In Plain Sight

“This is neat,” Ruby said as she looked around the mostly furnished gym before sneezing cutely at some of the dust in the air. 

Apparently for the amount he was being offered, Tukson had left nearly everything except his personal photos and the like, which Cinder was hardly going to begrudge him for. 

“Deeds and everything are in the safe. He left his forwarding address if you need him to sign any extra paperwork after he leaves town,” Mercury said, handing over a clipboard with several sheets of paper and an envelope attached. “This is the client list in case you wanted to close it so we can let ‘em know.”

“That won’t be needed. We’ll mostly use the back area. We’ll board and keep others out of that since it’s not in use already. We could use the boxing ring, but it’s…”

“Not something useful for fighting vampires?” Weiss asked. 

“I was gonna say cliche but yeah let’s go with that,” Cinder replied as Weiss’s face dropped. 

“I suppose this will serve as adequate a place as any,” Winter said as she gestured for the clipboard Cinder handed over.

“Are any of the other clientele supernatural or like Mr. Black?” 

Cinder scanned the list over her shoulder as she rested her chin on Winter’s shoulder a moment. 

“A few maybe but I don’t tend to keep track of things that aren’t or won’t become an issue. Mercury, you know of any?”

“I think one of the guys might be a werewolf but he’s pretty chill, and there’s a few more like me. Tuckson was in the know so he put little symbols next to the ‘special ones’.” 

Winter re-looked at the list with that in mind and saw about a quarter of the clients had some marking near the name. “Will that be an issue you do you think? You owning their gym?”

“I’m not making any real changes so it shouldn’t be, and I’ll put Mercury officially in charge with a few others to deter trouble and muddy the trail a bit . Let’s check out the room we’ll use,” Cinder said as she led the group towards the back storage area. 

Cinder looked around and nodded. The padding she’d wanted was already up, and in place. The wonders of money. She gave it a quick test and judged it’d be fine for the humans that would get thrown around. Velvet would be fine as well. 

“Sound proofing done?” Cinder asked Mercury who shrugged. 

“Don’t think so. Something about actually soundproof materials needing to be shipped in and won’t be here until tomorrow evening or the day after,” he said with a shrug.

“The other stuff you wanted is in the big box over there and I brought over some of what you had except the books cause you told me I’d die if I touched those.”

“You would have, so good call,” Cinder assured him. 

“Alright since you’re gonna be in charge go familiarize yourself with the whole thing, or rather the whole running a business thing,” Cinder dismissed the ghoul as she handed him the clipboard back.

“This backroom stock area should be large enough I think for what we need,” Cinder said as she raised an eyebrow at Winter as if asking her opinion. 

Winter nodded after testing the padding by giving it a few solid blows. 

“I noticed you left one area unpadded. Is there a reason?”

“A few,” Cinder admitted as she brought them over to the quarter of the room that was not padded and had a table set up instead. 

“I figure little red can work on any of her science stuff here if need be while you’re being trained, and we can also go over more stuff like vampire weaknesses, or magic here.”

Weiss rubbed her hands together, clearly eager to avenge her pitiful performance earlier. 

“Relax kid, even when I fill you in it’s not gonna help you. I told you, you were at least a century from being a real threat to me.”

“It’s ok, Weiss. If it makes you feel any better I’m sure you could kill me if you wanted,” Ruby offered with a smile as Velvet of all people frowned and poked her in the chest, hard. 

“Don’t go offering to get yourself killed! You’re not getting away from us that easily. We’d find one of those necromancer guys to resurrect you just so we can yell at you a bunch!” Velvet said sternly and turned to Weiss to glare at her to the white-haired girl’s surprise. 

“And you stop picking fights you can’t win! You can’t just leave me all alone again. I just, I can’t do it!’ Velvet said as she pulled both of them to her and sobbed weakly. 

Ruby and Weiss exchanged an uneasy look as they hugged her back. 

Winter pulled Cinder away to at least give the illusion of privacy.

“Is that normal for were creatures?” Winter asked delicately as she nodded her head toward the trio. 

Cinder shrugged. “I don’t know much about her kind specifically but in comparison with werewolves? Sorta? Essentially those two are her mates and they’re all being thrust into this world of monsters and what not. Couple that with being pretty low on the totem pole and their relationship being so new, and all those emotions came spilling out is my guess,” Cinder said. 

“Although your sister insisting on fighting whatever she meets probably doesn’t help nor does little red being so self sacrificing.” 

