Live and Let Live (1)

"Every day above ground is a good day." – Tony Montana

Chapter 2: Live and Let Live (1)

It's been several hours since I left Oniyuri and the muddy trail I was driving through was starting to get annoying-

*Bump*

I scowled as the truck found another hole in the ground, my nerves unwilling to let go of that forebonding sense of dread that was starting to be noticeably influencing my features.

The sky had started to darken up and the lack of a proper illumination along the path was adding up with my already rusty driving skills.

Sure, I knew how to properly drive old stuff with manual gearboxes but my capacity lied only on normal cars as I have never needed to use a truck in my life.

Uneasiness about possible major differences between the two kinds of vehicles slowly unraveled the moment I found no particular issue with my current disposition.

Now that I was driving straight lines and not trying to turn crazy corners I was fine, but I was starting to get annoyed the barely visible track.

The headlights gave me a limited glimpse of the road ahead but I was worried of ending up to attract Grimm with my ever-growing distress.

*Bump*

I scowled again, this time barely caring for the umpteenth hole trying to bruise the tires but thankfully failing to accomplish that. My attention moved to the small radio device built-in the truck.

It was curiosity that urged me to see what kind of programs were in Remnant and to see how the world was faring with Beacon's fall.

So I turned it on and-

"Mistral Grand Museum opens a new gallery for the 'Kestrel Renaissance' this Tuesday-"

I sighed as I could barely digest art-related news of this kind, but much to my chagrin the following five channels were still about the Musem's gallery or some interviews with some artist.

I had thought that Mistral would have been more concerned about Vale having fallen to the Grimm-

"General Feldgrau has finally announced that the Vytal Festival will be held in Atlas just like the Vytal Commission had requested early this year. The Atlesian Council-"

...Wasn't Atlas supposedly going have locked down everything because of what had just happened in Vale?! What is going on?

There is something wrong with those news.

I tried to ignore Ozpin's voice but... there was something wrong indeed.

No shit.

I remember the event as I had pressed it to happen but-

Right in that exact moment, I switched to another channel, trying to get more clues on what was going on and... I found my answer.

"After winning yesterday's Grand Capital Tournament for the thirteenth time, Peleus Nikos has announced his wish of retiring from competitions to focus more on his family in Argus. Is this the end of the Nikos' golden age or are we going to see a continuation thanks to his daughter, Pyrrha (7)? There had been some inclinations from the child to follow her father's footsteps in previous interviews-"

Oh my God, we are in the past!

That means that every single plan I had prepared for the whole Volume 4 to 6 was scrapped forever... man, it truly sucks to have efforts thrown in the trashcan.

Oh, do tell me about it.

But yours suck from the very beginning, when you are merely forming the idea behind them. Actually, why you sound so calm at the situation?

While this is indeed an unique predicament, I do think that having experience with Magic and Godly beings has made my capacity to be shellshocked quite... abysmal.

Oh my, I almost felt bad for that.

*Bump*

My attention returned back to the real world, panic surging as I saw it. Black fur, lanky and inhuman limbs and a snarling skull-like face.

I had just the time to yelp as the creature jumped right by the closest door to my seat and thrusted its claw through the small window deep inside the driving cabin.

Now you would expect me to dodge this without any itch and... you would be wrong.

I barely managed to move away from the bone-like, sharp claws, just enough to avoid any killing blow but still getting some damage.

I flinched and started to tremble, a noticeably gash on the side of my head forming at the contact and my left hand was pressing on the injury, trying to stop the blood from pouring too fast out of it.

Its growl and snarling muzzle was enough to keep me from fainting as my hand started to search and pick what I had placed for this kind of predicaments.

The short-muzzled shotgun was something I had never used in my life- scratch that, I have never used a gun ever.

I would have said FPSs matter as experience but- It wasn't the moment. I grasped the pellet-loaded gun and cocked its hole at the Beowulf, its maws open and ready to take a bite at my body.

*Blam*

The dust-powered pellet pierced throught its head, dark matter forcibly removed from the exposed weakpoint as the monster died instantly at the shot.

My back slammed on the other end of the cabin, the kick of the gun being something new as I had forgotten to put some better hold over it.

Dropping the shotgun, I didn't wait for the Grimm to fully dematerialise as I returned to the wheel and pressed my feet as hard as I could on the gas pedal. Beowulves hunted in packs and I was going slow enough for any other monster to jump in and finish the job.

The truck's pace doubled and I saw from the small mirrors that showed the trailer, several other creatures trying to jump and latch at the white, smooth texture but ending up to fail because of the sturdy material of the trailer and the friction of the high speed the vehicle was going.

The rapid pace continued for a while, adrenaline being the only thing keeping me from collapsing on the wheel.

This- This is bad. The hand on the wound was wet, red and starting to pale a little. I felt some form of tiredness slowly taking over and-

I needed to find some refuge. A place where to stay for the night and get enough peace to apply the medicines in the trailer.

I felt relief the moment the truck's headlights illuminated the signpost that showed a proper place to rest.

Gekkeiju - 2KM

Not a location known to my limited RWBY lore but good enough to see if I could get some proper hospitalisation. Sure, I hate hospitals but I needed some serious look over the wound.

