to inch backwards.
"No, nothing like that. Just curious." I said. "Not many semblances like yours." Most semblances, at least in my experience, by their very nature we're weakened or completely nullified when encountering another's aura shield. It's the main reason I couldn't just go around using something like telekinesis to overpower anyone who knew how to use one once they had it up.
But Emerald's aura, the mint green energy trailing up from her this very moment, had no trouble intertwining itself with the aura protecting my leg, sinking deeper as it traveled upwards. If it weren't for my eyes and unparalleled control over aura it came with, defending against it would've been impossible, but a few movements of my own aura and all hers was forced out before it could reach my head, and likely induce whatever illusion she had in mine.
Was her aura stimulating some kind of response in the brains of her targets?
Emerald's guarded expression shifted to one of surprise, frozen on the spot the moment she realized I was still following her slow inch backwards. "How are you-"
"Who knows?" I said dropping down on the other side of her little camp as I released her weapons, both floating back over to her. They hovered in place for a time, before she carefully reached up and grabbed them by their curved grips. Rather than pointing them directly at me, she lowered the weapons, opting to only keep them prepped to rise in my direction.
"No offense, but if you're living like this you probably don't make much lien selling anything you get your hands on." I pointed out, taking another look around. Between the general elevation of Mistral and damage to the warehouses' roofing this place was cold. Aura and the lamp could help but it was no good way to live.
She was surviving, little more.
"Ever gone up against Grimm?" I asked.
"…once."
"Then just consider this a chance to make some lien. If you don't mind going up against them again, that is." I turned my back to her. Those guns of her inched up but fell almost in the same moment, Emerald opting not to try her luck and press the apparent advantage. "The Baxter building." I said, dropping the name of the apartment Cinder and I now stayed at. "Head to the tenth floor if you decide you want to hear me out."
Waving, I jumped up, landing back on the catwalk. I gave her one last look, Emerald staring up at me, with wider eyes, some of that initial paranoia gone.
I wasn't looking to secure her deep loyalty the way Cinder had but using a method similar to her initial one in the show should work well enough.
XOXO
Cinder trudged through the lamp lit streets, dead on her feet. Despite all her experience, she didn't have much stamina, still struggling to keep up even with me taking things easy on her. Just goes to show how important it was to properly train. Huntsmen and Huntresses in training would freeze up in the positions she'd been in, a surprisingly large number of them not faced with Grimm until later in their training, but most wouldn't have trouble outlasting her in a head to head fight.
But the difference between someone used to fighting for survival and one just learning what it meant to go up against Grimm was vast so she wouldn't necessarily lose those match ups.
"You know the offer still stands, right?" I questioned, matching her haggard pace.
"Just go." Cinder retorted without so much as a glance my way. "I don't need you looking after me."
"Probably not." I agreed. The area between the training rooms we'd just come from and our apartments was far safer than any part of Mistral's lower levels so the chances of anything happening were slim. Plus, anyone dumb enough to try anything on her would find parts of their body cooked in a flash if they didn't have an aura shield prepped. "But I'd like to make sure you got back safe before I head out."
Cinder scoffed, stubbornly carrying herself forward.
I could've used telekinesis on her or throw her over my shoulder and we'd be back at the building already, but she adamantly refused both options. I knew better than to force her so here we were, this trip taking far longer than it should.
It wasn't until we made it back to the apartment building, and into one of its central elevators that she spoke again.
"What happened with that girl?" She asked the question that'd been on her mind since we met back up for training.
"Had a chat with her." I said, the lone presence toeing their way across our floor picked up my telekinesis well before we reached it. "I think she might be a good fit for the kind of work we do."
As the elevator settled, the odd weightiness of one coming to a stop passing, the metal doors split open. And lo and behold, a familiar head of green hair was in the middle of examining the decorations lined throughout the hall.
Money really did make the world go around, didn't it?
XOXO
Powerstone Goal = 400
(A/N: Emerald's one step towards joining the party! Anyways, I made like a reference or two this chapter, their apartment building name one example. Don't think too hard about that. I just like referencing popular stuff for others to pick up on when I need names for stuff that isn't all that important and central to the plot.
As always, the link for those who want to read ahead:
patreon .com/ thirdratewriter
I shall see you all around. Hope everyone caught up in cold weather is staying warm in the mean time.