~ Chapter III: The Girl on the Side of the Road / Masked Woman (II) ~

The following morning, Summer helped the villagers with clearing up some of the damage Monsoon took during the attack. Thanks to her quick intervention, they were spared the worst of it. Nothing they couldn't rebuild quickly. It was around midday when Summer had to move on. She wanted to start investigating in closer detail quickly, so she packed up what little she had and starting making her way to the entrance.

"Hey!" Summer stopped at the voice. She turned around and saw a few villagers, including the owner of the tavern she stayed in, walking towards her. The tavern owner was carrying a food bag. "We wanted to thank you for helping out last night. You might have saved our entire village from burning to the ground."

"It's no trouble," Summer said immediately. "I'm a Huntress. It's my job."

"Of course, of course," he said, laughing a little at the obviousness of what he said. "Still, we wanted to give you this." He handed the bag to Summer. She noticed that it was fairly heavy. Probably about a ton. And it was all food, she realised.

"I don't want to take something you might need," Summer told him but the tavern owner shook his head.

"We'll be fine. There's enough food to feed all of us for a month. Besides, you have a long journey ahead of you, don't you? This is the least we can do to help out."

Summer considered it for a moment before nodding her head.

"Then I thank you for your generosity," she said. "This won't go to waste."

"I'm sure it won't."

After some parting words, Summer was on the road once more. She wanted to head north, to the burned down village. She figured she might find some clues and the capital city was on the way, so it was quite convenient for her. She opened the bag of food while she walked. The first thing she caught sight of almost made her convulse.

Blech! Tomatoes! I hate them! ...Hmm. Seems like at least one thing is going to go to waste, unfortunately.

She zipped up the bag so that the rest of the food doesn't lose its freshness and continued walking. It was a nice sunny day, with a light breeze coming in from the west. It was these kinds of days Summer loved the most. She couldn't recall a day like this which she didn't love in any way. Her mood dampened a little when she remembered what she'll see at the end of this road.

...Either way, it might be a good spot to camp for the night if I need to. The capital is still a fair ways away. I probably shouldn't push my luck.

She kept a steady pace as she walked. She wasn't in any hurry to get there, but she also didn't want to overextend herself, especially with the unexpected extra weight. Though that's mostly because she didn't want to bruise anything in the bag.

She came across a massive field which was bordered off from the road by a small wooden fence. Animals like cows and sheep happily went about their business. It was natural for the countryside to have sights like these. Grass, forests, dirt roads, wooden fences cordoning off expansive fields, young girls sleeping over the fence, nice flowers—

Wait a minute...

Summer turned around when she noticed it. She thought her eyes were tricking her, but looking again let her see that this wasn't a trick of the eyes. This was real. A young girl, couldn't have been older than Ruby, was draped over the fence like a bed sheet hung out to dry. She wore a dress that had a sunflower pattern on it, had brown hair... and that was all Summer could tell from a first glance. Her eyes were closed and she couldn't see much about her that stood out.

This is a first...

She walked over to the girl, now very much curious about this unusual sight. As she stared at her, wondering just what was going on, the girl's head moved slightly.

Huh?

"...ry..." the girl spoke weakly. Summer was starting to get worried at this point.

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked the girl, who managed to lift her head a little more.

"I'm... so..."

"What? What is it? What's wrong?"

"...hungry."

Eh?

The girl's stomach rumbled, as though proving what she said.

"I'm so... hungry."

This was a rather unusual situation for Summer. Of all the things she expected to see that day, a hungry girl draped over a fence wasn't one of them. Summer stepped back a little. She could see that the girl had red eyes and was looking at Summer with a child-like curiosity, though that curiosity turned to irritation rather quickly.

"Are you listening?" the girl asked, sounding a little impatient. "I said I was hungry!"

"So, just out of curiosity," Summer said, sounding more than a little confused. "Do you make a habit of sleeping on fences on the side of the road?"

"It can also be called kerb croaking."

Summer didn't know what to make of this. She was still trying to process that a girl was draped over a fence on the side of the road. Why? For what reason? Puzzles like these were swimming through Summer's mind and trying to solve them was like trying to solve a picture puzzle with only five of the pieces.

"So..." the girl said, bringing Summer back to what was in front of her. "Do you have any food, Miss? I'm really really hungry." She smiled and tilted her head. "Please feed me!"

She might be better off back in Monsoon... Oh wait!

