(Quick disclaimer: this is NOT chapter 13, but rather filler/recap/set-up chapter for Act IV (chapters 13-15):
Volume I: Act IV Set-up:
Three months later: December 28th:
"You really wanna do this right now, kid?" The bandit cracked, looking at me as if I were just some eager challenger biting off more than I can chew.
He was much bigger than me and looked like he could easily beat me with little to no effort given our size difference. Literally just moments prior to this, I saw two bandits engaging in an arm wrestling competition and I, being curious about how I would fare, decided to challenge one of them. But he responded with a simple chuckle as if he took what I said as a joke, clearly not taking me seriously as he brushed me off. It wasn't until I hopped up on a crate and got in his face a bit that he realized I was serious. Normally I'm not the antagonistic type, but one thing I've learned after living with these people for the past three months is that if you want something, you have to be assertive… and a little bit aggressive.
"Are you afraid I'll embarrass you in front of everyone?" I respond tauntingly as I call him out, looking at him with challenging eyes.
"Oho! So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Okay. Let's go! You can help me warm up for my actual challenge." The bandit gives a sly grin as I hop off the crate and he firmly plants his elbow down onto the crate between us and opens his hand for me to take it.
"Actual challenge? So I'm not a challenge to this guy in his eyes. I can't wait to wipe the smug grin off his face when I beat him."
I grasp the man's hand with a tight grip as he does mine as I look him dead in the eyes, letting him know that I will come at him with everything I have and fully expecting that he will do the same to me. We then silently wait for the man officiating to give us the us signal to start. In a few seconds we hear it:
"Aaand BEGIN!"
And just like that, our arm wrestling contest had begun. I instantly felt immense pressure push back against my hand as my arm tried to push against his with greater force.
"You have a pretty good grip kid. Not to mention you're actually surprisingly strong... for a pipsqueak." My opponent says as his breath visibly exits his mouth and into the thin, cold air of Winter.
I stay silent as I push harder, my arm starting to build up an intense burning sensation.
I know out of context, this whole arm wrestling challenge probably seems pretty random and probably makes no sense at all. But after all my training recently, I wanted to test my strength in an arm wrestling competition. So while me and my opponent are deadlocked in this struggle, allow me to go through a brief rundown of some of the things that happened during the past three months since I first joined.
Speaking of which, as I just said, three months have passed since I joined Raven's tribe. For a short while, most of the other bandits were very indifferent or apathetic toward me while others just didn't take too kindly to me at all. Though they never made it known I could tell. It was probably because they saw me as just some snotty nosed kid who just waltzed in here (even though I was actually carried in here (not that that helps my case)) and they thought that I was getting special treatment from Raven when she allowed me to join. Most of the time, they would just give me the cold shoulder and not give me the time of day. Sometimes, they would grow quiet whenever I would walk by a chatting group as they dropped an occasional glance in my direction to see if I was gone or far away enough before they would continue. However, I usually just chalked that up to them maybe talking about something that isn't appropriate for kids, but that's just me trying to be optimistic. The only people who would even acknowledge me or give me even a single moment of their time from the start were Mari (obviously), Vernal, Jeremiah (even though he was usually busy when I saw him) Sophia, and Raven (although those times for Raven were rare and only really when it was time for us to train). Speaking of which, I rarely ever saw Raven during her free time. She was always gone for the rest of the day right after we train and she always left like she had somewhere else to be.
Out of the five I mentioned, Mari is easily my favorite to be around.
Jeremiah is alright, but I rarely see him since he works all the time. He definitely takes his roles seriously.
Sophia is… well… she kinda annoys me a bit. I don't dislike her, but she's a bit overbearing toward me most of the time. Not to mention there's that damn nickname she continues to call me by: "Lu". I still don't get it. Why 'Lu'? There is literally no part of my name that even remotely sounds close to that. So why 'Lu'? I just… can't wrap my head around that. It makes zero sense to me. It honestly really annoys me to the point that I would do just about anything to hear her call me by my actual name for once. I know it sounds like I'm just being a stick in the mud or something, but it just feels like she's addressing me as if I'm a completely different person entirely and it just bothers me for some reason. Maybe I'm just being weird. I don't know. Is it right for me to feel that way or am I just taking it too seriously?
Anyway, -sorry, I went on a tangent for a bit- then there's Vernal, who I'm pretty sure just hates me. I can probably guess why, but I'll get to that in a bit.
And then there's Raven, no introduction needed.
So by process of elimination, Mari is easily the one I feel most comfortable around, which is partially why I spend most of my time with her. But then again, the process of elimination is irrelevant here though because I honestly just prefer time with her regardless.
