II. Where There's Smoke (ARTE Episode 2 Insert)

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Here's the RWBY persona that I arbitrarily made the New Year's of 2016, Aorta Flavus. But now we know she's the lost "leader" of a graduated Atlesian team-- and a third of the deserters.
Her reason for running away wasn't just fear (though it's nice to keep some things out of Atlas' military-crazy hands), but of guilt. Until late senior year, she had no idea that second-hand smoke was an implication of her semblance, until the Atlesian school faculty asked her to try using it.

As you may have guessed, she didn't like what they discovered. The previous picture might hint to what she did, or at least, what she had to replace.

For the last two years, she spent her time on the run from curious eyes, living for the thrill of adventures and discovery of hidden lore---under some pretense of writing a novel one day. Though she has to find random jobs (be it patrol duty or if fortunate enough, some bar to play piano in) to stay afloat. When news struck that the CCT grid has been disrupted, she probably thought it was a good of a time as any to try finding her old teammates, maybe to see if they're up for cracking down on what Atlas did to Vale.

Aorta actually didn't mind military work for a future--- teaching combat would have been ideal even, but she realized if she was drafted, she would purposely receive more private missions as a specialist. Although feeling extremely apologetic to Ebonille, the teammate that was left behind, the cowardly leader delays the confrontation by first seeking out Rokh and Noelle.


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Artist Notes (and Trivia):
-I liked most of how this turned out, even though it feels flat due to the half-attempt that is the background you see. My favorite part has to be the weapon--- it's a shame I had to blur it or else the spinning won't be seen. The weapon is rather complex (which it should be for someone her age) but hopefully that won't deter me from drawing it again ;a;

-I wished I looked up more anatomy for the Grimm. My intention was a panther or a sleeker jaguar, though the results seem to be along the lines of a bulkier tiger. Which is fine, but it's the speedy nature and stealthy quality that I was going for--- though these things wouldn't be too hidden in a savannah. I originally didn't give them yellow eyes, but that was fixed with the final version.

-Her hair has grown out compared to a few years back, but I'm fairly certain she'll trim it before meeting up with her teammates--- it doesn't seem to grow fast at all, so unless she decides to change her hairstyle (unlikely for her type), the old comrades should have no trouble recognizing her.

-I didn't enjoy having to draw only a side view of her in this picture, but the intention was to draw the two sides running into each other--- I modified it since the canvas would've been too long, or I would've been forced to shrink her a bunch. I took this detour; it's somewhat awkward, but in the end it's a concept image if anything. XD

-In the main picture, the theme was "art past vs art present," but there is also an "art future" that each character inherently has or actively avoids, and in this case, it's the art of murder.

-The title is based off of "Whereever there's smoke, there's fire." I modified to fit the impact of Aorta's semblance on her life--- fun fact, for the main quote up there there's quite a few easter eggs: insects, particularly bees, are calmed down using smoke, and Aorta's main anatomy theme is blood.