Chapter 9

Second Repressions

Summer led her team into Ren's room in the infirmary. Led was a strong term as Pyrrha and Nora stood to either side of her, their hands holding hers in support. She felt like she might bolt at any moment. As much good as her break down in the hall may have done her, she was still dreading this. Some part of her mind was insisting still that Ren would blame her, demand she steps down as leader and let wiser, cooler heads take over. It was insidious simply by its nature. It was her own voice it whispered with, after all.

As the door pushed open and Summer met Ren's eyes, she flinched, trying to backstep away from the accusation she knew would be there. Only Nora's firm but supportive hand on her back stopped her. Eyes wide in a panic she looked over to her ginger teammate and received a small, encouraging smile in response. Swallowing her panic both literally and metaphorically, Summer turned to face Ren and forced herself to actually see him.

Ren was calm, that was to be expected. Ren was never anything but calm. Sitting up in the bed, the upper half of it raised up to support his body, the sheets and blankets were pooled around his waist. It gave a clear view of the wrappings that encompassed his chest, compressing his ribs and holding everything in place. A small whimper escaped Summer's lips upon seeing those bandages, knowing that they were there because of her.

Summer forced her eyes up to meet Ren's and where she expected to see a cool rage she was instead meet with sympathy and acceptance. It was enough to push Summer over the edge again, tears falling again as she closed the distance to his bed. She stopped at the edge of it, hands fluttering in front of her as she tried to speak but found herself unable to get anything out.

Then Ren reached out with one hand, capturing one of Summer's frantically moving hands. Summer froze in place, eyes locked on their joined hands.

The two of them stood there like that for several minutes. Neither of them moving or speaking as the silence hung heavy in the air. Summer absently noted the sound of a clock ticking the seconds and then minutes away. She could feel her body trying to vibrate itself apart as she tried to think, tried to find the words to express how sorry she was. She wanted to divine a way to explain she had never meant to hurt him so badly, that she didn't know she could hurt him so badly so easily. That insidious voice that was her, but not her, had not stopped its whispers. 'This was why friends should only ever be fray adjacent,' it said in her mind.

"Nora will beat you up, Pyrrha will record it, I'll make pancakes, and we'll all eat them while we watch it together." There was a brief pause then he finished speaking by saying, "And you will stop feeling guilty."

It took a minute for Summer to realize Ren had spoken. Her eyes widened as she registered what he said before she started to nod rapidly in response. Ren favored her with a small smile and squeezed her hand. Summer squeezed back before letting his hand go and looking around the room. She noted the chairs pushed up against the walls of the room and decided that there was a conversation that needed to take place after today. Just not the one she thought it would be.

"Okay," Summer said as she blew out a breath. "Okay, Nora can toss me around the sparring ring later, though. I'm sure after today there are some questions and you three need to know the answers before we're in class again." Motioning to the chairs as she grabbed one herself, Summer pulled it up to Ren's bed, making sure to leave room for Nora to be nearest him. "As much of a fan of hospitals as I am not, it's time for a team meeting. It's time I tell you what I know about what happened today, what I think, and what I'm only half guessing at."

Pyrrha and Nora quickly took their own seats, Nora forgoing a chair entirely and crawling into the bed with Ren outright as she fussed over him. Once they were seated, Summer looked over at her teammates and realized that she could do this. Not only that, she had to do this. If she ran from this, ran from her team, she didn't think she would ever stop running. It was time to stand and face the nightmares in her memories even if they wouldn't show themselves as more than shadows.

They had just gotten settled in when the Doctor came back and insisted they take their team meeting back to their dorm room. That included their injured teammate. Cracked ribs and severe bruising were not a cause to miss classes, and Ren was expected to attend classes as normal the following day. So the three girls of Team SLVN had gathered up Ren's things as well as Ren himself and trekked back to their dorm.

When they arrived, Summer spotted Yang hanging out in the hall between Team SLVN's and Team RWBY's dorm rooms. From the way she was leaning up against the wall, Summer figured Yang was trying to look like she was doing anything but wait for them. It caused her to chuckle and shake her head.

Summer was thankful that Yang stood aside as they got Ren settled into his bed. Nora took off to get him dinner with Pyrrha going along, promising to bring food back for the rest of them as well. As Summer sat down on the edge of her bed, Yang, who up till that point had been standing silently in the doorway, took it as the signal to speak.

"So, what happened?" Yang asked. Summer could hear the attempt at nonchalance in her voice. Looking her over, she seemed to be wound up something fierce. Remembering the earlier meltdown between Ruby and Weiss, Summer wondered if coming over to check on Ren had simply seemed the least bad of the situations to deal with in Yang's mind.

"Training accident," Summer said plainly, "I've got to go over the whole thing with my team. If you want to hang out so you can let the rest of your team know Ren's okay," she finished offering before trailing off.

Yang nodded and took a seat at one of the desks in the room. Summer watched as she glanced around the room, a look of curiosity taking over the earlier caution she had displayed. Summer was about to just ask what was so interesting when Yang finally asked, "Where is all of your stuff?"

