A chapter, first on a Monday, then one on Saturday? It's one thing after another! Basically, I won't be able to get it up on Sunday, so I have to do it today. Not much to say, just wanted to explain why it's here a day early.
I hope you enjoy the early chapter!
Chapter 20: A Strange Encounter
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.(Chapter Start)
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July 31st
Wednesday
Rainy
They were in the middle of combat class when Azura did it. He was told to practice on keeping control of his own movements while in Summer's semblance. To Goodwitch, that just meant that he should practice on coming in and out of the semblance and keep stable instead of having to hit an object.
To Summer, that meant the same thing, but without her phantom movements. It might have been a bit of time since he had last seen Summer's smile, but he wondered if the kindness in it would terrify him more now. The woman was downright scary when instructing him about how he could stop himself without hitting an object or stopping the momentum suddenly.
"Just think of it as bouncing back! If you push the semblance towards you instead of propelling yourself forward, it'll kill the momentum. It's basic physics, Azura." Summer had told him.
"Basic physics, she says. I'm calling some serious bull-"
"Language!"
"You aren't even my mom!" He said, now speaking directly to Summer and not mumbling to himself.
"But I am a mother. Just not yours. Did Luna never teach you to not swear?" Summer asked as he went to repeat the exercise again.
Azura didn't enjoy flying off the arena over and over, but he knew it would be worth it if he could have a bit of self-control with Summer's semblance.
"Well, she wasn't even the one to give me the whole talk about swearing. That was all the Blue family. They kinda raised me after...after I turned eight." Azura said.
"This Blue family...can you tell me about them?"
Azura landed awkwardly and let out a grunt as he landed heavily. Quickly dispelling Pyrrha's concerns, he got up and answered Summer's question.
"Well, there's grandpa Ronin. He's not my grandfather, but that's what I call him. He's kind and always willing to crack a joke or tell a story. Never believed in ghosts until he saw Luna, it was the funniest thing I saw. Best use of my semblance ever."
Another failure, but Azura managed to land on his hand and feet this time. It was getting easier with time, but it would be so much easier with Summer's help.
"Anyone else?" She asked.
"Oh, right. Next up would be Corgen, Lucina's father. Corgen was very rarely nice and mostly looked rather annoyed with the world, but he was never mean. I was always told that he had a hard life, so he struggles with trust and showing emotions that much. He was always doing his best to keep Lucina happy, though his huntsman duties can keep him busy. He taught me how to do that Aether trick with my aura and sword, the one I used against Cardin in our spar."
"Quite the family already. Happy go lucky grandfather and scarred father. Who's next?"
He took a moment to hop up and down and stretch his arms as he thought of Sapphire.
"Sapphire. She is Lucina's mother, and quiet as a mouse. Don't let that fool you though, she's deadly scary when she wants to be. Whenever me and Lucina were in trouble, she would terrify us, not that it ever stopped us. But, she is one of the kindest people I know, and always tried to include me in anything the family did. She taught me the Shield Break trick, aura and all. I still can't believe that worked against Weiss's glyphs in the one and only team fight I was in."
"And this Lucina?"
Azura chuckled quietly after he got back up and went to prepare for another go at stopping himself in Summer's semblance.
"The only child of the Blue family and my best friend. We exchange letters once a month, so it's not like we haven't spoken to each other recently. Anyway, she's as kind as her mother and without the scary aspects of both parents. She was also trained to use a sword, probably as effectively or more than me, but she always had a knack for medicine. Used to patch me up all the time with all the crazy stunts I pulled off while playing with mother."
"Wait...as in, ghost Luna?"
"Yep! She would hop around with her semblance and I chased her through and up the trees."
Summer's response conveyed both her shock and disappointment. "You are just your mother. Dumb as rocks and as warm as the sun with your kindness."
"Hey! We're not dumb, we just have hard heads! At least, Lucina always told me I had a hard head. Besides, being twelve makes you do dumb stuff."
Taking off after defending himself and Luna, Azura managed to land on his hands and feet decently well. It was the closest he had come to managing to fully stop himself, even if he did still end up falling off the small arena. As he got up, he heard Goodwitch call out over all the students.
"Three minutes for break! Take this time to catch your breath and figure yourselves out before we continue!"
