Ruby had thought for the longest time that she'd be excellent at playing tag. If she had eyesight on someone, how could they escape her? She was super-fast and super-dedicated to winning. Losing just wasn't part of being a Huntress!
Then again, playing tag when she was a kid was a bit different than trying to catch up to someone who was acting like they wanted to be alone. Especially when that someone was marching through a crowd of people. It was like he planned it.
Immediately going from the elevator, the Headmaster's tower to the displaced people of Patch. He beelined for them, just… walking right through them. Them and all the Atlas soldiers that surrounded them. It was walking into a pit of people all squirming to get out. And he walked into it.
That only meant ruby had to as well.
"Hey! Link!" She called for the him, her… grandfather, she guessed. Still weird. "You're getting too far ahead!" And she couldn't exactly use her Semblance surrounded by people. That was a no-no taught day one in Signal! At least his green cap was easy to see, even if he was marching with his head down.
"Oh! Ruby!" Her silver eyes turned to see an old man approaching her. She recognized him. "You're here! You made it off the island as well!"
"Y-Yeah I did," she nodded quickly. "I'm glad you did, too, super glad, but I gotta-"
"Tulip! Tulip, look who it is!" Ruby bit her lip as he called out to someone.
"Hal, what are- oh my goodness! Ruby!" Fast as she was, the old woman almost seemed faster. How quickly she pulled Ruby into a hug. "I thought for sure I'd never see you again! Oh, thank the heavens you made it off of that island okay! And after you helped our boat undock!"
"I-It's really okay!" Ruby shouted back, trying to push her way through, again. "You're safe, that's great, but I have to find-"
"It is Ruby! Ruby Rose!" "That girl that saved us!" "She did make it off of there!" "Way to go Rubes!" The voices just kept coming, and the cacophony of the crowd was almost starting to deafen her. "C'mon! I have to thank her, too!" "My boy's alive because of her!" "I got to see my father again!" "You deserve a medal of honor Ruby Rose!" It was starting to get dizzy.
She managed to push off of one person, someone she didn't recognize, before being pulled by someone else. None of it was violent, but it was like being passed around at a dinner party. Someone grabbing her arm, then her chest, then trying to kiss her forehead, tears were involved. Her silver eyes were staring to lose track of where she was.
"Everyone! Please move aside!" A sudden shout got the crowd to calm down. "Release Ruby Rose, she is currently assigned a task by the General!" She was? She didn't remember that.
Regardless, the people who were grabbing at her let go, like telling a kid to let go of a puppy. Except she wasn't a puppy, even if everyone was looking at her with bright eyes and trying to pet her. She suddenly understood why Zwei didn't like hanging around parties all that much.
"Ruby Rose," her name was called again by a… soldier. No one she knew, especially with that mask on. "General Ironwood told us to let you through. Let us know if you need anything else." He did? Well… he was up there, so he probably knew.
"W-Will do, thanks," Ruby waved, before looking around again, this time with everyone else staring at her. "Um… actually, do you know where Link went?"
"Link?"
"Yeah, Link, about this tall, long pointed hat, long pointed ears, eyes like mine." She cupped her eyes with her index and them, making goggles out of them. "He walked through here before, but I lost track of him in the, um… excitement?"
"Oh! I saw him!" Ruby turned to someone else she didn't know. That felt rude, not knowing the people she saved. Was that normal? Maybe she'd have to ask Link about it. "He was heading towards the dorms. I thought he was a Hunter looking for supplies, or other students!"
"He was walking like one, that's for sure." Better than nothing.
"Alright! Thank you!" Ruby let out, before zipping her way through the crowd, all but bursting into rose petals to make it happen. She could hear them thank her even as she made her way to the dorms. It was a conflicting feeling, but one she shut away. She had to find Link.
And thanks to her being open with her team, she had a good idea where he was, if they were right about him being near the dorms. Blake had found him here once, almost when he first started to join their classes… heh, that was funny in retrospect. Almost enough to make Ruby laugh over it. Almost, but not now.
Not when she made her way to the rooftop, looking over the familiar training area that she and her team had frequented with JNPR. Not when she could all but see where she had landed with Elrora… the Watarara that had cradled her while she was tired from a flight. Elrora wasn't here now, but someone else was. A broad back clothed in green facing away from her, and the long-pointed end of his cap billowing as well.
All met by the long golden purple sheath clinging to his back, bearing the blade that everyone, from her dad to Ozpin, had said was her mom's sword. And he was wearing it like it belonged there… and it did belong there… Ruby swallowed, staring at him.
It reminded Ruby of when this had all started, really started. Back when Elrora had first said, Link had first said, that Ruby reminded him of his daughter. That should have been clue one… Instead, she'd missed it and every clue that Link was someone important to her, to her family, up until it really mattered.
Now he was just standing there, staring out at where Patch used to be… and she was doing the same.
"H-Hey Link," she started to say, taking a few steps forward. "I… You left in a hurry, and I got caught up in that crowd down there. Guess you know all about that, being surrounded by people you've saved. Cause you're a hero, and you were so great you m-married a queen, and I just helped a few people. That's… you're better so the people must have-" Ruby bit her tongue.
She was rambling, and not in a good way. If there was such thing as good rambling.
Instead of talking again, and making the situation worse, she just studied him. Weiss told her to always pay attention to what others were doing. Link was… brooding? Brooding, because he looked like Blake. But Blake always looked down at her books.
Link was looking over the Vale sea… where Patch was… where they had fought… Oh…
"Are you… alright?" No, dumb question. "Are you thinking about mom?" Ruby wasn't sure what she wanted to happen. All Link did to the question was stiffen up, shoulders raising as if he was sucking in a gasp of air. But he didn't say anything. He didn't turn to face her.
Somehow, that just felt worse.
"I… I understand, a-a-and I really do." Because she was her mom. "I… I didn't even know what happened when dad told me mom wasn't coming back home. Yang… she knew, because she kept crying… and holding me and saying… saying she'll get strong enough to protect me. Uncle Qrow was there to, but… heh, he was drunk a lot." No, don't laugh. Laughing was bad now. It was serious time.
And a serious time meant taking a few steps forward, always getting closer to Link. He was still just standing there, like he was waiting for something, and Ruby wasn't sure what. Maybe if she did, she'd know what to say.
"If… if you're thinking that something worse happened to her, you don't have to worry." Maybe a really dumb thing to say. "Mom… she wasn't actually buried on Patch, not because we didn't want to, but… m-my dad said it's because she died somewhere far away. So they couldn't bury her… so they buried just…" her sword. But she couldn't say that.
It was Link's sword. Ruby's grandfather's sword. Oh this was weird. So so weird. How weird was it for a new friend she met in the woods some months ago to go from friend to classmate to teacher to boss to grandfather? It was just too weird, insanely weird.
"My mom… I only really remember her tucking me in, and baking cookies. She always made the absolute best chocolate chip cookies." Just moist enough to melt in her mouth, but not enough to fall to pieces. "And Yang… even if Yang is just my half-sister, mom always told us how she was my sister. She loved us both…" Even if she died when she was still really young. "My mom… my mom was a hero."
No one had ever said otherwise.
"She was never meant to be a hero."
Ruby honestly didn't know who said it at first. Not until she was able to look up at Link.
And see his silver eyes, so much like her eyes, like her mom's eyes, looking back down at her.
"H-Huh?"
"Zelda was never meant to be a hero."
There it was again. He was talking, and she could hear him. It wasn't a translation or specialty technology or anything. It was just her and Link and… Ruby understood him. His mouth was moving and… oh wow.
Blake was right, he did have a nice voice.
"A… hero?"
"A hero, the one thing Zelda was never meant to be. She was supposed to be a princess, a queen… not a hero." Link looked away from her again, back to Patch…
His voice was amazing… but this wasn't what she wanted to talk to him about, not when she could start to hear him at least.
"I was meant to be the hero, and all that sacrifice meant. I was meant to leave behind my home, my friends, my future, so that I could defeat the evil that was trying to ruin the peace." It was the first time that Ruby really heard Link speak… and she was starting to have second thoughts. "I sacrificed, so she could grow in peace. Being a hero… that's not what I want for her."
"It's not what… you want but…" Ruby wasn't sure where she was going to go with that.
"No, it isn't. What I want… what I wanted, was for Zelda to be happy. To smile, to laugh, to be free." Link reached back and grabbed his sword, mom's sword.
SHINK! And wit the sing of the steel, pulled it out. Ruby stared at it, really staring at it. It was just as bright and silvery as when it was used against Roman and Ganondorf. Shining, silver, bright, gleaming, all the words that meant that it was of good quality. Ruby wouldn't have been surprised to hear it was given a folding metal technique to make it like and nano-fibered strengthened.
It was an amazing sword, but Link was staring at it like he was debating about throwing it away.
"This blade carries a heavy burden, and I threw it at Zelda to try and save her. Instead… she carried it with her all her life. And it was…" he breathed slowly. "I cannot see it doing anything else but dragging her towards her end."
"B-But it didn't! IT didn't do that! Remember, she couldn't even bring it anywhere!"
"And yet she became a warrior, because she carried a blade. She learned to fight, hoping one day the sword would allow her to hold it. She tried to be stronger to hold the blade, and all she did was put herself in danger for it." His hand was shaking against the hilt, and Ruby… she could see it. She couldn't say he was wrong either. Dang it!
