RWBY: MRRN
Volume 4, Chapter 7: Broken Love
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.
After the incident with the mob over a week ago, things had been quiet, but tense around the Xiao Long household. Tai was always on the lookout for more mobs and didn't leave the house as much anymore. Whenever he did leave, he'd make sure to be back quickly out of fear of another mob coming to his home to hurt Ruo and Yang.
Yang still wouldn't try on the robotic arm, despite the insistence of her father and boyfriend. Both of them were getting tired of her not willing to try on the arm and take back her chance of being a Huntress.
Today, Tai had just left the house to go to the grocery store and buy food for the next two weeks. He planned on being back as quickly as he could, though Ruo assured him they'd be fine. Ruo suspected he'd be gone for at least an hour, considering the distance from their home to the nearest market.
Yang was in the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water while Ruo was tending to Huzhao, making sure they stayed in good condition in case he had to fight again. The silence between them was awkward, though Yang easily sensed that Ruo had something to say to her. She let out a sigh and turned to face him.
"Out with it," she demanded. "What is it?"
"Why haven't you put on the arm?" Ruo asked her, breaking his attention from Huzhao.
"I…I'm not ready," she hesitantly answered. Ruo shook his head in annoyance and walked over to her.
"Yang, this needs to stop," he insisted. "Whether you want to face it or not, you've become a burden to your father." Yang put the glass of water on the counter, almost cracking it and turned back to glare at Ruo.
"A burden?" she questioned. "Look at me, Ruo. I lost a part of me. A piece of me is gone…and it's never coming back."
"Do you think I'm not aware of that?" Ruo replied. "I know perfectly well what you lost that night. But you have-"
"Don't tell me you know what I lost," Yang interrupted. "You still have all your body parts. You have your arms, your legs, your eyes, your ears…you still have everything." Ruo frowned.
"I have my own scars, Yang. Scars you saw yourself. I may not have lost my arm, but I know what it's like to live with a maimed body. I know that pain all too well."
Yang shook her head in disagreement. She didn't care about Ruo's scars. He didn't lose a body part like she had the night Beacon was destroyed. What right did he have to say how much he understood her pain?
"What do you know?" she asked bitterly, walking away to the living room, but stopping under the archway between the former room and the kitchen.
"I know enough," Ruo responded. "I've lost my fair share too, Yang."
"Oh, dry your tears," Yang shot back. "You still have your teammates. You still have your body parts. Me…" She shook her head as she remembered the terrible truth the day she awoke in her bed on Patch.
Weiss's father had forced her to go back to Atlas and would most likely never allow her to leave the Kingdom again. Blake had disappeared without a word, so Yang had no idea where she was. She could be alive, dead, captured by the White Fang…no one had the slightest idea of where she was. Ruby had left with Pyrrha's teammates to go to Haven with Qrow watching after her.
"Don't disregard others' pains just because you're upset, Yang," Ruo started. "You have a family who loves and nurtures you. You have a father who is proud of you, a sister who loves you. You have a home to live under. You have somewhere to come back too whenever you need to. I have none of that." Ruo's tone started becoming more angry and upset as he started to remember the pain he had endured for so long.
"I lost everything the night my father was murdered. I lost my home, my mom became barbaric after she escaped, she forced me to join the White Fang and beat me every day…I know perfectly well what it's like to suffer, Yang Xiao Long."
For several moments, Yang felt sympathy for the man she loved. Everything he said was true: he had lost his family, his home, had to live a maimed body and had nowhere to call his own. He had suffered greatly before coming to Beacon Academy and becoming a member of Team MRRN. Sadly, the sympathy was very short-lived and Yang started making her way to the staircase.
"Do you honestly believe you're the only one suffering?" Ruo questioned. "Math nearly lost his arm and almost died that night. Robin lost his eyes and is now blind. Pyrrha can't walk without crutches. Safirlas watched her entire team get butchered by that devil, Nachtfel. They're all suffering, so don't you dare behave as if you're the only one bearing pain."
"But I am alone," Yang rebuked. "Blake is gone and I have no idea where she is. Weiss was forced back to Atlas and I may never see her again. Ruby…she just left. She just left us."
"Maybe she wouldn't have if you hadn't snapped at her," Ruo suggested.
"Yang!" Ruby yelled as she embraced her sister in her bed. Yang, however, didn't return the gesture and just lay there.
