The bar was closed, a few members of Spider spread throughout and polishing up the place to prepare for the busy night. Miss Malachite herself stood behind the bar, carrying out her usual checks. As we closed in, Melanie and Miltia taking seats at the corner stools, she turned.
Her examination of Emerald and her covered face was quick, over as soon as it began. The critical eye she gave Qrow lasted far longer.
"Just pretend I'm not even here." Qrow threw out, casually taking up a seat at the bar opposite to the twins, his flask pulled from his hip and messed with, but no drink taken.
"You cost quite a few people plenty of lien during your time in the caverns." Miss Malachite said, Qrow disregarded and her attention focused solely on me, Cinder, Emerald, and I taking the seats directly in front of her. Emerald had done her best to still her nerves but nervous twitches my Sharingan easily picked up on gave away how anxious she was to be in front of someone so prolific. "Us included. Though given the reason you were down there, I'll stick the blame on those brats and leave it there."
Melanie clicked her tongue but didn't retort for once, looking away.
"Others that had more direct hands in the capture and distribution of those you let free won't be so willing to let that go."
"I thought you had control of things in there now?"
"To a point. I can not simply go around cutting off every head overseeing business there. The amount of time and people needed to reorganize after something like that would be more trouble than its worth. Most have been simply made to fall in line." Miss Malachite explained, maintaining that vague wording. Qrow might be an experienced huntsman willing to play ball with a group like Spider, but she still wasn't willing to risk saying anything too directly with a huntsman in the room. "And it always takes time for people to adjust to new management. Some will likely get ahead of themselves during that time."
"A few are the sort to hold a grudge. I've already prepared on my end, but I sincerely doubt they're foolish enough to make any move against me." Placing a glass on the bar, she uncorked a fancier looking bottle, pouring herself some of the bronze colored liquid. "The story isn't quite the same for you on the other hand. The nobody that stuck their nose in business that didn't involve them is just one of the ways my people have heard you described."
"You've done more than enough to earn yourself and your friends a place in our little family. But I don't imagine you'll be taking that offer anytime soon."
"Probably not." I said while she took a moment to take a sip from her prepared glass.
"Marcus Black. Have you heard the name?" She questioned as she lowered the glass.
Mercury Black was the first person to pop into my head. Like Emerald, he could theoretically be labeled a nonissue and ignored with Cinder around me, but I could never be one hundred percent sure about that.
Mercury aside, Marcus Black, other than being labeled his father and an assassin, was little more than a question mark to me. The only thing I did know about him landed him firmly on an avoid unless necessary list.
One way or another, likely through an aspect of his own semblance, he'd taken Mercury's from him, something that seemed to stay true long after his death in the show.
"Just the name." I admitted. Given how much I was around the less than savory types and areas I'd been in since coming to Mistral, it would hardly be far fetched for me to have heard it mentioned somewhere.
"He's an assassin." Qrow pipped in. "A particularly nasty one from what I've heard."
"Normally-" Miss Malachite continued, ignoring Qrow's input. "-I would not consider him a concern, that man not usually the sort to work for people on their way out. That said, the nasty part of his reputation is what should concern you."
"He's known for favoring jobs involving people with powerful semblances. It doesn't matter who commissions it, how much the pay is, or who he'll cross in doing so. If he's pointed at someone known for throwing their semblance around, he'll take the job. The fact that he's still alive despite that should tell you how well its gone for him." Miss Malachite explained. "And you, especially after your stunt back at the market, have placed yourself squarely in that category in the eyes of everyone involved in that side of business."
That was more than just some minor concern. I didn't even want to consider things without the Sharingan. Losing it went beyond just a blow to my fighting ability.
"I recommend finding a place to lay low for a time. I'm more than willing to provide that." Miss Malachite offered. "That or taking on a job that'll keep you away from the city while things fully settle."
I nodded.
Marcus Black. His semblance alone demanded far more caution than anything I'd gone up against since coming to the city.
XOXO
"You're the one who went and got yourself involved in their business. I didn't hear any part of that had to do with me."
"I don't know, maybe the fact that Talon might be targeted by a professional killer might be a little concerning for you. Just a little."
Cinder scoffed, propped against the wall between the kitchen and main area of my apartment, a hand resting on her blade. Emerald was laxer but not by much, sitting on one of the stools at the island, one arm on the counter near her revolvers and the other on the backrest of the stool as she argued with Cinder.
