[Sinopia DeStellanova]

There was an assassination attempt against Alina not too long ago. They both knew that it was only a matter of time before someone tried considering they were trying to disrupt the current powers, but that didn't make it any less concerning. 'Concerning' was the term she used rather than disturbing or any number of words people might have used to describe an attempt on their best friend's life. This wasn't the first time someone tried to kill Alina. Hell, it wasn't even the first time someone tried to assassinate her. Sienna was numb to it all.

Even if she didn't have that visceral reaction of fear like someone less used to this would, it was still concerning. The faction wasn't prepared for a fight. Alina had garnered a lot more attention and notoriety more quickly than they initially expected, so there just wasn't time to build everyone up yet. Alina's attitude towards all this was infuriating; she barely seemed to care at all. Sienna was far less convinced that they wouldn't try again. Maybe it wouldn't be a direct assassination again. Maybe it'd be an attack on the civilians in their care. Or perhaps a concentrated effort to undermine her reputation or something. She had no idea how these shady fucks worked, but she did know that, if they were already willing to go for Alina's life, there was likely very little they would be opposed to doing to take her down.

Talking to Alina about this would be a waste of time, so the best she could do was prepare. Unfortunately, they didn't have much to go on. It wasn't clear whether or not the guy that attacked her was part of some group or just a hired sword. The only thing they had to go by was his sword. Sienna herself wasn't there, so she wasn't even entirely sure what the attacker looked like. She got a brief description from Alina, but there was only so much she could do with a verbal description from memory. The sword was at least well-made and distinct, so it wasn't a complete dead end. It was likely expensive and not the kind of thing you'd find in a forge from the Ground District. Thus, she figured she'd check the pricy places in the Cloud District first. She wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for yet, so she was starting with seeing just how many places were out there and how many of them seemed shady or discrete. From there, she could look into the styles they had on display or customer records or something.

However, she didn't want to draw attention to herself. She wasn't sure how recognizable she was, so she would prefer not to step foot in any of the buildings herself. Thus, when someone started pestering her about what she was doing, she actually agreed to let him help despite the situation being delicate. Exactly how much she'd let him help remained to be seen, but having an extra set of eyes and another brain to analyze the information wouldn't hurt as long as he didn't make things worse by running off to do something on his own. News of the assassination attempt wasn't announced or anything like that, but it wasn't exactly a secret either, especially given the number of people that saw her right after it. It was entirely possible he already knew anyway, and if he was going to try something stupid, he probably would have already done it.

Sienna knew a fairly quiet way up to the Cloud District, and had a nice enough looking truck that she figured they could drive most of the way up there without it looking weird. Even the Cloud District had to have some transport vehicles if they wanted their stores to be stocked after all. She insisted on driving no matter how much she was harassed or begged to do otherwise and started up the mountain at a steady pace. The inside of the car was sound-proofed, so they could talk freely. It seemed like a good time to get to know who she'd be working with.

"It'll take a bit to get up the mountain. I'm Sienna Hajnal."

She wasn't nearly as prominent with in the Kozaks as Alina was, but she was the second in command. Most of her duties were about handling supplies and transport, but she also frequently worked on weapons and fixed broken appliances, houses, and worked on building up the infrastructure where they were living. Given how she normally dressed, she wouldn't be surprised if some people didn't think she was anyone important at all, but people that were paying attention would know her title: Heneralnyi Oboznyi.

She was dressed a bit differently today since she was going into the Cloud District. Rather than her usual hooded jacket, she wore a brown long coat that went down a little past her knees and had two rows of buttons on the front. It was nice, far fancier than what she normally wore, but still not as nice as what people wore in the Cloud District, especially given her pants, gloves, and boots were just plain and black. If anything, she looked more like someone from the Wind District trying to look richer than they were. She had a simple hat on her head to hide her ears. Strictly speaking, her identity 'Sienna Hajnal' was supposed to be human and she still kept up that pretense. Anyone that followed her and Alina after fleeing Kerch knew she wasn't human though. Her clothes were soaked after escaping, so she took off her hood to avoid freezing, and her massive bright orange fox ears were basically impossible to miss.

After taking a moment to explain the situation to him, she pulled out her scroll, pulled up an album of pictures and handed it to him. She didn't want to bring the sword with her, that would be far too conspicuous, so she just took about two dozen pictures of it from every angle she could think of. It wouldn't be quite the same as having the sword to look at, but she figured it would be good enough.

"Thank you for offering to help me with this. Can you tell me what you can do?"

---

1052/1052

[Grey Neutrum Valorem]

"Grey Valorem." The dark-haired man replied calmly as he turned to look at the scenery passing them by.

...

..

.

Hot damn!

Now THIS was the kind of trip what he could get hyped about!

