Sup everyone! How are ya?! It's your boi Universal Writer back with another chapter! Only 2 more chapters left till this book is done! I'll be doing fanart and promotion for this book when I get done typing chapter 12! I'll try to get that done either this week or next week due to me having a 4-day class that will get me back in job interviewing shape. I'm trying to get a job again. So yeah. With that out of the way, time to get this chapter rollin'! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: All music, characters, and etc belong to their respective creators!
(-Music: Lonely Journey [ Sen no Kiseki ]-)
The episode opens on a view of Oscar's aunt's farm at sunrise, then cuts to the interior of Oscar Pine's bedroom where he is staring at a packed, green backpack on his bed. He looks toward the window. His fingers tense for a moment. Cut to Oscar, now wearing the backpack, walking along a dirt road away from the farm. He stops and looks over his shoulder, then faces forward, adjusts the backpack and resumes walking. Cut to Oscar following a dirt road in a forest.
"I'm sorry." The voice of Ozpin apologized to his new vessel.
"You know... the weirdest part is how it feels. Leaving home is crazy. Going to the city is crazy. Everything you've told me is completely crazy. But it doesn't feel crazy anymore. It feels like I'm doing the right thing." Oscar said, rather feeling determined on his conviction.
"Well... I suppose that's good." Ozpin says, feeling quite relieved that his container spoke his statement.
"No. It's scary."
Oscar bows his head as he speaks, then lifts his head up and looks nervously at the sky as thunder crackles in the distance. He quickened his pace down the road.
(-Music Ends-)
Cut to a train station. It has begun storming, and Oscar hurries to the covered platform, holding his hands over his head. When he gets there, he walks up to a large machine with a screen on it, which reads: "Welcome! Scan Lien to begin." He rests a Lien card against a scanner. The screen displays an error message that reads: ""ERROR! Unable to complete request. REASON GIVEN: Insufficient Funds (Code: 726)"
"Stupid thing. I'm assuming whatever weird magic this is doesn't come with an infinite supply of money?" The Farm Boy muttered in frustration.
"I'm afraid you'll have to solve this one on your own."
Oscar suddenly felt an intimidating presence near him. "Huh?"
"Be on your guard." The deceased Headmaster warned him in a hushed tone.
(-Music: Requiem for Blood and Iron [ Sen no Kiseki ]-)
"What do you mean?" He inquired, the gut gnawing feeling in his stomach kept getting more intense.
The view slowly pans to the left, moving out from beside the machine. Soon, Hazel Rainart, who is walking toward Oscar, becomes visible.
"Here." Hazel said as he approached him.
The tall man stops near the machine and raises up his fist. In response, Oscar flinches away and widens his eyes, uttering a small noise. Hazel then slams his fist down on the machine, which beeps and makes the sound of dispensing paper, while Oscar straightens up and stares. As Hazel moves his fist, the machine spits out a small ticket. While Hazel walks away, Oscar picks the ticket up and then looks at him. Hazel then stops and looks back at him.
"Don't let such a small obstacle block your path." Hazel said to the boy as he continued on his way.
"That man. I felt... Who is he?" The Farm Boy inquired as his trepidation slowly went away.
A train horn is heard in the distance.
"Someone from my past. Someone who should not be taken lightly." Ozpin warned Oscar in a grim tone.
Cut to the other side of the train tracks as the silver-gray train arrives. Its engine has glowing cyan markings, each in the form of two parallel lines with a series of evenly-spaced diagonal lines connecting them.
(-Music Ends-)
(-Music: Still Countryside [ Sen no Kiseki II ]-)
A cracked sign bearing the name Kuroyuri rests against ruins. An upwards pan and several cuts show the dilapidated village. Ruby Rose, Sonic Takamaki, and Jaune Arc walk down the road, carrying Qrow Branwen on a stretcher. They pause and look unhappily around.
"Oh man…" Jaune was quite surprised by how desolate and barren the village around them is.
"I know dude…" Sonic said, echoing Jaune's sentiments.
"Come on guys." Ruby spoke, urging the boys to keep up the pace. Then she looked around. "Any of these places look like a pharmacy?"
"Gee I don't know Rubes." The Blue Blur thought sarcastically while rolling his eyes.
"It's... honestly hard to tell." The Blonde Arc says before seeing among the ruins is an abandoned bicycle.
"Ren really didn't want to come here, did he?" The Hooded Huntress inquired.
"From his reaction before we split up, that's a huge giveaway on his feelings about this place." Sonic added. "And I wouldn't blame him either."
"Do you know...why?"
Jaune sighs. "I think I have a pretty good idea…"
The three continue on and the image pans away from them to show a withered waterlily on the ground atop a miniscule puddle.
