Elster walked out the building, Sehko staring at her with a curious expression while Tanith simply smiled.
"So?" Asked Sehko.
"My parents are debt free" announced Elster as Tanith nodded and Sehko grinned.
"That's great, but how much money do you have?" Asked Sehko concerned
"Way too much" Said Tanith
"Your not complaining" pointed out Elster
"I'm not, but I don't like how you acquired it"
"How?" Asked Sehko slightly suspicious.
Elster sighed "so basically cocaine-"
Tanith snorted and hit her arm, Elster smirking as Sehko barked a laugh.
"You had me for a moment" Sehko laughed.
"Okay, so y'know how my job was?" Asked Elster "just me, working eighteen jobs, no leave or holiday, only spending money on clothes once in a blue moon"
Sehko frowned and nodded "that'll do it"
"Yeah, it does"
"Also sounds pretty shit"
"I second that" said Tanith.
"I'll join you and third that" sighed Elster "to be honest I really don't remember much from those days, it's just a blur up until…" Elster turned her head and smiled at Tanith, taking her hand "until I met you"
"Gag" joked Sehko with a faux disgusted expression.
"Yeah, that was far too mushy for my taste" grimaced Tanith, going to pull away before Elster grinned and pulled her in with an arm round her shoulder.
"You say that Sehko, but I'm curious as to how you and Kolf happened" Said Elster
Sehko smiled slightly as she continued to stare ahead "Well, started out as we both just smoked together. Then it turned into friends with benefits, then one night…" she trailed off with a glazed over look in her eyes and a nostalgic smile "I confessed I had feelings and I was lucky enough to hear him confess his own, the rest is history"
"Wow, that's like, way more romantic then us" Said Tanith
"We were romantic" Said Elster offended.
"You asked me on a date after I had crashed and been disfigured, then on said date we helped some students beat up the white fang" said Tanith before pausing "I suppose that's romantic in a way"
"We had months of mutual pining" pouted Elster.
"Mmm I suppose" mused Tanith before looking at Sehko "So Elster told me something while she was high on drugs in the hospital"
"Oh god" groaned Elster
"Actually hang on, when she first woke up she was adorable" teased Tanith as Elster blushed and groaned "she was bouncing and wiggling and chanting my name and- Uh! Just really fucking cute!" said Tanith as Elster groaned with closed eyes and Sehko chuckled "but no, the second time she woke up she was a lot more coherent, and she told me of how you and her would… smoke the marijuhuana"
Elster and Sehko laughed at her exaggerated mispronunciation "you mean pot? Yeah we'd smoke together a few times" said Sehko when she'd calmed down "back then it was still illegal, so I don't know how she's a huntress" teased Sehko poking her in the arm.
"She got arrested when she was at Signal, did you know?" Asked Tanith
"Oh of course, we teased her about that for months and her parents! Oh her parents were so mad with her" Said Sehko putting a hand to her head as she grinned in memory.
"I knew you two would get along" grumbled Elster.
"This is great" smiled Tanith before she frowned "wait, back when it was illegal?"
"Hm? Oh yeah, I campaigned to legalize that shit as soon as I had a good reputation and allies, it's perfectly legal now, did you not know?"
"Well, let's be honest, what news team comes out to Menagerie to check up on the place?" Asked Tanith "it was probably a super minor story like a paragraph long"
"Probably" sighed Sehko in agreement before tilting her head "so I'm guessing you've never smoked?"
"No" said Tanith shaking her head "mainly cause no one offered"
"And you liked to drink instead" muttered Elster
"Not when I was on job" defended Tanith
"So, is being a politician hard?" Asked Elster to Sehko
Sehko laughed "oh yeah, it's easy, everyone should do it. No, it's… tough and I'll admit it's probably not doing anything good for my mental health in the long run, but it's gives me a great excuse to have smoking binges every now and then"
"And you can do it perfectly legally"
"Well that didn't stop me before" shrugged Sehko and they laughed.
They walked and chatted about more mundane things as they got deeper into the city, Tanith noting how it got busier and more crowded the deeper they went and how more people seemed to recognize Sehko and occasionally stop and talk to them. She couldn't help the slight feeling of unease she had, both at Elster accepting a contract so soon after getting her prosthetic and without
practicing with it at all, and the other reason was that she for once was the odd one out.
She didn't consider herself racist or even prejudice, it was hard to be when your significant other was themselves a faunus. But looking around at all the faunus around her gave her the feeling that she was surrounded, she knew it was a silly fear and that these people wouldn't attack her.
Then her thoughts would go back to the faunus in the horned mask who'd hijacked her, of how she had killed him. She didn't feel much regret, it was a situation where one of them was going to die. She was currently in what was essentially the home of the faunus where the white fang likely had lots of influence and anyone around them could be a white fang member and they probably knew she was human and-
Then Elster's arm would squeeze her shoulders or Elster's hand would squeeze her right shoulder and she'd be brought back to reality which was that most of the people around them looked like humans, some traits not obvious and she took comfort in the fact they probably thought her a faunus too.
Soon they were walking down a wide path with a big mansion at the bottom, truly massive when compared to the houses around it. Tanith looked at the guards patrolling it armed not with guns but spears and old armour they had likely gotten simply because of cost, not many people willing to supply faunus with body armour and guns.
"Okay, you ready?" Asked Sehko as they stood in front of the large wooden doors.
"Yeah" shrugged Elster, Tanith nodding in agreement.
"Oh… alright" said Sehko, slightly baffled before she turned and swung the large knocker making a booming echoing sound.
"Homey" muttered Tanith as she eyed the large home again. Then the door opened and a large man with a fierce beard stood there looking imposing and tough.
"Sehko!" Said the man, a grin splitting his face as he reached his hand forward and shook hers, her hand tiny in the man's.
"Ghira" nodded Sehko shaking his hand with a smile "I've brought over someone who may be able to help with the… Grimm problem" said Senior quietly.
Ghira's grin fell and he looked at Elster with a grim expression, Elster unwrapping her arm from Tanith's shoulders and holding her flesh hand out.
Ghira took it, a look in his eyes as of measuring her up. His eyes roamed over the many piercings in her exposed left ear and down to the jacket she wore, along the arms where a few bracelets were peeking out of the sleeve and lingering on the prosthetic before looking at her cargo pants and boots. Elster held his gaze as she felt his hand tighten slightly "Hello, my names Elster Castle and I'm a huntress"
His eyes widened slightly as he looked over at Sehko "Elster Castle? But Sehko you-"
"Yeah" nodded Sehko rubbing the back of her head "turns out she wasn't as dead as we all thought"
"I was not" agreed Elster.
His eyes seemed to narrow slightly before they were directed upon Tanith "and who are you?"