However, back to the tribe, they did eventually start to warm up to me. I would slowly start to gain their trust and acceptance by volunteering to help out Jeremiah with things around the place like serving lunch, building the fires for dinner, and even sometimes assisting in preparing food. It was even the first time I helped skin a deer. Speaking of, I never thought skinning a deer would be so messy. Is it supposed to be messy? Anyway, by doing that, it allowed me to interact with the other tribe members more as I slowly started to grow on them over time. Nowadays, they sort of see me as the 'little brother' of the group.
Moving on, as for the incident- you know, where I almost murdered that guy- , I still felt pretty terrible about it and went to apologize to Vernal the next day since she was the one in charge that night. It went a little something like this:
. . .
Three Months Earlier: September 20th: The day after the fight:
"Hey, Vernal?" I said with a bit of a timid voice afraid she would snap at me.
When I was approaching her, she was already cleaning her weapons, so giving her the apology after seeing that she already had her weapons out was a bit nerve wracking.
"What is it, Simin?" She said with a sigh as her tone pretty much told me that she wanted me to make this quick so I could stop bothering her.
"I...um-"
"Kid, spit it out or stop wasting my time." She rushed me.
I quickly learned that she is not a very patient person and a bit irritable.
"I just... wanted to apologize for yesterday- about the fight. I- I don't know what ca-"
"I'm going to stop you right there, Simin. Now don't get me wrong, that guy was being a dick and he deserved the ass kicking you gave him. But that stunt you pulled after the fight was already over would have resulted in there being two dead bodies if you had gone through with it. You're lucky Mari covered your ass when she did otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation. But just know this: you won't get another chance to do that. In other words, if you even so much as consider threatening the life of a tribe member and Raven isn't there, meaning that I will be left in charge for the time being, I won't hesitate to pull the trigger next time. Got it?" She threatened as she brandished her weapon at me.
"Y-yes." I say with a bit of a shaky voice and a nervous gulp.
"I have my eye on you, kid." Vernal warned.
Vernal can be scary at times. She's still not as scary as Raven though.
I would end it there and say that was all that there was when I approached Vernal, but we ended up getting interrupted by an intruding voice.
"So that's what happened last night?" I heard a voice say from behind a cloth we were sitting by. It startled both of us and caused us to sharply turn our heads toward the direction of the voice as the owner of it stepped out from the cover as we realized it was Sophia.
"Dammit, Sophia! Can you go one day without eavesdropping?!" Vernal yelled.
She's pretty good at sneaking. I didn't even notice her there.
"Sorry, but when you're good at something, it's kinda hard for you not to do it." She excused in a bit of a 'sorry, not sorry' tone.
"Oh, like your gambling hobby?" Vernal responded mockingly, clearly taking a jab at her as she was still feeling the initial annoyance of Sophia eavesdropping us.
Sophia paused for a second as she also briefly adopted a bit of an annoyed look.
"Low blow." She said with a serious voice as it sounded like she took that jab a bit personally as Vernal and I shared a sudden flash of confusion in our eyes.
Judging from last night, they seemed like the type of friends who constantly rib on each other and give jabs, so Sophia's sudden change in tone from Vernal's remark caught me off guard. Vernal must have accidentally touched a nerve with that comment. Maybe she's actually really self-conscious about her horrible gamling skill? Though neither of us knew exactly why Sophia's demeanor briefly changed for a second after that to a more serious and slightly hurt one (something I wouldn't have expected from her), I noticed a glint of guilt in Vernal for a split second as she averted her gaze, her expression still remaining the same as she realized that she actually hurt her friend with that comment.
"Anyway." She continued as she hastily and quickly readopted her more casual, but slightly upbeat, tone. "I was wondering why there were broken glass shards and drops of blood on the ground this morning. I just chalked it up to there being another drunken brawl and that I just missed it."
"How long were you standing there?" I chime back in.
"Long enough." She bluntly answers. "Anyway, back to what you two were saying: so is it actually true that 'Lu' here was the one who kicked his ass?" Sophia asked before she took a seat next to us and leaned in.
"Damn, she can be nosy!"
I just looked away with a bit of an uncomfortable look as I still felt a bit guilty about what transpired after until I eventually answered her.
"Y-yeah. That was me." I say quietly. "I'm sorry."
"I need to stop apologizing so much."
"Eh, don't worry about it." Sophia said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"'Don't worry about it'?!" Vernal speaks up, audibly annoyed at Sophia's casual dismissiveness. "He almost killed one of us. You realize that, right?"
"But did he though?" Sophia questioned as if she had a point.
"That doesn't matter! He was going to and he would have been next on the chopping block if he had." Vernal indirectly threatened as she sent an obvious glance in my direction.
"Hey, don't threaten him!" Sophia said before she, without warning, pulled me backward into a protective, overbearing, vice-like hug before talking to me. "'Lu', if Vernal ever tries to hurt you, you let me know and I'll kick her ass for you."
Despite her intentions, that didn't make me feel any safer. Especially given the fact she was basically constricting the life out of me and causing me immense pain because MY WOUNDS WEREN'T FULLY HEALED AT THE TIME!
