BREK Chapter 6- Remembrance

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney and Square Enix. I own nothing but my own characters.

Blackquill

Beacon Academy- Dormitory Roof

My left blade quickly swung up and deflected my foe's sword, my right trying to find my way around his shield. Arc was no slouch, however, and directed his shield to parry the strike. He moved his body with it, shoving forward in an attempt to knock me off balance. I leapt into a backflip, combining my blades and firing a volley of arrows at the apex of my jump. Arc threw himself into a sideways roll and came up with his shield covering most of his crouching body, blocking a few stray arrows. I was already rushing him with my blades, however, leaving him no room to stand up. He lashed out at my legs with his own sword, distracting me long enough for him to quickly thrust upward with his shield and get back to his feet. I channeled a bit of Wind Magic into my blades and launched into a flurry of slashes. Arc tried to block them all, but several got past and pushed him back. What I failed to notice, at least until it was too late, was Arc's eyes, studying the pattern of my blows. At one single opportune moment, when my combo left me unguarded after a twin overhand slash, Arc thrust out with his sword, connecting with my neck.

"Hold!" Nikos called from the sideline. Both of us withdrew, Arc sheathing his blade while I dismissed mine. "Excellent work, Jaune. You're getting better by the day!" She had decided to officiate a match between the two of us to see how far Arc had come after a month of training.

I held my hand out to the blond. "Nikos is right, Arc. I'm actually impressed at your progress." It wasn't a lie; the boy had improved markedly under our tutelage.

He took the offered handshake. "Thanks. Getting an honest compliment from you means I've gotta be doing something right." He turned to Nikos. "It's all thanks to you and Pyrrha."

Nikos nodded. "Yes, I could see you applying his lessons in the fight. That shield bash was very well timed."

"And you're putting Nikos's tutelage to work as well," I added. "You held your ground and played defensively until you found your opening. It was a well earned victory." My expression turned somber. "That being said, I'm afraid I'll be missing our training session tomorrow."

Arc looked at me quizzically. "Why's that? Is something up?"

"Personal reasons that I quite frankly do not wish to discuss," I replied. "You can use tomorrow as a rest day or train with Nikos." I turned and headed towards the stairs.

"You know, Blackquill," Nikos called after me, "if something is wrong, you can tell us. You may not consider us friends, but we do, and we're willing to help."

I shook my head. "As I said, it's a personal matter. It's nothing you should concern yourselves with." With that, I left the rooftop.

Emily Blackquill

Beacon Academy- BREK Dormitory

"So your mind's made up?" I asked, watching my brother put together a small bag to take with him.

"Yes," he answered simply. He turned to me. "I've already placed a marker at a spot in the forest. Sky showed me a simple repellant spell to keep animals and weaker Grimm away, and I cleared out a pack of Beowolves in the area as well. I'm doing this, Emily. Please don't try to stop me."

I sighed. "I'm not going to. I know how much this means to you. I just ask two things. One, leave a note for Kana and Roark, please." He grunted, but nodded his head. "And two, take your Scroll with you, and call me if anything goes wrong. I know that you want to be left alone tomorrow, but please call me if you run into something you can't handle." Before he could nod again, I held out my hand. "I want to hear you say it. That way I know you'll do it."

"I promise that if I encounter a threat I can't handle alone, I will call you for assistance," he at last said, begrudgingly. "Satisfied?"

"Yup." I walked over to my brother and gave him a hug. "Be safe, bro. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"I will."

I awoke to Kana shaking my shoulder. "Emily, wake up!" whispered urgently.

"I'm up, I'm up," I replied, still drowsy. "What's the problem?"

"Blackquill's gone! He left a note, but he's disappeared from campus!"

I rolled my eyes. "Did you read the note? Because I know where he is." At her puzzled look, I continued. "We talked about it last night while you two were studying in the library. He'll be back by nightfall."

"I told you to read the note before you freaked out, Kana," Roark called from the closet. He emerged, wearing a set of casual street clothes. "He said he had something personal to do, and that we shouldn't bug him unless it was big time urgent. Dunno why he's headed into the Emerald Forest, but he's a big kid. He can handle most of the Grimm in that forest."

The Faunus girl at least had the shame to look embarrassed. "Heh, heh… I guess I probably should have read the note. Sorry."

I waved her off. "It's no problem."

"So, are we allowed to hear what exactly your brother's doing?" Roark asked. At my head shake, he sighed. "That figures."