"I'm Tanith" shrugged Tanith "nothing special 'bout me"
"Is that so?" He said, his eyes flicking to her scars and then the tattoo on her right hand before going back to Sehko "well come in then and we can discuss this matter more… privately"
They walked inside, the door closing behind them. They walked through a few corridors before stepping into what Tanith guessed was Ghira's office. There was a desk with some photos turned away from them and a light along with documents scattered across the tables surface, hung on the walls were various awards or pictures of Ghira and what Tanith guessed was his wife.
Tanith froze, she stared at one of the pictures.
"Tanith?" Asked Elster, all of them sitting and looking at her as she stood staring.
"Ghira, is your last name belladonna?" Asked Tanith as she stared at the picture.
Ghira blinked before nodding confused "Yes, why?"
"Elster, just confirm what I'm seeing" Said Tanith as she grabbed the photo from the wall and showed it to her, Elster looking at it before her eyes also widened.
"Of course, how did I not put that together?"
"She didn't even change her last name" muttered Tanith.
"What are you talking about?" Asked Ghira, his voice irritated but at the same time slightly hopeful.
"Well Ghira, you have a missing daughter right? And her names Blake Belladonna?" Asked Tanith as she looked at the photo before bringing out her scroll and quickly opening her images, finally stopping on a selfie she'd taken with team RWBY and showing it to him "we were friends with your daughter while she attended Beacon" Said Tanith as his eyes widened in shock.
"B-Blake?" He said, leaning in so close to the scroll his nose almost touched it "it's her! That's my little girl! When was this?" He asked as he looked up at her.
"I took this photo a few months ago, back before the battle of Beacon and before the Vytal festival" said Tanith "your daughter was trying to be a huntress and was part of team RWBY"
"Do you know where she is now?" He asked desperately.
"No, neither does the teammate closest to her, she's alive but she disappeared after the fall of Beacon" explained Elster.
Ghira sat there in shocked silence "can you tell me about her, what she likes, has she been looking after herself? I must tell Kali and-" he began to stand
Sehko interrupted him "as amazing news as this is Ghira, can we perhaps hold off on anything until after you've explained the contract to Elster, then I'm sure they'll be happy to tell you bout your daughter" Said Sehko and Ghira took a deep breath before nodding and sitting back down.
"You're right, lets clear that up before I lose track of what we were doing" he said nodding regretfully "but tell me, was she alright?" He asked.
"She was fine, part of one of the best teams in Beacon and highly skilled" Said Elster.
Ghira nodded again before putting on a pair of glasses and shuffling the papers to the side until just one was left "good, now then, I'm guessing you're a huntress?" He said and Elster nodded "good good, I'm required to ask that by law" he said, a smile on his lips "so as you probably know, we have reports of a Grimm attacking one of our biggest melon plantations"
"Yes" nodded Elster "workers are refusing to work and that's bad"
"Precisely, considering their one of our biggest exports it's very bad. When can you take care of it?" He asked.
"I can deal with it today" shrugged Elster
"Really?" Asked Ghira surprised "today?"
"Yeah" nodded Elster "my girlfriend here is a bullhead pilot, she can take me over and I can have it dealt with by this afternoon" explained Elster "your reports say it's a Nidhogg?"
"They believe so, they found several holes connecting to a large subterranean connected system" explained Ghira as he handed her a few pictures, Elster skimming through them.
"Hmm, that'll be annoying. Depending on the size a simpler solution may be to just blow up the tunnels closest to the plantation" said Elster "But I'm confident that I'll be able to deal with it"
Tanith flicked her eyes at Elster with worry, flicking between her face and prosthetic before looking back at Ghira who nodded.
"Very well, now we must discuss price" Said Ghira as he shuffled some more forms.
They talked for a few more minutes about prices and expenses before Ghira finally slid the contract across the desk for Elster to sign, not a second later as soon as she was finished did he stand and walk to the door, opening it "come, tell us about our daughter over tea"
Elster and Tanith were lead through the Belladonna household until they stopped and were sat at a table to what they assumed was a large living area.
"Let me just get my wife" Said Ghira halfway out the door.
After a few seconds Sehko leaned over "you didn't mention that you knew Blake Belladonna!" She hissed.
"It didn't exactly seem like relevant information" replied Elster
"We don't even know the guy's last name till five minutes ago" pointed out Tanith
"How did you not! It's Ghira Belladonna!"
"Well-"
Their conversations was interrupted as a woman who was nearly the spitting image of Blake burst into the room "you know my daughter!" Asked the woman sliding to her knees on the other side of the table and slamming her hands onto it as she leaned over.
"Uh… Yeah?" Said Elster and Tanith leaning back slightly from the woman.
"Tell me everything! Has she been keeping clean, has she been feeding herself, did she mention anything about white fang, has she been washing behind her ears-"
"Kali! Please, given them some space" Said Ghira walking in and placing a hand on her shoulder.
The woman, presumably Kali, sucked in a deep breath and sat back "please, is my baby okay?"
Elster and Tanith looked at each other "the last time we saw her was a little before the battle of Beacon, from the only teammate of hers we've talked to since then she's alive, but she ran away" explained Elster "we just knew her in Beacon"
"Tell us" Said Kali
"Well, my first interaction with her was telling her to help me stop my bullhead from crashing. She did it easily" said Tanith "then my second interaction was when she threatened me in an alley for white fang locations"
The parents blinked.
"Okay, so her and her team had been investigating and fighting white fang in 'secret' so everyone in the school knew" explained Tanith "and Blake thought because of my behaviour and because I was associating with Elster that I was working for the white fang"
"She wasn't correct" Said Elster
"No, she wasn't" Tanith said bemused "after a few days and a conversation we came to an understanding, which is why we helped them take down a white fang rally"
They frowned at that "really?" Asked Kali "she was taking down white fang rallies?"
"Yeah" Elster and Tanith looked at each other briefly "you do know she used to be a part of it… right?" Asked Elster.
"Of course, it's the reason she left" replied Ghira regretfully.
"Oh" said Elster shifting slightly "well she's no longer a part of it, she was determined to take them down, alone if she had to"
"Oh Blake" sighed Kali rubbing her arms.
"But was she okay? Was she safe?" Asked Ghira
"As 'bout as safe as anyone whose chosen future career is to hunt monsters" mumbled Tanith.
Elster elbowed her "Yes, she was a highly skilled huntress who could hold her own in a fight. She was perfectly safe. She had teammates who would back her up without hesitation" Said Elster.
That seemed to console her as Ghira asked another question. Eventually after nearly an hour Elster had to insist she go and get to work as she saw the clock, Ghira asking them to come back sometime soon so they could talk more. Sehko bid them farewell and stayed behind, needing to talk to Ghira about some more matters of state.
The whole time Tanith had a small knot in her stomach.
~§~
Tanith leg thumped up and down against the floor of the bullhead as they flew over menagerie, the buildings beginning to thin and give way to forestry and farming.
"You okay?" Asked Elster eyeing her.