Summer reached into her bag of food, and pulled out a tomato. She may hate it, but at least it won't go to waste.

"Will this help?" she asked the girl, holding out the fruit. The girl's eyes lit up.

"Thank you! Tomatoes are my favourite." She took the tomato out of Summer's hands, looked at it curiously before biting into it like a starved animal. Summer had to wonder how long the girl had went without food. After finishing it off, the girl hopped off the fence and dusted off her dress. "Thank you so much, Miss! Can you tell me your name?"

"Oh, it's Summer. Summer Rose," she introduced herself to the girl, stretching out her hand. The girl looked at it confusedly before she grabbed hold of it.

"I'm Emilia."

~ RWBY: Zero ~

After spending some time speaking with Emilia, Summer found out a few things. Emilia couldn't remember what she was doing there; she couldn't remember her last name, and she had a pretty huge stomach. Emilia had went through all the fruit in the bag in her hunger. There were plenty of meat and vegetables left, so Summer wasn't worried about dinner that night.

Since Emilia couldn't remember where she came from, Summer decided to let her tag along with her to the capital, so they could possibly find out more about her. Though Summer was concerned about Emilia travelling with her, it wasn't like she could just leave her there all alone. So that's how the sight of a Huntress and a young girl in a dress travelling by her side could be seen.

They walked along that road for some time until they could see something in the distance.

"What's that?" Emilia asked, pointing out something black. Summer couldn't see properly from the distance they were at.

"Not sure," she said. "...Let's go see."

They made their way to what they saw and stopped cold, as a chill went down both their spines.

"What...?" Summer let out. Emilia hid behind Summer, not able to stand the sight. Summer noticed this and placed a comforting hand on Emilia's head, calming her enough to bring her back out of hiding.

An entire village, scorched and burned to the ground. That was what they saw. Summer remembered what the farmers in Monsoon told her. The tavern owner also mentioned it. Every building was nothing but cinders now. The ground surrounding the village was burned. Dead plants could be seen. Steeling herself, Summer walked further into the village, Emilia tailing behind.

"What happened here...?" Emilia asked, fear in her tone.

"I don't know..." Summer admitted as she examined her surroundings. "The villagers talked about this in Monsoon, but I didn't think it would be this bad... No survivors apparently. After seeing the extent of the damage, I can believe it..."

"D-Do you think the Grimm did this?" Emilia asked.

"Not sure... I can't remember if I had ever seen a Grimm that shoots fire before..."

...Something's wrong.

That sixth sense kicked in again, warning Summer of danger. There were plenty of collapsed buildings around, and no way to keep track of all of them. Perfect place to set up an ambush. Summer kept her hand near the handle of her sword as she walked.

Crack.

The sound of something being crunched under foot caught her ear. Quickly glancing down, she found that it wasn't her. As soon as she confirmed that fact, something appeared from the shadow of one of the collapsed buildings.

She moved. Quickly drawing her sword, she blocked the Grimm's sudden attack.

"Go! Find cover!" Summer yelled at Emilia, who ran away as fast she could. In the meanwhile, Summer was placed on the defensive, forced to block every Grimm's attack. They were unusually accurate, Summer found. There was usually at least a small gap for her to move when she fought normal Grimm, but this one she couldn't find any space to manoeuvrer. Though Summer could see it coming, one of the Grimm's attacks caught her by surprise.

It's fast!

Quickly bringing her sword up, she blocked the fast, but strong attack and was forced back. There was space to move around now, but Summer couldn't be certain how fast that Grimm could close the gap. Could take a few seconds, one second, or maybe even a millisecond. It may have seemed outlandish, but Summer had to be that cautious. She knew she had to be, else she would be dead.

...He who moves first, loses.

Summer prepared herself. If she could predict the Grimm's movements, going on the offensive would be much easier. She analysed the space in front of her. There were only three possible spots the Grimm could attack from. The front, front-left and front-right. Glancing to her left slightly, she saw that a building would get in the way of the Grimm's movements, so that eliminated that possibility. The front was simply too risky, she could see it coming a mile away if it moved straight. So that only left—

There!

The Grimm had moved suddenly, but Summer was faster. Parrying the Grimm's claw attack, she swung her sword down with godlike speed. The Grimm was split open, but Summer didn't want to risk it. She quickly slashed its chest several times before aiming for its head. Pulling the trigger on the handle of the sword, a streak of fire flew through the air as the blade easily cuts through the Grimm's neck. Severing the head from its body. The body collapsed in on itself.

