Music Choices: Blackbeak by Youngbloode Hawke
Eclipse
Chapter 8
A Low Buzzing
Do you see it?
Raven hesitated, eyes blinking in dazed confusion, before awareness shook her in its teeth; she turned sharply to look around her, her fingers reaching for her hilt. A field of fat summer wheat on top of a cliff, overlooking a strange forest that stretched out for miles below. Her neck was prickling, her breath short and causing puffs of cool mist in front of her. It was cold but it should be; there were no clouds, but she could hear thunder, or perhaps the howls of Beowolves.
Do you see it?
She looked down, spotting a odd, splotchy cat with white face markings. His tail waved in mirthful loops; the cat was smiling, but it was grim smile.
Set?
Look. Out there.
Despite her caution, her eyes flicked back up; she realized that the sky had changed from various layers of blue to a sickly vermilion and violet. Juts of crystal tore from the soil like broken, purple bones. Immense Grimm circled a craggy outcrop; perched in it's terrible maw, glittering like the carapace of a carrion beetle, was a fortress or castle. Her eyes widened. For several heart-stopping moments, she felt as if she was looking into a one way mirror; and whatever was in that castle was looking back at her, with a million, bloodshot eyes.
What is it? she asked. Or thought.
Set turned from her. He was no longer a small cat; instead he looked like a man with many, indistinct faces, his body shifty, never in one precise form for very long. He looked back at her, his hair bright, bright red, and choppy.
That's it. That's the source.
Raven felt her lips part in confusion.
Of what?
Set turned away, leaning back on his hands as he stared at the disturbing castle so far away, yet far too close for comfort.
"Of the corruption. Watch."
Raven did so. She could see lines of silver light, spider webbing out across the sky, the ground, everything; and every now and then, a pulse of grotesque blackness would swell and reverberate down the strands, rolling out from the castle. The black matter crawled and spiraled over their heads, reaching, grasping, rusting the very air it touched. Raven wanted to be sick.
"She's perched in there snug as can be," he hummed. "A literal recluse, sending out her little vibrations; a tumor plugged into the worlds nervous system, changing things. Twisting everything up in her web, whether it belongs to her or not. She is the embodiment of blasphemy."
Raven watched the energy continue to pulse and felt her gorge rise. She wasn't entirely sure what she was watching, but she knew it was rotten. The silver strands made her think of Summer, and Reaper, and what the aetheri saw.
"Haha," Set shook his head. Rings in his ears shook. Raven could smell smoke, like burning cedar. "She probably thinks she really is a god. It'd be cute, if it wasn't so fecking annoying."
"...The witch?" Raven whispered, a question half felt more than spoken. Set glanced at her, and his face was a Grimm's mask, grinning feline bone.
"The one and only. Remember, though. She's only half of the problem," he beamed, turning away from the castle.
His figure burned and darkened, oscillating between a spectrum of pitch and light. Raven remembered how Ozpin had claimed that Set used to be a man, who had pursued magical arts for his own gain and become a monster. She wasn't sure that was true. In fact, she was completely sure it was not.
"And the other half is...the warlock?" she muttered.
"Yes," Set proclaimed. "He's the bigger issue, to be frank."
"How so?" she watched the grass in front of her go through its seasons of life. Spring, summer, fall, winter; over and over and over.
Set stretched, his white, spiny vertebrae cracking as he shook his Grimm form.
"Because the fucker keeps resetting everything when he doesn't get his bloody way," Set growled, his tail whipping. "Change is natural! Chaos is what the stuff of life and soul is born of! But he doesn't understand that, because he is no longer a part of such things; he isn't something that can change. And when things go in a direction that he thinks is unacceptable, instead of seeing the big picture, he just backtracks everything. His hubris is causing the spiritual realms a lot of problems - and it's why she can keep turning as many as she does. He thinks he is opposing her? But in the long run, he is just weakening the world's immune system and allowing her to thrive and spread."
Raven tried to process this, her fingers clenching at her sides; she remembered her mothers' many warnings. She wasn't sure how she fit in this, or why Set was telling her anything to begin with; it's not like they were on the best of terms. It was safe to assume he had an agenda, one that likely involved Summer. Perhaps he hoped to get to Summer through her.
"If he had his way, nothing but butterflies and kittens would rule the land," Set groused. "And if she had hers, we'd all be slavering lap dogs, licking her heels and eating babies. The middle realm is a coalition of everything, you can't make it just be one end of the spectrum! Neither of them have the fecking maturity to bear their mantels! But I mean, how could they? Their souls are just so young, you know?"