Tanith bit her lip before sighing through her nose "tiny bit worried, mainly about you going back out there after such short notice" said Tanith, eyeing her prosthetic.
"I know" nodded Elster "and I agree, I shouldn't. But I owe Sehko, I owe all of them and-"
"So by your logic if Nyoka asked you to join the white fang you'd do it because you 'owe him'" said Tanith.
"Of course not" replied Elster frowning.
"But your willing to just throw yourself at a Grimm because Sehko asked you too and told you she believed you could do it?" Said Tanith before scoffing "that's some fairytale crap if I've ever heard it Elster, I know you, I know your limits. But more importantly, you know them too"
Elster stayed silent as she looked to the side.
"They've given me a chance, I should try and make up for it" she said.
"By actually fucking dying?" cried Tanith, finally looking at her, not with a scowl but with a frown "you shouldn't be throwing yourself off a cliff just because your friends asked and you 'owe' them!"
Elster looked at her before looking away again "I'm sorry Tanith, but it's to late, I've accepted the contract and-"
"What a load of horse shit" laughed Tanith, no humour in her voice "this isn't about owing them or any other excuse. This is about pride, you want to impress them and make them think your some sort of strong huntress-"
"I literally told her I didn't think I would be able to do it!" shot back Elster
"But here we are" said Tanith throwing her hands up and gesturing around them "well done Elster, at least you told her once you wouldn't be able to do it"
"I didn't exactly see you trying to intervene" Said Elster
"Because I was expecting you to own up and tell her 'I can't do this'" Said Tanith "I'm not here to tell your family and friends that's you can't do something, you need to own up to that, not me" she said pointing to herself.
Elster huffed "Oh really? Your not exactly one to tell things to your family! How long did it take you to tell them about your condition?"
"At least I told them!" Snapped Tanith
"Yeah, after seven months and your cousin finding a bottle of your pills, Lucia had to guilt you into telling your parents" Said Elster
"That's different" Replied Tanith stiffly. The melon plantation coming into view.
"Well how about the time when your parents made you tell them about your gunshot wound, didn't seem too forth coming then either"
Tanith set her jaw as she focused on landing the bullhead, the air tense around them as she slowly lowered the craft to the ground. As soon as it thumped down Tanith turned off the engine and crossed her arms, not looking at her as she kicked her legs up on the dashboard.
"Go on then, go kill yourself and see if I care" Said Tanith, Elster pausing in leaving the cockpit in slight shock before hurt and outrage spread through her and she stomped away, Tanith hearing the door open and then close.
After a few seconds Tanith took a deep breath and put her face in her hands "god fucking dammit" she muttered.
~§~
Elster was still pissed as she marched across concrete toward the plantation's base of operations, a large wood building that overlooked miles of farm land that was clearly understaffed.
Tanith's words still echoed in her mind and made her fists tighten, her anger so distracting that she didn't even realise she was in the building until a worker asked what she was doing there.
"I'm a huntress" she snapped, then she shook her head and rubbed her face, letting out a breath "Sorry" she apologised "I'm a huntress here to deal with your Grimm problem"
"Uhh… right, bossman's that way" they said, pointing with a finger.
"Thank you" Said Elster, already walking away. She walked down the corridor, heading toward a room with double doors made of something higher quality than the actual building. Elster knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds, her anger boiling away as she focused on the task at hand.
"Enter!" called a voice from within and she opened the door to see a lavish office, red carpet with an expensive wood desk. Sat behind the desk was a heavy set man with two bull horns and gold eyes with dark blue hair.
"What do you want?" asked the man in an irritated tone of voice.
"I'm a huntress here to deal with your Grimm problem" Said Elster walking in.
"Well it's about bloody time" grunted the man, not even looking up "don't bother shutting the door" he said waving an arm when she went to close it. The man picked up a radio "Paka! Get in here!"
There was no reply but Elster heard footsteps a few minutes later and turned to see a woman with pale green eyes and ginger hair walking toward them, a ginger cat like tail swinging behind her and an annoyed expression which she schooled into a neutral smile.
"Yes sir?" She asked.
"Take her to the hole" waved the man.
"Of course sir" nodded the woman and held an arm out "if you'd like to come this way ma'am"
Elster turned and walked out of the office, the door shutting and the woman dropping the neutral expression back to annoyed "come on then" she said breathing out a sigh and walking down a different corridor.
Elster followed, not quite sure what to say as they walked.
"So" she started "did the Grimm appear recently?"
"Yeah, under twenty four hours ago" said Paka.
"Right, anyone been hurt?"
"No, one of the workers spotted the hole and reported it" said Paka.
"I hear that a lot of them are refusing to work" Said Elster conversationally.
"Yup, they don't feel safe" nodded Paka, opening a door to a large room, one wall open and facing the farm, inside the room were large farming vehicles, they ignored those as Paka walked over to a small buggy and climbed in, Elster climbing in beside her "can't blame 'em, but we're really close to harvest and we need them" said Paka as she started the engine, Elster suddenly noticing the lack of seatbelts as the buggy shot out of the garage with a roar and began to drive between large fields.
She grabbed the roof in a white knuckle grip as they rocked along, taking several minutes before they finally skidded to a halt. Elster looked around and spotted several workers gathered around something.
They both climbed out, Paka scowling "Hey! Don't you got work to do?" She shouted and the workers jumped then walked off talking amongst themselves and glancing at Elster.
Elster ignored them and walked to where they had been gathered, spotting the hole right in the middle of a field of melons. The hole wasn't a perfect circle and several meters deep, the sunlight not illuminating the bottom.
"That's definitely a Grimm of some sort" Said Elster as she crouched down beside it.
"Can you deal with it?" Asked Paka.
Elster stood up and huffed, dropping her weapons into her hands as Tanith's words echoed in her mind again and she scowled "Yes" she said gruffly as she dropped down into the dark.
Her boots hit the dirt floor and she stood up, weapons ready as she let her eyes adjust to the dark. The tunnel was a bit taller then her and at least six meters wide, a few roots coming through the roof. The tunnel was spread far in front of her, her back to the dirt wall as her eyes adjusted and the tunnel was still dark.
The only noise was her breathing as she tried to strain her hearing to see if she could hear anything else moving around in the dark with her. Nothing.
She wished Tanith was here.
She scowled and began walking forward, she didn't want Tanith here. That's what she told herself.
She paused as the tunnel split up ahead and cursed, the tunnels probably spread for miles. She paused and considered her options, she could make a lot of noise and attract the Grimm to her.
That wasn't a good idea, she should try and get the drop on it. She cloned and her clone set off into the left tunnel and she went through the right one.
Her clone came across another fork and cloned again, she had done experimentation with her semblance, like all huntsmen do. She would also admit that she hadn't done much, all she knew how to do was to clone and then her clones could also clone.
