Hello everyone and welcome back to another Chapter of Fighting Fury. And as much as I would love to just get Yang and Strom back together again, there are still loose ends that I need to tie up on. So I hope that you all understand _
Enjoy!
Chapter 31: Rising Fear
Raven watched her daughter and her two team members walk through her portal and saw to it that it closed. She sighed about the thought of having to fight her own daughter should they have to cross paths and how much of a hassle it would be. She secretly hoped that she would get to fight Strom and take him down so she wouldn't have to deal with his annoying personality.
"I really hope Yang can find someone less agitating." Raven said to herself as she went back inside her tent through the back flaps. She took a deep breath as Vernal came in.
"There are more visitors for you." She said as Raven put on her mask.
"This day just keeps getting better." Raven said before exiting out of the tent to find six people waiting for her.
"Ahh, Raven I am so glad that we could get an audience with you." Cinder said while Raven noticed the red liquid dripping from the hands of the biggest member. "Ah yes, I must apologize about our pet here. The guy outside of the door was just so rude to us and well… our pet played with him a little too rough."
"Well the new Grimm is simple minded." Arthur said as the Grimm growled a little. "Oh hush you."
"I still can't believe that Jackson went through that." Mercury said keeping his eye on the beast that was once a man. "And the new name is… alright"
"Typhon was a name to be feared in one of the books I read." Emerald said recalling her reading. "I mean he's not the father of monsters but it just fits."
"Enough." Raven said and wanted this to be over with as soon as possible. "What do you want?"
"Well what we want is the Relic at Haven Academy." Arthur said and extended a hand out to Raven. "And we know that you have the Spring Maiden who is needed to retrieve the relic. So we were hoping that we could work together to make this quick and painless."
"And if I refuse?"Raven asked hoping that she could find a way out.
"Well, Tyhpon here would be able to… play around some more." Cinder threatened and made sure Raven knew that.
"I see. Well, I guess that I should agree on a few conditions then." Raven said in an attempt to give her tribe the best possible outcome. "First, when all of this is over that we are never to be bothered by you again. Secondly, I want you to help me kill Qrow."
"We can guarantee your first demand, however the second we don't know if Qrow will be there because the last time that I talked our good friend Leo, Qrow was planning to make his way here to find the Spring Maiden." Arthur explained. "Killing Qrow is also not something that we should be focusing at the task at hand."
"It's fine," Cinder said as she looked at Raven with a confident smile. "We'll help you kill Qrow. Having him out of the way will only make things easier. We can have Leo set up Qrow and anyone else he is bringing into a trap. We go in and kill everyone, get the relic and then leave. Any arguments?"
"No, that should be fine for me." Raven said and turned to open the tent before a cough caught her attention. "What?"
"We would still like some proof that the Spring Maiden is with you still." Arthur said while looking around at the camp. "That is why we came all the way here after all."
Cinder began to show her maiden power to Raven with a smirk. Raven sighed and looked at Vernal and nodded. Vernal stepped forward and began to muster up the power of the Spring Maiden, but she knew that she wasn't the Spring Maiden and that this was a show to trick them all.
"Alright we've seen enough." Cinder said as Arthur and Hazel rolled their eyes. Vernal and the Maiden powers stopped. "You have our word. We'll come back for more details later today."
They all left out the same way they entered. Raven finally felt that it was a good time to take off her mask again. She wondered about everything that she had in mind. How this whole ordeal was about to go down, and what would happen afterwards.
"Vernal, have the scouts come back yet?" Raven asked Vernal who nodded her head.
"They set up camp about four hundred meters away from us and they have a ship to use." Vernal stated.
"Alright, tell everyone to begin breaking down the camp. We're going to move after this." Raven said and went back into the tent. She set the mask down and let her thoughts flow free.
'Of all the things that had to happen… First my daughter barges in and demands that I take her to her sister and OF COURSE she had to have the one man I can't stand. Then I get to learn that Salem's crew just shows up out of the blue and demands help from me. One of my men was killed and I will have to cooperate with those six until I have my chance to escape. And what was the deal with that monster in my camp? I have not seen any Grimm like that before.' Her thoughts continue to go on like that for quite some time, but then she began to devise a plan. 'I could make this work out for me in the end. If Vernal and I go with Cinder to get the relic, I can just eliminate Cinder and we can get the Relic and run. This might leave a crippling blow to Salem.'
Raven stayed in her tent for hours until Vernal came in to let her know that Cinder has came back and that only five of them showed up this time. Raven then stepped outside of the tent with her mask on again.
"So, shall we begin to discuss the plan for this?" Cinder asked and Raven nodded. "Good."