"Yang?" Ruby asked with concern. Yang let out a quiet sigh and slowly pushed Ruby away with her arm. The reaper then noticed that where Yang's right arm was supposed to be, it was bandaged to prevent bleeding.
"What happened to your arm?" Ruby asked, pointing to where her arm used to be. Yang didn't answer.
"What's going on?" Ruby persisted. "Where's Weiss and Blake? What's happened?"
"The Fall of Beacon, that's what happened," Yang abruptly answered. "Everyone thinks Atlas is responsible. No one knows who to trust and with the CCT down, no one has anyway of contacting the other Kingdoms. As for Weiss…her father forced her back to Atlas."
"And Blake?" Ruby asked. "Where is she?"
"I don't know," Yang answered before her reaction soured. "And I don't care."
"Well, there has to be some reason-"
"No, there doesn't!" Yang barked. "Sometimes, bad things just happen whether we like or not! Why can't you grow up and accept that?" Ruby backed up a few steps, taken back by Yang's sudden outburst. Where was all this anger coming from and why was it being directed at her when all she wanted to do was help and figure out what happened?
"Yang, what is wrong? Where is all this coming from?" Yang shook her head in annoyance.
"You always looked at a life like some fairy tale. You always believed everything will have a happy ending. Guess what, Ruby? This is the real world and the real world is NOT a fairy tale. We don't get happy endings and dance into the sunset. Now just leave me alone!"
"Yang, I just want to help you-"
"Well, there's nothing you can do to help me! NOTHING! Now get out!"
Yang snapped at Ruby when all she wanted to do was help her. Yang regretted what she had done, that she had soured her relationship with her sister before she ran off, but she didn't want to admit it. She didn't want to admit it was her fault that her sister left her.
"Ruby needed to grow up and stop seeing the world as a fairy tale," Yang told Ruo. "Bad things happen and not always for good reasons. If she wants to be away, then fine. I don't care."
"You don't care about anything anymore," Ruo pointed out. "All you do is sit around and pretend you're the only one in pain. But you still have so much to be grateful for."
"Like what?" Yang asked callously. "You?" Ruo's eyes widened in shock before his expression turned into an angry frown.
"What?" he questioned.
"I said, what do I have to be grateful for?" she repeated. "Why should I be grateful for you?"
"Because I'm HERE, Yang!" Ruo barked as he walked up to her and she started stepping down the stairs. "I've been HERE for the past seven months now, helping you however I can. All you do is spit it in my face and continue being a burden to everyone because you think you're the only one in pain." Yang's eyes narrowed at Ruo.
"All you do is sit around, feeling sorry for yourself and ignoring any advice that your father and I offer," he continued. "I gave up being with my teammates to be here with you because I felt you needed me."
"Well, I don't!" Yang responded angrily. "I don't need you and I don't want you! Why don't you just do me a favor and leave!?"
"Trust me, you've made it tempting for me to leave," Ruo shot back. "When will you stop acting like you're the only one suffering!?"
"Shut up," Yang growled, but Ruo didn't comply.
"I didn't have to be here, but I chose to. I helped your father. You did nothing but sulk and waste away!"
"SHUT UP!" Yang roared before she did something Ruo didn't expect.
He felt a sudden blunt pain in the left side of his face, sending him flying into a wall. His head hurt from the pain of hitting the hard wood, but what he saw next hurt him even more. Yang had punched him, proven by her fist being extended towards him.
An angry expression was on Yang's face, one that slowly changed into regret for what she did. She realized that she had just hurt the man she loved, the man who had spent the last seven months trying to help her. She had just punched him into the wall.
Ruo's own expression was one of shock and hurt from the unexpected attack from Yang. He was truly hurt that Yang would ever consider hurting him the way she just did. He was hurt that she had punched him after he refused to stop talking about how she had been a burden to her father. When it registered in his mind what had happened, his expression changed to one of ice cold anger born of betrayal.
"Ruo," Yang spoke in an apologetic manner.
"No," Ruo refused to listen. "You want to waste away, go ahead. I'm done." He picked himself up from the floor and walked past Yang, heading to the guest bedroom where he had been staying. All Yang could do was stand there and realize what she had done. She had hurt the man she loved and who loved her back.
