Chapter 54

In a relatively less run-down inn than the ones they'd been staying in before

The four travelers were now seated at a table with Sky in the restaurant level of their inn. The purple scarfed boy sniffed, stirring his soup with a trembling hand. Now that they could see him clearly, his auburn hair and small features stood out like a sore thumb, and even the twins were hazarding a pretty good guess at this point. For the first time they noticed that his scarf was emblazoned with a familiar insignia, a violet, in silver threads against the purple fabric. It was the same shade as their cloaks, and that left little in the way of doubt.

'So, kiddos, this is Sky, though I'm guessing you already know him for some reason.' Jaye placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, and he nodded to the twins. 'He's Indigo's brother.'

The auburn-haired boy nodded to them, and Artemis waved at the boy. She gave him a small smile, and he smiled sadly back. He stirred his soup a little harder, and Jaye sighed.

'I uh, guess you already know what happened.' He said, and Sky nodded, shifting in his chair.

'Yeah. I just didn't want to believe it was true.' He said, finally placing the spoon into his mouth. He sat quietly for a moment, eating in silence, and Jaye cleared his throat again.

'We buried her in Mire, right at the top of the hill overlooking the city. It's a wonderful place. I hope she'll find some peace there.' Jaye said, and Sky nodded quietly. He took the spoon out of his mouth, swallowing slowly.

'Did she win?'

'Yeah, she did. She went out fighting.'

'Good. Then she went out like she wanted.'

'I'm sorry I couldn't save her.'

'Nah, don't be. Knowing her she made a choice, and she wouldn't regret it for the world. So, you shouldn't either.' Sky placed his spoon down in his bowl. 'She always told me she'd want you to have her swords when she died. I'm glad to see they're with who they're supposed to be.'

'I wish I didn't have to, but I'll carry her with me for the rest of her life.' Jaye said, taking his hand off the table. He rummaged through his pockets for a moment, pulling out a silver chain. Sky gasped, recognizing it, and Jaye held out the locket to him.

'Take it.' Kamina said, gesturing at the silver locket. Sky held out a trembling hand, and Jaye placed the locket into his palm. 'She'd want you to have it.'

'I-!' His voice caught in his throat as he tried to speak, and the boy swallowed thickly as he clutched the locket to his chest. 'Thank you.'

Jaye nodded to the boy, reaching behind him and unsheathing a small blade. It was a simple, triangular, kunai-like throwing knife with a small symbol emblazoned on the handle; a purple flower, a violet. It was the knife Indigo had left on his bike that day in Vale when he'd met her again for the first time. He flipped the knife over in his hand, holding it out to the boy.

'This is for you.' He said, and Sky took it from him wordlessly. 'I hope it protects you like it protected her.'

'Thank you. I'll treasure it.' Sky said, sliding the knife behind his back and placing the locket around his neck. He sniffed loudly, pulling out his wallet and getting to his feet. Jaye waved away the money, nodding instead to the boy, and Sky bowed his head. He glanced across the table, smiling at the twins. 'It was nice seeing you again, Artemis, Apollo. And thank you for her things; it'll give me more ways to remember her by. I'm indebted to you, so if you need any information, let me know and I'll see what I can do.'

'Thanks Sky, for understanding.' Jaye said, getting to his feet and clapping the boy on the shoulder. He shook the boy's hand firmly, smiling sadly at the locket now wrapped around his neck. 'I hope you manage to find peace with yourself.'

'Yeah, I hope we all do.' Sky wiped a tear from his face, sniffing loudly as he turned away. He gave the twins one final wave, bowing slightly to the two older boys, and pushed his way out the tavern door, apologizing to someone he nearly walked into as he exited the restaurant. Jaye sighed heavily, plopping back down into his chair and returning his attention to the table. He drummed his fingers on the table, noticing the peeved stares surrounding him, and stopped. He glanced at the twins, raising an eyebrow at their raised eyebrows.

'So, you know Sky?' Jaye asked, picking at his food. The twins nodded, taking each other's hands.

'He helped us pretty often while we were here. He was like a big brother to us.' Apollo explained, scratching his head. 'He got us information from Lil' Miss though we had nothing. Even tipped us off about a few jobs we helped run for security, which eventually helped us make the funds we needed to get information about you.'

'He never mentioned he had a sister though.' Artemis said, her ears folding back against her head. 'We always wondered why he seemed so brotherly; I guess now we know.'