Sitting in the passenger side of the transport van, Grey's eyes could hardly contain the excitement behind them. Cloud District was a place he'd only heard about but the stories about. It was a place of dreams! It was a place of magic! But most importantly, it was a place that was supposedly beyond one's imagination! Or so he'd been told. But that aside, how had he wound up here you ask? Well that's a funny story actually!~ Ya see, Grey had sort of overheard this lady here beside him talking with one of the members of a random team about using a truck to take a trip up top. Maybe they were logistics maybe they were planning but honestly who cared! Not Grey! Being that they had him handling mostly menial tasks around home base for awhile now, Grey had been absolutely chomping at the bit for practically any excuse to get away from the daily tedium. Now, he had thought a trip 'up top' had sort of been referring to the Wind District but nope! Apparently the destination the two had been bound for was the legendary Cloud District. Thankfully though his outfit was just dapper enough for him to not stick out like a sore thumb.

This had naturally led to Grey eventually attempting to ask the woman for what the occasion had been for. Before he could though the woman suddenly began telling him that this trip was for an investigation into a recent assassination attempt on their leader. Freezing for a moment upon hearing that, Grey gazed at the woman as she began explaining the situation to him. He stared silently as she pulled up and passed over what seemed to be the album of pictures primarily posed to picture the purported weapon used during the incident. Scrolling through the photos as the van made its way up to the higher levels of the city, Grey had but one thought running through his mind.

.

..

...

HOW THE HELL HAD HE GOTTEN INVOLVED WITH THIS!?!?!?

...

..

.

While calm on the outside, Grey was absolutely freaking out on the inside. He had just thought this was going to be something frigging simple like a goddamn milk run for god's sake. He wasn't expecting to unearth an insidious plot launched by the dark powers of the world against their faction leader. But that aside, Grey had an even more important question gnawing at the back of his mind. Why in the world had she allowed him to be taken on something like this!?!? Sure, that wasn't to say he didn't consider himself trustworthy or anything like that! But this seemed uh....how would one put it....a little above his paygrade. But there was probably one reason or another that he had been allowed to tag along. Unfortunately though, the only real reason he could come up with was that he was supposed to be her meat shield or something...

Shuddering at the thought, Grey mentally tried to shake the notion off but he found he couldn't. Given that he was probably considered to on the level of a grunt around the base, it really was the only thing that made sense to him. Though a seemingly nice lady like her wouldn't do something like sacrificing him. Right....? Right!?!?!?

Thankfully, Grey would suddenly be pulled back into reality upon hearing the girl thank him for offering to help. Casting her a bright smile, Grey replied the only way he knew how. He simply went along with it. "Naturally. You seemed like you could use a helping hand and I thought I would be just the sort of gent to provide it. Skill-wise though, I'd honestly have to say I'm mediocre at best so I definitely wouldn't be too great as a distraction." Or sacrifice, he wanted to add but he of course knew not to.

"But I have been told I do have a way with words." Grey replied with a slight shrug and wry smile as he continued to examine the pictures. Nothing particularly stuck out to him as he glanced at them but his mind did begin to wonder about something.

"About this sword though." Grey began questionably as he turned to look at Sienna. "Is there anything special about it? If there isn't, it seems kind of weird one would opt for it over something a bit more long-range. Also, I'm guessing the weapon had been knocked from the assailant's hand and not just abandoned right? Oh and lastly, do we have any details on the attacker?"

Was their leader being underestimated? Probably not...right? Given someone wanted her dead that wouldn't make much sense. If anything, logic would dictate they saw her being a bigger threat in the future so better to snuff her out now then wait. But still, with attempts on someone's life being done, Grey would have assumed that whoever orchestrated the whole thing would have liked for there to be have been as little evidence as possible. So why a sword? It was definitely a weird choice. Was it relevant to the leader? Was there someone she shafted in the past with a sword or something? That definitely would have been weird but...what else did he have to work with?

But anywho!~ While Grey wasn't really much of a detective, given that the weapon seemed to be the clue they were going off of, he wanted to try to make himself somewhat useful. Because after all, if he could show he was even the slightest bit useful, he probably wouldn't get sacrificed. Mhm mhm! Everyone wins!~


---

964/964

[Sinopia DeStellanova]

After she handed off the scroll she started reaching into her pocket for some sunglasses and adjusted her scarf to cover the lower part of her chin. It was cold enough in this mountainous winters to justify wearing a scarf like that, and wearing sunglasses while driving was normal enough. She figured she could get away with concealing her face as much as possible.

However, as she was unfolding her sunglasses, Grey said something that made her stop and look at him like he grew a second head. Her eyebrows went up, and she stared for several seconds before she even resumed the motions of putting on her sunglasses. A decoy? What did he think they were doing? She wasn't about to bring someone she didn't even know on a dangerous mission. She didn't even know what he could do, so it's not like she could be planning around any skills he might have. What kind of organization did he think he joined?

"I'm sorry, I don't think I was very clear with what my objective is today. I'm just looking for leads to investigate further later. I have no intention of confronting the assassin myself. I wasn't even planning on getting out of the car," she paused and rubbed the back of her neck. "Unless you wanted to do something in the Cloud District I guess? I probably shouldn't walk around too much, but I don't think there's any reason you have to stay in the car the whole time if you don't want to."