“That’s how Weiss has always been unfortunately. I should tell you about the time she stole pudding from every member of the board that was meeting at our home for a banquet our father was hosting.”

“Do tell…”

Emerald struggled to keep her eyes open as she focused on the laptop screen in front of her. She’d have preferred a smartphone for its size but for many reasons that was unwise. 

Namely because of how easy they were to break. Even the military grade ones weren’t that sturdy for vampires, and the stupid touch screen needing bio-electricity to read your inputs! She just wanted to listen to music or play a game once in a while on the go! Was that so wrong?

No one ever told you about those downsides to being a vampire. Sure you can outrun a train, but what if she wanted to listen to music on the go? Maybe she’d look into one of those smart phones with a pen? But then they’re still fragile. Maybe she should look into making a stronger version for vampires? That’d surely sell right? 

Coco wouldn’t have to keep working to make all the money that way too!

She blinked as she focused on the record of sale she’d pulled up and reread it. 

“Hey Hazel,” Emerald called out, getting a grunt from the man who came over. Penny remained asleep and being the strangest person Emerald had ever met, vampire or otherwise. 

She was sleeping on the bed, arms crossed looking like a movie vampire, but upside down with her feet resting on the pillow and a small bag of earth on her chest she’d brought with her.

Honestly Emerald had no idea what to make of her at any given moment. She’d act like a kind sweet friend and then randomly show why her clan was so feared in the next moment. 

She handed the laptop to Hazel who read through it. 

“I didn’t know they’d sold the property. That complicates things, but not a large amount. We can still sneak around and see if we can find anything or make a public inquiry to the new owner if nothing else,” Hazel said, handing the laptop back to Emerald as he looked at her. 

“You should get some sleep. While it would be great if we find him with no issues, expect problems in this line of work.”

“Alright I guess I’ll try to get some sleep. How are we looking on blood?” Emerald asked as she saved her work and powered off the laptop. 

“You should have enough for at least another week even if our new friend needs to dip into it,” Hazel said before Emerald growled. 

“That’s Coco’s! It’s only for me, and no one else!” Emerald hissed her red eyes flashing once more. 

“Careful fledgling. I know why you feel that way but most other vampires wouldn’t let you get away with such disrespect,” Hazel warned as Emerald forced herself to calm down. 

“Do you think we can trust that pair of sister’s from earlier?” Emerald asked, trying to distract herself from the anger. 

Hazel humored her even though her attempt was obvious. “I don’t know, but it’s not for me to know. We let our master make those choices.”

“Yeah but I’m asking you and what you think,” Emerald insisted. 

Hazel was silent for a few moments before shrugging. “I haven’t heard of an alliance with a Kuei-jin all that often. They can and have coexisted with vampires, but there’s a lot of pride involved on both sides. 

My opinion is that something absurdly big is happening if they’re willing to reach out and basically ask for protection from a vampire.”

“They said it was an alliance though not sanctuary,” Emerald pointed out. 

“It’s in the phrasing. They’re asking for the alliance, and offering information freely ahead of time. They’re also asking our master, or rather her master for protection in advance of whatever storm they think might be coming. The information is a piece they’d normally hold back to bargain for better terms with but they’re clearly terrified of whatever it is they see coming,” Hazel explained. 

“If they’re that helpless then basically they’re wanting us to shelter and protect them for information that might not even be all that useful,” Emerald said distastefully. 

“I’m sure our master knows that and will make sure they do enough to earn it if they accept the offer,” Hazel assured her. “Now get some sleep like our new friend,” Hazel said softly as Emerald grumbled but laid down for a few hours. 

Hazel took a moment to gently turn the envelope over in his hands wondering what would truly happen once Cinder had this. 

If they accepted then things would continue on mostly as they were now, but if they refused would they be offended enough to take action? 

They were prideful creatures but he doubted they were suicidal and attempting to attack them over a perceived slight? Oh well, it was above his pay grade.

Much as he had before he glanced out the window at the shadow he saw move at the edges of his vision. 

A retainer making sure they fulfilled their promise? A rival branch of Kuei-jin looking to sabotage or gain information, a curious visitor, or even a potential enemy? 

Whatever it was he sensed it was still waiting and watching for the time being. No reason to borrow trouble until he knew for sure, and could get the other two out of harm’s way. 

After letting the trio talk things out for a few minutes Cinder called them over to the clear area. 