Sophia, for some reason, is almost always overbearing toward me whenever I'm around her. Not sure why though, but I wish she'd dial it down. Otherwise she might actually squeeze me to death one of these days. But I have to admit she isn't all bad though. Aside from her overbearingness, she does seem like a genuine and caring person deep down underneath all that… uh… 'quirkiness'? Yeah, let's just go with that for now until I can think of a better, more accurate word.
Actually, you know what, I think patchy would be a more fitting word. She has her ups, but she also certainly has her downs. She's a bit of a mixed bag. She's caring, but she can also be overbearing. She's loyal, but she can also be very stubborn. She's also a pretty quick thinker, but she can also be a bit impulsive. For every good quality she has, there is a bad one right behind it. But at least she tries, I guess,… to an extent. Aside from that, she did eventually come through with my shirt and patched it up, so I'll give her that.
The only time I usually spend around Sophia is when she's giving me haircuts (which she is surprisingly good at), which is the only time I actually like being around her because, believe it or not, Sophia apparently has a more tame and calm side and it's usually when she's giving me haircuts that I actually get to see and experience it. It's honestly nice for a change considering how she is most of the time. She's actually the one who's been giving me trims since I joined and keeps my hair from getting too out of control. Since I have nowhere to run during those times, it's one of the few times Sophia and I have our talks (which is also why she likes to take extra long with me when cutting my hair). I remember the first time I tried asking Mari to give me a haircut and… well… let's just say it wasn't going well and Sophia had to step in and take it from there. Yeah, Mari Isn't a very good barber. I guess that explains why she keeps her hair so long.
During my haircuts, Sophia sometimes tells me some of her stories of things she's experienced since being part of the tribe. Most of them were pretty ordinary and didn't stick with me much, but there was one that really stuck with me because it involved Raven. It was the time she got kidnapped.
She was out scouting a caravan one day and, unfortunately for her, it was very well-guarded and she ended up getting apprehended by some of the armed guards and they pretty much took her to the village the caravan was heading to and tried to get her to reveal the location of the tribe so they could report it to the Mistral authorities who they had already contacted and were on their way, which meant that Sophia had to stay tightlipped and hope that Raven would find out and break her out before the Mistral authorities reached the village first, which pretty much would have resulted in the tribe being found and most likely completely annihilated by the kingdom of Mistral. Sophia, putting her full faith and loyalty in Raven, was very tightlipped and wouldn't sell them out. So the villagers got desperate and tried torturing her to get her to talk, which I assume was how she got that scar near the corner of her left eye. Vernal was not kidding when she told me about Sophia's loyalty.
Eventually, Raven found out of her whereabouts and brought a raiding party with her to rescue her and razed the village to the ground before Mistral authorities could arrive, leaving not a single building standing or a single survivor. One thing Sophia noted in her story was that when Raven broke her out and destroyed the village with her raiding party, she was much more brutal in her actions than usual, especially considering, according to Sophia, Raven never really aims to completely destroy a village when raiding it, but more to "take what she needs and leave" (as Sophia put it). But for that village in particular, because they essentially kidnapped and tortured one of her own and tried to get her to sell the rest out, Raven took it very, very personally and she wanted them gone as she made it her mission to leave nothing left when she was done. I learned two things that day: the first is that I don't ever want to be on Raven's bad side and the second is that Sophia has some undying loyalty considering she was kidnapped and tortured, but still wouldn't sell them out. Her loyalty is easily her best and strongest quality.
Anyway, I got off course there for a bit. What was I reminiscing about again? I sort of drifted off. Oh right! Sophia crushing me to death:
When Sophia pulled me into her bearhug after Vernal threatened me, I was in immense pain.
"Um, Phi?" Vernal said with a slight chuckle, getting Sophia's attention as she pointed to me.
Sophia hadn't noticed that she was clamping her arms down around my wounds as my eyes were starting to involuntarily water from the pain as I was struggling to breathe.
"Oops! Sorry! Are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you." She said as she immediately released, actually sounding remorseful for almost squeezing me to death as I was catching my breath and holding my sides like I just ran a full marathon with a stomach cramp.
I would have taken that moment to yell at her for that, but because of the fact that I didn't have the strength to at the time without feeling pain as well as the fact that Vernal was right there, I had decided that would not be a very good idea, so I just let it go for my own safety… and Sophia's.
"Looks like Simin is going to need more protection from you than he does from me." Vernal snidely remarked.
"Well at least I'm not the one literally threatening him. I'll still fight if you try to hurt him. Just like that drunk asshole from last night. If I were there, I would have kicked his ass too."
"Well aren't you just a badass?" Vernal says patronizingly to which Sophia just chuckled. "But seriously though, Sophia, I'm going to be honest with you here. You would lose."
