AN: Merry early Christmas. I made it in one month on the dot. Consistency. I hope you all enjoy the new reading material for the holidays. Many thanks to everyone who has Favorited, Followed and reviewed so far. As a heads up for all you reading, I update chapters with improved edited versions. Mostly they contain grammar, spelling fixes and maybe a rewritten line or two. If I ever update with a major change (which I will try to avoid) in a chapter, I'll leave a notice in the AN. Now, enjoy this new chapter you've all been waiting for.

Chapter 8: The Days Go By But The Sun Still Shines

Ashen had not expected this encounter. He had been walking through the forest, dispatching any Grimm he had come across, when he stumbled upon this group in the forest with him. From the hill he was standing on, he had a clear view of the area below. There were a dozen individuals milling about. It was fortunate that he had taken to constantly wearing the Obscuring ring again as he noticed more and more incursions into the forest by similar groups of people. It allowed him to observe with none of them being any the wiser.

He spotted Ruby's father, Tai, amongst the three adults gathered. The rest were children or, rather, they were young men and women leaving childhood and taking their first steps into adulthood. From what he could tell, he guessed that they had to be at least twice Ruby's age if not a little more. It was hard to tell since he only had Ruby as a point of reference. From her attitude every time he brought it up, she was clearly a bit too small for her size.

"Just you wait. I'm going to have a big growth spurt and be taller than you! I just have to drink plenty of milk."

Ashen couldn't keep a smile from his face. While his time with Ruby would not last forever, he would savor what he had now. It has been far too long since he interacted with someone who treated him as a person and not an Undead. Even among others like him, he always had to keep a hand on his sword. No Undead was foolish enough to believe that the one next to them was immune to hollowing.

His attention was drawn back to the clearing in front of him as another adult came running in from the trees and joined the others. His sword was drawn and stained with the evaporating ichor of the Grimm. Ashen watched as the students—which he had now deduced they were—pair off with an instructor. Some of them shifted their weapons into new shapes. Firearms, he believed they were called as a whole. He wanted to say that the sight of such weaponry surprised him, but it didn't. After being on the receiving end of Gael's repeating crossbow, he would have been surprised if humanity never built upon such a concept.

"Use every tool at your disposal, every ounce of knowledge in your head. Do everything in your power to not only level the playing field, but to destabilize it in your favor. There are no concepts as fair or right in battle, while honor is only useful for the dead. Victory is all that matters. Do not suffer the taste of defeat if you can avoid it. Victory by any means is still victory."

It seemed that some ideologies were not limited to Carthus.

A small pack of Beowolves ran out from the tree line. They skidded to a stop at the sight of so many individuals waiting for them. The pack, or what was left of it, was only half a dozen strong. Ashen observed as the student pairings spread out to put distance between each other. After a bit of effort and the culling of two more Grimm, the instructors manage to corral the beasts into positions between them and their students.

It was obvious that from this point on, it would be up to the students to defeat the survivors. What followed next was not something he would dare to ever call a fight. Ashen could tell from their movements alone that they were all very inexperienced, though this may not have been the first time any of them had fought a Grimm. They acted overly safe, keeping the distance between them wider than what was necessary and were quick to frighten whenever the Grimm's hostility was shifted their way.

Ashen's attention was drawn to the pair closest to him, causing him to frown in displeasure. A boy and a girl, each armed with a polearm. The girl, a spear, and the boy, a poleax. From their stances alone, he could tell that these two would be the most troublesome. His opinion of them was made worse by the size of the Grimm they were facing. It was the smallest of the pack, a laughable threat when compared to the others.

The boy bled arrogance with his nonchalant stance and perpetual sneer on his face as looked down on the creature before him. If his attitude was not fixed soon, then he would become a danger to others—that is, if he didn't get himself killed first. The girl, on the other hand, trembled like a rabbit as she struggled to maintain a firm grip on her weapon. She held her spear out in front of herself, treating it more like a stick than the weapon it really was. The few strikes she attempted, lacking strength and conviction, were easily brushed aside or ignored.

The fact that both were still allowed on the field was disgraceful. The girl should have already been pulled from the field. She was clearly showing a lack of aptitude for combat, and it would be best if she was sent off to choose another path in life before she got herself killed.

