A/N: note, GART is meant to be said as 'garnet.'
This was it: the moment of truth.
Years dedicated to gaining experience and skill all led up to this instance, where she would prove to herself that all the blood, sweat, and tears poured into her training were worth it. Now was the time to show the fruits of her labor.
She leaned forward, muscles coiled and ready. Her pulse quickened in anticipation, her weapon grasped firmly in her hand.
She struck!
Eyes locked onto the target, she plunged into the battlefield but-
It was over in a second.
"No!" Amber wailed. The paper net in her hand dissolved almost immediately, dropping her prize back into the water and leaving her with another useless plastic ring.
Behind her a baritone voice chuckled. "Maybe you should try moving a little slower?"
She pouted and turned over her shoulder to look at the source. Tip Evergreen, the nice man she'd met in a tavern three weeks ago. Amber honestly hadn't expected to hear from him so soon, nor did she predict that he'd invite her out.
But he messaged her yesterday saying he wanted to get together again before she left Mistral, and of course Amber immediately said yes. She hadn't had a social call in years. To say she was excited by the prospect of hanging out with someone that wasn't paid to be with her and/or only sticking around because of her uber-special-but-super-secret magical powers would be an understatement. Combined with the fact that she knew the Mistral's Summer festival was that weekend, well, she jumped at the chance. Even if it had meant being a tad dishonest with Qrow about her evening plans. He assumed she would be staying put and sleeping early at her room in the inn, giving him plenty of time to catch up with his old huntsmen friends.
She was sure he'd have a great time; staying out late, getting sloshed with his buddies, and giving her the ample opportunity to sneak out like a teenager going to a huntsmen trainee party.
And that was how she ended up with Tip, hovering over a game of ningyo sukui. Amber glared at the slowly swirling stream of cheap yet tantalizing toys in the water. Aggravated, she sighed and dropped her useless net on top of her last six attempts. "But if I do that then the water will soak through before I get it!"
"The wet nets are a little more resilient than you think. So long as you time your entry right. It's all about precision."
Oh, so easy, huh? Amber rolled her eyes. "Well then, oh wise one, why don't you try it?"
"Alright. Any requests?" He chuckled, sparking a bit of petulance in her.
She crossed her arms and huffed. "I want a Pumpkin Pete."
"As you wish." Tip gave a teasing mock bow and crouched down next to the tub.
Amber almost laughed as she saw him pay the vendor, sitting up on his knees with an abnormal amount of grace for a grown man playing a kids game. She carefully ignored the fact that she had just lost a lot of lien on said kids' game. Leaning up against a post, she watched with a faint smile playing on her lips.
When was the last time she got to go to a festival like this? Hang out with a friend? It had been years, definitely. The more she thought of it, the only instance she could recall was her fourth year at Beacon, with her team at the Vytal festival. She frowned at the thought.
After graduation they had all gone their separate ways. Last she saw on social media her old partner, Rory, had recently taken a position as a firearms instructor at Pharos Academy. Tawny had actually retired from huntsmen work altogether years ago, when he got married and decided he wanted to be a stay at home dad. Ginger, their leader, was still in the game. Amber thought she was leading some kind of anti-smuggling task force back in her hometown of Windpath, but she couldn't be certain.
She tried to keep in touch. When they were students they had been so close. Her school days had been filled with trips to Vale on the weekends, late nights huddled up in the library with blankets and board games and smuggled in snacks, raiding the school kitchen at midnight so Ginger could make them the sweets her uncle was 'world famous' for. Her team, GART, had been like the siblings she never had. She thought they would stick together, have each other's backs and eventually set off, explore the world together. That had been her dream.
But then in her third year her grandmother died, and suddenly Amber was met with a new, daunting responsibility. One that she didn't dare tell her team about. The revelations she had been given that day were almost too much for her, and she hardly wanted to inflict that on the others. She learned what the Maidens were and how it wasn't uncommon for their loved ones to be targeted, because it was so much easier to attack them to gain a vantage over magical avatars of chaotic nature than to go after said avatars directly.
That was what happened to her parents, when assailants came for her grandmother.