Azura smiled in relief. He wasn't sure how much more he could handle throwing himself off of the arena without a break. Aura or not, it sucked having to keep doing it.
He walked up to the arena, seeing Jaune and Ren talking as they sat next to each other. They had been doing this for a while now, and they had only seen one flag pointing to a semblance. He remembered Jaune describing how he and Ren saw a small stream of his aura start to pull in directions away from his body. They had no idea what it meant, but it was a red flag for a semblance nonetheless.
Nora was laying down, sweating and breathing heavily. Pyrrha was stood a few feet away, also sweating and looking tired. He approached her and she turned around as he got close.
"Oh, hello! Has tumbling down over and over been fun?"
"It's been grand!" He said jokingly, before shaking his head. "No, Summer's been having me talk with her, so it hasn't been that bad."
Pyrrha chuckled and she shook her head. "Being worked to the bone is just how it is when training to be a huntsman."
Azura laughed lightly. "That's true." He looked around, finding that Pyra was nowhere to be found. "Say, hasn't Pyra been missing all day? I know we saw her this morning, but I have not seen her since then."
Pyrrha frowned. "I haven't seen her either. I just hope she isn't doing anything dumb…"
Azura pushed down his own worries building up as he thought about it. "Don't worry. She's a smart girl, Pyrrha."
Pyrrha gave a small smile. "Yeah, of course."
"Well, everything will turn out okay. Break is about to end, so I'll leave you and Nora to it. Try not to make her drop dead, yeah?"
Pyrrha shrugged. "She wanted to try and break past my polarity."
Azura walked off with a laugh. Nora was always the one with the craziest ideas. He stretched as he prepared to end up falling on the floor again.
Which he did. Several times.
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.(Line Break)
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He left the combat halls with Pyrrha and Jaune, feeling tired and like he had just fallen off of a building. With how much he fell off the arena, he made very little progress towards suddenly stopping himself without slowing down or just hitting something with the momentum.
"You have to stop thinking about it so negatively. Progress isn't made within a day!" Summer said.
"Doesn't make my muscles any less stiff from doing it for a few hours."
Her laughter lightly echoed along his mind. "Well, progress is progress. You managed to start landing on your hands and knees."
"That's true. I have to think about it positively." Azura said with a smile.
As they walked towards the library to kill some time while waiting for the dinner hours to begin, Azura could have sworn that he saw Pyra walking in the direction of the dorms. He blinked a few times, just in case he was seeing something, but she was still there, walking towards the dorms at a semi-hurried pace.
"Is that Pyra?" He heard Pyrrha ask next to him.
"Yeah, that's her. She's walking to the dorms, right?" Azura asked.
Jaune nodded. "Yes, that seems correct. Do you want to go after her? You might be able to find out why she wasn't in class at all."
Azura shook his head. "I should. Sorry for leaving so soon, but maybe I can get her to dinner in time."
Jaune smiled. "No, it's not a problem. I'll be sure to tell everyone where you went."
"And I'll be sure to stop Ruby from speeding to you. You know how she is." Pyrrha said, continuing after Jaune.
Azura waved them off with a smile before walking in the same direction that he saw Pyra. Alone with his thoughts, as alone as having two ghosts as companions can be, Azura wondered what exactly was taking so much of Pyra's time recently.
He doubted he would get an answer, with how secretive she has been in recent history, despite his efforts. It worried him, but he couldn't do much about it but try to get her to open up. He could still easily remember how she acted when the school semester started. She was happy, and seemed more worried for his problems.
"It's almost like the two of you have switched places. She doesn't smile as much, does she?" Summer commented.
"No. Not since we woke up like this. Honestly, it's like some switch had been flipped ever since the fight with that parasol girl. It's odd." Azura replied.
With no other option, and not wanting to get lost in his thoughts, Azura broke into a light jog as he saw the entrance to the dorms. Seeing that Pyra was nowhere to be found, Azura figured that she had already made it to the dorm.
A turn here and a glance there, and Azura made it to the JNPR dorm within a minute or two. He breathed in and out quickly, making sure he was prepared to enter the dorm room and talk to his wayward partner. Thinking of what to say, he relaxed his body and knocked on the dorm door. Seeing that it was already unlocked, he opened it without having to use his scroll.
