Chapter Ten: Kuroyuri
Mistralian Countryside, Kingdom of Mistral
"I'm sorry."
Most of the morning, Ozpin had been relatively quiet, leaving Oscar in a much welcome time of peaceful silence as he packed his things. Even so, everything Ozpin had been telling him in the previous weeks had washed over him at once, and it had been a long time before the farmboy approached his bag on his bed, packed with meager necessities, and then slipped quietly from the house to the world outside.
After Oscar had shouted Ozpin away before supper a few weeks prior, the Voice had given him a few days to calm down before it began its needling again. By then, it was becoming far too apparent to Oscar that this was more than a hallucination. He couldn't quite explain it even to himself, but within him, a spark had begun to ignite, an inexplicable need to escape his home and go on the move that brewed within him.
He had thought back to his many mornings gazing at distant, snow-capped mountains and all of the wistful desires he had had of life beyond his aunt's farm. Now, here he was, with someone offering him the opportunity to fulfill his dream. Not many people could say the same.
Still, it was with some hesitancy, and much prodding and pleading from Ozpin, that Oscar had finally acceded to the Voice's request. Quietly, so as not to wake his aunt, Oscar had packed up his things in a large backpack and sneaked away, and it was now, when he was out on the dirt paths leading to a nearby train station, that Ozpin spoke to him.
Oscar replied softly, "You know… the weirdest part is how it feels. Leaving home is crazy. Going to the city is crazy. Everything you've told me is completely crazy." He gave a slight pause. "But it doesn't feel crazy anymore. It feels like I'm doing the right thing."
Ozpin sounded thoughtful a moment later when he responded, "Well… I suppose that's good."
"No." Oscar stared at the winding path ahead of him, knowing that this was merely the humble beginning of a long and harrowing journey that wouldn't end with him reaching Mistral. "It's scary."
Overhead, thunder rumbled in the distance, prompting Oscar to quicken his steps down the path towards the station.
Although the thundering downpour obscured any hint of the sun in the sky, it was
nearly noon by the time Oscar had reached the small building that waited along the rails. Lightning flashed in the sky every few moments, and thunder drummed on not far behind it. Oscar's short black hair was plastered to his forehead from the rain, his clothing soaked as he finally dashed under the overhang of the train station and hurried over to a ticket dispenser.
There were no other people around that Oscar could see, probably held off from the rain, and a stopped locomotive rested on one of the tracks. The glowing blue screen lit up the boy's face, the words Welcome! Scan Lien to begin flashing to life on its surface. Oscar withdrew a Lien card from his pocket and held it up to the sensor, but the machine immediately flashed read and displayed a new message.
ERROR. Unable to complete request. REASON GIVEN: Insufficient Funds (Code: 726)
Oscar sighed. "Stupid thing." To his mental companion, he said, "I'm assuming whatever weird magic this is doesn't come with an infinite supply of money?"
Ozpin chuckled slightly. "I'm afraid you'll have to solve this one on your own." However, a moment later, Ozpin's voice returned, now serious and hushed. "Be on your guard."
Confused, Oscar replied, "What do you mean?"
Momentarily, his question was answered as a deep voice from his left said, "Here." Oscar turned towards the voice to see a tall, burly man approaching him from the rain. The man wore a dark, olive coat over simple black clothing and towered over Oscar in stature. A trimmed beard matched his dark eyes, and he carried an air of silent menace around him as he walked up the machine and raised a large, meaty fist. Oscar ducked away with a frightened gasp, but the man's hand came down on top of the machine with a loud bang. Immediately, the ticket dispenser whirred and spat a ticket out onto the ground as Oscar stared at the fist in trepidation.
The large man turned and walked back out into the rain, leaving Oscar behind as he bent to scoop up the small scrap of paper, never taking his eyes off of the large man. Inexplicably, a sense of dread had filled the boy the minute the man had approached him, and he nearly flinched as the man paused and looked back at him over his shoulder. The deep voice growled out, "Don't let such a small obstacle block your path." With those parting words, he continued, walking into the rain to some unknown destination.
