Hello, hello! I've got a new story this time! With more Freezerburn! How exciting! I got the idea for the setting when I was walking my dog. I was listening to "EXEC_FLIP_ARPHAGE/." by Akiko Shikata (who has a very mythical music style. I highly recommend checking her out!) and the song gave me a mental picture of a shrine maiden singing a prayer/hymn to the gods (I think that was what was going on in the song anyway. It's from the game series "Ar Tonelico"). Anyway, I rolled with the image and this story was what it turned into. As always, I'll talk more at the bottom, so for now, enjoy!
Weiss Schnee had never liked field trips; being forced into a 3 day overnight stay with a bunch of people she didn't like was something she would never enjoy. Yet, here she was, surrounded by her irritating classmates in some rundown city in Mistral called Haven.
Weiss attended Beacon High School in Vale, a rather prestigious high school that could afford to send its students on overnight field trips to other continents. She had expected to have classmates with as proper of upbringings as her considering the costs to enter the school, but her dreams had been shattered on her first day when she had been hit in the face with an errant flying pancake at the entrance gate. How the rather hyperactive culprit had managed such a feat was beyond her, but she had decided to forget the incident altogether. Since then, it had been more of the same; classmates and peers that seemed to have come right out of the insane asylum surrounding her and irritating her at every opportunity they got.
With a heavy sigh, Weiss fixed her attention on her teacher, Ms. Glynda Goodwitch, who was guiding her rambunctious classmates through the various streets.
"Now children, this particular area is rather famous. Can anyone tell me why?" Ms. Goodwitch scanned the crowd until she spotted a girl with her hand raised. "Yes, Ms. Valkyrie."
"Is it because of pancakes? I really hope they have pancakes here," the cheerful ginger, Nora Valkyrie, practically shouted. A quiet boy with black hair, who had been walking next to her, tugged on her sleeve, signaling her to be quiet.
Ms. Goodwitch rubbed her temples with a frustrated sigh –Weiss could empathize. "No, Ms. Valkyrie. Anyone else?" Another glance around. "Yes, Ms. Nikos." Ms. Goodwitch's tone audibly brightened at the name of one of her best students.
A girl with flaming red hair and stunning green eyes spoke up. "It is because of the various shrines in the area. Haven is considered to be one of the most spiritual cities in the world. This particular area is home to over 50 different shrines."
"Very good, Ms. Nikos. Exactly that. The religion here, Takusan, follows a polytheistic ideology, meaning they believe in more than one deity. With that, I'll conclude lecture here. You all have exactly 4 hours of free time. Explore the shrines around the area with your groups and be sure to return to the hotel by 5:00PM. Understood?" Ms. Goodwitch called out.
"Yes, ma'am," came the reply in unison. The class descended into chatter as groups split off to search the area.
For her part, Weiss groaned; she had been dreading this moment. Her lack of desire to socialize with others had forced her into a random group. She had been stuck with Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, Jaune Arc, and Pyrrha Nikos. While she didn't particularly dislike Pyrrha or Ren, the other two left something to be desired; it was difficult to like someone who had hit her in the face with a pancake, and Jaune, the pathetic dolt that he was, managed to get on her nerves by attempting to ask her out at least 5 times. Needless to say, he was persistent in his attempts and it rubbed her the wrong way.
Without her noticing, Pyrrha had made her way over to Weiss, greeting her with a friendly smile. "Hello, Weiss! Are you ready to go?"
"As ready as I'll ever be. Where are we going?" Weiss grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.
"We thought about letting Pyrrha lead the way, since she was originally from this area," Ren offered quietly.
"That's fine with me. Let's get moving."
Sensing her white-haired classmate's impatience, Pyrrha hurried to the front of the group and began to lead them through the streets.
The area was fairly clean, though rather old. Houses that had likely been constructed at least half a century prior to the current time dominated the neighborhoods. The streets were narrow, allowing for only one car at a time to drive through them. The difference between Haven and Vale's cities was astonishing to Weiss. While Vale was sleek and modern, Haven could be described as antique and ramshackle.
