In Plain Sight

Weiss knew she wasn’t in any actual danger. Well not really. If she concentrated she could even still hear Ruby humming as she worked on something from the other room. 

Cinder had had plenty of chances to kill and drain them dry and had taken none of them. In fact for some reason she was entirely taken with her sister, which was unexpected for many reasons. The fact that her sister seemed equally as taken was just…it was something.

Even still despite what she’d or they’d been talking about she’d behaved almost nothing like what she expected. 

Which is why it was even more concerning and impressive that Weiss felt about a step removed from terrified. 

And Cinder hadn’t even done anything! All she’d done was walk around, make small talk with Ruby and talk to herself about repairs she wanted to make. 

But somehow the way she was doing it, it was very clear she knew exactly where they were and what they were doing. 

It made her want to abandon the plan and just spring the trap now. The waiting was killing her, but that was probably what Cinder was waiting for to teach them a lesson. 

How long had they been waiting and playing this game? Minutes, an hour? Would sunrise be coming soon?

She froze as she heard a small alarm go off and then it was silenced. 

“Well that’s your five minutes,” Cinder said as she instantly took off towards where Winter was hiding. 

Weiss only knew that because she heard the rapid sounds of someone ascending a staircase. 

IT HAD ONLY BEEN FIVE MINUTES?

Winter did her best she was sure but it wasn’t something they expected her to win. The entire plan was based on the three of them each playing a part and hoping the end result was to somehow land a singular hit. 

Ruby had guessed it had a fifty-fifty chance at best if they could surprise her, but since she was centuries old who knew what she had or hadn’t seen. She and Velvet had been mostly against the idea but eventually relented when they promised it wouldn’t actually hurt Cinder. 

Sure enough moments later Winter shrieked and a loud slap echoed out of the room she was hiding in meaning…a lot of things Weiss didn’t want to think about any of them. 

“Pssh hard to get. We’ll see who’s the hunter later tonight,” Cinder joked as she left the room. 

“Never split the party!” Cinder called out as she slowly walked down the stairs before she amended her statement. “Almost never!”

Weiss held her breath as she heard the footsteps fade away? Toward the basement? There was nothing and no one down there though. 

Did she want them to meet up and work together? Was it a trick?

She looked over from her hiding place behind the counter and saw Velvet peek out from the corner where she’d been near Winter’s room. 

The idea had been for Cinder to go after Winter, and then Velvet due to their proximity together and then Weiss who would spring the trap. 

Weiss had argued for Velvet to be the one to do it but she’d insisted and Weiss had relented since they were running out of time. 

She traded a silent shrug with Velvet as they heard the echoing footfalls as the vampire descended down into the basement. 

After a moment and then a minute Velvet raised a brow in silent question. Winter since she was ‘dead’ couldn’t contribute but Weiss could almost feel her annoyance at the lack of anything as she had to lay there and continue to ‘decompose’. 

After another minute Velvet silently put one foot down in front of the other on the stairs and slowly began walking down. 

Weiss stopped breathing with each step and felt her heart hammering in her chest. It was just a mock fight! Why was this so nerve wracking?

Velvet breathed a silent sigh of relief and gently removed a handful of change from her pocket she showed to Weiss before she flung it to the far side of the room making a clatter as it scattered against the floor. 

As soon as she heard the sound of movement below her she began making her way towards Weiss’s set of stairs to go up. 

She put her foot on the first step and jerked to a stop. Weiss wondered what the matter was until she saw a pale hand had come through the stairs to grab Velvet’s leg. 

“Good try with the change,” Cinder complimented them before Velvet yelped and was suddenly pulled down into the basement Weiss’ outstretched hand missing hers by inches. 

“This bitch is really pissing me off!” Emerald said to no one, her body covered in a multitude of scratches and nicks as whatever it was across from her continued to giggle silently and blow a kiss her way. 

Emerald growled and took out a gun she’d taken to carrying and ignored her instincts telling her guns were beneath her. 

Cinder had drilled into her head that guns could be fatal to fledglings like herself, and plenty of other supernatural creatures also had a weakness to bullets. Go figure. 

