Chapter 13: Not sure if this would fall under Supernatural Aid or Meeting with the Goddess
Blake arose slowly out of her alcohol-induced nap. As soon as she did, though, she regretted it. A pounding headache was the first thing that greeted her, followed immediately by an overwhelming urge to vomit.
Before she could vomit all over the bed, a bucket was swung in front of her. She grabbed it and proceeded to hurl her guts out.
When she was done, she looked up and saw Rain leaning against the wall.
"Bathroom's three doors down and on the left. Can you make it yourself?"
She tried to sit up on the bed, but was pushed down again by a splitting headache. She could only groan in pain and curl up into a ball.
Suddenly, she felt Rain pick her up and carry her out of the room and down the hall. She felt comfortable in his arms and attempted to burrow into him.
"You know the vomit residue around your mouth is now on my shirt, right?"
"Sorry. My head feels like it's being broken open from the inside and you feel comfy."
"Yeah. That's one of the symptoms of a hangover. Everything will feel better after a cold shower."
"Noooo. I'm a cat. We hate water. Let me down." She tried to punch him, but she was too weak to actually do anything.
"Too bad, kitty-cat. One day you'll thank me for it."
Rain got to the bathroom, set Blake down in the shower stall, and blasted the cold water on. Before she could bolt, he slammed the door and leaned into it to keep it closed.
"Trust me. It's good for you."
After awhile, Rain stopped feeling Blake beat against the glass. He just heard groaning.
"Hey, Blake? You okay in there?"
"No. I remembered what happened on the roof. I'm sorry."
"You clearly don't remember everything."
"I remember I assaulted you and you pushed me away."
"One: you were drunk. Two: we spoke afterwards. I know you can remember. Just focus."
For awhile there was just more silence. Rain was about to open his mouth to ask if she was okay when she spoke first.
"Did you really mean what you said?"
"Every word."
Another pause, "So, where do we go from here?"
"We'll figure that out as we go. Although, until we do, I think it might be a good idea to not tell anyone. Not that I'm ashamed or anything. It's just that, until we sort it out, the others might be able to poke a lot of holes in it. That would cause tension on a blossoming relationship."
He heard the sound of laughter coming from the shower, "You are so awkward, you know that? So cold and logical. It's pretty funny. I think you're right, though. Yang would probably literally shoot this down, and you in the process."
"I'm not saying I'm afraid of my sister, but you're probably right."
"Can you let me out of here now. It's really cold."
"Oh, right. Sorry."
He got up and opened the door. Blake stood there, dripping wet from bow to boots. Her clothes clung to her skin in the. Most. Alluring way. Rain cupped her chin in his hand, leaned down, and kissed her. It was a soft kiss. Quick. It implied a gentleness that no one would have guessed Rain possible of if they hadn't seen it.
"What was that for?"
"Because I needed to."
"What does that mean?"
"It means... I need to get out of here or I might try something more. I'll go get you some clothes."
When he returned, she was already undressed. She chucked a towel at his face before he could focus.
"Knock next time, ass-hole!" She had quickly wrapped a towel around herself. "Leave the clothes and get out!"
Rain quickly did as he was told and closed the door behind him. Yang was leaning against the wall to the right of the door.
"What was that about?"
"Nothing. I threw her in a cold shower, went to get her a change of clothes, came back, and she was naked. It was not my fault."
"You did forget to knock."
"I just can't win with you, can I? Fine. Make sure both of you are ready to leave in an hour. We've got a bullhead waiting on the roof and I need a new shirt since this one has vomit on it."
Blake felt awkward packing up with Yang in the room. It felt like Yang could just tell what was going on. Blake didn't know why, though. Yang was currently sitting upside down in a swivel chair and spinning.
Blake finished packing, but before she could leave Yang spoke up from her chair.
"Why is Rain being so nice to you?"
Blake froze, "What do you mean?"
