Hey guys! Been a while since my last post, I know. But I'm back! For a while, at least.
Anyways, this is a piece that I wrote for Reddit's June MonCon event. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically a monthly competition where writers and artists can write stories or do fanart based around a set theme (loosely, at any rate. The rules for the contest are on the RWBY subreddit). Well, after a lot of consideration, planning and editing, this is my submission for the MonCon event.
Enjoy!
Family.
It had been a long time since Nora Valkyrie thought about it. Sure, she knew the word. She knew what it meant.
That didn't mean she had one.
As she swung lazily from the swing, she looked up, looking upon the ruins that had once been her home. This was the village where she was born, where she had grown up, where she had frolicked happily in and caused mischief. Oh, for the days when she would come back with muddy skirts and tussled hair, scars matting her knees from where she had skinned herself fighting with some of the village boys or from playing with them.
Her mother would look upon her and berate her, telling her how unbecoming it was for a lady to act in such a manner, before proceeding to pull her to the bathtub to shower.
Her father would look at her with a gleam in his eye, his face a façade of anger, but underneath it, Nora could see his bemusement. He never stepped in to help Nora, but neither did he side with her mother.
Her sisters would look upon her and scoff, turning their heads in disgust. However, when Nora had put on fresh clothes, her bruises and cuts bandaged or being healed, they would come to her and ask her to describe her adventures that day.
And every day was a new adventure indeed. For a small village on the outskirts of Vale, it certainly had a lot of activity. One day Nora could be playing in the fields with the boys of the village, the next day she would be mock fighting against them with plastic weapons and wooden swords.
Every day brought something new and the start of a new day brought so much joy and happiness to Nora. For 9 years, she lived her life happily, enjoying whatever life threw at her.
Nora couldn't pinpoint the exact day when everything went downhill. All she knew was that it had begun with her father.
At the tender age of 10, Nora had been inexplicably woken by her father in the middle of the night. At first, Nora thought he was joking with her; he had pretended to be the monster under her bed from time to time, just to prove to her that such "monsters" were never that scary as she believed.
Then she saw the oozing blood on his face, and the limp arm hanging at his side. He looked haggard, unlike anything Nora had seen.
And it scared her.
He had grasped her firmly, telling her to quickly pack her stuff. Leave everything unimportant behind. He had then slumped in a chair, watching as Nora, in a panic, grabbed her duffel bag and stuffed clothes in as fast as possible.
When she was done, she grabbed her scroll and let her father guide her out the door. It was then, when she stepped outside her room, that she heard the sound.
It was something that was ingrained in everyone who lived in the village. It was a sound that anyone would recognize instantly. And it was a sound that terrified Nora.
It was the sound of a Grimm.
It was a guttural roar, possibly an Ursa, maybe a Goliath. Whatever it was, it was a Grimm, and Nora froze in fear. Her father tugged her along forcefully, forcing her to move with him.
They reached the basement, where Nora saw her mother and two sisters huddled together in a corner. As Nora's father closed the trapdoor, Nora couldn't hold it in anymore. She launched into a barrage of questions, including why her father had brought her to the basement, what was going on and the like.
Her father had ignored her questions. He had begun rummaging through a large chest hidden in one corner. The basement had once been a forge that her father used to craft weapons, until the heat from the forge got so bad it had burned a hole through the floor. Since then, her father had moved his forge outside.
Her father searched for a while before pulling something out. He turned towards Nora.
In his hand, he held a large grey hammer. It was grey throughout, the only shred a colour being a tinge of pink along the hammer head. Upon closer inspection, Nora could see the inside of the head had some chambers, each one painted pink.
Her mother instantly stood up and started berating her father, saying things like "She isn't ready for this."
Her father had silenced her with a look that brokered no argument. As she sat down, her father turned to Nora. He knelt before her and turned his arm, offering the weapon to Nora.
She had no idea what to do. She had been told of this custom—the transfer of one's weapon to another—but she couldn't believe it was happening here. The custom usually happened under two circumstances—when the previous owner could no longer fight, or when someone came about who was deemed more worthy to own such a weapon.
"Nora, my child…" Her father had muttered. "Blood of my blood, and daughter to the Great Ones, I give you this weapon. Take it, and will your swing be hard and your enemies' skulls crushed beneath the might of Magnhild."
Nora had frozen in shock, unable to comprehend whatever had happened.
