Yet another chapter for you to read, perhaps to your liking. This was a pretty enjoyable chapter to write, so I hope that translates to reading it!
Chapter 52: Relatability
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.(Chapter Start)
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October 12th
Saturday
Stormy
"So...what do we do now?" Blake's voice entered from his right, in the chair next to his in the library.
Blake's voice kept Azura alert and active, despite the very few hours of sleep the two of them have gotten since last night. There was a lot to unpack, from Neo's white lie to Avis and their agreement to basically ally with each other in their intersecting goals. It was a lot of explaining for him to do to Blake, leaving them both to think over the next moves moving forward.
It probably didn't help that they were living off of coffee at the moment, but neither of them were ready to admit that to each other.
Azura breathed out softly, taking a drink of coffee. "Well, far as I know, Neo and Avis need to communicate with what locations to tackle. That, or it's left with me. Wouldn't be shocked if she had my scroll number without me or Neo giving it."
"I still don't like that she knows as much as she does about you. Doesn't that seem shady?"
"It's not the first time I've decided to trust someone I probably shouldn't...but, I will admit, I might have jumped the gun a bit, even if I was cautious for a while."
The morning storm around them whipped against the windows, having started some hours ago when they began camping out in the library to wait it out. Shoulder to shoulder at one of the far corner tables, the two students discussed quietly.
"I suppose it's too late to worry about it. What do you think we should do?"
"I still can't get you involved. Much as Neo and I have a mutual partnership, she made it clear that only I could be involved." Azura said, thinking back to her threat when this first began.
"But that doesn't stop us from doing something outside of that." Blake retorted. "I know how you feel about it, Azura, but the White Fang is my responsibility. Even if only partially."
"No, they aren't. You aren't responsible for who they are now."
"That doesn't change how it feels like it is, though." Her amber eyes meet his as she speaks. "Do you not feel the same way in regards to Summer being in your head?"
"You're right, sorry." He admits, taking his previous words back when he was given another perspective. "You probably feel a lot more frustrated with everyone's lack of progress than anyone else."
"Not just everyone, all of us, even me. We're caught in a rut between being students and pushing ourselves to be more than what we are."
Azura's eyes shift and linger on Luna, a grown Huntress, even in death. Raven's words echoed in his head, about how they were too young for what they were trying. He knew what Blake meant by her words all too well, then sentiment very similar to the woman of the same hair color.
"Much as I hate to say it, we're still just teens in over our heads." He says, smiling at the girl besides him afterwards. "But, our hearts are in the right place. So long as things don't get worse because of us...we're doing the right thing."
Blake's eyes break contact with him after a moment, and she lets out a quiet laugh. "We've gotten distracted again."
"Yeah, we have." Azura says in agreement, rubbing his eyes. "I don't really know what you can do...what any of you could do. She's made it clear that I am the only one who should know, and I can't exactly tell her no. The four of you would have to do it separately from me to avoid suspicion if you investigate in person...and searching through history can only do so much."
"And we've also decided to enter the tournament…" Blake whispered, a soft groan exiting her mouth. "I should've pushed against the idea, there's bigger things to worry about. The odds only stack against us the longer we ignore what Huntsmen and Huntresses are supposed to do."
Azura understood exactly what the girl was talking about, how she felt about it all. Did they really have time to relax and be carefree in a world that seemed hinged to rip itself apart? Despite the dark and negative question in his mind, he placed a hand on Blake's shoulder and gave a tired smile.
"This isn't the first time we've had to go completely against the odds to come out on top, remember?" He said, offering some positivity for the girl. "We can go again and again until we don't need to anymore."
Blake was silent, her amber eyes looking both lost and confident. A struggle between heart and mind, one that every person felt. Azura knew the feeling well. Choosing between logic and emotion was not his strong suit, seeing that he often chose emotion despite better judgement.
"That's what we're trying to do as a Huntsman and Huntress in training. To save lives, to stop threats."
