Hello all!
Believe it or not, this is about the 20% mark. One fifth. So like... at this pace, roughly another year or so.
I actually had to break my outline into smaller pieces because my word processor kept crashing. So yeah, I've got a lot planned. Some of which I am very excited for... *devious laughter*
25. Just Like Mending Trousers
"Um..."
Oscar pulled two fistfuls of lien cards out of his pockets and laid them on the counter. "How much can I buy with this?"
Katrina, the butcher, slid the pile towards her. Then she stared at him for a long moment, one eyebrow slowly rising until it disappeared behind her bangs.
He felt his face heat up. "We're... having a barbecue."
The eyebrow stayed raised. She flicked through the cards—Oscar's entire life savings, earned from lending a hand at neighbors' farms. "More 'n you can carry," she said, once she'd counted them all.
"One moment!" He backed out of the shop and returned with a wheelbarrow he'd brought from home.
"Uh-huh."
He smiled innocently and tried to surreptitiously wipe the sweat off his palms. Katrina gave him another suspicious look, then shrugged. "What kind you want?"
"Um... some of everything?"
Katrina disappeared into a back room. She came back with a slab of frozen beef and placed it on the counter.
"Thank you," he said, picking it up with some difficulty and dumping it into the wheelbarrow.
She laughed. "I'm not even close to done, kid."
Seven trips later, Oscar finally left the shop with a wheelbarrow heaped high with frozen meat, hoping it wouldn't look too much like he was trying to dispose of a body. He glanced furtively around, then laid an old tarp over the barrow.
It took hours to wrestle the stupid thing into the woods. The sky was clear, the day sunny and warm, and before long the meat started to thaw. He gagged a little at the smell—it wasn't going off or anything, but there was a lot of it. Finally he reached the right section of forest, found the cracked treetops.
"Ragnar?"
The dragon's massive head rose up from behind a clump of bushes. He tilted it to one side, staring warily at the wheelbarrow. Oscar grinned and pulled away the tarp with a flourish. "I brought food!"
The dragon's neck stretched towards Oscar, one of his feet buckling as he lunged. When Oscar pushed the barrow closer, he stuck his head inside and dug in. Minutes later, all that was left was an off-putting red stain at the bottom of the wheelbarrow.
"Wow," Oscar breathed.
Ragnar flopped onto his side and curled into a ball. "Gud..."
"Okay." Oscar stuffed shaking hands in his pockets. "Okay, now... can I see your wing?"
The dragon obligingly stretched out his wing, exposing the tears in the membrane. Oscar winced, then slowly drew a small black box from his pocket. "I want to help."
Ragnar blinked a few times. Then Oscar opened the box, showing its contents. The dragon made a displeased noise, but lay his head down on the ground and twitched the wing, as if offering it to Oscar.
He knelt down next to one wingtip and chewed his lip. There was one tear that was smaller than most of the others, only about as long as his index finger. He decided to start there. Threaded the needle...
"Just like mending trousers, Oscar," he told himself. Then, wincing, he started to close the tears. "Yeah," he mumbled under his breath. "I'm just poking a dragon with a needle. Everything is fine."
Ragnar stayed remarkably still while he worked, watching him. Sometimes his tail twitched when the needle accidentally poked a sensitive spot. Oscar was mostly just glad that he seemed to understand what stitches were, because there was no way he could have gotten him to stay put for this otherwise.
Several hours later, he was finished. He put the sewing kit away and wiped his brow with a trembling hand. A soft sigh of relief escaped him.
Slowly, Ragnar lifted the wing. Stretched. He hummed, sounding satisfied, and folded it against his back. "Good?" Oscar asked.
The dragon limped closer, until they were almost nose to nose. "Gud," he said, and snorted, ruffling Oscar's hair.
"Um." Oscar fumbled for something to say. "I don't know if I can get you meat like that again. Is there something else I could...?"
"Hay."
Oscar's shoulders slumped with relief. "Oh, good. That I can definitely do."