"What do you mean?" Sophia protested.
"No offense, but there isn't a single person here you can beat in a fight." Vernal bluntly stated.
"Oh that's bullshit!" She said, clearly offended by Vernal's words. "There has to be someone."
"There isn't." Vernal replied with the bluntness and coldness of a metal hammer.
"Damn. Way to be gentle about it. What about Mari? I bet I could take her. Not that I would actually pick a fight with her." She proposed to which Vernal just laughed.
"Definitely not."
"But she doesn't even have a mean bone in her body." Sophia argued.
"And be glad that she doesn't." Vernal responded. "Because if she wanted to, she could literally kill you with little to no effort."
"Okay now you're just exaggerating." Sophia answered back.
"I know she doesn't seem like the fighting type, but she's more capable than you think." Vernal answered back.
"I… think I'm going to go now." I notified them as I turned to walk away, but they completely ignored me as they were fully engaged in their debate.
As for Raven, Vernal kept her word, and kept me out of her report. I was very relieved when I found that out. Raven probably might have killed me if Vernal mentioned me.
. . .
Back to the present:
Yeah, we're still deadlocked. Neither one of us is still budging. But we've been going at it for about a minute and are starting to attract a few spectators as some of them were making bets on who would win.
"Damn, kid! How strong are you?!" My opponent said with much strain in his voice.
I completely ignored his question while I was fully focused, fighting the strain and resistance. This arm wrestling match seems to be at a standstill. So while we're at it, how about I take the time to go over how my training has been?
Once I had healed enough from my injuries, Raven decided to sort of take me under her wing and start training me. When we first started, it was mainly to get me to fully unlock my aura. Since, as she said, I was already on the verge of unlocking it, she didn't go easy on me. Our first sessions went a little something like this:
. . .
About 2 Months Earlier: October 3rd:
"Okay, Simin." Raven announced. "Starting today, I am going to start training you. First thing we are going to do is get you to fully unlock your aura and train you to start engaging it. Do you have any questions?"
"So how exactly are you going to get me to fully unlock my aura? You said that aura is the manifestation of your soul that's projected around your body and it creates a protective barrier around you, right?" I asked her as I wasn't too sure how she would go about this.
"That is correct." She confirmed.
"So are we going to meditate or spar or something?"
"Not exactly. I wouldn't really know how to unlock it via meditation since the way I unlocked it was more through a 'trial by fire' of sorts and you are definitely nowhere near the level to be sparring with me without me holding back to the point it would just be a waste of time. My way is a bit more… direct." She stated ominously.
"Direct? Direct how?" I asked nervously.
"Just close your eyes and try to concentrate." She told me as she tried to ease me into it. "Take deep breaths if you have to. The purpose of today's training is to get you to unlock and be able to engage your aura."
"O-okay." I sheepishly complied.
"Trust me. When we are done, you will have learned to engage your aura in no time." I heard her tell me as my eyes were closed while I stood there.
For about thirty seconds or so, I pretty much stood there and tried my best to focus so that I could unlock my aura. I tried blocking all outside sounds and focused on my breathing as I tried to figure out how to engage my aura. I was so focused, that not even the slightest breeze was able to get me to lose concentration. But suddenly, I heard a loud and very close noise that sounded very akin to metal on metal… like something being... drawn.
"What was that?"
Out of curiosity, I cracked open one eyelid and saw Raven with her sword drawn as she was standing over me. As soon as I saw that, I immediately felt a sense of panic and distress.
"What the-!"
At the last second, in the heat of the moment, I barely ducked as Raven's strike went just over my head and I leapt backward as I scurried a good distance away.
"Stop playing around, Simin!" Raven shouted as she was irritated by my reaction. "We need to-"
"What are you doing?!" I yelled back, the panic still very much inside of me.
"What am I doing?" She asked as if she were completely oblivious to what she just did.
"Yes, what are you doing?" I repeated. "If I didn't know better, you were about to kill me!"
"Simin, I was not trying to kill you. You're being ridiculous."
"Then what do you call what you just did?!" I challenged her answer.
"I was trying to get you to unlock your aura." She answered.
"By trying to decapitate me?!"
"I was using the back of the blade. It most likely would not have killed you, though it definitely would have hurt a lot. Look, I'm just going to repeatedly strike you with it until you've fully unlocked your aura and learned to engage it. "
"'Most likely wouldn't have killed me'? Is she serious right now?"
"...What?" I said, taken aback by the casualness of her tone. "How would that even work?"
"Okay, this one is on me." Raven sighed. "I told you what aura is and its relation to semblances, but I never exactly explained to you how one unlocks it. So allow me to rectify that by giving a brief explanation. There are three ways to unlock someone's aura: the first way is via mental training, such as meditation. The second way, which I like to refer to as 'the stress test', is by inflicting damage until your body force-unlocks it."