So she pulled away; she wouldn't be one to repeat history. It was slow at first, with excuses like private lessons and handling her grandma's unsettled affairs. They filled her mouth like bitter vinegar, only sweetened by the assurances she told herself: that they'd be better off, they'd be safer, happier in the long run because of it. She finished her schooling at Beacon methodically untangling herself from the loved ones she had left, so that when she was free to go out to the world and take up her duties as a maiden they couldn't be caught in the crossfire.
These days the only connection she maintained with them were a chain of sporadic texts and vague social media posts. After all this time she didn't know how to talk to them; the void between her and her former team seemed to grow wider by the day. It didn't help that Amber was often restricted as to how she could contact people, between spotty signal while traveling and the fact that her entire existence was pretty much redacted at this point.
Gods, she hated being in a cult.
"Here you go," Amber broke from her reminiscing by a proffered, orange gloved hand. She looked down and blinked at it, baffled by the sight of a slightly wet bunny figurine sitting up and staring at her.
Then she saw the impressive collection of other toys Tip had managed to gather, nestled in his lap. Her jaw dropped, "How? Like actually, how did you do it?"
"I'm a wizard." He said, completely straight faced. Amber stared back in deadpan, until his facade cracked into a little smile. "Practice. This was a common game for the harvest festivals at the village near my farm. Admittedly we didn't get a lot of these fancy figurines. Ours only had bouncy balls."
She grabbed the toy and marveled at it, wishing she had paid more attention to see how he had done it.
"Would you like the rest of them too?" He asked.
Amber cocked her head to the side, "You don't want them?"
"Can't say I'm a huge fan of Grimmkachu." She considered the offer, an idea forming that made her grin.
"Then, I'll take them." When he started to hand them up to her she tutted, "Ah ah ah, hold onto them."
"What?"
"Since they're mine now, I get to decide what to do with them, no?" Tip nodded, obviously confused. "Then, I hereby declare these as the first gift to 'lil baby Evergreen from Auntie Amber."
Tip stared up at her, eyes wide. For a moment she wondered if she had crossed a line, but then he dissolved into chuckles. "Very well, 'Auntie.'"
"I've always wanted to be the cool wine aunt." She put her hands on her hips, satisfied.
"I'll be sure to tell the tale of how 'cool' Auntie Amber was when she dropped fifty lien on a kids game and didn't get a single prize."
"It was only forty!"
Another round of laughter escaped Tip, and Amber counted it a victory.
Tip Evergreen was a haunted man. It was easy to see after spending only a couple hours with him: the slant of his shoulders, the crease in his brow. Pain clung to him like a hungry ghost. None of that was uncommon for the people of Remnant, especially among refugees like Tip. Something about him though kept drawing her attention back. It had been like that the first time she saw him sitting at the bar; her eyes kept drifting back to him for reasons she couldn't quite put her finger on. She thought it was because he was cute at first—his big eyes and shaggy hair kind of reminded her of a teddy bear she had as a kid, right down to the missing arm—but that wasn't it. Despite having only known him for less than 24 hours he felt like an old friend, and it saddened her to see him so down.
Amber watched as he put the game prizes into his bag, thanked the vendor, and got up. He turned to her, a little more bounce in his step than before, and asked: "Are you hungry?"
Festival noises floated in the air, bouncing around as hundreds of people bumped, bumbled, and meandered through each other to see the various stalls. Each time she brushed shoulders with one Amber felt electrified, excited to be able to melt into such a large crowd again. Happily she munched on a kebab and let herself be moved aimlessly by the flow. Tip remained close, acting as a buffer between her and some of the rowdier crowd. They exchanged half-shouted words to point out fun things they noticed at each booth.
This is nice, she thought, grinning as she saw a group of kids run past with what looked to be a backpack full of fireworks. Ah, youth. She was reminded of the time Rory had snuck a whole bag of them into their dorm, and they had set them off together off the roof.
The sun was almost set and lanterns began to light, casting the whole area in a golden glow. Even this late, Qrow should still be out drinking with his buddies. He told her not to wait up for him, which meant she shouldn't expect to see him until almost noon the next day. Amber breathed a sigh of relief.