Pyrrha had led them through various streets, stopping occasionally at little shrines that sat on the sides of the roads. Weiss had been surprised that such small shrines existed, but Pyrrha had mentioned that they were rather common.
"The smaller shrines are dedicated to lesser gods. The lesser gods are either mostly unknown, or they have a small following. Despite this, many people who pass by pray at the little shrines. Generally, they will pray at them if they have a small wish, and they save their bigger wishes for larger shrines." The redhead sounded like an actual tour guide. The only thing she lacked was a disgustingly chipper fake smile.
The group approached a large set of stone steps, stopping at the bottom. Pyrrha gestured at the gate that rested at the top. "This shrine is home to a particularly powerful cat god. The shrine itself tends to attract a lot of animals, though the majority of them are cats, as you might guess. Shall we go up?"
Nora popped up next to Pyrrha, thrusting a fist into the air. "Yeah! Let's race to the top! Last one there pays for lunch," she shouted as she began sprinting up the stairs.
Ren and Pyrrha exchanged a glance, shrugging before dashing up the stairs themselves, leaving Jaune in the dust as he tried to follow after them. Weiss was content to walk up the stairs, and would refuse to pay for lunch upon her arrival.
Although said arrival seemed like it would never come; the stairs were endless, and Weiss suspected she had maybe climbed a third of the way up when she reached a small landing. She stopped to rest, leaning over and breathing heavily. She would be going to the gym more often after this trip.
Her head shot up when she heard a small yip nearby. A moment later, she heard another small bark, and she frantically began to search for the source. While most of her classmates assumed she was unfeeling, referring to her as "Ice Queen" –she would be more than happy to smack Nora for starting that—Weiss actually loved animals. If she had to say whether she was a dog or cat person, she would probably go with dog; there was something about their adorable ways that left her squealing like a child.
Finally, she found the source of the barks; a tiny black and white corgi. It had been behind several bushes which, Weiss noticed, were hiding a small trail.
Noticing the girl who found him, the dog yipped happily, wagging the little nub of his tail rapidly.
Unable to contain herself, Weiss let out an ear-splitting squeal, reaching her hand out to the dog to pet him. When he didn't flinch or run, she gingerly touched his head, stroking his fur happily. It had been so long since she had petted a dog –far too long in her opinion. Why couldn't Beacon's dorms allow pets?—and she planned to relish every moment of it.
Unfortunately for her, the dog yipped once and bolted down the path after only a few seconds. He stopped for the briefest moment to look at Weiss before yipping again and continuing to sprint down the path.
Not to be deterred by the setback, Weiss took off after him, cursing her lack of running shoes. She would find that adorable ball of fluff and pet him to her heart's content, with or without proper footwear.
In her search, she noticed that the path was rather well hidden by large trees and bushes. It seemed as if it hadn't been used in years, perhaps even decades. What was at the end, Weiss didn't know, though she really hoped it was a puppy paradise of some kind. She wouldn't leave if that was the case.
Hearing another excited yip, the icy-eyed girl renewed her efforts, pushing herself to run faster. Fortunately for her, she made sure get regular exercise, so her quest to pet the dog was an exponentially easier one.
After a few more moments down the winding dirt path, Weiss came to an abrupt stop in front of a tall red gate; a torii as Pyrrha called it.
Just past the gate was a rather large shrine, the main building being about the size of a large apartment. The grounds were in disarray, with weeds shooting up between blocks of concrete and leaves littering the ground. A structure off to one side that seemed to have held water at one point was empty, with the roof above it missing shingles. The main structure, similar to the torii, desperately needed new paint and some patching up. In front of the main building was a large pedestal, though the inscription was too faded to read, and whatever was supposed to rest at the top was gone.
Weiss glanced around apprehensively; where had the dog gone? Clearly, the place was no longer in use. Should she be here?
As she was about to turn around and run back the way she came, the dog she had chased after appeared in front of her, yipping at her again.