"What do you mean?" I ask for clarification.
"Let me put it this way. Whenever you get a scratch or a bruise or anything minor like that, your body eventually heals itself on its own. But the more severe your wounds get as well as the more punishment your body gets put through, the longer and harder it will be for your body to heal itself. And because of that, your body will eventually be forced to try and find other ways to compensate so the wounds can heal. And eventually it will do that by manifesting and projecting your soul around your body (also known as your aura) as a sort of last-ditch security mechanism that you can actively engage at any moment to better and more quickly heal your wounds and/or protect you from further damage. Also -forgot to mention this-, the third method that I haven't mentioned yet is by having someone else use their aura to unlock yours for you."
"Can't we just do it that way?" I proposed.
"No." She says bluntly.
"But wouldn't it be much easier?" I question
"Yes. And that is exactly why I won't do it that way. Though I could very easily just fully unlock your aura using mine right here, right now, it wouldn't have been earned. I'm not here to hold your hand, Simin. And I'm certainly not giving you anything on a silver platter. If you want something, you're going to have to work for it and you're going to have to earn it. Got it?"
"So in other words, in order to get me to fully unlock my aura, I'm going to have to just take hits as you try to literally beat it out of me?"
"That is correct, yes." She says as she gives a direct answer.
"Why do you say that so casually?!"
"Well if you want, Simin, there is an alternative option we could do instead if you're so worried about having to take hits." She offered.
"And what would that be?" I asked her, open to hearing her offer.
"I can always just throw you off a high place and see what shape you are in when you hit the ground. Does that work for you?"
"...what? Y-... you're kidding, right?" I repeated, this time a bit quieter as I was in disbelief by her words. She has to be kidding right?
"Do I look like the type of person who kids around?" Raven asked as she got down to a knee and looked me in the eyes.
In response, I just stayed quiet.
"That wasn't a rhetorical question, Simin." She continued as she tried to get me to answer.
"N-no." I answered.
"Good. So I will ask you again: does the alternative option sound more appealing to you?" She repeated her offer with a low and serious voice.
I stayed quiet again as I gently shook my head.
"No? I thought so."
"Can you at least just use a stick or some kind of cane or something that isn't as likely to cleave me in two or lob my head off my shoulders?" I proposed with much trepidation in my voice.
"Fine. I will use my sheath if it makes you feel better." Raven said with a sigh, much disapproval in her voice as she was very annoyed by my complaints. "Now let's resume training. We're wasting time."
"Thank you."
"Gods, you can be such a child sometimes." Raven remarked.
"Well that's because I am one." I excused.
"That's not what I meant, Simin. Don't use that as an excuse. This world doesn't care if you're a child or not. You should be more than aware of that by now. It isn't going to make accommodations simply to meet your needs and desires. The world isn't going to change and adapt for one person just because they can't handle it. Sometimes you either make do with what you have and deal with it or adapt to your situation. So you're going to have to not just step out of your comfort zone, but stay out of it as well. Step up to the plate if you want to stay alive. Don't let up for a second or get lazy or make excuses or you will allow yourself to get soft and end up right back where you started and you will be dead in no time. I'm going to push you, Simin. So for every time I knock you down, I expect you to get back up. And for every time I strike you, I expect you not to crack. For every order I give you, I expect you not to complain or hesitate. You don't have your four walls to protect you anymore. You're in the real world now. And don't you forget it or I will have to remind you. Do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yes, Raven."
"Say it again, but with confidence." She ordered.
"Yes, Raven!" I complied.
"Good. Now let's begin..."
I had so many welts and bruises by the end of it and was so sore the next day, I literally struggled just to walk around. But eventually, through some blood, sweat, and tears (and I mean that both figuratively and very literally), I unlocked my aura and learned how to engage it. However, I couldn't keep it activated for very long because it took me a great deal of focus and concentration to be able to do it. So to make sure that I got past that so I could keep my aura up to the point that it would become second-nature, Raven made my training 24/7. In other words, for a full consecutive week, so long as I was conscious or awake (since you can't keep your aura activated if you're asleep or knocked out), I had to constantly keep my aura up and if I ever dropped it for even a second, she would make me start over. To make sure that I was engaging in it and not just dropping it whenever she wasn't around, she would occasionally come up behind me and land a small strike on me without warning. If my body got damaged, then that meant my aura was down and I would have to start over again. She did make sure that she was careful not to hit me hard enough that it would break my aura since I didn't have that much at the time and it was still very weak.
It still took me a few tries before I finally got it though. There was one time where I got really close to finishing, but a thunderstorm came and the sudden boom of thunder that rang as the storm hit slightly startled me and made me disengage for just a hair of a second and unfortunately for me, Raven was watching. I was so mad at myself for messing up that day. It was at that moment that I learned that times of surprise or when I get startled tend to make me accidentally disengage my aura in the split second of panic. It's something I'm still working on right now. But anyway, it wasn't until the first week of November that I was finally able to get through it completely.