Ragnar made a low rumbling noise. It sounded like it had come from somewhere in his chest—the kind of sound that was felt more than heard. Oscar stopped breathing. The deep grey eyes stared into him. Slowly, he raised a hand and offered it, palm-up. Ragnar sniffed once, then gently pressed his nose against it.
"Ozzz... Scarrr..."
The grey-brown scales were warm to the touch, and softer than he'd expected. Reverently, Oscar stroked Ragnar's nose, craning his neck to look up into the dragon's eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I saw... I mean..."
Ragnar's eyes fluttered closed. He whined softly, curling his tail around himself.
Oscar rubbed the back of one hand over his face and sniffled. "They said all the students got away. You saved them."
"Nno..." Ragnar lay his head down on his paws. "Uh... Uh-thurrr way."
Other way? Other way around...
They saved me.
It took a long time for the storm to settle. Jaune rubbed Pyrrha's back and murmured soothing nonsense, while Twiggy nuzzled at her side. Eventually, she went limp.
Twiggy curled her tail tighter around the two humans, her wings folded over their heads. Keeping them safe... A low keening sound tore from her. Safe had been Ragnar perched at the top of Beacon tower, Pepper and Gust and Nautilus patrolling the grounds. Safe had been playing in the grass with Zircon and Pit before any of them knew what 'culling' meant. Safe was Titan watching over her.
All Twiggy could hear was the humans' soft breathing. Gently, she lifted her wing enough to see that their eyes were closed, their heads resting against each other. Even asleep, there was a pained look on Pyrrha's face.
When had they gotten so much smaller than her?
She wanted to go back. She wanted to be small enough to hide under Jaune's shirt, to be comforted and told it was all just a bad dream. But being small was the problem—too small, too slow, couldn't take off with Jaune.
The same moment, on a loop. Leaping from the end of the ramp and finding he was just too heavy. She couldn't do it. Over and over again, and Pyrrha and Titan just wouldn't leave... if Jaune had a better dragon, Titan would still be here.
Twiggy wished she could wake them up. She whimpered quietly, missing the way Jaune would scratch behind her ears and make everything better... but they needed to rest. So she lay her head down beside Pyrrha and blanketed them with her wing, and marveled at how fragile they looked like this.
That was what had really changed. Their riders, their professors, even Ragnar... they weren't all-powerful anymore. They kept getting hurt.
Pyrrha's breathing hitched. She furrowed her brow, her fingers twitching in her sleep. Twiggy pressed her head against her side and purred until she relaxed again. Then she sighed, ruffling strands of red hair.
It was her job to protect Jaune. Like it had been Titan's to protect Pyrrha. Twiggy curled up a little tighter, cradling both humans between her paws. They were hers, she decided. She'd look after Pyrrha for her brother, and keep them both safe. Maybe that would be enough to make it up to him.
The humans slept until it was almost sunset. Then Twiggy spotted two winged shadows sweeping down towards the camp, and recognized Huo and Fang. She reared her head up and barked at them. Jaune jumped, hit his head on her shoulder, and blinked groggily. Pyrrha just opened her eyes, staring blankly at the approaching dragons.
"Wait..." Jaune sat up. "Where's...?"
"Need help!" Sun shouted, jumping off Huo's back the moment they touched down. "Where's Raven?"
Yang knelt next to Fang, pressing a wad of cloth—was that Sun's shirt?—to his leg. Twiggy broke into a run.
"Fang!"
"I'm fine," he growled, hissing at Yang when she adjusted her grip on his leg.
Vernal noticed the commotion and marched over. "What did you idiots do?"
Huo paced back and forth. "This is it," he snarled. "Next time we see those bastards I'm gonna—"
Jaune hissed in a breath at the sight of the wound. "What happened? Where's everyone else?"
"Quit pacing, I'm not dying!"
"Quiet!" A new voice snapped. Everyone shut up and turned to see Raven striding towards them. She took one look at Fang and scoffed. "He'll be fine. Get him in my tent, Vernal can see to his leg."
Vernal grimaced. "But—"
"Now."