"That man," Oscar murmured. "I felt… Who is he?" In the distance, a train horn sounded.
Oscar may not have known who Hazel Rainhart was, but Ozpin's voice held unmistakable familiarity as he replied, "Someone from my past. Someone who should not be taken lightly."
On the other set of tracks, the train that had whistled whizzed by them, coming as quickly as it went as Oscar settled in to wait for his own departure, unsettled by his unexpected meeting.
Former Settlement Kuroyuri, Kingdom of Mistral
Ruby and Jaune paused as they came to a ruined stone arch that might have once been a welcoming sight. "Oh, man," the blond boy murmured as they both took in the devastation before them.
If Oniyuri had been wrecked, Kuroyuri had been devastated. Unlike the large, abandoned city, Kuroyuri had clearly suffered a horrifying attack. There wasn't a single building that wasn't cracked, broken, or blackened from fire damage. Rubble was strewn randomly around the village, and at the entrance, a collapsed sign bearing the settlement's name was their welcome to the ruined community. The gray sky overhead did little to comfort the two friends.
Although she shared Jaune's sentiments, Ruby quietly said, "Come on." With that small urging, the two entered, Qrow being silent for the moment between them. As they walked deeper into the village, the uneasy feeling that rose from the silence was almost palpable in the air. As much to hear her own voice as to ask the question, Ruby asked, "Any of these places look like a pharmacy?"
Jaune took a moment before replying, "It's… honestly hard to tell." He stared at a small, abandoned bicycle that lay rusted upon a pile of debris, likely once a child's.
"Ren really didn't want to come here, did he?"
"Uh… didn't seem so."
Ruby looked back at him. "Do you know… why?"
Jaune's head was bowed as he sighed. Ren had rarely discussed his or Nora's past before coming to Beacon, but the bits and pieces the blond boy had been able to pick up combined with the decimated town around them painted the picture vividly. "I think I have a pretty good idea…"
THEN…
Lie Ren smiled as he knelt beside the small, man-made stream of Kuroyuri. He had spied a beautiful waterlily in full pink blossom. The sky was a crisp, crystalline blue above him, and it reflected in the stream radiantly.
From the side, he heard his mother laugh as she came out from their house, a small basket over her arm. "Why hello, little Lie." She noticed him kneeling next to the stream. "Are we trying to catch a fish?"
Ren pointed to the gentle plant resting on the water's surface. "I found a flower on the water!"
An Ren smiled at her son. "Oh, I see!"
Ren hurried over to her, an eager smile on his own face. His mother was dressed similarly to him, a green dress ending at her feet highlighted with spots of deep magenta on her sleeves. Her dusky rose hair was short, tied in a bun behind her, and her pink eyes flashed mirthfully down at her son. Excited by his find, Ren asked his mother, "Can we take it home and plant it in the garden?"
With a gentle frown, An replied, "Oh, no, sweetheart, that flower lives here."
Ren looked down at his feet, disappointed, but his mother rubbed his own hair, also held up in a bun, a moment later with a smile. "But I'll tell you what you can do." He looked up as she withdrew some money from within her sleeve. "Take this Lien and go find something nice for your father's return. He's been hunting for quite some time. I bet the journey's been very tiring, don't you?"
The young boy accepted the Lien. "Yes."
"Do you think you'll know what he wants?" his mother asked.
Ren thought for a moment, then grinned. "I think… he wants a water flower in the garden!"
An chuckled at that and gave him a playful spank. "Why did you have to inherit my sass?" Ren giggled as he ran away, across the small wooden bridged that extended over the creek towards the market in the center of town, his mother watching him go with a fond smile.
Ren ran into the marketplace and looked around at the people milling about, glancing around at several small booths before he spied the weapons stand. His father always liked a good knife. The boy dashed up to the man working the stand and extended his Lien as he asked, "What can I buy with this?"
The man looked at him and chuckled. "Well, something just your size," he replied as he ducked under the counter and emerged with a pair of wooden toy weapons, a sword and a hammer.