(-Music Ends-)
Flashback
(-Music: Homewards [ Sen no Kiseki III ]-)
A pretty water lily in full bloom floats on an aqueduct in the town center of Kuroyuri. Ren, as a child, looks eagerly at it with a smile. Then a laugh of a woman who had dusky rose hair held in a bun by a gray band and pink eyes. She wore a long green dress with dark green around the shoulders. It has long flared sleeves that have cut-outs on the shoulders with a large band of plum purple on the cuffs. She wears a pair of black ballet flats and a pink sash around her waist. Her name is "An Ren"! The mother of Lie Ren!
"Why, hello, little Lie. Are we trying to catch a fish?" An asked her son with a loving smile on her face.
"I've found a flower on the water!" Answered Ren with excitement laced in his voice.
"Oh I see!" She said with amusement on her face.
Ren rushes over to his mother. "Can we take it home and plant it in the garden?"
"Oh no, sweetheart, that flower lives here." She answered, making her son look down dejectedly and An rubs his head. "But I'll tell you what you can do. Take this Lien and go find something nice for your father's return. He's been hunting for quite some time. I bet that the journey's been very tiring, don't you?"
Ren takes the Lien. "Yes."
"Do you think you'll know what he wants?"
"I think... he wants a water flower in the garden!"
An chuckles. "Why did you have to inherit my sass?"
She gives her son a playful nudge on his bottom as Ren turns away on his new mission to find a gift for his father. He crosses the planks that serve as a bridge over the aqueduct. An watches him go with a smile.
A wide shot of Kuroyuri shows a prosperous and peaceful town. Ren rushes up to a weapons stand.
"What can I buy with this?" Little Ren inquired while showing the owner the amount of money he has.
The young blacksmith chuckled. "Well, something just your size."
He holds up two wooden toy weapons. One is a sword, reminiscent of Crocea Mors and the other is a hammer reminiscent of Magnhild. Ren deflates in disappointment at being unable to buy a new weapon for his father.
He next waits in line at a liquor merchant.
"Sake, please."
The wine merchant gives him a bemused look, and with a sigh, shakes his head in the negative. Ren groans, a little frustrated.
He walks through the open town before stopping to look in a bakery window. There are several treats, including slices of lemon meringue pie, frosted cupcakes, actual cakes with frosted waterlilies atop them, and a shelf of kitten-shaped bread. Ren is happily excited but turns when he hears a voice.
"Hey, get back here!"
Ren looks around the corner of the bakery, following the sound of a group of kids laughing and mocking. Three boys stand in a semicircle around a dirty looking girl who is crouched on the ground and clutching a loaf of bread. It's young Nora Valkyrie.
"Where'd you get that bread? I didn't see you pay for it, thief!" Proclaimed the tall boy.
"No, look, it's all moldy!" Said the short boy.
The medium boy attempts to reach the presumed moldy bread. "Lemme see!"
Nora bites his finger before he can touch the bread.
"Ah! She bit me!"
The tall boy looks at the medium boy's hand in horror before the medium boy pushes Nora backward onto the ground. Nora whimpers for a second but gets up and grabs her bread off the ground. She takes a few more steps back before crouching away again.
"Where'd she come from?" The short boy inquired of the young Nora's origins.
Ren watches, taking a few uncertain steps forward.
"She's dressed all weird!"
"I bet she's abandoned! Like a dog or something!"
"Does that mean I have rabies?"
All three chuckle meanly. Nora sees Ren getting closer and looks at him with big, blinking eyes. The bullies see her focus has changed to behind them and they turn to look. Ren panics at having their focus and he turns to run, only to immediately bump into the legs of a tall, with black hair streaked with gray pulled back into a ponytail, a mustache, and a goatee. He wore a sleeveless green tailcoat over a long-sleeved white shirt, black pants tucked into open-toe sandals, a black sash with a single pouch and an archer's glove on his left hand. He also carried a quiver of arrows to use in conjunction with his bow and a single dagger. He is "Li Ren"! The father of Lie Ren! Ren falls back and looks up at his father.
"Father?"
"What is happening here?" Li inquired sternly to the three boys.
The three bullies panic and look around, uncertain whether to run yet. Nora, however, sees this as her opening and takes off with her bread. After a beat the bullies decide to run, too.
"Do you wish to run with the rest of them?" He asked his son who was standing upright with his face gazing at the ground. Then he places his hand on Ren's shoulder and lowers to one knee. "Sometimes the worst action to take... is taking no action at all. Go home. I need to speak with the mayor."
Li leaves while Ren watches briefly and then turns away.
Flashback Ends
(-Music Ends-)
Both Sonic and Ruby met up at back in the ruins of Kuroyuri, with Ruby looking dejected.
"Nada Rubes." Sonic shrugged.
"We should get back to Qrow and Jaune." Ruby sighs in disappointment.