"But… you don't know it-"
"I know I could have done more. I know… I could have chosen better." His teeth were grit, snarling almost. "I know that I could have prevented this blade from falling into her hands. Because the Master Sword… it is a blade only held by heroes, and they are never long for the world."
"But… you've been here for a while, right?" His silver eyes were on him again. She didn't think her eyes were all that special before, most of the time, but when he was looking at her… maybe it was because he was taller, stronger, better, and, well, her grandfather that made the gaze so intimidating. "I mean… you took down Majora, and Ganondorf…"
"Yes, and with great sacrifice. Every time." His finger ran up the blade. Ruby knew she was right about the metal folding technique of the sword, because she could hear the change in pitch as his finger pushed against the steel. "That sacrifice now is being the only one standing, while all my friends are at rest. My friends… and my family."
The blade fell until it was pointing at the rooftop, his gaze cast out. Ruby followed it, if only to see if she could see Patch as well.
"I lost friends when I was child, and I borrowed their memories." Ruby looked back to Link, his gaze still on the far-off island. "I lost friends as I grew, some when I wasn't there to say goodbye. I lost friends in battle, when they were defending those they cared for. I lost loved ones as I fought, unable to defend them myself. I fought and fought and fought… but I was never able to save."
"What? No! You totally saved people! How could you think you haven't?" It was a crazy idea! "I mean, next to everyone else when you went to see that Nightmare, you also saved a bunch of people in all those battles you fought. Saria was telling us about them! You stopped that big meanie Ganondorf even, even if it, well, was only half his fault for fighting, but still-"
"Still I am the only one left above the graves, looking down on tomb stones I've had to carve."
Something was balling in Ruby's throat, and she hated it. She always hated it when it started to grow in there, because it felt like it was choking her.
"And I… am so tired of standing over those graves." It was getting worse. "Left to stand over my friends… and with no one else to mourn with. Not my queen… not my daughter… not even my oldest friends." That… wasn't entirely true.
"You… you still have me?" Ruby ventured, stepping closer to Link. He didn't shirk or push her away. "I'm not… okay, we haven't known each other for long, but… but you are still important to me."
She was his granddaughter, and Link was her grandfather. That didn't amount to nothing.
"For now," he spoke ominously. "But this pattern repeats, and this legend… it doesn't end." That rebirth thing… what they said about him being reborn for Zelda and the evil… "I was sent here to stop Salem, I thought… I was sure I would never hear from my daughter again. That Zelda would… that what Time said."
He was getting choked up. That just made this even worse. Link was talking to her but this was all she was going to remember it for, wasn't she?
"I don't want to hear of more people I care for dying. I don't want that. I just…" He took a long breath, Ruby listening intently. "I just want to be under a grave, not above it."
Silver eyes bugged.
Ruby heard that right, she knew she did. There wasn't a stammer or question, he just said that he wanted to be under a grave! Link, her grandfather had just said that… no, No!
"NO WAY!" Ruby screamed.
SMACK! And then she pushed him, hard.
Link stumbled at the reaction. Of course, he didn't fall over, even if she put her back into it. He was bigger and stronger. But he at least lost his footing for a moment, swinging to regain balance. That left him facing her, silver eyes looking down at her. She didn't feel bad this time. She felt horrible. And it was Link's fault this time!
"Don't say that! Don't ever say that!" She screamed, really screamed. "That's a horrible thing to say! The absolute worst!" She wanted him to say something, even start to say something, just so she could interrupt him.
But Link looking at her with that sword in hand, perturbed as she curled her fists at him, and after saying something like that, Ruby had a lot more to vent.
"Saying something like that is just stupid! It's stupid and wrong and it makes everyone else feel bad! It makes everyone who does care for you feel even worse." She should know. "I get that you lost people you care about, I-I-I've met them, you bring out their memories all the time! You've had great friends and great family and great fairies, who were your friends, but… but you still have friends here!"
She stomped her boot on the ground. Ruby was almost upset it didn't crack it.
"I'm sorry I hit you, but I'm not sorry." Ruby grit her teeth, even as Link kept his mouth open. "I'm sorry I hit you because you are not just my friend, you're… you're my grandfather!" She didn't care how weird it was. "But I'm not sorry because I know how other people feel when you say stuff like that! I know it because… because I've told my team, too." The ball in her throat was getting larger. "I-I said… I said the same thing aft-t-ter Tatl a-and Tael."
Now Link's jaw was shut and his eyes were large.
"You see!?" She pointed at him, harshly. "I-It feels awful to hear someone say that! And I do understand! I get not wanting your friends to die! I don't want anyone to die! I became a hero because I don't want that for anyone!" Her hands slapped her chest. "Impa made my Semblance to feel danger, so I can stop it! I can get to danger faster than anyone, and I know where danger is going to be."
She hiccupped, a wet sound that burst at her lips. Her lips were wet, and her eyes were, too. Dang it, she wasn't going do this now!
"You… You went through a lot… a-a-and Saria even said you did. I know you did a-a-and I don't… I don't want you to say that ever again!" She stomped her foot. The ceiling still didn't crack.
But tears shook free of her eyes. That felt worse somehow.
"There's so much that's happened a-a-and my dad is missing an arm and a leg and Patch is gone and Tatl and Tael are d-dead." Ruby stopped. That hurt to say alone, enough to make her scratchy throat feel as if nails were slowly being dragged down it. "But you're not there! You're… You're still Link, you're still… you're still important!"
Her feet lunged forward. Maybe because she was trying to stomp forward, maybe because she wanted to hit Link's feet and keep him still, Ruby still wasn't sure. She only sure that her grandfather just made her extra made, so he was going to have to take it.
"I miss my mom, I loved my mom, a-and you loved Zelda. A-A-And they were the same p-person." She sniffed, feeling the snot running down her throat burn. "But they're gone, a-and we're still here. So don't… don't tell me you want to die. Please don't tell me that."
She looked at Link now, even with tears in her gaze. Blurry tears that rimmed her silver eyes red. She sniffled to keep the slobber from dripping down her face, wiping away a bit of the snot from her nose, but staring at him all the same. Looking at her grandfather, the man who tried to raise her mom, only to have her grandma take her away.
He lost so much, and she didn't want to lose him. That would be beyond worse than anything else that'd happened so far
"I don't know how to save someone who wants to die."
Arms surrounded her a moment later. Ruby didn't hesitate to return the embrace. She fell against his chest, pulling him close as tight as she could. He was holding her close, and she embraced that.
Even if she was crying against his chest, smearing her tears and snot into him. Even if she looked like a little kid holding him. Even if it was moving too fast, she didn't care. Ruby didn't care what it looked like.
Link was her grandfather. He was the one who had tried everything to save her mom, and he didn't even come back in time to see her.
He never had the chance to see her mom, not until it was too late.
Ruby cried, and she didn't care who saw. Because Link deserved to be cried for.
She wasn't sure if it was seconds or minutes she sobbed against him. She only knew she slowly puttered to a stop, her voice worn out and throat raw. Link still held her closer, combing her hair like she felt her dad do when she was little. It was comfortable, even if she was debating about stopping him.
She didn't, because she as his granddaughter. It wasn't bad to be spoiled, and it wasn't bad to be closer to him. Even if it would be hard to suddenly call him grandpa in public.
The idea of it made her snort. That almost hurt with how sore her throat was.
"Last time we were like this, Yang got the wr-rong idea," Ruby tried to giggle, even through her trembling throat. Link's hand on the back of her head helped to calm her down. It felt like dads. "I think she'd get it this time."
BANG! "Rubes! Are you-" Her answer was coming in fast.
Ruby looked up from Link's tunic to see the door to the roof kicked out, and her sister standing there. No Bunny Hood this time, but staring at her and Link with a wide gaze of her own. At least it wasn't red, red would be bad right now.
"Oh, guess you've already, uh, started having a heart to heart?" Ruby sniffled at her sister's words.
"Y-Yeah, it was t-tough." She nodded, pulling back from Link a little. Yang, however, held up her hand. "Sorry I j-just ran off. Link was-"
"Trust me, Rubes, I get it." Yang held up her hands. "Last time I assumed the worst, started a crap show no one enjoyed. And after getting told everything you just went through," she spoke as she looked up at Link. "Yeah, kind of obvious that this is something that needed to happen. Should have expected Ruby to start crying when you did."
"W-What?" Ruby let out, leaning back to look up.
Wouldn't you know it, Link was crying, too. For some reason, that was almost great to see. You didn't cry if you didn't care.
And Link cared, even if he tried to talk like he didn't.
"I get the tears though. There's a lot to take in, especially if that connection between you and mom is real." Ruby glared at her sister.
"It's real Yang."
"Whoa! Hold on, I'm not saying Link's lying about his kid, just…" she scratched her head. "I guess I'm just struggling to put together a dude who looks maybe a few years older than us being two generations above us." She waved her hand above her head. That was, a fair point. "Either way, doesn't matter. You went through hell, and I know dad and the rest of the Illuminati up there are focused on you. I don't even know what they were talking about before they kicked me out."
"Something important, like what Uncle Qrow says before he leaves," Ruby guessed. It got Yang to grin.
"Yup, but I think I fought something a lot more important than whatever they're gonna be chatting about." Standing next to her, Yang's grin was bright and full.