Raven raised an eyebrow, glancing at the entity besides her; he was no longer a Grimm but an ethereal, shining thing, a cat like outline made of light.
"...They never should have been put in this position to begin with," he sighed, spires of light fluctuating as he spoke. "They're just babies, honest. And they never asked for this. Can't even say it's their fault."
She watched the sky grow black as the matter spread, turning the landscape to void.
"Mortals aren't meant to bear the mantels of gods."
...
She woke with a start, the sound of Taiyang's alarm buzzing from the nightstand by his bed. Raven inhaled slowly, realizing she was in their dorm room. It was the first official day of classes.
Raven brushed her hair from her face, looking around. Tai had yet to move from his lump state beneath his quilt; Summer was in the bathroom already, her scroll playing chipper music as she sang along quietly to it. In the kitchen, Raven could hear her twin making coffee.
She took another deep breath, pushing blankets back and dropping her feet to the floor. She considered at least telling Summer about her dream, if it really was even a dream, before deciding it could wait. They needed to focus on the day ahead of them, and she didn't want to spoil the mood; Raven didn't like always being the one to be the bearer of bad news. However, she knew was obligated to tell them eventually.
She glanced at her sword, which within arms reach, sheathed in its Dust chamber. She expected that she would shortly be putting it to good use, at least. Their schedule started off with Combat 201 and then was immediately followed by Tournament Dueling, and Weapons Mechanics. They would also be touching base with their mentors, to see where they were at with their training.
Normally, she would be pretty excited. However, the memory of Set and his words stayed in her mind, even as she dressed and prepared for the day ahead.
...
STRQ tore into their breakfast with gusto, Taiyang and Summer chattering enthusiastically over their plates as Qrow and Raven mentally prepared themselves to deal with other people. The mess hall was packed with teams in their school uniforms, and the general mood of the students was that of excitement.
Their table had been invaded, apparently, by Alejandro and Matias's new teams, who at least had the common sense to not be pests to the sophomores before seven in the morning. BBLK, however, as well as ARSN, were under no obligations to not harass them; and both teams were in form, being loud and asking everyone about their summer vacations.
"Oh my Dust, Summer, you guys! Guys, you have to tell them about what you diiiid!" Sigyn proclaimed suddenly, leaning across the table towards her sister to get her attention. Summer's sister had glued herself to her sibling upon her return, had made a habit of showing up in their room at all hours to demand time with her. Raven deduced that Sigyn had likely been quite lonely over the past several months; it was the only thing keeping her from snapping at her to be quiet.
Summer nearly choked on a pancake, her silver eyes bugging at the sudden attention. Taiyang very politically took a bite of sausage, while Qrow ignored the demand entirely. He had been extra grumpy that morning, likely because he had yet to see a certain military boy that he'd been quietly pining over for weeks.
"Oh! Um, well, it wasn't anything crazy," Summer simpered. Raven took a long sip of tea. "We went to visit Chiang Mai! Very interesting culture, lovely place."
"Yea, I got lots of souvenirs!" Taiyang proclaimed, seeing an opportunity to divert attention. He winked at her subtly as he started digging through the fanny pack, and Raven snorted.
"Really? IhavealwayswantedtogotoAnima!" Barty swooped into the conversation, summoned by opportunity to geek out. "Did you go to any other Settlements? Or to Mistral?!"
"Nooope, we mainly stayed there, and ah, the surrounding area!"
Raven held in a snicker. Summer was such a bad liar.
"Oh yea?" asked Argent, leaning on his forearms. He had grown out his hair over the summer, shaving only the sides. His partner, Reinhardt, was absorbed utterly by his scroll and laptop, navigating between the two. "You guys, um, have any particular reason for going there?"
He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Natalia, Sigyn's dark and blessedly quiet partner, stared at him with droll chagrin.
"Whaaaat do you mean?" Summer grinned innocently.
Taiyang suddenly pulled out his collection of Chiang Mai artifacts to show Barty; not all of which were tiny dicks on key-chains. Raven even spotted a familiar tacky shirt, and was incredibly curious how he had gotten his hands on it.
"Oh nothing, nothing, it's just I've heard that's the place to go if you're looking for a 'good time'?" Argent laughed. Raven felt her brow furrow in irritation.
