The only available light comes from the girl's bright hair. He can see only her, a light in the darkness of both his present and his past. The rest of her is swallowed in black, a signal of her past, one that consumes her wholly. A past intertwined with his own; a past driven by her power.
He lights a candle, and his vision expands to see the remainder of the tent. Two sleeping bags lay on the ground, their travelling bags next to it, enveloped by the green siding of the tent. Although they don't have much in material, they have each other, the one thing they always need.
She stands in front of him, her electric blue eyes wavering over him. She doesn't dare reach out to him for fear of spilling the tears she holds so tightly. One touch can release every emotion that she grips with trepidation.
He sighs, a release of breath to signify the exhaustion he possesses. Exhaustion of body. Exhaustion of mind. Exhaustion of the world. It's a sign: he knows what today is, just as much as she does, and he can barely hold it in. He knows what happened; he was part of it; he watched it. He knows.
"Where's Jaune and Ruby?" the girl's voice cracks out, barely sounding at all.
He looks her in the eyes, carefully reaching out to caress the hand hanging at her side. She is never shy of his touch, moving her hand towards him, desperately needing a calm sensation to deter the storm that is raging inside her.
"Ruby is taking first watch, and Jaune is training," he answers. He steps closer to her until her chest is pressed against his own, and she must look up further to meet his calming eyes. His hand trails up her arm, his magenta eyes following it until they hold her electric blue flare. Tears gather in the corners of her eyes, and he fights the urge to wipe them away immediately.
"Ren?" she whispers.
He closes his eyes, relishing in the sweet, tender vibrations of her melodic voice, a brightness in this dark world. It is one of his favorite sounds, her vocal cords stringing along to their own music every time she speaks.
"I know, Nora," he replies, opening his eyes to linger on her beautiful face. "Today is the day."
A tear escapes from her eye, and Ren reaches up to brush it away. He holds his hand against her face as she leans into it, his touch the only comfort on a day such as today. This is the day she is always sad, the day she isn't as bright as always. It's the longest day of the year to the pair of them. The day of their horrors.
"It's okay, Nora. We'll be okay."
Her blue orbs roam to look him in the eyes again. Ren watches her chin wobble slightly. He can see she is trying to hold everything back, to reel in the sadness that envelops her completely on this day. It's nearly impossible though, and he knows why. Her guilt forces her to feel the grief every year, to blame herself for what happened, to continuously believe she was the cause of it.
"Do you want to start?" the huntress-in-training asks. The dread is visible in her eyes, visible upon her face, visible in the way she holds her body: hunched, exhausted, and giving up.
"The sooner we start, the sooner it will end. The sooner we can go to bed." Ren brushes back the girl's hair, gently stroking his fingers against her neck as he does so. Nora closes her eyes again, attempting to pull in the tender touch of the huntsman she loves.
"Do we have to?" The whisper from Nora is barely heard, her voice cracking at every turn. Her chin is wobbling again, and her face scrunches in an attempt to halt it all. The grief, the guilt, and the emotion.
Ren nods although his heart breaks along with her voice. He doesn't want to see her hurting, but this is the only way he knows how to stop her guilt. The guilt she feels for destroying their home village. By relaying it, he hopes that eventually she will understand that it's not her fault. No one blames her for it but herself, and he doesn't want her to believe it any longer. It's his reason for making them relive it every year; she cannot continue to hone the guilt she directs toward herself.
"Ready?" he whispers to her, lightly rubbing circles on her neck in hope of relieving any pain she might have. His touch is enough to relax her slightly, and as she looks up to him, her eyes hold the answer.
"On the date of March 13, eleven years ago today, the village of Kuroyuri was attacked by bandits," Ren starts, setting a hand on each of Nora's wrists, his eyes catching hers.
Nora sniffles, holding back the tears that are already threatening to fall. "Kuroyuri held a total of thirty families, all with their own homes, along with a grocery store and inn."
Their voices meld together as the two companions gather their pain on this one night, collected in this one shared, true story.
Kuroyuri was a small village, barely a village even, but it was large enough to hold an inn and grocery store for the occupants and travelling folk. There were only two huntsmen that lived in the village, and on the date of March 13th, the husband and wife were resting after their last mission, unfortunately, at the wrong time.
The lively village held many children, all believing that Mistral was beautiful in every aspect besides the Grimm, who tore up towns and harmed the people of Remnant. None of them knew of the bandits that travelled the kingdom, leaving ruins in their wake. Even the adults believed the bandits were myth or had all died off, considering their village was still standing after years on end. They couldn't even fathom the idea that bandits would attack.