The arrogant prick stood to the side and watched as the girl struggled with the small Beowolf. It seemed that some aspects of humanity never changed as there was always one such individual among potential warriors. Ashen found such individuals difficult to deal with. If they could not be broken in, their pride and arrogance beaten out of them, then they should be removed as soon as possible. Best to nip the bud early before it blossomed into something that at best, caused their early death—and possibly others through their own hubris—while at worst, allowed such men to eventually become some of the most vicious tyrants or fail and turn into violent bandits or marauders.

Some scolding from the instructor overseeing them finally prompted the boy into aiding his comrade. With an annoyed scoff, the boy approached the distracted Beowolf from behind as it tried to wrestle the girl's spear away with its jaws. With a single swing, he severed its hind legs, freeing the girl from her tug of war and causing her to fall on her behind. Instead of ending the beast then and there, he chose to mock the beast and prod at it.

What a surprise. The brat is also a sadist.

Before his instructor could berate him any further, his attention was drawn along with the other teachers to the stray Grimm that had wandered into the clearing. Ashen unhooked the black bow he had brought with him as the instructors moved to engage. It was fortunate that he brought a bow with him today because he had a gut feeling that something was about to go wrong. As his eyes scanned the tree line, he saw it.

A Beowolf was circling around the children. It went unnoticed by everyone else and positioned itself in the line of sight of its dying kin, right behind the two children he had been observing. Its size was a bit larger than average, no doubt the future alpha to emerge from its pack.

The squabbling children were oblivious to whatever silent conversation had passed between the two. The Beowolf on the ground began growling and whining, dragging the children's attention back to it. The boy brushed off his teammate and moved to end the creature. He was taken by surprise when the Beowolf used the last of its strength to lunge at him. While he managed to block the bite aimed for his head with the shaft of his poleax, it left him pinned and vulnerable as he found himself supporting the dying Grimm's weight.

The girl screamed a warning as the other rushed him from behind. Even from a distance, Ashen could see the fear on the boy's face.

In an instant, he notched and released 3 arrows at the running Grimm. All 3 found their mark with the first piercing its thigh, the second going into the side of its rib cage, and the third puncturing the side of its throat. The force of the impacts were enough to stumble the beast, causing it to crash into the ground.

It bought enough time for the boy to throw and finish off the Grimm pinning him. Just as he turned his attention to his ambusher, one of the instructors had reached them and jumped on it. With a single blow, he caved its skull in with a warhammer, killing it instantly. As soon as he confirmed that the threat was eliminated and that there were no others, he immediately began tearing into the two children. He berated the boy for his arrogance and overconfidence that left him exposed before he moved on to the girl who had stood off to the side, paraliyzed in fear, unable to help him.

Unfortunately, as much as Ashen wanted to stay, watch and enjoy the outcome, he could see Tai heading his way. While his ring could hide his body, it didn't hide the arrows once they were freed, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what direction they came from. It was time for him to go. Hopefully, there would not be a second incident, because he wouldn't be nearby to step in again.

The walk back was uneventful, and Ashen found himself a little disappointed. He had set out today to hunt some of the avian Grimm, but unfortunately, his search was fruitless before he was sidetracked. As he neared the shrine, he encountered a Beowolf stalking towards the clearing. It didn't hear him approach until he ran his blade through its back. The Grimm died with a loud whine, its body beginning to dissolve. No matter how many times he saw it, Ashen would admit that he never ceased to be fascinated by the process. If he was any madder, he would attempt to study the creatures, but he knew better. He had seen enough times of what happens when a man tampers with secrets best left buried.

When Ashen stepped into the clearing, he was unsurprised to find Ruby waiting for him. She was gazing in his direction with searching eyes. He didn't fail to notice how she had her arms wrapped around herself, nor did he miss Zwei, who had planted himself in front of her, ears and body alert, and ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. Zwei may be small and oddly shaped, but he had more courage than most men. The one time a Grimm—an Ursa Major, Ruby called it—had wandered into the clearing, Zwei was more than ready to charge the beast despite the fact that he was greatly outsized. That alone was enough to earn his respect for the small dog.

Ruby didn't even flinch as Ashen stepped close enough for the ring's effect to fail.

"I thought I heard you," she commented as Zwei ran around his feet in excitement.

"Good to see you too, Ruby," Ashen greeted as he took a seat next to Ruby. "Do you remember what I said about you choosing to wait for me here?"

Ruby winced before she turned away.

"Ruby."

