lantgreen

Remnants of the Past

Marlin did his best to listen to the conversation, he couldn't comprehend most of it but could tell there was something to do with a group of people, a new team, and investigating. At least that is what he thought. Marlin took a seat at Ozpin's tea table closing his eyes for the tail end of the discussion, trying his best to find a balance in his mind to cling to so he could function for about half a second. It failed. Instead a short snore came up and a bang from his head hitting the table when he heard his name, snapping awake he turned his attention to the group. "Huh, team? Group? Marling Skyy at your service," he took a deep breath and shook his head hard to jump start his brain. He then realized that he was asked a question by Ozpin, turning his attention to the man at the desk he smiled, "Only if the zeros match our last deal," he said, not going out light handed.

Remnants of the Past

Marlin kept his mouth shut for the most part while the two left the ruins and made their way to Vale. He was mainly enjoying his high from the White Fang members aura. It filled his body and made his senses sharpened but with a bit of fog to it, so he could read that something was there fast but had no idea what it was, which made judging hard. However the high only lasted for about an hour as his aura pool was continuously overflowing till the the excess was gone. Upon arrival at the airship he merely sat silent only speaking to himself while drinking from his flask, refilling it when they passed through Vale for a brief moment. 'I hope he's got my check or I'm gonna raise some hell, but then again, he never had ill intentions toward me, I'll give him time if he doesn't have it, who am I kidding, of course he does,' he laughed to himself. They arrived at Beacon and Eve spoke of home, "This is home? Good for you," he said quietly thinking of his dinky little bunker.

The elevator ride up was rather short for Marlin, that is because he had drank so much from the long the trip, nothing better to past the time than a strong buzz from your favorite drink. The doors opened and the floor was on the ceiling for a second. Marlin made a half-step stumble out following Eve. His employer spoke to which he replied, "I hold many titles and your witnessing two," his voice lagging a bit in vowels, "The ruins are clear and I can hold my liquor," he said with a laugh, a hiccup, and another sip from his flask only to have it empty, "Ah shit," he looked up to Ozpin, standing at a slant like he was about to fall over, "Got any more Ozzy old buddy," his eyes trailed around the room till he landed on the red head. A small shriek came from his lips, "Ah fuck," his heart racing and he felt his aura penetrated slightly. He looked away quickly knowing something was wrong but he couldn't tell what, "Who brought the soldier?"

Remnants of the Past

Marlin watched the two fight in unison, they sure fought like hunters, and as a team, as expected. Though Marlin didn't pay too much attention to the fight as he was enjoying an overflow of aura. He swayed a bit, letting the energy flow through his body as it chose to, like a rush of adrenaline without the fast heart rate. The fight continued and eventually Eve pushed the guy back and shouted in victory. "Yeah you go guys, WWWWOOOOOO!," he shouted in a child like manner, literally buzzed. The celebration ended quickly however when Yoki killed it, though it was for good measure. The White Fang member stood back up and raised an attack on Eve, Marlin couldn't help but let out a gasp. Before long the man no longer had a head, ripped off by a wire, Marlin leaned to the side and saw the suited man from before in the distance. Yoki charged and the man vanished. Marlin's tone changed with the situation, he could be serious when he chose to, high or not. "Well ain't that shit, he was here for two seconds and now he's vanished," tilting his head and gesturing his hand to fresh corpse, "And with the dummy dead, we can't get any information out of him, looks like we hit another dead end."

Remnants of the Past

Marlin sighed at the commotion, he couldn't have any peace when he wanted it. Without hesitation he stood up from his crossed position and rolled his neck. "He cut off your hair? I was kind of diggin the messy cut," he said whilst stretching lightly, always enjoyed being limber. The man was indeed tall, even though he wasn't a Grimm, Marlin figured that part of his mission was to protect these two. With his new target being a human he needed to tell how strong he was. With quick concentration he focused his thoughts on all the aura in the room, two strong presences besides himself, one coming from Yoki, the other the White Fang member. He walked steadily past his two temporary teammates patting Yoki on the shoulder, "He'll be all your's in a sec." Approaching the tall man he could tell he couldn't do any damage like that of a Grimm, but he was still tough. In order to use the other part of his semblance he would have to drop his own aura. Marlin did so, dropping his guard completely leaving himself bare, but he wasn't concerned about it. The tall man raised his sword and swung at Marlin. With a quick duck, step forward and his right hand grabbing the wrist that held the sword, he was able to place his free hand on the stomach of the White Fang. In an instant he was draining the man's aura, feeding himself, though knowing he couldn't do this for long as the man was fighting back, Marlin jumped up freeing his limbs. With two kicks to the head to stun and using that recoil to push himself back, he landed beside Yoki. "Go for it," he said looking down at his hands as he was filled with a new aura, doing this was like a 'high' for him.