"It's you! Oh, I'm so happy to see you! Yes, I am," she cooed, reaching out to try to pet the pup.
Just before she touched his head, the dog took off towards the main building, stopping again once he reached the top of the steps to the building. He barked once more, as if asking her to come closer.
Not wanting to give up just yet, Weiss cautiously approached the shrine, keeping her eyes locked on her prize. When she reached the steps, she hesitantly placed a foot on the first one; she wanted to make sure the thing wouldn't snap in half underneath her. When it didn't so much as creak, she continued her ascent, outstretching her hand towards the ball of fluff.
Upon seeing the girl reach the top of the steps, the dog barked, running circles around a box that sat in front of a set of doors. What had once been an offering box had fallen into disuse, much like the rest of the shine; it was missing a few bars on the top, but it would still be able to function as it was supposed to.
For a moment, Weiss stood there confused, trying to interpret the dog's circling. "Do you… want me to… offer a prayer…?"
Of course, the dog couldn't truly answer, but when it seemed to yip in response, Weiss shrugged and placed her hands together, closing her eyes like she had seen Pyrrha and Ren do. She was stagnant for a moment, attempting to think of a something, anything, but after a moment, a simple request popped into her head.
"I pray that I can pet a lot of dogs on this trip." Satisfied with her wish, she opened her eyes, searching for the dog.
Suddenly, a flash of light forced her to shield her eyes. It was so bright and intensely hot that Weiss likened it to being blasted by sunlight in the midst of summer. The force of it was so strong, Weiss was thrown back, landing on her backside several feet away.
Just as quickly as the flash came, it was gone, and Weiss deemed it safe to open her eyes once more. Ever so carefully, she cracked her icy eyes open slightly, wary of any subsequent flashes.
In front of the offering box, a large golden dragon, not unlike the ones seen in Chinese myths, had appeared. The beast's body, covered in brilliant shimmering scales, was as bright as the sun itself, and its body seemed to radiate heat, though not such an intense heat that one would burn from standing too close, but a warmer heat, like something that one would feel when wrapped in a blanket on a cold winter's night. The dragon stretched itself then, its front and back legs spanning outward in unison as it yawned audibly. The beast's maw opened wide enough to swallow a small child in one bite, revealing a set of razor-sharp teeth, and resting atop its head was a pair of large antlers, resembling that of a deer's own. Its slit eyes, a brilliant amethyst, finally seemed to settle on the completely flabbergasted girl in front of it.
"You the one who offered a prayer? Thanks! It was awful being asleep for so long. What year is it?" the beast asked nonchalantly, yawning once more.
Weiss's brain was completely stuck. Her jaw was slack, moving mechanically only after being spoken to. What on Remnant was happening? What the hell was this oversized lizard in front of her? "What… what are you?" she managed to force out.
Tilting its head, the dragon moved closer to the confused girl, seemingly swimming through the air; it lacked anything resembling wings. "I'm the deity for this shrine. You couldn't have guessed that?"
As the beast approached, Weiss numbly noted that the dragon was easily the length of a bus, perhaps more.
After the… lizard's comment, Weiss seemed to regain some of her bearings, standing up and dusting herself off, huffing all the while. "Don't act like it should be common sense! You literally popped up out of nowhere! Are you a dragon?"
"Well, yeah. What else would I be? A duck?" The dragon looked at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world, seeming to be confused by Weiss's lack of comprehension.
The absurdity of the situation was wearing thin on Weiss's grip on her sanity. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, attempting to calm herself. "Dragons aren't exactly common. And to answer your earlier question, it's 2016."
"That late, huh? Man, I slept in way too long." After another large yawn, the dragon continued. "Wait… They aren't? Only a few hundred years and they're all gone, huh?" When the dragon received a bewildered look, it chuckled and waved its front leg, as if shooing off the notion. "I was just kidding. Dragons only exist in myths and fairytales. Well, that and right here. I guess deities are a special case."