Darkness had fallen in Kuroyuri, a beauty even then. The only part of the village still awake was the bar owner, who was cleaning the mess the village people had left. That's why no one noticed the bandits crawling into the village through the darkness. That is, until they started the grocery store on fire. Screams perforated through the village, ones of the store owner and his family. Only the mother and one child out of three escaped the fire, but they didn't last long as the bandits stole the child and killed off the mother.
The fire and screams awoke many of the other villagers, including the families of Ren and Nora. Their parents pulled them from their beds, and they abandoned their houses, which were next to each other. The bandits had started to set fire to houses as well, running rampant through the village and leaving destruction in their path. As other families exited their houses, children were snatched by the quickest bandits and pulled into the forest, parents screaming and running after them, meeting their own end in the cover of the trees.
The entire village of Kuroyuri was now awake, trying to escape the tirades of the bandits and the fire. The Valkyrie and Lie families lived in the center of the village along with a handful of other families, near the building that housed both the inn and the bar. The families rallied together, seeking shelter in the bar. Children cried in fear, their parents trying to calm them. Ren's father ran through the village, trying to kill bandits with his bow and arrow. Both the children's mothers were in the bar with them, comforting and holding them, trying to suppress their own fear. Nora's father stood outside with a gun, the only thing standing in between the darkness outside and the fearful villagers inside. Although Ren and Nora's Auras were already unlocked, Ren's mother travelled through the people, unlocking anyone's Auras that hadn't previously been. It was a desperate attempt at trying to stay alive longer, possibly able to withstand pain longer, especially for the children.
The huntsman and huntress joined the fight, attempting to kill bandits and save the people. As the bandits weren't trained especially well, they started to gain the upper hand. One woman in particular gave them trouble though, one who seemed as if she herself was trained as a huntress. The huntsman stayed to fight her while his wife fled through the village to continue her job.
It was a only a matter of time before Grimm made their way into Kuroyuri. Even the bandits were taken aback by how quickly they emerged. Pandemonium reigned as both bandits and villagers alike were struck down by Grimm. Bandits were still trying to steal children and kill parents, but the Grimm made it difficult to continue. Many started to retreat, but a handful stayed to finish off the village and gather the remaining children they could. The huntress switched her attention to ending the Grimm, but she began to tire as they flowed into the town. She soon was struck down by the tail of a Deathstalker, an end to the brave soul she possessed.
Trying to save a child being dragged into the forest, Ren's father fought a bandit, killing it with an arrow to the throat. He pulled the child back towards the bar, but before they could make it, both him and the child were killed by Grimm, one that had never been seen before. The Grimm continued its destruction, not even registering its murder of a poor boy's father.
The fight between the huntsman and bandit still swayed. She held a sword that seemed to switch colors, each color having its own power associated with it. She had chosen a telltale red to match her glowering eyes, the most powerful strength her sword possessed. The huntsman was able to occupy her attention for a while, but she was certainly too strong for him, a well-trained women with dark portals that she used to defeat him. His body crumpled to the ground, dismembered.
Nora's father still guarded the bar, having successfully killed a handful of bandits and a few Grimm. However, his luck could only last so long. The only remaining villagers were the ones in the bar, and the Grimm rallied towards it. He felt the desperate need to protect the people, just as the huntsmen did, but it wasn't enough. Nora watched from the bar as her father was swiped by a Beowolf, and in her grief, she ran out in an attempt to save him. Ren followed her, hoping to pull her back from her irrational decision. At the sound of the door opening, the Grimm looked to it to find the young girl and boy running towards them. Nora screamed, and her body halted, trembling, before streaks of lightning rained down upon the village, vaporizing Grimm and setting fire to houses, and unfortunately, to the bar. One strike even hit her back, making a loud crack, and she collapsed, her clothes smoking. Ren caught her, the smell of burnt flesh filling his nostrils, and he yelled at her to wake up, begging her to not leave him. Behind them, fire spread throughout the bar, and the other villagers were too slow to escape, trapped within the building and meeting their own deaths. Ren heard his mother's desperate cry to him, and he sobbed as he realized he couldn't save her. He couldn't save anyone. He could only save himself and, hopefully, Nora.
Only a few Grimm had evaded the lightning attack, and they scoured the remains, looking for anything to feed off of. Ren hung his head low, still holding Nora, tears leaking onto her. He heard a slight scuffling and looked up to see the woman with the red eyes. She darted towards a figure on the ground, far from the two children, and picked it up. She caught sight of them, pausing, her glowing eyes boring into Ren. Her shaggy black hair flew to cover her face, and she sprinted off, holding the body within her arms.