"Look, I'm sorry, Roark. Unless something dramatic happens, it's just not my story to tell. My brother will open up when he's ready." 'At least, I hope…'

Blackquill

Emerald Forest- Clearing

I stood alone in the clearing, staring at the small grave I had set up. Slowly, I approached, pulling my pendant from underneath my shirt. As I knelt at the marker, I pressed the buttons on either side of the pendant, opening it to look at the picture inside. I could still remember the day it was taken. There was Emily, smirking from the side, and my younger self, happy as could be as I held a beautiful red haired girl close. 'Amy…' Just the sight of her radiant smile caused me to start tearing up.

I tore my gaze away from the picture to look at the words carved into the stone marker: Amy Kallian- 2000-2015. I stared at the words, before beginning to speak. "Hey, Amy. Happy birthday." I pulled a rose out of my bag and placed it on the grave. "October 25th. I told you I'd never forget." I sighed. "You… you would have been 18 today. We could have finally… we could have taken our relationship further today." I could feel the tears on my cheek. "I'm sorry I couldn't actually visit you today. I would have if I could, but I hope this will be enough."

I sat back on the ground. "I have to wonder… am I even worthy enough to be here? Do I even… Do I even deserve to talk to you? You gave everything for me… You saved me. And I… because of me, you're…" I choked out. "Even now, I'm still so weak. I can't even say it. I'm so sorry, Amy. You're… you're gone, and it's all my fault." I wiped my eyes. "I still miss you. Every day, I wish I could wake up, and have this all be a bad dream. I wish I could wake up and see your smile again." Another sigh, this one resigned. "But… I know this is my reality now. I know that you're… you're gone. And I can't change what happened that day, no matter how much I wish I could. So… so now I'll keep doing my best to atone. I'll become better than I was before, Amy. I'll make sure no one else has to lose someone like you. My only wish…. My only wish is that you hear this, wherever you are, Amy, and that you're proud of what I'm trying to do." At this, I slowly got back to my feet. I looked down at the grave, staring at the single rose at its base.

"I love you, Amy. Thank you for listening." I spared one last glance at my pendant before closing it and slipping it back under my shirt, before turning and leaving the clearing.

Blake Belladonna

Beacon Academy- Courtyard

"So… why did you drag us out here, Ruby?" I asked my team leader. Weiss, Yang, and I had each been pulled out to the courtyard in turn by the hyperactive girl.

Ruby cracked a nervous smile. "Well, I kinda sorta had a surprise I wanted to show you. Check this out!" She pulled a large box out from behind her back. "Ta-da!"

"You wanted to show us a box?" Weiss asked, her tone laced with sarcasm.

"No, silly," Ruby replied. "It's what's in the box! Voila!" She opened the box, revealing several bags of…

"Cookies?" I asked aloud. Indeed, there were at least twenty small bags of cookies in the box, with many different types and flavors.

"Yup!" The nervousness had seeped into her voice now. "There was a new bakery opening in Vale today, and, well, I talked Yang into going with me to check it out. They were having a big opening sale, and they had a student discount, and, well, I wanted to do something nice, so I thought, 'Hey, I should get cookies for my friends!' So then I tried to think about what cookies everyone would like, and I was like, 'Hey, maybe I can figure it out based on what I know about them,' but that was so difficult, so I, uh… just bought a few of everything…" She paused, trying to catch her breath. "So, uh… yeah."

Yang leaned over to whisper in my ear. "She seriously spent almost an hour trying to figure out what you two would like. That's how seriously she took this."

I felt a smile slip onto my face. Ruby had put so much effort and care into getting these cookies, and I could tell that she really hoped we liked them. "Thank you, Ruby. It means a lot that you'd go so far out of your way to get something we'd like." I stepped closer and looked over the selection in the box. My eyes caught on a particular bag. "Oh, ginger snaps? Perfect." I could see the visible relief on Ruby's face as I took the bag.

Weiss came forward next. "Oh, I suppose indulging in a few cookies won't hurt." She grabbed a bag of sugar cookies. "Thank you for the thought, Ruby."

As Yang was grabbing a bag of shortbread cookies, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Blackquill walking past, a small bag on his back. "Oh, hi, Blackquill!" Ruby called. The boy nodded a greeting.

"Where were you all day?" Weiss asked him. "Don't you normally spend the weekend studying or training? I don't think I saw you on campus at all today."