Hopefully that made her intentions clear enough. She was going out of her way to avoid danger for the time being, even if that meant missing a lead. Alina would have her own methods when she had the time to look around.

Talking about Alina with people in the Kozaks was always mixed. Some people were in the fortress in Kerch when Alina took down an artillery barrage single-handedly, giving the people cornered in that fortress time to escape. Others saw her survival and fighting skills as they walked from Kerch to the capital. Others had never been to Kerch, or often even heard of it, prior to joining and thus may have never seen Alina fight. Unless she had reason to believe otherwise, she assumed that most people knew Alina was really strong, but not much more than that.

"Yeah, he didn't drop it. Alina took it after kicking his ass. They sent someone that had a short-range teleport semblance that would be able to close into melee with her and prevent her from being able to use her own semblance easily. They had an accomplice with water Dust to put out any fires she might have created just in case. They likely weren't aware of Alina's abilities in close combat. Tactics like this are fairly common from people that think that she's completely reliant on her semblance to fight," she shrugged.

"As for his physical appearance...Tall, about a foot taller than Alina. Male. Muscular. Long black hair tied into a ponytail. Wore a white Grimm mask. Red armor. That's all I know."

---

520/1572

[Grey Neutrum Valorem]

Ooooooooo.

That made much more sense!

They weren't heading to good ol' Cloudy Town for anything too dangerous! They were only going to just do a tiny bit of reconnaissance! Letting out a small sigh of relief in his mind, Grey took note of the girl mentioning that she didn't even plan on getting out of the car. He also then noticed that she had actually covered up most of her discernable features by adding on a pair of sunglasses and readjusting her scarf to mask her mouth. Oh? So incognito mode activated? Was she known around these parts for causing trouble or something? Whelp! It wasn't like it was something that he had to worry about! Besides, no one here would have likely have known a nobody like him anyways!

Speaking of which, should he have known her. As he searched his memory banks he couldn't really recall who the girl was. He had naturally had caught glimpses of her around....maybe? But he couldn't really remember. Given that his basic training as a new recruit was his primary focus when he'd joined, about the only people he knew in the Kerchs were his parents who just did little logistic sides jobs here and there when they could, and the Leader of the whole kit and caboodle. Being that he linked up rather late with everyone here, he hadn't had much in the way of impressions about the organization as a whole. But what he did know though was that they saved and took care of his parents. That was enough for him to help in their cause.

Grey listened quietly as Sienna went into greater detail about both the sword and the attackers. Nodding his head as he continued to look at the pictures as she spoke, Grey examined the blade from the various angles in the photos. So it'd been forcefully knocked away eh? Well that was somewhat of a relief. Given the time crunch the two attackers had been under perhaps it wasn't feasible to retrieve it. It wasn't too alarming to learn that the two assailants had been prepared for Alina though. Given she was the head of a rapidly growing faction, it was only natural they would have done their homework. Hearing about the white Grimm mask the man wore made Grey instantly wonder if it had any connection to the infamous group known as the white fang. But he instantly dismissed that thought however given that the wearing of that kind of mask might have been done deliberately. Besides, didn't the white fang frown upon attacking one of their own?

"Hmm...." Grey hummed quietly before suddenly letting out a large sigh and a loud exasperated howl while throwing his head back against the seat. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

"Comon!!!!! This is a whole lotta nothing! Masks that could mean anything or nothing. A fairly well-built man is a dime a dozen. And this sword could likely just be a mass-produced copy! I mean, it is DEFINITELY fancier than anything a common hoodlum would use, but damn I dunno. This is gonna be harder than finding a needle in a haystack."

"Honestly, unless we actually do some footwork, I don't think we'll get much outta this. Why are you covering yourself up so much though? The higher-ups wouldn't send anyone really well known on a low-key recon mission right?" Grey vocally assumed considering she had let a random guy like him tag along. "Besides, would it really be so bad to ask around to find out the guy who sold or made the blade?"

Grey did think that inquiring into the sword's past might alert the very people they wished to avoid, but with the sword being LITERALLY the only substantial lead they had, at the very least finding out who crafted or sold it seemed like their best bet. Sure tugging on that string might pull out something they hadn't hoped to find but....one couldn't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs right?

----

667/1631

[Sinopia DeStellanova]

The higher-ups? So he didn't recognize who she was. That was calming in a way, even if it wasn't super uncommon with in the Kozaks. She was happy to let Alina have the spotlight and stay in the background. Her lips curled into a small smile behind her scarf and she let out a light chuckle.

"I'm probably being paranoid. It wouldn't be the first time. I spend a lot of time around Alina, so I'd prefer to avoid lingering around any blacksmiths just in case."

Her face was distinct. Angular and long for a woman, covered in freckles, with large ears by both human and faunus standards. She was the kind of person that people she had only met once for a few minutes might find her strangely familiar a month later, and she was very aware of that. Probably more aware of it than she should be, to the point of pure paranoia, but that paranoia is what has ultimately kept her alive this whole time.