Qrow Branwen leans against a dead sakura tree, groaning. Though not conscious, he holds a hand over his wound. A wide shot shows Ruby crouched near his legs and Jaune standing over them both. A creature makes a loud noise from off in the distance, causing the three to turn. Jaune's hand immediately goes to his sword and looks around for the source of the noise.
"It's far off." She said, easing her guard just a bit.
"I know, but Ren, Pyrrha, and Nora are still out there." Jaune said with a bit of concern in his tone.
Ruby looks at her poisoned and unconscious uncle before approaching the two boys. "I'm sorry…"
"What for Rubes?" Sonic asked with an arched brow. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"This is all my fault. I should have never dragged you guys into this…" She had her face gazing at the ground.
"You didn't drag us in. We wanted to come." The Blonde Arc said, trying to lift the young girl's spirits.
"But you didn't know about Tyrian, about—"
"The one who should be apologizing is me mostly." The Blue Blur said getting both of their attention. He sighs as he rubs the back of his head. "You all got caught up in our interdimensional business. From Eggman to the Chaos Emeralds, and now Salem. This is what Shadow wanted to avoid the most. All he wanted was to find the emeralds and Eggman and get back home… At this point, it's too late to turn back. The Battle of Beacon solidified that. We aren't sure that Eggman is working for Salem or not. I'm sure all of this is beyond your paygrade. But, we appreciate you guys sticking around."
"Not a problem Sonic. We chose to stick around because you made us feel like we can make a difference." Jaune said with a smile on his face. "We're with you guys down to the end. Right Ruby?"
She remained silent for a few minutes before smiling and nodding. "Yup! Jaune's right! You're with us till this battle is over!"
The blue hedgehog Faunus just smirked at them for their resolve.
Flashback
(-Music: Madness [ Sonic Adventure 2 ]-)
The scene changes to a framed picture of the Ren family. Young Ren is sleeping until the sound of Grimm awakens him.
An rushes into her son's room. "Lie, get up. We have to go."
"Mother?" Called an uncertain and tired Ren.
His mother grabs his arm and pulls him up. "Now, right now, okay? Let's go!"
In the kitchen beyond Ren's bedroom, the outer door bursts inward as a heavily-breathing Li enters.
"Li!" An called her husband's name.
"An, what are you doing?! We need to hurry!" Said a panicked Li.
"We can go to the safehouse!"
Her husband shook her head. "No. I saw the beast. We need a Huntsman. And you two need to leave."
"What?"
The creature sounds, loud and ominous, causing all three to look up at the ceiling and walls in alarm.
"Mother?"
An gets down to her knees to make eye contact with Ren. "It's OK, darling. Everything's OK."
The roof breaks above her head and the screen cuts to black. Crashing and a faint scream can be heard. They are soon followed by the muffled screams of many and loud footsteps accompanied by Li's heavy breathing. Ren comes to gradually, held by his running father. Bits of flaming sparks speckle the air.
"Father? What... Where's Mother?"
Li is bleeding profusely from above his left eye as a woman nearby screams.
"What's going on?! Where is Mother?!"
Villagers run in a panic, and black specks of ash float with the sparks. A rumble caused the ground to shake and Li falls, dropping Ren and landing on his back.
"Father!"
Everyone runs past them as Li pushes himself up slightly.
"Lie, you have to run." Li told his son as he struggled to get up.
Ren ran to his father, in sheer desperation to help him. "No. Don't. Please. Get up!"
He looks up when he hears the Grimm roaring noise again. Behind them, people run while slowly flowing by the silhouetted image in a cloud of smoke. It is a Nuckelavee Grimm, a horse-shaped creature with a human torso growing out of its back.
"Listen to me, son. You have to be brave now. Do you understand?" Li asked his son.
Ren shook his head frantically. "No, please. Please, I can't!"
Li withdraws a knife from its sheath on his hip. He puts the knife in Ren's hand and pushes him away before falling back with a groan. Ren looks at the knife while he gets to his feet. "Yes, you can! And take action, son. Your mother and I love you."
Ren grips the blade tightly, fighting the tears. "Father…"
The Nuckelavee stomps on the ground behind them. Li turns and readies his bow.
"Run!" Li told his son after he coughed from the fumes. He notches an arrow and pulls it back. He shouts at his son one more time as he releases the arrow. "RUN!"
Ren runs and Li lets loose arrow after arrow at the towering Grimm. Under an arch and jumping sideways down to a landing beside some steps, Ren crouches, panicking. The cries of Nevermores overhead cause him to look up. He hears sobbing from across the way and discovers Nora crouching beneath a building. A Nevermore flaps loudly and lands on the roof of a building near to the girl. It lets out a loud, dangerous cry. The Nuckelavee stomps through the center of town releasing its own roar. Ren realizes that his father is now dead and cries. Behind him, the waterlily for the aqueduct floats untarnished. There's another Nevermore cry as Ren continues to sob. He stills and Aura shimmers over him, graying out his appearance. Ren lets out a calm breath as color returns. The next shot is of him running toward Nora, and he moves under the building to where she is.