After my aura training was done, I was allowed to start training with Raven, Vernal, and Mari. I guess you could say it was the equivalent of getting promoted from the kiddie table to the adults' table. I usually got paired up with Vernal since, according to Raven, I was more close to her in terms of strength and ability (even though there was a pretty big gap between us) compared to the gaps between me and Raven and me and Mari (which surprised me to find out). Vernal didn't take too kindly to the idea of being stuck with a kid for training and she wasn't shy to show that during our sessions as she was adamant on proving to me how large the gap between us was every single time. Something tells me she might also be holding a grudge from my first night here because I got my ass kicked by her… a lot. But on the bright side, it did help toughen me up a bit more and I can tell I'm very slowly starting to catch up to her with each session.
We would occasionally train with Raven as well and let's just say I've been rag dolled more than enough times by her to tell who I prefer training with. Although I will admit, it is a bit satisfying to see Vernal eat a few hits as well. Anyway, the scary thing is during the sessions with Raven I can't exactly tell if she was holding back or not. She definitely hits hard, but the way she fights us is almost effortless as she doesn't even break a sweat. Raven is easily the strongest person I've ever met… next to my dad, that is. If he were alive and crossed paths with Raven, though it would be pretty close, I am confident that he could beat her in a fight. I mean he was able to keep Dorado safe from grimm and bandits and literally singlehandedly fended off entire bandit raids and grim hordes for over eleven years. He was a one man army. His only real weaknesses that I've seen were his age and his experience. In other words, his age as well as all the battles he fought defending us took a toll on his body over time (and that's not even including what he went through before living in Dorado). He may not have been in his prime when he died, but he was still incredibly powerful for someone of his age and experience. But still, that doesn't change the fact that Raven is also one incredibly powerful individual as well. Even though I admit that I do fear Raven, I honestly can't help but sort of respect her in a way as well.
During our break times, I would try to ask Vernal questions about Raven and Mari since I wanted to know more about them. I'd have asked Raven herself, but she's gone almost all the time and even if I did catch her, she'd just blow me off or scold me. And as for Mari, if it's anything like the first time I asked her, she would just freeze up again. So Vernal was the next best thing because I figured she would know something considering she's with them a lot. I wanted to know more about them, but whenever I tried asking Vernal, she just dismisses it and tells me to pay attention and keep my mind on the training, even during breaks. I see she adopts some of her strictness from Raven.
Even though I've gotten stronger, I'm still nowhere near Raven's level yet… or my dad's for that matter. Maybe one day. But I have a long way to go, that's for sure.
Anyway, back to the present:
. . .
Back to the Present:
At this point we've been deadlocked in the same place for about a few minutes or so as our faces are completely red with beads of sweat starting to appear as we both compete in our war of attrition. At this point, our little arm wrestling competition has now attracted a pretty decent sized crowd as we received heckles and cheers and other comments as the small, yet rowdy, audience was having the time of their lives watching a kid my size rival a guy who visibly looked much, much stronger than me. I ended up being on the receiving end of the majority of the support from the crowd as they couldn't help but cheer for the "underdog".
After another minute, my arm is now starting to feel numb and tremble.
"Uh oh." I thought. "That can't be good. But I can't give up! I know I can beat him! I will beat him! I will keep on pushing until my arm gives ou-"
"Woah!"
My arm just gave out. In an instant, all the pressure I had been putting in immediately turned into nothing as my arm couldn't go anymore. Due to the sudden cease of pressure from my side, my hand gets slammed into the crate so hard that the rest of my body goes down with it. Next thing you, I suddenly found myself lying on my back, now staring into the gray, Winter sky with an arm that felt both numb and sore at the same time as my opponent had his arm raised, the snowflakes beginning to fall like celebratory confetti. I laid there for a few seconds, letting out a disappointed sigh, as he took notice and bent down near me and picked me up by my good arm, as he felt a bit bad for slamming me so hard.
"You good, kid?" He checked on me.
"Yeah." I said with audible disappointment in my voice.
"Don't get so down on yourself." He said, trying to lift my spirits. "You actually got me sweating there! Honestly, if you had been able to go a few more seconds, my arm would have given out and you would've beaten me. And besides, look at it this way: you're still a pipsqueak and you still managed to push me this hard. If that's how strong you are now, then just imagine how you'll be when you get bigger!"
Hearing that did bring a bit of a smile to my face.
"Yeah. I guess you're right. Thanks." I said smiling to myself a bit from the compliment.
"Simin!" I hear a voice call for me from behind. It was Raven.
"Looks like you better get outta here, kid. Don't wanna hold you up."
"Alright." I say turning and jogging over to Raven.
"Okay now who's next?" He says, giving an open challenge to the others as I make my way over to Raven who was carrying a Winter coat with her.