She paused as she found a tunnel splitting off left, she cloned and it walked off down the tunnel as she continued on.
This is how it continued for a long time, she didn't know where she was or how far she'd gone, occasionally finding openings to the surface that would provide shafts of light into the dark tunnels. She was contemplating heading to the surface and trying something else, none of her clones having encountered anything except each other or dead ends and she couldn't search all the tunnels, having coming close to her limit before all the perspectives and functions began to really tax her mind.
She paused and opened her scroll, some of her other clones also stopping and holding an imaginary scroll. She saw she'd actually been in the tunnel for three hours and opened the aura app, doing a quick measure, grimacing as she saw that she was down to half, holding all her clones up and walking who knows how many miles clearly draining her aura.
She dispersed all her clones and turned, remembering she'd seen an opening to the surface further back in the tunnel.
Then she froze. At the end of the tunnel behind her were two red eyes staring right at her.
She watched as the runes lit up on its skull plate. It had a flat paddle shaped head, it's skull plate covering the top leaving the mouth exposed to reveal a black tongue and small but sharp white teeth.
It gave a low growl and Elster got into a ready position, regretting the small space she was in. Then it charged, a straight shot toward her. Elster couldn't dodge to the side and she couldn't go over it, she turned and began to sprint down the tunnel.
She heard it's paddle shaped feet slamming into the dirt and coming closer and closer, her own feet being drowned out. Up ahead the tunnel turned left into a side tunnel, just as she felt the Grimm couldn't get closer she dived into it, the Nidhogg charging past her.
She quickly shot to her feet and peeked round the entrance of the tunnel, the tunnel ended a short distance away as it split off left again. Elster frowned, it hadn't been that way befor-
She was cut off from her thought as the dirt to the left vibrated and the wall burst open, the Nidhogg's armored face plate ramming her in the chest and she felt her back he pushed through the corner of the entrance to the side tunnel. The Nidhogg continued as Elster tried to get her breath back, failing as she was rammed into the earth on the other side of the tunnel.
Then the Nidhogg bit her boot and after shaking her from side to side it threw her down the tunnel several meters.
Elster groaned as she hauled herself up, she raised her left axe and went to pull the trigger to fire a fire dust shot into the Grimm's face.
She frowned when nothing happened, the Nidhogg now charging at her again. She turned tail and began to run. She brought axe up and looked at it, the index finger was broken and limp.
She twisted while running and raised her right axe, she fired and the dust ignited on the sparks of the shot bouncing off its thick skull plate. Fire filled the tunnel, Elster feeling a few flames lick her back and legs.
She stopped and turned to look at what was happening. The grunted as the Nidhogg burst through the smoke and rammed her, shoving her into the roof. She felt the dirt give way and then the sun on her as they broke the surface. She was relieved to be out of the dark tunnel until she felt the breath leave her body as the Nidhogg rammed her into a solid rock then right through it back into the ground.
She growled and swung her right axe blindly and managed to hit close to its eye, it retreated quickly and she pulled herself to her feet. She looked up as it charged at her again and she scowled before spinning the axe then swinging her axe in a lazy aura boosted uppercut. The Grimm caught the axe and was knocked back, sliding to a halt and lying on the ground with a groan.
Elster took the opportunity to breath before then doubling over and throwing up, her abdomen tender from being rammed in the chest and through the earth, she felt the sting of cuts on her body and looked down to see a few patches of blood on her clothes.
She looked around as the Grimm hauled itself up. They were on the border of the jungle and the desert, in the far distance to the east she saw the melon plantation. She knew her aura was weak given the amount of damage she had just felt and knew she'd need support, she quickly loaded a flare and fired it up into the sky before she flipped back, the Nidhogg ramming it's face plate into the ground where she had been.
It growled and then flicked its head up, sending large chunk of earth and rock and sand flying into the sky and Elster covered her head. She felt a large chunk of dirt hit her arm and she winced as it cut her skin, then she quickly rolled to the side as the Nidhogg charged her.
She rolled to her feet and ran after it, firing at her feet to launch herself forward.
She flew off to the left, forgetting the index finger in her prosthetic wasn't working. She thudded into the ground. She cried out as pain exploded in her chest, by the feel of it her ribs were broken, luckily though they hadn't stabbed her lungs.
She heard a growl and rolled onto her back, propping herself up on her elbows and watching as the Nidhogg stalked toward her. Why hadn't it just gone for the strike?
Then she realised. She felt fear, and the Grimm was loving it.
Her aura was broken. It hurt to move. A Grimm was walking toward her, it's large mouth opening to reveal the red glow of its throat that she was going to be going down.
She chuckled dryly, ignoring the pain. She felt fear, and it wasn't caused by having a nightmare, she'd consider it a success.
But the approaching Grimm made that hard to process.
She didn't want to die, she still had so much. She'd just reunited with her family, she had reunited with her friends.
She had Tanith.
The last thing they'd done was fight, and all because she wasn't willing to admit she'd made a mistake. Tanith had been right, she shouldn't of done this.
Then there was a whine, and from the sky appeared the bullhead, weapons at the ready as it began to circle. The Nidhogg ignored it until the bullhead began to fire at it.
It bucked and screeched in pain as black blood spurted from its fur, black pock marks decorating its bone plating. It's head and legs were well defended, but it's body was covered in fur and scales which the heavy caliber rounds easily pierced.
Elster threw up her arm as some dirt and sand was thrown up, then the ground rumbled as the Grimm began to dig into the ground. It was going to get away. Elster wouldn't allow it as her right hand gripped her axe and sloppily loaded a dust shot, she wasn't sure what type of dust.
She raised it, honing in on the exposed belly of the Grimm. She pulled the trigger. Her arm was thrown back as a burst of wind shot from her axe and hit the Nidhogg which squealed as it was thrown into the air and landed on its back with a crunch, it's limbs flailing as the bullhead continued to pump it fill of bullets,
By the time it righted itself there were pools of dissolving black blood around it, it's movements sluggish as it crawled back to its hole.
Then it's movements slowed to a halt and the bullhead stopped. Nothing happened for several moments before its eyes darkened and it began to dissolve into black smog that rose into the air.
The bullhead immediately landed, so quick that Elster would have to find the time to tease Tanith about the sloppy landing. Speaking of Tanith the door opened but Tanith didn't even wait for it to open fully as she sprinted toward her, a box in hand.
Tanith skidded to a stop beside her and grimaced in worry as she looked over her.
