Atop a hill overlooking Kuroyuri, Raven sat on the offroad truck's hood, holding her pair of binoculars and watching the town. She heard a grunt next to her before the truck shook from a heavy weight being placed on it.
"How's the kid?" Phestus asked, hauling heavy dust crystals and ore into the back of the truck.
"She killed the second son of Thorfin." Raven replied, not even looking at him.
"The fuck? The one who's as strong as a third year student? Well ho-ly shit. What the fuck've you been feedin' her?" Phestus laughed as he hauled more ore into the truck.
"She's able to lead a team to kill a third year at this young. Damn. They sure do grow up fast." Phestus grunted before taking out his water flask and taking a drink.
"No. She killed him herself. Had the group stick back to protect some kids." Raven replied.
PFFF!
Phestus coughed up water all over his shirt, looking at Raven incredulously.
"She's ten." Phestus stated like a question.
"I know how.. 'peculiar' my Daughter is. Her yearly episodes of pain. The changes that come after it. The obvious and the less obvious.." Raven lowered the binoculars with a sigh.
"Oh good. You weren't saying anything so I thought you were either in denial or just ignoring it." Gray cut in, walking over with a sniper rifle hanging on her shoulders.
"Yin hasn't used the bathroom in over half a year. And I checked. It's not digestive issues. Her body has never been healthier. She heals cuts and bruises at least three times faster than someone with C class Aura. She's.. an oddity." Raven looked over, seeing Gray nod as if she knew, while Festus furrowed his brows.
"It's not her Semblancr either. She's got a fire semblance. Hits to her aura fuel it. Then she gets even faster. A bit stronger too." Gray hummed, setting up her scope to watch Yin's group.
"That ain't the only thing odd about her though." Phestus huffed.
"Her weapons and clothes?" Raven asked, folding her arms.
"Clothes? Nah, she coulda nabbed 'em from the raids. The weapons? Yeah. Them's special. The Mistralian swords look simple at a first glance but they're very well made. 'M gonna modify 'em after we get back. But that gun? Feels like Atlas tech, almost. Some kinda tech in it I don't understand. No idea where yer kid got it from." Phestus scratched his beard and sat down next to Raven.
"She's been occasionally going to this one stone door. I can't open it for the life of me. I can only assume she found some hidden vault or something. Maybe an old cache from the Great War or a White Fang safehouse. I haven't tried using my Semblance to follow her in." Raven admitted, resting her head on her hand as she looked at the burning town.
"If it were ten years ago, you'd go in without a second thought. Then there was Eiz.. Now Yin. I'm expecting another big change coming." Gray hummed, pulling a cigar out of her bra.
"Maybe.. We used to be like the Beormir before Eiz. Without the rape, of course. I just wonder how she'll react to everything she's seen here. Looks like they're wrapping up now." Raven replied before hearing Gray click her tongue in annoyance as she lit her cigar.
"Nah. Fucking April.. I thought Shay would be the one to fuck up." Gray stood up, annoyance written on her face.
"What did she do?" Phestus asked as Raven raised ger binoculars again, pointing them Westward.
"That damn bleeding heart.." Raven cursed, seeing the Beormir start to quickly evacuate in their offroad vehicles.
She had been watching as April began to fight Shay and Iris when they had set bombs on the Beormir's vehicles. Though she wasn't doing very well against them both, she had successfully stopped Shay from planting more bombs. And as a result, only a few vehicles had been destroyed, which had drawn the escaping Beormir to their fight, while the others were running for the remaining vehicles.
"Chief, we should-" Gray paused mid-sentence as her scroll buzzed.
Looking at the screen, the caller I.D was Yin's. Gray looked at Raven, who nodded at her to pick up. As soon as she answered the call, she heard very loud gunfire come out of the speaker.
BAAANG!
"Continue routing them. Gray? I need your eyes and your gun." Yin stated, Gray hearing what sounded like a large magazine being loaded into a gun.
"Hah.. Sure, kid. I see the group you're chasing. What're my targets?" Gray asked, smirking and taking a drag of her cigar.
"Kill the ones who jump in the driver seats and the ones next to them. They're panicking, so that'll slow them down enough until we catch up." Yin replied, huffing in annoyance.
"You got it. See you after the clean up." Gray snorted before hanging up.
"She'll make a good leader aye." Phestus said, glancing over to Raven, who was still watching with her binoculars.
"I want to see how she deals with April. Come on, Phestus." Raven put her binoculars away and hopped in the truck.
"Aye I'm comin'.." Phestus grumbled before hopping in the back with his ore.
-Yin-
BAAAANG!
Another deafening shot rang out, a bullet ripping through a fleeing Beormir. Yin clicked her tongue and mechashifted the Anti-Materiel rifle back into axe form. Her group had been chasing the fleeing bandits back to their vehicles in the West. Vernal had charged forward in an attempt to kill more than Yin, which had slowed the routed Beormir. As they reached the West hill the Beormir vehicles were on, Yin saw a few of them panicking as the ones who sat in the driver's seat inexplicably had their heads blown up.
