Ch. 1: A Fragile Period

It's not every day you find your way to a random club after a long day of work. No, I can't really call it work because the most strenuous activity I've done the whole day happened to be walking aimlessly in search of someone but unluckily for me that person is still in the wind. Tracking a shadow is as easy as catching smoke in a butterfly net. It's nearly impossible. I should know because I could be classified as a shadow; able to move from one place to the next with anyone noticing and without attracting attention. It's easy to do. You just need the right scent and the right flow.

For some reason this week has been excessively slow in White Fang activity. The reason being because of the top secret dust train that's rolling through the country side in two days. You would think a couple animal people would use their heads and stage small diversions during or before the larger one. The law enforcement would be too spread out with the many small hits to effectively react to the larger one. It would leave the bigger score less defended on top of this. This isn't the case.

After walking around following a certain woman with emerald green hair through the city, I stopped by some club just to catch a quick drink and let out some steam before another long night of wandering the not so human friendly quarter of the land.

How long has it been since I woke up here in this land. Maybe two or three years. Yeah it's three years this month and on this day. I never go to bars, clubs, pubs, or anything related to causal and not so casual drinking. Today was a special case I suppose. It's been three years since I first came to this world. Three years since my first run in with the Grimm of the land of Remnant. Three years since my first run in with a team of hunters and huntress. Three long and very interesting years.

I suppose that will explain why I'm feeling a little anxious. I can stop tapping my foot or tapping the glass of my cup with my gloved hand. I'm unnerved and shivering a little and why shouldn't I. My body goes into a minor state of shock every year at this certain day from twelve all the way around back to midnight again. This anniversary of mine forces my body to assume a state of vulnerability and my mind a state of unrest. My powers are nearly all gone and the weight of the world I carry upon my shoulders forces my feet to drag behind me. My steps are as subtle as an Ursa's and I suffer from acute nervous reactions to sudden movements. I don't know why but at a certain time in the month I become weak or become tired more easily but this day is much worse than all of them put together. I feel so weak and defenseless right now it's nerve wrecking. I can barely look anyone in the eye let alone talk to them.

Tailing a suspicious character is the best I can manage in my current condition, even though I did a terrible job at it. I know the woman knows that I was following her. That's why she circled the same block three times and wore that sly smirk on her face when she turned this one street into a dark alley. One that I couldn't gather the courage to go into out of free of getting robbed. Goddess above and below I hate these moments in my life. Why does my body go through these periods of weakness I will never know.

Even now I'm just staring at my drink unsure of whether or not I should drink it out of risk of being poisoned. Most poisons now a days are odorless, tasteless, and down right frightening. Maybe I should have just stayed inside all day instead of risking my life like this. I mean I could be killed at any given moment and I wouldn't be capable of doing a gosh darn thing to stop them. I can wait for midnight to come.

I took a couple breaths and just sunk down to the bar. That's the best thing I can do in this instance I guess. Then again I could take a drink. I mean, I haven't hurt anyone…lately… today. So nobody should be here to try and pick a fight with me. Yeah, no one is going to poison me without any good reason right?

I rubbed my head and gently placed my elbow on the bar while ataring into the green yellow drink with four ice cubes floating at the top. I felt my throat dry up suddenly; desert dry in fact. I really want to drink this and get it over with. If it's poisoned I'll be in pain but it won't kill me. My body is stronger than any poison I've come across just because I've been inflicted with worse and survived.

The Black Hand.

The poison is strong enough to kill you with a whiff let alone a drink of it. The probability of surviving was .01% and I'm still here. I'm that one out of a billion it seems though I was in a coma for over a year once it was ingested my a foolish past me. I was such an arrogant idiot back in the day. I believe it was over thirty two years ago and I haven't aged a day past twenty-four thanks to certain cataclysm in physical form. I don't like drinking poisons because they still hurt and give me stomachaches that last for hours. It's an unpleasant experience I don't desire to repeat. Gods above, I'm starting to get paranoid. I should just shut up, drink my drink, and quench my thirst. Yeah, that's what I should do.