"I'm uh, I'm sorry about what I said" Tanith said as she opened the medkit and pulled out bandages "It was wrong of me, extremely wrong considering everything you uh… you told me in Atlas" she wrapped the bandage around her left arm, the gash severe and bleeding heavily, Tanith's eyes transfixed on it and not looking at her own "I… there's no excuse, I was worried and scared and angry about you doing this considering your… recent disability with practically no training" she shook her head "you had no choice in that situation, you were basically forced to sign that contract or you'd lose reputation and respect and… it was wrong of me to expect you to back out while talking face to face with Ghira"
Tanith swallowed and took a shaky breath and she began to wrap more bandages around her "You've done so much for me, You've helped me out so much and without you I'd probably be dead. I love how passionate you are about stuff you do, like photography and cooking. You put up with so much of my shit and get so little in return. You're the most important person in my life and…" she sniffled and wiped her eyes, her movements halting "a-and I love you, so fucking much, I just want you to know that okay?" She finally looked up, her eyes bright with tears as she looked up at Elster's face "I'm so sorry"
Elster continued to stare at her for a few seconds before she opened her arms, Tanith's eyes widening slightly before she leapt forwards and hugged her, Elster wincing slightly but not having the heart to move Tanith.
"You were right" Said Elster as she rested her forehead on top of Tanith's shoulder "I shouldn't of done this, I should've taken time to adjust but I didn't and… definitely payed for it" she chuckled dryly as they separated and she lifted her shirt and jacket to reveal bruises forming and various cuts and tears.
"Oh my god" Said Tanith as she went to touch them but stopped just before making contact "how did this happen?" She asked as she began to get more bandage to wrap around her.
"Well, a Nidhogg rammed me through several meters of earth and then a rock" she nodded toward the destroyed rock and the hole in the ground "I also did something to my prosthetic, the index fingers stopped working and I forgot. I shot into the air and broke some ribs on impact"
"Jesus Christ" sighed Tanith "okay, your gonna be okay" she said, more to herself.
"Probably" nodded Elster before she grabbed Tanith's collar and pulled her close, Tanith looking up at her and giving Elster the opportunity kiss her. Tanith made a surprised noise before kissing back, both of them staying in the moment before Elster pulled back but let her forehead rest on Tanith's.
"I love you too" she said with a smile, Tanith grinning back. "Also I threw up like ten minutes ago-"
"Ew gross!" Said Tanith, shooting backwards.
"Hey, you enjoyed that kiss didn't you?" Asked Elster with a grin and Tanith froze before making a disgusted face.
"I hate you" she said as she spat on the ground and Elster laughed despite the pain in her ribs.
~§~
"Come on, place it down" said Tanith, patting the kitchen table which had a cover over it.
Elster handed over her prosthetic which she had removed several minutes before and was much slower in its movements accompanied by the sound of crunching sand. She had changed and had a shower before applying fresh bandages to her wounds which weren't as bad as they had been.
Tanith hummed as she took it and grabbed a screwdriver, Elster covering a yawn that Tanith glanced at.
"Tired?"
"My aura is trying to repair my body and is depleting faster then it replenishes, I could eat to restore some aura or I could go sleep but" she looked over at the clock "I need to go pick up Bundi at three fifteen in like ten minutes"
"Quarter past three" mumbled Tanith under her breath and Elster rolled her eyes "you don't have to get him, I'm sure you could ask Poli"
"I wanna be there for him, and I want him to know that" said Elster resolutely.
Tanith stared at her before nodding "okay, go get you brother"
"Thank you" said Elster, kissing Tanith's cheek as she stood up.
"You sure you don't want this?" Asked Tanith, pausing her movements with the screwdriver and looking at her.
"Nah, I should try and get used to not having it" said Elster "I'm only going a few blocks"
Tanith nodded and went back to her work, reaching over to another tool. Elster walked out the door and looked around the street as she walked away.
She sort of regretted not putting on a jacket as people would glance or stare at her bruises and bandages, but she gave the impression of ignoring them as she internally cursed her slight limp. She briefly considered the fact that the school may not let her brother leave with her, but then she guessed Poli would probably be able to sort that situation out.
She unconsciously covered her stump with her hand, extremely regretting not bringing something to cover it as the scars glared at her on full display. Elster turned a corner and approached the school, hoping the slight limp she had wasn't as obvious as her bruises and bandages. She saw the looks she was getting from other parents and even the teachers, she ignored them as kids streamed out the front door, some of them even staring at her.
"Oh my- Elster! What happened?" Asked Poli walking up to her.
"Nidhogg" Said Elster tiredly but still giving a smile "it's dead"
"Are you okay?" Asked Poli in concern "I can bring Bundi home"
"No, it's fine, I'm already here aren't I?" Shrugged Elster waving her stump.
"Where's your prosthetic?" Asked Poli, her eyes on the stump that was on full display.
"Tanith is currently taking it apart and removing sand from it" explained Elster, her eyes scanning the kids coming out as her hand grabbed her arm in an attempt to cover the scars "I'm okay, aura helps to heal the body making bruises appear way faster" she said at Poli's worried look.
"Why were you even fighting a Grimm, you just got back" Asked Poli confused.
"Well-"
"Elster!" Called a little voice.
Elster and Poli both looked down to see Bundi running toward them.
"Hey Bundi" Said Elster smiling.
"What happened to you?" He asked as his eyes looked at her stump and bruises.
"That is the question" nodded Elster "how about I tell you on the way home?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay, I know your worried Poli, but it looks worse then it is" Said Elster looking up at her.
"Come on! come on!" Said Bundi tugging her sleeve.
"Alright" laughed Elster before smiling at Poli who was looking at her a little less concerned now but with a more happy expression "I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Okay" nodded Poli "bye Bundi!"
"Bye Poli!" He said absently before tugging Elster's sleeve again "what happened? What happened?" he asked eagerly.
"Calm down" Said Elster with a grin "now it was on this melon plantation" she began, Bundi listening eagerly.
~§~
Tanith looked up from the various pieces of prosthetic on the table as she heard the front door open and Bundi's voice, then Bundi entered the kitchen and stopped whatever he was saying as he stared in curiosity at the table.
"Hey Bundi" smiled Tanith, her eyes going up to Elster's expression of happy but tired "Elster, go get some sleep" she said, Elster nodding and walking into the living room. Tanith heard her collapse onto the couch and shook her head before pulling out a chair "c'mere little dude" she said patting the chair.
"Is this Elster's proshetic?" Asked Bundi
"Prosthetic, and yes it is" nodded Tanith as she picked up another piece and grabbed a pair of tweezers, beginning to pick out sand from the grooves.
"What's this piece?" Asked Bundi, his hand going for the dust core which was glowing a dull yellow. It was a cylinder with rectangle on its side showing a glowing yellow.
"Handle it carefully, and that's the dust core that powers it" explained Tanith as Bundi carefully picked it up and looked it over in curiosity.
"Woah, is it powerful?" He asked curiously.
"No, it's used by most common household appliances" shrugged Tanith.
He seemed to slightly deflate at that "Oh" he looked at all the pieces "so you unbuilt it?"
"Yeah"
"How?"