That was the last straw for Ruo. He could tolerate her callousness, her ignorance towards the pain of others, her stalling to put on the arm…but he would not be treated as something for her to take her out on. He had tried helping her and she repaid him by punching him into a wall. He didn't care how sorry Yang was; he was done and he was going to leave for Vale as soon as possible.
Ruo took out his scroll and started looking up the boat departures from Patch to Vale.
-0-
"They should be around here somewhere," one of the Huntsmen asked out of the group of seven. They had been sent to investigate Iron Knight whereabouts, just another task on their workload.
Ever since the Fall of Beacon, Mistral had been in constant chaos. The Mistral Council was at odds with Atlas representatives, made worse by the Dust Embargo Ironwood enacted and the possibility of Atlas's borders being closed. The Humanity First movement was becoming very violent, victimizing the Faunus and targeting any human that dared to side with them. Grimm and Iron Knight attacks had left the borders constantly endangered and the Huntsmen stretched thin to defend Mistral's territories.
"I don't understand," Tristran Charcoal spoke. "These are the coordinates we were given. There should be an Iron Knight encampment nearby."
All they could see were trees, shrubbery and forest. There was nothing here to indicate that the area is or was an Iron Knight camp.
"Were we given bad coordinates?" one of the Huntsmen questioned.
"No," a dark voice responded. "You were given the correct coordinates." The Huntsmen looked up in one of the trees to see none other than Nachtfel himself. One of the Huntsmen immediately shot at him, but he turned into ashes and disappeared.
"What?" some of them gasped. "Where'd he go?"
"There!" one of the Huntsmen shouted as the Night Devil appeared above them and landed in the middle of the group.
"Surround him!" one of the Huntsmen ordered. "He can't take us all!" As instructed, they surrounded Nachtfel, their weapons ready to clash. All they got in response was a chuckle from underneath Nachtfel's helmet.
"You think you've made it easier for you to kill me?" he questioned. "No, you've made it easier for ME to kill YOU." Nachtfel grabbed the hilt of his nodachi and prepared to unsheathe it for combat.
The Huntsmen were cautious. They had heard much about Nachtfel, about how dangerous he was. He had slaughtered almost anyone who fought against him and killed them in gruesome ways. But they were confident that he would not be able to take on seven professional Huntsmen.
One of the Huntsmen fired at Nachtfel, who simply deflected the projectile with his nodachi. The devil then threw something into the air and then turned his head towards the ground.
"Flash bang!" one of them warned. When the grenade went off, all of the Huntsmen were blinded. To those who could still hear anything beyond their groaning, they heard screams of two different people that were immediately silenced. Another noise was heard: the grisly spilling of blood upon the ground.
When the Huntsmen came around, they witnessed two of their group members had been killed by Nachtfel, all in brutal ways. All of them lay in pools of their own blood that poured from their bodies onto the ground. They noticed a pattern among their dead: they were the ranged fighters. Nachtfel had purposely targeted the ranged fighters when they were blinded, leaving only the close range fighters for him to deal with.
"You all think yourselves invincible," Nachtfel spoke as he stepped in some of their blood. "For 65 years, you were gifted unlimited power. And what did you do with that power? You victimized the people you swore to protect, just as you victimized and destroyed my family."
"You're blaming all of us for the actions of a few?" one of the Huntsmen barked. "And who are you to criticize us? We know what you did at Beacon. What right have you to condemn us for not caring about innocent lives when you show no regard for those killed because of you?"
"I'm doing what I have to make this world a better place," Nachtfel claimed. "If they wish to stand with the Huntsmen, then they deserve to die."
The Huntsmen were disgusted by Nachtfel's blatant hypocrisy. He accused them of being corrupt and showing no regard for those they endanger, but when confronted with how he endangers innocents, he justifies it and behaves as if he's done nothing wrong. In his mind, he was a savior of Remnant, no matter what he did.
"You bloodthirsty hypocrite!" one of the Huntsmen shouted before swinging his mace at Nachtfel. The Iron Knight leader dodged the attack and slashed at the Huntsman, damaging his Aura.
"I am not a hypocrite," Nachtfel denied. "I am the one who will lead Remnant to an era of equality and peace."
"You will burn Remnant to the ground!" another Huntsmen shouted, prompting the remaining five to attack Nachtfel. Despite the loss of their ranged fighters, they remained confident that they would easily defeat Nachtfel since he was outnumbered five to one.