It was dark when he stepped in, which was odd, since he was the only Faunus on team JNPR, so he was the only one with good vision in the dark. Why keep them off if you were entering the room? Shaking his head, he turned the lights on as he closed the door, and frowned in confusion at the sight he was seeing.
Pyra was indeed in the room, but she had the photograph of his mother and himself in her hand. She was staring down at it and almost seemed to not even notice his presence at all. He slowly approached her, calling out to her as he did so.
"Pyra? Are you okay?"
She looked back, her eyes containing no shock. She smiled softly, but it looked slightly crooked to him. He stepped closer and placed his hand on her shoulder. However, the next thing that he knew was that he was on his back and had landed on the nearby bed, that being Pyrrha's bed.
One of his wrists was tightly gripped by one of her hands, and the other was free, and she was straddling his lap as she held him down. A switchblade was taken out of a pocket, and his eyes widened. Once it was flicked to have the knife out, he went to knock it out of her hand before freezing.
The person on top of him was no longer his partner, Pyra Sol. It was the tri-color hair girl that he fought before. And for some reason, seeing that she was here in Beacon drove fear in him. He could do nothing, his semblance not activating and all strength leaving him. The worried voice in his head was tuned out as he couldn't help but remember how she looked at him as she stabbed his shoulder.
He couldn't think straight, and it wasn't until he felt the blade quickly slice against his cheek and for the girl to lick the blood that she drew that he came back to his senses. Quickly, with Summer's semblance, he flung her away with the sudden momentum. He rolled off the bed and silently swore as he grasped at air.
"The one time I leave my weapons in the locker, this happens."
He saw that the girl was sitting on her butt and staring at her hands as she sat against the wall near the door. She violently shook her head, the smug look that he remembered nowhere on her face. She threw the switchblade to the side, quickly taking her scroll out, sliding it against the floor towards him after a few moments.
"I came to talk." It read.
"What? Then why attack you?" Summer said.
"Let's ask her. She threw away her only weapon, supposedly."
"This is hardly the time to get to know her, Azura! She tried to kill you last time!"
"But, Summer. What if she came her for another reason?"
"What other reason could it be?!" Summer cried out.
Ignoring her, he erased the message on the scroll and looked over at the girl. He shook it as he looked at her pink and brown eyes.
"I'm going to ask you a question and slide the scroll back to you. I expect you to answer it quickly, or I will think you are trying to get help. You want to talk?" He asked.
The girl nodded, keeping still.
"Good. Now, you stay there and I'll stay here. First question, what can I call you?"
Sliding the scroll over felt like a leap of faith. When he was given the scroll back via sliding, he felt a slight nudge of trust build up.
"This is a horrible idea…" Summer softly said.
"Trust me, just this once."
The note said, "Neo."
"Neo. Okay, is my partner safe?"
The next message he got simply said, "Yes."
He looked at the girl directly in the eyes. Something about her expression felt honest. He felt like he could trust her word, as dumb as it felt.
"Why are you really here, Neo?"
A few more seconds passed before he got a response. "I need help. Me and my partner. We need an outside party."
She meant Torchwick, which was pretty obvious to him. But, it also left him with another question.
"Why go to me if you need help?"
The next reply was as simplistic as the others. "Your semblance is very strong, and you aren't recognized in the city underworld."
"And if I refuse to help you?"
"I'll have to try and kill or threaten you into silence of this ever happening." Was her very rapid reply.
The blood reached his upper lip as he read it. The honesty in her wording showed that she wasn't scared of him, but that she truly was here to talk.
"Should we at least find out what it is she wants?" He asked Summer.
It was a long few moments of looking at Neo before Summer replied to his question.
"...I can't believe I am saying this, but yes."
He glanced at Luna, who was now floating in the air behind her, blade in hand. She slowly nodded, but kept her blade near the short girl's head.
"What would I need to do if I accepted to help you?"
The reply took a little too long for his liking, but she had stared at her scroll with narrowed eyes, looking unsure of what to type.
When she finally slid it over, Azura frowned at the message. "Something is going down on August 2nd. You would need to see it to truly understand the situation me and my partner is in. I can lead you there if you accept."
"I can't accept that if it sounds like a trap to get me killed. Why should I trust you enough to follow you around Vale?"
