Friends, in case you haven't seen it on Tumblr, this is my tribute to the late Monty Oum. It is a simple work of fanfiction, filled with raw, completely unedited sentiment. I don't care about finesse and flourish with this one. I just want it to appropriately convey how I feel about him, and recent events. What you see here, is just the base evidence of his inspiration in my life. It will never be more on the nose than this short story.
"Are you sure about this, Ruby?" asked Yang, concern apparent in her voice.
The younger sister sighed. "Not really," she admitted. "But it's better to tell them the whole story anyway. Whether they want to come with us or not is something we can leave up to them. I don't want to force them or anything."
"Yeah, I get that." Yang hummed a low note, and thrust her hands deep in her jacket pockets. "All these years, and it doesn't seem to get any easier, huh?"
Ruby nodded. "But I'm glad that the Headmaster is letting us take an airship out. I'd have no idea how to do this any other way."
They fell silent as they reached the dorm room, where they had requested Blake and Weiss, as well as the members of Team JNPR to gather.
"Here we go," said Yang, to no one in particular.
"There you are!" said Weiss, upon their entrance. "Now, would you mind explaining why you wanted to have a meeting involving all of us?" She gestured toward the others scattered around the room, who waited patiently.
"Sure," Ruby said. She glanced at Yang, who gave her a encouraging smile. "Friends, thanks for coming here today. The reason I called you all here is because of a special day. Tomorrow, as a matter of fact."
"Why, what's tomorrow?" asked Jaune, a little unhelpfully. Pyrrha nudged him with her elbow.
Ruby smiled wanly at him, unperturbed. "Tomorrow's the anniversary of when my mom died."
The statement unquestionably changed the energy of the room. Jaune looked chagrined, and Weiss shocked. The expressions of the others were various but also similar.
Not wanting to slow proceedings down too much, Ruby continued, "But that's just the start of it. I don't want to talk about it too much, because I know you've all heard the stories about her by now. How great she was, how much she inspired me… but the anniversary of when she died is something that Yang and I kept to ourselves. Sorry about that. Um…"
"It was deliberate, though," Yang went on for her. "And it was because of this tradition that Rubes and I have."
"Right. Thank you. Last year, when we were still both at Signal, the two of us went to this cliff. At the edge, there's a stone tablet. She was never found, but the tablet's like a memorial anyway. We visited this memorial, and laid flowers, and remembered the little we knew about her. It's something that we started when we were much younger. Anyway, Yang and I have been talking about it, and we kind of agree that we want last year to be the final time we visited the memorial… by ourselves."
"You want us to come with you?" asked Blake. There was a little sense of tension among the group.
"Only if you're comfortable with it," said Ruby, holding her hands up. "I don't want to force anyone to do anything that'll be too weird for them. I was just thinking that this could be about more than honoring a death. It can be just as much about friendship and unity, you know."
Everyone smiled at that, immediately dispelling the strange feeling.
"We'll respect whatever decision you make," Yang said. "But please let us know before the end of the day, because the flight to Patch is long, and we'll be leaving early."
It was almost cute how steadfast they all were, Yang thought. Immediately after the spiel from her and Ruby, everyone had agreed to join them. Whether it was Jaune and Pyrrha's effusive gratitude, or with Blake and Ren's silent smile and nod, it was unanimous that they all wanted to be part of the occasion.
After Team JNPR left the dorm, with information about what to do the next morning, an interesting request was made of herself and Ruby. Interesting in that it came from Weiss.
"Why don't you tell us a story that we haven't heard about your mother, Ruby? I'm sure something like that still exists."
How far they had come, that they, and Weiss especially, would be so open and understanding towards what some might have considered a strange proposition.
Ruby was more than happy to oblige Weiss's request. She told a story that they had both heard from their father, from when her mother wasn't being Summer Rose, World-Class Huntress, but instead Summer Rose, Fun and Caring Mother.
Ruby was sure to give everyone in the party a hug at least twice as they showed up at the landing platform, at about 8.00 AM. That was definitely cute, Yang thought.
"Thanks again for coming, friends," Ruby said with a beaming smile, after everyone was present. "Me and Yang really appreciate it."
Yang nodded, smiling also. "This means a lot, guys."
They boarded the waiting airship, one at a time.
"This is efficiency, isn't it?" Weiss mused aloud.