Fwump! "H-Hey!" And close enough for her to drop her hand on Ruby's head.
"No way anything else in this world is as important as my little sister." She heard Yang snickering, even as Ruby fought to push her hand off. No good, she was always too strong. "Don't think anyone here would argue with that."
Through the peak of her hair being messed up, Ruby was to see Link shake his head. A smile beneath his tear stained silver eyes. It wasn't huge, or bright, or massive, but it was there.
And even if it was small, it was a start.
"Is that a smile I see? Now I know you are enjoying it!"
"W-Wait! No, it's-YANG!"
But laughter, laughter was even better.
There were many times to drink. Then there were times to get crank. Right now, this was firmly in the middle, maybe a little off second base.
For one, Qrow just heard that Summer was the literal child of a freaking Queen. For two, said queen was the mad queen they had been trying to kill for years now, and Ozpin had been fighting against for centuries. For three, Link, the mad Faunus that apparently beat the crap out of everything with a working jaw, was her daddy.
Altogether, that meant that in the course of a singular conversation, after the apocalypse was postponed, the warrior from some far-off land had basically thrown the table holding all their cards up into the air, sliced them into tenths, and then trampled the remains.
So yeah, being drunk made sense.
"Qrow, can you please hold your flask until we are finished speaking?" Unfortunately, Ozzy didn't seem to feel the same way.
"What? You serious? You call me up with all of this information and you expect me to stay sober? Way I heard it; Raven got to throw a tantrum. Why can't I have a drink?"
"Because I had to watch the man reveal he slept with Salem."
"You're doing a really bad job at convincing me not to drink."
"Then how about reminding you that this information means we have much more to discuss than ever before?" Ironwood's words were like his name. Stiff as wood. "The history of Salem has been lain out for us, beyond even that of your years Ozpin."
"Indeed, and I must say that I am curious how the woman I knew so many centuries ago relates to the queen Link knew." The tired sigh was audible, even if Qrow was left staring at a ceiling of gears. "Were it not for the fact that her name was never mentioned, I would think this all a clever ruse."
"Would there be any benefit to such a lie?" Saria, the apparent Spring Maiden asked. Well, one of two now. Oh yeah, reason four to drink. The powers were expanding. Like pylons. "Secrets exposed and you believe them false? What would be the benefit to those lies? And with me able to confirm them all."
"I believe anything that would make Link appear more as a victim than a perpetrator would do wonders for those with morals to care." Wow Raven, don't go all in now. "The weak like to coddle those who have suffered, rather than force them to get stronger."
"Right sis, cause you're showing how strong you are, killing a girl to get her power." The bloom of magic he saw on the edge of his screen was proof enough that he had struck a chord. The benefits of being the younger sibling, knowing right where to speak to make it hurt.
"Important as that is, this conversation is much higher in concern." The diplomacy of Ozzy ran through. "Glynda, Bartholomew, is there any information on this Goddess? The Goddess of Time?"
"Only mentions of divinity in time, like there is assumed to be in all things." Looks like Goodwitch didn't have anything good to say.
"Unfortunately, not. Scarce information, given divine nature. Given Link's presence, proof of existence! Such as yours proof of Elder Brothers. Curious, conflicting deities. Alternate pantheons? A sister to confront them?"
"That's a no then," Qrow interrupted from his end of the line. "And honestly, I'm gonna say I buy it. Least because after watching a bunch of Faunus light on fire and turn into Twili, just before a literal god walking up and burning Patch to the ground, believing there's some holy mother of time out there watching us… yeah, I'd buy it." He took a swig of his flask, to the ire of those listening. "Plus, it'd explain all those mornings I forgot."
"You can't blame Time for you losing your head Qrow." He chuckled at that. Good old Tai. "Even if it's officially true. Time flies and so do you." Qrow took it back. Bad old Tai.
"Jokes aside, I do wish to affirm one detail. One that, while we are all aware… I am having an unreasonable amount of difficulty coming to terms with." A chair, or something close to it, scratched at the ground. "Saria, can you confirm with me, if only because I hope I misheard the detail, that Link and Queen Zelda had a child together, one with silver eyes?"
"She did, and I know of this because they spent a year in the Lost Woods, hiding from her following the corruption of her soul." Qrow took another swing. His niece was royalty and he had beaten up a princess, multiple times. Good thing the guillotine was out of commission. "Young Zelda, a child trying to find her place in the world, while the world was being corrupted by her twisted mother."
"If her mother really as Salem, that's an understatement."
"She was, but do not forget that Salem was not born. She was made." The young… ish Maiden seemed to correct. "Link and I call her Salem, for I cannot see the goodness and justness that was Queen Zelda in her anymore. Once she was one so bright and shining that the kingdoms from afar would forgo the mystic lands for just a chance to gaze upon her. But once she was resurrected by Link and the Triforce of Power…"
"She was corrupted, at least that is much the same as I remember." Ozzy was going to have a headache from al of this. Maybe he should take a load off with a hard scotch. "And yet she came from the future to alter the past. I suppose that is just as likely as anything else. Even with consideration that she already holds two relics in her hand."
"Triforce Pieces," Saria corrected. "Fragments of the Triforce that were left behind by the Goddesses of Creation. They are all that create the land, through Power, Wisdom, and Courage." Guess if you lived for thousands of years, you'd know your stuff. "She holds Wisdom and Courage now, one stollen and the other earned, but you have those same pieces in this time. Would she be wise to attack with relics you also possess? Would it be wise to attack someone who has power equal to your own?"
"Not without a sure plan it isn't," Ironwood returned. "She must have a plan as well, as we have been playing catch up to it for some time."
"No, we have. You've just got onto this train because Ozpin needed more muscle. And you have steel." Qrow grimaced. Yup, his sister. "And I'm still pissed off that Link has had a relic all this time! I didn't know the guy, but you all have seen him. I at least could tell step one that something was up with Ganondorf."
"Not much of an accomplishment there, Raven," Tai added. "Considering what he did, it'd be hard to not think he had something else on his side. Almost like Ganon was dwarfing everyone else." The few straws Qrow had left were slipping.
"You sure I can't drink to that? Tai's puns are a good excuse to drink. Part of why I started."
"You started drinking when you couldn't handle being sober." Touché Goodwitch, and a fine stroke at that. Qrow tilted his flask, before downing it. "And I must concur with Raven. Why did Link hide a piece of the Triforce from us? And more importantly, why did you not recognize it Ozpin?"
"How could I? I am not so sensitive to forces of magic that I may be able to tell what lays around me passively." Darn, so much for an instructors sixth sense. And here Qrow had thought that was how he always knew he was up to no good. "Though I do see your point. The relation between the Relics and the Triforce are too numerous, too close, to be discounted."
"I am not aware of these Relics. What are they?" If that didn't stop the damn air cold. "Please do not remain silent to my query. Did Link hold his tongue when you asked him questions?"
"At first, and you are aware of that," Ozzy countered. "But no, this is not the time for secrecy. You should know of the Relics, especially if you are already aware of Amber."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Qrow admitted. "Nothing another Maiden can do about her either?"
"The woman in your vault of stone has had her soul split in two. Such a thing is not remedied by whispers of the woods or embrace of the winds." A bit flowery for his taste, but Qrow got it. "She requires a source of creation to be remade, or else a peaceful passing. The later I am told would only bolster the foe who slew her."
"Hey, she ain't dead yet," Qrow argued. "I was there to save her butt. Before the trio did a number on her… more of a number on her. Whatever the term for it is." There had to be one, but who could think straight right now? He had a lot of booze to go through later, and that was stuck on his mind.
"Yes, well, back to the topic at hand, the Relics are four treasures of Power gifted to mankind by the departure of the Elder Brothers, the gods who created the land." That had to be the most casual bombshell Ozpin had ever lobbed. What a player.
"More accurately, they are four objects that are capable of bending the laws of possibility. The Relic of Creation has an endless source of power behind it, capable of powering an engine endlessly, or suffocating a void even." And now Ironwood was getting flowery. What a day this was.
"They are, as we said, very much in common with how Link described the Triforce piece, at least between Wisdom and Courage. I can only imagine that Power and Creation have shown themselves to be similar."
"Ganondorf destroys through tools he creates. You are correct." Woohoo. "Then you believe they are one in the same. How odd then that the Triforce is said to be Golden Power, yet your relics are described as items, correct?"
"Items that are capable of altering the world we sit on. Hence why they are sealed away." Ozpin went on. "Sealed with keys that cannot be fabricated, only stolen. Rather than an object to find, they are only able to be opened by a soul that matches its locks." Qrow could guess how Ozpin was staring at Saria now. "Much like your soul, to the Door of Wisdom."
"You speak as though I should be surprised." Shouldn't she? "We Sages have been the keys to the door of the Sacred Realm for all time, awakened by her Hero to seal away great Evil before." Oh… well look at that. "To seal sources of evil, or to bring forth means of immense power. That is the role of the Sages in the land of Hyrule."
"Similar, yet opposed. Near, but not the same. Convincing similarity, intruding, marvelous, curious, wonderous!" And Oobleck was going a bit crazy again. "Not associated with Triforce Elements like Maidens are with Relics. Not one to one, demonstrated as such. Named alternatively, fewer Fragments than Relics, more Sages than Maidens. Odd differences, but power demonstrations solidify similarity."