The next reply made him feel like ice had just chilled his blood. "If my partner finds out or if our boss finds out, it won't just be you who dies. He dies, I die. I don't want that. I want to survive."
He sighed and thought very hard about his next words and actions. If he declined, it would be likely that the girl dies here against two full grown huntresses. If he accepted...well, a variety of things could and would happen.
Azura sighed again, and slowly approached the small girl. She remained seated and still, almost like time had froze around her. Clearly, she wanted to seem open and vulnerable.
He crouched down, careful to keep a watchful gaze on her as he spoke. "I do not trust you, nor do I expect you to trust me. But, I will go and find out what you mean. However, if one thing is out of place, do not expect me to not fight with all of the power that I can. Do you understand?"
She nodded, and Azura handed her the scroll after a few more moments of watching her. The screen was quickly turned back around for him to see.
It read, "Meet me at 5 in the evening at Junior's club on August 2nd."
"Got it."
Azura stood up and offered his hand out to the girl. He knew that she knew what it meant. An agreement, a sign of trust.
She took it quickly, letting him pull her up. He kept his hand in hers and nodded. She looked to have slightly spaced out, staring at his face, right where the blood slowly trickled down from the cut to his lip.
"Neo?" He said, letting go of her hand and tentatively grabbing her shoulder.
She leaned forward quickly, faster than he thought she could be, and dragged her tongue across the space between his lip and and the cut, wetting it with her saliva and she licked the blood.
A second later, and the open window to his left quickly had a body flying out of it. Stunned, he shook his head to clear the mental block that stopped him from moving and swiftly moved to the window, picking up the small switchblade that remained on the ground. Looking out, he could see Neo looking at him. She nodded, then turned and moved off.
He leaned partially out of the window and sighed as he closed his eyes.
"You sure that was a good idea?" Summer asked.
"Yes." he said out loud, before turning to Luna. "Go after her. Keep watch and make sure we aren't being set up."
Luna nodded and moved to hug him tightly. He leaned into it, sighing as he listened to his still jacked up heart rate. He had been terrified of the girl, but still felt it was the better choice.
"Thanks, mother. Be careful, okay?"
She nodded and smiled at him before quickly jumping out the window and moving after the girl who was in the distance.
"Can you finally wipe the saliva on your cheek? It feels gross."
"Saliva?" He asked, wiping his fingers over his cheek where the cut was.
He quickly pulled his hand away once he felt the warm wetness on his cheek. He shivered as he thought about what the girl had done.
"I might believe this to be the best choice, but that girl isn't all there in the head."
"Agreed. We need to tell someone. I suggest Blake, given her experience."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Tomorrow. I'll tell her tomorrow."
"Good. And, Azura?"
"Yeah?"
"I'll protect you. Me and Luna both will. Even if we need to die again."
The idea of them dying was not a good one to him, but he simply stared out at the setting sun as he looked out the window, his thoughts going at a hundred miles per hour. He played with the simple switchblade, wondering just what crazy thing he was getting into.
"Sorry, Weiss." He whispered. "Looks like normalcy won't exist for a while yet."
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.(Line Break)
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August 1st
Thursday
Clear
Despite later learning that Pyra was indeed okay, if tired, yesterday, Azura was a bit of a nervous wreck. He couldn't concentrate, and was glad that he was lucky enough to not be chosen to fight in combat class today. Although, despite his best efforts to not twitch at moving shadows and flinch from sudden movements, it was clear that someone had seen through his disguise.
The only bout of luck that he had was that it was Blake who saw through him. It only took her two minutes to drag him to the RWBY dorm for some privacy, and only another minute to get him to speak to the girl next to him/
"You had to drag me to your dorm for this?"
Blake sighed at his question. "I don't need to deal with your responses that are barely responses. Something happened yesterday, something that is still bugging you. I intend to get to know what it is."
"You won't like it." Azura said quietly.
Blake frowned, resting a hand on his arm. "No, but I might be the only one who understands you. If it was something enough to shake your courage, it's something that...but, that's not my point." She smiled softly. "Just tell me."
Azura nodded. "Okay."
He waited a few moments before speaking again, Blake waiting patiently for him.