If Qrow knew I was here, I'd be grounded for sure. Qrow was a good guy with a lot of funny stories, but he was technically her supervisor–bodyguard–whatever you called the person ordered to make sure you followed the complex set of rules that supposedly granted you the most freedom while remaining inconspicuous enough to not attract the attention of ne'er do wells. Sometimes it could be like being on a road trip with her professor, which was definitively awkward.
She finished off the last of her kabob and twirled the skewer in her fingers, thinking. The Story of the Seasons had been a favorite of hers growing up, one that she demanded to be told to her nearly every night for years. Her grandmother indulged her every time, interspersing it occasionally with tales of her own youth and adventures. Sometimes her grandmother would add to the story, telling it from the point of view of the sisters instead of the old man. She'd weave in notes of their deep thoughts, of fears and hopes that came with new powers and the journeys they set out on. Whenever Amber curled into her grandmother's side and looked up she would see sparks of mischief in her eyes, like Amber was being let in on a secret even if she didn't know it.
She wouldn't realize how true her grandmother's words rang until much later, on grandmother's deathbed. When the woman visited Amber in her dreams. When she was told—Maidens, magic, all of it—was real, and that now it was Amber's turn to start her journey.
A third year at Beacon, she had almost immediately ran to her teachers for… she wasn't really sure anymore. She had wanted answers, guidance, help, a way out, anything. Confused, scared, uncertain, Amber was eventually led to Ozpin's office.
And then the curtain was pulled back. She still remembered their conversation.
"But why me? Why do I have it? What do I do with it?"
"You have it, Amber, because up to this point you have been the right person to inspire another." Her professor set a mug of hot chocolate on the table next to her, then took a seat. "As for what you do with it, you do what you can. That's all we can ever do."
She stared into the viscous brown liquid and listened to the continuous sound of the clockwork walls. Each passing tick tapped on her budding realization that life would never be the same.
For all the power Amber wielded as a Maiden, she was treated like glass, a damsel that needed to be guarded. There had been something nice about that when she was twenty, a green academy student that was still learning what it meant to be an adult, a huntress, a guardian. The safety net had been comforting then, but now…
She was chafing.
Amber yanked her thoughts away from that downward spiral and to her lovely distraction. Turning around and saw Tip stalled at a low table, covered in shiny bits of jewelry. She followed his line of sight and found it fixed to a necklace. On a short black cord, it was a silver pendant shaped like the moon. Its shattered pieces floated off to the side, tied to the larger piece by a web of delicate twining wire.
Pretty, she thought, watching the way the golden lantern light flashed off the silvery surface.
Tip must have thought the same, because he was still staring at it, totally enraptured. Playfully, Amber bumped into his side. "Thinking of the wife, huh?"
He jolted, "Is it that obvious?" She took a mischievous satisfaction in the way his freckles popped against his blushing face. His hand rose to scratch the back of his head bashfully. "I usually think of her when I see the moon."
…Wow. Amber didn't know whether to be embarrassed or impressed by the sheer corniness of that statement. Judging by his expression he was a hundred percent serious too. Swallowing a laugh, she smiled and said: "You should get it for her! I bet she'd love it if you brought her back a souvenir."
"You think so?"
"Trust me. Say those exact words when you see her and you'll be scoring some major boyfriend points. Or husband points, I suppose."
Somehow Tip's face reddened even more, and his hand came to cover his mouth. Amber smirked as he nodded mutely, before turning to the vendor and calling them over with a voice that cracked a bit.
The last sunlight began to fade, and Amber felt a shift in the crowd. As if a switch had flipped, all the people who had been hovering near the center clearing meandered away on the downhill path. She tapped on the shoulder of a passerby and asked where everyone was going.
"Fireworks are starting soon."
Amber gasped, filled with excitement at the prospect. "Fireworks? Really?"
"It's a huge show. Best in all the kingdoms." The passerby nodded, their mouth quirked in a prideful grin. "Best get down to the valley soon, the good spots fill up quickly."
She whirled around to Tip, who was turning away from the vendor stand with a pretty painted box and a face still crimson. Eagerly Amber rattled off what she had just heard. "Come on! We have to get to the valley!"
"The valley? For fireworks? No way." Scoffing, he put his purchase away.