Summer sighed. The battle was quick but it was one of the more difficult battles Summer had went through.

What was that thing...? That wasn't just a regular Beowolf... Seems Ozpin wasn't kidding about these unusual Grimm.

Summer went to sheathe her sword, but suddenly stopped.

"...Crap!" She suddenly looked behind her. She was careless. She didn't consider the possibility that there would be more than one hiding in wait. Three Beowolves had appeared from behind some of the other buildings and were almost in striking range. They jumped into the air, aiming to claim Summer's head. Summer held onto her sword with both hands. She was able to fight them, though she recognised that even if she wasn't able to, she wouldn't have a choice in the matter.

As quickly as they appeared however, they were just as quickly dispatched. It left Summer confused, as the sight of the three Beowolves slumping to the ground dead laid in front of her. Her sight was drawn towards the centre of town as a lone figure stood there facing her. A red katana in their right hand.

"You..."

Summer walked towards the figure cautiously. She didn't sheathe her blade as she couldn't tell if this figure was a friend or foe. Though she sincerely wished it was the former. They were now stood about five feet from each other. Summer knew that either one could close that gap in a second. Summer couldn't gauge the figure's hostility. It was the person who saved her the previous night. She could remember that figure very clearly. So why was she standing there and not saying a word?

The female figure vanished. Summer's eyes widened as she instinctively looked to her right. She was there, poised to strike. Summer quickly brought up her sword and parried the attack. A clash between two equally skilled swordswoman. Sparks flew from the centre of their bout. If one were to see this ballet of attacks, they wouldn't be able to see the blades. Equally powerful strikes from the two of them forced them to jump back from each other. Summer charged forward, but stopped when the figure raised her hand.

"...You're getting sloppy," she said, her voice slightly obscured by the mask she wore. Summer couldn't mistake it however. The swordswoman removed the mask. Her black hair and red eyes could be more easily seen now, and the fact that she hadn't changed in all these years made Summer so happy. The woman smiled. "...It's been too long, Summer."

Summer sheathed her blade and ran at full speed towards the woman.

"Raven!" she yelled as she hugged her. Raven Branwen was almost caught off guard with this and barely managed to keep her balance as Summer dived into her.

"Easy, easy!" Raven said, hugging Summer back.

"But—why—when—" Summer said at a rapid pace. So many questions she wanted to ask, but she didn't know where to start. Well, there was one. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"Sorry," Raven apologised sheepishly. "Had to make sure you were the real deal. Forget about that though, you've certainly grown a bit."

"While you haven't changed at all."

"Haha... I guess I haven't."

Summer remembered who else was there and quickly let go of Raven. She looked around.

"Emilia! It's safe now!" From behind one of the collapsed buildings, Emilia poked her head around the corner to look at Summer before she ran towards her.

"Are you alright?" Emilia asked worriedly, but Summer patted her head.

"I'm fine. You don't have to worry."

Summer glanced at Raven and saw her looking at Emilia curiously.

"Who's the kid?" she asked, pointing at her.

"Long story, I'll explain later. For now, I think we should set up camp somewhere. It's going to get dark soon..."

"I already have a place set up that we can use," Raven told her. "I was planning to come get you the other day, but something came up."

Summer walked over and picked up the food bag that was dropped in the chaos of the fight. She turned to look at Raven once more and smiled after a moment.

"Yeah... That sounds lovely."

~ RWBY: Zero ~

Summer and Emilia followed Raven further north until they came across a camp near the edge of the forest. Knowing they could relax a little, they sat down and started to prepare dinner. A simple dish. Meat, potatoes and a side offering of vegetables. Summer found it simple to make and delicious after a long day.

Emilia ate the most out of all of them.

How big is this girl's stomach?

Emilia fell asleep soon after, much to Raven's amusement.

"Girl has a bottomless stomach," she said. "And is a heavy sleeper to boot... Where exactly did you find her again?"

"Draped over a fence on the side of the road."

"No kidding? That's new to me."

"Think of how I reacted." The two chuckled over Emilia before a silence fell between them. Now that they had some peace and quiet, Summer knew that there was plenty she wanted to ask Raven. Raven was aware of this herself and waited for Summer to speak first.

"...Where have you been?" Summer asked. "You disappear for nine years and then you just appear out of nowhere... What were you doing?"