"To make a better world." Blake said, following his line of thought. "You are hopelessly optimistic."
He smirks. "You aren't optimistic enough."
His words bring a smile to her face, one that felt almost personal from the girl. "You sound just like him sometimes. Who he used to be."
It took him a moment to remember what she was talking about, left without knowing what to even say. He looks away awkwardly, wondering if he should even say anything in the first place. Blake didn't speak of this person she used to know often, and he was often left wondering what about him reminded her of this person.
He hears Blake yawn then, causing him to mimic a yawn as well. Early morning students were just beginning to enter the library, looking rushed and wet from the morning storm that was only just beginning to lighten up.
"I think we need to rest our eyes for a moment…" She mutters, shaking her head slightly. "We can talk about…" She yawns again. "What to do after that."
Azura hums in response, leaning back in his chair as Blake copied his action. He tilts his head to the side as Luna follows the wordless order to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't fall asleep, closing his eyes and breathing out a soft sigh.
He wasn't awake when Blake gently slumped against him, the two Faunus starting to get the rest they needed.
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.(Line Break)
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Azura woke up to the feeling of something nudging his shoulder, slowly shifting his body against the warmth by his side before rubbing his eyes and stretching as they opened to take in the icy blue eyes of Weiss looking down at him. They held humor in them, a sight that Azura honestly welcomed for having just woken up, a sleepy smile coming to his face. It quickly dropped a moment later when he saw Luna looking from over her shoulder with a mischievous look on her face, the sun shining through the windows.
Clearing his throat, he sighed quietly. "She let us sleep, then."
"Who? Oh, Luna." Weiss asks, an airy laugh escaping her. "Well, you two are lucky that I was the one to find you, even if it's still a bit early for some."
Azura nods, growing more alert as he turns his head to see Blake still asleep against him. He smiles again, not quite willing to wake her up just yet. He didn't think that he had ever seen her look so at peace before.
"She looks peaceful when she's sleeping." He said. "Makes it hard to wake her up."
"Hm…" Weiss hummed. "Did something happen? Seemed like you guys were busy, if the coffee on the table means anything."
Azura met her gaze, knowing the reaction he'd get. "Some night escapades...things went a bit awry. We were…" He takes a moment to remember what had happened before they fell asleep on each other. "Right. We were talking about it, what to do next."
He was mostly awake now, but a part of him did wish he was still asleep when he saw how his words soured Weiss' face, even if it was only for a moment. He just felt bad for making Weiss even feel the way she did about his situation.
"Better to be honest to her, at least." Summer said quietly, her voice drifting like silk against the last remnants of his sleepy mind. "She'd badger you into telling her anyway."
"Tell me what happened." Weiss said, the words a command. "It had to be major if you two never returned to the dorms." She pauses. "Did you crash Bumblebee?"
Azura laughs, but he felt a sense of dread at the idea. "Yang would have my head if I did. No, it has to do with some...new information and something that went down last night."
She nods. "Neither of you got hurt?"
"No. Neo didn't either...or our seemingly new ally." He answered, shaking his head.
"A new ally, huh?" Weiss said, humming with a thoughtful look on her face. "Is that why you and Blake were here, talking until the morning?"
"Before someone decided to let us sleep, yes." Azura replied, the dry sarcasm not missed by Luna as her tail flicked playfully. "We were trying to come up with ways to continue forward with the investigation while appearing as normal students. Especially for you four."
Weiss looked ready to retort, but held herself when Azura raised a hand to stop her. He understood what it was that she wanted to say, but he wasn't going to have this debate with their friend sleeping right next to the two of them.
"Regardless of how you feel, this is how we have to plan these things out now." He said, trying to not sound harsh. "I know that you don't like it, and I really do appreciate your concern, I do. But, it really is better to have it be this way, at least for now."
"I hate when you're right. I'm the one who is supposed to be right." She grumbles, relenting from the topic for now. "So, this new ally. Who are they?"