There was an unspoken decision by everyone to use the time spent flying to catch up on a bit of sleep. And because everyone slept and woke at differing times, the threads of conversation rarely changed for the duration. At one point, Nora and Ruby exchanged lines about how peaceful and babyish Jaune looked while he slept, even with his "manly features," as Pyrrha put it when she and Yang were both awake to overhear the last of the thread.
But even for all the lighthearted exchanges had at the expense of the dreaming, the most meaningful thread, and perhaps the longest, came when mostly everybody was awake. Only Yang and Ren, the latter of whom it seemed hadn't said anything for the past 24 hours, were asleep during it.
"My biggest inspiration is probably my ancestors," Jaune said easily. "They were just those war heroes. The ones who become legends over time. If it weren't for that being in the family line… All the things I've done up until now are because I want to be a warrior, like them."
"It's interesting," Blake said, thoughtfully, when it was her turn. "In my life, I've probably been inspired by the right and wrong people. I've been inspired by heroes and heroines from the fairytales. But right now, I can say the ones that inspire me include everyone in here right now." Her eyes flicked to Yang, and she smiled lazily at the sight of her dozing partner. "Yang, most of all."
They went around like that, campfire style, talking about the common theme of inspiration. The differences that resulted from past and present inspiration in their individual lives. Nora spoke for Ren, and Ruby for Yang. They felt it wouldn't be a great idea to wake them up just for the purpose of the conversation. They still had another hour and a half of flying left, after all.
Patch was a beautiful place to visit in the spring, and a few of those in the party who had never been said as much as they walked through the forest.
"I remember when I came to visit alone one time during the middle of winter," Ruby commented. "Let's just say that wasn't my smartest idea."
The group followed Yang, whose knowledge of the trail was greater than even Ruby's. As the group walked, they noticed peculiar markings on some of the trees they passed.
"Oh, those are exactly what you think they are," Yang said. "We carved those one year, to help us navigate through here."
The late afternoon sun was soon bearing down on them.
"By the time we get to the cliff's edge, that sun will be just setting into the sea," Ruby said, pointing with a wistful look.
The way through the forest, Ruby told another story about Summer Rose, The Huntress. How she had fought with such uncompromising precision and grace and skill, which had been above many others of her time.
A prodigy. A well of potential that had barely been tapped by the time she disappeared.
As promised, the sunset was a sight to behold. The sun was barely beginning to dip into the water beyond, just like Ruby said. The old phrase, "rises in the east, sets in the west," was present in her mind. It didn't get more west than Patch, after all.
The party stood in a ragtag formation of sorts, crowding a reasonable distance away from the tablet at the cliff's edge. Better to be safe than sorry.
Ruby went first. She slowly approached the stone, and knelt at it. Bowing her head, she touched the stone, and the words etched on it. She spent stayed for a couple of minutes, in reflective stillness, before getting up and heading back to the congregation.
Yang did the same, and without hesitation, the rest of the party followed their lead. One by one, they walked up to the stone and let themselves fall into the moment.
When the procession was over, they sat in silence, looking out towards the horizon.
"Everyone," Ruby said, shakily breaking the silence. "Thanks again for coming today. You have no idea how much this means to us."
"It's really touching, guys," Yang agreed. Everyone looked affected, but happy.
"We go back to plying our craft tomorrow, because eventually we must all keep moving forward. But today… is about reflection," Pyrrha said. "And like you said yesterday Ruby, friendship. Unity. I know I speak for everyone else when I say that even though we didn't know your mother, we're grateful that we can all honor this together, and be in the presence of someone so influential to the both of you. We would be honored if you chose to invite us again in the years beyond."
"Thanks, Pyrrha."
It was time to go, before too long. In all, the actual memorial visit had only taken about fifteen or twenty minutes.
They got up, brushing grass off of their clothing.
"Are we all ready?" asked Yang of the group, as they approached the path to the trail. Nora looked at Ren, who was looking out over the ocean, it seemed.
"What is it, Ren?" Nora asked.
Ren simply cocked his head toward the ocean. He walked down to where the trail began, and looked at the group, who were all looking out at what he had seen. They didn't know exactly what it meant, he knew that. But he was sure that they had an inkling it meant something. He smiled and closed his eyes, waiting patiently.
"Yang, look at that. I've never seen that here before," Ruby said, tugging on her sister's sleeve while also looking out.
"I know, Rubes. I see it too."
Six birds, flying over the ocean. It was almost like they were painted into the horizon. Six birds, flying toward the setting sun.
RIP, Monty Oum (1981 - 2015).
Truly Yours, Kalico.