I gulped but it was more like a dry upheaval in the end. I crossed my fingers after a soft series of coughs and silently wished myself luck. I took a breath and reached for the drink don't know I released until now. I lifted my drink holding hand up from under the bar. My arm must have fell from my head to my side instead of grabbing my drink and holding it like before. I suppose it really doesn't even matter. I reached for my drink but before I could touch it suddenly a tanned brown hand encased my drink and stole it away from me.

"Hello there," the person who sounded a lot like a woman greeted with my drink in, what I can assume is, her hand. I'm pretty sure if this is who I think it is I might be dead in the next ten minutes if my watch is correct. My word I've been setting at this bar ordering drinks for four hours now and I've only had three of them so far. All nonalcoholic of course because alcohol is bad for the body and worse for the soul. I just have to keep this woman busy until midnight and then I can be back to my regular stoic, manipulative, unfeeling, and ruthless self like I should be.

I gulp and slowly reached for one of the glasses that had some liquid inside of it and brought it to my lips. I took a drink of the watered down juice and water mixture before returning it to the miniature collection of glasses I had in line perfectly along the outside edge of the bar seeing that I was sitting at the farthest left end away from everyone.

This woman appeared from the direction I least expected her or anyone to come from. I wasn't reasy for a direct confrontation. I felt some moister return to my parched throat and relaxed my nerves with slow and steady breathes. My heart was beating a mile a moment right now. I can actually hear it in my ears. Like a drum being beaten into submission. Slowly, I turned my gaze towards the woman and noticed a light smile marring her pretty face. Almost out of my control I began to sort of 'check her out' not that I'm meaning too. I'm not a womanizing pervert or anything especially during these times. But my weakness to pretty girls cannot be denied and becomes a crippling debilitation on me. This is especially true to girls that have a bit of a mean streak that can be aggressive when it comes to getting what they want.

Up close and personal this woman appeared to be maybe 19 or a year younger, thin but not unhealthy so. I could see signs of past trials from the scars on her fingers that her fingerless grey gloves didn't cover same with along her arms and one at her shoulder. She's been cut, stabbed, and probably impaled to get where she is now. She built for speed and quick moment, maybe a glass cannon, a lot to give not in the adverse effect can't take much herself despite what she's suffered through. Like I noted about her hand she has medium brown skin, lighter than my own, and dark-red eyes much like my own when I use certain powers I possess.

Her eyes tell me a story and to put it all together I've deduced that she's a street rat accustomed to lurking through dark alleys and stealing what she needed to get by. She's had run-ins with the law and paid for many of her mistakes, or rather others have paid for her mistakes. I believe most of the scars she harbors are from training exercises more than life threatening conflict. She's a thief that much I can tell, albeit a good one. She still has a ways to go. When she took my drink I could still hear the sliding of the glass against the wood. A good theif wouldn't have made a sound when they decide to swipe something away out of habit built from intense training and experience.

Her hair is a light, mint-green cut with a straight fringe and bangs, as well as two long locks on each side, in the back. A strange hair style that could easily be used against her the moment she jumps or ducks away from her opponent but such is typical for this land. Every woman I've met has or hand outrageously long or strangely styled hair styles. Some are so outrageous that I've used it against them once or twice. If get into a fight with a woman with long hair usually I grab it and pull them down for a quick take down, set it aflame to force them into a frenzy, or cut it just to make them angry enough to charge in half cocked like a raging bull to the matador. Even more so when you coupled this with jewelry. This woman wears two bronze-colored rings on her middle fingers that look like very good conductors for my lightning based attacks. I found it sort of interesting that she followed another trend in the form of a pair of high-heeled shoes.