'He's not really her brother.' Kamina piped, spinning his chopsticks between his fingers. 'They were from the same orphanage, but they were exceptionally close. Even had the same hair color. That violet you see emblazoned on their stuff; it was the symbol of their orphanage.'

'Miss Violet's Home.' Jaye explained, pulling out his Katana. He held it out for them to see, the small silver violet emblazoned on the butt of the sword and on the blade collar. Another set was settled unobtrusively on the sheath directly over where the blade collar would be, and Jaye laid a hand over the daisho. 'It was where she grew up before she entered the Faction. Or more specifically, before they were all left on the streets.'

The twins glanced across each other, and Kamina let out a long sigh. He stirred his soup quietly, resting the spoon against the side of the bowl.

'Miss Violet's home was struggling to keep itself alive. In a city like Mistral where money talks and charity is hard to come by, she had little chance of keeping herself running.' Kamina smiled sadly, eyes still fixed to his wooden bowl. 'But still she did and managed to for over 20 years. Until the debt finally caught up with her.'

'Indigo and her siblings were thrown out onto the streets, and Miss Violet was forced to "disappear" to clear her debts. What that means is that she was forced to work to her death for the man that gave her the money. He was a benefactor of the Faction, and he wasn't exactly kind.' Jaye continued. 'Though to a degree, he saved their lives. He took the whole lot of them into his business, making them work shady jobs that placed them in the worst echelons of society. And I mean worst. Think 10 to 12-year-old children working in bars and nightclubs.'

The twins exchanged disgusted looks, and Jaye nodded to them, a look of utter contempt passing over his face.

'Indigo was…violated at a young age, and so were many of the other orphans then. But they had no choice, since they owed everything to him, and they could do nothing to stop that bastard. Eventually Miss Violet passed, and by that time Indigo had become part of the Faction. She'd been picked up by that man as exceptional for gathering information, and he'd sent her to the Faction as an information dealer.'

'And that turned out to be the worst mistake of his life.' Kamina said, a satisfied grin sat upon his face. 'Once she'd made a name for herself as an irreplaceable broker in the Faction, she went right back to find and kill him.'

'But it was all too late. Most of her siblings had long died from…customers.' Jaye spat, clenching his fist. 'The ones that made it to their teens, particularly the boys, were thrown back out onto the streets. The girls they kept until they could no longer be used.'

'In the end, only Indigo, Sky and two others were left of the twenty kids there once was.' Kamina finished, waving the waitress over and asking for the bill. 'They've all gone their separate ways by now, and personally we haven't really heard from them since. Only Sky kept in contact with Indigo, since they both went into the information business. Just that one's a spider, and well you know Indigo.'

'We met Sky at some point after we became a team. Don't really remember when, but I think Indigo got to Lil' Miss Malachite through him a couple of times for jobs we ran in Mistral.' Jaye said, taking the bill from the waitress with a word of thanks. 'We never met her directly though, so that was a first for us as well.'

'Wow…I don't know what to say. I had no idea she'd gone through so much.' Apollo coughed awkwardly, staring at his plate until the waitress came to clear it. He thanked her meekly, and she patted him on the head. The boy blushed hard, covering his face as the waitress smiled at him. Catching the eyes of the two older boys, he promptly flipped them off. Jaye smiled at him.

'Well, we all had our own kinds of difficulties. Indigo had a great childhood while it lasted, while me and Kamina were out on our own long before that. We all have our own version of suffering; who can really say which was worse?' Jaye got up from the table, stretching out his back and groaning loudly. 'And so do you, so there's nothing more to talk about. Let's get a move on, shall we?'

Back in the Spider's bar

'And you're saying that they're ALL looking for this boy?' Malachite leaned back in her chair, nearly dropping her cigarette as she gawked at the scroll before her. The henchman she was talking to nodded, pulling down on the screen.

'And that's not all. He was at the Fall of Beacon, which paints him as a potential target of the White Fang. Or at least what's left of them.' He said. 'The Faction's placed a target on his back, and they intend to see it struck. The top assassin there, Damian, was killed two weeks ago by the boy and his team. But he took one of them with him.'

'Indigo. The top dog of the information brokers before she threw her lot in with little old Jaye bird.' Malachite breathed, taking a long puff from her cigarette. She blew the smoke out slowly between her teeth, pondering the screen for a long moment. The henchman glanced between her and the screen a few times, clearing his throat nervously.