"Vernal, wrap it up. I'm gonna see how those idiots can explain all this." Yin said, giving Vernal the ok to kill the rest as she made her way over to where she saw Shay, Iris and April panting on their hands and knees.
"Hey.. boss.." Shay greeted between huffs as he stood up and shot April a dirty look.
"I see you failed to make the bombs go off. Care to explain why?" Yin asked neutrally, though she had the general idea.
"For once, it wasn't Shay." Iris rolled her eyes and glared at April, who was staring at the ground with a trembling bottom lip.
"I would never purposefully sabotage a raid!" Shay defended until Yin put her hand up.
"So, April. Explain." Yin demanded, watching April stand up and look at her with a complicated expression.
"I didn't want to kill them. They're running.. We already won.. Why do we have to kill them all...?" April asked, shuddering at the bored look Yin was giving her.
"I.. You were forced to kill them in this Raid! Can't you understand how I feel, Yin!?" April shouted, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
THUD!
Yin's fist struck the side of April's face, dropping her to the ground in shock. April held her face, looking up at Yin, wide eyed.
"No. I don't understand. I was forced to kill? No. I chose to kill. Why don't you defend your stance to the women, children and elderly they were going to abduct and enslave back at their camp? To the few women that were unlucky enough to be violated after they were torn from their homes. Go explain to them how you tried to spare the ones who did this." Yin heard April's breath hitch as she talked.
"Oh but there's more than that. Killing them here prevents the Beormir from getting any information back to their camp. Which means they won't be prepared for us next time. Which could save quite a few of our lives. Abandon this naiive notion that you should spare your enemies, when if the situations were reversed, they would kill you or worse." Yin explained, watching as a realization hit April.
"Glad you understand. Now.. Since I'm the one who lead the Raid, I get to decide how to punish you. The Chief might have killed you, given your history and this colossal fuck up on your part.. But since I can see my words are actually being considered? You'll take Shay's place as being the ass of everyone's jokes for a whole month. Get ready, because Vernal is kind of a douchebag when it comes to fucking with people." Yin smirked as she saw Vernal deflate at her punishment.
"Hell yes!! No more dicks on my face! Fair warning, April. Vernal will put random shit in your food.. like worms. And Yin will sabotage your radio while you sleep.. Put some annoying ass song on loop." Shay lamented.
"Baaaa-by Shark doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo.." Iris sung mockingly.
"Yo! I'm done! What'd I miss here? Was it Shay's fault?" Vernal jogged over, some blood on her fists.
"Actually it was April. She's going to take Shay's place for a month." Yin answered, turning away as Vernal gave April the most chilling smile she had ever seen.
-Thirty minutes later-
The clean up was wrapped up quickly. But the decision on what to do with the townspeople took some time. They were given an option to join the Tribe, return to their home or move to the nearest village. Most decided to move on to greener pastures but a few stubborn elders decided to return to Kuroyuri. Only some of the kids, including Ren and Nora had wanted to join. So they were never taken advantage of like that again. Yin and Vernal were living proof they could do it.
Ren and Nora had been insistent on sticking close to Yin, even going so far as to getting in the same truck, making the back cramped as they sat on April and Vernal.
Raven was quiet as they began their drive back. From the subtle disapproving glances at April to the scrutinizing looks she gave the Axe that Yin had plundered. Raven looked at her daughter, who looked to be thinking. Even scowling from time to time as she stared off into nothing. Raven sighed and braced for the conversation she needed to have with her daughter.
"What did you think? During the Raid. You did splendidly for your first time. But even for me, taking my first life wasn't something I was unaffected by. How do you feel?" Raven asked, her question silencing the voices of Ren, Nora, April and Vernal.
Yin closed her eyes and tapped the interior of the truck door.
"It was... like a chore. For most of the ones I killed. There was nothing remarkable about it. They disgusted me. Does an exterminator feel bad for the rats they kill? If they don't do their job, the rats can ruin the home they infest, spread disease, eat the homeowner's food and make a mess everywhere they go. I felt something. But it wasn't bad or good. Just.. something that needed doing." Yin explained, hearing her Mother hum in acknowledgement.
"But when I killed Modi? It was exhilirating. Overcoming an enemy like that. Knowing what was at stake. I won't regret the deaths of those who would kill me or destroy things and people I like." Yin concluded.
"That's an interesting outlook. One that doesn't sound like you've given away your humanity." Raven replied.
"....Right, Humanity.." Yin looked off into the horizon, muttering to herself quietly.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Yin spoke up again.
"Are the Beormir typical among bandits in how they act and conduct business?" Raven sighed, hearing the question.
"Yes. The Branwen used to be similar when my Father was in control. We stopped a few of those practices on the behest of one of our late members. But to everyone else, we're the same as the Beormir." Raven responded solemnly.
"It's ineffective." Yin retorted casually.
"Why would you destroy Towns and Villages like that? There's more to gain by taking tribute from the settlements and creating a network. Bandit Tribes are a dead end." Before Raven could ask what she meant, Yin continued, earning the attention of Ren in particular.