Her attire from what I can see is made up of an exotic-looking white top like jest that covered only her shoulders, the area under her biceps, and her upper back. Under that is an olive green undershirt that was more like a chest wrap that covered her breast but still showed an ample amount of cleavage. My eyes seemed to have trouble leaving this specific area. Her top literally only covered the upper portion of her torso and stopped at the top of her midriff. Her stomach and her belly button show.

I gulped and pulled my eyes away from her delicious creamy looking skin. Below this she wore white shorts, decorated with a gold coin-plated belt, with four gold chains draping around her back from two of the button clips with leather like guards covering her legs from the middle of shorts to her knees. Overall, she's a good looking girl if a bit inexperienced. I don't wish to fight her, but I have a feeling that if she tried she would be able to succeed with killing me within the time limit.

I took three minutes to finish my overview and she drank my drink in the first one.

"You done yet?" I looked away quickly because those blood red eyes where so…intimidating and harsh. I felt they would have burned into my soul if I starred into them for too long. I heard the woman giggle and walk around me. I heard her sit down in the seat to my right and rest her elbows on the bar counter top.

She casually checked out the different drinks the bar had then smiled. She waved her hand, "hey bar man can I order a drink?" She ushered the bartender to her and he looked up from the glass he was cleaned to check out the green haired woman I was tailing earlier. He sat the glass down and walked towards us and nodded showing he was ready to take her order. "Yes, I'll take one Nevermore and a claw shot please under his tab." She pointed her thumb towards me with that same light smile on her lips. "You got no problem with this…right?" She whispered the last word in a dangerous tone to which I furiously shook my head.

The bartender rose and eyebrow at us then shrugged. "Coming right up." The bartender left the the main part of the bar and got to work making her drinks.

The woman rested her chin on top of her intertwined fingers with the smile that made shivers go up my spine persisting with its occupation of her face. I huddled and sunk a little into myself just barley able to look at her. The girl drew a single red eye towards me and that smile grew.

"You know," she began with a gentle tone but I know a mask of calm anywhere. I wasn't fooled by this on bit even as she continued whatever she was trying to say. "It's rude to follow a girl," she rose up a single finger. "Then check out said girl and shamelessly stare at her chest," she worded in a way that made me cringe.

My foot was tapping like crazy when she rose a second finger almost like a count down in reverse to the level of butt kicking I was to expect once she finished.

"And not even offer her either your name, a reason, a compliment, or even a drink to go with all the trouble you caused me." Seven fingers rose all together. One she reached five with her first hand she reset and starred again with a lift of her middle finger and index finger. The middle finger was first. I'm so screwed if I don't rectify this and soon.

I gulped again. "I-I ahhh…" I could just barely say because my mind went blank the moment I started.

"Hm, sorry we're you saying something," she leaned in until she was in my space and I had nowhere to run. "Come on, can't you look me? What are you, afraid of me?" I shook my head which was a lie of course and she knew it. I could tell. "Wow you really are shivering," she stated like it was as obvious as saying the sea is blue. "That's sort of cute," she admitted openly again nonchalantly. "I've seen a few dangerous mob bosses and a known terrorist pass by you and sit next to you and yet you didn't even bat an eyelash at them."

She's been watching the entire time. I remember those men that came near me or sat a seat or two away from me, but I was to self absorbed into my own problems to care. Even when they looked at me, my own blank stare did little to entice them conflict with me.

"Here's your drinks." The bartender placed a shot glass of purple liquid down in front of her along with a fancy martini looking drink with an umbrella in it. Black like stripes swirled inside the glass appearing almost like a feather was blended in with the liquid but I know better. It's the collection of four different types of liquor and some sort of spicy fruit juice mixed into one in a say that separates one liquor to this effect.

The woman ahh'ed at the Nevermore and fell at eye level to it. One other thing I found interesting about this land is the lack of child labor and drinking laws. Teens can drink and kids can work if they and their parents so wished it. So much more different than the world I came from or the time period. The drink seemed to satisfy her if that soft moan meant anything.