"I don't think we need to worry about the differences, at least right now," Glynda spoke up. "They are something to be concerned for, but only after we've settled the more immediate issues. Such as the current Triforce piece in the middle of Patch."
"Oh yeah, the one that's literally over where my home used to be."
"Yes Tai, there. Also, where we saw a literal army of Grimm rise up and nearly kill everyone."
"Bickering aside, that is an important topic." Ironwood took charge, of course. "The Triforce of Power, or Relic of Creation, was held by Ganondorf, and with it he was able to challenge a being that was neigh on par with a god. He was also able to endure the totality of force brought against him by the Grimm, my army, and even the White Fang. Now, he is a statue, as Link and Ruby attested, in the middle of Patch."
"You're point, James?"
"I am suggesting we find a way to gather the Triforce from him." Actually, not a bad idea.
"I'd be down for that," Qrow ventured. "Not the first time I've gone into a war-torn place, and I'm not exactly keen on leaving what amounts to a Dust Bomb in the middle of a field for anyone to find. You know, after all those talks, I got about leave my booze around the house?"
"Your analogy is horrendous, but the point is understood." Then it wasn't a bad analogy! "We can't leave something of such immense power alone, especially if it is unguarded. Moving it to somewhere safe would be prudent."
"Would it?" Oh no. No one asked a question like that unless they had bombshells to drop. Qrow learned that lesson a long time ago. "Would moving the statue of Ganondorf be wise? A man as powerful as him, surrounded by the frozen bodies of the monsters?"
"Last I recall, they were frozen stiff because of the silver eyes of Link and Ruby." Raven clicked her tongue. She had to fix that bad habit of hers. Or not, made her an easier to tell in games. "What does Ganondorf have to do with them?
"Directly, nothing. But he holds the thing that birthed them."
"Oh yeah… I forgot about that, too." Maybe the booze was bad for his head. But nah, no booze was bad for his sanity.
"Majora you mean. Link sealed the mask containing it with Ganondorf." Tai spoke on. "You're saying that was necessary?"
"I do not know." Least Saria was honest. "Perhaps Link thought destroying the mask would release the monster within. He carried it around and did not even tell me of its existence. So, he likely thought as much. It was already a seal, but Ganondorf, the vile man that he is, took an act of selflessness to allow himself to be sealed, only to drag the mask into the same imprisonment."
"Because a stone mask held in his hands would be damn hard to get out, and debatably be useful," Ozpin agreed. "A sure sacrifice, if a bit dramatic I will admit, but are we sure it is safe still. I think you may have only brought up the point that damage to the statue of the man will release not only the Triforce, but the mask as well."
"I am sure the seal will not be so easily broken." Not like she was ever wrong or surprised before. "I recognize the risk, such as any monument in an open land. It is why the Temple of the Forest is buried deep in the Lost Woods, beyond where any of average strength may reach. If Ganondorf's final resting place is in a place once lauded for habitation, then action must be taken, but do you still believe in extraction?"
"I never suggested we take it."
"But you were thinking it."
"Qrow, I was only concerned another member of the White Fang may try and steal it. We already had much worse happen from their thievery." Talk about putting him down. Guess he didn't need bad luck to lose an argument. No, he'd just blame the booze again.
"I concur that we must setup a perimeter at the least around it. Qrow, would you wish to stay there, before the Atlesian Army can establish… something? I will try and create a channel through the Vale Council to approve an outpost post-haste."
"With considerations to our recent efforts, I am sure majority of them will approve of it," Glynda spoke up, and Qrow could hear her typing on her Pad from the other side of the screen. And here he struggled to catch Ruby or Yang texting when he was chatting them up. "In order to relieve the public, I am sure they will also send out a significant contribution to hasten its construction."
"See about replacing that with men to guard instead, and it will be appreciated. Construction crews may work fast, but so too do the criminal underground. We don't need to be reminded how much of a Nightmare Torchwick became in his final moments."
"While that is happening, maybe we should start gathering the other relics?" Oh wow, and here he thought Tai had learned. "Look, don't give me that look, I know what you said before, but now we know that Salem… Ruby's grandma, literally has two already, and one more is buried out over my old house. We have to get something on our side to keep her from just bulldozing us."
"Because the fastest way to end a gun fight is to bring out your gun first. Always works, right?" Qrow teased. "Not like we ever saw that go sideways before."
"Raven shot first! How was I supposed to know that she wasn't shooting at me!"
"Intelligence, and I'm sorry to say that the years have only taken the little you have from you." Okay, that was funny. Good thing his Scroll had a mute button.
"Regrettably, it is a precarious stalemate Tai. We talk the Relics, and then Salem will move. She is aware of the later as well. I am sure she is reaching at the edges of where they lie, feeling it out, before striking, but if we were to take them, those feelers of hers would turn venomous." Ozpin knew what he was talking about.
"No queen makes plans without contingencies. Would a woman who ruled all of Hyrule, conquered the lands beyond, and then drove through Time itself, be offset by someone grasping at their tools first?" So did Saria.
"Just say no, no reason to embarrass me."
"Wrong Tai, there is every reason to embarrass you," Raven continued to quip. "Considering that you can't keep your jokes down and you've been throwing them out while you were losing limbs, I'd say you deserve a bit of embarrassment."
"And you deserve to have a bit of fun." No, she didn't. "And you like my jokes, or do I need to tell everyone about how you were laughing at them before."
"I was groaning Tia. Because they were bad."
"Those are the best kind, just as Yang!" No one would ask Yang.
"Back to the matter at hand," Ironwood spoke up. Good man, great man, Qrow loved him. "I believe we can at least agree that Salem is targeting the Relics of Courage and Wisdom in order to pair hers. Once they are taken, she will not only have double their abilities, able to split their use, but then we will have no effective counter."
"And by luck or design, we have both the keys to Wisdom and Courage with us." His sister and Link's mom. What a twist. "We need to ensure that you are both safe, as either one of you, alone, could open the Vault of Knowledge. It is easy to see that Salem will target you now, her or one of her allies."
"I will not be going anywhere. Not when Link is present. Him and his kin." Kin, the guys grand kids, Tai's kids… man, this was going to be fun.
"And I don't have a clan to go back to. That was how I ended up at Tai's at the first place. Bastards who did it must have known it, too. How else did they get there so fast?"
"They followed the sound of your racing heart?" Qrow smacked his head against the side of the building.
"I apologize Raven, you are correct that Tai has bad puns."
"For other consideration," Goodwitch spoke up. "I have received word from the Vale Council regarding the Vytal Festival. Apparently, they wish to hasten the festival now, in order to reduce the unease and stress on the populace."
"Is that a smart decision? Celebrating just after this?" Tai really was out of practice
"It's the best time to celebrate!" Qrow answered. "They're all probably thinking they just survived hell, so getting to celebrate at stalls and watch a bunch of kids compete with one another must be a blast! No reason to stop it."
"Though it sounds like a strain on resources, I do agree," Ironwood answered. "There will need to be more discussion about preparation and location for the stadium, specifically in regards to hiding the damage done by the Leviathan from any observable room, but it should be able to suitably distract the populace from the terrors of the Grimm."
"Less of them thinking about the things in the dark the better. I can agree to that." If that wasn't a hat trick, Qrow would have to throw his flask out.
"While I am glad there is swift agreement in its necessity, let's not hasten its activities so quickly," Ozpin interjected. "We do have many displaced, and the festival itself is meant to gather the four kingdoms. It should be prudent to ensure there is sufficient housing for not only the Vale populace, but also those visiting. If temporary housing has to be taken into consideration, including dorm rooms on campus, I am sure we can find a way."
"A lot easier to plan for then the war with an ancient queen." Hello Goodwitch, good to see you are as snarky as ever. "Just…. May I suggest Oobleck handles anything regarding the history of Salem and Ironwood the securement of the battle sight? I can handle majority of the work for organizing the displaced and incoming traffic, as well as necessary dates. Once you handle a school of teenagers for a few decades, its rather easy."
"Granted, and I am sure Saria will be more than happy to assist where need be?" Clever Ozzy.
"A chance to see the lands Link saved? An opportunity to watch kingdoms unite? I would be more than happy to help as I may, but I will be just as content to stay in the forest. If you need anything from it, you only need to ask. I am sure I can provide." If she was offering.
"Does that include alcohol?" He had to ask. "If not, I'll settle for hops. Good quality, magically enhanced, probably mythical hops. That's gotta make a potent beer, right? Something grown by the oldest Maiden in history, past or present?"
"I am… not familiar with hops." She wasn't? "Are they a form of wheat?"
"Before you are dragged into his machinations, Qrow," Ozzy spoke up, stopping his fun. Dang it. "I will ask you to not use the power of a Maiden to add to your already monumental alcohol consumption. I do not need an ally of mine to suffer from liver rot or apraxia."
"No worries, no worries," Qrow dismissed. "Talk aside, I'll get to Vale when I can. Hope you don't mind if I take my time. In all seriousness, its to get a feel for what's going on in the rest of the kingdom. Hard to say everyone was affected the same by the great big bad Grimm charging into Vale, ya know?"
"A fair point, so long as you return before the tournament starts."
"C'mon, it won't take me that long."
"Weren't you late to Yang's birth? And Ruby's?" Dammit Tai. "I get you're a tired old man, but no reason to Qrow about it." DAMMIT TAI!