She made an affronted noise. "But fireworks! Come on loverboy, where's your sense of romance now?" What a let down, but if he wouldn't go with her she'd find them herself.
He grabbed her sleeve to stop her, chuckling. "I didn't say no fireworks. Come on, I know a better spot."
"Okay, we're almost there."
Cicada choruses blared in Amber's ear as they continued to hike through an overgrown mountain path. Mistral's inherent Summer humidity was made worse by the excessive plant life tangling around her knees. "You said that five minutes ago, are you sure you aren't trying to kill me?" When Tip had started pulling her up the mountain away from the valley she'd been skeptical. She grew even more suspicious as they ventured further away from civilization, like the kind of thing the shady kidnapper-murderer she had joked about would do.
But… she shook her head. Tip wouldn't—couldn't—do that. Maybe it was irrational, but there was this little certainty in her soul that said, as strange as this was, his intentions were good. And she was a maiden. That counted for a lot. She was confident she could take whatever was thrown at her, regardless if things went south. Which they weren't. Yup.
Yeah, she'd be fine.
She heard Tip chuckle softly. "Nah. If I was going to do that we would have turned off at that last fork in the road. That's the way to the abandoned murder shack."
Amber couldn't stop a snort as she followed after him. "So like, is all that sass genetic, or...?"
"In a sense. I'd say it was already an intrinsic part of my soul. Watch for the branch." He warned with a smile in his voice, giving her ample time to duck. When she was through the thicket the path reappeared, where they stalled for a moment. "Almost missed it," said Tip when they were both through to the other side. "It's a lot more overgrown than I remember it being. I guess it's been a while."
She looked over her shoulder back at the towering brush and the thick layers of vines that weaved an almost impenetrable wall. Incredulous, she asked: "How many years is 'a while?'"
Tip opened his mouth, then shut it. After tilting his head in consideration for a few moments he nodded, "Many." Amber would have thrown hands for that answer, but he bounded out of reach. "Come on, it's over here."
A little further ahead the trees thinned out and pulled apart, revealing a wide open ridge. Warm summer breeze rustled through her hair as Amber stepped out to look over. She gaped at the sight. Below them sat the sprawling valley. All the people from before gathered at the bottom, tiny and intermingled with glowing lantern lights.
"The fireworks should be going off around there." Tip pointed out to the eastern sky just beyond the valley.
As if to prove his point a high pitched scream filled the air as a bullet of light smoothly curved up against the night sky. She held her breath, waiting for it to go off. Suddenly it exploded into a cascading rain of colors. Glimmering streams of red and gold fluttered to the ground before evaporating. Her eyes lit up as she watched the next set bloom.
"This is amazing! How did you know about this place?" Amber plopped down on the ground, swinging her legs over the ridge.
He sat down next to her. "That's the thing about traditions. Mistral's summer fireworks have been around for centuries. It's one of those things that are always the same, year after year." The inflection in his voice made her pause for a moment, but before she could question he spoke again: "I have a gift for you."
She raised a brow, "Oh?"
"Here." Tip pulled a small wooden box from his bag and held it out to her. She took it gently and admired the smooth polished exterior, then opened it.
Marveling, Amber pulled out a simple yet elegant bracelet. She rolled the leather cord and its shiny glass beads around her hands. The pattern inside swirled twinkling shades of orange, green, and gold. A certain comforting warmth emanated from it that reminded her of her first impression of its maker. "I didn't see this on the table."
"That's because I made it myself."
"What, really?" She blinked in surprise. It felt well made, and she hadn't pegged him as the type to make jewelry of all things.
Tip nodded and pulled his feet into a cross legged position. "You said you were a traveler. Traversing between the kingdoms can be pretty dangerous. In the village I grew up in, they'd make charms like these for people going off on long journeys. This should help keep you safe on yours."
"Wow, thank you." How sweet, definitely one of the nicer things anyone had done for her in a while. Smiling softly she slipped the cord around her wrist. Despite the cool glass of the beads the bracelet felt warm to the touch. It reminded her a bit of a weighted blanket. "You're not going to get in trouble for giving another woman a gift like this, are you?"
"Hmm? No, that's unlikely. That kind of thing doesn't really bother Ru-Rosie."
Amber brushed off the stutter. "So how did you two meet?"