Ren, however, gave a disappointed groan. Of course, he was too young to buy an actual weapon. However, he spied a different type of stand across the street with a short line. Quickly, the boy hopped behind a man and waited for his turn. When the man left, Ren stepped forward and offered his Lien. "Sake, please."
The liquor merchant looked down at the young boy and gave a slight sigh of annoyance as he shook his head. Ren groaned again, once more unable to buy something for his father.
Dejected by his failure, Ren walked down the main street of town until a pleasant scent caught his attention and drew him towards the bakery window. Several frosted treats looked back at him from behind the glass, and Ren smiled. Finally, something he could buy for his father!
"Hey, get back here!"
Ren was stirred from his thoughts by a cry from around the corner. It had been an older boy, shouting at someone. As he approached the corner, laughter carried around from the alleyway. Ren peeked around the edge and spied a group of kids standing in a circle. Quietly, he crept further until he was in the entrance to the alley and could see the full scene.
Three boys were standing in front of another kid, a young girl, who was crouched down low in front of them. All of the boys were laughing at her, and she looked back at them warily. Bright cyan eyes stared back at them as they mocked her from behind dirty orange hair, smudged like her face with grime. Her clothes, a small brown jacket, rolled up pink pants, scuffed and worn sneakers, and a white shirt with a pink heart on it, were equally filthy. In her hands she clutched a loaf of bread as she cowered away from the bullying boys.
"Where'd you get that bread?" the tallest of the bullies was saying. "I didn't see you pay for it, thief!"
"No, look, it's all moldy!" said the shortest.
The first laughed. "I think she got it from the trash!"
"Let me see!" the third said, reaching towards the girl. In response, she drew back and snapped at him, biting his finger. "Ah, she bit me!" he cried, holding his hand. The tall boy looked at him in surprise before the one who'd been bitten pushed the girl down in anger. The girl let out a small whimper as she fell to the ground, but she scrambled to her feet and leaped atop the loaf, which she had dropped, then cowered from the bullies again as their ridicule continued.
"Where'd she come from?"
"She's dressed all weird!"
"I bet she's abandoned! Like a dog or something!"
"Does that mean I have rabies?" asked the one who'd been bitten.
Ren had been silently moving forward, unsure of exactly what he planned to do but wanting to help the bullied girl. She watched him intently as he moved, staring at him with wide eyes. However, noticing her gaze, the boys stopped laughing and turned, catching sight of Ren. Ren panicked, backing away quickly before he turned to run, his eyes never leaving the bullies until he ran into something that knocked him to the ground.
Ren pushed himself up and took in the sight of a man towering over him. The man was dressed in a deep green tunic that opened at his waist to reveal long black pants and leather sandals. The tunic was sleeveless, ending in gold highlights at the shoulders, where the white sleeves of his undershirt extended to his wrists. His left hand wore an archer's glove, typical of Kuroyuri's hunters, and his sharp black goatee and ponytailed hair showed slight, peppered streaks of gray as he gazed sternly at the group of boys at the end of the alleyway.
Slightly dazed from running into the man's legs, Ren looked up in surprise. "Father?"
Li Ren surveyed the scene, his expression bordering on outrage. "What is happening here?" he demanded in anger.
The bullies froze for a moment, and the young girl took the opportunity, tripping over herself with a cry as she fled down the alley and disappeared around the corner. A moment later, the bullies followed her example, turning and running down a different sidestreet.
The elder Ren watched them go, then looked down at his son. "Do you wish to run with the rest of them?" he asked, motioning in the direction the boys had run. Ren, who had been looking into his father's eyes, lowered his head in shame.
Li went down on one knee beside his son and placed a hand on his shoulder, his voice serious but teaching. "Sometimes the worst action to take… is taking no action at all." He paused to let the information sink in, then gave a silent sigh. "Go home." He stood. "I need to speak with the mayor."
Ren watched his father go, turning after a moment to stare down the alley after the direction the bullied girl had fled.