"Take your time coming back, but I do recommend you call your nieces," Ozpin instructed. "Otherwise, stay safe, and message us if you find anything."
"Can do will do," Qrow saluted to no one. "Over and out."
The scroll shut with a click, letting his head lean back and bump the trunk of the tree. He let out a long sigh, stained with the stench of booze. Not enough of it, or so was his professional opinion. When it came to drunks, he was an expert, if not a pro.
"Seriously, the hell is happening to the world?" Qrow rubbed the bridge of his nose, the otherwise fresh air stained with his bitter breath. "There's no rest for the wicked, and no peace for the content. The hell lies in between those two things?" He didn't have an answer.
And really, it wasn't up to him to answer it. He was just supposed to follow the orders of the one man who had all the answers, or nearly all of them, and hope that it made the world a bit safer for the tikes in the end. That made him grin.
"Heh, guess now I'm a knight serving a princess. Guess all those fairytales were real."
Even the one about a princess whisked off to a far away land, searched for by her dutiful knight, before giving herself to the great evil king…
Qrow was resolute. He was going to burn every fairy tale book he ever saw from now on. Blame it on the booze and charge Ozpin. Everyone would win.
Being up was hard. Well, emotionally up. Physically up was hard too, but only if you ran around for several hours or had to sit through a dozen lectures in a row. Then staying up was hard. Staying up emotionally? That was the real challenge.
Nora never missed out on that lesson in her life. Sure, she knew she was the go lucky happy and spastic kid, as a few other students had said, before they were climbing out of nearby walls, but she was still up for a reason. It was easier for her to be up now because she had been down before. At least the emotionally down sounded right. If emotionally up made sense than so did the opposite.
The girl's face scrunched together as she thought about his, shaking her head to clear the thoughts away. Side tracked again, like she was staring at Ren when he trained. Distracting her again, shame on him. Him and those long toned legs.
Now she shook her head harder, to the point her hair was practically whipping at her forehead. At least that got the distracting thoughts to go away.
It was hard to make them all go away, at least when she was in the middle of a refugee camp. Well, not a refugee, because they were all from Vale. Survivors camp? Camping camp? Nora didn't know what it was called, she just knew that it was being setup in a nearby building that wasn't damaged, one that a couple of Hunters had cleared of Grimm.
Of course, there were a lot of people outside the building too, like herself. Sitting on a part of another building that was had been destroyed, partially, and watching the people walking by. There were a lot of them, almost felt like more people than were normally in Vale.
"Maybe that's because the city's smaller. Smaller… does that mean negative? Or is this a less is more thing?" Nora mused as she watched people file into a line, families sticking together, friends holding one another up, and a lot of Atlas soldiers guiding. There were a lot of guns, and mechs, and tents, and crates. A lot of everything. "That's why I'm here, staying up, while sitting down."
She had to keep herself up, even if the sights around her were getting her down. It was hard to not get down, and that was why being up was hard. Because the opposite as easy. Especially when she saw workers working on things they didn't want to work on. She hoped they didn't want to work on them, because someone wanting to work after something bad happened made them a bad person, or was it a good person?
"Did a good person want to work after bad things, or was a bad person someone who didn't want to? No, it was the good person who didn't want the bad things!" Nora pointed at the air as she said it, leaning back and stretching her legs out. She had spats on, she didn't mind her skirt was rising up. No one was watching her.
They were all paying attention to themselves. Probably to make sure they were there.
After the Grimm, and the screaming, and the darkness, and the hopelessness, and the terror, and the sirens… and a lot of other things that always made Nora remember when she was so far down she was below the dirt. She had to be up, because she wasn't there anymore… up… up!
Emotionally up.
Being positive, that was a good thing. It was important to be positive. Being positive is how good things got done, better things actually. Good things happened to good people, and good people were positive people! Nora was positive she was a person, but it probably didn't mean that. At least Ren had described it differently to her.
"Positive means up, being negative pushes you down," Nora mused the words of her bestest friend. The friend who said them when he was ten years old. Early bloomer, in so many ways. "Gotta be positive to draw in the positive things. Being negative just pushes every thing away."
"Actually, negative charged compounds tend to attract more positive charges." Nora looked up at the voice, not even realize someone was listening to her.
Not until she was looking up at Dove, the boy putting a hand under the brow of his hair to look down at her.
"Sorry, didn't mean to jump in like that. Thought you were talking about chemistry."
"Chemistry?" Nora tilted her head. She grabbed the column of stone she was sitting on to keep herself from rolling off of it. "What do positive and negatives have to do with chemistry. Unless… do those liquids really explode because they feel so positive about themselves?!" Ren had told her they couldn't feel anything! The liar! She should have known, a face that handsome!
"You know what, never mind, must have misheard you."
"No! Wait! What do up and down feelings have to do with things exploding!?"
"Nothing! They have… feelings?" Dove quirked his brow at her. He must have realized it, too!
"I knew they had feelings!"
"No! No they don't!" Now he was waving his hands at her. What was he, Jaune? No, Jaune-Jaune was Jaune. "I meant, I didn't know you were talking about feelings. I heard positive and negative and I thought you were talking about the preexisting conditions necessary to create covalent bonding, or ionic bounding with an antagonizing agent." Nora just stared.
"Those were a lotta big words," she admitted. "Are you super smart?"
"I mean… I study?" Wow, he was amazingly smart then! "But I thought you were thinking of some kind of compound there, like you were trying to figure out how positive and negative charges work."
"Nope! I was thinking about how positive and negative feelings work!" Nora grinned brightly at the words. Why shouldn't she be proud of it? "Just reminding myself that being up makes others up and being down drags them down. If you're negative, you're only pushing them down. Better to be up and drag everybody up there with you~."
Nora pointed to the sky, leaning back until her feet were stretched out for balance. Dove stood next to her, almost following her hands for a moment. She wished he would. It had been ages since she got to make Ren look. But Dove was always walking around with his eyes closed. That was no fun.
"Up and down, huh. Guess positive and negative feelings come with that." He brushed off his armor. Wasn't he heavy in that? Then again, they didn't have time to change. Too bad for Cardin's team, cause she and Pyrrha got to wear skirts. It was niiiiiice and breezy~. "Then I'll have to venture this time and guess you were trying to think of positives, huh?" This time, he did look away from her.
Namely to stare at everyone else who was around them. Them, and the damage around them.
Nora pursed her lips as she looked over it all again. Where all the Grimm who got buy them ended up, tearing things down and apart. Flipping cars and running through buildings. Some destroying cars and streets and making families scream, and all while that big mega evil Grimm thing nearly killed them all. And here they were, trying to find everyone who wasn't accounted for, following the orders from Beacon. Jaune-Jaune and Pyrrha were looking before Ren had gotten the order on his scroll.
"There's a lot to pick up and move." Nora noted. Her hands gripped the column she was sitting on. "I thought we stopped a lot of it."
"We did stop a lot of it. If it wasn't for your team leader kicking our butt to come here, I don't think you'd even be able to sit down there." Well no, she'd be at Beacon. "And credit to Cardin for getting others up for it, too. I mean… we literally just got into a fight in Vale, and fought back a swarm of Grimm."
"Not all of them, and that's bad. A negative." Nora noted that when her eyes saw a tent. It wasn't a cool or awesome tent, like the one made of sheets when she was spending the nights with Ren. It was a boring blue tent, too neat to be awesome, and with adults and kids in there.
Mostly kids though, and a lot of them crying. Nora did like that at all. She looked away. She didn't want to see it. Dove was looking down at her as she did. He was nice. Nice now at least, so that was okay. It was better than looking at the kids, without parents.
"Yeah… that is bad," Dove returned. "But… I'm thinking… it's like chemistry."
"Wait, I thought you said this wasn't chemistry."
"It's not, it's like it." Oh! That made more sense! "See, in chemistry, you need more than just two things next to each other to create a reaction. Things can be pushed together, but, you need energy to get them to go together."
"You need to burn Dust? Ren told me how that's where energy comes from." Dove nodded his head, and shook it, and grimaced, and smiled. Wow, that was a lot of emotion.
"It's a form of it, but energy is just a reaction. Like… fire is energy, or more accurately heat. A lot of things happen when you heat them up. Right?" Nora nodded her head to that.
"Well duh, that's how you stay warm!" Now why did Dove look disappointed.
"Okay, that's true, but I mean like to get things to combine. Think… OH!" He snapped his fingers. "Do you like pancakes?"
Suddenly, being in the middle of a half-ruined part of Vale didn't seem so bad. Not if they were going to talk about pancakes.
"YEAH! I love pancakes!" Nora jumped from the pillar, making Dove back away. Why? "Are you hiding them from me?"
"No! Promise!" He held up his hands. Nora believed him. It would be awfully hard to hide pancakes like that. "It's an example. Like, you can mix the flour and eggs and water and sugar to make the pancake batter, but you need heat to make them cook. Get it?" Nora nodded her head.
"Got that. That's how you make the fluffiest pancakes."
"That's… actually more the flower and baking soda, but anyways!" He waved his hands. "This is… sort of like that. Two things were happening, and they were going to happen. The Grimm and the city. If we weren't here… what do you think would have happened."
Now she was sad again. Down was a bad emotion. "More damage, more bad things, more kids." Dove looked behind him for a moment.