She didn't feel the need to mention her position or anything further about who she was. There was another reason this was relieving, and that was that it meant he likely saw her as an equal and wouldn't feel pressured into doing anything he didn't want to. He wouldn't feel the need to do anything to impress her, and he wouldn't be worried about getting in trouble for refusing orders. It made suggesting anything more dangerous than sitting around in the car less of an issue.

"You're not wrong though. That's why I wanted to check the smiths in the Cloud District. If any of them have weapons on display, I can compare them. With any luck, they'll be some place I can get pictures so I can have some of our smiths compare them. I know a little bit about forging weapons, but not that much. Are you?"

Either way, there was something he could do here. His features were far less distinct than hers, and she hadn't seen him around Alina much. His clothes were passable enough that he could probably walk around the Cloud District without drawing too much attention.

"But if you're comfortable going inside to ask about how their weapons are made, or even just going in to get better pictures than what we can get from the outside then that might get us a little more information. I've also thought about checking hospital records for people that recently checked in, but that would be more dangerous and I'm not even sure if it would get us anything useful. I doubt an assassin would go to an ordinary hospital. If you have any medical connections, that might be another lead."

---

453/2025

[Grey Neutrum Valorem]

Paranoid huh? Well Grey supposed it wasn't bad being better safe than sorry. Glancing upwards as he thought about it, he simply shrugged as she mentioned she happened to be around Alina a lot. Again tracing his memories, he did have a feeling she was kinda familiar...but if she always went around covering herself up like she was doing now, well it was no small wonder he couldn't recall her. Unlike the girl, Grey looked plain as hell. Had his clothes been a bit more generic he would have had zero trouble disappearing into a crowd. He wore no real distinguishable markers and probably the most pronounced thing about him was the fuzz that lined the collar of his jacket.

As for the gameplan, the two of them seemed to be on the same page. The sword was probably indeed their best bet and scoping out the smiths in the area probably wouldn't be that hard. Whether they'd find replicas of the blade was an entirely different story though. Weapons that were massed produced usually didn't carry the level of sophistication this sword seemed to have. If Grey was a betting boy, the sword had been a custom job...

But then again!

Who knew!~

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..

.

"Forgeries huh?" Grey parroted for a second before cheerfully responding with probably the answer she wasn't hoping for. "Nope nope!~"

"I'm completely useless in that aspect as well! But sure sure! I can totally handle all the footwork! That's easy peasy!"

"As for checking any hospitals, that might bear some fruit but would one of those places actually tell people like us anything we'd want to know? I mean, I'd like to think I'm quite personable in general but without anything concrete like a name at the very least, I'd seem SUPER suspicious. And while I wish I did have some connections here in the city, unfortunately it's my first time actually being up here!~"

"Too bad we hadn't brought the actual weapon with us though!" Grey mused out loud as he placed his hands behind his head and leaned back in his seat. "Whipping out a bunch of pictures about a weapon would probably put the smiths on edge. I really can't imagine any one of them would actually want to fess up. Because after all why would they want to get involved with what obviously smells like trouble, ya know?"

While Grey thought about suggesting getting a little rough with the weapon crafters, he reconsidered seeing how this investigation was supposed to be rather lowkey. So....unfortunately yeah. That was out of the question. But they had to grease the wheels somehow...

"So how are we going to convince them to talk?" Grey asked curiously as he glanced at the girl from the corner of his eye. "Assuming violence is out of the question and they aren't gonna talk via the goodness of their hearts....do we bribe them or something? Oh and what's our first stop?"

----

491/2122

[Sinopia DeStellanova]

She paused and had to focus on the road for a minute while she collected her thoughts. They were very clearly not on the same page. She wasn't sure if she was just being overly paranoid still, but she nearly choked when he was disappointed she didn't bring the sword along as though talking to random strangers with it was a perfectly safe thing to do. There were several things she could potentially do that would yield more information, she just didn't see any point in rushing this. If they were going to attack again, they'd do it and knowing who was would do little to help Alina prepare. Not nothing of course, but not enough to be worth provoking them and risking that attack coming sooner. This information would be more useful for encouraging them to never attack again, or at least that's how she was thinking about this.

"No, I find it unlikely that a hospital would tell us anything if we asked them directly. That's why I wouldn't ask them." She paused, realizing that she was being vague to avoid saying anything unpleasant when he was already not understanding her. "What I mean is, I'd have to steal it. Or possibly break into rooms and see who's in them. It's risky and not especially efficient, and all the worse because I am not sure if an assassin or mercenary would want to use a conventional hospital rather than a private medical contact. I think it's a line to pursue later," she paused again. "Sorry if that was confusing. I only brought it up because you seemed interested in discussing what else I was thinking about. It wasn't a line I intended to pursue right now."

Sienna paused again, thinking until she got to the next traffic light. That was about as thorough as she could be and she didn't think she missed any important details. So, she continued.