"I'm really good at machines, so I went and got a degree in it" explained Tanith "it also helps that I helped to make this"
"I like making things" said Bundi "I play this game with my friends and we build this really cool stuff, this one time we built this really big castle and it was super big and we pretended to fight in it and that we were knights defending it from monsters" he said, Tanith happily listening but occasionally struggling to follow what he said.
"That sounds cool" she said before looking at him "this isn't going to be very entertaining to watch. You don't have to sit with me"
Bundi shrugged "I don't mind" he said, he remained silent for a minute before saying "can I get my stuff and do some carving?"
Tanith paused and looked at Bundi "you do carving?"
"Yeah! It's fun" he said.
Tanith 'hmph'd' "sure then"
Bundi hopped off the chair and grabbed his bag, walking out of the room. Tanith heard him wander upstairs and began to disassemble the index finger. She heard him come down a moment later and looked up as he walked back in with a rolled up bundle and a small wooden figurine, he placed the bundle on the table along with the figurine and unrolled the bundle to reveal various tools.
"How did you get into it?" Asked Tanith curiously as he got to work.
"I like making things and so dad got me some tools and I watched some videos on the internet" he said distractedly.
Tanith watched him before doing an 'alright' expression and continuing with her work, both of them working in relative silence for several minutes, the only noise the ticking of the clock.
"Elster Castle!" Shouted a voice, breaking the silence as the door opened and Tanith looked up "young lady did you- Oh" Elster's mother stopped in the doorway to the kitchen at the sight that greeted her, Tanith with Elster's disassembled prosthetic in front of her and on the other side Bundi with some wood and his tools carefully carving.
"Hi…" Tanith trailed off, unsure what to call her "ma'am?" She tried
Elster's mother laughed and waved her hand "Oh dear, no no, call me Paulla please" she said before walking over to the counter a dropping her bag "hello Bundi, how was school?"
"Alright, the three times table sucks" he said frowning.
"Ah, such a simpler time" sighed Paulla before turning to a Tanith "do you know where my daughter is?"
"She's asleep in the living room, go have a look if you want and I'll explain" Said Tanith nodding toward the living room "she's adorable"
Paulla frowned, walking out of the living room and Tanith hearing her open the living room door. Tanith heard a soft gasp and silence for a few seconds before the footsteps came back and Paulla walked back into the kitchen wide eyed "what happened?" She asked worried.
"Well basically, your daughter is determined to repay everyone she knows. Sehko asked her to help out with a Grimm problem but she hasn't done any huntressing work since… well, since this" she indicated the pieces on the table.
"Silly girl" murmured Paulla
"But yeah, she got pretty beat up. She succeeded though, after being rammed through the earth and then through a solid rock. She's bashed up bad, her aura was depleted and she was using whatever she generated to repair the damage" Tanith put down her tools and looked up "basically its healing her body at a faster pace then your body or mine and essentially that means that bruises form way quicker then they should do, but they also disappear real quick"
"Right" nodded Paulla.
"But anyway, what were you going to yell at her about?" Asked Tanith curious
"Well-" Paulla cut herself off and stared suspiciously at Tanith's knowing smile "you already know"
"I'm guessing it's something to do with debt" Said Tanith innocently.
"It is" said Paulla "since my daughter is incapacitated, would you care to explain?"
"Well, your daughter was determined to pay off those debts, so she did" she shrugged "she's determined"
Paulla sighed and rubbed her temples "and where did she obtain such money?"
Tanith paused "your daughter worked eighteen jobs with no holidays and only really spent it on clothes occasionally" she said "she accumulated a lot"
"We'll have to pay her back" said Paulla tiredly.
"No you don't" Said Tanith as she frowned and held a tube up to her eye to try and see the dirt and sand escaping her.
"But we do! Neither of us like owing people" whined Paulla.
Tanith paused and looked at her before setting the part down, Bundi still happily carving on the other side of the table. "You don't need to pay her back, really" she said "you've already done enough"
"But we haven't done anything" frowned Paulla
"Oh, trust me, you have" assured Tanith "if you had seen the state she was in before we'd come here" Tanith shook her head "I don't know how I can emphasise enough about how nervous she was, I'm pretty sure she was almost sick at one point. But the way you guys just accepted her and accepted her apologies and comforted her" Tanith smiled "it's better then she thought it would be"
"How did you think it would be?" Asked Paulla curiously.
"I thought she was being ridiculous" said Tanith as she got back to work and Paulla gave a chuckle "especially after meeting you"
"I'll take that as a compliment"
At that moment the front door opened and Elster's father came into view, Paula frowning as she looked at him then the clock "your off early"
"Boss gave me the day off when he finally got word about Elster coming back" he grinned.
"That was kind of him, how did he hear?"
"I've been telling everyone"
Paulla smiled as she stood from the table and walked up to him, giving him a kiss before walking over to the counter top and boiling the kettle, that's when Elster's father turned and looked at Tanith who was trying to pry sand out of another piece.
"Hello Tanith" he said smiling as he walked up behind Bundi and ruffled his hair "hello Bundi"
"Aw Dad!" Objected Bundi with a pout as he tried to duck his head out of his laughing fathers reach.
"Hi…" Tanith trailed off as she struggled to think of what to call him "sir?" She said, getting flashbacks to the two years of aviation school and eight months she was in the military for.
"Oh, Pombo will be fine" he said waving his hand.
"Right" nodded Tanith
"Given your fiddling with her prosthetic I'm guessing my daughter isn't far?" He asked.
"She's asleep in the live room" said Tanith.
"Oh, why's that?" He asked "worn out already?"
"No… well actually sort of" said Tanith as she finally pulled the sand out and she dumped it in the pile "she had an encounter with a Grimm she really shouldn't of been trying to deal with"
"Too hard?" He asked
"Too soon, she's not done any practice with this" said Tanith indicating the prosthetic "go have a look and you'll see what I mean"
He hummed before wandering out of the room, coming back a few moments later with a grim expression "I've seen men come out of cage fights in better states then her" he said.
Tanith barked a laugh "it's the worst I've ever seen her, but I know she's recovered from worse"
"Like what?" Asked Paulla curiously as she sat back down at the table, setting down a mug for Pombo who accepted with a 'thanks'.
"Well you'll probably never see it unless she's wearing a bareback dress or something, but basically she had this nasty old gash on her back from when she was thrown into a wall by a Beringel" explained Tanith.
"She told us about that in a phone call" said Pombo.
"She said she just got a little beat up" frowned Paulla.
Tanith shrugged "I mean, you've got other things to tell her off for"
"What's that?" Asked Pombo.
"Our daughter disobeyed us!" Said Paulla.
"What'd she do this time?" He asked "can't be as bad as not contacting us for four years"
"I got this message at work!" Said Paulla, pulling out a scroll and pulling something up in her emails before shoving it in his face. He grabbed her hand and pulled it away from his face as he read the message, his eyes widened with each word.