"Oh, uh, her uncle introduced us."
"That's not very…" She stretched the words out, and was met with his chuckle.
"Romantic?" Tip finished, grin in his voice. "Yeah. To be honest it was kind of a disaster. I met her uncle at a bar while he was incredibly intoxicated. He could hardly stand at the end of the night, and I ended up being the one to take him home."
Amber could only picture Qrow, as the only unrepentant alcoholic she knew, in the role of drunk uncle-unexpected matchmaker. Didn't he say once that he had nieces? She giggled at the thought. "Oh, so you were a knight in shining armor then."
A disbelieving laugh, "Hardly. It was an awkward night, but I ended up meeting some of the most amazing people that night. Because of them it was all worth it."
He reclined back onto the grass, heaving a contented sigh. Up above, the fireworks continued to crest and explode, lighting up the black sky with colors. They sat in silence while they watched the show. Amber took the time to really take in the moment.
Tall grass tickled her ankles and the palm of her hands, poking through her clothes and leaving soft prickling sensations all over her skin. She could taste the humidity of summer on her tongue and pressed along the back of her neck. But the warmth wasn't overbearing, it was peaceful.
"Hey Tip? Thanks, for all of this. I needed it."
"Have you been troubled lately?" She glanced over her shoulder and saw him sit up. He fixed her with a concerned look. An invitation to speak freely about her troubles. Her mouth opened and shut a few times as she struggled over whether or not to take it.
"Well no, not really. It's not like things have been any different. I guess I'm just tired. Today was nice though." She pulled her knees to her chest.
"Then I hope you manage to take more breaks like this. They can help quite a bit when we find ourselves weary."
"Yeah. I'm just dreading going back to normal now." She thought about long weeks on the road, traveling by foot and occasionally by horse. She'd go weeks without talking to another human being sometimes, when Qrow was in a funk and followed behind her in bird form only. Or when he was gone entirely, on leave to go home and visit his family. At those times she'd be alone, with only the stars and the occasional skin deep companionship she'd found along the way. "I'll miss the city. It'd be nice to live here."
"Do you wish that you were like them?" Tip asked, jutting his chin out at the bustling crowd of people below.
"No. Yes. Sometimes." Amber sighed. "It's complicated."
"Most things are."
She shot him with an annoyed glare, before huffing a little and biting her lip. "Don't get me wrong, I love traveling. I'm only 23, but I've watched the sun rise and set in all the kingdoms. I can tell you where to find the best dumplings in all of Mistral, and where the best noodle stand in Vale is. I've seen the Aurora Borealis in Atlas and I've seen it rain in the middle of Vacuo's desert." The last thing had actually been her own doing, when she was still learning how to control her magic, but it had still been an amazing sight. And yet... "It can be hard to keep friends though. I've met so many people, and they've met me, but I never get to know them. And no one…"
"No one takes the time to know you." Tip finished.
She chuckled dryly. "Shouldn't complain, it's not like I really give them a chance." The easy come, easy go relationships that filled up most of her interactions since her journey began after graduation, knowing a person for a few days and then leaving, never seeing them again: she was getting disenchanted with them. She missed Rory, and Ginger, and Tawny, and what they had. What she pushed aside for their sakes, or at least what she told herself was for their sakes.
"That's fair. But it doesn't really ease the loneliness." Beside her, her current companion hummed easily. More moments of silence ambled between them, somewhere between comfort and uncertainty. "It sounds like you've been reflecting on this a lot."
"I guess I have." She shrugged.
"Usually that's the first thing one should do at an impasse in life—meditate, and take time to center oneself." Amber glanced over her knees to see him sitting upright with his legs crossed beneath him. It was odd, he had such a youthful face but he carried himself like someone much older. Something about the cadence of his voice was familiar in a comforting way. "So you've been feeling isolated?"
Her eyes widened. "No, I'm not—I'm not isolated. It's not like I'm trapped or anything."
"Feeling isolated doesn't require being trapped. Not physically, at least. Sometimes you can feel alone while surrounded by people." Tip paused as another firework exploded with a loud scream up above. She saw the way the dim light of the fireworks sparkled in his eyes as he watched. "I used to have a mentor. He died."