"So far, no one's attacked her again. I'd like to keep it that way, so I'm going out of my way to avoid provoking anyone. So I'm starting with the safest options that are the least likely to be noticed before gradually moving towards more dangerous options," she paused and pulled out her scroll again to show him a map and then a street view of the area. "Viridian's is our first stop. They mostly cater to Huntsmen, but I doubt they'd refuse any business. It's possible they only sell transforming weapons, in which case, they probably wouldn't have forged this sword, but catering to Huntsmen seems like a good way to look less suspicious and avoid having anyone wanting to target you. Or at least that's what I think. Just looking at any merchandise they have on display and asking about how they normally make their custom weapons should be sufficient if we record it. Then we can ask our smiths later and have them compare it to how the sword was made. That should help narrow down which shops I should dig further into."

If he wanted to grab her scroll to get a better look at the area or even to look for other stores, she'd let him. The only valuable thing on that scroll were the pictures of the sword, so it didn't matter too much if something happened to it.

"I don't think you should ask about the sword directly. You said you were good at talking to people so...I mean, if you think you can pull it off then maybe, but...Well, like I said, avoiding attention is the most important thing right now."

---

600/2625

[Grey Neutrum Valorem]

Oh hooo?

Eyes perking up at the prospect of possibly inflitrating a hospital, Grey started to wonder if he had gotten the wrong impression of the girl. From her mannerisms to the way she dressed screamed to him that she was the type of person who did things the right way! Now....as to what the 'Right way' was though...that remained to be seen. But from what Grey initially thought was that they were going to approach the situation from the front. He did indeed love playing pretend after all!~

But no, when the girl had said she wanted to keep this on the down-low, she apparently meant it. Still, though the girl pointed out the obvious flaws with the plans and Grey would have to agree with her that it was indeed quite inefficient. But as she said, it wasn't all a bad option to keep in their back pocket but it was indeed likely that the man in question was somewhere off the grid. Hearing her apologize to him was kind of odd though. She went into detail that he had apparently misunderstood her and that any excursion to any places that administered medical care would have to be left for later.

Glancing at the girl, Grey kind of took on a serious demeanor for a second as he wondered for a second if he had said something prior that might have implied he thought they were going to check out the hospitals. While he contemplated what the proper recourse for this situation was, his train of thought was suddenly interrupted when the girl spoke up once more explaining how maintaining the utmost secrecy of their investigation was absolutely critical. Grey was slightly appalled that the girl didn't have COMPLETE confidence in his ability to act tactfully but then again, why would she after all! She didn't know him to be fair. But that was fine! Grey loved exceeding the expectations of others! It definitely ranked pretty highly on his list of 'things he loved doing'. Just under telling people he disliked no and just above having a nice hot cup of coffee while watching a cloudless sunrise.

Viridian's huh? He hadn't heard of the place. Then again, weapon shops weren't all that rare. Given the variety and taste that people had, one didn't have to look very far to find somewhere or someone who could help make one make the weapon of their dreams a reality. While Grey would have liked to have used the original blade as bait in a ploy about wanting to have another crafted, he definitely did wonder if that would be too on the nose. But then again, in his mind, he had already crafted several make-believe personas he could have gone undercover as. The one he had just described and wanted to adopt the most was one about a dual-blade swordsman who had recently broken his second blade. It would have been AMAZING! Or so he told himself. But Sienna said she wanted this kept nice, clean, and quiet. So fine! Maybe hamming it up was a bad idea. Which was why he'd assuage her fears after she again reminded him that they didn't want attention.

"Fine fine~." Grey said this time with noticeably less enthusiasm in his voice. "I would have suggested using those photos on your scroll and acted like I wanted to purchase the same sword for a family member or something, but I suppose that might tip off the wrong people. It'd be pretty hard to get much information out of any smithy while trying to vaguely describe stuff to them....so I'll just do things your way instead!~"

While Grey would have wanted to strut his stuff, given the gravity of the situation, playing it safe was definitely the better call. Even while he liked to add some levity at times, he did generally know when to cut it out. Plus, he was already thinking about how doing well on this mission might reflect on him in the group! If he could at a minimum, demonstrate a basic level of competency, who knew what his future could hold!? They might even, dare he say it, ACTUALLY GET SENT ON AWAY MISSIONS!?

Oh my...

That would be just heavenly.~

---


698/2820

[Sinopia DeStellanova]

Just talking about casually going up to someone and directly asking, or worse showing off, the sword Alina stole off an assassin, who was hired by someone else, who Alina horribly maimed after defeating him as a warning, made her nervous. Her eyes and mouth were hidden, so it might have been hard to tell. She was gripping the steering wheel of the car pretty tightly, but she was wearing gloves as she always did. Her whole body was stiff enough that it looked like she might break if she moved too much. Granted, she never told him any of these details short of implying that he would almost certainly be hospitalized. Doing so seemed gratuitous. If whoever hired him had anything more than a business relationship with either his employer or the person that made his gear, then showing their hand would probably be bad.