"Yes, Raven?" I ask, awaiting to hear what she called me over for.
"Grab your jacket and your weapons and then meet me at the gate. You and I are going on a bit of a field trip." Raven says with a very serious tone.
Her slight vagueness made me very curious.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll find out when we get there." She told me, purposely keeping the information from me.
I hope she won't be this vague the whole time.
Deciding not to press her on it, I quickly jog to my tent with haste, knowing better than to keep Raven waiting for too long. I had to learn the hard way last time what happens if you keep her waiting when I was late for training once (only by ten seconds I might add)… it was horrible.
I enter my tent and walk over to the trunk and open it as I pull out my father's sais and slide them into my belt and then check to make sure my mother's knife was firmly in my boot, which it was. I also grabbed Bruno's bandana, which was sitting on top of the trunk and wrapped it around my neck for some more warmth. I then grab my gray, wool jacket that Mari gave to me for the winter and I head back out and turn to the direction Raven is in. As I stepped out of the tent, I heard a familiar, curious voice call directly to me:
"And where might you be off to in such a hurry?"
I turn in the direction of a curious Sophia's and see her looking at me with an investigative look on her face.
"Hey, Sophia. I'm just heading to Raven." I say with a rushed voice, letting her know I was in a bit of a hurry.
"Alright then. But before you head out, I just need to ask something of you."
"What is it? And please be quick about it?" I say with a bit of a groan as I don't want to get in trouble with Raven.
"I will. I will. Don't worry. It's just a teensy little favor. I… was just wondering if you, by any chance, if you could help me get out of my debt with Vernal?" She says as she slightly heightens the pitch in her voice in a way as if she's bracing herself for a "no".
"Why are you asking me?"
"Because I'm desperate at this point." She says with a bit of frustration in her voice, but I could tell it wasn't directed at me but more at her situation.
"And why should that be my problem?" I ask as I'm waiting for her to give me a reason to convince me to agree. "Why should I let you drag me into this?"
"Look, I'm really desperate here. Please, I am on my knees here! Just help me out of my debt with Vernal and I promise you I will pay you back big time!" She pleaded.
"So basically you're saying that you're willing to get out of a debt with one person just to get into another debt with another person, which would be me?"
The second I said that, she instantly went quiet as she didn't know how to respond as I saw defeat in her eyes.
"Gods, she is hopeless!"
As she turned to walk away, there was something that popped in my head: a reason for me to agree (although it is a bit of a petty one, I'll admit).
"Fine, I'll do it!" I say with a heavy, reluctant sigh.
"Really?!" Sophia responded as her eyes widened as she sharply turned around.
"Yeah, I'll do it." I answer.
"Oh my gods! Thank you so much!" Sophia yells as she briskly walks over me and pulls me into one of her bearhugs.
"On two conditions." I managed to say through her constricting.
"Okay what is it? Lay it on me." She said as she released me.
"You have to stop calling me 'Lu'. I want you to call me by my actual name from now on. Oh, and you have to go a full week without gambling."
In response, Sophia looked very unsure as her body language went from almost celebratory to reluctant upon me saying that as she started bunching the sleeve she wore on her arm.
"Look, Sophia, that's all I ask. If you can do that one thing for me, then I will help. Tell you what. How about you only have to go a week without calling me 'Lu', but the gambling condition stays the same. So it's a week of calling me by my normal name and no gambling. Okay?"
"...Okay, fine." She acquiesced with much reluctance.
I could tell that was a hard thing for her to do for some reason considering she avoided eye contact as she said that. I don't know what her attachment with that name is or what significance it has to her or why she gambles so much, but I'm just relieved I got her to agree.
Even though Sophia is an incredibly loyal individual, which is her greatest attribute, the worst thing about her is her gambling.
Sophia likes to gamble. A lot. Literally every time I see her, outside of my occasional haircuts, she's always behind a hand of playing cards as she's sitting in a circle with a few other bandits (also with a hand of playing cards) with a stack of lien in the center of their little huddle. There is never a time that passes where you see a group of bandits playing some kind of stakes game and Sophia isn't one of them. I remember there was one time she had gone through so many games in one day, she hadn't left her spot from when I woke up to when I got dinner as she was just playing the rounds back to back, constantly losing and winning lien throughout the day, which was indicated by the stack of lien that sat next to her that would constantly grow and shrink (along with her confidence) throughout that day. By the time she finally got up to do something else, there was an imprint left in the ground where she was sitting.
"You've got yourself a deal." I say shaking her hand as I then quickly release as we go our separate ways with me heading back over to Raven, who was waiting for me at the gate.
As I approached the front gate, I could see that Vernal and Mari were there with her. From how they were standing, it looked like Raven was telling them something or instructing them. As I got closer, I caught the tail end of their conversation before they noticed me.