I was no expert on the matter, but the injury hardly seemed like a flesh wound and my thoughts were starting to sound scrambled the more time passed.

At least Ozpin had decided to tune out from the situation, I don't know if for respect or more plotting on his part.

Gekkeiju was another abandoned settlement and this development was met with mixed emotions.

I was left to deal with my injuries alone and with my rudimental medical skills, but I didn't have to explain to any authority why I had a truck without proper documentation filled with guns and bullets.

I didn't look around the deserted city, my attention brought by a large building I had spotted from afar as I approached the town. It looked like a factory... but there was nothing inside from what I could see from the open gates.

Groaning a little, I started to slowly manouver the vehicle to enter inside the building.

The moment I was sure the full length of the truck was inside, I turned it off and went to close the gates, the task becoming quite tiring because of having one arm available for the job.

Speaking of the injury, as I started to walk toward the vehicle, my legs gave up and I fell on my knees.

I was tired, incredibly tired and yet I needed to g-get up and get some medicines.

Limping towards the trailer, I slowly opened its doors and I blinked.

The pink-eyed child with black hair blinked back.

Oh. "H-Hello?"

Lie Ren merely stared, not a word uttered in reply to my greeting as his eyes wandered back to the hand clutching my wound, surprise building up the moment he realised I was injured.

"I-I have to get some medicines- I am not going to hurt you but-" I paused the instant I spotted another head appearing from behind the boxes. "Oh, you have a f-friend."

Seeing that the conversation was going nowhere, I slowly stepped inside and went to the small box with the red cross symbol on it and picked the objects I needed.

A bottle of rubbing alcohol, few bandages, some cotton wool and a healing cream and a pair of trauma shears.

While I never experienced this kind of cuts before, I knew the procedures of dealing with head's injuries after... that unpleasant 'accident'.

First thing first, cutting the hair around the wound. I would have tried to find a mirror to help me in the step, I decided to not waste that kind of time.

Slowly but steadily, I managed to remove most of the black hair around the spot, giving me the opportunity to go forward with the procedure.

Grabbing some of the cotton, I applied some alcohol to it and gave it a short glance, gulping nervously as I started to tampon the area of the wound.

Some pained hisses left my throat but... I couldn't skip this step as I needed to make sure the wound wasn't getting infected during the recovery.

Finally I grabbed the healing cream and started to softly apply it on the gash, the cool sensation it was giving now sending shivers to my spine. It was quite the interesting feeling.

Lastly, I unraveled some of the medical bandage and applied it around my head, the rest of the cotton placed right between the bandage and the skin where the wound was.

Having completed the procedure, I let a tired sigh loudly out of my mouth and turned my attention back to the two children.

Nora's blue eyes were fixed at the bandages around my head, childish wonder hidden in her orbs.

Ren was still staring at me. His pink eyes trained at my face, waiting for me to do something, anything that would be remotely considered dangerous for him and his friend.

"I suppose that you have been told to not talk to strangers..." I mused out-loud, the children still silent but I could see some minor reaction at my words. "Then I will introduce myself."

"My name is John Bukharin and my current destination is Vale." I said calmly.

The boy frowned at my faux name, seeing that it didn't match the standard color/element naming system.

I bet my real one would have brought even more confusion, considering that it is quite hard to pronounce and memorise.

Nora blinked and her lips moved silently, repeating my name before nodding to herself. "I am Nora." Then she pointed at her friend, Ren now staring at her. "And this is Renny."

I nodded, keeping just a small smile in my face as I fought off the need to squeal of a chibi Nora. While she looked a shadow of her future self, she had that kind of adorable, squeaky voice only a monster wouldn't love to hear.

"Nora-" The introvert child whispered, trying to chide the girl but failing as he kept glancing my way.

"So, Nora and Ren." I hummed quietly before nodding again. "Nice to meet you both."

The Valkyrie smiled a little while the boy merely sighed in defeat at the circumstance.

Before I could further ask more questions, my stomach gave a loud rumble.

A small blush spread in my cheeks at the embarrassing noise but much to my surprise, the loud rumble was followed by two smaller ones. I looked at the two children, Nora patting her belly while Ren looked away in embarrassment.

"Well, I suppose I will start to make something for dinner." I moved to leave the trailer but paused just a moment. "Any preferences?"

The girl shook her head in negative while Ren looked pensive for a while. "I... I would like something with vegetables."

"Then I will make some nice salad for you, Ren, I think I saw some ingredients to make a very delicious one." I replied with a smile, the child merely nodding at my comment but letting the ghost of a smile appear in his visage.

While Nora seemed to trust people a lot easier than her friend, Ren's inherent paranoia wasn't truly wrong. If I had taken the brunt of his traumatic experience, I would hardly let anyone sweet-talk me out to backstab me.

As I started to prepare the cooking instrument on the cold floor of the factory, my mind returned to trace the lines of my future plans.

Staying in Vale for too long would be a bad choice, especially with Past!Ozpin (Still I had to understand how there were two Ozpins) still ruling from his high tower.

I hear that Atlas is a nice place nowadays.