Maybe she shouldn't let him go talk to people on his own.

There was still some time before they got all the way up to the Cloud District for her to ponder this. He seemed receptive to her logic, but she couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. His sing-songy way of talking made it difficult for her to tell, which was just putting her more on edge given the circumstances. She couldn't help but feel she was being a little unfair.

"It sounds like you already have some ideas," despite the obvious nervousness in her body language, her voice was perfectly calm and level. "I just worry that explaining where you got the sword from will be...difficult."

Viridian's was tucked into a nice little corner out of the way, which was why it was one of her first targets. Despite supposedly catering to Huntsmen, it was a good distance from Haven and the shop itself was fairly non-descript for a building in the Cloud District. Still clean and way over-decorated, just less so than most others. It only had double doors in the front, only had a few flowers out front as opposed to the stupid landscaping she was used to seeing in the area, and didn't even have any sculptures out front or on their sign. The building would still be gorgeous if it was in the Wind District, but for the Cloud District it was rather plain. She had only seen it from the view they showed online, so she had no idea whether or not the inside was just as plain or not. Or well, relatively plain.

"With any luck, it won't be too exciting. I hope that's not too disappointing. A boring mission is a successful mission."

---

440/3065

[Grey Neutrum Valorem]

Alright.

...

..

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So truth time.

Grey wasn't exactly feeling jazzed about the game plan. He'd lived his whole life playing it safe. Keeping to conventional. Having a low profile and all that goodness. Hell, even his current dark-based attire could clearly attest to that. It was sort of why he felt compelled in trying to attain some results. But that was just wishful thinking he supposed. Considering the gravity of the situation, he definitely knew he should have felt sort of tense about today. But oddly enough. He wasn't. Given he wasn't going to be used as a meat shield and that this felt way quite bureaucratic in nature, Grey was as cool as a cucumber. His partner on the other hand looked like she'd just seen a ghost. The poor thing was all wrapped up like a mummy and stiff as a board as she drove them to their destination. It really was a shame what nerves did to some people ya know?

Hearing her speak immediately threw him off though. Well that was weird! Did he read her wrong? Granted he wasn't the most perceptive of people but even a blind man like him thought he could see what appeared to be as plain as day. The vibes he got from her screamed that she was stressed out likely by the mission they were about to undertake but her voice was as solid as a rock. Hmm. It was quite the oddity indeed. But the girl's nerves aside, she was right on him having ideas! And she was also right that bringing up the blade in casual conversation would be hard! But like before, Grey would answer in the most reassuring manner he knew how. But he needed to do it tactfully. Pondering on that for a minute as the woman drove them ever closer to the place, he listened quietly to her hopes about the future of this mission when the answer on how to explain the sword came to him!

"OH!"

"I know how I can explain the sword!!!" Grey would suddenly shout as he turned toward the girl beside him.

"How about I say it fell off a truck?~" Grey suggested stoically as he waited for a second for the words to sink in before quickly laughing and casting the girl a playful grin. "I kid, I kid!~" Regardless of the reaction it'd get out of her, he'd still enjoy himself nonetheless.

"But really though!~" Grey would begin in his normal carefree cadence before shifting his tone towards one far serious. "How about you take a deep breath, lean back in your seat, and ease up on choking the life out of the steering wheel. Maybe I'm wrong that you seem tense so I'll apologize in advance about that but I don't think you need to stress too much about the success or failure of this mission. If the higher-ups really thought there was any chance of this going sideways do you really think they'd send random girl A and random guy B to handle it? All we're gonna do is look around and compare some crafting methods like you said after all right? So yeah. While it will unfortunately be boring, and I'll hate that, nothing will happen!~" And of course at the end, he'd revert back to his usual speaking method and give his partner a reassuring smile. Being that it was almost game time and they were probably getting close to their destination, Grey figured it was about that time. The time where he got...

.

..

...

You guessed it.

...

..

.

Serious.

------

596/3416

[Sinopia DeStellanova]

The jokes were not making her any less tense. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes without turning her head and frowned. Even when he tried to pass it off as a joke, her expression didn't change, and she only looked forward again once the light turned green and she had to drive again. Whether or not that was actually a joke she wasn't sure, but it seemed suspect. His comment afterwards did get her lips to curl into a small smile. A dry, but humored, chuckle came out after.

"You know, I tell myself that every day. It hasn't worked yet."

Gradually, her face turned more serious again. More stony than disappointed or worried, and she didn't seem any more relaxed. He really didn't know who she was then. Wasn't faking it. Probably had no idea what he was getting into. With any luck, that meant she was far more invisible than she feared, and while she was trying to be better about that, there were certain advantages to basically not existing. Maybe she could afford to go out on her own without having to send someone else to get pictures or ask basic questions for her. Regardless, she probably needed to properly introduce herself at this point. He appreciated the faith he seemed to have in her and Alina, but he was definitely biting off more than he could chew based on a bad assumption.