The Iron Knight leader quickly proved them wrong. His Semblance and natural speed made him very hard to hit, especially since their ranged fighters were dead. Nachtfel would appear out of ashes and delivered a flurry of attacks on several of the Huntsmen, then disappear again. He stayed on the move, making sure not to stay in one place for too long.
Within several minutes, two of the Huntsmen's Auras were depleted. Nachtfel quickly killed them both, the first by severing his head and the other by nearly splitting his torso in half.
"Kill him!" one of the Huntsmen, presumed to be Tristran Charcoal. Nachtfel smirked sadistically under his helmet, seeing the Huntsman he desired to kill most at the moment. To him, he was a prime example of why his crusade was righteous, why he would bring change for the good of the world and the humans and Faunus races.
The three Huntsmen attacked all at once. Unlike before, Nachtfel stood his ground, easily deflecting their blows and attacks with his nodachi and scabbard. When one of the Huntsmen swung his mace, it almost hit Nachtfel…until he turned into ashes and reappeared behind the Huntsman. With his Aura almost depleted, Nachtfel unleashed three powerful attacks before killing his enemy by running his blade through his chest and slicing him in half.
"You bastard!" The two last Huntsmen attacked Nachtfel yet again. He deflected all of their attacks before kicking Tristran in the knee, forcing him to the ground while decapitated the other Huntsman with a swift slice of his nodachi.
"Tristran Charcoal," Nachtfel addressed. "I purposely saved you for last."
"Why?" Tristran asked as he tried to stand, but couldn't due to his injured leg. "I've done nothing to you."
"You did something," Nachtfel replied. "One of my Knights mentioned you. After your wife died, you abused her and her sister, even killing one of them in a drunken rage. She was only 15 years old when she watched you murder your own daughter."
"That's not what happened!" Tristran claimed. "Yes, I started drinking after my wife died, but her sister's death was an accident! When they tried to run away, a mugger killed her. They killed her sister, not I!"
"Spare me your lies," Nachtfel demanded. "I know a liar when I see one."
"No," Tristran growled. "You only see what you want to see. You'll twist any scenario to make your enemies look like villains and make yourself look like a hero. You're not a hero, you're a vile, self-righteous, violent hypocrite who sees evil everywhere except in yourself!" He lifted his weapon to attack Nachtfel, but the swordsman easily dodged the attack and kicked Tristran to the ground.
Before the Huntsman could react, Nachtfel grabbed the sides of Tristran's head and started pulling in a very savage manner. Tristran tried to break free, but Nachtfel's grip was too strong. In a matter of moments, his head was torn from his body.
No word from a Huntsman could ever be trusted. They were all the same in Nachtfel's eyes. Liars, murderers, hypocrites, cowards, corrupt, evil and nothing would ever convince this man otherwise. He wouldn't rest until every Huntsman and Huntress was dead and they suffered the punishments they deserved.
-0-
Forest, Sterling and Ruadh had been on Ruby's trail for several days now, but still hadn't found any sign of her or Qrow being nearby. No doubt because of Qrow's Semblance, he'd be far away from his niece as much as possible. As for other pursuers, Forest hadn't found any clues to indicate that a third party was after Ruby, but he wasn't ready to dismiss the possibility of it being so.
On their way, they had encountered a few more Iron Knight groups, three of which had killed Huntsmen from Mistral. Something was very wrong based on what they been seeing during their travels.
Someone in Mistral was setting up the Huntsmen to be killed by the Iron Knights. There were always sent in groups of no more than ten and sent to areas where they'd be ambushed and killed by Iron Knights. The question is, who could help send the Huntsmen to their deaths?
The only people capable of doing so were the Councils. In states of emergency, control of the Huntsmen would go over to the Councils and not just the Headmasters. Did the Iron Knights have an infiltrator on the inside, one that was feeding them information so they could ambush the Huntsmen? The sooner they got to Mistral, the sooner they'd find out the truth.
Though for right now, their current objective was to find Ruby and ensure she was safe. If Salem's forces were coming after her, then it'd take more than Qrow Branwen to protect her from them.
When nightfall came, the three Huntsmen stopped at a village and found a local inn to stay for the night. Forest asked around if any of them had seen a red-hooded girl or a Huntsman who used a scythe, but they had seen neither of them.