"...So I'm leaving you two are in charge while I'm gone. I'll be back tomorrow around noon. I want you both to stay up to speed with your training." It was at that moment that Raven turned her head as she saw me. "Oh, Simin. Come on. Hurry up, we're about to head out."
"I'm coming." I say as I start to pick up my pace a bit.
Raven then dismissed Vernal and Mari as they walked past me with Mari giving me a bit of a shoulder pat as I walked through the gap in between them. As I reached Raven she seemed to be fixated on them for a bit for some reason. I couldn't tell whether she was looking at Mari, Vernal, or both. One thing's for sure is that she had this somewhat irritated expression- like something was stressing her out.
"Um Raven?" I say getting her attention.
She quickly snaps out of it and turns her head to me, her expression staying the same.
"Are you Ready?" Raven asks, brushing it off.
"Yes. I have everything." I say as I briefly check myself.
"Alright. Let's go."
Raven then motions to two men standing on each side of the gate as the two large, wooden doors open with a low, loud creak. Raven and I step outside the camp reentering the natural domain.
"So where exactly are we going?" I ask with a curious expression.
"Simin, I said you'll find out when we get there."
"Well you can at least tell me for what reason we're going, right?"
"'Two reasons. You could say I'm killing two birds with one stone. I'm going to teach you an important lesson. And we're going to see someone." She says vaguely.
"And who might that be?" I ask, pushing the subject.
"There's no point in getting acquainted with someone who's already dead." She responded coldly.
Well that was ominous. What does she mean by that? Maybe I should not press any further. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
**CHAPTER END**
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Heeeey everyone!
I'm back! (Or at least for this week I am)
Sorry I've been gone for a while. Classes have started for me a few weeks ago and I have been getting my ass handed to me on a silver platter by the dynamic duo that is classes and sleep deprivation, so it's been very hard finding the time to write before the crack of dawn of the next day since I'm usually up doing papers and readings. I'm not sure when the next post will be, but rest assured that I am chipping away at chapter 13 as we speak with whatever time I can get.
Anyway, I should also announce that I have done some remodeling on my profile page. It's no longer the boring white void it used to be! I've added a brief summary/welcome of sort, a list of things to expect and not expect, and (most importantly in my opinion) I post weekly announcements on the bottom of my profile page every Monday to give updates on where I am in the writing process as well as when I'm going on hiatus, making a return, etc. If you ever want updates or answers as to why I'm gone, you will most likely find them there as the announcements are updated weekly.
Also, I'm sorry this isn't chapter 13 (which is still being edited) and I hope I didn't disappoint you if you were expecting this to be chapter 13, but I hope you all enjoyed this chapter regardless. This chapter is meant to be the filler/recap/set-up chapter that I think I mentioned a while back in my author notes for (I think) chapter 4. Due to the nature of this chapter, I tried to make the writing a bit more laid back for this one while setting up the next act of the volume. That's why this chapter also has a bit of a weird structure because it's literally just Simin going over certain experiences and other things over the three month time skip that happened between chapter 12 and chapter 13. I hope I did a good job at executing that. If there was anything I could have done better, please don't hesitate to tell me.
So anyway, the next act is goin to focus on Raven and Simin. More specifically, it will serve to develop a bit of a bond of sorts between them. For those who know Raven's semblance, you can probably guess what I'm alluding to. Honestly, the interactions between Simin and Raven are probably some of my favorite in this volume and I hope you like them. Also next chapter is Raven's (and technically also Qrow's) backstory and the backstory will feature a new semblance (but don't get your hopes up though because we don't really get to see it in action since it primarily exists in a backstory). It's a really over powered and versatile semblance (which is also why I made it as a part of the backstory because I wasn't sure how to use in the present of this series.
Also, the whole kidnapping story with Sophia was originally going to be its own act, but I removed it because I realized it was just filler. It wouldn't have contributed to any of the characters' development and it wouldn't have pushed the plot forward. I could literally just take it out and nothing would change. So I simply scrapped and repurposed it in this chapter.
Oh! Also, just going to get this out of the way, no, Raven and Simin are not heading to Ozpin nor are they going to see anyone with any connections to Ozpin. I won't reveal who it is, but they have a direct connection to a future member of team SLVR since this act will also serve to play a significant role in one of the backstories of that team SLVR member when [SPOILERS!] Raven kills their brother, and that team SLVR member will name their weapon after their deceased brother and try to challenge Raven (emphasis on "try" because Raven mops the floor with them) in Volume 2.
Anyway, I think that's it. Until I see you all again for chapter 13, here is fun fact number 13:
Fun Fact #13:
This chapter was originally supposed to be the end of chapter 12, but i thought the ending to chapter 12 that I actually put n was perfect as it was. So I tried to make this chapter the start to 13, but it felt too weirdly placed. So I made it an in-between chapter and just made it filler/recap/set-up.