EBNY: Grimm Times

Maroon

A girl watched from the rooftop as the people below moved towards the crates. The white and black clothes, the white face masks resembling Grimm bone plates and the emblem of a snarling red wolf on their back made it pretty clear who they were: the White Fang.

They were currently about to steal a small shipment of dust that a clearly inexperienced employee had left around in the open. The girl really felt the urge to facepalm. It was common knowledge in Vacuo that you never leave valuable belongings out in the open. Normally she would have ignored it. Robberies and heists happened all the time in Vacuo. Mostly due to the abnormally high concentration of thieves and scoundrels. With a government that was consistently ignored by the people it supposedly governed, such trivial lawbreaking actions were usually ignored.

But this was different. The girl knew about the excessively aggressive and violent tactics the White Fang employed, and if there was one thing she didn't want them to have it was more firepower.

Looking down she counted a total of seven people, two of which seemed like young kids, a boy and a girl. She wouldn't have to worry about those. She took a deep breath, brushing a few strands of her dark red hair with turquoise streaks out of her face and running her hands over the turquoise fins that came out of her forearms. It was a bit ironic, a fish faunus like her, perfectly adapted for the water, living in a desert. Unfortunately, she couldn't keep reflecting on the irony of her physiology. Not if she wanted to stop these White Fang members. She jumped down, landing in front of them. They were caught by surprise by the faunus girl dressed in a sleeveless maroon tunic, a sash of turquoise fabric adorning her waist, that landed in front of them. They were even more surprised when she stood up and glared at them.

"That doesn't belong to you." she told them.

They looked at each other, before one of the White Fang members turned back to the girl.

"The humans don't deserve it." he said.

"Neither do you." she replied.

"Look, we're trying to fight for our people!" another one growled.

"No. What you're doing is spreading hate."
The girl pulled out her weapons, two steel war fans named Dusk and Dawn. She opened them with a flick of her wrists and moved into a combat stance.
"And I won't stand by and let you hurt innocent people."

The White Fang members scoffed as they too unsheathed their weapons.

"You must be really naive to think the humans are innocent." the first one said, before he lunged at her.

The girl spun around him, delivering two quick cuts to his back before turning to the next opponent.  Before he could react she delivered two side kicks with her left leg, one to his stomach and one to his chest, before the momentum to deliver a strong kick to the jaw with her right leg. She moved on to another before he even hit the ground. She planted her feet on her new opponent's chest, before using it to jump upwards. As she sailed through the air, she threw Dusk and Dawn at the faunus. He was caught off guard and was sent to the ground as the girl landed gracefully back on her feet. As she stood up, she flicked her wrists, activating the pair of bracelets she had on each arm. The bracelets emitted a purple glow as the gravity dust within them activated, returning the girl's weapons to her hands.

She turned to the rest of the White Fang soldiers, the two remaining adults in particular.

"You know, you can still walk away." she told them with a kind voice.

The two younger ones seemed ready to leave, but the adults were determined to deal with the girl. Driven by their anger, they attacked her simultaneously. But their blades hit only air. The girl began dodge and dance around them as they attempted to hit her. She moved like water, flowing past their attacks while striking at any openings they left. Soon enough, they were exhausted and both their auras were nearly drained. The girl decided it was enough. She breathed in before activating her semblance, siren's song. She then screamed and unleashed a powerful ear shattering sound wave, sending the two men flying.

She then turned around to face the kids. The boy with a pair of small deer antlers pushed his friend behind him while nervously pointing his sword at fish faunus in front of him, trying his best to stop his arm from shaking.

"Stay back!" he told her.

They seemed to be about three years younger than her. Far too young to be fighting any war, much less the White Fang's bloody brutal one.

"It's alright. I won't hurt you." the girl said, putting away her weapons to prove her point.
"What are your names?"

The boy looked at her warily, but the little girl stepped out from behind him. She took off her mask and looked up revealing a pair of bright green eyes.

"I'm Gillie, and this is Acer. Who are you?"

The older girl smiled and knelt down to be at eye level with the kids.

"My name is Neli. Neli Sirena." she answered with a smile.

Gillie's eyes lit up.

"You're the daughter of Nautilus Sirena? The former White Fang lieutenant?!"

Neli smiled and nodded.

"Yes. You don't have to fight for them anymore, if you don't want to. My father can help escape, give you two a new home." she offered.

Acer looked at her and took off his mask, revealing his scared eyes.

"The White Fang would never let us walk away. They'll kill us!"

"Not with my father's help. They would never be able to find you." Neli assured.

The two kids shared a look.

"Promise?"

"I promise."