◒ Find My Way Home

That voice…

Her head turned, just enough to see their former friend and Beacon student standing behind her. The young woman pushed aside the longer strands of hair from her eye and looked the other up and down. She’d grown, as most people do over the course of…how long had it been? The Faunus turned fully towards her, head tilted and a smirk on the side of her lips.

“Laura Galiceno. Member of Team CLST, of Beacon Academy. Weapon is a combination submachine gun and baton named Altagracia. Semblance…Shooting Stars.” She took a step forward, her heels clicking against the cobblestone and her hands held behind her back. “One thousand, three hundred and twenty-three days since our last conversation. I’m surprised you could recognize me. What do you think?”

insumoira·:

  “ You think a little heat is going to get the better of me? ” She laughed, pressing her palm against his skin. “ You really don’t know what I’ve been through, do you. The pain I’ve had to endure, the lengths I’ve gone through to be better, to make myself better and you think heat isn’t one of them?! ” Gale pushed through the first bit of pain, wanting to see him falter, wanting his Aura to deplete entirely.

  Fighting against her Semblance was admirable, she had to admit. The first time the Faunus used it without someone’s consent, it left both of them in distress. For Gale, it was the fact that she was pulling something so imperative for Hunters and Huntresses in their daily life, and that she had to listen. For the other person, it was torture. She had to stand there, listening to them beg for mercy, watching as their skin went pale and their body become limp. After that, it got easier for her…and harder for others.

  Her focus came back and the pain became too much, a cry echoed out and the Faunus let go, dropping back and clutching her wrist. She looked down at the skin, a deep red and it looked almost wet. “ This isn’t over, ” Gale said with a step back. “ He always gets what he wants. The Sandman will get Tsubaki…and who knows? ”  She grinned. “ Maybe he’s already gotten to her. ”

Shanyin grit his teeth as he struggled to stay upright. “A-and here— And here I thought you… you knew Tsubaki… There’s no way she’d— There’s no way she’d ever join up with him.”

A gunshot rang out and a bullet hit the ground near Gale’s feet

“Especially when she finds out what he did to you.” Laura said, both guns trained on her old friend, using her Semblance to hold ten Dust bolts in midair. “So your new boss better get used to disappointment.”

Gale tilted her head at Laura's statement and a smile grew on her face. She chuckled, growing into a laugh, which esalated into a cackle. Her head reeled back, her back arched and she continued to let her laugh echo through the abandoned, concrete jungle. " What he did to me? What he did?! You... " The Faunus stifled her laughter only for a moment and looked around. Laura's pistols and the bolts from her Semblance were all surrounding her. She lost. She lost.

Gale needed to get out. If she didn't it would mean her death. She had so much planned, and the Sandman...his plans needed to be set forth. She stepped back, her eyes glancing between the Hunter and Huntress. " The Sandman only helped me find my purpose. He never forced me, never pushed me to do things I didn't want on my own accord. He waited for me to ask him, me to want the experiments to start. He always wanted the best for me! You would never understand. "

That voice…

Her head turned, just enough to see their former friend and Beacon student standing behind her. The young woman pushed aside the longer strands of hair from her eye and looked the other up and down. She’d grown, as most people do over the course of…how long had it been? The Faunus turned fully towards her, head tilted and a smirk on the side of her lips.

“Laura Galiceno. Member of Team CLST, of Beacon Academy. Weapon is a combination submachine gun and baton named Altagracia. Semblance…Shooting Stars.” She took a step forward, her heels clicking against the cobblestone and her hands held behind her back. “One thousand, three hundred and twenty-three days since our last conversation. I’m surprised you could recognize me. What do you think?”

“Ah crapbaskets…”

He wasn’t sure if it was her Semblance, or something the Sandman did to her, but Shanyin could feel his Aura leave his body as Gale’s grip tightened around the back of his neck.

“I’ll fight all I want! In fact, why don’t we turn up the heat a little?” Shanyin’s eyes flickered red as he summoned his Semblance and flames erupted from his body. “What’s more important? Draining me dry or not getting third-degree burns.”

Laura swore under her breath as she watched her partner use his Semblance, despite his Aura levels dropping. But, she also saw that Gale was distracted and pulled out a few more vials of Dust as she moved to line up a better shot.

  “ You think a little heat is going to get the better of me? ” She laughed, pressing her palm against his skin. “ You really don’t know what I’ve been through, do you. The pain I’ve had to endure, the lengths I’ve gone through to be better, to make myself better and you think heat isn’t one of them?! ” Gale pushed through the first bit of pain, wanting to see him falter, wanting his Aura to deplete entirely.