Her father gently grasped her arm, and told her, "There is little time to explain, but you must leave this village."
"But Papa…" Nora had cried out. Leave? She had never set foot out of the village; only Huntsmen and Huntresses were allowed to leave.
"Hush now, sweetheart. Listen." He took a deep breath, then continued, "You must leave now. Go to Vale and find Freyan. He works at the bookstore. Tell him I sent you, and tell him these words of our old tongue: 'Falla' and 'Detta'. He will understand, and he will help you."
"What about you? What about Mama and Sam and Mira?" Nora asked.
"We cannot go." It was her mother who answered. "We are bound to this place, duty bound to protect the village against all threats. We cannot leave, but you can; you are still young, not yet a Huntress." There was anguish in her voice.
"But I can meet you in Vale right?" Nora asked hopefully, even though she had already guessed what would happen, why everything was happening. She refused to accept it, refused to accept the inevitable.
Her father looked at her with a forced smile, but Nora could see the sorrow in his eyes. "I will not lie to you. There is a very small chance—perhaps zero—that we will live beyond this night."
To her credit, she hadn't cried. She knew deep down that that was the case.
"Papa" she said, as she embraced him, "I'm scared."
"Do not be, little Nora." This time, his smile was sincere, the kind of smile he would give her when he wanted to surprise her. "You will not be making this journey alone."
Suddenly, the floor underneath her budged, making a rattling sound. Surprised, Nora leapt off, and the floor opened up at the place where she had been standing previously.
A familiar green clad boy looked up at her. Nora instantly felt her spirits rise as she embraced the boy.
"Ren!" She exclaimed in joy as she hugged her best friend since childhood, her best friend since she was forced to sit next to him in class when she misbehaved.
"Nora, you must go now, before the Grimm close off the tunnels." Her father urged. She turned to him, and he presented her with the hammer again. "Do not fear, sweetheart. We will meet again."
This time, the tears broke through, and Nora rushed in to hug her father again. He laid a reassuring hand on her back.
Nora looked beyond her shoulder to see her mother and sisters smiling at her, tears in their eyes.
"We shall see you soon, Nora." Mira said.
"Never forget us. And never forget who you are." Sam advised.
Her mother didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. Her tears were enough. Mama Valkyrie never cried.
Her father pulled away from the hug, and offered Magnhild to her. Nora hesitated, then firmly grasped the handle of the weapon.
Even by just grabbing the handle, she could feel the power surging through the weapon. The grip, the feel of the weapon…it felt like Nora had been wielding the hammer her whole life. She felt more powerful than ever, more confident.
"Take care of my daughter." Her father spoke, this time to Ren. The boy, even back then a man of few words, simply nodded.
Nora walked towards the trapdoor, only stopping one last time to look back at her family. Then, fighting back tears, she moved down the stairs cut into the floor. As she walked down, Ren gently closed the trapdoor, the wooden sound making a soft but solid thump sound as it closed.
Years later, when Nora looked back on that final day, that sound would have a completely different meaning.
It symbolized the childhood and innocence she left behind. It symbolized her path to the woman she was today.
They had passed through the tunnels without problem, and upon reaching Vale, immediately looked for this "Freyan' person her father had mentioned. For three days they searched, each day getting weaker and weaker as the lack of nourishment for them made them lethargic easily.
Finally, they stumbled upon the only bookstore in town, a simple store called "Tukson's Book Trade". With no other option, they stumbled into the place.
As it turned out, the owner was actually Freyan—he had chosen to take on the name Tukson for marketing purposes. When Nora had told him the keywords her father told her, his grin had turned solemn, and he bowed his head.
"The Great Ones welcome them with open arms." He muttered. It was a standard response used in such times.
For 6 years after that, the two of them had lived under Tukson's roof. He fed them, helped them when needed, and in return they helped at the store. Nora was usually in charge of maintenance of the store, keeping it clean and tidy while also helping with security; it was always intimidating to shoplifters when the security guard wielded a giant hammer and looked like she would gleefully smash any robbers' legs in.
One day, in their 7th year living with Tukson, the trio had been cleaning up after hours. It had been a long day at Signal—Tukson had managed to get places for them two years ago—and both of them were tired. However, it had become a habit for them to clean up no matter how tired they were, and Tukson always joined them. It was a good way to chat: about school, about life, about the good old days of the past.