Azura looks around for a moment, just for the sake of privacy, then speaks. "Her name is Avis Nightingale. She used to be part of the White Fang...technically still is, but it's for cover and inside access. She's leading a...insurgent group of sorts. They're fighting to bring the White Fang back, the original message and ideals."
"The original message and ideals...I wish I knew them." The white-haired girl said, her voice faltering before she said anything more as she placed her hands in her lap. "I don't know…"
The words were soft, laced with a deep-rooted animosity. Azura wouldn't pretend to know what history the White Fang had with her family and family name, but he would admit to being rather curious to hear her story. Even then, looking at the saddened look on her face, Azura felt that he shouldn't push or force her to say anything.
"You don't have to tell me." He said, glancing towards Blake as she shifted her position against him. "I think that's a talk for you and Blake, some time down the road."
"You're right...again. I just don't think we'll ever have that talk, even if we should."
He smiles. "Well, you don't know until you try. When you're ready, of course."
Weiss nods slowly, coughing into her hand. "Er, anyway. What does this new ally mean for your situation?"
"Assistance with the investigating and Neo's...uh, plan of escape. They help us with that, we help them in their fight simply by doing so." Azura explained. "It's like a partnership, very much in our favor while we're at it."
"I can't say for sure, given that I wasn't there for the full context, but I…" Weiss begins, sighing. "I'll regret saying it, but I have no option other than to trust you."
"When have I ever led you astray, Weiss?"
Weiss continued past the question, like he had never asked it. "So, since this seems to be in your favor, you and Blake were figuring out if anything changed in how we do things?"
Azura nods. "Blake is frustrated that she isn't more directly involved. That all of you aren't, really."
"There isn't much that we can do, I feel. She has to remember that we're still just students, we have more than the White Fang on our plate. As important as halting them is, we can't very well just abandon our schooling!"
There was passion in her words, Azura heard.
"But the tournament was optional." He pointed out. "I won't tell you not to be young, I think that's important as well, but it does kind of get in the way of the investigation."
"He says, having to be reminded of that from Pyrrha." Summer muttered.
Weiss sighs again, shaking her head. "It's too late for what ifs with such a simple decision." She looks at him curiously. "But it does also push suspicion off of you. I would argue that Blake being on our team and not yours makes us much bigger targets than you. Especially with my name and Ruby's...uh...exploits, we'll call them."
Azura laughs lightly. "I didn't take you for an optimist, Weiss."
"I'm not. Being realistic about it tells me that the benefit to this is you getting to investigate more freely without being noticed. Much as I dislike you doing it all by yourself with someone who tried to kill you, there is at least a silver lining to it."
"She's only tried to kill me once." He attempted a joke, watching it fall flat as she gave him a disappointed look. "Okay, don't joke about that. Got it."
"I give you an 'A' for trying." Weiss deadpanned. "So, with that said, there isn't much of a plan outside of simply playing the role of normalcy while you do your thing. It's not like the White Fang are going anywhere."
"That's what worries me the most, I think." He admitted. "Doesn't it feel like there's something bigger coming?"
"Every day, Azura...every day."
The two of them look at each other from the other side of the table for a moment, then give each other a weak smile. There was some solace in the fact that he wasn't alone in feeling like something bad could spring on them any day now.
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.(Line Break)
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Azura still had Weiss' smile in his mind, even as the afternoon sun waned so slowly. The fragility of it reminded him of Luna's own ghostly smile, the woman who was his mother, who always acted somewhat distant since her death. He watched her sitting with Aurora in her lap, helping her with aura signatures to hone in on a possible new aspect of her semblance. It brought back a memory of his childhood where he did the same thing. It was nice to see Luna acting like her old motherly self around a child, a spark of guilt entering his heart as he thinks of how he's glad it was with Aurora and no one else.