  Fighting against her Semblance was admirable, she had to admit. The first time the Faunus used it without someone’s consent, it left both of them in distress. For Gale, it was the fact that she was pulling something so imperative for Hunters and Huntresses in their daily life, and that she had to listen. For the other person, it was torture. She had to stand there, listening to them beg for mercy, watching as their skin went pale and their body become limp. After that, it got easier for her...and harder for others.

That voice…

Her head turned, just enough to see their former friend and Beacon student standing behind her. The young woman pushed aside the longer strands of hair from her eye and looked the other up and down. She’d grown, as most people do over the course of…how long had it been? The Faunus turned fully towards her, head tilted and a smirk on the side of her lips.

“Laura Galiceno. Member of Team CLST, of Beacon Academy. Weapon is a combination submachine gun and baton named Altagracia. Semblance…Shooting Stars.” She took a step forward, her heels clicking against the cobblestone and her hands held behind her back. “One thousand, three hundred and twenty-three days since our last conversation. I’m surprised you could recognize me. What do you think?”

“Right, we never actually sparred befor—oh dang!”

Shanyin twisted out of the way of Gale’s strike and quickly shifted to a counterattack, following up with another two strikes as he moved behind her. He didn’t know a lot about how she fought, but those dark veins on her arm were definitely bad news. 

“Laura!”

Taking the hint, she shot a few rounds of earth Dust, creating a few boulders in midair. His eyes flashed red kicked off a wall and summoned his Semblance, using its flames to launch the rocks towards Gale at high speed.

   She weaved just out of the way of one of the strikes, though the other made her stumbled forward and she turned to see the earth above her. She wasn’t going to get out of this unscathed, she knew that, but if the Faunus could teach them a lesson it would be worth it.  Gale focused and looked for an opportunity, watching the angle of their descent and dashed forwards between them.

   One struck the ground further away, but the second was larger on the backside, striking her shoulder and sending her to the ground. Focus, Galene. Focus. What is your objective? Can you achieve it? If not, what is your secondary? Her eyes darted around to the two others, and she had a choice to make. Laura was further, but not as distinct in close combat. Shanyin was closer, but he could deflect nearly all she threw at him. Unless...

THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA 1.12 | The Darkness Within

That voice…

Her head turned, just enough to see their former friend and Beacon student standing behind her. The young woman pushed aside the longer strands of hair from her eye and looked the other up and down. She’d grown, as most people do over the course of…how long had it been? The Faunus turned fully towards her, head tilted and a smirk on the side of her lips.

“Laura Galiceno. Member of Team CLST, of Beacon Academy. Weapon is a combination submachine gun and baton named Altagracia. Semblance…Shooting Stars.” She took a step forward, her heels clicking against the cobblestone and her hands held behind her back. “One thousand, three hundred and twenty-three days since our last conversation. I’m surprised you could recognize me. What do you think?”

insumoira​:

She blocked the shots from the Dust thrown, looking up afterward to try and find where Laura had gone. A small growl left her throat, but it was soon cut off at the gunshot. Who did she call? Certainly not Connor, that shot didn’t sound like a rifle. Laura would have been an idiot had she called Tsubaki. Which left…

Shanyin.

One of the few members of Team CLST that Gale had limited encounters with, Shanyin was still a blank file for her. She didn’t know what kind of weapon he used, his style of fighting or anything. She didn’t even know where he came from. Her eyes darted around to try and find where he was, and forward was too obvious. There were buildings to her left, and Laura must have been somewhere to the right. “ Attacking from behind? Isn’t that considered cheating…Shanyin? ”

“Only in the sparring ring. But out here? Anything goes.” Shanyin said, pointing his dao at his old friend. Giving his blade a quick flourish, he rushed in to close the gap between them. The martial artist opened with a diagonal slash and followed through to swing at Gale’s legs, finishing with a upward-aimed thrust.

Laura took the chance to break cover and move in closer, ducking behind a chunk of ice that fell from one of the buildings Gale’s arrows hit. Seeing an opportunity, she moved in and aimed a strike at the cat faunus’ head with one of her weapons’ baton forms.

There wasn’t a good place for her to back off and rethink, with the blade at her back. She turned just in time for the larger part of the dao to strike at her side, her Aura taking the brunt of the blow. It pushed her back a few feet, her hand covering the impact site and Gale held her gaze towards the other Hunter. He was strong, and with a blade seemed to prefer fighting up close. She could work with that.

That voice…

Her head turned, just enough to see their former friend and Beacon student standing behind her. The young woman pushed aside the longer strands of hair from her eye and looked the other up and down. She’d grown, as most people do over the course of…how long had it been? The Faunus turned fully towards her, head tilted and a smirk on the side of her lips.

“Laura Galiceno. Member of Team CLST, of Beacon Academy. Weapon is a combination submachine gun and baton named Altagracia. Semblance…Shooting Stars.” She took a step forward, her heels clicking against the cobblestone and her hands held behind her back. “One thousand, three hundred and twenty-three days since our last conversation. I’m surprised you could recognize me. What do you think?”