"I wasn't sent on this mission, I decided to do it." No, that was probably a bad way to explain it, so she shook her head. "Let me back up. Like I said before, I'm Sienna Hajnal. I'm the Heneralnyi Oboznyi -- the person that works directly under Alina. That's why I've been wanting to play it safe. Because you are correct, I wouldn't send anyone to do anything risky without knowing what they can do."

She mostly dealt with supplies and logistics and was more of a quartermaster than a commander, but she was still ultimately the one that was supposed to take charge when Alina couldn't. That idea still terrified her. For the short term, she was going to have to watch her words now because they suddenly carried more weight. She wasn't sure if he was the type who cared, but it was still something to keep in mind. He was right though, she really needed to relax, especially after saying something like that. She took a deep breath and smiled slightly again.

"I just wanted a second set of eyes and someone to talk through what I was thinking with. You've done that really well so far. So don't worry, even if you don't talk to anyone there's still a lot you can do."

---

458/3523

[Grey Neutrum Valorem]

Ah! So she COULD smile! And what was that with it? Was that a small laugh!? Hopefully, she didn't find either too taxing on her though! Seeing as how both were the first ones he had saw or heard since he'd gotten in the car with her he would have said the moment was cause for celebration! But he'd save that for later seeing how she quickly shifted back into her serious ways. Easy come easy go huh?

Hearing her mention that she decided to go on this mission piped Grey's interest for a moment. He was about to state that he sort of decided the same in a joking manner to again lighten the mood. But before he could...Sienna decided to properly introduce herself.

Uh...

What?

Freezing in place as more words came out her mouth, Grey for the first time today was speechless. His mind moved at a million miles per hour but while the wheels kept trying to spin, his thought processes were quickly getting nowhere. Blinking a few times as his mind rebooted itself, Grey wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to respond to that. Hell, he actually wasn't even sure what he was supposed to think about this situation. Sure it was partially on him for not knowing his superior officer but that was beside the point! They were supposed to make those below them aware! Right!? Right! Besides! She was the number two!? Like of course everyone knew Alina, but she was the figurehead of the movement! That much was given! But...

...Oh shit.

He'd been acting like a dumbass in front of her.

Smacking his face with his hand, Grey turned away from Sienna was he looked out the window and started to weigh his options. Now, Grey wasn't the type of guy to really care about titles. Titles meant a whole lotta nothing if you couldn't back them up in his opinion. Hunters and huntresses, he totally respected those guys. Heads of states and factions? Ehhh less so. But labels aside, even if he didn't care about things like that, his feelings didn't make the powers of her position any less relevant. Hell if anything, given his perception of her from their short time together, Grey's mind had already started to compile a situation report about the current circumstances.

The woman was straight-laced. Seemingly no-nonsense. Opted to handle things on her own. And most likely liked said things done the right way. And for clarity's sake that meant 'Her Way'. Even if she said it was fine. One had to be crazy to believe that. Taking all that into account...

.

..

...

Oh.

Did anyone else hear a ding?

Because it was likely that Grey was done like dinner.

...

..

.

After the display he had put on earlier, even being the imperceptible guy that he was, he could already tell he was probably in the doghouse. But that was fine fine! He could TOTALLY salvage this! All he had to do was play it cool, make it all seem like his past overzealous mannerisms were a joke, and complete this mission perfectly. Yeah yeah yeah! That was the ticket. Sure he had already smacked his face and was presently sitting quietly in his seat while he processed, but that would have been a normal reaction right? Of course it was! So now, was the time to play it off. By acting perfectly natural!

"Sorry about the silence," Grey said without a hint of his former self-present. "I was just momentarily stunned."

"Are we close to the store by the way?" He asked with zero emotion as he glanced at his superior. "I hope to continue to prove valuable to the mission."


---
617/4033

[Sinopia DeStellanova]

Now she went and made things awkward. The reaction wasn't unexpected, and she would have preferred not to say anything for that reason, but she wasn't sure how to impress on him that there was legitimate danger here. Not as long as he thought two random people wouldn't be sent to do anything dangerous. This was her fault for letting him come along in the first place. She didn't intend for it to be dangerous because of how safe she was being, but it could very easily become dangerous if it was handled poorly. She quietly sighed as he looked out the window, opting not to say anything until he did first. Anything she could say would probably just make things worse.

"It's okay," she tried to reassure him. "A lot of people don't recognize me immediately. I'm not as noticeable as Alina is. I don't care about the rank either. It's why I didn't let you know right away. I thought not mentioning it would make you feel more comfortable talking freely, and more willing to refuse to do anything you didn't want to. I just...couldn't let you put yourself in danger because you didn't understand the circumstances."

She smiled slightly and managed to hold back another sigh. It was okay to seem nervous or sad when he had no idea who she was, but now she had to do her best to not seem upset. Unfortunately, she was terrible at hiding her body language, so she was still very tense. At least she managed to avoid frowning or looking too stoic.