Her pride was less important than her life, especially to Coco. The downside would be drawing potential law enforcement to their location but she hadn’t been making any progress in her fight with…whatever it was. 

In fact she felt weaker now than at the start despite not being all that hurt and her injuries were healing so slowly. 

What was happening to her? Poison? Was it even possible to poison a vampire?

Her lapse in attention cost her another quick stab in the arm which jolted her into firing two shots at her foe who nimbly dodged the first by back-flipping almost a dozen paces away. 

Her eyes widened in shock when the second bullet appeared to impact her target but had no effect other than the woman being pushed back a single step. 

Her vision blurred as she fell to one knee as the woman slowly approached. 

A quick look to the side saw Penny combating the woman or her spitting image into a stalemate with neither side seeming to be able to hit the other as Penny managed to somehow contort or even fleshcraft her own body out of the way of the woman’s strikes while also not managing to land any of her own. 

Hazel was…

She groaned as a surge of something wracked her body. She could almost see thin wisps of red and gold leave her wounds as the woman took a deep satisfied breath inhaling the colors into her. 

“You’re one of those….Kuei somethings,” Emerald said, nearly slurring her words as the woman took a mocking bow before she began walking slowly toward her. 

Why couldn’t she lift her arm to shoot? Why wouldn’t her body obey her commands? Her fingers wouldn’t even move as the woman was a dozen paces away. 

She was a vampire. She was going to do this!

Eleven. 

Nothing as she struggled to even remain on her knees. 

Eight. 

Her fingers barely twitched. 

Seven.

Her eyes went misty. Was she really gonna die in this hellhole and leave Coco?

Six. 

No! She had to do it. She couldn’t leave her sassy, stupidly adorable girlfriend alone who had more fashion than common sense. 

Five. 

Her fingers slowly managed to grab hold of the gun. Barely. 

Three. 

The woman stopped and smirked at her once more as she brandished her umbrella and prepared a stab, likely to pierce through her forehead. 

Why couldn’t she move? She had to get back to Coco! 

The umbrella came forward and pierced flesh. Blood coated the ground as the gun clattered to the pavement.

Coco sat up in her apartment gasping for air as she tried to steady her breathing. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and her head was pounding. 

She never slept all that well when Emerald was away but this was the first time she felt so ill without her after only a few days. 

She wished she was one of them already so she could be out there by her side helping her instead of just being stuck waiting. Coco Adel was a damsel for nobody…usually. 

Her blood bond with Emerald was strong. She knew it was. That’s why she was worried it was so weak now.

Stupid vampire helping her get over Velvet by being a thief, and attractive while also being a good person deep down…with a surprisingly good sense of fashion. 

She took out her phone and dialed Emerald, not shocked when she didn’t get an answer, but still bothered. 

“Hey. Emerald. I know you hate it when I do this sometimes, but I just have a really bad feeling. Can you…call me when you get a chance?” Coco frowned as she heard how pathetic she sounded. Stupid being a ghoul. She couldn’t wait until it wasn’t an issue. 

She felt for the bond which was weaker for some reason and grew even more concerned before she sent the message. 

She got a pot of coffee ready and sat at the small table in their apartment and waited for her return call. 

She didn’t care how long it took.

To Velvet’s credit she lasted almost a dozen seconds which was probably about a dozen seconds longer than Weiss would last in direct combat with Cinder and also because Cinder was clearly toying with them.

Cinder declared her ‘dead’ as she tapped her throat and grumbled about having to fix the stairs. 

“Still there’s something to be said for style and intimidation right?” Cinder asked as she walked toward Weiss with her hands in her pockets after leaping up from the basement.

“So what’s your gimmick?” Cinder asked as Weiss quirked an eyebrow at her. 

“Your sister splashed perfume in my face I guess to try and mess with my sense of smell. Velvet tried to punch me, which props for the attempt I guess,” Cinder shrugged. 

“Not a lot of people see an Elder vampire and decide the best course of action is to throw a haymaker. Good leg strength though. We’ll want her to be able to shift on command in the future. So what’s your trick? Got a lot of them?” Cinder asked. 