She sighed, turning back to face him. "To pay attention to my surroundings because the Grimm sometimes wander over here, so I need to be alert and ready to escape, because you won't always be nearby to save me if I don't." After a pause, she tacked on, "I was also sulking."

"And why is that bad?" When Ruby shot him a look, he realized that she had misunderstood him. He genuinely wanted to know why she thought he would be upset with her for sulking.

"Because negative emotions draw the Grimm."

This… this was news to him. While he could pass off most of his ignorance as the result of being from the Badlands as she called them, he knew that there was some knowledge of the world that he should know. He played it off when he could and Ruby, thankfully, never pressed him on it. The fact that these Grimm could hunt by human emotions was a bit surprising, but not as big as it should have been.

Animals could sense emotions to a degree, so this just sounded like a much stronger version of that. Throw in the small tinge of the Abyss that each carried and then it made sense as to why so few kingdoms existed. The ravenous hunger of the Abyss and the ability to sense humans beyond their normal senses; if they truly were hunting humanity like Ruby said, then they were a foe humanity couldn't hide from and would always know where to seek them out. No wonder life outside the Kingdom's walls is considered rare and fickle.

"Ashen?"

Ashen shook his head. He was letting himself get distracted by his thoughts. "Sorry. I was thinking about something."

"About what?"

"For one, what can happen to someone so naturally exuberant that it can bring their mood so low? I believe this is the first time I have ever seen you come here in such a state. Did something happen?"

Ruby crossed her arms as she pouted.

"I had a bad day at school," she muttered. She reached down to plucked Zwei from the ground before settling him in her lap.

"Ah, yes. I remember you mentioning that you started a week ago."

Ruby blinked at him owlishly. An odd reaction, because he was certain that he didn't say anything deserving of such.

She shook her head before asking, "Are my eyes weird?"

Ashen was taken aback by the question.

"What brought this on?"

"At school today, one of my classmates was asking me if something was wrong with my eyes, because they had never seen someone with silver eyes before. I know that he wasn't trying to be mean, but some of the others…"

"Let me guess; they were bored and desired entertainment, so they decided to alleviate their boredom at your expense—hence why you are in such a low mood today."

Ruby took a moment to process what he said.

"Yeah, right." She gave him a self satisfied smile, confident that she learned a new word.

Ashen couldn't keep the smile off his face. It was fun to watch Ruby try to comprehend him when he used words that she did not know. That little sense of satisfaction he felt each time she learned a little more. He wondered if his first sorcery teacher, Ambriel, felt like this. You never really understood how little you knew until you met someone who knew so much more.

"So," Ruby drawled, "you didn't answer my question; are my eyes weird? You had to have met other people with eyes like mine. I mean, my mom also had silver eyes."

Ashen hummed in thought. "Unfortunately, I do not believe I have ever encountered anyone with eyes like yours." It was the truth. Throughout the thousands of years he lived, he had never encountered anyone with silver eyes—at least as far as he could remember.

"So I guess I really am weird." Ruby slumped forward dejectedly. Zwei reached up to nuzzle and lick her.

"Why should their opinion matter to you? Let me share this piece of wisdom that I learned from my long life. People will use any excuse to divide themselves to make themselves feel superior to others. Be it kingdom, race, religion, and all sorts of trivial things, but it all means nothing in the end. We are all people. We live together, fight together... and we will die together. Do not let the words of some miscreants affect you so. Be proud of who you are. I am certain your father would say the same."

"Thanks." She gave him a bright and sunny smile, her earlier mood vanquished. He noticed how beautifully her silver eyes shined. Behind those eyes were the spark of a single, tiny ember and he couldn't help but think: 'what if they had some blue mixed in?' His stomach churned at the thought. While he had never seen anyone with silver eyes before, he was now forming a speculation as to why. With the Age of Fire long past, there should not be any ramifications if his thoughts were true, but a small part of him couldn't help but worry.

"You're welcome." Time for a change in topic. "How is your writing coming along?"

"Good… but I have some more questions." Ruby passed him Zwei before picking up her notebook. To Ashen's amusement, Zwei curled up in his lap as he prepared to take a nap. As much he acted like an ordinary dog, Ashen knew better. Zwei possessed an intelligence that he had only ever seen in the mighty great wolves.