"Hold on a moment. Explain to me what's going on. You can't just pop up out of nowhere, claim to be a god, and then act like I should be totally fine with whatever the hell is going on," Weiss practically spat, holding a hand up to stop the dragon from speaking further.
The dragon swam lazily through the air, twisting and winding its body into random patterns. "Alright. But can you do something for me first? It'll only take a second," the beast inquired.
Weiss gazed apprehensively at the unnervingly relaxed lizard before her. "What do you want me to do?" she asked cautiously, taking the smallest of steps backwards.
"Hold still," the beast said before pushing its large forehead against hers.
Before Weiss could protest, her mind was assailed by images. It felt like she was watching a movie of the world's history, seemingly from the point of when the dragon first went to sleep to the point when Weiss offered the prayer. Each image seemed to be there for only an instant before the next took its place.
The dragon pulled away a moment later, humming at the information. "So that's what I missed? Technology and civilization have really come far." The golden dragon rolled its neck, working out a few kinks. "Oh right," it said, pausing, "you wanted me to explain what's going on, right?"
Once again, Weiss's mind was in disarray. She had seen several lifetimes pass by in the blink of an eye, and once again, this oversized lizard acted as if she should view the whole event as normal. She gripped her forehead, willing a wave of nausea to die down; she truly was going to lose her sanity if she stayed with this supposed "god" for much longer.
With a heavy sigh, Weiss addressed the dragon's question. "Please do."
"I'll give you the gist of it," the dragon said, floating around Weiss languidly. "Basically, I'm the god that inhabits this shrine; my name is most commonly known as Yang Xiao Long. My existence was originally created in a country that is now called Vacuo."
The beast yawned before continuing. "I went into slumber when my shrine lost its followers, and was awakened by your prayer. As my only follower, you are –by default- the head priestess. I look forward to working with you."
Weiss's jaw dropped. "Head priestess?! What does that mean?!" she screeched.
Yang winced at the ivory-haired girl's ear-splitting pitch. "It means that you will be in charge of restoring and maintaining the shrine, attending to ceremonies and such that are associated with me, and of course, gathering more followers. There's some more complicated stuff too, but that will come much, much later."
Weiss shot Yang an incredulous look. "Does that mean you expect me to stay here and attend to you for the rest of my life?"
The golden dragon shrugged. "More or less, yeah. I mean, you currently live in Vale, but there's no way you could come here every day to do your priestess duties from there, right? Staying here would be the best option," it said nonchalantly.
"And you think I can just drop everything in my life and tell people 'Oh hey, sorry, but I have to transfer to Haven Academy because I prayed to an abandoned shrine and became its head priestess and now I can't come home. I hope you understand,' without looking like I've lost my damn mind?" she screeched once more, waving her hands about wildly.
"Well when you put it like that, anything will sound ridiculous," Yang huffed. The dragon swam its body around the ivory-haired girl until they were face to face. "I'm a deity, remember? I've got powers for things like this. I can fix the memories of anyone you've ever interacted with and they'll think that you're just living in Haven now. Nobody will realize a thing, not even your own family."
"You're forgetting one crucial thing," Weiss said, fixing the dragon with an icy glare.
"What's that?"
"I don't want to stay here!" The icy glare had turned into a full-on blizzard as Weiss bellowed at Yang.
The golden dragon's shoulders slumped as much as a dragon's shoulders could slump. "If you don't stay here and gather faith for me, I'll go back to sleep until either my shrine is destroyed and I disappear forever, or someone else finds the shrine and prays," she muttered.
Weiss stopped her rant, lowering her arms and searching for the dragon's eyes. "You'll… disappear forever?" she whispered. As much as she didn't want to be forced to stay, she didn't exactly wish for the dragon to cease to exist.
Yang nodded solemnly. "If anything happens to my shrine, yes. My existence is really weak right now, so if anything were to happen to you or my shrine, I'll be gone from everyone's memories with no way to return. To us deities, faith is paramount; without it, we cease to exist. That's why I need you to stay here and gather faith."