"I'm sorry." She said reflexively.
Tip shook his head. "Don't be. It's been a long time now. And even if he's not here physically, a part of him is always with me." Amber smiled weakly. How touching, though a bit cheesy. "He passed rather suddenly, and thus left a lot of unfinished business. Since he was my mentor, several of his duties fell to me. I was expected to fill his role.
"I had help." Tip conceded, "He had allies who he'd worked closely with, but it was still daunting. For a while it felt like no one really saw me, instead they just saw his replacement. And so for a while I thought they didn't really want or care about me. That was lonely."
At his words a dull ache filled her chest. She remembered what it was like when she first inherited the Maiden. All the stilted conversations that floated over her head and landed on her shoulders, like all the new expectations placed on her. Heavy, all of it had been as the circle explained to her what her new duties were after her grandmother had passed. Some of them had tried to be gentle, but Tip's sentiment was a familiar one.
"It took me a bit to see what was in front of me. I had to do a lot of thinking. There wasn't a lot for me in terms of options, but I wanted to make the decision my own. Yes, I didn't get to pick my path, but I chose to keep walking down it." They met gazes. "But it's still difficult when it feels like you're stuck, isn't it?"
"You…" Amber trailed off, not sure what to say.
"Pardon if I'm overstepping, but I get the impression your situation is similar. Because of certain reasons, you can't settle down and make those close bonds that you want. It was fine at first, but now it's starting to pile up."
"You know when I came out tonight I didn't expect to be psychoanalyzed," she muttered, blinking.
Immediately he pulled back. He scratched the back of his neck bashfully. "Sorry."
"Well, you're not exactly wrong." Lying back she looked up at the stars and the way they mingled with the colorful flowers of fire that bloomed against them. "How did you come to terms with it, then?"
"Accepting the situation helped. When it started I wanted to ignore the problem. But pretending it wasn't there didn't make it go away, and I spent all that time acting like it didn't exist when I could have been trying to do something about it. I couldn't get out of my situation, but I could nurture it, and try to make something out of what I had." The grass beside her rustled as Tip laid down.
Amber considered his words. Make something out of what you have. She'd set out to do that, she thought. When she'd graduated Beacon and was told she couldn't work like a normal huntress, she'd made it a point to help however she could. Of the options allowed to her, she'd chosen this one. The traveler, who went everywhere and did what she could do for everyone. All because she was able, like the Maidens in her grandmother's story, like her grandmother herself, like several others before her. "Did it work?"
"Sometimes," he said softly. "Of course there were rough patches. There were times when I was dismayed or angry with the hand I'd been dealt. There were times I regretted my own choices, and all the mistakes I've made. But, I kept moving forward, and nowadays things are seeming a little brighter." His voice became warm as he spoke the last line.
As if to punctuate his words, a large burst of fireworks arced and crisscrossed the sky before lighting in a particularly spectacular bloom, sizzling out to raining sparkles. Amber felt her mouth drop open a little at the sight. A low, warbling whooooah rose from the valley below, and she remembered that there was an entire kingdom of people gathered down there. All of them looked up at the same color spattered sky as she was.
There was something grounding about that. As adrift as she felt from people at times, they all still lived under the same sky. There was a good chance that elsewhere across Remnant were the other three members of team GART looking up at it too, just like they did together that night they set off fireworks atop the dorm roof.
"That's the thing about this world we live in," Tip continued. "It can be so easy to hide away from what's difficult. But in the end, the only way to get through life is to live it. And it's when we decide to take an active part in it that we can see it for just how beautiful it really is."
Amber's gaze moved to him as he stared out over the valley. The colors from the fireworks reflected off his face in splotches of muted reds, greens, and whites. In the lighting she thought his eyes had a faint golden glow.
"It might be odd to say after all this time, after all the hardship endured, but I am glad I am here. Responsibility seems a lot like a curse, but it puts us on paths where we may have never gone before. It forces us to experience new things, to meet new people, and grow because of it." Tip said, grieving wonder and awe coating his tone. Unconsciously, Amber held her breath while he spoke. "I am me, because of everything I went through and every person I've met. The bonds I've made with them have also made me, and even if I don't see those people anymore—because of time and loss and death—I still hold them dear. They push me forward, to continue to see and become and do the things I know they'd want me to.