"I mean: he's been inordinately nice to you, even given that you're in mourning. I get the drinking buddies thing. But he seems like he would have just left you on the roof if you fell asleep. Maybe the couch downstairs. He also seems like he would have just let you suffer from the hangover. He seems oddly kind, is all I'm saying. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it. Maybe he really does have a heart of gold. But I'm not sure. I think I'll watch you two like a hawk for now."
"You don't have anything to worry about, Yang. I'm sure he's just being a good leader. Looking after his troops. A good leader needs strength and kindness, you know?"
"Yeah, I guess. I still can't shake the feeling that there's something more, though."
"Well, if it becomes something, you'll be the first to know."
"Blech." Yang started retching. "I can't even imagine the two of you together. I think it would cause me physical pain."
"Yeah, it would be weird. We should probably head up to the roof now. They might just leave without us."
"Well it's about time!" Rain shouted as Blake and Yang emerged onto the roof. "I really considered just leaving you two!"
Blake and Yang leaped easily up into the bullhead and secured spots beside Rain. Soon they lifted off and were flying towards the coast.
"So," Flare piped up from the cockpit, "What happened this morning in the bathroom? I coulda swore I heard screams and groans, if ya' know what I mean."
"That was nothing." Rain spoke into a headset, "I just threw Blake into a cold shower. That was the screams. The groans came when she realized that she wouldn't get out."
"Okay, boss. If you say so." Flare responded, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "We've still got a few hours before we get to the yacht. Anybody want to play 'I Spy'? I'll start. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with 's'."
"Is it sand?" Rain sighed into the headset.
"You got it first try. Good job, boss. Now you do one."
"There's nothing but sand outside. What else would I spy?"
"You could spy the sky, or the clouds, or that flock of nevermore that have now changed direction and are flying straight for us."
"What! Can you lose them?"
"Maybe, but there are a lot of them. We might have to fight."
"I'll take care of it. Just keep flying."
Rain took off his headset and climbed out the bay doors. Yang and Blake looked outside and saw that he was using ice to climb the side of the hull. When he got to the top he lifted his right hand and pointed at the pursuing flock.
Suddenly, a massive bolt of electricity surged out of his gauntlet and blasted right into the center of the flock, arcing to all the other nevermore and sending them all crashing down to the ground.
Inside the cabin, everyone cheered at the impressive display of power they had just witnessed. It was short-lived, however, as they started to hear a rumbling. They looked out the doors and saw a massive portion of dessert shifting and sliding as a giant, scaled head arose out of it.
"Um. Boss? What the hell is that?"
"A very ancient creature! I don't know how, but I think we pissed it off! Is there a nitro boost on this thing, Flare?!"
"Already pushing it to the limit."
"Then go past the bloody limit! We need to get out of here!"
The creature's massive head raised up and opened it's eyes. They were the colour of a thunder storm. All blacks and grays and full of danger. Yang felt as if they were staring into her very soul. It wasn't doing anything, though. It was just looking at them. After a couple of minutes, she realized that they weren't moving. Somehow, the creature was holding them in place. And still it just continued to stare.
Yang picked up the headset and put it on. "Flare? Try landing the plane. I don't think it wants to hurt us."
"Are you nuts?! It will kill us!"
"No, it won't. If it wanted to kill us it would have done so already. Land. The. Plane."
"Fine! But if we die, I am so torturing you in the afterlife. Whatever that might be."
As the plane started heading towards the ground, Rain swung back into the cabin. "Why are we actually going closer to that thing?"
"Because it doesn't want to hurt us. I'm sure of it."
"That makes no sense!"
"Well, you're going to have to trust me."
"Fine. I'll see how this plays out. But if we die-"
"Yeah yeah. Flare already gave me the spiel."
The plane finally landed and Flare turned off the engine. When she and Banner emerged from the cockpit, all five of them leaped out of the cabin and walked towards the creature.
As they approached, the creature's head lowered until it was resting on the sand. The sun reflected off of it's golden scales and nearly blinded them. Suddenly, the scales became black and actually seemed to be absorbing the light. Whatever this creature wanted, it was obviously very intelligent.
