RWBY Noir: Clove and Archer Part 1

RWBY Fanfic: Clove & Archer

''This is a first-person story following Sam Clove, a Huntsman turned private detective in Vale city. Accompanied by his longtime friend and partner (and occasionally lover), Erin Archer, Sam makes his living mostly by keeping the VPD in business. A Noir-ish murder mystery, but with a healthy dose of action as well. A few descriptions: ''

Sam, age 30, is a well-built 6'2" man with amber eyes, wavy dark brown hair and a Riker beard. His weapon of choice is a bastard sword infused with Cold Dust named Valarauco, but he carries a supply of raw dust wherever he goes. Sam is a good dust user, but he prefers his sword. Sam's aura is very strong, but almost purely defensive. Sam often wears a grey t-shirt and a faded leather jacket, complemented by jeans. 

Erin, age 30, is 5'10" with vivid blue eyes and copper-red hair that she keeps in a ponytail. She is competent with raw dust and an expert at unarmed combat, but she also carries a Dust Bow named Tathar that can break into a pair of Kama. Erin wears a dark red bolero jacket over a black tank top, also with jeans. 

''Alber Marley, age 30, is a wiry 6' man with tanned skin, brown eyes, and a shaven head. Alber is a Dust/Aura specialist, and he focuses through a dagger he carries. Dust aside, Alber is also very skilled at hand-to-hand combat, but his true skill-set lies in stealth and infiltration. Alber usually wears modest Iroquois warrior regalia. ''

''And now... ''

 PART 1: AN OLD FRIEND 

<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam: Just as Erin and I were settling down for our first night off in weeks, the doorbell to my second-floor office buzzed, indicating another client.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Erin (rolls eyes):"Oh, that just figures..."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Erin puts down her recently-opened beer and closes the small fridge <span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam: "No worries, love. I'll handle it." (winks) "I don't intend on starting this case right away, after all…"

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Erin (smiles suggestively): "Just don't take too long, hear?"

<p class="MsoNormal">'''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sam grabs a t-shirt and puts it on, then quickly kisses Erin '''

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam (grins): "Wouldn't dream of it."

<p class="MsoNormal">'''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sam enters his office to see Alber sitting at his desk, twirling a pen back and forth '''

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam: "Well I'll be damned."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Alber: "Hello to you too, Sam. No time for small talk, though. I've run into a bit of trouble."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam: That much did not surprise me at least. Alber had a knack for getting out of trouble, but an even bigger knack for getting into it. Ozpin called our team at Beacon "interesting". I won't tell you what Goodwitch called us.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sam turns on a coffee maker on a table behind the desk <span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam: "Trouble, like what we went through at Beacon, or actual trouble?"

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Alber: "A Huntsman got whacked in the shipping district. I've been framed."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam (raises his eyebrows): "Damn. That's actual trouble. Who was it?"

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Alber (leans back in Sam's chair): "Axel Heron, age 43. One of those crime-fighting Huntsmen, only this one had a reputation for being a hard-ass, more so than the others."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam: "Sounds like it would have happened sooner or later. How did the VPD get to you, though?"

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Alber (snorts): "Ignoring the fact that the VPD spends less than an hour on their crime scenes, they thought I took him out in order to get close to a target, and he would have blown my cover. As if I would ever set foot within--"

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sam pours himself a cup of now-hot coffee <span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam: "Off topic. So if you've been accused, why are you here?"

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Alber (shrugs): "I invoked Hunter's Right."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam (stops walking and facepalms): "Hunter's Right? Oh… you did… you are such an idiot…"

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Alber: "Dammit Sam, I don't exactly have many options. I'm a Huntsman being accused of murdering another Huntsman in cold blood, and I'm sure you remember what Oz said the penalty was for an Oathbreaker Hunter."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam: "Alber, no one has invoked Hunter's Right in over three hundred years. Those vultures at VNN are going to be all over this. Any edge we may have will be gone, and every new development is going to get blared out across the entire province. And if we can't clear your name in three days, my reputation is gone as well."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Alber (pleading): "Like I said, I don't have many options. The morons at VPD fucked it up, and I'm innocent, but still accused. And if I could pick any 2 people to get me out of this mess, it would be you and Erin. Please, Sam. You gotta help me."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam (angry sigh): "Alright. Head over to the crime scene. I'll meet you there in two hours."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Alber: "Two hours?" Come on man, I only have three days!"

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam (rounds on Alber): "And this is our first night off in over a month. I've learned from experience that Grim hath no fury like Erin Archer scorned."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Alber (pauses while getting up): "…Wait. Since when are you two a thing?"

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam (shrugs): "We aren't, not really. It's just like it was at Beacon--Erin's like my sister, only we just… have sex every now and then."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam: Well, that's what I tell people we're like. It's more than that, at least on my part.

<p class="MsoNormal">'''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Alber looks askance at Sam '''

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam (laughs): "Okay, I admit it. That sounded a lot less weird in my head than it did just now."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Alber (chuckles as he pushes the door open): "Still the good old Clove and Archer. Good to know you two haven't changed much."

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Sam: "The financial district, two hours. I'll give you a ring when we leave."

<p class="MsoNormal">'''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Alber nods, then exits the office '''