Summer raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Ren. When he didn't seem to have any insight into what Yang was talking about, Summer turned back to her fellow blonde. "What do you mean?"

"We had to turn our beds into bunk beds to fit everything the four of us brought," Yang explained. "How did you four fit everything without moving anything around?"

Summer felt her mouth open in a silent 'Oh' of understanding before turning to Ren again. Summer felt herself looking at him for only seconds but feeling like she had held an entire conversation with him.

'Do you want to talk about this?'

'I hurt too much, Nora can explain for us.'

'You sure? She is already going to pound me tomorrow.'

'It is fine, would have come up eventually.'

'Wait till they get back then.'

'For the best.'

Summer let her gaze linger on Ren for a few beats longer, wondering when her imagination had become so active. She turned to Yang and shrugged, "Kinda goes hand in hand with the Team meeting tonight. We've not really had much time to talk ourselves yet."

Yang nodded in acceptance and the room fell silent again. Summer pulled out her Grim Studies book and started going over the reading for the next class. She couldn't be more thankful that the way classes were structured they didn't have the same classes a day in and day out. Everything rotated with the exception of Combat Class, but even that rotated what time it was. She wouldn't be seeing and falling asleep to, Professor Port again for another two days.

Time passed quickly and soon Nora and Pyrrha returned with trays for Summer and Ren as well as themselves. It was a light fair since it was nearing the end of the dinner period, just some sandwiches and soup. It was enough for Summer that her stomach wouldn't be eating itself first thing in the morning. The four members of Team SLVN and Yang sat and talked about their first days, avoiding the sensitive topic of Ruby and Weiss as well as Ren's injury, as they ate. Soon, food was done and the trays were stacked on one of the desks for Summer to run them back later. When everyone was settled into comfortable spots around the room, Summer found everyone watching her.

Her mind raced along various tracks on how she should explain things. She had just gotten past her near-paralysis at the thought of leading her team. That had happened only thanks to said team. The last thing Summer wanted to do was lie to them. Yet telling them the whole truth without evidence seemed foolhardy. Maybe if it were just her team, she would, but with Yang there, she couldn't risk it. She didn't know the girl as anything other than Ruby's sister.

'I'm a mystical warrior from another dimension that wields a magic axe and I've come here for your sister.' Yes, Summer couldn't see anything going wrong with that.

"So, the accident. I didn't know that would happen. I think that the Slayer Scythe just bypassed your aura," she started with a nod to Ren. "We'll have to try a few things under controlled conditions before I use it again in sparring," she said with a shrug.

Yang spoke up up, her tone guarded as she asked, "Are you sure this isn't some super semblance that let you do that?"

The accusation was mild but it hung in the air. 'Did you really not know you could do this?'

Summer glanced over at Yang and was about to respond when Pyrrha spoke up first. "She doesn't have a semblance. She can't have a semblance, she doesn't have her aura unlocked."

That hung in the air like a guided missile that wasn't. The sheer confusion on even Ren's face was enough to cause Summer to giggle. Nora was looking at her like she was a particularly interesting nail that her hammer really needed to be introduced to. Only in the best of ways, of course. Yang was just slack-jawed until she shook her head with a muttered curse.

"It's true," Summer said, taking control of the conversation again. "When I first met Ozpin and he offered me a place in Beacon he offered to unlock it. Pyrrha did again after we partnered up during initiation. I told them both the same thing, power always has a price and I'm not buying."

"She's an alien!"

Leave it to Nora.

Summer couldn't help the very loud giggle this time and shook her head. "I'm the latest in a line of warriors. Back home, we're known as Slayers, and we all have certain gifts. Enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, endurance, and a near-pathological inability to stay down when we should," Summer said, trying to explain the Slayer as best as she could. "For the most part, it's not too different from what you get from Aura. I'm a little stronger and faster from what I've been able to learn. My reflexes, while incredible compared to a baseline human, aren't quite up to Huntress levels," she rubbed her chest where at least one bullet had missed the corset proper of her outfit and only the cloth of her blouse had stopped it.

"So those bullets...," Yang trailed off.

"Actually hit me. Would have penetrated too if not for my combat outfit. Whatever Mrs. Gray used in this thing, it stops at least small-caliber bullets. Another thing to test in controlled circumstances, I suppose," Summer said then shook her head. "Getting off track. I heal faster than you all do, even when you are using your aura to recover."

Summer gestured across the room to Ren, "If that had been me, I'd be back up by morning as if nothing happened," she said with a shrug. "The bruising from the bullets is almost done healing already as well."

Yang let out a long whistle at that while Nora just bounced on Ren's bed more as she whispered, "She's a super alien," excitedly.

"What is the downside?" Ren asked as he put a calming hand on Nora's shoulder, stopping the ginger from bouncing up and down so much. When Summer raised an eyebrow, Ren explained his question. "You didn't want your aura unlocked because you believe there is a price to be paid. What was the price you paid?"