"Where I was is not any of your concern," he answered as he continued past us.

"There's no need to be rude, y'know," Yang told him.

"There was no rudeness intended. I simply answered her question." He turned to look at us. "I have no wish to talk about where I was today." With that, he continued on his way, but not before I noticed his face. Reddened and puffy eyes, and were those… 'Tear marks?' I thought to myself. 'What happened to him?'

"Tear marks, you say?" Weiss asked. "Are you sure?" After our run-in with Blackquill, we had headed to dinner, where I had told my teammates about what I had seen.

I nodded. "Positive. I don't know why, but he was definitely crying today."

"I think I might be able to give you some info," Roark said from the other side of the table. "He left a note today saying he was headed into the Emerald Forest. And that barring a major emergency, that he was to be left alone."

"Hmm…" Kana spoke up, "Now that I think about it… He's headed out into the forest a few times. But I don't know why."

"So we have him headed out into the forest several times, alone, not wanting to be disturbed, and coming back with signs of crying..." I recapped. "How does it all add up?" As I asked that, Ruby gasped. "Did you think of something, Ruby?"

The crimson haired girl nodded. "Well, it might sound stupid, and it doesn't make much sense to me… but all of those sound like what I do when I go to see... " She paused, collecting herself. "When I go to see my mother's grave."

"Oh, Ruby…" I started to apologize. "I didn't mean to bring up something like that-"

"It's fine," she cut me off. 'I can handle it." But Yang was already moving to hug her sister.

Weiss cleared her throat. "I don't mean to interrupt, but you were right on one account, Ruby. It doesn't make any sense. Blackquill isn't from Remnant. Whose grave would he be visiting?"

Ren decided to speak up then. "Why don't we ask the one who knows the most?" And with that, all eyes fell on Emily.

"I'll tell you what I told Roark. It's not my story to tell," she said. "However… I can tell you that Ruby is right. He… he lost someone important to him. So he made a small grave for them here, in order to honor them." Her face turned serious. "Please don't try to bug him for info. It's not a subject he likes talking about. He'll open up when he's ready, alright?"

After we all agreed to leave the subject be for now, everyone got back to their dinner. Ruby pulled out her cookie box, which went over very well. I noticed Kana studying the box intently. She leaned over to Emily, and I heard her ask, "Emily, what's Blackquill's favorite cookie?"

Blackquill

Beacon Academy- BREK Dormitory

I returned from a late night training session to find a small bag sitting on my bed. Closer examination revealed it to be a bag of snickerdoodle cookies, with a note attached. I pulled the note from the bag and studied it.

Blackquill,

I don't know why, but I know you're hurting. I may not know the details, but I can tell that something painful happened in your past. Something you really don't want to talk about. I can understand that, and I'm sorry that you had to go through it. I know how it feels to have a painful history. So… I wanted to try to make you feel a little bit happier today. Ruby got a bunch of cookies in town today, so I asked Emily what your favorite kind was. I hope this makes you feel even a tiny bit better…

Your teammate,

Kana

I put the note down and looked over at Brightwing's bed, where she was sleeping peacefully. 'She really did that?' I looked back at the bag of cookies. 'She went out of her way to try to make me feel better… Why?'

"Maybe because she cares about you?" Sky pointed out. "She wants to see you happy, Blackquill. You're her partner, and from what I've seen of Kana, she wants those close to her to feel good. So seeing you like this makes her feel terrible."

'She cares that much?' I stopped and thought about this. 'I've been nothing but cold and distant to her, and yet she still wants me to be happy?'

"Shocking, isn't it. Someone actually gives a damn."

I looked back at my partner. After a few seconds, I sighed. 'Thank you, Brightwing. I… I appreciate the gesture.' I placed the bag of cookies on my nightstand and got ready for bed, a small smile on my face.

Alright, here's Chapter 6! It's a short one, I know, but I really wanted to get this chapter out. This is less of a story filled chapter and more of a character focused one; I wanted to shed a bit more light on Blackquill's motivations. It also gave me an opportunity to try my hand at canon perspectives again, and I think I did fairly well with Ruby and Blake.

As always, I appreciate any comments, constructive criticism, and reviews! Be sure to let me know what you think! It's the only way I can improve, after all. Next time: Chapter 7- Specters of the Past.

This is GoldenCyclone4, signing out.