“Despite what you might think your best weapon against a vampire is fire if you can manage it,” Cinder lectured them. 

“For you that may be different,” Cinder nodded to Velvet before she focused on Weiss and Ruby who was taking notes, “but neither of you will have the raw strength she will. Fire hurts and takes much longer and more effort to heal. It’s a lot like silver that way, but far less expensive. You all need to start relying on your minds more for fighting and outwitting vampires,” Cinder said as she pulled out a small egg timer she tossed to Weiss. 

“Fighting a vampire is all well and good if you have no choice, but why face them in combat and risk it if you don’t have to? 

Especially if a vampire got a whiff or taste of your blood and went into a frenzy. No, it’s better to put them down from a distance if possible. You mentioned chasing them into derelict locations which is good, but then you have to go in and flush them out which is less good. 

If it’s an abandoned shack in the middle of nowhere, burn it down and watch so you can catch it when it flees. If it’s in some weird sewer, lock it in until it starves with a cave in. Don’t think you have to go toe to toe with a vampire,” Cinder explained as she flicked open a lighter to illustrate her point. 

“Now I know you can’t do that all the time, but I’m just asking you to think. None of us want you to actually die doing this so taking away as many risks as possible is the way to go. We’ll still be training for when you actually do fight vampires.”

Cinder quirked an amused brow at Ruby raising her hand before she nodded. 

“This is still for like baby vampires right? I assume this won’t do much against uh older ones?” Ruby asked and Cinder nodded. 

“Fire is still a good option as it is painful, but unless you have a bunch of flamethrowers on hand which are generally illegal and bulky as hell then you need to use other methods,” Cinder said as she rubbed her face. 

When Winter mimed throwing a bottle Cinder nodded. 

“Sure, if there’s no real collateral to worry about but unless the vampire is contained or injured and can’t move you’re probably not gonna hit anything that’s not a fledgling with that, and remember older vampires like me will find it painful but it’s not going to kill us. What it will do is piss us off, which I suppose you can use to your advantage if you can live long enough, or decide you’re tired of life.”

"Could it be used to help corral them though?" Velvet asked and Cinder flashed her a thumbs up for the question with a nod.

“So if we have no chance of actually fighting real vampires what’s all this for then?” Weiss asked with narrowed eyes, her frustration clear. 

“So you can get training and live long enough to escape if you ever find one. I wasn’t kidding about you all being centuries from being a threat to me,” Cinder insisted, starting to sound exasperated.  

“Even if the little were-hare was fully transformed and you both had all your Schnee gear and I couldn’t leave this building you’d be dead in minutes at best,” Cinder said bluntly before she softened her tone.

I know it’s not what you want to hear, but there are things, creatures, and monsters in this world that aren’t fair and will kill you for bothering them. Things that make me look as helpless as a newborn child. You need to recognize when you need to retreat and train so that when you can’t fight you do the best you can to survive long enough to retreat.”

Winter shifted nervously at that, aware that if Cinder hadn’t been enamored with her for some reason it was clear how outmatched she was by the vampire. 

“So we’ll go over various clans, and abilities or magics they may have and for now, yes, more physical training. Are there any questions?” Cinder asked. 

She nodded when she saw there were none and had them line up. “You two already know how to roll with a fall so do some light stretching, sparring and what not while I have these two take a few falls to learn,” Cinder ordered, waving the two Schnees off to the other side of the room. 

Weiss weaved between her older sister's attacks and tried to find an opening but was frustrated not seeing one until Velvet actually leapt from behind and grabbed Winter’s shoulders holding her in place long enough for Weiss to gently tap her stomach signaling a point. 

“Not an expected tactic, but effective,” Winter admitted with a smile at the newly arrived woman whose ears were relaxed and lying down even though her hair band was off.

“Where’s Ruby?” Weiss asked and Velvet nodded to the side back where Cinder was talking with Ruby who was making exaggerated fighting motions. 

“I took to the falls pretty quickly but I guess Ruby needs more practice or she’s talking to Cinder about something else. I just saw a chance to help you so I took it!” Velvet said shyly. “I hope that was alright. I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries.”

Weiss gave her hand a quick squeeze with a smile to show how thankful she was. She’d have tried for more but this was supposed to be for training and she didn’t want to get distracted. 

She didn’t have that much faith in any of their willpower at the moment. 

Ruby finally joined them a moment later with Cinder following behind. 

“Are you alright Ruby?” Velvet asked a split second before Weiss. 