Twiggy followed them to Raven's tent, then stood outside and fretted with everyone else while Yang and Vernal took care of Fang. "What happened?" Jaune asked again.
"We stayed behind a bit as a distraction," Sun explained.
"Stayed behind? But..."
"They're not back yet?"
"No!" Twiggy warbled in alarm, and Jaune patted her soothingly on the shoulder. "Wait... why did you split up?"
"Pepper was pretty out of it when we got there. They had to carry her, so I guess it kinda makes sense that they're late."
"Oh." Jaune deflated a bit, then glanced anxiously at Raven's tent. "And Fang?"
"Got shot."
They waited for a long time. Sometimes they could hear Fang cursing at Vernal, but otherwise things were quiet. The sun had already set by the time he emerged, limping slightly but with his leg neatly bandaged.
"Okay," he growled. "Where the hell is everybody? I got shot and I still managed to find this place just fine."
No one had an answer to that. They waited together as the moon rose, hardly talking. Yang and Sun both started to fidget, until he burst out, "Screw this. I'm texting them."
"Don't," snapped Vernal, who was sitting nearby cleaning a rifle. "They won't find us if you force us to move again."
All of them were squirming with worry and impatience when they saw the first shadows overhead. It was hard to make them out in the dark, but Twiggy's heart leaped. No one else would know where they were, after all. As they got closer, she called out a greeting and relaxed when Ao Guang returned it.
Everyone was accounted for. Only Fang had been injured, and Vernal said his leg should heal within the next few weeks. Relief nearly knocked them all out cold. Twiggy curled up between Freya and Guang, with Jaune and Pyrrha tucked under her wing. Safe had been many things, before the council came to Beacon... but maybe it could be all of them working together like this, too.
May felt as if she was floating off the airship. Her backpack was heavy—so much heavier for the rifle there, tucked into its box. She'd worried security would find it, but no one checked her bag. No one asked. No one seemed to see her as she drifted among them, her mind still hanging in a sturdy oak tree on the edge of Beacon's lawn...
She walked all the way back to Shade. It would have been easier to take the bus, but she didn't want to be closed in with so many people. On the airship it had been hard to breathe. Instead she stayed in the open air, felt the desert sun beating down on her shoulders.
Someone slammed the trunk of a car, and she jumped. The rest of the way she walked quickly, glancing over her shoulder every few seconds, feeling hunted.
She found her team on campus, huddled together and talking in hushed voices. Nolan saw her first. Waved. May felt her shoulders drop into a slouch as she approached, painfully slowly, wishing more than anything that they just wouldn't talk to her.
If wishes were dragons... "May!" Nolan sprinted the last ten feet between them. "Did you see the news?"
She looked down. "Not really. I slept most of the way back."
"Is your dad okay?" Roy asked. She nodded mutely. She'd told them she'd been visiting him in the hospital—nothing serious, she'd said. She just thought he'd want the company, she'd said.
"You seriously didn't see?" Nolan gestured wildly with one hand. "They went rogue. The whole school, it was crazy—"
"Nolan," Brawnz snapped. "At least let her put her stuff down first!"
Her stuff. She shifted uncomfortably, fighting down an irrational fear that they'd look at her backpack and see right through it, right through the case to the incriminating rifle. "It's fine," she mumbled. "We can walk and talk."
She wondered if it would have been better to see the news first, rather than hearing it filtered through Nolan. It probably didn't matter. Nothing could be worse than the sound of the rifle, the heartbeat of horrified silence... and Ragnar's scream.
Nolan had a different take on events. "The whole place basically revolted. Tried to kill the council reps to stop the inspection."
"Of course Ragnar attacked them," Brawnz said, irritated. "They shot Ozpin."
"They don't know who shot him," Nolan shot back.
"They don't want to admit they know who shot him!"
"He was already under arrest! He'd been hiding shit for years, I can't believe—"
"Stop," Roy said. May ducked her head, knowing he'd noticed the look on her face. "Just drop it, will you?"
Conversation turned to an upcoming exam—a blessed relief. Roy cleared his throat and muttered, "You okay?"
"Fine. Just... kind of in shock."