"More than a little." Qrow pipped in from the couch, back facing the rest of us as he messed with the TV. "That reputation doesn't just come from how willing he is to kill, it's how he does the job. You two might not be as well known as Talon but I'd be surprised if you didn't end up targeted too. Either as leverage or just part of whatever grudge keeps him going after those with semblances."
"Okay, I've been holding off on asking because I assumed you were going to tell us eventually, but who is this guy?" Emerald questioned, turning towards the kitchen to look at me, one of her hands pointed back at Qrow. "Did you manage to get a huntsman as backup for us or something? How much can we even talk about in front of him?"
I chuckled, pushing off the fridge door. "Don't worry. He's family." I said. "He might not be reliable enough to pay back a bit of lien but I'm pretty sure he isn't going to let an assassin kill me."
"Hold on, so when you said you grew up around people who knew how to fight, you meant huntsmen?"
"Yep." I said while grabbing a jar from one of the counters and opening it up.
"I guess that explains why you know so much about aura." Emerald muttered. Her look of realization changed to a deadpan stare. "You can't seriously be eating right now."
"Sugar helps me think. Feel free to have some." I said while placing the jar of cookies on the island in front of her, one grabbed for myself.
Emerald sighed but did end up turning to grab one for herself. "Do we really need to think that much about what to do? What Miss Malachite said seemed like a good idea to me. We spend what? A few weeks away from the city and come back when we don't have to worry about someone trying to kill us."
"That is one way to handle it." I said with a nod of my head. With Spider busy with their takeover I doubt they were putting much effort into looking for Tyrian. With the way it was going it might be better to go to one of the other major cities in the kingdom like Kuchinashi or Wind Path. Maybe even Argus if those places turned up nothing on him.
A semblance that once used rendered the victim's semblance unusable. The prospect of something like that was as risky as it was rewarding. If I could get something like that, even if the effects didn't persist after I changed to a different semblance, just being able to shut down someone's semblance for an entire battle was comparable to crippling certain types of fighters.
And if it worked on passive semblances? I personally didn't think Qrow's semblance was much of a problem, but I wasn't the one having to live my whole life with it and I knew better than most that semblances could come with their own weight.
Even with that in mind it wasn't just something to throw myself after.
Either way, just running away and trusting Miss Malachite's efforts wouldn't be enough.
"I say we take jobs to settlements close by, so we keep going to and from the city but spend most of our time out in the wilds." I said.
"What's the point in that?" Emerald asked, voicing the question for Cinder too, her disgruntled gaze on me. "Isn't that just our usual without breaks?"
"Remember what you asked about my semblance? You were right about me being able to feel things and people around me." I explained. "An assassin approaching from a crowd of people in a city isn't going to stand out to me. One trying to attack us out there won't get the chance to catch us by surprise."
"Sounds like you intentionally want to draw him to you." Qrow said, glancing over the back of the couch. "You could just take the safest option and travel to another kingdom entirely. Maybe Vale? I hear its real nice this time a year."
How subtle.
"No." I said holding Qrow's gaze. "If someone's going to send an assassin after me, I'm going to kill them and the one who hired them. I don't need to be looking over my shoulder worrying about it for who knows how long everywhere I go."
Qrow sighed and turned back to the low TV. Emerald had paused in her eating but gave me a slow nod.
Cinder on the other hand, despite initially complaining about it having nothing to do with her, nodded the moment our eyes met. No surprise that she favored an approach to all of this that got rid of the problem entirely, no room left for paranoid doubt. And, for once, I was fully aligned with her lack of reservations.
There was no need to think twice about killing someone who's entire purpose in pursuing me was to do the same.
XOXO
(A/N: Not going to lie, I am running off nothing but hopes and dreams right now, my sleep schedule absolutely fucked for this weekend. Almost forgot I was supposed to update at all but luckily I handled most of the typing ahead of time and just needed to get in one more round of edits.
After that bit of downtime and some enlightening flashbacks, Talon's decision to play liberator is coming back around as all things do. Should be interesting in its own way.
As per usual, the link for those who want to read ahead and/or offer extra support:
patreon .com/ thirdratewriter
Anyways, I still got time before I need to clock in some overtime so I'm might try and get some extra sleep. That or chill in the comments with all of you and fry my brain further. You all stay safe where ever you are.)