The bartender and I just looked at her. He went back to his cleaning mumbling something about 'naïve children" and "shy kids like him" mostly a point towards me for being visibly distressed by the seemingly innocuous woman that blessed me with her presence.

"Man that's the big city for you," she noted and stopped to pick up her little drink. The shot purple claw shot and held it up to me before downing it. She made a squeaky noise with a pleasure filled grin. "Ah good stuff. You want one?" I shook my head and the woman shrugged. "Suit yourself." The woman sat the shot glass down and picked up her martini thing. "So stalker what's your name?"

I reached for my glass of complementary water and downed it. The bartender must have a sixth sense for this sort of thing because he brings me water at just the right time I need it without me requesting it. I felt the crisp and cool water soothing the fire in the chest and assist with the moderation of my heart beat.

"I've never had a stalker before so this drink is to you Mr. Stalker." The girl rose her head back and drank but with one eye open on me.

"S-sorry," I stuttered weakly.

The girl pulled her drink down and giggled. "No, I'm not angry or anything. I'm just surprised. No one has ever followed and kept up with me before so was more curious than anything. Funny," she chuckled to herself maybe about some sort of inside joke she though up of. "I was going to kill you a couple times and you avoided every instance." I sunk deeper into my shell and tried to lean as far as much as I could away from this monster in woman's skin. "I thought you were a good tracker with level instincts only to see they you're a timid scaredy cat unable to go into those areas I set up in."

Oh gods for once my period of weakness was working out in my advantage. I can't fake my fear or timidness because this is exactly how I felt all day and right now. She believes I'm just some freak or weirdo that just happened to find her worth following. Gods just one more minute.

"I bet you carry all those weapons just to make other apprehensive to attack your u and it works for the most part. Can you even use any of those things." I shook my head. Technically it wasn't a lie because I can use anything lethal in nature without cutting myself or someone else by accident. The girl laughed with a faint rosiness on her cheeks. "You're a little pansy I bet." And I bet this one can't hold her liquor at all. An idea came to life in my head.

I rose my hand and ushered the bartender to us again. The woman smiled and elbowed me in the side. I yelped a little but not too loud I hope. "You getting you a drink?" I shook my head. "I-I w-want to g-g-ge-et you o-one." The woman grinned at this and leaned back into her seat. The bartender came back and I gave him and signal for house special. He nodded and walked away. "Y-your very…" I took a couple breathes to put a check on my stuttering. "Beautiful." "Beautiful huh?" She finished her drink and sat the glass down. "That's a first." She shifted red eyes towards me again. "Most men call me 'cute' or 'sweet' just to try and get in my pants. I have a feeling you barely know what that means though."

That hurt. Even in my period that hurt my manhood. She took a sledge and smashed it into a million pieces, then threw those pieces into the deepest chasm she could find, and finally bombed the entire thing burying what's left under a couple tons of rubble. My god that was a low blow and it showed when the depression set in.

"Hey," the girl pat me on the back to comfort me. "Don't be like that. I'm sorry okay?" It still hurt even with her apology. "So what's your name unless you like being called Mr. Stalker so much," she teased me cruelly. I dropped my head and relented to tell her my name.

"Jaeger."

"Jäger huh?" She swallowed the name I gave then nodded. "Well my names Emerald," the woman now neared Emerald extended her hand. "Nice to meet you." I looked at her hand then back up to her. The look in her eye told me I had better take her hand or fail to humor her at my own peril. I took her hand in a quick shake.

"Nice to meet you too," my voice sounded more leveled and was missing that stutter. I looked at my watch and almost smiled at what I saw. It was a couple seconds past midnight.

"Good to know but I'd like to know why you were following me even more," she leered at me.

I leaned up from the bar and straightened out my back from the slouch I force it in before. I thought on a good answer to this question and decided to be at least truthful to an extent seeing that I can't lie. I cleared my throat and sighed out a breath I didn't know I was holding. The drumming if my heart decreased to a light tap at slower than human intervals. My heart was almost silent. "I think you're a pretty woman," I maintained the weak and pathetic tone of voice the me during this 'period' held but I refused to retain that annoying stutter.