"And you suggest we.. become a Kingdom?" Raven furrowed her brows, hearing Yin scoff in response.
"No. The settlements govern themselves. All they need to do is pay tribute. Be it food, weapons, members.. Then, after you get a few of the settlements under your thumb, you distribute the resources of the settlements around. Make them depend on you. These settlements barely get anything from Mistral itself anyways." Yin finished, hearing Vernal gasp.
"So they pay us to do nothin' but distribute their shit? Sign me up!" Yin facepalmed.
"No.. We keep them safe from the Grimm or evacuate if need be. They're how we get resources after all." Yin explained.
"I'll have to talk to Gray and Phestus about this. See if it's feasible. What would people even call us if we do succeed in doing that?" Raven asked, hearing Ren speak up for the first time.
"It sounds like a Clan. Like.. from before the Kingdoms." Yin smiled and nodded at him, causing Ren to blush and look elsewhere.
"The Branwen Clan? I like it."
-Three Years Later-
"One by one I'm takin' out the trash, I'm a scrapper" BANG!
"Single-handedly handing everyone's ass on a platter." BANG! BANG!
"Pissin' on all of my foes like I had a full bladder" BANG! BANG! BANG!
"I'm taking over Anima it's only one thing that-" "STOP!! Stop!!" A gravely voice cut through the oddly really good singing voice.
"Oh, sorry. I wasn't paying attention there." The girl replied, looking down at the bearded man who looked familiar.
"You.. fucking Branwen.." The man coughed up blood, feeling the golf ball-sized hole in his stomach as he looked up at the girl who looked to be in her mid to late teens.
The girl in question was reloading a rather unique looking pistol. Her long black hair hung as low as her knees, which contrasted well with her khaki brown long coat, black tanktop and slim black pants. She hummed while staring at the man, cupping her chin in thought as she tried to remember his face.
"Oh yeah.. You look a bit like Modi. Guess I'd run into you sooner or later huh?" The girl, Yin, hit her fist in realization.
"I'm... Magn-" BANG!
[Level up!]
[Quest Unlocked!]
Yin shot him in the head mid-sentence, ignoring the alert before hostering her Malorian arms pistol and turning her attention to the sounds of approaching footsteps.
"Wooo! Renny! Renny! Did you see that guy!? He exploded!" A ginger girl skipping beside a black and pink haired boy exclaimed.
"Yes, Nora. I saw you fire the grenade. Yin! We've cleared the Beormir stronghold. This shold be the last one in Anima." Ren exclaimed, jogging over to Yin with an enthusiastic smile, making Nora pout.
"Good. I just finished off their leader here. We should go back to Xion and tell them the good news." Yin smirked at the duo before leaving the burning encampment behind.
"Aye aye, Cap'n!" Nora perked up and saluted her.
"Nora we're not Pirates.." Ren sighed, following behind their leader.
-Three hours later-
After returning to Xion and giving the good news to the town's mayor, Yin, Ren and Nora all turned in for the night at the local inn mostly used by Huntsmen. It was late now, just after eleven at night, when Yin got out of bed and looked in the mirror.
The awakenings had slowed down significantly. In the three years since her first Raid, she's only had two. The first being an overhaul of her internal organs, including even the reproductive ones, such as her womb. Then there was her skin, which had become more tanned as a result. And the quick maturation of her body had begun. As a thirteen year old, she had the appearance of a sixteen year old and had begun to develop curves. Though she wasn't as endowed as her Mother yet, something she was thankful for.
'No periods but it said I'll start experiencing something like going into heat when I hit sixteen. I'm not looking forward to that..' Yin grumbled before looking at the alert she had recieved after her last awakening.
[Mortal level awakenings have completed. You can now be called a Fledgling Dragon. But that is not the end. To take the next step in your evolution, you must develop your Dragon Heart. Something which is currently impossible, as Remnant has no ambient mana in its atmosphere. While you could absorb Dust, it will take a colossal amount of time and resources to get enough for the evolution. As such, you will be issued a Quest once you reach level 50]
Earlier, she had killed a relatively tough Beormir. One as strong as his brother. If it were three years ago, Yin might have struggled. But she wasn't exactly idle since then and has surpassed the level of a Huntsman trainee. Now, she finally hit level fifty and unlocked the quest.
[Omniversal Quest: Accompany and assist Hajime Nagumo for one year!
Note: Time in Remnant will freeze until your return.
Note 2: You will be placed in his class one week before the class is transported and will have an identity issued and a backstory prepared for you. Information and resources such as housing will be provided upon arrival at Earth- 18554. Do you accept?]
Seeing the quest prompt, Yin's eyebrows shot up in surprise. How was doing this going to help her gather enough magic for the heart?
"What anime is this from? The spider girl one? The genderless slime one? Oh well.. I guess I'll figure it out once I arrive. I accept" Yin answered before a flash of light encompassed her entire room before she disappeared.
[AN: Commission's done! Note that this is Yin at 18 years old. Thanks for reading!]