"...It's... difficult to explain," Raven said, refusing to look Summer in the eye. "It has something to do with what you're investigating right now."

"The Grimm?" Summer asked. Raven nodded her head in affirmation.

"This is far bigger than Ozpin thinks it is. I've been after this trail for nine years and it's only recently that I've started to make progress..." Raven hesitated after this, and Summer noticed. After a few moments, Raven swallowed that hesitation and spoke up again. "Summer... What do you know about the Maidens?"

Summer looked at Raven in disbelief. Of course she knew about the Maidens. Their story was told quite often as a bedtime story for kids.

"Th... That's just a fairy tale," Summer said. "Four sisters visit the home of an old man, they were kind to him so he gave each of them great powers. My parents told this story when I was young... Why bring that up?"

"...What if I told you that it isn't just a fairy tale?" Raven asked. "The Maidens are real, Summer. And someone is making major moves to acquire their power..."

"That's..." Hard to believe, was what Summer wanted to say, but she didn't. She thought about it for a minute before deciding to place her trust in Raven. She knew her. She wouldn't have chased this trail for almost a decade if she didn't think there was something there. So, she nodded her head. "If they were as powerful as the story claims them to be, then someone having that much power could be..."

"Catastrophic," Raven said, finishing her sentence. "I don't know who's going after them, but I heard a rumour that there's something involving the Maidens in the Helix Ruins. One of them is to the east of the capital... What's your plan, Summer?"

"Well..." Summer paused before looking back at Emilia, who slept peacefully. "I was heading to the capital anyway. I want to see if I can find her parents."

"It's a good a place to start as any." Raven nodded. "We can restock on Dust and whatever supplies we need before we go to the ruins."

"Who said that I was going with you?" Summer asked with an amused smile. "I don't exactly remember agreeing to this."

"You'd go there even without me telling you about it," Raven countered swiftly. "You ruin nut."

"True, true... In any case, I'll gladly go with you..."

The conversation about that trailed off there. Raven had said all she needed to, and since Summer agreed to go with her, there were no arguments.

"So..." Raven began, not sure of where this would take them. "I hear you have a kid now. What's her name?"

"Ruby," Summer told her warmly. "She's my joy. She definitely takes her looks after me and not her father. For which I am eternally thankful."

"...How's everyone else? Taiyang, Qrow... Yang?"

"They're doing fine. Taiyang and I married about a year after you left. Qrow and him are teaching at Signal. On his off days, Qrow comes over and plays with the kids. Ruby and Yang always get so hyper whenever they hear that he's coming along. He really is the fun kind of uncle."

Raven smiled a little before it vanished. She sat in thought for a while, staring at the ground, before she looked back at Summer.

"Does she know about me?"

"No... We haven't told her. We're planning to, but..." Summer rubbed the back of her neck. "We just haven't found the time, you know...? You left her behind, Raven."

"...I know," Raven said, fully realising what she had done. There was no regret in her tone. There wasn't much of a tone there. Just a simple admission that she had left Yang behind when she was just a baby. "This was just too big for me to ignore... I'm sure she'll hate me when she finds out."

"I wouldn't be sure about that," Summer said, her smile returning to her face. "In fact, once this is over, how about you and me go back to Patch? We can explain everything to her together."

"...I don't even think I'm fit to be a mother," Raven admitted, her tone changed just slightly, but Summer was able to catch the hint of sadness to her tone. Well, that just wouldn't stand for Summer.

"Give yourself a little credit," Summer told her. "You were determined enough to chase after this for nine years. Without any rest... Speaking of rest." Catching Raven off guard, she pulled her down to the ground with her, wrapping her arms around her.

"H-Hey, what are you—?!"

"You are staying right here and are going to get some sleep, you hear?" Summer argued sternly. Raven knew better than to struggle. She knew from experience that Summer's death grips were practically inescapable.

"But—"

"Nope!"

"I—"

"Nope!"

"What if—"

"Nope! I'm not letting you get away again!"

Sighing, Raven accepted her defeat and returned the hug. In truth, she was glad to have that little bit of familiarity after so long. She smiled as she smelled the scents of nature all around them.

"...You haven't changed at all, have you, Summer?"

"Nope!"

Laughing softly, the two eventually fell asleep. Summer, happy that she had found her partner again. Raven, glad that she had an ally in her seemingly endless fight. Emilia, glad that her stomach was full.

Next Time – Chapter IV: City of Solano