It's about time I got back up to speed with my normal functions. I hate my weak periods like my sword Hate extremely dislikes the long stretches of time he spends out of battle. He'd rather be in a death defying battle spilling rivers of blood then drinking said rivers dry. Normally, I don't mind fulfilling his wish and this child might be the fix him and I need. The kid that honestly believes me to be some timid little weakling, which I was, but now the predator has returned. I usually don't care for girls that just turned legal but this one has ties to one of my targets.

By my estimates she's of a moderate threat level but just barely. The weapons in her little holsters wouldn't work against me if they are the normal dust shooters this world persistently uses instead of gun power. I do admit that their combinations of range and close quarters weaponry is quite impressive. The ability to turn the sheath of my blade on into a sniper rifle that fires highly condensed Od strong enough to cut a deathstalker in half was more than appealing. Slightly arousing actually. For once I can put this sword to some good use despite the back lash the rail gun inflicts upon the user.

I turned my attention back to the girl who finished another round of drinks complements of me. Buying a few drinks wasn't a bother after all not many men and women in this world could match the wealth I possess at my beck and call. Not money but wealth.

'How should I go about getting the information that I want from Emerald here?' I thought to myself. The quick and easy way would be just to knock her unconscious, break into her mind, and strip her of the information. I'd rather avoid that motion while in public though. I could get her drunk and get the info I need that way but I know that won't work. She's more than likely a tight lipped sort even when intoxicated. I could 'escort' her to a private area and torture the information out of her but I don't feel like getting blood on my shoes or my coat. Today isn't one of those days. It just began after all.

"Did you know that faunas could see in the dark? Not all of them but a good majority of them with the triangular ears." Triangular ears. She must mean cat or dog ears some of them have atop their heads. I sometimes forget that normal animals either do not exist here or are extremely rare meaning the word 'dog' or 'cat' doesn't exist much like the animals themselves. I have seen tuna and the occasional dog but many other animals are extinct sadly like ducks. I would kill to have some roasted duck right now. I don't think I've eaten at all since yesterday in fact. I need something to eat now that the fear of me being poisoned is long gone.

The girl named Emerald sighed and rested her cheek in the palm of her hand. "I didn't know that until like a week ago. You see these faunus somehow thought it was a good idea to try and rob me, the lone human in a dark alley, sometime in the night. I couldn't see a thing but apparently they knew I looked sweet and worth bothering." Emerald scoffed and pushed her glass away. "I remember the look in their eyes when I pulled out my revolvers and shot them in the legs. No one can beat me when it comes to quickdraw time," the lime green hair girl boasted. "One had a tail, the other one had the ears, but the last only had the claws. There was a fourth one but he got away after using the one with a tail as a shield. Not on purpose I think but who knows what those faunas think anyway?"

"Why are you telling me this?" I wondered because usually when I drink with my targets or possible informants they usually don't give me a story about previous exploits that make no sense to me to tell. Emerald swirled the contents of her drink quietly. I waited for a response but one never came so I dropped the topic all together.

"I killed the three of them," she suddenly admitted and honestly I didn't see that coming. She didn't seem the type to kill and usually I can tell if they are or not. She killed three animal people isn't that much of an accomplishment, but I suppose a kill is a kill. The experience is all that matters in the end. "When I shot them in the legs they didn't stop charging at me. One tackled me into a wall and got my arm. The rest of his masked friends grabbed me as well with one…" She rubbed her neck and took a breath. "The grimm masks they wore named them as those White Fang fucks and they saw a human minding her own business and thought 'score' maybe. The leader was the one that choked me rendering my aura useless. His strength was ridiculous." Emerald rose her drink up and took another sip. Then she drew her eyes over to me and punched me in the arm with a loose grin. "So Mr. Hoody stalker guy what's one of your stories other than your failure to get a girl."