"She…" he trailed off in surprise as he a long sip of his tea.
Tanith didn't say anything as she calmly kept working on Elster's prosthetic.
"How could she afford it? Did she pay with the money from the job?" He asked
"No, she paid before" Said Tanith
He nodded slowly and took another sip of his drink "that was very generous of her"
Tanith shrugged "she's determined"
"Do you not agree with her paying?" He asked raising an eyebrow.
Tanith had a quick internal panic that she may of offended them before quickly calming herself "No, it's more expensive to refuel the bullhead" she paused "I was thinking back to a… conversation we had, on the way to the job" she didn't look up and focused determinedly on the piece in front of her.
She saw Pombo nod understandingly out of the corner of her eye "I remember when we were young" he sighed wistfully.
"I am still young" Said Paulla indignantly.
"I remember when I was young" he corrected "me and Paulla would argue a lot, out of Elster's earshot bless her, as was the price of marrying so young"
"Did you only marry because… you were pregnant?" Asked Tanith curiously.
"Well, a testimony to our love sits opposite you now doesn't he?" He asked and Bundi looked up.
"What does that mean?" He asked in innocent curiosity.
"We'll explain when your older" was the immediate response from both parents, Paulla subtly smacking Pombo on the arm as he grinned with a knowing smile.
"My cousin got married recently, a little bit after having her own child" Tanith smiled "Elster told me she remembers your wedding at their wedding"
Paulla gasped and suddenly got up, dashing off upstairs as Pombo rolled his eyes "there she goes" he said quietly.
Before Tanith could ask Paulla was already back with a photo album she set on the table "I have all our photos here!" She said as she opened and began to flick through it, Tanith catching a glimpse of a photo of Pombo and Paulla when they were younger.
"Which one of you is into photography?" She asked.
"Me" smiled Pombo "do you have a photo album?"
"Yeah, Elster gave it to me as a gift, I believe it's in a bag upstairs" Said Tanith
"Can we see?" Asked Pombo.
"Sure" shrugged Tanith going to get up.
"Oh oh oh! Before you do!" Said Paulla and she slipped a photo from the album and held it up for Tanith to see.
Tanith gasped and took the photo "Oh my god look at her!" She gushed. The photo was of a wedding, a young Pombo in a suit and Paulla in a beautiful white dress. But her focus was on the small figure between them. It was unmistakably Elster with a head of messy black hair, her feathers much smaller and more similar to baby feathers then real ones, her dull blue eyes staring timidly at the camera with a small smile on her face as her balled fist held on tightly to Paulla's dress.
"She was so beautiful" sniffed Paulla.
"She's so cute" Said Tanith as she continued to stare at the photo before shaking her head "let me just go get our photo album"
She stood, washing her oil covered hands under a sink before heading up to Elster's room and fiddling through their bags before finally pulling the album out. She paused as she was about to head out and dug into a different bag, pulling out Elster's camera.
She came down stairs and instead of walking into the kitchen quietly tip toed into the living room, seeing Elster sleep side ways on the couch, her bruises and cuts looking better then they had earlier. She raised the camera and snapped a photo before looking at it and nodding in satisfaction, she left it on the coffee table.
When she returned to the kitchen both Pombo and Paulla were now going through the photo album, Bundi occasionally glancing up at them. But when Tanith sat down and placed the album on the table top Paulla was immediately on it.
"Oh, that's a nice cover" she said as she looked at the three photos on the front.
"Elster's the one that made it, some of the pictures are ones I took, you can probably tell" Said Tanith as she picked up the part she had been working on while Paulla flipped open the book and frowned at the first image of Elster two years ago.
"Look at her" Said Pombo sadly.
"Yeah, it starts off sad considering it's supposed to be a gift" Said Tanith.
"She's changed so much" Said Paulla looking at the old image of Elster and Elster from a few weeks ago. Then they turned the page to see the writing before flipping it again to see the collage of pictures of Tanith.
"Someone's obsessed" Said Pombo with a smile.
Tanith smiled even as she blushed slightly "she said she was really proud of that page"
"It's a nice page" smiled Paula before flipping it and beginning to go through the album, Tanith explaining where needed. When they got to the photo of the hospital and bar Tanith quickly thought up a cover story of the doctors thinking she might of gotten an infection, and the photo of her drunk and unconscious from her celebrating after finally getting out of hospital.
"Hmm" hummed Pombo after nearly an hour had passed as he looked at a picture "I'm guessing those are your parents?"
Tanith leaned over and nodded "Yup, Arnold and Katrina Mort" she pointed to another photo "that's Lucia my cousin and her husband Arthur" then at another "and that's Max"
"I hope we get to meet them one day" Said Paulla.
"I'm sure that will happen" shrugged Tanith.
"What do your parents do?" Asked Pombo.
"My dad works as an engineer for the CCTS and my mum's a teacher, small kids" Tanith smiled "nothing too exciting, definitely got my skills from my father though" she said as she pulled out the last bits of dirt and sand and began the process of putting it all back together.
"It's advantageous to have those skills I imagine" said Pombo watching her work.
"Oh yeah, I wasn't anything exceptional in school or college, until I sat down in a bullhead simulation" Tanith grinned "got an unconditional offer from the Atlas school of aviation"
"So you spent some time in Atlas?" Asked Paula intrigued.
"Yeah, as joyous as that was" said Tanith sarcastically "I didn't like the country or the people in it, but I passed after two years so didn't think I'd have to spend long. Then I was drafted into the military as a pilot"
"You were drafted in even though your from Mistral?" Asked Pombo frowning.
"Mm" nodded Tanith "basically I was a special case because of my 'exceptional bullhead skills' as they called it and upon obtaining my license I also gained Atlas citizenship, not that I asked for it" she said shrugging "it would be different if I applied to be a soldier cause they'd flat out refuse a foreigner like me"
"Never been to Atlas, went to Vacuo for our honeymoon but that's as far as we've gone" said Pombo
"Don't go to Atlas" said Tanith flatly "cold, well for you it would be cold, people are generally racists and spoilt snobs, military state and most importantly, Schnee's"
Tanith paused and tilted her head from side to side "well actually me and Elster were friends with some students, one of which being Weiss Schnee, and she's alright"
Pombo nodded as Paulla continued through the book, her face turning to confusion as she settled on a page.
"Who're these guys?" Asked Paulla, Tanith leaning over to see the image of Elster smiling with team HLTP around her.
"That's team Heliotrope, they were friends of hers from Beacon. That's Hayden the leader and that's Khara, Frey and David" she said pointing them out "we met them on the job that Elster lost her hand, unexpectedly of course. Elster was anxious at first… but it all worked out well for her"
"They look like nice people" said Paulla
"I think I remember her mentioning them once or twice" mused Pombo as they went over several pages of Elster, HLTP, Hallow, Elster losing and recovering from her hand. Finally finishing on an image of Elster and HLTP around a bar table chatting.