Summer reminded herself to never, ever, say anything even hinting at magic, demons, and other dimensions around Ren until she had proof. A glance at Pyrrha reminded Summer that her partner was no slouch either and had the same question already forming on her lips to ask if Ren hadn't done so first.

"Our powers usually wake up between thirteen and eighteen. From that moment on we, attract, for lack of a better explanation, Grimm," she said. The instant looks of horror she was met with let her know they not only understood what sort of curse that could be but they were overselling what she meant in their own minds. She wasn't sure the range on it, she hadn't even known that the Grimm reacted to her the same way demons and vampires did back home until initiation. She did know that they were thinking worst-case scenarios, though, based on their expressions.

"Not quite what you are all thinking," she quickly said. "I can feel them and they can feel me. We've got to be somewhat close, though, and even then unless they are really close, it's more like they just know vaguely that I'm off in some direction and that I'm likely very tasty to them."

"That is why the Death Stalker came out of no where. It was tracking you." Pyrrha said, putting together the events at initiation as she continued to look concerned. Summer saw the realization hit the others as well. She couldn't help but feel a little guilty about that. "Can you feel the Grimm now?"

Summer held up her hand and tilted it side to side a few times. "Kinda? If I focus on it, I can certainly sense the Grimm in the forest. Just sitting here, though, not really. Think of it as more an early warning system rather than an outright dinner bell."

Ren and Nora both frowned and looked at one another. This time it was Nora that turned back to speak. "Still bad enough that it would scare any village you were in." There was no accusation. Like before, there was comfort and support being offered in her words. Summer didn't know Ren and Nora's history but in that instance, she got the feeling they knew what it was like to be cut off. They knew what loneliness was.

"That's not the worst part," Summer continued with her explanation. "That award goes to the dreams. Slayers that came before me, their battles, their victories," Summer said, her voice slowly going quieter.

"Their deaths," Ren said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Pyrrha let out a strangled gasp of denial as Yang croaked in disbelief, begging with her eyes for Summer to refute the boy's logic. Summer instead confirmed it with a nod.

"Their deaths, too. Yes." Summer wasn't going to get into the prophetic dreams. That way led to magic and nastiness. She knew that if she cracked that door open even a little bit, Ren and Pyrrha would be on it faster than Ruby could eat cookies, if lunch was any indication.

Summer let out a huff of hair then shrugged. "So I have a weapon that is so old the only written record of it that was ever found is over six thousand years old belonging to a line of warriors that is even older. To say that weird things happen around the Slayer Scythe is an understatement. Slayers tend to cause their own brand of havoc as well."

Silence fell on the group again. Summer was starting to think of it as an old friend. It wasn't awkward, hanging out in the corner while everyone ignored it. Rather it just kind of fell in at the right moment to make itself known.

Yang broke it, blowing out a breath as she stood up and clapped. "Okay, I'll let my team know that it was an accident caused by an axe older than dirt and shouldn't happen again. Ruby will be glad to know that everything is alright." She paused as she turned towards to the door, glancing over her shoulder. "Want me to talk to Ruby about getting with you for that controlled testing?"

Thrown by the question, Summer raised an eyebrow. She hadn't meant to include Team RWBY in testing the Scythe. That was something she intended to keep entirely within her own team.

Yang helpfully clarified and said, "She's got a high caliber sniper rifle hidden in that scythe of hers. I figure that if your armor can hold up to that, it will hold up to anything short of an airship."

Summer nodded to her fellow blonde in agreement then followed her to the door. "I'd appreciate that," she said as she let Yang out of the dorm room. When the door closed behind her, Summer turned and leaned against it, looking at the rest of her team, and smiled. She could do this, she thought. She could be a leader and still be friends with her team.

"When do we get to see your spaceship?"

If she didn't end up choking Nora first.

Now she just had to figure out how to prove magic existed to her team so she could give them the entire spiel. That and figure out how to tell Yang that she had the distinct feeling that she had hopped dimensions for the sole purpose of finding her sister.

That couldn't backfire spectacularly in anyway.

A/N: So a bit of exposition today. I usually dislike chapters like this myself but with this being cross-posted to two different sites, I felt it was time to get both Team SLVN and my readers that aren't BtVS fans caught up on what a Slayer is. At least, the basics of it. I hope I managed to work enough character interaction and development in there that the entire thing doesn't come off stilted. This chapter was honestly too easy to write. I ended up with four different versions of it before all was said and done then cherry-picked parts I liked from each and turned it into this fifth and final version. Sometimes that is as bad as writer's block.

Camagassi72: You're right so much more than you know. The Scythe is a game-changer in ways that I've only scratched the surface of.

Monster King: Glad to see you're still sticking around.

BeneathYouICrunch: So this chapter likely won't tell you much you don't already know. As for RWBY, it is an American Anime produced by Rooster Teeth. You can view all 8 Volumes on their website for free. If you love BtVS I highly recommend you check it out.