I felt a chuckle escape my throat but covered my mouth with my fist before it could slip past my lips. "What?" Emerald snickered at me. "You don't seem like you've ever been with a girl before let alone talk to one with your personality. Most girls don't go for the weak sort with a lot to compensate for."

"Really," I muse silently to myself. This girl was nearing the point of being drunk that much I could tell. This might be easier than I thought. "Well your right," I decided to admit seeing that I never had a reason to lie. "I've never had a girlfriend before," I let an exasperated sigh leave my lips before turning them into a nervous smile. "What about you?"

Emerald blinked and looked back to her drink. "Me huh?" She took another sip and placed her class back down to the bar. "Nope," she chuckled lightly. "Never had a guy friend. Men are all the same, nothing but trouble. They take what they want and once they get it they throw you away." I couldn't help but agree with her on that point. Once an informant lost their usefulness I usually took it upon myself to throw them away as well but not empty handed. I'm heartless but not a bastard. I have no parents but I won't abandon someone that helped me. It kills your reputation that much is for sure.

I reached for my own drink, a strawberry sunrise, and gulped the sweet and slightly spicy liquid down, cherry and all.

"I did have this one guy I thought I liked but he only wanted me around to help him steal from others," she started talking again. "I'm a good thief if not the best." I shot my hand out and caught her hand the moment one finger entered my jacket pocket. I rose her hand up and let go. Emerald looked at me with shock at my action and even more when I reached into my own pocket and pulled out a green wallet with white daisy designs. "What the…" She gasped and reached down to her back pocket. I smiled and sat that and a blue purse that most likely wasn't hers down on the bar top.

"There's always someone better," I reminded her of this old information and basic knowledge. Emerald blinked and turned back to me with a new light in her eyes. Her lips turned up into a smile then she laughed.

"How and when did you do that?" I shrugged and pushed the two items towards her. "Well that was a surprise but not bad." She took the wallet and pulled it back.

"Your wallet is cute," for a girl like her that talks about taking lives like she's talking about dinner tonight.

Emerald froze and looked back at me. She rolled her eyes and pocketed her wallet. "My wallet is cute," she scoffed. "Thanks for stating the obvious." I chuckled softly again. "So you're a thief as well," she stated like it was one of those 'obvious facts' with that smirk back on my lips. "Your good I have to admit so where did you learn? On the fly?"

I shook my head. "My sister," I said truthfully again. "She taught me everything I know." Not everything but when it comes to the art of thievery she taught me most of the little tricks I can do. My sly of hand came from her masterful field training.

"You have a sister?"

"Had," I corrected her.

"Huh?"

I sighed at the memories that came next. "I had a sister." Even though she wasn't my sister by blood I saw her as such because of everything we did for each other. For everything I did after her passing. It was all thanks to those monsters with the faces of men over their own grotesque ones.

"I see." She didn't say she was sorry for my loss or anything of the sort which I appreciated. "Do you have a memento of her?" I reached down to the scarf that I wore round my waist like a sash. It's yellow with frills which goes against my color scheme of black, grey, and red. "That explains why you wear something as girly as that." I shrugged again.

"This man you liked, what happened to him?"

"In jail," she said lightly. "The authorities got an anonymous tip about his little cache of stolen property. Coincidentally the tip came a little after he attempted to kill me. I was a loose end I guess."

"Ah."

Emerald scowled. "Don't you 'Ah' me like you know anything about me!"

"Just because one or two betray you doesn't mean the rest are as rotten as them." I took my other drink that just seemed to keep coming and swallowed it in one gulp.

"You don't what you're talking about."

"Don't I?" I reached down for my shirt and blouse and pulled them up past the top of my mid rift. Her eyes averted with a rosiness to her cheeks most likely from drink instead of embarrassment. "This is one of my many reminders of betrayal I've suffered though."