NOW…
Jaune walked up to Ruby from behind, his inspection of the latest ruined building concluded. "Nothing." They had been looking for an hour, but if they'd come across Kuroyuri's infirmary or hospital, it had been far too damaged for them to tell.
Ruby turned back towards the center of the town. "We should get back to Qrow."
They walked in silence to the large, dead sakura tree where they had left her uncle. Qrow remained propped up against the tree, still unconscious and groaning every few moments as Ruby knelt down beside him, a hand held to his bandaged wound. The bandages were still stained purple from whatever Tyrian's venom was doing to Qrow's body, and all that Ruby could do was kneel beside her uncle in worry as Jaune watched over them.
A lonely howling sound echoed out from the dead forests around Kuroyuri, prompting Jaune to turn towards the noise, his hand tightening on Crocea Mors' handle. Ruby had looked up with him, but she reassured him, "It's far off."
"I know," he replied, not turning around, "but Ren and Nora are still out there."
Sadly, Ruby looked down at her unconscious uncle and stood, eyes downcast in self-contempt as she approached Jaune from behind. "I'm sorry."
"Huh?" Surprised, he turned, and she didn't meet his eyes.
"This is all my fault." She shook her head dejectedly. "I should have never dragged you guys into this."
Jaune didn't smile, but his face softened as he stepped towards her. "You didn't drag us in. We wanted to come."
Ruby turned towards Qrow. "But you didn't know about Tyrian, about—"
"Ruby." Something in his voice made her pause, and she turned back to face him. "We lost…" He trailed off, his own gaze dropping as he continued, "We lost Pyrrha. You lost her, too. And Penny, and your team, and," he looked back up at her, "in a way, your sister.
"But you're still here. Despite everything you've lost, and everything you could still lose, you chose to come out here. Because you felt like you could make a difference." She looked up at him, blinking rapidly, and he smiled. She had been his first real friend, and he wanted her to know that he was here for her. "You didn't drag us along." He placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "You gave us the courage to follow you." Her head dipped a bit and she closed her eyes, a grateful smile gracing her lips as she looked back at him, the words in her silver eyes saying more than her voice ever could.
THEN…
Ren gasped himself awake, looking around his room for what had awoken him. However, everything appeared quiet, and it took his sleep-dulled senses a moment to register that something didn't feel right.
His door opened quickly as his mother rushed in. "Lie, get up!" she said to him, fear written on her face. "We have to go."
Slow to process her voice, Ren drowsily said, "Mother?" as An hurried towards him and urged him, "Now, right now, okay? Let's go!" She grabbed him by the wrist, Ren only distantly registering that the belltower was ringing its alarm signal as they ran into the kitchen. The front door burst open as they entered, his father staggering in with his bow in hand as he breathed heavily.
"Li!" his mother said in concern.
"An, what are you doing?" Li replied. "We need to hurry!"
"We can get to safehouse!" An said, her hand clutching tightly to Ren's.
"No," her husband replied in a low voice. "I saw the beast. We need a Huntsman. And you two need to leave."
"What?!"
Everyone was silent as, on the other side of the village, an otherworldly, hellish shriek split the air. Ren's flesh crawled as he recognized it as the sound that had jolted him from his sleep, and he looked up to An in fright and pressed closed. "Mother!" he whimpered fearfully.
An knelt down beside her son and looked him in the eye, her smile reassuring. "It's okay, darling. Everything's okay—"
The creature, whatever it was, roared again, this time much closer, and the ceiling above his mother shattered violently. The last thing Ren saw before something hit him hard in the back of his head was An smiling at him…
When he awoke, people were screaming around him, and he felt himself being carried. In his ear, his father was panting as he ran with Ren in his arms, and all around, the sounds of chaos were evident. Ren slowly blinked his eyes open, his head thudding with the footfalls on the cobbled streets. Disoriented, he looked to Li. "Father? What… where's Mother?"