"Right, all of that, but, it clearly didn't happen, right?" Nora looked around. Well it was hard to say if it was worse than it was. That sounded like stuff Ren and Weiss would take about. Or Penny, when she wasn't being an extra special fun robo-friend. "It didn't happen, because we were hear."
"It didn't?"
"No!" Dove was smiling. Smiling was a good thing. "See, it didn't happen because we were hear to stop it. We stopped it because we were the heat to made the batter hard." Now Nora was lost again, and hungry. "Think of it like this. We got here and turned up the heat. Because we got here, we were able to stop a lot more of the Grimm than if we weren't right?"
Well, she did smash a lot more Grimm than zero, so not being here was worse than being here. That made sense to her.
"And because we put in that element, us that is, we were able to stop the reaction. We stopped the Grimm from ruining the city." Nora still didn't get it. "Or… we stopped the Grimm from ruining the dough? For the pancake?"
Now she got it!
"You're right! We did do that!" Nora was almost jumping for joy. Even if the city street she was hopping on was already cracked. "We did that and… oh! Oh oh oh oh! The rest of my team is bringing back more people!"
"And my team is doing the same," Dove agreed. "See? Positive things are happening because we got here. Chemistry Nora."
"Chemistry sounds fun when you describe it," Nora smiled at him. "Ren just talks about bonding and ionization states and purity of compounds and it doesn't really matter."
"Act… yeah, you no what, doesn't matter." Dove waved off his hand. "Not as much as what's happening now. Gotta stay on top of this." He looked down the street, the long street. That street. The one that apparently most of the Grimm had escaped down, the few that were able to get past the wall they had made, or Weiss made. Good old Weiss.
Good Weiss, and Ruby, and Yang, and Blake, and Jaune-Jaune, and Pyrrha, and Ren, and everyone… good on them. Good people brought good things. Nora smile at it.
"A lot of good things have been happening." She mused, twirling on her foot. Nora caught Dove looking at her between the rotations. "You think that's because of us?"
"I… think so?" He scratched his head. "I guess I just don't know what good things you're talking about. I just listed a worse thing."
"Yeah, but your team leader being a meanie pants was a worse thing." Even with eyes shut, Nora could see the realization hit Dove's face. She had to grin at that! "He's a lot nicer now. And nicer is better. Not perfect, he's no Jaune-Jaune, but he's better."
"I wouldn't want him to be like Jaune." Now Nora pouted. "What? You think a guy Cardin's size being nervous with a weapon looks good?" Okay, that was just funny.
"Hahaha! Good point! I like good points, they make things nicer. Nice as Jaune-Jaune and Pyrrha being together!" And now she clasped her hands over her mouth. That was supposed to be a secret!
"They finally got together? About time," Dove… wasn't surprised. "You know when it happened? There was a pool on the team, Penny paid up to match."
"A week ago, tops. Maybe two?" Nora put a hand to her chin, missing Dove clicking his fingers. "Hold on… You were betting on my friends getting together? Were you taking on bets on when they would make a monster!"
"Make a monster?" How did he not know!
"You know, the most fearsome monster of all! The one so horrible, kids don't even get to learn about it until we can hold weapons!" Dove really didn't know! "They call it… the beast with two backs."
And now he was laughing. Nora knew she was funny. Funny enough to make him spit into the air and nearly fall over. That would have been awesome! Making someone fall over laughing. She never got Ren to do that. He was missing out.
"Fwahahaha! HHAHAahgh!" Dove was spitting out his laughter. There must have been a lot of it in there. It was bad to keep that backed up. "Oh… cough oh wow! No… no bet on that!" He shook his head. His hair was about as long as hers… oh! He must be whipping himself to. "That is the last thing I want to think of at night… oh Dust."
"Sorry, but am I? I mean, it's a good thought, right?"
"Not when I'm thinking about other people!" Dove was acting weird. "I mean, I don't think that's something you should be talking about unless you have someone to… make the monster with. Oh god, good thing Penny isn't here to record that."
"She isn't, and I won't, but I am."
"You recorded that!"
"No silly! I'm making the beast." Now Dove looked horrified, why was that? "With Ren silly! My bestistestist friend!"
"If you're doing that, you're way past the friend zone." Nora pouted at him. "What? Friends hang out, have fun, and take care of one another. What you're doing is called-"
"I know what it's called," Nora kept her pout at Dove up. "I'm not a kid. There are just kids nearby." In that too proper tent, with other adults nearby, listening. And a lot of other workers. Workers that were staring at the pair of Beacon Students talking about things that were probably too mature for the little kids.
Dove was blushing, and she knew Yang would be mad she missed it. Maybe Cardin, but she didn't know Cardin, not as good as Jaune-Jaune and Pyrrha.
"Right… good point…" Dove responded. "Lot of trouble… but I guess it's a good thing the military was here. Don't think Vale could have handled this alone." That sounded familiar.
"Is this more chemistry? Because it sounds like chemistry."
"It… actually, yeah, this one is like chemistry." Dove nodded. "Good people being together made for a strong compound, and that strong compound had bonds tight enough to hold back bad things from pulling them apart… yeah, let's call it chemistry." Nora smiled, pulling her hands behind her back.
"I think I like this chemistry then." She grinned, and Dove blushed. Aw, he must have be tired. "Guess that just means we have to stay up then, huh?"
"Y-Yeah… staying up… that's what we have to do."
"Then why are you sitting down?" He was hunched over, too. That had to be bad for his posture. Ren had to tell her how to sit up before. And she did, sometimes, when there wasn't food in front of her, or something else delicious. Those were good excuses!
"Because…" Now why wasn't Dove looking at her? "Because there's… a lot to think about?" Was there? He didn't sound sure himself. "Like, how Ganondorf, the same dude that tanked and wrecked everything that was thrown at him, just showed up and saved our lives according to Weiss, then how the moon is reformed, and then how only a freaking hundredth of the city was affected by this… There's just a lot."
"That is a lot, but isn't that a lot to be up about?" Nora hopped for effort. Now he was looking at her. But her eyes were higher! "Because if we stay up, then other things may come up, that'll keep us up and raise the rest of the world up! Up up and away!" She threw her arms out.
But she didn't fly. Shame, and here she thought she'd get that super-power when she grew up. Nora already had the strength.
"You think it'll be that easy?" She looked back down at Dove. At least he was looking at her again. "I mean, I know things are better, found the rest of RWBY, finding a lot more people just trapped and displaced, most of the damage easily repairable… but you really things are going to get even better?"
"Yup! I know it!" Nora wrapped her knuckles against her head. "Because when things are going well, you just gotta think they're only gonna get better!" She grinned.
How silly she was being earlier, forgetting her own advice. She had to be up! Positive! No one like a Negative Nora, not even Nora, especially Positive Nora. She'd throw a fit. So, she had to be up and positive, so there was someone for everyone to talk to.
Dove could stay Dove. He'd be okay, even if he was crossing his legs like he was trying to relax. She knew the better Cardin would fix that soon!
Nora? She just had to wait. Good things were about to come their way!
"And now, the secrets are known." They were words whispered to the wind.
Spoken from a high balcony overlooking the expanse of a decrepit land, and showing nothing but misery in its wake. With the cracked ground, charred sky, and billowing pits of mud and corruption. Nothing but the dark stained castle held itself tall in the land. Even the mountains bending around it. Any who would gaze upon it would shiver in fear, or fall to their knees in awe.
And on that balcony stood the woman who ruled the castle, one of many who carried the title before her, and not even the latest in her line. But she was the only to stand in the darkness, and smile upon it, as if it were the light.
"The past of Link is shared, the history of Ganondorf is known, and the fools in their high tower are aware of my history." A pale hand drifted down her neck, tracing the gnarly lines of darkness that stained her skin. "Most of it, I suppose." She felt her chuckle verberate through her thin digits."
"My queen, may I inquire what it is that is humorous to you?" The Queen turned to stare at the woman who spoke, red eyes reflecting an ominous calm.
The dark dressed woman did not shiver under her gaze, but likely because she was wise enough to keep her head bowed as she spoke. The twin points of her tall hood prominent, the plague mask protruding down towards the ground, and the many exposed patches of tan skin lined with goosebumps. She did not shiver nor shake, but the pale woman only needed to observe to see she was properly fearful. Appropriate, and appreciated.
"You may rise, Cia," the order came, and she waited for the woman to do so. The red tainted slits of her long mask bore the queen's face slowly, her jaw tight and the smallest traces of her alabaster hair peaking outwards. The lavender cloak billowed against her leg, the absolute cleavage of her gown surprisingly upright. "You have no fault with inquiring what I'm enamored by, just as I have no issue in asking you if you are comfortable in that garb. The others wear far warmer clothing for the climate. Such that reveal less of yourself."
"Forgive me, my queen. This is a garb I fashioned after some time alone, and with the intent to impress the object of my affections. Now it is only a reminder that this as close to him as I will ever come." She knew it already, but the honest answer, quick and personable, was good for her to hear. Trust meant loyalty, and loyalty had to be unquestioning towards her. "Is there a reason for your inquiry?"
"Only curiosity, as I'm sure yours is as well. I was musing on the unfolding of my plans, watching the petals curl as I predicted, and watching the flies buzzing around the stem guess at lies within."
