Roy awoke the next morning to see daylight pouring in through the sun room window. His mother, deeming it wiser to leave him be, had covered him with a blanket sometime during the night.
As he straightened his back, Roy discovered a very unpleasant crick in his neck. A crick he quickly alleviated with a brisk twist of his head. Standing up, he stretched and winced as yet another loud crack came from his back. Turning, he exited the sunroom and made his way into the kitchen. His mother was there, making breakfast; oatmeal with raisins and honey.
"Morning sleepy head." she greeted him with a smile.
"Morning mom" he replied.
Walking over to where he'd left his scroll, he picked the device up and slid it open to view any recent messages. The only new message was from Qrow and turned out to be quite short,
"Things moving quicker, meeting tonight. Details when you get here."
Roy slowly slid the scroll closed. Walking over to his mom, he cleared his throat. "Mom?"
Sharon turned around "Yes Roy?"
Roy fidgeted for a moment before speaking, "I'm leaving...Today."
Sharon's face fell, "But...I thought the meeting wasn't until tomorrow."
Roy silently showed her the message. Sharon sighed and turned back to the oatmeal she'd been making on the stove,
"I hate to see you go so soon." she said quietly, "But I know the world needs you more than I do."
Roy moved to his mother's side and gripped her hand, "I'll come back, I doubt we're going to leave Mistral that soon." he said, leaning his head on her shoulder.
Sharon raised her hand and softly touched her son's cheek, her fingers playing lightly around the scar on his cheek. "I wonder if this is how our ancestors felt when sending their children if to fight in the great war."
Roy softly pressed into his mother's touch, nuzzling her hand playfully. "Probably, but you've taught me to fight. I think I'll be just fine."
Sharon offered him a small smile, "Yeah, I think you will be too."
:
Two hours later, Roy stood in front of the cabin, Μόνος buckled to his waist. His mother stood on the path facing him,
"Well," she said "take care of yourself...Don't die...Oh! And you'd better write me!"
Roy rolled his eyes "Mom, This isn't goodbye. Once the meeting is over, I'll be back. So don't worry"
Sharon fidgeted with her hands, "Worried? Me? No!" she laughed nervously and sighed, "You will come in one piece okay?" Roy nodded and hugged his mother tightly. Sharon returned the hug fiercely "Because you'd better." she growled. As they separated, she scrubbed at her eyes.
Roy gave his mother one more smile before he turned and walked away from the house, losing sight of it as he rounded the bend in the trail.
It was 2:00 in the afternoon before Roy made it back to the capital. He'd neglected to ask Qrow where they were meeting, so he sent him a message asking about the location. As he waited for a response, he ran to the inn to pick up his helmet and check out of the room, using the last lien he had on him to pay for the few nights he'd been at his mother's house.
"I had half a mind to sell the helmet." the barkeep joked with a grin.
Roy picked up the helmet and cradled it, "I'm glad you didn't, this helmet is very precious to me."
The barkeep nodded, "Well you'll owe me then." He said causing Roy to chuckle.
Roy's scroll suddenly chirped from his coat pocket, "Sorry, I need to take this." he said apologetically.
The barkeep laughed "I understand, have a good day kid"
Roy raised his hand in farewell and exited the inn. Slipping his scroll out of his pocket, he slid it open and found that Qrow had sent him the address for a residence on a higher tier of the city.
In the city Mistral, the different tiers denoted social status, with the rich and comfortably well off residents living higher in the city and the middle class and poor living lower down. A large platform in the middle of the city acted as an elevator, transporting people to and from the different tiers.
As Roy ascended the city, he could see the changes almost immediately. When he'd first arrived, he'd been warped into a bar on a tier ten floors down from the top. The buildings were close together and a tad run down. Now that he was beginning into move toward the first tier he could see the buildings being spaced out and improving in quality. When he reached the second tier it became exclusively residentials.
The address led Roy to the east side of the tier where he was greeted by a large house. Walking up to the the porch, he raised his hand and knocked briskly on the door. After a couple moments the door cracked open and a pair of aqua eyes under a mop of red hair peeked around the door.
"Um," Roy began,"is Qrow Branwen here?"
The aqua eyes looked him up and down, lingering on Μόνος and sweeping up to his face. "Maybe?..." A female voice said warily.