He spent the remainder of his time with Ruby, trying to explain the complex nuances that heavily permeated the holy script. When they were finished and Ruby returned home, Ashen decided to go out hunting once more. It would serve as a good distraction from his thoughts.

Ruby sat at her desk as she attempted to do her homework. Attempt being the key word. For the upteenpth time she sighed as she found herself unable to focus on the work in front of her. She laid her head on her desk as she rolled her pencil back and forth. It was impossible for her to not think about what he said. He said that she started school a week ago; it's been nearly a month since she started.

It was something that she had noticed as she spent more time with him. Ashen didn't have a sense of time. He would talk about yesterday and not realize that yesterday was in fact days ago. She was still worried about him eventually cutting himself off from her, but now it didn't seem as big of a threat as she once thought.

She asked her dad about it, but it was Uncle Qrow who best explained what was probably wrong. Ruby felt glum as she thought on what Ashen must have been through to make him that way. A person able to lose track of time because he no longer cared what day it was; to have no plans for a tomorrow he never expected to live to see. What did feel like, to be forever trapped in a moment that lasted forever you always felt alone?

She knew that he lost his friends and family, but how many times did he go through that? How many times did he find a new family, make new friends, only to lose them again. Ruby couldn't imagine what that must have been like. Her family has been through it once already and it was almost enough to break them. How did Ashen endure it?

It wasn't fair. Ashen was probably the strongest person she knew or, at the very least, second to Uncle Qrow. She had seen him fight and not once did he ever seem afraid; in fact, at times, it seemed to be a chore for him. The one time she asked him how he was able to face the Grimm so easily, he responded, "I've fought bigger and scarier monsters." Ironically, that would also be the day were she saw him crush the head of an Ursa Major in a single blow with his fist. He's so powerful that he can easily overwhelm the strongest of the Grimm that she's seen—and yet, with all that strength, it wasn't enough to protect the things he cared about.

Ashen was her hero; he saved her life, but lately, she has started to wonder if she was the only person he had ever saved. He clutched his secrets tightly to himself, and the few that she had been able to pry away or he let slip painted a harsh picture that she did not want to look at. The more she learned, the more she realized how broken he was to the point that she found herself questioning at times if he could ever be fixed. Ashen hid it well, but she knew better. No one could bottle things up forever—her dad would still stay up some nights drinking, and Yang would occasionally cry in her sleep.

What did Ashen do when he was alone? How did he handle his griefs? The mountain of issues he had just kept growing. But she would not give up—heroes are not supposed to be abandoned or forgotten. She wasn't sure how much she could do, but if she could put a small part of him back together, then maybe that would be enough—enough to start a change that would fix him completely. One thing was for sure, she had to stop brooding over what has already happened and focus on what she could do moving forward.

I just have to keep going, one step at a time.

Ruby lifted her head and stretched her arms. Fortunately, she had time to work on Ashen's problems, but her homework was due tomorrow. When she focused back on the page in front of her, she groaned. She had been doing her homework in the Sacred Script, so now she was going to have to restart from scratch. Thankfully, she wasn't that far along. Instead of throwing the page away, she tore it out and stuck it inside another notebook that she kept filled with her practice writings.

The Sacred Script, as Ashen called it, was a lot more complex than she expected. There was a lot of... What was it called again? Oh yeah, nuance. There were a lot of nuances that had to be considered when using it. The characters, or letters, changed shape and/or meaning depending on your relationship with the person you're writing to, your position of power compared to theirs, if they were a god, et cetera. The god part, she found funny. But, to be fair, this is a religious form of writing. She showed it off to the rest of her family, but no one else felt the same tingling feeling that she had. Yang thought it looked like a bunch of silly scribbles, while her dad said it looked interesting, though he commented that he had never seen anything like it before. When she showed it to Uncle Qrow that day he stopped by, he took a picture. He said he would let her know if he came across anything similar when he was out in the field.

To be fair to everyone else, she couldn't feel as strong a sensation compared to what she felt from Ashen's journal or the coin he gave her. Thinking about the coin, Ruby retrieved it from one of her drawers. She gazed at the words etched on the backside, words she could now read, albeit with some difficulty.

"Through the grace of the gods the Flame gave us life. By their love we are blessed with light. May the Flame guide your way."

A small tingle went through her that brought a smile to her face. Despite all her frustrations with the Sacred Script, she really enjoyed using it. It felt like a secret code that only she and Ashen knew. As Ruby returned her coin to its hiding place inside her drawer, her eyes caught on the new book she bought the other day. Its bright green cover called out to her. It has been a while since she last checked how Ashen was coming along with his reading.