“Huh, she’s made some upgrades.” Laura mused as she saw the volume of ice each arrow created. Thinking quickly, she produced a vial of Dust and charged them with her Aura.

“You seem to have forgotten quite a bit about how we work. So let me remind you.” Laura threw the vial and shot it in midair, creating a hail of Dust bolts which rained down upon the area to try and hinder Gale’s advance. “Working with a team doesn’t hold you back. In fact,”

A gunshot rang out, aimed at Gale’s feet as a blade came at her from behind.

“I think I’m at my best when they’re with me.”

She blocked the shots from the Dust thrown, looking up afterward to try and find where Laura had gone. A small growl left her throat, but it was soon cut off at the gunshot. Who did she call? Certainly not Connor, that shot didn't sound like a rifle. Laura would have been an idiot had she called Tsubaki. Which left...

Shanyin.

That voice…

Her head turned, just enough to see their former friend and Beacon student standing behind her. The young woman pushed aside the longer strands of hair from her eye and looked the other up and down. She’d grown, as most people do over the course of…how long had it been? The Faunus turned fully towards her, head tilted and a smirk on the side of her lips.

“Laura Galiceno. Member of Team CLST, of Beacon Academy. Weapon is a combination submachine gun and baton named Altagracia. Semblance…Shooting Stars.” She took a step forward, her heels clicking against the cobblestone and her hands held behind her back. “One thousand, three hundred and twenty-three days since our last conversation. I’m surprised you could recognize me. What do you think?”

“I know it’s been a while, but in case you forgot, my teammates are kind of badass.” Laura said, before firing a few more shots before moving to a new position. “They can handle themselves. And we’re gonna make sure you never get your hands on Tsubaki.”

“Besides, even if I can’t save everyone, I’ll do what I can for the people I can reach!” Two bolts from her Semblance shot out from behind cover and flew towards where she saw the sparks.

“ I may never get my hands on Tsubaki, but The Sandman will! ” She held her sword up to block one of the stars from Laura, though the other hit near her feet and caused her to tumble off-balance.  Gale recovered, squeezing the handle of the sword and watched as the two parts split open, her bow now ready. She grabbed three of her arrows, each one with a Dust-infused arrowhead: two ice and one fire. The two ice she quickly shot off, watching it hit the building nearby and grow a large spike of cold.  The other, she shot just a few meters away.

The Faunus held the last, trying to figure out where the shots had come from.  “ Now now, do you really want me to play with my hunt? ” She asked, the click of her boot heels coming closer.  “ I could find her easily. Send a distress call out, pretend that I’m stuck somewhere...ask for her specifically. “ Gale pulled the arrow back, ready to strike where she needed it most.

That voice…

Her head turned, just enough to see their former friend and Beacon student standing behind her. The young woman pushed aside the longer strands of hair from her eye and looked the other up and down. She’d grown, as most people do over the course of…how long had it been? The Faunus turned fully towards her, head tilted and a smirk on the side of her lips.

“Laura Galiceno. Member of Team CLST, of Beacon Academy. Weapon is a combination submachine gun and baton named Altagracia. Semblance…Shooting Stars.” She took a step forward, her heels clicking against the cobblestone and her hands held behind her back. “One thousand, three hundred and twenty-three days since our last conversation. I’m surprised you could recognize me. What do you think?”

“I was kind of hoping that’d work.” Laura thought to herself as Gale drew her weapon. She didn’t know what the Sandman did to her, but that weird Dust crystal clearly had something to do with it.

The gunslinger fired a few rounds at Gale to try and distract her while she moved for cover.

“Hey guys, remember how Gale disappeared after the Fall?” Laura said, calling her teammates over their comms, before firing a few more blind shots. “Well, you’ll never guess who I just ran into.”

The ricochet of the shots echoed in her ears as she deflected a few of them before ducking behind a corner. What did she know about Laura that would help her? Her file had been somewhat bare, compared to Tsubaki's and Connor's, but there was never nothing. Gale closed her eyes and thought back to the facility, reading through everyone the Sandman had kept tabs on. She was an experienced tactician, able to adapt to situations and come up with unconventional methods. However, she recalled seeing that her weakness was her temper and a slight inability to focus. That was it: the Faunus needed to get her angry.

That voice…

Her head turned, just enough to see their former friend and Beacon student standing behind her. The young woman pushed aside the longer strands of hair from her eye and looked the other up and down. She’d grown, as most people do over the course of…how long had it been? The Faunus turned fully towards her, head tilted and a smirk on the side of her lips.