"So if I leave but the shrine remains, you'll still be able to exist in slumber, right? Why is that?" Weiss inquired, her tone far less angry after Yang's somber revelation.
"The shrine represents the potential for faith; someone could stumble upon it and pray, much like you did. If the shrine disappeared and you refused to believe in me, there would be no more potential for faith and no one to pass on my existence, meaning I would no longer exist and could never be revived." Yang glanced at Weiss with pleading eyes.
The ivory-haired girl audibly gulped, sensing her pity for the dragon's plight beginning to break down her desire to return home and forget the whole event. "What about books? Surely there must be some written record of you or this shrine. Couldn't that keep you alive?" Weiss was grasping at straws, she knew, but despite her irritation with her school life, she wasn't sure if she was willing to drop everything to become the head priestess of the shrine.
The beast shook its head morosely. "If there were ever any records of my existence, they no longer exist. I went into slumber hundreds of years ago, after all." It paused, taking Weiss's small hands within its large, scaly, and talon-tipped own. "I know it's completely unfair of me to ask this of you, but you are literally the only one I can count on. I need your help, Weiss." Lilac eyes seared into ice-blue as Yang silently pleaded with the ivory-haired girl.
Weiss fidgeted under the intense gaze, desperately wishing that there was some sort of rock she could crawl under to escape from this impossible choice.
She bit her lip, worrying it between her teeth. There were a thousand reasons why she shouldn't agree to help, but there were also many reasons for why she should help. She could feel her moral compass pointing insistently in one particular direction, and so she decided to bite the bullet and follow it.
After what seemed to be an eternity of silence, Weiss's soft voice filled the air. "You can really make people think that I've always attended Haven Academy? That there's nothing out of the ordinary that would make others worry?"
Yang nodded furiously. "Yes. Nobody will worry. I can even help you make friends with people here. If you stay, I'll do everything in my power to make you comfortable and happy." The deity's grip tightened ever so slightly.
Weiss took a deep breath, leveling her gaze firmly onto Yang. "Fine. I'll stay, but only on one condition."
What could be assumed was a grin broke out across Yang's face. "Anything!"
"Just… let me say goodbye to my group members. They may have been irritating and absolutely insane, but they weren't bad people," Weiss said quietly.
"Absolutely," Yang said cheerily, before pulling Weiss into a bear hug and flying up into the air with her, twirling about this way and that. The dragon squealed with joy while Weiss screamed, holding onto the scaly body of Yang for dear life. "I'm so glad you're staying! We're gonna have so much fun! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
After Weiss had been safely deposited on the ground after several terrifying minutes of flying, she dusted herself off and headed back down the path.
The way back was as quiet as it had been on her original journey to Yang's shrine, which she took advantage of to think about her decision; she would be leaving everything that she knew behind so she could become the head priestess of a shrine to an unknown god.
While it was a bit late to change her mind, she couldn't help but wonder if she was making the right decision. On one hand, she would be leaving everything she knew and loved behind. On the other hand, she would be helping to keep a deity alive. Though she had no real attachment to the god, she knew that she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she simply let Yang disappear. With a sigh, she decided that -for the time being- she had made the right decision.
As she approached the stairs to the shrine the group had originally decided to visit, she began to hear her name shouted by her obviously concerned group members. She hurried to the landing she had stopped at earlier and spotted Pyrrha. "Pyrrha, I'm here," she called, waving her arms.
Spotting their missing group mate, Pyrrha called for the others to gather, rushing down to Weiss to wrap her up into a hug that forced the air out of the smaller girl's lungs.
Weiss could feel the redhead's tears staining her shirt, though she could hardly be mad at someone who had been so worried about her. Awkwardly, she patted the sobbing girl's back, unsure if she was actually comforting her.
Once the others had regrouped, Pyrrha finally released her hold on Weiss, though she kept a grip on the heiress's shoulders. "Where were you, Weiss? We were so incredibly worried about you!"