Ruby's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment as the idea crept into her head. There was no way she could ask that of him. She shook her head furiously. Nope, nah-ah. It was a bad idea. Okay, maybe not a bad idea, but it would be embarrassing. Especially when she considered what the book was about. The book was staying here, and that was final.

Ruby hesitated as she approached her usual meeting place with Ashen. It looked empty now, but she knew better than to take it at first glance. In the end, she did bring the book with her, but now she was starting to have second thoughts. It didn't help when Yang laughed when she saw what she was bringing. After taking a deep breath, she stepped forward into what she knew was inside the range of Ashen's magic. To her non-surprise, Ashen was sitting on the log, waiting for her. But what was surprising was that he wasn't paying any attention to her.

In his hands was a palm-size, golden disc. When she stepped closer, she was able to see that it was a medallion with a picture of the sun on it. The small drawing of a face in the center of the sun almost made her laugh. Despite the fact that she was now standing next to him, he did not react to her presence. She knew he could get distracted and lost in his thoughts at times, but this was a first.

"Ashen?"

Ashen jerked in surprise before his head snapped towards her.

"Ruby?" He shook his head. "Forgive me. I did not… I did not notice your arrival."

"Oh, it's alright. Um, what do you have there?"

To Ruby's surprise, he covered the medallion, clasping it between both hands. It was something obviously precious to him. Now, she felt bad for asking; it felt like she was invading his privacy.

"It is something very precious to me. I… do not want to discuss it. I am sorry if I can not sate your curiosity."

"Oh, it's okay," Ruby responded as she waved a hand back and forth. "I don't mind. You don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to."

Ashen nodded in thanks before he placed the medallion inside a small box beside him. When he turned his attention back to her, he tilted his head. "What are you hiding behind your back?"

Ruby jumped and fidgeted in place. "Oh, um. It's been a while since we checked on how your reading has come along, so…"

"You brought a book for me to practice with," Ashen finished for her.

"Yeah…" Ruby didn't need to see his face to know he raised a brow at her hesitation. She found she was getting better at reading him despite all his armor. Didn't do anything to help with the embarrassed blush on her face. "I was thinking that maybe… you could read this one to me. I'll correct any mistakes you make."

"Can I see the book?" Ashen said as he extended his hand toward her.

She hesitated before handing the book over. Now, the cover was exposed for the world to see. On it, standing out against its green background, was a stylized drawing in gold of a knight facing off against a dragon.

"The tale of Lancelot and the dragon of Mt. Glenn," Ashen read aloud. "You want me to read you a story?" he asked, obviously amused by her request.

"You don't have to read it, if you don't want to," Ruby rushed out, face glowing in embarrassment.

He chuckled. "It is fine. I do not mind indulging you with this request. Consider this repayment for the help you have given me." He motioned for her to take a seat next to him. "I will admit to being a bit surprised. A story about a knight and a dragon; I wonder what brought this on."

Ruby buried her face in her hands. She could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Now, let us begin. 'Before the Kingdom of Vale was founded in the heart of Vale, it existed as a series of feudal settlements run by lords and protected by their brave knights. The first to rise from this class of brave warriors into legend; the one who would be credited for clearing the way for the founding of the City of Vale and considered one of the greatest of knights was Sir Lancelot the Brave. Like all great heroes, he rose from humble origins. Our tale begins in a small settlement on the edge of Vale's territory…'"

Ruby found herself enraptured as Ashen read to her. She slowly scooted closer before eventually leaning her head on his arm where she could feel that familiar warmth seeping into her. There was a small, miss-able pause in his reading, but other than that, he didn't say anything against it. Her eyelids were getting heavy and she knew that, if she wasn't careful, she would fall asleep. Little bonding moments like this brought people together; it's what her parents taught her. Hopefully, one day soon, he wouldn't feel like he had to keep hiding behind his helmet. Until then, she was going to enjoy this moment and the story that came with it.

AN: A heart warming end just in time for the holidays. For the Sacred Script I took inspiration from how Japanese speech and writing works which I feel the rules really fit for a language of the gods. I hope you all enjoyed. Leave me a review or shoot me a pm and tell me what you think. Things are starting to pick up. I'll see you all next year.