CHAPTER 21

Patch

At first there was a blurry light in the darkness. It was moving and swirling like a captive explosion that could not swell. Its light was bright but imprecise, impossible for her to see what was at its origin. Emerging from nothingness, six stones gathered around the very source of this light. These formed a circle between them and began to spin around the heart in the manner of a protective barrier.

She blinked and then fell from the sky a shower of small crystalline pebbles that seemed attracted by this source of light, along with the traces of a malicious liquid that flowed towards the center of the mass like raindrops on a window.

The mass thus accumulated became a plant that grew and became a flower. But the disturbing liquid rotted the roots, attacked the body of the plant and fanned its petals.

The plant decays and shrinks as its shape becomes blurred and uncertain.

The next moment there was nothing anymore.

She looked around but did not see anything to look at.

Then struck the lightning suddenly, so strikingly that she was driven out of her dreams.

Summer awoke from a strange dream. She tried to remember it but it was... In general, she always remembered what she had dreamed. One more sign that she was not okay...

Shortly after leaving Taiyang, she had been dizzy and gone to bed. Now, the pain had passed but had been replaced by something else: a deep emptiness in her.… A chasm from which she refused to approach. It had opened in front of her after the meeting with Ozpin. She would never have thought that smiling at others could be so difficult. She wanted to run away and cry, but she still looked good and happy, even in front of Qrow, Raven or even Taiyang. She slipped out of bed and dressed hurriedly in the hope of driving out her dark thoughts. Looking at her alarm clock, she found that she had not slept more than half an hour. She hoped that this brief nap would have been enough to rid her of her headaches. Leaving the dormitory of the Team STRQ, she crossed the road to Raven, leaning on a window overlooking the outside.

— Do you feel better ?" asked his friend.

— Much better, thank you, replied Summer with a big smile.

The Huntress with long black hair shook her head.

— No need to simulate, you know...

— Huh ?

— Knowing you are the last of your kind and the target of an entity able to control the Grimms, it's a lot to swallow in a short time. It's normal to feel helpless but it's hard not to show it in front of others.

— Thank you for worrying about me, but I'm fine," said Summer, maintaining her smile.

Raven did not like being lied to. Even less by her only true friend in all Remnant. She approached the Huntress in the white cape, frowning.

— Summer, you're not fine.

This time, Summer's smile twitched.

— I... I assure you that !i...

She took a step back but Raven grabbed her wrist to force her to look straight into her eyes. Fear and depression were more deadly than any Grimm, every member of the Tribe knew it.

— Summer. It's okay. You don't have to pretend in front of me.

Tears rose sharply in Summer's eyes. Overwhelmed by emotion, she wrapped Raven and buried her head against her chest. She begins to speak in a fast, strangled voice :

— I could not say it...! First Ozpin... And-and then Taiyang...! I... I could not crack in front of him... He loses his mother and me, I... How could I have complained to him ?...

Letting out a sigh, Raven comforted Summer as best she could. She understood Summer. Normally, their leader was always the one who listened to others' problems and helped to overcome them. Finding yourself in the other situation with no one to confess to was a terrible burden for most people, Summer was no exception.

Looking up at the outside and the sun rising, she wondered where Taiyang was now.

Taiyang sneezed and wiped his nose with a hanky. His mother used to say that when you sneeze, it was because someone thought of you...

— It's still far away ?" he asked the pilot.

— No, we're almost here.

Through the reinforced plexiglass window, the Huntsman watched the waves of the ocean as the aircraft flew overhead. Its surface shimmered in the sun, already strong despite the early hour.

The pilot does not lie. Less than twenty minutes later, the Bullhead reached Patch, Taiyang recognized the coasts of his birthplace, breaking the monotonous surface of the ocean.

When he was younger, as a student of Signal, he loved to sail aboard a small boat and sailing away from the coast just to see them from afar.

But now, these white beaches never seemed so dull to him tah today. There was no sun in the sky to enlighten them. And black smoke still emanated from the land...

.

Someone was waiting for him. Professor Archer, former headmaster of Signal, probably here at the request of Ozpin. He had grown so old compared to his memories that Taiyang had trouble recognizing him. His black hair had turned white and he was wearing a pair of glasses now. But the worst was his sickly face, empty of exhaustion. It was hard not to seem to trouble when the Hunstman spoke to him.

— Hello, Professor Archer.

— Hello, Taiyang. Allow me to express to you on behalf of the Academy our most sincere condolences for the loss of your mother.

— Thank you Professor... How's Signal ?

— Good... the Grimms attacked the coastal village, the Academy was spared the time we could retaliate.