"Yeah! Ren and I thought you might have been kidnapped by sloth assassins," Nora shouted.
"I didn't think that, but I was worried about you as well," Ren amended softly.
"Seriously though, what happened to you, Weiss? I thought you were right behind me," Jaune queried, his sapphire eyes alight with concern.
"I… uh… got lost when I was chasing after a dog I saw," Weiss mumbled, unable to come up with a worthwhile lie. Though she could have told them the truth, it would have made it hard to say goodbye; they would question her sanity –rightfully so- and she would be unable to get them to focus on her farewell.
"You were… chasing a dog?" they questioned in unison, unable to imagine the perpetually-irritable "Ice Queen" following after a puppy to the point of getting lost.
"Yes…" Weiss muttered, becoming increasingly embarrassed at the incredulous looks she was receiving. She coughed. "A-Anyway, I'm fine now and I'm sorry for worrying you all."
Pyrrha recovered first, gently shaking her head. "I'm just glad you're okay. Now let's get going. We ended up spending most of our free time searching for you, so we have to get back to the hotel now."
As the other members of the group began to follow Pyrrha down the endless stone steps, Weiss called out. "Wait a minute!"
Her fellow group mates stopped, turning around to fix her with a confused look.
Weiss gulped. She tugged at her collar, feeling hot all of a sudden. "Well, I know I can be a bit… difficult, but I wanted to thank you guys for being so nice to me during my time at Beacon." She took a shaky step back towards the path to Yang's shrine. "I hope I'll see you again someday. I'll miss you guys," she said quietly, her voice thick with tears she hadn't expected to form.
Without giving them a chance to respond, Weiss took off down the path. Once again, she was running with all her strength, shaking her head to ignore the confused shouts she heard behind her. She felt the tears roll down her cheeks, leaving hot trails in their wake.
In the next instant, Weiss felt as if Remnant had stopped. She no longer heard the shouts of her former group members, or any noises of any kind. The colors were gone from her surroundings, replaced with monochrome, as if she were inside an old photo.
In another instant, the world regained its color, though the shouts did not continue. Weiss guessed that it had something to do with Yang. She would have to ask her when she returned.
A few moments later, Weiss arrived at the gate of the shrine, stumbling and gasping for air.
"Welcome back," Yang said, swimming cheerily over to greet Weiss. "Did you say everything you wanted to?"
Weiss could only nod; she was doubled over with her hands on her knees, still struggling for air.
"Don't worry, you'll see them again one day," the dragon said softly, placing a comforting paw on Weiss's shoulder. While searching for Weiss's eyes, Yang noticed the tear trails that remained after the girl's sprint.
Opting to not say anything, Yang simply sent a bit of warmth into Weiss, hoping the feeling would be comforting. Receiving a soft sigh as a response, Yang continued in earnest, focusing entirely on comforting the girl.
For Weiss, the warmth encircled her like a blanket, exactly as she had imagined Yang's warmth would. It made her feel that, for the time being, things would be alright. She sent Yang a grateful look before straightening up and wiping the tears from her face.
"Well, now that I've said my goodbyes, I suppose it's time for me to figure out what I'm going to be doing," Weiss said, clearing her throat and forcing her voice to return to normal.
With what could be assumed was a grin, Yang nodded. "Alright! Let me show you around!"
Whew! Chapter one of my new story is officially done! A few notes: Firstly, Takusan is heavily based off of the Shinto religion. I didn't want to worry about getting all the details of Shinto practice correct, so I decided that taking some things from it and adding my own stuff would be the best option. And secondly, as some people may know, "Takusan" means "many" or "lots" in Japanese, which I related to the fact that Takusan is polytheistic. I tend to take a lot of names for things in my stories from other languages, huh? My majors have a lot to do with it. That, and I love languages. They're incredibly fascinating! Well, I think I've rambled on enough. Let me know what you all thought! Until next time~!
P.S: I'm coming up with a schedule for my writing. Check out my profile for details.