He was currently making his way from the marketplace, having bought supplies for him and his companions. Sterling and Ruadh had stayed at the inn to eat and possibly have a drinking contest. He was stopped when he heard a voice address him.
"Excuse me," a young short boy asked, most likely around the age of 14 or 15. He had tanned skin with black hair with hazel eyes. His cloth was very poor, indicating that he came from outside the Kingdom and lived far in the countryside. He had a backpack on him and a walking stick in his right hand. For weapons, he had a hatchet and a knife on his belt.
"Hello," Forest greeted. "How can I help you?"
"Are you Forest Kotka?" the young boy asked, surprising the eagle. It didn't take long before Forest realized who this boy was.
"Ozpin," he stated, his friendly tone dropped with a more serious one. "You're in there, aren't you?"
"He's the one?" the boy asked someone. Forest already knew who he was asking.
"Yes, I'm Forest Kotka," the swordsman answered. "What's your name?"
"Oscar," the boy introduced. "Oscar Pine. Ozpin said he knows you."
"Unfortunately," the Golden Eagle warrior responded. "Is he able to talk me directly?"
"He would like to speak to you, but first, we'd need to speak somewhere privately," Oscar answered.
"I have a room at the inn," Forest answered. "We'll talk there." Forest led Oscar to the inn where he and his companions were staying for the night.
Oscar kept some distance from Forest, unsure why the warrior seemed to have issues with Ozpin. Whatever happened between the two of them, Ozpin had not told him. Had they not been stopping in this village as well, Oscar and Ozpin would've continued on their way through Anima.
When they entered the inn, Sterling and Ruadh weren't seen in the tavern, so Forest assumed they were already upstairs in their room. Forest led Oscar up to the room where they would be staying and opened the door. As suspected, Sterling and Ruadh were in the room tending to their weapons to make sure they were in good condition.
"Forest," Sterling addressed before noticing the boy beside him. "Who is he?" Forest said nothing and instead invited Oscar into the room. While Forest sat on his own bed, Oscar sat down on a vacant one and closed his eyes. His body was suddenly enveloped in a green flash of light.
"Hello," a very familiar voice greeted.
"Ozpin," Forest addressed sternly, his eyes narrowed at the former Beacon Headmaster.
"Ozpin?" Ruadh gasped. "That old bastard's already reincarnated?"
"And into a fourteen year old boy," Sterling added with some contempt in his voice.
"I didn't choose Oscar," Ozpin replied.
"But you did choose Mathdon and Pyrrha as pawns," Forest brought up. "Glaucus told me what happened before the Fall of Beacon. You unbelievable-" He shook his head in anger, not finding the correct words to express how truly furious he was at Ozpin for what he did.
"We were desperate," Ozpin claimed. "We needed-"
"Don't give me that," Forest interrupted. "You didn't tell them the whole truth, you told them in the vaguest way you could to get them to cooperate, just like what you did to MRRN. Alan Kura was murdered and Team MRRN would've died with him if I hadn't been there. How many more people are you willing to sacrifice just so you can play things to the chest? If you had asked me to help you, I would've done so."
"Well, this meeting is off to a great start," Oscar snarked.
Tensions were immediately in the air the moment when Ozpin surfaced from Oscar's conscience. Forest made it no secret how negatively he viewed Ozpin and several of his allies after fighting for them for years, but what he did during the Vytal Tournament crossed a line.
"Forest, I know you have little reason to trust me," Ozpin replied sternly, "But I was desperate and Salem's forces were in our midst. I couldn't afford to raise a panic."
"Do you honestly believed that us helping would've caused a panic?" Forest asked in disbelief. "We know how to be subtle and we could've found Salem's subordinates if you stopped being a control freak. You're just looking for excuses to justify what you did."
"You've seen what's happened to the world," Ozpin stated, his tone becoming angry. "No one knows who to trust anymore. We could be looking at the possibility of another Great War, something I've been trying to prevent for eighty years. If you had understood that as Summer did-"
Forest quickly stood up and glared down at Ozpin, his eyes glaring daggers at his former ally. He hated it when Ozpin justified his habit of lying and telling half-truths to his allies, but using Summer against him was something that almost set the Golden Eagle off. The only reason he wasn't attacking him was because he didn't want to hurt Oscar.
