Ch 6 Oh Western Memories

Daisy and I arrive in Wind Path a little later that morning. We decide it's better if we're in a village to rest rather than the open woods. We both need to rest after the night we had. And now that we know we have assassins on our tail it's probably the best option. Though don't know if Wind Path is the best place for this. We spot a inn amongst other unsavory things. Orphans and Faunus in the alleys. They looked starved. Not too unusual especially on this continent. Though Daisy seems very surprised and a little scared.

"C'mon" I usher her towards the inn. I don't like it either but there's Nothing we can really do about it anyways.

After we book a room for two we rest for that morning. I never slept so well. Though my dreams are never really as much dreams as they seem like the haunting of memories.

In my dream I live my past and my past reality becomes something of an echo. I arrive seeing mist but then my sight settles on a familiar face.

"Oh?" Lumina. My best friend. My partner. Her eyes a bright white color and yet not as dazzling as her sleek silver hair. She was always so bright. Shined like the sun.

She smiles as I wake up "hey there partner. Finally awake huh"

I rub the aching pain in the back of my head. I look around. I see Arthur the team asshole and Vale our team leader. Vale is slightly taller than the average female and uses a golden war sythe. She has long green hair kept in a pony tail. She wears a brown bohemian dress with armored chest plates and shoulder guards. Shes quick as hell and her skill is in the upper ranks of the school. Arthur uses a gold kite shield and wields it with ease. He has sandy blond hair and wear chainmail armor with a blue cape. Lumina has short silver hair and wears a rapier on her waist. She wears blue trousers and armored boots up to her knees and black cape draped across her neck.

Vale looks down at me as I lie against the tree.

"That's another loss Red." She shakes her head while holding her war sythe

"Give him a break." Arthur speaks up, "he did just take a beating"

"How's ur head?" Lumina leans down and give me a once over.

I shake off my pain and jump up, nearly falling over. I regain my posture and smile big.

"Looks like he wants to get knocked down again." Arthur is encouraging am I right.

"Now now" vale walks over to me. "Hey, don't worry, every loss leads you closer to victory!" She places her hand on my shoulder.

"Yea" I say sullenly. We just got down with a two on two sparring session. Lumina and I vs Vale and Arthur. Not a very good matchup considering Vale is just a genius when it comes to battle and Arthur is calculating when he does and doesn't use his shield.

Lumina comes from a long line of swordsman but I'm still in training and while I pick up on battle well I don't really fight with it well. And my aura control is lacking compared to the others. I just keep bringing Them down. Especially Lumina.

Arthur's face lightens with a surprised irritation and he grunts while rubbing the back of his head.

"Hey," he walks over to me "don't let this get you down. Kay. Just practice."

"Alright guys let's take it from the top" Vale raises her hand. We all get back in position. Vale and Arthur across from Lumina and I. We stand ready for Vale's go ahead.

Right before she gives the word Lumina stops her. She runs over to me and hold my hand.

"Red, remember you're not alone" she smiles and looks into my eyes "Arthur's a lil scary but he's a big softy. And Vale's well. Vale is Vale. Big sis. Got it?"

"Uh…" I struggle to get the point.

She giggles "we're training not fighting for real. Get loose. And remember " she walks away from me but looks back "make sure you look at me every now and then, partner"

"Huh…hehe" I shake my head. "Yes ma'am" I hold out my blue blade Kusanagi. My family heirloom and Vale smiles seeing the glow in my eyes.

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Vale holds her hand up and we all get ready to move in for the sparring. "Team VALR, let's begin!"

White light fades in and I'm falling. Eventually I fall to darkness and I slowly wake from the memory that was a dream.

My eyes open. A cold sweat. It's always that way when I dream of my past life. The nostalgia is more haunting than it is pleasant.

Darkness shrouds the room. My night vision has set in. I see Daisy in the other bed asleep. She sounds like she's whimpering. A CD nightmare? Or perhaps she also has a past she'd rather forget. I think on whether or not to wake her but decided against it. I grab My equipment and I walk out the inn. I stand on the outside. There's a steady wind and dirts seems to occupy the air. The smell of dew comes from the forest and the smell of campfires. I can hear the sound of clicking flames in the distance. That and the gruff voices of other men. Laugher and some kind of commotion. I also hear a child crying in the other direction. And arguing west of there. I could go back to bed. See if I could go back to sleep. Though I'm a little curious. Maybe I could make a few coin out here. I think on it for a bit. I decide to check out the area. I think there's a bar around here too. So there's probably some jobs I can take. I head to the bar and hear a hell of a lot of yelling. Upon walking in I see A man holding the bartender by the cuff of his shirt. What seems to be his goons are behind him. One giving a young lady in the bar unwanted attention while someone else is stepping on her male friend. Well damn. Bandits. The one yelling looks a little more important than the others. Well now I'll feel bad if I walk out. Well guess I'm obligated.

I walk over towards the important one. Must be the leader to this group of idiots. Everyone looks to me. I ignore them.

I sit next to him and he stops yelling and looks at me.

"Beat it Kid"

"I'm just here for a drink" I respond to him.

"You're gonna be waitin awhile kid"

"Oh?" I looking in his direction. I look at the bartender. He mouths "help" and I smirk.

"How much?"

"Huh?" The bandit gives a confused look.

"Whatever you want!" The bartender speaks up.

"Hehe" I laugh. "You're in luck bartender"

The bandit let's go of the bartender and pulls out a gun and within that instant I pull out Kuro and sheath it. The barrel of his gun falls to pieces.

The bandit leader eyes widen and I stand up from my seat. His eyes are still on me. But now in shock.

"I just happen to be passing by so don't cause too much trouble while I'm in town." I rest my hand on the butt of Kali.

"Who..who are ya!?" The bandit leader steps back and his crew now surrounds him and me.

"My name is Red Vermilion. I'm a huntsmyfrom Vale" once the word huntsman left my lips they all tensed up.

"You're like him aren't ya?!" The beat up bandit points to me. "You're just like that savage!"

"Wait what" he fires a shot and I quickly cut the bullets with kuro then I catch the rest. Once he's out of ammo I show them to him and they all run out the bar.

I wonder what they meant by "just like him"

"Thank you" the bartender walks from around the bar. "My name Caliban and you said you were.."

"Red Vermillion. Huntsman from Vale" I sit back down at the bar and turn to him.

"Those bandits, they use to come around here often till that other huntsman arrived a few months back." Caliban was an old but strong looking man. He had a prosthetic leg and an eyepatch. He wore a spotted black and white shirt and jeans.

"Never got his name but he's incredible. Went out to look for a friend da his" that was about a few days ago"

"Hmm kinda strange you never got his name. Did you swear to secrecy or something?" I ask him curiously.

"Ahh…" he observes me while caressing his chin, "you're quite intuitive I see." Thanks for answering my question.

"By the way you don't have to pay me anything" I tell him "I'm not that kind of huntsman. But if you do want to repay me back, are there any jobs I can do for tonight?"

"Hmm" he places one hand on his waist "have you tried checking the job board?"

Job board?

"Ahh I see," he turns towards the outside "come and I'll show you"

I follow as he leads me outside the bar.

He shows me a job board

"Here is where you can find jobs and use a pen to mark them showing that you've accepted the job." Interesting. Vale doesn't have job post. And neither do some areas around here.

Caliban smiles and leaves me to it.

This reminds me of the time I was with Team VALR. But that's a story for another time