"I am grateful for them, for everything we had, and the memories going forward." He paused and made eye contact with her. Suddenly surprised, he jolted and looked away. "Er, sorry. That was a lot of me talking, huh?"
"No-no, it was really nice!" Amber thought about his words, and the emotions they were laden with. To be grateful for what you used to have, and to be grateful for who you are now because of it.
"I–" he looked down before making eye contact with her again. "I don't know your situation, but if there are people you trust, any old friends still out there, maybe it's worth giving them a call sometime. It's easy to think that you can't reach out, that you won't be accepted back after being gone for so long. But sometimes that's a risk you have to take. People can be much more understanding than we often give them credit for. We all do the best we can, that's all we can ever do."
And there was one final moment of stretching silence as she watched him, his words sinking in. In one instance Amber was back in the room full of ticking clocks and evening sunset. Reassuring words and a reassuring smile, a cup of hot cocoa in her hands. "You sound like an old professor of mine," she said.
"Do I? Well, I did use to be a teacher." His eyes lit up with a humored spark as he looked at her.
Somehow that didn't surprise Amber at all, though she was even more curious. "You're going to have to tell me your mysterious backstory at some point."
"Alright, someday." He laughed freely, returning to the fireworks. Amber huffed, half-indignant at his soft dismissal, before joining him. They continued to watch as the night sky was painted in lights and colors and sounds.
As the golden moment stretched on, Tip's voice filled the night one more time: "Hey Amber? You're going to live a long and happy life."
And there wasn't any solid logic or reasoning behind it, but his words made her smile. She believed him.
When the fireworks concluded, Tip walked with her back to her inn, where they wished each other goodnights and goodbyes. Amber came back to an empty room and went through her nightly routine. She plopped on the bed and pulled out her scroll, noting a text from Qrow saying he'd be back in the morning. Dismissing the message, she pulled up her social and checked the statuses of her team.
Tawny's last update had been a few days ago: a 40 second clip of his kids at a carnival, riding the carousel. Ginger, who had never been great with anything on the CCT, had her last post marked as several months ago. But there was a little note under her name saying she was active a few hours ago, so she was still hanging in there. Finally, Rory's feed showed her a selfie of her and a group of other huntsmen and huntresses. If Amber had to guess, they were some of the other teachers from her new position at Pharos.
Rory's red hair was longer than she had kept it when they were students. She tied it into a low bun that looked nice on her. The little scar on her lower lip that she got on one of their student training missions curved into a 'c' as she grinned at the camera. Amber stared at the photo of her, counting all the differences that her partner had accumulated over the years they'd been apart.
The little green circle by her name blinked innocently, showing that she was online now.
Amber held her breath and stared. Could she? Should she?
After a few moments of pondering, she hit the message button, and started typing.
A/N: heeeeyyyyy there, it's been a while.
… i am currently very sleepy and don't want to write an author's note but still have a lot to say, so apologies if this isn't the most coherent.
So first off, thank you to everyone who's followed/faved/subscribed/bookmarked/kudosed, and huge thanks to everyone who's left comments. I know towards the tail end I haven't been the best at answering them, but I have read and appreciate every single one. It was always really nice to receive one randomly during the long space between updates.
This chapter took significantly longer than I would have liked to get out. I had the bulk of it written for a very long time, but struggled immensely when it came to fleshing out Amber and Oscar's conversation. It all went through many run throughs and rethinking in order to get something that was satisfactory. Then when it's come to IRL stuff I've been just a bit too burnt out to write much.
Next chapter the plan is to return to Ruby and finish up her part in this arc. It'll be a big chapter covering a lot of ground; three new canon characters will be making appearances and we'll finally be catching up with the events of volume one. I'm not sure when I'll get it done, but my RWBY hyperfixation is going stronger than ever so I have high hopes it will come at some point. I also have been brainrotting recently and started drafting another RWBY time travel fic that i'm not sure i'll put out anytime soon, but we shall see.
Once again I'm probably missing something that i wanted to say but am totally blanking on atm. Oh well. Thank you for sticking around! Please leave a review!