“Just one. I hope you like it,” Weiss replied as she pulled out the can of hairspray from Ruby’s purse and the lighter Cinder left behind and in one swift motion turned it into an impromptu flamethrower so close she didn’t think even Cinder could dodge it. 

“Oh perfume…shit,” Was all Cinder said before Weiss ignited the hairspray and watched flames engulf the vampire which was made even worse when the perfume also caught fire. 

“Weiss what are you doing stop!” Velvet said horrified from where she’d climbed back up the stairs. 

“She…said to use any weapon? You agreed?” Weiss said weakly at the stare Velvet was shooting her way. 

A hand plucked the can from Weiss’s hand and tossed it over their shoulder. 

A hand belonging to a vampire who looked…moderately pissed off at her hand that was now charred to the bone and looked almost degloved.

“Would you believe that’s not the first time that’s happened to me? They used my hairspray, but the perfume was new though,” Cinder said as she looked at Weiss with narrowed eyes. 

“So can we say you’re dead or do I need to actually hit you?” Cinder asked in a low growl with steam rising from her blackened and blistered arm making her look especially menacing. 

“I’m dead,” Weiss agreed frantically with a much higher pitch than normal as Cinder let out a sigh. 

“Good cause it’s a lot harder for me to control myself when I’m pissed, and being set on fire pisses me off!” Cinder said as she slammed her burned hand into the wall, and actually punctured it without flinching. 

“Ouchie. Come on I have some of the old blood from the clinic you can have,” Ruby said, having come to check on everything as she gestured for them to follow her as she led Cinder away by her good arm to Weiss's amazement who thought she'd have hated having anyone touch her at the moment.

A few minutes later they were all sitting down looking at Cinder who’s hand now resembled her arm once more with only a few discolorations on her arm and face to show she’d been set on fire. 

“You do know that those were tailor made clothes from a designer that hasn’t existed in like eighty years right?” Cinder asked somewhat rhetorically. 

“We’ll get you some new ones? Somehow?” Weiss offered as she tried not to look at the topless vampire, an action Winter did not copy as she let her eyes roam her uncovered form as Cinder preened slightly.  

“Nice try but that plan had your sister written all over it. I’ll just get Emerald’s little ghoul to make me some new ones and have her charge you,” Cinder said as she handed over the empty blood bag to Ruby who deposited it into the trash and shrugged on her jacket much to Weiss’s relief.

“So first off, regardless of your plan, don't split up. I know you were doing it for some reason but unless there’s a real need for it then learn how to fight as a group instead of splitting up. You’re much stronger together than apart.”

“How much did that hurt?” Velvet asked kindly, still looking guilty over it, as did Ruby who’d given them the supplies for it. 

“It pissed me off but I’ve had far worse. Or if you were angling to see how close it came to killing me then the answer is, not very,” Cinder assured them.

“At any rate you can see with barely any effort and prep time you had essentially a zero percent chance of killing me and I wasn’t even really trying. You need to work on just everything,” Cinder said pointing to Weiss who growled as Velvet and Ruby gave her a hug that settled her down. 

“You need to learn how to shift on command. Excellent leg strength though,” Cinder admitted as she rubbed her ribs where Velvet had landed a kick that would have seriously injured or killed a normal human. 

“And you’re perfect,” Cinder said proudly before Winter sighed and Cinder refocused. 

“Ok you’re like Weiss. A lot of the basics are fine but we need to rework a lot of your instincts and rebuild you from the ground up. I know you two work a lot,: Cinder said pointing to Velvet and Ruby before focusing exclusively on the doctor,  "and you said you’re not much of a fighter, little red.”

“I just like to help people. I mean I probably could fight, but I’m kinda just normal and I’d mostly get in the way,” Ruby shrugged. 

“Maybe we can just get you a gun for protection then?  With silver bullets like the Schnee’s use?” Cinder offered as Ruby shrugged a little noncommittally at. 

“Please Ruby. I just want you to be protected,” Weiss begged her girlfriend. 

Turning to Velvet didn’t offer any respite as she looked just as worried. 

“Alright. I guess it can’t hurt. I just don’t want to use it if I don’t have to,” Ruby explained. 