Blake was watching her house burn as the fire fighters worked on stopping it. Her speech already moved everyone to gear up and get ready to fight the White Fang that was going to attack Haven. Sun jumped out of the window of the burning house with Strom's scroll and gift for Yang. Fire fighters yelled at Sun for such a dumb move but went back to their business.
"You know, I would like Strom to be here right now. He could just make all of this go away." Sun said as he inspected what he saved. "Yeah, it's all good. Nothing harmed."
Ilia saw the box and the ring and became curious. "Blake, who is that ring for?"
"Well, Strom was planning on giving it to Yang. And I want to give it back to him so he can give it to her." Blake said while making sure that everything was ready for when they left. "I just hope that we can find him again. I hope that he is alright."
"I hope so too Blake." Sun said as Ilia began to feel guilty about that night and Blake noticed.
"Ilia, I don't blame you for what happened to Strom. You didn't know that was going to happen." Blake said and brought in Ilia for a hug.
"I know, but I can't help but feel responsible for this." Ilia said as she remembers the time earlier tonight. "He was just gone. A black and white portal opened and then poof, like he was never there."
"Well Strom knows how to take care of himself so he'll be fine." Sun said before Blake broke the news to Sun.
"Ilia did say that he was shot in the leg." Sun's expression paled and looked worried.
"Uh… I got nothing for morale boost there." He said as Ghira walked up to the three of them.
"Even if he is injured I feel that he is going to come out on top in the end." He said and Blake hugged him. "I have seen some signs that he will do great out there. And of course I will worry about him as well, but we need to get to Haven to prevent another attack."
"You're right dad." Blake said and looked towards the ship. "We need to leave as soon as we can. He wouldn't want Haven to fall too."
"You all make him sound like he's dead or something." Kali said and held onto Ghira's arm. "Strom is just missing. Either we'll find him or he'll find us."
"I hope so." Blake said as everyone began to board the ship. "We should be there by tomorrow night to we should all rest up."
"I'll bring board games~" Kali sang and looked back at her house. "Never mind~ but I think that we all can play charades."
Blake sighed a little and smiled as they all settled into a room. "I think charades will be fun."
And so they played charades for a little while before they got serious and began to train and plan out how they will try to help Haven. And it was then that Blake promised to herself that she will fight Adam when she has to face him and that she would not abandon her friends. And she would face Yang's wrath with a smile.
Raven and Cinder began to discuss about how the plan was going to go down and how many people would be there. Cinder was bored since she knew exactly how it would go down. She, Raven and the maiden would go to the room of the relic and retrieve it while Hazel, Mercury, Emerald and Leonardo kill everyone that tries to stop them. And yet Raven was just going on about what she already knew. There was only one person that Raven could mention that would perk up her interest. The only one who could let her see her sister, Strom Teitsia.
"So what are we going to do about the blind one?" Raven asked and got Cinder's attention.
"Blind one? Do you mean Strom?" Cinder asked to be certain. "If he is there then I will have to bring the pet to fight as well."
"I have seen him fight before and I'm not very impressed with him." Raven said while shaking her head. "He's strong, but he wastes his time with helping the weak."
"We can use that to our advantage." Cinder said and thought about a situation. "If we can knock him out and bring him back to Salem… everything would work out perfectly."
"Does he have something that you need?" Raven asked trying to learn more about her opponents.
"Just something that rightfully belongs to me." Cinder said as she smiled and stood up. "Now… shall we get started with the plan?"
"Like I have any other choice…" Raven sputtered before making a portal and walked through it.
"This is just perfect." Cinder said as she planned her betrayal on Raven.
Salem walked through her halls as she thought about the Gem she desperately wanted. The possibilities that the Gem's power held intoxicated her mind. If she could get her hands on that Gem, she may not need the relics after all. However she was getting worried about Strom Teitsia and how he is growing more and more accustomed to the power. She trained everyone to detect and protect themselves from his watchful gaze. When Tyrian told her about the time Strom managed to get in and watch him lose his tail she began to fear the worst.
"He is becoming more and more powerful by the second and he doesn't even know it." She said to no one but herself. "At this rate all of the Relics may be needed to utterly defeat him, but then again if he knows the risk of the power… he may be too frightened to use it."
She smiled at the thought and began to devise plans and strategies that would exploit his fears. She also devised counter strategies in the case that he was not afraid to use the full power. Whatever Strom was planning to throw at her, she made a plan for. And if all else fails… she would then go all out.
Hmm I thought that I would make this chapter a little longer than what it is, but I guess that's writer's block hitting hard again. Definitely doesn't help when work is overloading you with hours. Well until next time this is SirArondight riding off.