Remnants of the Past

That's cake for Marlin lol

Remnants of the Past

Marlin scuffed at the foxes comment, they both had different views on the White Fang, and they both obviously have different ways of thinking. He was about to retort back but Eve spoke up, mentioned how he could have died before stating that the suited man had killed two hunters prior to this meeting. He glanced over to Eve, "I can handle myself just fine," he said in a tone that was a calm statement and not an angry comeback. "Sure they didn't deserve to die, but I'm no hero, I'm only here cause your boss is paying me to be, and his request mentioned nothing about the White Fang," he turned back to the walls, scanning them with Eve. He didn't exactly understand them but he liked to look at it, at least for a short time. Marlin left the side of the cavern and sat somewhere in the middle crossing his legs, he took out his flask and took a swig before meditating like he did before. Balance was important to him, having strong resolve and strict discipline was important to using dust raw in combat. "So, seeing as my job is to keep the Grimm off of ya, where we headed?"

Beacon: Before the Fall

Yeah all good, everyone was waiting for me to finish RWBY anyways, just did an hour ago

Remnants of the Past

Marlin kept a smirk on his face, liking how the two reacted his being, let alone pissing off someone was always fun for him, especially a faunus. She didn't bat an eye when he attempted a flirt but he rolled with it, he has played with a couple girls of this type. "Research eh? So Ozpin sent me down to clear it out so you can find whatever he's lookin for, makes sense." Marlin began to stretch a bit, he didn't like standing still for too long letting his muscles tighten up. With his torso and arms twisting and crossing each other he responded to the aggressive fox. "I came across the cavern with the White Fang, saw him slaughter them, went back to my own business, that's the last I saw of him." He began walking around near Eve but not too close, he liked to keep his own space. While looking at a wall he glanced over to her then back to the wall, "I'm Marlin Skyy, just call me Mar...you can read these things?"

Remnants of the Past

With the Grimms shadowing dissipation behind him, Marlin turned towards the two, pulling out his flask and started walking. He laughed loudly for a couple breaths before speaking to the blonde one, "I'd rather be caught dead than with those losers," he took another swig of his whiskey before putting the flask back into his pants, "Oh, and the guy with the top hat, I saw him, not with him, not my business." Marlin looked at the two up and down, scanning them in sorts, definitely hunters by the way they dressed. He assumed they were apart of Beacon, considering the location of the ruins being so close, which means they know Ozpin.

Marlin stepped closer to the two, ignoring any harsh movements or threats the fox would give. He held a thin protective aura around himself, it didn't cost him much but he was experienced enough to know better than just being bare in front of strangers. "I have no need to tell you who I work for, besides you probably are here because of him anyways." He looked past the blonde staring at the girl, "Ooh hoo hoo, look at you, what brings a fine lady such as yourself down here." Completely ignoring the fox Marlin tried to keep his persona in as much of a less threatening mood as he could. He didn't want to fight, none the less he didn't want to have to kill, especially if these two were working for his current employer.

Remnants of the Past

A deep thick fog rolled in over night and filled with streets of Vaccuo. A place where Marlin grew up and still remained. With all that's been going around he's kept his personal home more in the status of a bunker. He didn't like people and visitors even more. Marlin strayed from tech, liking the conventional way of things, he thought of it more dependable. At his age he no longer searched for work, instead work came to him. Though his bunker styled home, he had a mail slot on the main street, a sign above it reading:

"Marlin Skyy
Tradesman"

He didn't consider himself a hunter, though his particular set of skills would be classified as such. With his reputation his name was getting around, but only to those who needed him, he wasn't famous or anything. Those who requested his help would drop a letter in his slot, which fell down a shaft and landed in a basket to the right of his desk. Marlin didn't have much furniture, an old metal chest for his clothing, a wooden desk that was barely standing by a nail, and a spring mattress that had a couple decades of wear and tear on it. He often fell asleep at his desk, a bottle of whiskey in his hand, glancing over the letters and tossing most of them in the trash.