"I think it did her a lot of good, seeing them again" Said Tanith "I also think it really helped in solidifying her decision to come back"
"I'm just glad she's okay" smiled Pombo.
"Also I think being high on medication helped"
The adults all laughed while Bundi looked at them with a confused smile, not sure why they were laughing.
A snap came from the doorway and they looked up to see Elster standing there looking at the photo she'd just taken on her camera.
"That's a good shot" she murmured to herself.
"Young lady!" Said Paulla standing up, still not taller then Elster but close enough.
"Jesus, that's brought back some memories" Said Elster blinking at her before wandering into the kitchen and placing her camera down, squeezing Tanith's hand as she passed toward the kettle.
"Elster" said Pombo in a singsong voice and Elster clicked on the kettle before slowly turning toward him "your in trouble"
"I hope you don't ground me" she said, amusement in her eyes and she crossed her arms.
"I would if I could!" Said Paulla stamping her foot "we told you not to pay!"
"Ah, but life is so full of mysteries isn't it?" Mused Elster as the kettle boiled silently.
"And you got seriously hurt!" Said Paulla.
"On that matter I side with your mother" agreed Pombo.
Elster rose an eyebrow "I wasn't hurt that bad" she defended.
Everyone looked at her with a blank look, eyes darting to bandages and bruises and she nodded conceding the point "Okay, so maybe I was slightly beat up"
Paulla chewed her lip before sighing "I don't like seeing you like this"
"It's part of my job" shrugged Elster "sometimes I… look like this"
Paulla simply nodded absently as she looked to the side, her eyes trailing to the photo album, Elster now also catching sight of it "Oh, you got out ours as well, I thought you were just looking at old family photos" she said as she turned and poured herself a drink.
"Well I saw a photo of you" Said Tanith smirking "you were sooooo cute" she teased.
Elster sighed and shook her head "why haven't your family brought out baby pictures?"
"Oh but you were so cute" sighed Paulla as she sat back down.
Pombo rolled his eyes with a smile before looking at Elster in concern "How're you holding up?" He asked.
"I'm okay, pretty sure my ribs are no longer broken and most of my cuts have healed" she said as she pulled up a chair and sat down next to Tanith.
"You broke ribs?" asked Paulla distressed.
Elster sighed and reached forward with her hand, grabbing her mother's and squeezing comfortingly "mum, I've suffered worse okay? I'm fine now, this was just all a big mistake. I did something I shouldn't of"
"Are you sure you rested enough? You've only been asleep like two hours" pointed out Tanith.
"I didn't need that much, just enough to replenish some of my aura" shrugged Elster as she took a sip of her coffee.
"If you needed energy why didn't you just take one of Tanith's pills?" Asked Bundi with the tact of an eight year old and Tanith closed her eyes and let out a slow breath as Elster choked slightly on her coffee, her parents looking confused.
"Pills?" Asked Paulla.
Elster sighed "I should've seen that coming back to bite us in the ass" she muttered, her eyes glancing at Tanith who was looking down, her eyes focused on the pieces in front of her.
"Is something wrong?" Asked Pombo looking between them.
"Nothings wrong" sighed Tanith "I would've preferred not having to explain my condition to my girlfriend's parents after just meeting them"
Pombo looked at her for a long moment before nodding "then don't"
Tanith blinked and looked up at him confused "what?"
"If you don't want to tell us then you don't have to" he said shrugging as Paulla nodded in agreement "it's your personal business and as long as it isn't harming our daughter then we're okay not knowing"
Tanith looked at him before blinking and rubbing her eyes slightly as they grew wet "thanks" she said quietly "you don't know how much that means to me"
Pombo smiled "I think I do"
They sat in a comfortable silence as Paulla continued to look through the photo album, Pombo watching over her shoulder while Elster switched between watching Tanith reassemble her prosthetic and Bundi carve.
Eventually Bundi looked up "so what's for tea?" He asked
Paulla smirked as she looked at him "well I was planning on doing chicken"
"Can I help out?" asked Elster.
"Of course you can" smiled Paulla, looking eager at the prospect.
"I should be done with this in about ten minutes" said Tanith indicating the prosthetic which was mostly assembled.
"How bad was it?" Asked Elster
"You busted the hydraulics in the index finger and there was sand and dirt in every gap and crevice" said Tanith "try not to do that again"
Elster shrugged "not my fault the Grimm rammed me through and into four walls and through a rock"
"It did WHAT?" cried her mother and Elster sighed as her father chuckled.
~§~
Elster lay down on the bed, playing a game on her scroll that Tanith had gotten her addicted to in her spare time. Tanith was getting changed and Elster thought her own self control was great considering she only looked about three times.
Then she looked up as Tanith straddled her, letting her scroll flop to the side and letting her hand and stump rest on Tanith's thighs.
"Hello" she said smiling.
"Hi" replied Tanith smiling slightly as she let her hands trail over the bandages on Elster's chest. "You're okay"
Elster nodded "I'm okay, a little beat up and a slightly wounded pride, but I'm alive"
"I'd rather have a wounded pride Elster then a dead one"
"I dunno, my pride is feeling pretty wounded" pouted Elster
Tanith leaned forward and kissed her, Elster kissing back happily. Tanith was the first to pull away and simply let her forehead rest against Elster's "you're alive" she said, more to herself "but you almost weren't"
A regretful expression crossed Elster face "I almost wasn't" she agreed.
"I was scared, you were just laying on the ground and blood…" Tanith trailed off and grimaced "the last thing we'd done was fight, when I got to you and I apologised… I did it cause I was scared you wouldn't make it, because I didn't want you going without knowin-"
Tanith was cut off as Elster kissed her, silencing her as they stayed locked for a long time, finally separating for air. "You didn't need to tell me" smiled Elster "I know you love me"
"I do" agreed Tanith "and you love me"
Elster grinned and leaned forward, nuzzling Tanith's face and working toward her neck "I'd be silly not to"
Tanith wrapped her arms around Elster's neck and rested her head on her shoulder "Yeah, it's a privilege to know me"
~§~
So with a new volume of RWBY coming I'm going to put this story on break until it's finished, I've got other chapters in the works but I'd prefer to know a volume ahead what's happening, when Volume 6 is finished I'll start posting for volume 5 the first chapter of which will be a big chapter going over the time skip.
Of course when I've finished volume 5 I'll have to put the story in break again. In the meantime I'll probably start posting other stories and maybe even continue with escaping the apocalypse.
So just to clarify.
THIS IS NOT OVER.
I'm too invested in the story to quit now. This is like the biggest project I've ever done, even after a changed my name and deleted my old fics. We recently hit 12,000 views which is frucking awesome!
So just hold out and let's look forward to the next awesome volume!
Also I feel like the song skyfall is an appropriate sound track for this entire fic. See you on a few months.