"I thought that was your mother's?" she droned, setting her cup down. Argent blinked at her in surprise, as a round of giggles circled the table.
"Ouch, Branwen, nice to see you again, too," he laughed.
She smirked at him, shrugging lightly. She knew he didn't mean anything by it, and was likely ignorant; however, she also knew that most sex workers in Chiang Mai weren't there of their own accord, and a terrible amount were underage. In fact, it was Nwyfre's next target for a raid for that exact reason. She had no problem feeling completely unconcerned by that knowledge.
Might even be a good opportunity to swell the tribe's ranks...
The mild crisis of conversation had been diverted, Sigyn going with the flow of rapid talk and goofy laughter at the tiny dicks easily. Raven watched her teammates masterfully conceal the fact that they had been running wild with a bunch of outlawed free people for weeks, a soft smile finding its way to her face; in that moment, she felt incredibly blessed.
Her twin was shooting one of his looks, apparently on the verge of making fun her obviously squishy feelings, when he nearly popped up from where he'd been lounging. Raven followed his line of sight and spotted one James Ironwood, accompanied by his teammates, making their way through the line.
Qrow immediately started preening, and Raven caught his eye. She stared at him pointedly, until he flipped her off, an unrepentant smile on his face. She returned the gesture habitually, before staring back at the seniors. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
James's team had lost one of its members during the Fall of Moutain Glenn, a sweet, silly boy named Evan. Previously JADE, she wasn't sure what moniker they went by now. However, there did seem to be four of them.
A girl, or young woman rather, was following behind James, her hawk like face taking in the environment. She wore a blonde bun, and a rather witchy looking cape; at her hip was a riding crop, the weapon making Raven's eyebrows raise. An unusual choice, to be sure.
The seniors took their trays and walked past their table, following James's lead. Both Deidrick and Artemis paused to greet their protegees; however, James did not pause to say hello. In fact, he didn't even look at Qrow.
At the hurt expression on her twin's face, Raven quickly considered how much trouble she would get in for throwing a teacup at Ironwood's too stiff back. Taiyang also paused, despite being involved in telling a funny story, gaping blatantly at Jame's rude behavior. Deidrick caught Raven's eye, his calm expression shifting to one of concern and apology, before following after his partner and their newest member. The faunus tapped Jame's elbow, saying something to quiet to hear, before being brushed off as James sat down with the blonde. Raven glared at James openly, a sneer settling on her face.
Qrow brushed his hair back, assuming a nonchalant face that fooled no one that knew him, kicking his feet up on the table. Some of the freshmen stared at him, a few smiling innocently, probably thinking that he was cool and allowed to do that. Summer, smelling the tension in air, paused in her conversation, taking stock of her team and made the executive decision to get them out of the mess hall before they decided to bring back another long standing STRQ tradition.
"O-kaaay, time to go to class," she sang, picking up her empty plate. "Let's go, you kids be good!"
"No promises!" chirped Sigyn with a lazy salute, still trying to stuff a donut in her mouth. Natalia was watching Qrow, an empathetic softening around her normally frigid stare.
Summer shepherded her team out of the mess hall, ears flicking as she studied their body language. Qrow had his hands shoved in his pockets, he face a frozen grimace as he strode ahead. Summer fell back to talk to her and Taiyang, already looking worried; Raven couldn't help but feel a little guilty at that.
"What happened?" Summer asked quietly. "I missed it."
"James is being a total dick to Qrow," Tai insisted, speaking with his hands. "Didn't even look at him, didn't say hi. Nothing."
Raven held her tongue, trying to consider the facts. She knew that her brother and James had parted on good terms, though James had been upset over the loss of his teammate. She didn't know if they were in a commitment of any sort, besides a mentor-ship, but certainly hadn't been in platonic territory. They hadn't spoken all summer, so it wasn't as if Qrow could have said or done something to invoke a reaction like that.
Summer glanced at her, and she shrugged.
"I'm not sure why. But I can't think of an excuse."
She decided they would hold off on their prepared pranking session until the situation resolved itself. While her brother's love life was not her responsibility, she still wanted to be considerate towards him; Dust knew he supported her through her bullshit enough as it was. Even if he did enjoy making fun of her when he could.
Unfortunately solemn, the teammates made their way to class; in the back of her mind, Raven couldn't quiet the buzz of nerves sparked by her dream and these new developments.
A year of fun, indeed.