“It’s alright. No one is asking you to become a vigilante. If it makes you uncomfortable we can always get you a few spare vials of holy water Miss Rose. Would that be better for you?” Winter asked kindly. 

“Yeah probably. Might be neat to run more tests on it too!” Ruby said cheerily.

“May as well. You find out the weirdest things,” Cinder complimented the silver-eyed woman who beamed at her. 

“Schnee’s I’ll see you here every other day but you can drop by to train whenever. We’ll meet here during the day or evening whichever you prefer,” Cinder said standing up and stretching. 

“I do still have other businesses to run and manage so that’s what I can spare.  Were-hare? Same deal when you got free time, and you, whenever you want to stop by to read or whatever,” Cinder said pointing to each of them in turn. 

“Also feel free to drop by, or call, to hang out, or go on a date or something,” Cinder said with a wink as she snatched a vial of holy water from the air and faked a look of surprised. 

“Look I found your first vial!” Cinder said grandly, and handed it over to Ruby who eagerly took it ready to test it out after getting a reassuring nod from Winter. 

“I guess I should get a key for you as well if you’re gonna do testing and stuff here, or does your apartment work?”

“I can probably do most of it there, but thank you,” Ruby said kindly. 

Cinder frowned as her phone rang and she walked over to answer it. 

“WHAT?”

Emerald stared at the umbrella that was closing in on her head and felt acceptance and regret in equal measure before her vision was obscured. 

“Hazel!” Emerald cried out with great relief. 

“Just hang in there kid,” Hazel said, gritting his teeth as the umbrella stabbed through his hand. 

The move shocked even their attacker for a moment which Hazel did not waste as he gathered all his strength and pulled on the umbrella embedding it deeper into his hand but pulling the attacker off balance as he brought his right hand to bare and battered into the woman with terrifying force, the woman actually rolling nearly a dozen yards until she hit a tree and came to a stop after smashing into it. 

Neo rubbed her head as the smoke began dissipating, her two clones rapidly dispersing into vapor as she stood up. It had been a while since she’d been hit that hard. She felt around her face and touched her jaw which had been hit hard enough to knock it out of place. 

Damn that was a good hit. She took a moment to loudly set it back in place and winced. That was never fun.  

A shame about the orange haired girl. That was a rather fun dance of death she found herself enjoying but her purpose was done here. Now onto the next part of her mission. 

Her thoughts were cut off as she automatically brought her hand up to catch the umbrella on reflex. She shot the man a look of confusion at the action.

“I saw where it was aimed. Tell your masters if they attempt anything like it again I won’t even bother delivering the letter, and in fact I'll tell them to wipe out your clan to the last,” Hazel said seriously. 

Neo mimed tipping a hat before she signed to him. 

“Oh I believe I know this,” Penny said excitedly as she began signing back and Neo blinked, having never had anyone bother before. 

“What’s she saying?” Hazel asked as he watched his hand heal and helped Emerald to her feet who glared at the woman. 

“Her name is Neo. She’s supposed to see if we were serious about guarding the letter, and then follow us until we returned. If the offer is accepted she’s supposed to be a liaison and serve as an asset for your master,” Penny translated.

“Absolutely not!” Emerald growled even as she struggled to stand up snatching the gun with her free hand. 

Neo merely looked her up and down as if to imply what she wanted hardly mattered if she couldn’t back it up before she signed to Penny. 

“She said clearly we need more help, or at least competent help,” Penny said and was cut off as Emerald finally managed to bring her gun up and snarl before Hazel snatched it from her hands. 

“We have to leave soon enough already to avoid getting anymore attention,” Hazel told her seriously and so she relented. 

“You,” Hazel called out glaring at Neo who returned the look nonplussed. 

“Follow us, but if you step an inch out of line I won’t hold back on the strike next time,” Hazel promised as Neo nodded seriously and shot him a thumbs up over Emerald’s protest. 

“A new friend, how wonderful!” Penny said much to Neo’s amusement as the orange haired girl came up next to her and began signing. 

Still at least it was fun getting to talk to someone who actually knew what she was saying and responded in kind. 

A phone rang jolting Coco awake as she scrambled to answer it without even looking at who the caller was. 

“Emerald?”