Ren puts his hand on her shoulder. "Hey!"
Nora gasps but calms when she sees that she's not been found by anything intending her harm.
"We have to be brave." He told her as Ren held Nora's hand.
The Nevermore cries above them, leaning down its head closer to the ground. Nora whimpers and then throws her arms around Ren. His eyes and arms go wide before he accepts in. Putting his arms around her the shimmer happens again and both of them lose the color vivacity in their appearance. The Nevermore, now shown to be dangerously close to where the two children crouch, turns its head and lets out a confused cry. Smoke rises from its body as it turns and cries again before launching into the air. Color returns to the two children and the sounds of heavy steps are nearby. Ren watches the Nuckelavee come closer. Nora turns and together they watch and wait as it pauses next to where they hide before moving on.
(-Music Ends-)
(-Music: Sadness [ Sonic Adventure ]-)
"I'm scared…" Nora said with tears falling from her face.
"Me, too." Ren said softly as he was trembling.
The shot pulls back to show the wooden hammer on the ground. Ren moves to retrieve it but Nora clutches his arm, afraid.
"It's OK."
With another whimper, Nora lets him go and watches with big eyes as he moves away. Ren grabs the wooden hammer and returns to her.
"We'll keep each other safe." Ren says with a sad smile on his face as he offers Nora the hammer. "What's your name?"
She looks down at it, clearly emotional before she takes it from him. "Nora."
"My name is Lie Ren." He smiles at her, blinking.
Flashback Ends
(-Music Ends-)
(-Music: Investigation [ Sen no Kiseki ]-)
Wind blows with the whistling note of high altitude as present-day Ren walks a stony ledge. Before him is more of the mountain, with a cave just ahead.
"We never get the easy path, do we?" Ren inquired.
Nora places her hands behind her head. "Easy's no fun anyway."
Pyrrha chuckles. "I partially agree."
Then the Pink Bombshell lowers her hands. "You OK?"
The Green Ninja nods. "Mmm. And you?"
"I've got you here, don't I?"
Ren looks at her as if he does not know what to make of her response.
The redhead Spartan arched a brow. "I wonder what Nora meant by that… does this area have some significance to their history together?" She mentally questioned herself.
Nora then gestures with her hand as she moves forward. "Come on. There's more than one way up a mountain."
Ren watches her for a beat before smiling. Then Pyrrha placed a caring hand on his shoulder, getting him to face her as she smiles and nods. Thunder rumbles and Ren loses the smile, turning to look up at the sky with Pyrrha who bore a concerned expression.
"Hey! There's wind blowing out of this cave!" Nora's voice broke their trance of the gathering thunder clouds.
Shown from inside the cave, Ren and Pyrrha catch up to Nora. Leaves blow outward toward them.
"Does this lead to the peak?" Pyrrha inquired.
"I suppose there's only one way to find ou—ah!"
He cuts off as a large piece of fabric abruptly blows out from the cave and covers his face. The two girls giggle, covering her mouth with her hands, as Ren frees himself.
"Yes, yes. Very funny." Ren muttered while shaking his head.
(-Music Ends-)
(-Music: Dark Clouds [ Sen no Kiseki III ]-)
He looks down at the marked fabric in his hands and goes still. Nora lowers her hands and steps closer.
"Is something the matter Ren?" The Red-Haired Spartan asked her teammate, feeling the tension coming off of him.
"This is the symbol for Shion Village…"
"Shion? But that's... that's the village where we found the Huntsman. It's weeks away from here!" Nora said with a surprised look on her face.
The Green Ninja drops the fabric and runs into the cave.
"Ren! Wait!" His partner called after him.
Ren stops once he is far enough into the cave to have a good look at what's there. Nora and Pyrrha catch up to him and become alarmed at what they see. Pyrrha could only cover her mouth in horror of the sight before her.
"Oh my gosh…" The Pink Bombshell uttered in shock.
In the spacious area, weapons speckle every place you can look. Swords, axes and staffs are all either propped up or on the ground. Ren moves in and picks up an arrow. He studies it while Nora approaches just behind him. As she looks he also sees what's on the ground... the Nuckelavee hoofprint. It is pointed toward another opening on the opposite end of the cave. Several trees are outside this opening, just below. One at a time, moving away from the cave where the three can be soon looking out, the trees shake.
He shook his head as felt growing trepidation within him. "No…"
"Jaune! They're in danger!" Pyrrha thought as a drop of sweat fell from her face.
Before the two of them are the shaking trees and the abandoned village of Kuroyuri. Nora takes his hand and he returns the grip before the scene cuts to black. The Nuckelavee roars.
(-Music Ends-)
[ To Be Continued… ]