“Oh yeah. I was just wondering since I’m not superhuman like you guys, or a were creature if I would get in your way. I mean if I punch Cinder in the face as hard as I can I’d just break my hand unlike you guys who can at least make her move,” Ruby explained. 

“It’s still important for you to learn how to get away if nothing else, and I’m sure you’ll find some way to contribute,” Weiss said to reassure her girlfriend. 

“Oh I know. I just don’t want to get in your way or be a liability so I was thinking about that blood stuff and wondered if vampires could get sick from it somehow. Like you know poison it and have needles with it to stick in ‘em?”

“What did you come up with?” Winter asked curiously as Velvet settled into Ruby’s side. 

“Well vampires don’t really suffer from human diseases so that’s all out, but I remembered the holy water stuff and wondered if a syringe of that injected into a blood bag, or stuck into a vampire would help,” Ruby explained. 

“What did Cinder say to that?” Weiss asked wide eyed. A state that Winter shared having never thought of attempting it. If it worked…

“She said it’d be painful and maybe lethal for younger ones, but mostly just annoying for older ones like her, but still if you can find a way to fire syringes it might work, or maybe just the vials you showed me work better,” Ruby said with a shrug. 

“It’s certainly interesting enough that I’ll give you a few drops to mess with. Put some holy water in it and see if it does anything interesting. It’ll save me time when I meet with Nikos later at any rate. 

Maybe I’ll get some from Hazel, and Emerald when they get back so we can see how it affects them differently,” Cinder offered, wandering over. 

“Now…since you all wanted to know how to fight a real vampire so badly I figured I’d indulge you this one time. We’re going to have a fun sparring session. Isn’t that great?” Cinder asked with faux happiness as she made an inviting gesture toward herself. “You can use any tricks you want! Just try not to bring the place down. If I say you’re out then you’re out.”

“Um,” Ruby raised her hand. 

“Yes, you’re excused little red. We’ll work on doing more actual training for you later but go read a book or something,” Cinder waved her off. 

When Velvet made to put her hand up Cinder smirked and pushed it back down. “Just because you’re strongest during a transformation doesn’t mean you aren’t superhuman outside of it so you get to stay in.”

Cinder’s smirk promised none of them would find the next few minutes all that fun.

“You three can have five minutes to make a plan. I’ll go bother little red while you do,” Cinder said with a mocking salute and made to move until Weiss grabbed her shoulder. 

“You want to go now?” Cinder asked amiably with an undercurrent of warning. 

“No. I know you said we could do whatever but do we need to stay in this room?” Weiss asked for clarification. 

“Now that is an excellent question,” Cinder praised her,  “and no, but do stay in the building and probably out of line of sight of the few windows in the front. Actually I’ll go close those, or block them while you guys figure out everything,” Cinder offered as she left. 

Weiss gestured frantically to Ruby who came back over. 

“Um hey guys, good luck?” Ruby offered not sure why she was called back before she gave the other two a kiss on the cheek for good luck. 

“I know you’re not fighting, but you can help us plan or think of good strategies right?” Weiss asked as Ruby’s face lit up. 

“Yeah, I can do my best. What do you guys have so far? What did you try, Winter?” Ruby asked the elder sister who blushed and then blanched which looked…really unhealthy in her medical opinion. 

“Any and everything I could think of. We’re not setting the gym on fire so I’m at a loss as to what Miss Scarlatina adds other than more muscle,” Winter apologized as Velvet shrugged not being sure what else she could add either. 

“Uh I have a few things in my purse, and Cinder left this so I mean,” Ruby said rummaging around the bag Cinder had left unattended. 

“I mean I know you guys probably won’t win, but you can at least get a good hit in maybe?” Ruby offered a few minutes later as she looked through the door Cinder would have to enter from. 

“You should probably go get ready! Good luck,” Ruby said as she smiled and went back over to the table she scooted a bit to the right for some reason Weiss couldn’t guess. 

“I trust you’ll carry out your parts magnificently. Let’s do our best,” Winter said as she vanished toward the small upstairs area.

“Good luck Weiss!” Velvet said as she snuck a quick Eskimo kiss and bolted red-faced to her own assigned area heedless of Ruby's giggle. 

“I’m staring in two minutes!” Cinder yelled which carried through the building. 

Weiss hurried to her own location and did her best to calm her nerves. 

“Beckett I presume,” Hazel said nodding his head respectfully to the vampire historian who raised an eyebrow but returned a brief nod. 