Emerald glanced back then cringed. "Holy…" She stared at the long and wide scare running along my ribs. It wasn't the scar that was disturbing but the size of it. A scar is always a tenth of the real size of the wound it came from. She looked from the scar and back to me. I let my clothing fall back to my waist. "How did you…" She didn't finish so I did it for her.

"Survive?" She nodded eagerly. "I don't know but I just know I woke up a week later in a cave with this as my reward for trusting the wrong people." I smirked at her. "I'm not as fragile as you think." I left behind the weak and pathetic persona I had for one a little more serious and firm than the weak me.

"And yet you've never been laid." This girl is just spitting fire today or maybe it's the drink. Either way it's amusing. "And I guess acting like a total wimp before was all apart of the plan huh?" she asked.

"No it wasn't," I responded honestly. "And being on that topic of getting laid please tell me, have you ever?"

"Me?" She placed her hand on her chest then shook her head. "Nope not telling. You should worry about your sex life not mine cherry boy."

I shook my head and let out a soft sigh from the heart. This is getting me nowhere. "Seeing that you can afford nice clothes and weapons you must have a nice job."

The girl reached for her revolver and twirled it up until it was at her shoulder pointing up. "Sure, if I can afford this baby but nowadays I have a lot of time on my hands. Haven't had a good contract in a while, but my partner is a total pain in the ass so it balances out somewhat."

"What's he like, your partner?" Emerald scoffed in disgust. "He's a terrible flirt and never shuts up no matter what I say to him. He thinks I want him but I'd rather kiss an Ursa than him.

"If you don't like him as your partner then why not get a new one?"

"If only it was that easy," she groaned and let her head fall to the bar. "I'm stuck with him until miss 'burn you to a crisp' gets rid of him but seeing that we go to the same school that's impossible."

"You're a huntress?"

"Yes and no. Currently I'm in training and it's damn tiring. What about you?" She placed her revolver back into its holster and turned her head towards me. "Are all those things real or props to help you fit the part?"

"They're real." The girl hummed and reached for my crossbow stock. I let her take it in hand and with a slow pulled extracted Isabella from her holders. She held it up or rather tried to.

"Damn it's heavy."

"She's," I placed a lot of emphasis on that, "a heavy repeater crossbow with a max range of 650 meters. She has to be heavy to fight the pull back necessary to pull her bow back." Isabella spread her wings out as wide as the width of two and a half fully grown human men down string and quadruple bows all for on arrow and different modes of fire from full-auto to semi-auto. The magazine cartage loads at the side and the bottom depending the the different sort of bolt I feel like using. Some meant for piecing armor, some will burn off armor and flesh, and a couple others I possess are a little more…fun. I reached for a grove along the grain of Isabella's butt stock and in an instant the bows retracted when I traced my finger through it. She's always been ticklish. With ease I took back the lightest weapon I own back from the girl and placed her back in her home.

"Why do you carry a weapon like that if you don't know how to use it?" I bowed my head at this question. "It's like… When I can use my equipment I do. When I can't I don't try."

"That make no sense at all. Clarify," she ordered in a no nonsense tone.

"My weapons have a mind of their own and pick and choose when they wish to be used."

Emerald rose her eyebrow at my ludicrous explanation then rolled her eyes. "If you don't what to tell me then whatever. I swear you sound just like that one geek from Signal."

"You mean Signal academy correct?"

"Yep," Emerald paused a moment to take another drink and I followed suit with my own. By this time I've had at least ten while she's on her sixth. "About two years ago I went to Signal for some sort of training collaboration trip between the schools. This one weird girl in a red hood… god help me," she swore with a hard sigh. "She would NOT shut up about the different weapons we had. She was too bubbly, to energetic, to damn innocent with her sometimes sensual questions. I say this because of the way she phased her words together. Like 'how do you pop your clip into this chamber' or 'your barrel is so big,'" Emerald groaned in disgust. "I mean she didn't even realize any of the innuendos she used and the way she hovered over someone just to see his 'weapon'," Emerald made quotations with her fingers. "She's a weapon paramour to the teeth."