"Yesterday, I had a sudden visit. You were told that I went back to the dorms because Pyra was walking there, right?"
"That's correct." She said.
He licked his lips. "Well...it actually wasn't her. It ended up being Neo."
"Neo?"
"She's the girl who stabbed me in the shoulder at the docks. And," Azura points to the thin line on his cheek. "the same one who cut my cheek."
Blake's grip tightened on his arm, and Azura glanced over at her. A flash of annoyance was on her face, but she quickly returned to a more relaxed and calm demeanor, her grip loosening again.
"And what happened?" She quietly asked.
"Well...she came to talk. And we did talk. She seems to think my semblance is powerful, powerful enough to be needed for help."
"She...this Neo, wanted help? With what?"
"From what I can tell, she's afraid of something. Something that she, and her partner, Torchwick, can't handle. It seems like their boss is making them do something, something that threatens their survival." He further explained.
"So she came to you...I think it's possible that it's because of Summer and Luna. Neo might not know that it is because of two full huntresses, but she knows that it has to do with your semblance that makes you strong. Think about it this way, someone this young fighting with the power of a fully trained huntress would be very strong. Perhaps strong enough to ensure their survival." Blake said, expressing her thoughts.
"That would make sense. But, if that's the case...then, I should be stronger than I am right now. I'm scared, Blake. I'm scared of a girl who believes that I am as strong as I am because of a huntress in my head."
Blake's blank expression softened considerably. "Azura, you are strong. There is nothing wrong with being afraid of someone who injured and almost...almost killed you. In fact, it's what I would hope for."
"What do you mean?" Azura asked, confused.
"Well, I'll tell you something. My partner, back when I was in the White Fang...I told you that you remind me of him, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, he was strong. So very strong. And do you know why he was so strong?"
"He trained a lot?" Azura asked, a small glimmer of humor returning to him.
"He did do that, you are right. But, he trained because he was afraid. Afraid of what he could lose if he wasn't strong. Afraid of not being able to fulfill the dreams of the White Fang. It made him strive to continue to get stronger than he was yesterday, and to be stronger than he will be tomorrow." Blake said, pausing to take a breath.
"Are you afraid?"
Blake laughed for a moment, quickly. "You know that I am afraid. It's why I train everyday as well. I'm afraid of losing my way. Afraid to lose my friends. Afraid of my past. We're all scared of something, Azura. It's okay to be scared, because it helps to motivate us to be stronger than before."
Summer's gentle murmur of encouragement was comforting to him. It made him want to talk to Blake.
"I'm scared of getting into a situation way too big for myself. I'm afraid of not making my mother proud as a hunter. I'm afraid of losing friends and family again. I just...don't think I'm strong enough to do all that, no matter how much I train."
"Then go to get help. The friends and family you are afraid to lose will be there to help you. And...if no one will help you? I will."
Azura blinked in shock. "Blake?"
"You helped me in my time of need, just like Sun did. It's only fair that I return the favor." Blake said, a look of confidence in her amber eyes.
They sat in silence on Blake's bed. After a few moments, Azura yawned, feeling more tired than usual.
"You didn't get a lot of sleep last night, did you?" Blake asked.
Azura shook his head. "I couldn't stop thinking. I probably would have gone crazy if I didn't have Summer to talk to."
He heard the bed shift around for a moment, before feeling slender fingers grab at his shoulders and lightly tug him backwards. Allowing himself to get dragged back, he eventually had to twist himself sideways and felt his head land on her legs. Turning his head to the left, he saw Blake's legs straight and her feet hanging off the bed. To his right was Blake's stomach and he looked up to see her looking at him, a book in hand.
She rested a hand on his forehead. "Sleep. Dinner isn't for a few hours, and I'll be here when you wake up."
"But, I need to prepare for tomorrow…" He protested weakly.
"I'll go with you tomorrow. I can tail you and intervene if I need to. But, at the moment, just sleep. You'll need it."
He didn't even have time to thank her, already feeling the tug of sleep as the warmth of the sun's rays coming through the window and Blake's light breathing filled his senses.
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.(Chapter End)
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Not too much to say about this chapter. Next chapter will be longer, just because a lot more will be happening. That will most likely end up as a Sunday chapter, as per usual!
Have a good day/evening!