"I really did mean it when I said having someone to bounce ideas off of would be useful, and I don't think you should do anything that makes you uncomfortable. You don't need to do anything dangerous. Just let me know if you see anything odd, and try to get a few pictures of the weapons on display if you can."

How the hell was she supposed to act in a situation like this? Should she be all authoritative? Would that be less awkward? The thought of trying just made her more nervous. She wasn't like Alina who could just go without worrying about anything. She didn't have any of that natural charisma or confidence, and she certainly didn't look the part of a leader. This entire situation was just making her stomach do flip flops.

"Yeah, we're almost there. Just a few more blocks."

---

408/3931

[Grey Neutrum Valorem]

Even as she tried to explain where she came from, Grey could only continue to sit in silence. Her reassurance and her reasonings were completely understandable. She continued to elaborate that ranks didn't matter to her and that she had only wanted to make things more comfortable for him overall. She even went so far as to say she did it so he could voice his objections had he any if he had felt it might be too dangerous. He really hadn't felt any of that said 'danger' yet given that the response to their snooping would likely not be immediately felt by him. However, the response to his behavior earlier could be quite immediate. And given that he kind of wanted to rise in the ranks, he needed to avoid furthering his already possible bad impression with the brass.

"Wonderful" He replied in the same monotone voice he'd used before as he continued to stare blankly forward. Now while he seemingly went cold on the girl, he really was trying his best to push past the gigantic wall that had been erected instantly between them. While on one hand, he could feel how it might seem like he was alienating her by acting differently, he really didn't feel he had that much of a choice. Had they been on equal footing, he would have treated her like he would have for anyone else. But she was someone who could, with the motion of the hand, relegate him to one of the many subpar positions in the organization. Not that he thought she WOULD mind you...but she COULD. And that alone was more than enough to force his hand and change his ways.

And while that too was an act he put on, it was one he only did to put her at ease. Though, with the way she was talking, it probably wasn't working. It was unfortunate though! When it became possible for him to experience some rather severe repercussions from said act, it was rather hard for him to keep up the cheerful visage. Underneath all the smiles and laughs was a very different guy after all. But that was neither here nor there. What mattered was that he needed to try to revert to the way he 'originally' was.

Letting out a bit of a sigh, Grey momentarily softened as his face turned into one of contemplation before he spoke with just a slight bit more freedom. "Sorry I just uh...I don't really get how I'm supposed to interact with you I guess...."

"But in the spirit of jolly cooperation, I'll do my ABSOLUTE best Ma'am!" Grey said with as much vigor that he could muster while giving the woman a goofy salute. "So anywho! Where is this spot anyways!? It feels like we've been driving forever.~"



----
470/4503

[Sinopia DeStellanova]

The monotone voice and how much it differed from his attitude and demeanor earlier made her heart sink. Considering how uncomfortable this was for her, she could only imagine what it was like for him. Her first instinct was to keep apologizing, but at this point that would probably just make things worse. It had to be weird to have a superior acting this submissive, even if it was what came naturally to her. It felt just as weird to her to be that superior, but as long as she had that title she had to act the part.

Yes, she needed to try to act like Alina, the only person with some amount of power that she actually trusted.

After taking a deep breath, she tried to clear her mind and think to how Alina acted with just about everyone. She could picture it clearly, she always could every time she tried to do something like this, but that knot formed in her stomach again, something that also happened every time she tried to act more like Alina. Alina's attitude was stressful to maintain and she had no idea how Alina managed to do it all the time. All she needed to do was hold it for like five minutes. She could do that much.

Everything about her demeanor was wrong. She sat up straight and kept her chin parallel to the ground. Her shoulders went back and her chest went forward. Her body was still tense enough to be mistaken for a statue, and her hands were starting to hurt from how hard she was gripping the steering wheel, but she couldn't get her body to relax no matter how hard she tried. Well, she supposed she couldn't be perfect. Unfortunately, she had to watch the road, so she couldn't maintain eye contact.

"You don't have to interact anymore than you want to. You can walk home for all I care."

Fuck. No, that sounded like Alina, but it gave the wrong impression. She wanted to say that she wouldn't be offended if he went and did something else instead, or got a different ride back, but that was just rude. She took in a sharp breath and continued.

"If that would be easier than an awkward car ride home."

This wasn't helping. Back to business then.

"The building's around the block. Look for the one that's less gaudy than the rest. I'm going to park over here. This means I'm going to be a good distance away and won't be able to help you if you do something stupid and get yourself in trouble."

She pulled into a half full parking lot and parked towards the back of the building, somewhat close to a nearby loading area. It would look the least weird for her to be parked there. Once the car was stopped she fished around in her pockets for some Lien and handed it to Grey.

"There's a lot of shops and food around here. Get yourself something before you come back and make sure you're not being watched or followed. I don't care how long it takes, so take your time. Get yourself something you like."

Right now, she was glad she was staying in the car and not coming along because she just wanted to curl up and die. Seriously, how the hell did Alina do this?

---

564/4495