'So uh, what do we do Ma'am?' He asked, and Malachite turned an eye on him.

'Nothin. We proceed as planned.' She puffed the cigarette again. 'I know better than to sell out this man. He's taken down bigger than us, far bigger, and even if the Faction's on his back he'll kill us all before he goes down. And even if he dies for it, we'd be too busy pushin up daisies to care.' She waved away the scroll, leaning back in her chair. 'We'll sell this information to anyone who wants it; he understands the rules. But we take no initiative.' She puffed the cigarette again, glaring at the curtained door. 'We choose to survive.'

The henchman bowed to the Malachite, retreating back to his table, and she pulled up her own scroll. She stared at the red-haired girl in the picture and waved her bodyguard over.

'Let's give the man what he wants a little early, shall we?'

The next day

Jaye sighed, placing his hands on his hips. He sucked in a deep breath, staring at the large wooden door before him. Kamina placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, shaking him gently.

'What's gotten into you? Just knock on the damned door.' The fox boy said, grinning his shit-eating grin at the raven-haired boy. Jaye shook his head, crossing his arms.

'I…Yang might be in there.' He sighed, scratching his head. He let his hand fall to his waist, grasping the purple handles firmly. 'I don't know if I can face her right now.'

'You gotta do it at some point. Might as well get it over with.' Kamina shrugged. 'Besides, we gotta get everyone introduced, so let's get this going. I'm tired and I wanna sleep.'

Jaye felt a pat on his back, and he turned to stare at the faunus girl. Artemis nodded to him, her tail swishing back and forth behind her, and Jaye sighed. He raised his fist, preparing to knock on the door, before they realized that they could very audibly hear voices on the other side.

'Did he age backwards?'

'He's possessed!'

'Or reincarnated!'

'Oh! Isn't it weird?'

'It is very weird, yes.' An unfamiliar voice groaned, and Jaye assumed that he was the center of the commotion. He heard footsteps near the door, and a surly groan rang out near to him.

'Okay okay, let's just all take a second and remember that this is very overwhelming for everyone.' Jaye heard Qrow move away from the door, and he sucked in a breath. He rapped the door with his knuckles, and without waiting for approval, pushed it open. He blinked into the light inside, staring across the familiar faces in the room. Ruby gasped aloud, her hands shooting up to her mouth, and Jaye grinned nervously at her, stepping forwards into the room.

'I guess I'm not helping with the uh, "commotion".' He joked, scratching the back of his head. He smiled at Jaune, who was still staring at him with an incredulous look plastered across his face. 'It's good to see you guys again.'

'OH MY GOSH JAYE!' Ruby zipped over to him, literally throwing herself onto the boy in a fit of excitement. He neatly sidestepped her, raising an eyebrow at the overexcited girl as she shot back up from the floor. She stared at him, starry-eyed, and he relented, holding out his hands to the small girl. She immediately wrapped her arms around his waist, and Jaye shot a death glare at the twins who were currently judging him from the doorway. He patted the girl on the back, accepting hugs from Ren, Jaune and Nora as well as they approached. The five finally broke apart, and he placed a hand on the girl's head. She stared up at him with a broad grin, giggling as he rubbed her hair. Jaye felt a smile break across his face, and for the first time had no urge to hide it. He finally let his hand fall to his side, and Ruby wiggled on the spot. He glanced across the room, seeing no telltale mop of blonde hair, and internally let out a sigh of relief.

'Welcome back Jaye.' She giggled, her pearly white smile beaming up at the sullen boy.

'It's been a while.' He said, turning his attention to the farmer boy seated on one of the couches in the middle of the room. 'Now does anyone want to tell me why you lot were predating on a young boy in the middle of the room?'

'It's a uh, long story.' Ruby said, doing the cute eyeroll she always did, and Jaye smiled at the familiar and heartwarming sight. Ruby's ecstatic face turned to confusion, and Jaye felt his heart sink as he knew the question was coming. 'Where's Indigo? She didn't come with you?'

Her eyes found the swords on his waist, recognizing them immediately, and turned a questioning eye on him. He shook his head, and she gave him a tiny nod back.

'It's a uh, long story.' Jaye said, giving her a sad smile. The girl gazed at him quietly, reaching out to take the grieving boy by the hands. 'I guess we've got some catching up to do.'

Chapter 54 done! Do PM me if you feel like I can improve on writing these kinds of scenes better, because I can visually see tension and suspense in a movie/video, but I find it difficult in writing.