"Yeah."
May dropped the backpack in her closet and kicked it all the way to the back, hiding it under a spare blanket. Then she turned on her heel and said, "I'm going to visit Flurry."
He greeted her enthusiastically, nuzzling at her face while his wagging tail whacked against the side of his stall. She managed her first smile that day. Kissed his nose and squeezed her eyes shut.
Flurry hummed anxiously, pulling away so that he could look at her properly. She patted the side of his neck. "It's alright. It's nothing..."
"May?"
She sniffled and wiped at her face with her sleeve. "Sorry. I'm... really sorry."
He purred and wrapped one wing around her. It made a quiet clicking noise as it extended a bit further than it should. May threw both arms around his neck.
They would have found someone else, if I hadn't done it.
Flurry's breathing ruffled her hair. She could feel his heartbeat like a great drum, with one ear pressed to his chest. Shade had never had an Ozpin. It didn't even have a Lionheart. Nobody cared, nobody... nobody would have tried to protect him. Now he'd be safe.
Now Beacon didn't have Ozpin, either.
"We need to talk."
Yang stopped, one hand still pressed against Fang's flank. She didn't want to have this conversation. She was tired, and hungry, and she'd just helped Vernal take a bullet out of Fang's leg. A glance around showed her that there was no one nearby. No distractions. Reluctantly, she turned and faced her mother.
"What?" she asked, her voice hard.
Raven gave her a cool, condescending look. "That was reckless. You could have gotten yourselves killed, or led the council right into camp."
"It worked, didn't it?"
"Taking risks like that is how you lose a dragon."
Her fingers twitched where they lay against Fang's scales. He growled low in his throat.
"If you want to survive out here, you're going to have to decide what your priorities are."
"Not letting Pepper die is one of my priorities."
"Above Fang?"
"Shut up," she snapped, as Fang hissed tongues of flame through his teeth. "I don't want your life lessons."
"They're not life lessons. They're the laws of survival when you're being hunted." Raven's lip curled. "I'm doing you a favor. This is the kind of thing I had to learn on my own."
"Yeah?" Yang folded her arms over her chest. "You had to do it all alone? Because from where I'm standing, you could've had three teammates helping you."
There was a flash of something in Raven's eyes. Finally something more than casual contempt. "Maybe I could have," she snapped, "if they weren't so eager to please old man Oz—if they hadn't been willing to roll over and let the council—"
"Fuck you!" Yang was sure other people had heard that. She didn't care. "Ozpin just died protecting every single one of our dragons while you sat around in the woods doing nothing!"
Raven opened her mouth, looking slightly stunned. Whatever she was about to say, Yang didn't want to hear it. "Don't talk to me." She turned on her heel and stalked off, Fang following after a final parting growl.
There was a small space behind the tent team RWBY were staying in. She curled up there with Fang, gently soothing his injured leg. Her jaw clenched as she stared resolutely at his scales. This wasn't worth it. She wasn't going to cry.
A rustle broke her out of her thoughts. When she looked up, Phoenix was staring at her. Yang scowled.
"What?"
The dragon's eyes slid shut. She leaned forward, gently touching Yang's forehead with her nose. A hot breath huffed out of her.
Fang, who had been growling deep in his throat, went silent. He stared up at the older dragon, wide-eyed. Yang reached out. It felt... wrong, somehow. Like she shouldn't be able to. But she rested one hand on the dragon's nose, felt the heat of her scales.
There weren't words. She stayed like that motionless, afraid to move, sure the moment would shatter like glass the second she did. Then, reluctantly, Phoenix pulled away.
"Ssorry," she rumbled, and left.
Yang felt the absence, a cavernous aching in her chest, and clenched a fist. What she wanted, right then, was a hug from her dad. To hear one of Uncle Qrow's hunting stories. And more than that, more than anything... just one glimpse of her real mother.
"Ang."
She jumped at the sound. Fang gave her a disapproving look, and gently butted his nose against her shoulder. Yang managed a small smile.
"Yeah," she said softly. "Definitely time to get out of my own head."