Knowing he had to leave the village before more Grimm came, Ren ran, carrying his friend in his arms. He passed several Grimm, but none of them paid any attention to him. The world had turned a dull gray around him, something that he wondered about but didn't have the time to worry about. It eventually faded back to normal, but only after he was far from the town, still carrying his limp little Nora.
Nora's body is shaking as she cries, and Ren pulls her into an embrace, tears flowing down his own cheeks, the salty prospect touching his lips, reminding him that he is real, that he still lives. They still live. Nora's sobs echo through the tent. Surprisingly, their sorrow does not bring Grimm; this sorrow is antiquated and faint. The two still feel it deeply, but the traces of its origin are too scarce to bring upon the creatures that helped to create it.
Ren can barely hold up the shaking redhead in his arms, so the two slide to the floor, gripping each other tightly. They are the only anchor for the other, each the other's only family, each the other's only escape. She is too immersed in her own sorrow, her own guilt, and he can barely keep her in the present. It seems that she will slip and be engulfed into her own past at any moment's time. But he needs her, for she is the one person he loves unconditionally, the one person he can put all his trust in, the one person who knows and shares his sorrows.
And she in turn needs him. He is her reason to live, to love, to become a huntress. They are each other's protection, not only from the Grimm, but also from the demons they hide within themselves.
Nora quickly grasps onto Ren, a slight breath entering her lungs as her sobs cease. She looks up to him, her blue eyes somehow brighter with the remaining tears still held within them, a ocean of shining blue. His pink eyes meet hers, and he can see beneath the tears that she is done.
"Nora," Ren whispers, setting his forehead on hers, "it's not your fault."
Her eyes close, relishing in this one simple sentence. A deep breath enters and exits her, and then she opens her eyes once more, gazing at her lover.
"I know."
Ren studies her, and he can see the honesty behind those two words. She is done. Her guilt is over. She no longer believes it is her fault. Eleven years have passed, and she has finished drowning in guilt over the village and the people. She will still mourn them the same as he, but she will no longer let it control her mind, body, and soul. Her life will have purpose again, a purpose aimed at something other than redemption for what she has done.
Understanding all of this in that one look, the huntsman-in-training pulls her close in a warm embrace. He can already feel her brightness returning, the warmth radiating from her, climbing higher. A warmth spreads throughout his body in response to the comfort he feels. Comfort of her warmth. Comfort of her growth. Comfort of her sorrow.
The companions pull back, locking eyes as they do. Both pairs of eyes dart back and forth between the other's two entrancing eyes, an unspoken communication running through the two separate but connected bodies. It is then that Ren leans forward and softly plants his lips on Nora's, and every eye closes to embrace this feeling, the connected electricity between the two.
The tingle between them continues even after they pull apart. There is another conversation converting among them, a silent question, one they will ask anyway.
"How long do you think we have?" Ren says hoarsely. His body is already geared for what they anticipate.
"First watch should be a while longer yet, I think," Nora starts, biting her lip and glancing at the door of the tent. "Jaune will probably take second watch, so he'll be training until then."
Their eyes meet once again, and a silent agreement is made. They share another long, sweet kiss, and after it ends, Nora slowly pulls off Ren's shirt, making a show of looking at his upper half for an extended period of time. He then helps her out of her jacket and boots, taking his time to untie the laces as she releases his feet from the sandals he wears. The sensual strokes of each other's fingers brushing lightly against their skin sends tingles through their bodies, a mutual desire for the other.
The lovers continue to undress each other, picking their way through the layers of clothing. When they are both finally stripped of clothing, Ren stops, engulfing the view of his beautiful girlfriend. Her curves call for his hands; her lips call for his. She can see him watching her, taking in everything about her, even her flaws: the slightly shorter left leg that she had to train harshly, the scar on her back from the strike of her own lightning, the slight heart-shaped sunburn on her chest. He gathers all of it in, and he accepts it, just as he has accepted her forever, never pinning blame on her for anything.
Nora pulls Ren up from the ground, leading him over to the sleeping bags. She lays herself on one, and Ren crawls next to her. They know each other's bodies like clockwork now, proceeding to their teases of the other. Ren's hand slides down in between her legs, and just a subtle touch is enough to make her gasp from anticipation. Her own hand lightly grasps his penis, and the teammates work each other until Nora is ready to begin.
"Ren, I'm ready," she gasps out, her hand still sliding up and down his shaft.
As she releases, he climbs on top of her, but he looks her in the eyes first.
"You're sure?" he whispers.
Nora smiles, loving his tendency to ask every single time.
"Yes, of course," she whispers back. "Are you?"
Ren nods. He moves to enter her, but she first pulls him down for a deep kiss, their lips hugging together. Blue electricity crackles between them, but it's not harmful, just a signal of Nora's yearning for him. Their lips break apart. His Semblance is incapable of showing his desire, but he shows it in the tender look he gives to his partner, one of soft, deep, unconditional love.