— And ... The village ?

Professor Archer sighed sadly. He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

— Houses can be rebuilt, not lost lives...

He ran a hand over his face to chase away the tears.

— Sorry, it's still so... I cannot imagine what you must feel... Mountain Glenn and now Patch...

Taiyang nodded, his throat tight.

— Where did the Grimms go ?

— Exterminated. We made sure that none of them survive...

It was only then that Taiyang realized that the former headmaster had lost his left hand ! He was still standing only by the use of powerful painkillers and his Aura.

— Sorry, Professor, I didn't...

— Taiyang... I have to tell you... before you leave. We have already buried your mother…

It was said.

Taiyang blinked a few times, staggering a little. His head was spinning and he needed to breathe ! There was a wooden fence not far from them and he clung to it, trying to calm himself down.

Breathe.

Expired…

Breathe.

Expired…

After an attack by Grimms, it was common for the bodies of the identified victims to be immediately buried to prevent family members from having to bear the vision of a body that was missing several parts...

— Did you put in a coffin...?

At his back, Archer shook his head sadly.

— Taiyang... It's not something you...

— I beg you ! Tell me... Tell me the truth, please !...

Archer looked at his former student, his back arched, his hands stuck to the wood, trying to hold back his tears.

— We buried... an urn," he said finally.

Taiyang fainted. His hands still clinging to the wood, he fell to his knees ! His face trembled under the tension, split between rage and despair.

.

Taiyang walked alone on the path guiding him to his old home. It was the only dwelling served by this fine pebble alley, surrounded by majestic trees and ravishing wildflowers. No Grimm had touched it, almost the entire horde had continued its course and left a handle to attack his home. Seen from afar, it seemed intact, but as Taiyang got closer, he could not miss the gigantic hole in the wall of the house. He passed by, discovered the scene like the Hunstmen before him. From the spacious living room with the television and the sofa, only scattered pieces remained, marks of claws disfiguring the floor and the first steps of the staircase.

Taiyang did not take a step inside. Blood and debris had been cleaned up, but the smell of death persisted in the room...

A Beowulf had come and destroyed everything he wanted. If Ozpin was right... This "Salem" had ordered this attack... Why ? Patch was nothing ! Just a haven of peace !

He turned around and walked into the garden. Where Archer had told him, a tombstone had been erected with some flowers. These inscriptions were inscribed in the memory of the deceased :

Here rests

An Xia Long

Loving mother

Taiyang sits down on his knees before the tomb of his late mother. Tears began to flow freely on his bereaved face. Until that moment, he had this thin glimmer of hope that his mother was still alive, that the person underground was not her ... Now he had definitely lost his mother. A second time, in his heart...

Sitting on an ancient stone bridge not far from the port of Vale, his legs hanging limply in the air, Arthur Watts gazed at the river beneath his feet and reached the sea. His eyes watched the eternal spectacle of nature come to pass, but his spirit was elsewhere. He held a lit cigarette at the end of his fingers but did not touch it, it was slowly consumed by the wind.

He felt ... Happy? Afflicted? Terrified? Impossible to say, probably the three at once... All he had wanted in this life, he had gotten. Except for one thing... He was now so close to the goal that he could almost feel victory in the air... But his straight and certain path was now hazardous and he did not know if he was still on the right track. What he had discovered had shaken him to the gut ! He had never felt such a feeling ever since he had betrayed Sélénée's trust... What should he do ?

For twenty years he had obeyed Salem with unfailing loyalty, convinced that there was no turning back. But now, something unexpected had presented itself to him : a second chance. And he hesitated to seize it... This glimmer of hope was terribly tempting and tangible ! But also oh so dangerous : at the slightest hint of betrayal, Salem would not hesitate to kill him, whatever his feelings for Sélénée. But on the other hand…

He imagined himself well with Sélénée, hidden from the rest of the world in a lost place where never before had the Man set foot... There were still unknown lands across the globe, vanished from the memory of humanity or transformed into myths and children's tale...

But dreams were dreams, he knew perfectly well. Betraying Salem meant to be alone against everybody. Never will Sélénée take the risk of letting him come back to her side and Ozpin will have good reasons to hand him over to Atlas authorities to be tried and hanged high and short, and even if the Man in Black or Lux does not kill him first ! And if he decided to live a life of fugitive, he would not survive a month, let alone a year ! He had murdered so many people who dared to disappoint or disobey Salem that he knew what was going on : a life to keep an eye behind, with the fear of one day seeing a shadow next to its own and that this vision is the last of its existence.