"I am sure those ignorant of your wisdom will only be left speechless when your plan come to fruition, my queen," Cia responded again. "I was as well before you gave me new life."
"Yes, but you are wise by even the standards of the Gerudo. The witches of those sands tend to be fearsome, and you were enough to have them cower." She leaned back, recalling the memories of those desert casters, able to conjure ice that froze the clouds and fire to glass the sands. "It only follows that you are wise enough to see the fruit of my labors. I find that more assuring, with honesty, than even Impa's resolve."
"The Shiekah guardian is loyal to you, my queen. Though I know I am worth more than her and her blades, I still believe she believes in you."
"I am aware, and I do apologize if you think I meant to speak little of her." She smiled as Cia's jaw shook. Now she was fearful, because an apology was offered. "You do not need to be alarmed. I am a ruler to my people, made to assure the future. If I cannot give graces, how can I offer blessings?"
"No, you are correct, my queen. I did not mean to seem assuming of your kindness." The pale woman smiled down on her. "I only thought myself undeserving."
"Do not think so little of yourself, Cia," the queen instructed. "I would have no need of you if you were not worthy. Your worth was far greater than that of your sister, and it is why you stand near me now. Just as Impa is among the greatest of my defenders, and so does as I instruct."
"I will do as you instruct without question."
"And I am aware you would. But that does not mean I will require of you to act in dangerous ways," she spoke on. "But of the danger, what can we say for the acquisition of the relics? For Knowledge and Choice?"
"Yes, my queen," Cia replied with a bow, just before producing the ornate staff of hers. The same twirling dark staff she had held against the Spider Mechs in the ruins of the orphanage, glowing with the Gates spinning about its top.
Boom. The end of the staff hit the balcony, and two of the Blue Gates flew off on command, spinning about herself. They wove an image in place, still pictures of the past. The queen knew of them, though only well enough to be dangerous. And she was a terror.
"The Relic of Choice, progenitor of the Triforce of Courage, still rests in Beacon. Ozpin has the Maiden of Fall in his captivity, though the location is not known where. You have sent Cinder there, but there has been no news of her so far."
"I would not expect there to be," the woman replied. "She is much like a Shiekah, though without a family to make her own. Dedicated to her task so greatly, it would require a terror of the gods to have her return a report." A chuckle billowed out of her red lips, alabaster features creased as she did so. "Perhaps even greater than that, considering the terror Majora roused."
"Yes, your grace. Though Tyrian has expressed interest in going there now, namely after you revealed your connection with Sir Link." Even with the long mask on, the queen did not miss the questioning look from Cia.
"It was necessary, in order to prevent turn coats. Hiding information is invaluable against foes, but a damning choice with allies. The unknown has the advantage, but so long as it is aware when to reveal itself." The gaze did not change. "Do not forget Link and I shared many years. I now his lessons."
"O-Of course, Queen Salem," Cia finally uttered.
"Back to this topic," Salem instructed with a point of her hand. "Cinder has made at least half as much progress as I would have hoped, but more than others. She need only to find the current Maiden and finish her off. If Tyrian wishes to go, then he may do so."
"My queen?"
"But only once the festival has begun," she finished. "When the city rebuilds as it celebrates and brings in the tourism from the other kingdoms, letting him slip into the decrepit buildings will be much easier. There, Cinder can instruct him on who to strike. She is intelligent enough to know he will not follow her orders, not unless I permit it."
"Of course, your grace," Cia continued. The Blue Portal shrunk and returned to her shaft, only for the other to preset itself. This was a far more recent image, and one that Salem only just recognized. "As you predicted with the reveal of Ganondorf, the Maiden of Spring made herself known. She is Raven Branwen, a bandit in the woods of Mistral and a debatable ally to Ozpin."
"I recall her," Salem noted. "But not of her maidenhood. When did this occur?"
"It is unclear, but I suspect from what I have been told that she either recruited or found the previous Maiden, then convinced her she was unfit to live in the world." That seemed possible. Appropriately annoying as well. "Her choice has made her a capable Huntress who lives off of the known network grid, making tracking her information much more difficult."
"See if Watts may find more information about her," Salem instructed. "Though she is a bandit now, I suspect she did such to remove her attachments, so there could be nothing to leverage." It was hard to bargain with someone who saw nothing they wanted. The idea of it made her grin. "Has she by chance tried to gather the Relic of Knowledge herself?"
"Perhaps, but Leo has not given any information about attempts. I did ask Watts about this, and the headmaster, according to his reports, has said no one attempted to enter the chamber." Disappointing, but not unexpected. "However, there appears to be another Maiden of Spring." Salem raised her brow, but waited as the Blue Circle behind Cia shifted.
The woman bent and twirled her staff, making the image of the long-haired woman, gowned in red and snarling, replace itself with a much younger girl, shrouded in green and with eyes of emeralds. This was a face she knew well, but one she had not seen in many centuries.
"How nostalgic," Salem mused. "The Sage of the Forest, Saria of the Kokiri."
"Yes, your highness," Cia confirmed. "Reports were present, but it is now confirmed that Ganondorf used his Triforce of Power to make her a new body, using her memories to reshape her."
"So he did, then I am misfortune to see that Link may have been swifter than me in bringing masks back to life. Such a pity." Here she was hoping to best Link in some competition.
"Perhaps he has, but Saria is the only one. And if her power is a match for Raven's, then the possibility that she could also open the chamber to the Relic of Knowledge is high." Salem nodded. Indeed, it was. "The Maiden of Winter, one known as Fria, is being guarded by the Atlas command in a high castle. Watts and Hazel have much information about her, but conclude it would need a full assault to reach her, and therefore the relic. We do not have confirmation on the Maiden of Spring at this time, likely because Ozpin has hidden them well."
"They do not matter," Salem dismissed with a lax wave of her hand. "I am more pleased to see the machinations and suggested targets bore fruit, enough to force two keys for one safe. More for the fools to manage, and easier to misplace."
"My queen, you are correct," Cia replied… with a softer tone. "But… why do the relics of Destruction and Creation not hold your interest? Would they not benefit you?" Salem turned a short gaze to Cia. Now the witch shivered.
"They do not," she admitted. "Because the curses of this land serve as source of creation on pare with what the relic may produce, and without fear that Ozpin will act if his precious stone is stolen. Destruction holds no significance among the Triforce, and is thus not necessary for the current ley of planes. In the distant future, perhaps, but hardly now."
Rather than explain on, Salem raised her hand. The golden triangles settled on the back of her pale hand, brilliant enough to make even the dark clouds above billow and shiver. Just enough to have Cia avert her gaze, likely for fear of blinding herself. Salem stared into the light, content at the paired sources of power.
So often divided, finally together.
"Courage and Wisdom are all a queen needs to succeed. But at this moment, Ozpin and his flock of fools have a pair of relics of their own. Buried in those chambers, perhaps, but far from out of sight. Should he choose to use them, then victory would not be so guaranteed."
"May I ask why, my queen?"
"You may, and the answer is simple to understand. Shared Wisdom would mean shared knowledge, and conflicting choices leads to indecision. If the relics were to oppose one another, refined as mine are, then the battle would be a stalemate decided upon by the unpredictable combination of luck and skill. The crux of a fool's plan." Salem was no fool.
"You wish to gather them so Ozpin has no means to counter you." Cia spoke, and Salem nodded.
"Your own wisdom shines, Cia," Salem returned. "Though it is not just Ozpin I am wary of. He has the ley of all lands and the history of the world behind him, but he knows precious little of me, before now that is. Now, I am careful of the Hylian who sides with him, and until this day, had held true power within him." Cia did not shiver at the words. No… she swayed.
"Sir Link," the witch spoke. "He is a hero of great renown, saving both my sister and I, combating Ganondorf at his worst… he is someone to be wary of."
"Careful Cia, you speak too highly of a man who wishes to put his blade into me." Salem laughed, even as the witch clutched her staff tightly. "Though I suppose he already has. Who's to say how often before?" She smiled on happier memories, especially as Cia looked petrified before her. A fine combination of the senses.
"Y-Yes, your grace." Cia did not say much for a moment, her breath steadying itself. "I… intend to help Watts with plans for acquiring one of the Spring Maidens, either of them. Would you need me for anything else?" She did not, but Salem knew that was not all the witch had to say.
She did not immediately leave. Scant as her clothing was, it still held as she looked at Salem, the Queen of the Badlands, former Queen to the damned Hylian Kingdom, standing tall in her regal black gown. The endless turmoil of mud and creation beyond her castle walls. Red eyes upon the red slits of Cia's mask, the Salem knew there was more to be asked. Or, more specifically, asked.
"I do not need more from you," she replied honestly, the charred sky crackling with power above her. "But do you need something from me? You do not need to be a frightened doe? Ask, for the worst I will do is deny you." Verbally, she could do much worse physically.
"… I was only curious, as I am still new to this land… why there are four relics." Salem nodded her head.
An honest query, and one she had answered long ago.
"A fine question indeed. Why did the gods leave behind four relics when they departed, yet only three prevailed when Hyrule was founded?" Salem folded her arms, wrapping her fingers against her elbows, letting Cia stare unsurely at her. That was no good, she needed her loyalty. A Sage of Time was hard to find. "I suppose it would come down to the purpose of them. The gods leave behind nothing unneeded or unwanted. So, there must be a purpose for it. One that likely is used in time between this land's fall and the rise of Hyrule."