Turquoise eyes meet pink, and Ren slides himself into his girlfriend. Both of them gasp from the contact, already bracing for the pleasure they are feeling and will continue to feel. Ren goes in once again, and the third gasp from Nora almost throws him over the edge of desire. He keeps himself reigned though, wanting to take his time and relish in their shared lovemaking.
He continues a slow rhythm, pacing himself, watching Nora's face as it continues to gather pleasure. Her eyes are closed, wanting to feel everything. Her hair is fanned out, and her mouth is slightly open, sometimes letting loose a soft gasp. Ren moves his right hand to her breast, holding it fully in his palm, his thumb starting a slow twirl around her areola, eliciting a moan from the woman. Just the sound of it pulls Ren into releasing the sexual desire he feels for her from both his body and mind.
"Oh, Nora," he whispers softly, lowering himself onto her and nuzzling into her neck, his hips still working slowly. He moves her silky hair away from her neck, and he nibbles slightly on it, gaining a hand of hers moving to his back, gripping somewhat tightly, nearly a claw.
"Ren," she says breathlessly, her breath moving his hair slightly, grazing across his ear.
It is then that Ren knows he can no longer hold in the intense desire he has been holding back. He pushes himself up to look at his girlfriend's beautiful face, pulling in every detail: the fair skin, the rosy cheeks, the lightly closed lids, the slightly upturned nose, the full pink lips. His hips halt, and she finally opens her eyes to look at him, another feature for him to immerse himself in.
"Ren?"
"Nora, I love you."
"I lo-" Her breath catches in her throat as Ren thrusts deeply into her, now working his hips quickly. Both of her hands grasp at his back, scratching up and down the length of it. She moans, eliciting his name at one point. It only brings him into a deeper frenzy, her sweet voice enough to arouse him. His hair hangs over his shoulder, swinging forward and back with his rhythm, but he pays no attention to it. The only thing worthy of his attention is the woman underneath him, the beautiful girlfriend he somehow obtained, starting from an awful past.
The lovers start to sweat, their outpouring mixing together, only another sign of their connectedness. Nora's breath hitches, and her clawing becomes more frantic, a sign Ren knows well. He grins before thrusting faster, wanting her to finish before he does. He can feel it too, his own orgasm on the verge of releasing. He watches her face, waiting for the key moment when their two bodies would fully submerge together, giving in completely to the pleasure rocking through both of them.
"Ren, oh my Oum, Ren," Nora moans out. Her mouth remains open, and her scratches become harder and more desperate. Her legs tense underneath his hips, and he gives one last thrust for good measure as her body rocks through the full pleasure of her orgasm. He pulls out and turns to cum on the ground, his own body shaking as the effects of their lovemaking travel through him. He can hear Nora gasp as her orgasm finally finishes, and when his ceases as well, he collapses next to her. Their panting syncs together, the aftermath of their spontaneous love addressing itself. Ren grabs Nora's hand in his own, bringing it to his lips and pressing them against it. She giggles breathlessly before turning on her side to look at him. He moves his head to take in her beauty again.
"Ren?" she asks, her head propped up on her palm.
He raises his eyebrows in question.
"Thank you."
"For what?" he asks, confused. He didn't think that lovemaking required a thanks.
"Being there for me my entire life. Although unintentionally, I killed part of our village. But you never blamed me for that. Instead of hating me for what I did, you stayed with me and helped me get rid of the guilt I held. It took eleven years, but I'm finally over it. I don't blame myself for it anymore. You helped me see that. And you helped me cope through everything. You even helped me train my Semblance to release electricity to my muscles only instead of completely unleashing it. I couldn't ask for a better person in my life. Ren, you are my safe haven."
A smile stretches across Ren's face, his eyes squinting slightly. His hand moves to cup her cheek, and her head dips into it, appreciating the soft touch of her lover.
"Nora, I love you. I've always loved you, even before Kuroyuri was destroyed. You were my friend. You were my family, even then. I'll always be here for you, no matter what happens or what the cost."
A tear slips from her right eye and travels into his hand, still laying on her cheek. His thumb reaches up to wipe the trail from her face.
"Thank you," she whispers. "I love you."
Ren's smile widens before he pulls her towards him, his lips planting once more on hers. A tender kiss, a sweet kiss, a loving kiss to last their lifetime.
AN:
Thank you for reading guys! This was for the RWBY Big Bang, so go check out some other ones too! I also have an artist for this, and you can find the art on tumblr. This is also my first smut ever written, so let me know how it is. I hope you enjoyed it!