Which might happen sooner than he thought...

— You take your time," he blurted suddenly.

— You are not exactly someone easy to find, but I imagined worse," responded someone behind him.

An individual came to sit next to him. Without fear of Watts, former Commander Scharnhorst removed his cigarette and smoked it with pleasure.

— Umm... This one comes from Vacuo, right ? They make the best cigs of all Remnant.

Arthur Watts did not answer him, just asking :

— I presume Salem asks for my return as soon as possible ?

— You presume well.

Scharnhorst exhaled circles of smoke with the ease of the habit. Not at all interested in his prowess, Watts continued to stare at the sea, while effectively guessing the laser point between his two shoulder blades. Salem was not stupid enough to send only one of his Champions to his heels. Marcus Blake was probably hidden on top of a roof, aiming him through the scope of a rifle, waiting for a sign or suspicious move to shoot.

— You seemed preoccupied when I arrived," remarked Scharnhorst.

— Yes... I discovered something...

— Oh ? Like what ?

Arthur Watts inwardly thanked Scharnhorst for this demand. Deep down, he needed some outside pressure to choose. And he decided which way to follow.

— I have to talk to Salem.

That's it... He was going to say everything, even to flout his own feelings and his love for the one he loved. He was aware that in revealing Sélénée's best-kept secret, the face of the world would be changed forever. Salem will throw all her strength into the battle to capture her. Will she survive the first battle that this conflict will trigger ?

— No problem. A Seer is waiting for us outside Vale.

— No. I have to talk to her directly. What I have to say is too important to tell her in any other way.

— As you wish," said the renegade commander, stretching his legs.

Scharnhorst stood up and made a sign to Marcus. He put his weapon in a suitcase specially designed to hide a rifle and got off the roof.

Arthur rose in his turn, slowly, almost reluctantly. He sighed, looking at the cloudy sky that hid the setting sun, as his hope for a different life.

After all, the lost time cannot be caught back, isn't it ?

It was the cold wind of the twilight that made Taiyang realize that he had spent the whole day in front of his mother's grave. He blinked but had trouble keeping them open. They were dry and irritated. And his clenched legs did not react when he wanted to get up. By sitting on his knees, his limbs had become hard as wood. He also realized he was shivering, maybe for hours.

If his mother saw him in this state, she would have given him a well-deserved slap for staying out in the middle of the night ! She had always known what was good for him...

Chasing his memories of a grunt, he began to massage his thighs energetically to circulate the blood. It was painful but he forced himself to continue until he could get up. He staggered to his disemboweled house. Nothing had changed in the meantime. There was always debris and dried blood. He refused to enter, to take the slightest step in this domain of death. Life had left this house with her mother, this house was no longer him now. Never again.

He turned on his heel and took the path back to the coastal village of Patch. He wanted to sleep, enjoy a few hours of unconsciousness and peace in his dreams before the reality resurfaced in the morning. He began to leave his old house when a sound of broken stone echoed above him.

He raised his head and held his breath !

Above him, standing out from the dark by his bright red stripes, Taiyang saw the tiles splitting and cracking under the mass of a terrifying Beowolf.

He was a real monster compared to his fellows, it was about 4 meters tall and bone armor covered its limbs. An Alpha...

Grimm's creature licked its fangs at this isolated prey. Obviously, this one had escaped the Patch's massacre...

— You forgot one, Prof ..." Taiyang whispered.

He realized that the Beowolf was probably attracted by his negative feelings. Grief, loss, anger... Food of choice for this monster.

The creature stepped forward to the Hunstman below. Its claws squealed on the stone, but the Grimm did not care about discretion. It wanted to kill. Kill at all costs !

The Beowolf jumped from the top of the roof onto Taiyang, which flung himself aside to avoid sharp claws like razor blades. Immediately, the Grimm threw its gaping mouth toward the soft neck of the human, but a kick of Aura-doped broke the monster's hope and some of its fangs.

Taiyang jumped up as the Beowolf shook his head to chase away the pain. Alone and unarmed, he had no chance of killing an Alpha. It was not a question of size, this creature of Grimm was a hundred times tougher and more powerful than a normal Beowolf !

"No need to think long in this kind of situation," explained Ozpin one day during a training session," you must act as quickly as possible."

Act !

Quickly !