“I’m afraid that oddly enough you have me at a disadvantage. You are?” Beckett asked and Emerald took her first look at the semi famous archeologist...or was it anthropologist? She had no idea. 

He seemed unassuming at first glance but Hazel had told her he was capable of withstanding the sun if he chose which meant he was at least close to or nearing an Elder vampire in terms of lifespan, and made him very dangerous even if he didn’t appear to be so at first glance. 

Red cat-like eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses with fingers that almost appeared to be as sharp as claws. The trench-coat was a nice touch though. She thought it suited him.

“Our master has asked us to contact you for your assistance in a matter of great importance to her,” Hazel said vaguely to Beckett’s clear irritation. 

“I don’t suppose you’d skip the guessing games and just tell me what they want?” Beckett asked with a heavy sigh. 

“I’m not allowed to say, but I was told they’d make it well worth your while,” Hazel said prompting a noise of contemplation from Beckett. 

“Well I doubted there was much here to pique my interest, but what are they offering for my services? Beyond whatever they learn of course,” Beckett asked.  

“I’ve been instructed to offer you any tome from her personal library you desire when you meet her, or her master has offered you the chance to read a one of a kind book that is unlike any other, thought lost to time, in return for your services for the next several months.”

Beckett blinked. “Her master’s personal book, and only to read? My it must be positively ancient and rare in that case especially if she wants to take so much of my personal time.”

“She has also offered you sanctuary and protection from Marie for the time of your stay,” Hazel added, although Beckett’s eye was drawn to the orange-haired girl bouncing on her feet before he looked back at Hazel. 

“You keep strange company. Still, life's little mysteries are a splendid thing to indulge in...it’s a pity we're dead.”

“Does that mean you won’t go?” Emerald asked harshly as Beckett turned an amused look toward her. 

“Oh no I’ll go if only to see if this book is truly as rare as is claimed. If it is then they’ll have my services to use as they see fit. I can always just return here if it turns out to be a waste of my time as it all too often is,” Beckett answered. 

“She’ll be pleased to hear it,” Hazel said as Penny finally lost the battle to keep silent and stepped up to meet him.

“Hello new friend! I have many questions I hope you can answer!” Penny said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. 

Beckett gave a small indulgent smile as he turned to Hazel for clarification. 

“As part of the agreement for her aiding us in our mission you will be tasked to answer her questions should we come to an agreement,” Hazel said before he focused on Penny. “But only after we have all returned safely.”

Penny pouted for a moment before she brightened up. “Then should we go back now?” Penny asked excitedly. 

“We still have many more leads to track down for our master, but Beckett could head back on his own and we could meet up with him later after we finish,” Hazel offered, looking to see if Beckett had any issues with such an arrangement. 

“I suppose that would be fitting. I usually work best alone at any rate, and it would give me time to, ah, look around here and make sure nothing is overlooked. How long do you anticipate you will need before your return?”

“We should be back inside the week,” Emerald said. 

Beckett gave a hum as he thought about it and shrugged. “That should be plenty of time. I’ll likely spend the night here and then after making sure there’s nothing interesting, head back to Vale.”

“Do you need the address or?” Emerald asked as Beckett laughed softly. 

“To be young again. No, no I do not. Suffice to say I’m aware of your master and where she makes her home. I suspect I’ll be seeing her before you. I’ll make sure to pass along your…regards,” Beckett said as he looked to the side. 

“I’ll get out of your way as it looks like you have someone who wishes to speak with you. Until we meet again,” Beckett said before he leapt away shifting to a more lupine form mid leap to cover more ground. 

“What did he mean by-” Emerald asked before she was harshly pulled away as Hazel grabbed onto both herself and Penny and leapt backwards narrowly avoid the sharp tip of an umbrella piercing the sidewalk they were standing on. 

“Get behind me,” Hazel commanded the other two as the shadow smirked and set the umbrella on its shoulder looking as relaxed as ever. 

“You do not fight alone, new friend!” Penny said, stepping up next to Hazel, her hands already in motion ready to do her part as Emerald took up a position on the other side. 

“What she said. At least there’s three of us and only one of them.”

The figure smirked and snapped its fingers together as two copies formed on either side of it who looked nearly identical with sharper than natural teeth and their own umbrellas. 

“Friend Emerald I believe you should not have said that,” Penny said as the figures giggled silently for a moment in agreement before springing toward them with a sharpened umbrella already leading the way.