Li didn't reply, a cut above his left eye streaming red into his vision as he ran. Ren began to panic in his arms. "What's going on?!" the boy cried. "Where's Mother?!"
Behind them, the glowing of fire yet unseen illuminated the walls of untouched buildings, and a large plume of smoke billowed into the sky as the other villagers ran away in horror like a stampede of cattle. Li tripped with a grunt as the ground shuttered from a distant explosion, spilling Ren to the ground. "Father!" the boy cried in alarm.
Li Ren groaned as he pushed himself up on his arms, the crowd running by them
paying little heed to the fallen father and son. The man looked to Ren. "Lie," he rasped, "you have to run!"
Ren crawled to his father's side, placing a pleading hand on his knee. "No, no please! Get up!" he begged, before the shriek split the air again. Ren turned and gazed into the smoke, watching as the shadowy shape of a horseman and rider with glowing red eyes prowled through the fiery cloud, towering over the terrified villagers.
"Listen to me, son." Li said urgently, drawing Ren's attention back. "You have to be brave now." He gasped sharply in pain, likely from a cracked rib when he'd fallen. "Do you understand?"
"No, please, please, I can't!" Ren pleaded, shaking his head as he cried.
"Yes, you can!" Li told him, taking a small knife from its sheath on his belt and thrusting it into his son's hand, before he shoved Ren back with the other and collapsed to the pavement. Ren fell back as the hand pushed him, clutching the knife in his fist. Li stared into his son's eyes. "Take action, son." Gasping in pain still and clutching to his side, the father rose to his feet and looked down at his son. "Your mother and I love you."
Ren's eyes brimmed with fresh tears. "Father…"
Beside them, a large, hoofed foot slammed into the street, splitting rock as the creature glared at them both. Li turned and readied his bow, reaching behind him into his quiver for his final three arrows as he coughed out, "Go!" He aimed the first arrow at the beast and let it fly. "Run!"
Ren obeyed, gasping in fear as he left his father behind. He could hear his father's defiant cry ringing behind him as he loosed his last arrow at the Grimm, then fled to a large arch that led to a wood bridge over the main river of the town. Ren quickly jumped down beside the steps leading to the river's edge, hiding beside some boxes. Overhead, new shrieks were joining in with the cacophony of havok, and as Ren peeked over the edge of the ridge, he watched a flock of large Nevermores begin circling the destroyed village, splitting the air with their fearsome screeches.
Somehow, through the madness, a soft, fearful sobbing reached Ren's ears, and he looked to the right and was shocked to see the same girl he had seen earlier the day, taking refuge beneath a building and cowering in terror. A Nevermore landed on a house near her shelter and screamed into the air, dangerously close to finding her.
Ren looked to the left, saw the hulking shape through the smoke that his father had saved him from, and began to cry himself, alone and scared on the edge of the river and wishing for his mother's arms. The shrieks of Grimm sounded again as he continued to sob, not knowing what to do.
Take action, son.
Ren felt something pass over him, a strange shimmer of energy, and all of a sudden, he was calm, his tears drying as he stared at the girl beneath the building. With no hesitation, Ren leaped from his hiding spot and dashed towards the building, crouching as he slipped under it beside her.
"Hey!" he said, putting a hand on her shoulder with a smile. The girl looked at him with a scared gasp, but quieted as she recognized him. "We have to be brave," he told her. The Nevermore near them crawled over to their building and shrieked as its head neared the ground as if smelling for a scent of them.
The girl, terrified, whimpered and threw herself into Ren. Surprised at first, Ren melted into the embrace, pulling his arms around her in comfort as he felt the shimmer go through him again and now into her. Beside them, the Nevermore's beaked head ducked down, but its cry was less sure, confused. Where a moment before it had sensed terror, it now could feel nothing, no negative emotion emanating from beneath the house. The bird righted and flapped its wings, deciding to pursue the other, departing prey, and flew away, leaving Ren and his new friend alone beneath the house.