Roy sighed, the girl was obviously going to be difficult. "Is he or not?" he asked, slightly annoyed.
The eyes narrowed, "What's the password?"
Roy blinked in surprise, "He didn't say anything about a password" he said sheepishly.
"Ooh tough break." the voice said, "Looks like you're not getting in then."
Roy struggled to keep his temper in check, "Look, if Qrow is there can you tell him that Roy Arashi is here?"
The eyes slid away from the crack in the door and Roy heard the sound of feet rapidly retreating from the door. Minutes passed and the girl hadn't returned. Roy was just about to pull out his scroll and call Qrow himself, when the door swung open again, revealing Qrow standing there with a slightly amused look on his face.
"Is this the "intruder" you were talking about?" he asked the girl standing behind him. Now that she wasn't hiding behind the door, Roy could finally get a good look at her.
She was shorter than Roy by about 3 inches and had red hair that fell to just above her shoulders. Her eyes were a nice shade of aqua green and twinkled with an inner light.
"Yeah that's him!" she said "Do you need me to break his legs?"
Qrow rolled his eyes, "That won't be necessary" He turned to Roy with an apologetic look on his face,"You'll have to forgive Nora" he said "she can be a little...difficult."
Shutting the door behind him, he stepped out onto the street to talk to Roy. "You know," the huntsmen said with a chuckle, "she described you as a "Pirate cat." Roy's hand unconsciously flashed to his eyepatch as Qrow continued, "I'll admit I was pretty happy when you sent me that text." The huntsmen took out his flask and took a drink, "Allies are pretty hard to come by these days."
Roy nodded, "Oh believe me, I know."
Qrow nodded back, "Right, let me fill you in on what's happening tonight, We've been trying to get some help from the guardian of the Haven Relic; Leonardo Lionheart. He's been noticeably stalling, that is until yesterday he sent me a message saying he wanted to meet. Something doesn't feel right about his abrupt change of heart, so I need you to be our perimeter guard. You will keep watch around Haven academy and if anything happens I need you to tell me immediately."
Roy nodded, "Understood." he said, "What exactly are you expecting?"
Qrow chuckled darkly, "I wish I could say for sure" Qrow motioned to the house, "We're going to have lunch soon, want to join?"
Roy quickly shook his head, "I've...uh... got other places to be." he said quietly.
Qrow nodded, "I can respect that. Meet us here at 6:30 sharp."
Roy threw a mock salute "Yes sir."
Qrow turned to go back in the house, "Get out of here...and don't call me sir."
Roy grinned and started to turn away, but something at the back of the house caught his eye. A wide veranda that looked out to the east set on a cliff that jutted out from behind the house. Roy walked out onto it and felt the breeze tickle his ears. The view was wonderful and it was very peaceful, an immense feeling of calm engulfed him. Setting helmet down, Roy sank down into a cross legged meditation stance. Nestling his hands in his lap, Roy allowed his breathing to slow and gently drifted into the calm sea of meditation.
:
"Hey Kid."
Roy was brought out of his trance by someone shaking his arm. He opened his eyes to find Qrow standing above him.
"Is it time?" Roy asked.
"Yeah," Qrow replied "I thought you said you had places to be."
Roy avoided Qrow's eyes, "I...well...I didn't-" he stammered.
"Feel like being around other people?" Qrow finished.
Roy nodded sheepishly.
"Eh, I know how that can be." The elder huntsman pulled out his flask and took a swig. "You're a loner, you work better alone."
Roy nodded. "Maybe." he stated simply.
Qrow screwed the lid back onto his flask "Are you ready?" he asked, turning to Roy.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Roy replied, punching his fist into his other hand with a meaty snack.
Qrow smiled grimly and turned to walk back into the house. "Good, pray no one dies tonight." he paused with his hand on the doorknob "You're praying man, right?" he shot over his shoulder.
Roy nodded, "I am now."
Qrow grunted and walked into the house, "Come on short stack, best not keep Leo waiting."
Well, there seems to be something rotten in the state of Mistral. How will Roy play into these events? who knows? WHO knows. Sorry for the short chapter, the next one will be longer. I promise.
Until next we meet,
-Ar3mRising.