He looked around the ground looking for a weapon and saw a broken tile tip. He seized it, slicing his palm and fingers and thrusting it with all his strength into the right eye of the evil creature. The roar of the Beowolf was so deafening that Taiyang thought he was deaf for a moment ! But the Grimm turned his left eye towards him and hit him with his powerful hand. Taiyang felt like he was hit by a freight train ! His feet snapped off the ground and he get through the wall of his house, creating a second hole near the first already existing. He rolled in the living room, knocking over the last furniture still standing. Stunned by the shock, he saw in a troubled sight the monster rush into the house, forced to bend because of the low ceiling. Its mouth slammed furiously as it pulled out the piece of tile planted in its eye. Now it turned its head to the Huntsman on the ground, who was getting up and spitting blood. Taiyang did not need to take out his Scroll from his pocket to know that this one hit had cost him a lot of Aura. A second one and he will be left with nothing to defend himself ! On the other hand, his Semblance had just received a huge boost but even with bare hands, he could not hope to pierce the armor of the Alpha. He had to equip himself and he knew where...

The kitchen was behind him, so he rushed there as fast as he could in his state, the Beowolf on his heels.

Her mother had always put the same products in the same closets for years. Taiyang prayed she continued this habit after he left for Beacon. He opened a cupboard and (miracle !) found exactly what he was looking for.

When the Beowolf rushed into the kitchen, the Hunstman turned his back on him, obviously in search of something. The experienced Grimm did not waste time and threw itself on him, mouth wide open ! As it closed its jaws on the human flesh, the man turned on himself and engulfed something between its fangs. When it shut its mouth, a white cloud escaped from its fangs and spread throughout the room !

.

Taking advantage of the cloud produced by the bag of flour powder, Taiyang escaped from the kitchen and climbed at full speed the stairs that led upstairs. He burst into his old room and without lingering over all the present memories, knocked over the bed under which was a trunk. In the past, Taiyang had put a padlock on it but it was of poor quality and did not resist at the foot of the Hunstman. He opened the lid and removed a sheet that hid his most painful memory of Signal...

.

The Beowolf ended up dissipating the cloud of flour and left the kitchen, scolding and rattling all that was going on its way, furious at having missed such an opportunity to feast on the warm bowels of a human. But he heard a noise and saw calmly, the human, carrying two metal gray bracelets and two angry red eyes...

Taiyang had named them Ember Celica.

It was a pair of combat gauntlet equipped with shotgun. When he made them, he thought he had created the perfect weapon for a fighter like him.

It was a big mistake.

At the time, he was unable to control his Aura or Semblance as well as today. A day of training at Signal, his bracelets had exploded, burning the skin of his arms to the second degree, breaking his bones, and even worse : a shrapnel had hit one of his comrades at the throat, nothing serious thereafter, but the accident had deeply traumatized him. He had sworn that as long as he was not an accomplished Hunstman, he would only use his fists and feet to fight the Grimms. But now…

Now he did not care about burns or fractures. He did not care if he lost the use of his hands ! He just wanted to explode the face of this monster who had dared to seek the fight with him in his house !

With a twist of his wrists, his bracelets bustled and covered his hands and forearms. His barrels of 12 bucks rolled to the chamber, ready to be fired.

Taiyang screamed in rage and guided his gauntlets backwards. The double detonation propelled him right on the Beowolf ! He channeled all his Semblance in his fist ! Seeing him rushing at full speed on its, the Alpha could only react instinctively and reach a hand towards it in the idea of catching him in flight ! Its member disintegrated under the intensity of the Aura that released Taiyang who brought his fist back, squeezed him with all his might and struck the Grimm in the face !

.

A resounding explosion disfigured the Xiao Long's house a bit more. A snake of flame disintegrated everything that was more than a hundred yards ahead.

Inside, Taiyang breathed heavily, empty of Aura but filled with a morbid pride at the sight of the black ashes that evaporated in the air, last traces of the Grimm.

He smiled, falling on his back, unable to stay standing any longer. He raised his arms up to his eyes, expecting similar injuries to those of Signal before, and discovered that this time, Ember Celica were intact !

Relieved to be unscathed, he began to laugh, louder and louder, imagining his mother's reaction to the show in the living room, half of the kitchen and part of the garden completely burned off...

— Well, here's an opportunity to redecorate the house!" he joked.

PS : I don't know what happens while I was on vacation but when I get home and turn on my pc, what do I see ?!

Two new followers for my fanfiction ! But but but but what's going on ? Two newcomers arriving in such a short time ? Naaaaaaah ! Something is not right for sure, it's probably the site that jokes or I read badly.

And no, it's true ! In this case, I thank Merged Claressa SSJ5 Goddess and Akito for following my fanfiction and I hope to all of you, dear readers, that this chapter will please you :)

I think I will release the chapter 22 for the end of the month, but it's not sure...

See you soon !