I snort lightly and finished my twelfth drink. "She sounds like a trip."

"That's putting it lightly. Not a bad girl and her heart was in the right place I guess. I couldn't hate her because it felt akin to hating a puppy and I like puppies."

"Dogs are an excellent breed of animal to have around."

"Yes they are," she agreed and placed her seventh drink down. "What about you?" She laid her head down and stared at me with a lazy smile. "I've been talking and you listening most so it's your turn to talk. Are you a huntsman?"

"So to speak. I don't have formal training from any sort of the academy in the land and I mostly keep to myself."

"So you can fight. It's always the quiet ones," she mumbled under her breath which I heard with my enhanced hearing. "And you have sentient weapons as well?" She questioned.

"You don't believe me?"

"I dunno. You haven't lied to me yet so you're just a loon that believes his weapons are alive." I had no retort to give.

"I do hunt creature of Grimm mainly for their parts to sell later," I admitted.

"If you can do that then you don't rely on dust then or dust grade weapons," she noted.

"Dust is annoy to use and gun power is much more versatile than it anyway. Dust breaks down Grimm on a molecular level so I rely on other weapons to preserve the body's long enough for me to take what I need. Beowolf pelts are desired my the faunas settlements for a good amount same with Ursa fangs. A deathstalker's venom and stinger are worth a handsome amount as well."

"You hunted these by yourself without dust and didn't get ripped to shreds. How did you manage that?"

"Very. Very. Very carefully." I reached for my sixteenth drink and sipped the burning liquid down.

"Are you rich then?"

"I have a healthy income, compliments of the government and different small groups willing enough to place something on the wanted board."

"Wow. The last contact was for the fangs of a Sea Odin and no one is insane enough to go against that, but I'm guessing you know who took that?"

It was me but she didn't need to know that. "For the most part I've hunted the wolves, boars, bears, and scorpions." It wasn't a lie because that was the norm when it came to my hunts but sometimes I hunt down the larger beasts deep within the lands and wilderness.

"What about a Nevermore?"

I pointed to the anti-material laser rifle I fashioned on my back. "Three shots to the head the moment it righted itself in mid air to fire its feathers at me. I got a good amount for the feathers of a Nevermore as well," I decided to add in.

"If you're such a good Huntsman then what was with the whole 'weak boy' thing you had going on."

"It's just one of those things."

I waved my hand out for the bartender and waited for him to approach. I reached into your pocket and pulled out a couple hundred lien. "For the drink and keep the change." The man with horse ears blinked in shock then nodded. "Thanks sir." The bartender left and Emerald followed his moments.

"So we're done drinking then?" She sounded a little disappointed. "It's getting late." I reached for my wrist computer and pulled up the virtual screen. "If you want to hang out you can call me if you want."

"What the heck is that?" She pointed to my VITO.

"It's like a scroll and computer put together. If you have a scroll you can just place it near the virtual interface so we can exchange numbers." Emerald blinked and stared at the piece of foreign tech with awe. She reached behind her and pulled out a small scroll and held it up. It began to glow and my screen flashed with a could characters she would be capable of recognizing writing along. The screen faded and I placed my left arm down. "Done. Call me if you even need to talk or whatever. Most of the time I'm free."

"Cool." Emerald hopped off her stool to her feet without so much as a stumble. "It was nice to just talk for once. Thanks for that Jäger." I nodded to her. "Thanks for the drinks as well. I have no money so you really came through." She winked and strolled past me with a smile. "Later, I'll be in touch."

She left out the door of the club leaving me alone. I pulled up the interface with a scale of the city map. A red dote was stationary in a building and a blue one was slowly making its way away from the red.

Everything was going according to plan.

A/N: First couple chapters are going to build OC's and certain parts of the world with some interaction towards the main cast. Oh, the plans I have won't be original as I'd like but the premise and changes that follow are more than worth it.

What's hunting beasts without a little Blood? Death? Pain? Carnage? Pleasure?