“Laura Galiceno. Member of Team CLST, of Beacon Academy. Weapon is a combination submachine gun and baton named Altagracia. Semblance…Shooting Stars.” She took a step forward, her heels clicking against the cobblestone and her hands held behind her back. “One thousand, three hundred and twenty-three days since our last conversation. I’m surprised you could recognize me. What do you think?”

insumoira·:

“ Tsk, I should have known. ” She made a face, lifting the syringe up, the light hitting it so the color could be seen. It looked similar to the night sky, an array of purple and blacks swirled inside of the glass cylinder. It almost looked like it was infused with pigment or glitter for paint.

Gale’s expression lightened, from a sour expression to that of pride. “ This…is something I’ve been working on for several months, now. A different kind of Dust that the Sandman has given me access to, and with my own knowledge and experiments it has come to fruition. ” She stowed the syringe in her pack and pulled out a small uncut Dust crystal, about the size of a nailhead. “ So I will ask again, and please be truthful… ”

“ Where. Is. She. ”

‘A different type of Dust’, huh? Laura thought, as she carefully watched her fallen friend. Did some of that knowledge come from her sharing her grandfather’s notes? She had dozens of questions that needed answers. More importantly, she still needed to smack some sense into Gale for running off with the Sandman.

“Well, since you asked nicely,” Laura quickly drew her guns and trained them on the cat faunus. “The answer’s still the same. So drop the crystal and come quietly.”

She closed her hand around the Dust, a soft crunch and the purple smoke began to curl up towards her nose. Gale took a long breath in, the effects showing almost immediately: the darker veins began to pulse slightly in the same color, her body convulsed for a moment before her eyes opened and her expression went blank and cold. " Oops... "

That voice…

Her head turned, just enough to see their former friend and Beacon student standing behind her. The young woman pushed aside the longer strands of hair from her eye and looked the other up and down. She’d grown, as most people do over the course of…how long had it been? The Faunus turned fully towards her, head tilted and a smirk on the side of her lips.

“Laura Galiceno. Member of Team CLST, of Beacon Academy. Weapon is a combination submachine gun and baton named Altagracia. Semblance…Shooting Stars.” She took a step forward, her heels clicking against the cobblestone and her hands held behind her back. “One thousand, three hundred and twenty-three days since our last conversation. I’m surprised you could recognize me. What do you think?”

ask-team-clst​:

The truth was, Laura just took a blind stab and hoped she was wrong. When Gale disappeared after the Fall, she was devastated. But, between that and everything that happened after that, there wasn’t much she could do about it. That is, until her Aunt Cereza had a bad run-in with a cat faunus. 

One with a white tail. 

“Well, it’s certainly— different.” Laura paused, carefully eyeing the girl. The guys were nowhere near her and Tsubaki was off on her own mission, so she needed to play this carefully. “What happened? Last time we met, you were planning on ending the Sandman; and now you’re taking fashion advice from him?”

“Ending him?”

She raised a brow, her expression blank and brought her hands together, fingertips touching. Her once ivory skin now looked as though she’d been painting with charcoal, patches poking through near her nails.  “You must have misheard me those years ago, but I don’t blame you. You always seemed so…distracted. I believe I said that I was going to him because of what he knew.”

The Faunus’ hand dropped to her side, her fingers curling around a syringe filled with a deep violet substance.  “Besides, I think you can help me find out where Tsubaki has been cleverly hiding these past few months. Her Semblance is quite helpful with getting the upper hand, isn’t it?”

“Sorry, can’t say I can help you with there. She’s probably out on a mission or something.” Laura said, trying not to give anything away. She had her suspicions about what happened, but she needed more time to figure things out.

Gale's expression lightened, from a sour expression to that of pride. " This...is something I've been working on for several months, now. A different kind of Dust that the Sandman has given me access to, and with my own knowledge and experiments it has come to fruition. " She stowed the syringe in her pack and pulled out a small uncut Dust crystal, about the size of a nailhead. " So I will ask again, and please be truthful... "

That voice…

Her head turned, just enough to see their former friend and Beacon student standing behind her. The young woman pushed aside the longer strands of hair from her eye and looked the other up and down. She’d grown, as most people do over the course of…how long had it been? The Faunus turned fully towards her, head tilted and a smirk on the side of her lips.

“Laura Galiceno. Member of Team CLST, of Beacon Academy. Weapon is a combination submachine gun and baton named Altagracia. Semblance…Shooting Stars.” She took a step forward, her heels clicking against the cobblestone and her hands held behind her back. “One thousand, three hundred and twenty-three days since our last conversation. I’m surprised you could recognize me. What do you think?”

One with a white tail. 

She raised a brow, her expression blank and brought her hands together, fingertips touching. Her once ivory skin now looked as though she’d been painting with charcoal, patches poking through near her nails.  “You must have misheard me those years ago, but I don’t blame you. You always seemed so...distracted. I believe I said that I was going to him because of what he knew.”