Suddenly, their conversation was halted when a loud explosion occurred. It sounded not too far away. Tukson had immediately dropped his broom.
"Stay here. I'll go check it out." He told them as he ran out of the store.
Of course, being the rule breaker that she was, Nora ignored the advice and raced out of the store, Ren close behind.
Which was how Nora found her and Ren standing over 12 beaten crooks and later, in an interrogation cell with only one light bulb illuminating the area. They were berated by a strict bespectacled woman with a crop, before another bespectacled silver-haired man walked in.
As it turned out, the man was Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy. After talking to them in a much nicer tone than the woman, he expressed interest in their combat skills, asking where they had learned them from.
Upon hearing the answer, he had chuckled. "Well, it seems Signal has been producing so many talented and untested Hunters in recent years."
He had talked with them a bit more, and then asked them the question that Nora had not been expecting.
5 months later, at the start of the new semester, she had found herself on board the giant transport ship to Beacon.
As Nora Valkyrie sat on the swing—one of the few remnants of the village that was undamaged—she reflected on everything that had happened since that fateful day 7 years ago, when she had been a shy, scared 10 year old with no idea what to do. She had grown so much that she was sure her family wouldn't recognize her if they were here.
Family.
Despite everything, Nora felt a tinge of sadness in her heart. Almost everyone she had befriended at Beacon had someone to go home to. Ruby and Yang had their father and uncle; Blake had a brother that she never talked about to others; Weiss had her sister; Jaune and Pyrrha all had families.
Only she and Ren didn't. And that thought filled her with sadness.
She had once read that her namesake—the Valkyries—had once been great warriors that had defended Remnant and the world beyond for centuries. She had also read somewhere that most great warriors suffer greatly before becoming great, that it was only through the pain of suffering that they were molded into the great warriors they were.
Was this therefore her suffering? To never see her beloved family ever again?
Was she always supposed to be an orphan?
Nora hadn't noticed the tears coming down until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Ren standing above her, giving her a reassuring look.
Over the years that they had lived together, Nora had slowly started to develop deeper feelings for Ren. She didn't know exactly when it started, but when it hit her, it hit her hard. Over time, those feelings only became stronger, tugging at her heartstrings every day.
The night of the Vytal Festival Dance, she and Ren had danced together with Jaune and Pyrrha, and afterwards they had slipped away to the rooftop of the amphitheatre. There, under the peaceful gaze of the stars and the glimmer of the moon, she had confessed her feelings to Ren.
To this day, she still remembered that first kiss, the way her lips had trembled with his, the happy tears that had streamed down her face as this boy—no, not a boy, a man—finally showed her how much she meant to him, and how much he meant to her.
That night, under the covers, Ren had made the promise, the solemn promise, that he would never leave her, that he would never abandon her, that he would always be there for her when she needed.
The same way a family member would.
As she turned to see Jaune and Pyrrha waiting in the distance, giving her encouraging looks and smiles, she slowly started to realize how wrong she was.
Slowly, she flashed back to all the good times they had in Beacon. The breakfast sessions. The missions. The first time they all met and became a team. The dance.
Nora had once believed that a family was simply defined as "a group consisting of two parents and their children living together as a unit". But that couldn't be right. A family wasn't just that. There was love, compassion, tolerance and forgiveness involved in the term. There were emotions that fuelled a family. It was not as simple as what others defined it as.
Looking at her teammates, her friends, Ren, even Team RWBY, she realized she was wrong the whole time.
She never lost her family. Her family was right here, with Ren, with Jaune, with Pyrrha, with her friends in Beacon. All the people that she loved and sworn to protect and fight alongside with, and she knew they all would do the same without hesitation.
The thought filled her with happiness, and she wiped the tears away, her face breaking out into a huge grin.
"You ok?" Ren asked. She gave him a glowing smile.
"Never better." She hopped off the swing and whooped, "Come on, let's go home guys!"
Home. Family. These were all things that Nora Valkyrie once believed she had lost forever since that fateful day. But looking back, and looking to the future, Nora found herself believing again, feeling the love that can only be felt through being part of a family.
A feeling she had felt only 8 years ago. And she welcomed its return with relish and glee.
Well, I hope you enjoyed that piece! Please R and R, favourite and/or follow, and I will see you all next time! Until then, RWBYSanctum out!