"Summer and Trenton died because of you withholding information we needed to know," Forest stated, restraining his anger as much as possible. "If you hadn't played everything close to the chest, my friend and the woman I love would still be alive."
"And what did you do to prevent Ms. Rose's death?" Ozpin challenged. "Did you not leave before she died? Could you not have kept an eye on her instead of turning your back on us completely?"
"Alright, enough," Sterling stated, stepping between the two. "None of us trust Ozpin, but we have bigger issues to worry about. For now, we should at least work together."
Forest was hesitant to work with Ozpin, but right now was not a time to turn away allies. Haven was most likely Salem's next target and they'd need all the allies they could get, even if it meant saving their anger towards Ozpin for later. Forest calmed down and sat back on the bed.
Ozpin also held much anger towards Forest, feeling that he lacked the understanding needed to realize why Ozpin did what he did. He wasn't proud of what he had done, but he felt it was a necessary evil to stop Salem from getting her hands on the Fall Maiden's powers. Both Forest and Ozpin calmed down and decided to address the current topic of interest.
"What brings you to Anima?" Ozpin asked the three Huntsmen.
"Several reasons," Forest reluctantly answered. He was trying his best to remain cordial with Ozpin, the Headmaster doing the same. Both of them wanted to argue, but whatever issues they had, they'd have to wait until later.
Forest informed Ozpin of what had transpired after the Fall of Beacon. The Vale CCT was destroyed and Grimm overrun the Academy. Ruby and Pyrrha's teammates were heading to Haven Academy, followed by Qrow. The Iron Knights were setting up traps for Huntsmen, thanks to their informant in Mistral.
"This is worse than I thought," Ozpin spoke. "With the CCT destroyed, the Kingdoms are unable to contact each other. No one is able to trust anyone and with Atlas being blamed…" He sighed.
"Maybe you're right, Forest," he admitted. "If I had asked for your help, maybe we could've prevented the Fall of Beacon." Forest was quiet in response, but Ozpin found a silent answer from his change in expression from stern to hints of sympathy.
"Perhaps we're all to blame," Forest assumed.
"No," Ozpin denied. "It's my fault. I didn't act soon enough…but we must now."
"Then we go after Ruby," Ruadh stated. "She painted a huge target on her back after what she did at Beacon."
"Did at Beacon?" Ozpin questioned. It suddenly struck him what they meant.
"She used the Silver Eyes!?"
His tone was panicked, a complete contrast to the usual calm and collected personality Ozpin had. He started quietly saying 'Oh, no,' over and over again. If Ruby had indeed used her powers, then there was no doubt that Salem would know about it.
"She petrified the Dragon Grimm atop Beacon Tower," Forest informed. "She-"
"Ruby's in danger," Ozpin interrupted. "Salem will know that about this. She'll undoubtedly send people to capture her. We must find her before they do."
Luckily, they were already on her trail. If they hurried tomorrow and left at first light, they could possibly catch up with her in the next two days. But there was now no doubt that Ruby's life was in danger and as Ozpin said, they needed to find her before Salem's forces did.
The group set in for the night after having dinner, but while the three Huntsmen easily fell asleep, Oscar remained awake. In the course of a few days, he had been thrust from his simple life on a farm to becoming involved in a war that would decide humanity's fate. He always wanted to be more than a farmhand, but he never suspected anything like this.
-0-
Robin was slowly becoming accustomed to his echolocation, making it easy for him to walk around the house without the need of a cane. Every step he took produced soundwaves that travelled through the room he was in, giving him a clear picture of where he was. The sounds of others also gave him a red outline for him to know where they are, which would be handy against enemies.
If he could apply this to his archery and fighting, then he could restart his training again. Perhaps he'd have a chance to become a warrior again. But first, he'd have to check on his weapon, Sharp Shot…which he hadn't touched in months.
He went over to the closet where it was held. When he opened the door and held the bow, he could tell that it was in need of maintenance and repair. The blades on the limbs had dulled and rusted and the bowstring was weak and would most likely snap if he tried to shoot an arrow. His first order of business was getting his weapon repaired.
"Robin," Anrydd asked his son as he walked up to his son, holding his bow. "What are you doing?" Robin turned around and smiled.
"I think I may a chance to become a Huntsman again," he replied. "But first, I need to repair my bow."