As the girl receded from Ren's arms, thundering footsteps made them both turn to see the beast from earlier nearing the house. The horse's feet stopped as it neared them, and a long, black arm that dragged on the ground at the creature's side twitched its fingers slightly, before the Grimm moved on.
When there was no other sound that fire raging, Ren knew they were alone. The girl looked at him and said in a small, shaking voice, "I'm scared!"
"Me too," he replied, trying to keep his own voice steady for her benefit. He looked to the side and saw a familiar shape on the ground, the wooden hammer the shopkeeper had offered him earlier, abandoned where it had fallen. Ren began to crawl towards it, but the girl pulled him back with a frightened whimper.
"It's okay," he reassured her. After a moment, she released his arm and let him crawl to the edge of the house, snatching the hammer away before he returned to her side. Extending the wooden tool, he reassured her, "We'll keep each other safe."
The girl stared at the hammer with big eyes before she hesitantly accepted the gift, staring down at it.
"What's your name?"
She looked up at him, her turquoise eyes brightening, and for the first time since the moment he'd first seen her, she smiled. "Nora."
He smiled back at her. "My name's Lie Ren."
NOW…
The wind grew fiercer the higher they climbed, and as Ren surveyed the way ahead, it seemed they would only be going higher.
"We never get the easy path, do we?" he asked Nora as she came up behind him.
Grinning, she put her hands up behind her head and stretched. "Easy's no fun anyway." She turned and looked at him, more serious. "You okay?"
"Mmm," he nodded. "And you?"
She blushed slightly as she smiled. "I've got you here, don't I?" She motioned forward and started walking. "Come on. There's more than one way up a mountain."
Ren watched her for a moment before he smiled as well. However, his serious demeanor returned when thunder rumbled around them and he looked up to study the gray clouds overhead.
"Hey!" came Nora's cry from ahead. "There's wind blowing out of this cave!" She stood to the side of the path, pointing to a gaping hole in the massive rock wall draped by moss. Ren caught up to her and peered in with her, watching as a few leaves blew out towards them. "Think it might lead to the peak?" Nora asked.
"I suppose there's only one way to find ou—ah!" He fumbled for a moment as a large scrap of fabric blew out from within and caught him in the face. Nora giggled as she watched his struggle. "Yes, yes," he said good naturedly. "Very funny." He looked down at the fabric and froze. There, emblazoned on the scrap, was a black marking. A familiar black marking. He searched his memory for where he'd seen the shape before.
Nora glanced at his silence. "Hey, what's wrong?"
In that instant, the memory clicked. "This is the symbol for Shion Village."
"Shion?" she repeated. "But that's… that's the village where we found the Huntsman. It's weeks away from here!"
Ren thought back to the village, remembering the large footprint he had found there. Without a word, he dashed into the darkness. "Ren? Wait!" Nora cried from behind him, hurrying in after him. He stopped suddenly, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness as he looked around. When Nora caught up and found what he was staring at, she whispered a shocked, horrified, "Oh my gosh!"
The interior of the cave seemed to be a nest of some sort for some large, wild beast. Littered around the area were weapons: swords, axes, staffs, and numerous others that were strewn randomly around the cavern. Blackish ichor stained the ground in several dry puddles, and the smell of death was overpowering. Ren walked forward and knelt as something caught his eye. His hands dipped to the packed dirt and retrieved an old arrow, dirty but still as fine as the day his father had made it. He looked back at Nora, but her gaze was caught by something else.
Following her eyes, Ren felt his heart stop as he took in the sight of the familiar hoofprint stamped into the ground, wet with fresh ichor. The print pointed away from them, towards a second opening in the rock, another entrance to the cave.
Ren and Nora ran to the opening and stared out at the forests beneath them. Trees shifted, shaking free leaves, as something massive made its way through the woods with purposeful direction. Ren followed the shifting branches as his stomach dropped, dread building in his soul as he watched the unseen creature lumber its way towards the ruined settlement of Kuroyuri in the distance. "No…"
Nora's welcome hand slipped into his as they both watched for a moment in horror, wincing as the shriek from Ren's nightmares split the sky.