"The relic will be… destroyed?" Correlated to the Triforce, it did seem an unfathomable idea. Salem merely rolled her head.
"Consumed, lost, ascended, some other term for gone from mortal hands, I am sure as such. Even the legends that persisted before the first birth of mine were rife with weapons and tools such as that." Many of which she still wished to find. But they were of far less importance for her plans and diverging now would mean decades of reworking her machinations. "I will only become concerned if Ozpin makes move against it or the Spring Maiden is found guarding it. Until then, it is not to be considered."
"As you say, my queen," Cia responded again, positive and punctual. "I did not mean to assert it should be considered, I only was curious because…" She hung off the word, and Salem watched her.
"You were… what?" Salem posed the question, her grin broad as she spoke it. The woman swallowed on nothing and the dark queen observed the feeling of fear. It was as potent as aged wine. "Go on, speak. As I said, the worse I will do is deny you."
"I was curious why I saw no trace of it… while I was still an observer of Time. Neither did I nor Lana see it. Her memories…" Yes, those shared memories, the fate of all who wore a mask.
"The gift of Time to her hero," Salem noted. "You have your sister's memories, even after she was turned into a creature of stone."
"I do, my queen. But no where in those memories do, I see of a relic of destruction. Tools capable of it, but I can find those, remember them, for Courage, Wisdom, and Power." Cia stopped for a moment, her staff tapping the ground.
The Blue Gate of Time fell back down, only to be replaced by the Guardian's gate, the lavender hued circlets spinning into the air above her. Salem watched, red eyes reflecting the soft light, the softest thing to appear in her land in many centuries. She bared it, as there was either a point to be had, or a benefit to gain.
"Seeds, bracelets, weapons, fragments, orbs, gems, and even circlets. All of them have been made in trios through all time, dedicated to the aspects of the Divine Sisters." As she spoke, a few of them fell through. Salem recognized a pair of them, having worn them, used them, herself. In a life far behind her now. "But in none of them do I see destruction. It's… it's never there."
"I would be surprised if it was." Salem honestly answered. "Do you think the trio of goddesses would have a piece of their power laid to rest, one that does not carry their mantle?" Even with a mask as long as her forearm, and face covered from her cleft up, the dark queen could feel Cia's unease. "They would not, as I will tell you, a gift of knowledge that appears to have been lost to Time. Her and her vaults of information."
"But if not them… then who is the Relic of Destruction beholden to?" Salem knew the answer very well. It was one of the first mysteries she had ordained when she had pulled herself into this land.
"Who is to say? I may believe it is the last aspect of the Wizard Ozma's power, when he still faked divinity, the little that was not grafted to the quartet of Maidens. Or perhaps it is a necessary balance to the creation of the world, the opposing object formed to balance the creation that surrounds it." Salem smiled down at Cia, the shorter woman fearful to match her gaze.
She walked to the edge of her balcony, holding out her arms to let the dead air cling to her. The fast aspect of her decrypt landscape, the fruits of untoiled land birthing demons through the mud of creation. Not a thing being able to grow or form, not without her say and order. The perfect world, as she had dined to make so many centuries ago.
"No matter the age, the gods have a fashion to make their way into the plans of mortals, making a world of chaos for them to enjoy." She watched a mountain far off from her castle, broken and jagged from time and torment. No wind to shape it, but only the force of the shaking earth to destabilize it. "Be it three sister or two brothers, no matter how the legend is told, it always turns out to be the same. All stories ending at the same point."
Salem commanded the scorched sky to burn. She made for it to crack.
BOOOM! And by her unspoken order, a bolt of lightning tore through the wretched clouds, ripping through the air without mercy.
It slammed into the mountain side with a crash, the flash of its effort gone before the mind could think, leaving behind only the effect of its life.
The spiraled mountain losing its last foothold of balance, and tumbling down.
From her dark tower, stained by shadows yet kept from ruin, Salem watched from the high balcony. Her hands fell back to her, folding beneath her breasts and watching as the stone tumbled, some leagues away. What were pebbled to her shimmering red eyes were truly monolithic in size, and they fell and shattered upon one another, turning a tall monument into crumbled stone.
"All it takes is a well-placed blade to end a revolution," Salem noted. "All the gods need is a well-placed rod to trip the march of royalty."
"As you say… my queen." Her fear was delicious, and Salem appreciated it, but there as more to be said now.
"You do not need to fear for your life, Cia," Salem dismissed. "You were curious, and one who observed Time for many years should be curious of what she does not see. Though gifted with Wisdom, I do not perceive all the world's mysteries."
"You… do not?"
"Oh, you believed I did?" The sure nod was a compliment, and Salem took it as one. "I see, then allow me to give you this gift of knowledge. I know not the mysteries by holding the Triforce of Wisdom. I merely gain the insight on what is correct when I venture a question. I do not know, shall we say, who will be the first to die should I command a village to be destroyed."
There were many in the past she had done just that to. Clearing the land for her mud to grow, the replacement for Power she needed to harvest.
"However, I can perceive what is there. The tools of death that are being used, the manner in which the village is being destroyed, the direction from which the attack begins, and with all of it in my eyes, I know the answer." One of her pale fingers rose up, tapping the edge of her gaze. She traced a tendril of darkness swirling just out of sight.
"You are gifted… with answer?"
"Yes… I suppose that is a fine way to put it," Salem mused. "Just as I need not ask why you are curious of these things." Her gaze was high, and Cia shivered as she was bored down beneath it. "You never held Wisdom as I did, and you are curious how these aspects of power work. Perhaps because all witnessed Ganondorf's displays of Power, against a sealed God. Or perhaps you were wondering what other questions you may wish for me to ponder, a selfish request you want the answer to."
It wasn't a hot blush that stained Cia's face. Certainly not. What Salem witnessed was far better.
Bitten lips, a trembling frown, and hands clasped against her staff, the circlets of Time, Souls, and Guardians practically trembling against it. Such a wonderful feeling to be indulged with, and from a woman whom Time herself had once offered a hold of power.
But Salem was far above her, in age, power, wisdom, and position. There was nothing for her to fear or consider in Cia. Nothing but her use for her plans.
"Do not worry. As I said, the worst I will do is deny you." Her hands reached out, settling on the chiseled stone of the balcony's edge. "Unless you have another question you wish to humor me with, we are finished here. Take your tasks to Watts, and see to the current position of Zant. He is not to be given a leash with no limit."
"Of course, Queen Salem," Cia bowed lowly as she spoke, balanced by her staff. "Do you wish for me to also find Cinder?"
"No no, if that girl has not reached out, it is because she has no easy means to. Were she found, we would know." Salem would know. "Continue what I order, and wait for my next command." The lewdly displayed lavender witch bowed again before turning to leave.
Her heels signaled her departure, Salem listening to them click away. The silence was kept away by the crackling of energy high above, the rippling force of her magic given form to the land. She smiled down at her pale hand, so white and pure that it could be mistaken for an angel's touch. Only for a glimmer of her face to make even the staunchest of men tremble in fright.
She knew it to be true, as she had seen the most capable of men do the same to her.
"I knew you would return, Link. I knew you would find your way to me." Her eyes shut, concealing the red of her gaze. Just enough for her head to lean back, sucking in a breath of the dead air. "How many years has it been for you, I wonder. How many years do you think it has been for me?"
She slowly opened her eyes, and clear the clouds above.
For the rare moments in the Badlands, she let the rays of the moon shine down upon her. The newly constructed, or perhaps resurrected, fully moon. It was such a sight to behold.
"Do you know of the secrets your friends keep? Do they truly know of all of yours?" Her lips pulled into a grin. Already sure of the answer. "It does not matter. Not since you denied me the Triforce of Power. Not since then. And since then, I have had to weave this long cloth that you now tumble down, stumbling in the dark, grabbing at whatever you see."
Her hands rose upwards, crackling with the magic of her divinity.
The ground far away from the castle, shattered and morphed by her command. A pillar of stone, smooth and ominous, taking form. Spilling off the mud that was settled beneath the dirt, and scratching at the clouds high above. Leagues away she could hear the tainted earth cry. It was music to her ears.
"Do you even know the secrets of the gods? Do those fools know of what you are still hiding?" Her smile broadened as she beheld the moon, laughing at its surface. So pale and round, like a pearl, but flawed throughout. No different than the man she once loved.
Her hand rose to her chest, the thing that had been empty for so long.
"Do you still love me?"
Eyes drifted shut, air leaving her again, and the clouds shutting with them. When she was surrounded again in darkness, the soothing embrace of the crying castle and the wailing lands, Salem shook her head, alabaster hair billowing.
"I suppose in the end it does not matter. We both chose our paths. And now we walk them, apart, and yet converging." Her hands unfolded, holding nothing before her. "We are to meet again. There will be no question of what will happen when we do."
Until it glowed with an ethereal light. The golden power of the goddesses, held within her reach.
"The unknown has the advantage, but the beloved has it hopes."
SCRUCHN! The light died in a moment, leaving Salem's face a shroud.
"All the more fun it will be to crush~."
Author's Note: We're in the end game boys.
I got one more twist, maybe two more characters to introduce, and hell of a lot of tears to exploit.
Let's see what happens, m'kay?