They stopped a few feet from it's face and waited. Before long, it opened one eye and a man covered in scales and wearing black leather clothing seemed to emerge from within.
"Which of you children is Rainbow Branwen?"
"You have no idea what you have just done." Rain turned to address Banner and Flare, "Not one word, you two." He turned back to the scaled man, "And I am not a child, you ancient bastard!"
The man lifted his head to the sky and laughed with a sound like thunder. "It has been a long time since anyone has dared speak to me like that. I am older than this dessert. All people are children to me."
"Okay. Whatever. Why do you want me?"
"I awoke from a four millennium slumber, approximately, because you are changing things, boy. Things that should not be messed with. The future is always changing, fluid. Innumerable paths exist. But when decisions are made by important individuals, the paths are... slimmed down, for lack of a better term. Normally, that would be fine. That is how the world changes, after all. But, somehow, you narrowed the path... and then you rebuilt it. Very few have ever accomplished what you have done. None have survived the repercussions."
"When you say I 'rebuilt' the pathway of the future, isn't that what you just said is supposed to happen? Why is that a bad thing?"
"Think of it as a drawing, then. You do the basic circles and lines that would be drawn for pretty much any face. Then you draw the details that make it into a man or a woman. Normally, as more decisions are made, the drawing gets clearer. Maybe it's supposed to be a self-portrait. But you were supposed to add a touch of yellow to the hair and, instead, you managed to draw a freaking landscape! That is impossible to do safely without a lot of luck or being a god. Now, I know you aren't a god. But if you were lucky you wouldn't be speaking to me because the universe wouldn't be trying to kill you."
"What are you talking about? That flock of nevermores? You think that was the universe trying to kill me? I've got news for you: I'm a lot tougher than that."
"You don't get it: There is something out there that keeps the universe in a state of balance. You have managed to piss it off! It sent the nevermores as a warning. It isn't too late to stop changing things. If you do as you were meant to do, everything will be fine. The universe will stop trying to kill you and might decide to help you."
"But I don't know what I changed! How can I stop if I don't know what to stop?"
"Did you have any sort of premonition before you started your quest? Some sort of gut feeling? Anything that made you feel like the end was certain?"
"Yeah. Right before I met my sister, I got the feeling that by the end of our mission I would be dead. I wasn't sure how, but I felt so certain that I would die."
"So did you resign yourself to it?"
"Yes. It felt inevitable, so I figured I should just fight as hard as I could. And then, when my time came, I would accept my fate and charge into the light."
"What happened to make you consider a path where you didn't die?"
Rain bristled, "I have no idea. I'm still willing to die."
"But will and want are two different things. You are willing to die. I'm sure of that. But I think you want to live. Something, or someone, has convinced you that living through the coming battle would be a good thing. I don't care what it was, but you need to cast it out right now. There is no future for you. You are going to die. Don't ask for more. In all probability, you'll die a hero."
"Why do you care that I'm remaking a drawing? You're ancient and powerful. It won't affect you."
"Haven't you been listening? If you don't stop wanting to live, as bad as that sounds, the attacks will get worse and worse. Eventually, the universe will justify destroying as much as it has to to stop you. That could include me."
"Well I am certain that I can cheat death if I try. So how about you get out of my way?"
"Fine. You can go. But know this: There are more like me. And most of them are nowhere near as nice. They will try less friendly ways to convince you. If you meet them, you'll need some kind of ancient weapon. I would attempt to find one if I were you."
"I'll keep that in mind."
With that, they climbed into the bullhead and started back on their original course. They heard a rumbling from where they had been and looked to see the creature arise completely from the sand. It was something to behold; A dragon the size of a small continent was hovering in the air. It looked at them for a brief moment before it flew upwards and then dove back into the dessert, disappearing without a trace.
A.N: Bet you won't be able to guess where he gets the ancient weapon. Like Qrow said: Remnant is full of stories and legends. If there are so many, who's to say he won't conveniently run into someone who just happens to have one. For those of you who don't understand the title, look up the 'Hero's Journey/Monomyth'.