Some of those letters contained requests that were not his style, rescuing lost jewelry, being a bodyguard for some hotshot, or even finding a lost pet. And those that had tasks he was into, didn't pay enough. That was until a light weight letter fell, completely missing the basket, which was full, and landing on the floor near his chest. Marlin looked at it with a face of grimace before reaching down and placing it on his desk. Written to a dear 'Mr. Skyy' which he didn't get often, it was a request from Beacon, an academy from a distant city. The letter was directly from Ozpin, offering a large sum of money if he had succeeded in cleansing ruins that sat just outside of Vale. Marlin hadn't seen an offer with that many zeros for a few years. He had to accept, of course it was perfect for his talents, Butcher of Grimm. Sending a letter back confirming that the deed will be done, Marlin simply stood up from his desk and left with very little supplies, primarily his pouch of dust and a flask.

~~~~

After a couple days journey Marlin had eventually arrived at the ruins from which he was told to clear. He could smell the Grimm already, primarily Beowolfs. From years of hunting such creatures for sport, he could tell the difference from a certain trait they would leave behind. Beowolfs had a strong smell to them, and the place was wreaking of it. Marlin pulled out his flask and took a swig before putting it back into his pocket. His normal attire consisted of a vest that squeezed tight around his torso, low-cut and wide on the shoulders, a greyish-blue tone to it. He wore a set of covert combat pants with plenty of pockets containing more dust and a spot for his flask, these were black. A belt fitted tight held his pouch of dust bearing the same color as his vest, which also matched his boots. A set of boots that woven up to just below his knees, his pants tucked in. He preferred this outfit to best suit his mobility and combat. He didn't wear any hats, the feeling on his large tiger like ears made it uncomfortable, the same reason why he never wore a coat or a cape, bothered his thick tail.

Marlin mentally prepared himself before taking a step forward, as a practitioner of aura and martial arts, his mental balance was important to him. He meditated for a couple minutes before setting his target in his eyes. With a quick manipulation of aura to his legs he sprung towards the cave entrance and made himself known to the creatures inside. A dozen or so Beowolfs charged out, some bigger than others but no Alpha. Marlin smirked pushing his aura to both his hands and feet, leaving his torso unprotected. These Grimm were small and didn't require the needed or wanted buff from his dust crystals. He jumped at the closest one charging, kicking it twice before finishing it off with another kick that swung around his body. The beast was sent back flying only to evaporate mid-flight. "Still got it," he said with a grin, not 'exercising' lately. Marlin fought the remaining Grimm with ease, a couple punches and kicks and they were no longer around. He knew that was no where near what was remaining in the ruins.

Approaching the backside of the cave there wasn't much to see, only a few markings which Marlin studied for a moment, he could see a repeated placement of a dust crystal. He came to the conclusion that this place wasn't just home to Grimm, considering that the ones he just fought were no where near challenging, anybody could come through. He pulled out his pouch of various crystals, trial and error till he found one that fit and worked. The back wall opened as he suspected. "Knew this mission was bigger than it seemed."

Marlin ventured in deeper, coming across various paths to choose from, but mainly following the scent of Beowolfs. The slaying continued, Grimm falling left and right as his fought his way down, his fists and feet glowing with colored aura from dust. Ice and scorch marks left behind as his signature. Though his task was mainly Grimm, his ears caught the attention of a couple screams. Marlin followed the sounds till he came across a cavern, a large one at that. Immediately falling back and only peaking around the corner. He spotted a man in a white suit, slaughtering White Fang members. Marlin should've known the White Fang would use such a cave, but to hear and see them be killed was not his business. He had a job to do and money to earn. He knew best when to stay out of someone elses business, besides, that man could be trying to make a living like himself, hired killer so to speak.

Quickly leaving the area Marlin continued deeper into the cave. He had been fighting for a couple hours, still not finding the Alpha to such a large pack. But the numbers of Grimm were large. Marlin came across another cavern, an even larger one than that which the White Fang was found. This cavern had a couple Deathstalkers rather than Beowolfs, something that took him by surprise but raised an excitement in his veins.

Snapping ice into both his hands and feet he charged at the two. Throwing a direct punch at one of their stingers headed straight for him, it froze on contact and shattered by the shier force of his attack. He slammed his foot in the same one's claw and froze it to the ground before flipping off and dodging an attack from the other. With one missing it's stinger and frozen to the ground, his fight got a little more interesting. His replaced his boots dust with fire, charging at the free roaming Deathstalker. Another jump and two kicks to push back both claws allowed him to strike the armored head with his fist, presenting his body standing upside down while his hand laid on the head of the Grimm, it's armor broken and missing. With a target on its back the Deathstalker struck down with its stinger, only for Marlin to catch it with his feet, flipping backwards using his legs to slam the stinger into the Grimm's head. The tiger jumped down and walked to the last Deathstalker still struggling at its claw frozen to the ground. Marlin removed the aura and placed it all into his left fist, he amplified it with an earth crystal. Using his free arm to catch to the attacking claw and hold it in place, he drilled his fist into mouth of the Deathstalker, colliding with it's skull and shattering the bones within. Watching the beast dissipate around his arm, he turned his head towards the tunnel from which he came, looking at two figures he sensed approaching just moments ago.