Among the serious and scary things Auzra was involved in, he couldn't help but have the Nightmare linger in the back of his mind. It was always there, either ignored or not eating away at him, but it was never forgotten. He hoped for Qrow's safety and the safety of the huntress tracking it already.
"It gets harder to look at her, doesn't it?" A voice asked him quietly, an eerie calm in their tone.
Azura looks over to see Ren sit down on his bed next to him as Luna helps Aurora discern aura. "Who?"
"Luna."
He looks back over at his mother. "Ever since I saw the panic and fear in her eyes...I've worried about it."
"The Nightmare?"
The boy wordlessly glanced at Ren, nodding. He didn't really need to say anything, Ren would know either way.
"I think all of us do, Azura." The black haired boy said. "It might be your history, but...even if we didn't care, knowing that such a dangerous Grimm is not only near, but actively hunting someone down, isn't something one just takes in stride."
"Yeah, I know that better than anyone right now." Azura replied, smiling at Aurora from the side when he saw her looking at him with a tilt of her head. "I don't think there's ever been a Grimm that's been so bent on killing specific people…"
"That's not true." Ren said, his words catching Azura's interest.
"What do you mean?"
"When I was younger…" He began, gazing idly at Aurora and Luna as she focused on the exercise he had them do. "My village told me stories about some Grimm. How most Grimm existed to destroy, and how some of them existed to cause pain. To torture."
Azura was quiet, speaking only to prod Ren to continue with what looked like the boy opening up a little.
"There's a difference?"
"Mhm." Ren hummed. "Like the Nightmare hunts you after killing your mother...makes you wonder why it's doing that, right?"
"Of course."
"Well, there was a legend of a Grimm that we worked to ward off from our village. It was called the Nuckelavee...very dangerous and territorial. The ancestors of my ancestors settled there, and decided to fight the fight instead of pulling out. Proved to be a stubborn trait that passed down through the entire town." He explains, laughing slightly at his own words. "It prowls in the woods and mountains of Anima to this day."
Azura took a moment to compare this Nuckelavee to the Nightmare, finding that Ren was indeed correct. They both did seem more spiteful and particular about who they tried to kill, unlike most Grimm. Perhaps age was not entirely all there was to Grimm ecology? Did some Grimm gain more than intelligence with age, perhaps sentience and power.
The possibility of a connection between the two was almost terrifying to consider. Much like what exactly their world would be like if all Grimm were like the Nightmare and Nuckelavee.
"Do you want to kill it, Ren?" Azura asked softly, placing a hand on the boy's arm.
"Like you want to kill the Nightmare. With every fiber of my being." He answered, his voice not containing any anger. "It's been a plague in my life, and I wish for it to be gone. It'd bring me some peace, I feel."
"Ren…"
"Enough talk of such dark topics." Ren said, cutting Azura off before he could say anything else. "Aurora's about to figure out the technique."
"Technique? I'm still not quite sure where your confidence comes from." The multi-color haired boy admitted. "Even Ruby probably doesn't know what it was, and she saw it."
"It's a feeling I have." He explains. "Aurora's semblance is a very unique case, very hard for her to have any control. Unlike my own, where I can use it freely, she has to instead work hard to navigate a world where she can't."
The words bring a frown to Azura's face for only a moment as he watches Aurora focusing with closed eyes, unable to hear their conversation. "I was hoping she'd be able to force it to stop working, if only for some time."
"I don't think she can, I'll admit. I've been slowly bringing her towards learning control ever since what Ruby said about her semblance."
"What do you even think it is?"
"My guess…" Ren says slowly, choosing his words. "Maybe putting false emotions in people. But it's more likely to be something more akin to your case. An active function to a passive semblance."
They stop speaking as they watch Aurora and Luna. The ghostly visage was gently grasping the young girl's hands in her own while she was focusing, likely trying to find her own signature if she hadn't already. Azura was hopeful that she would succeed, given how hard she's been trying to make progress recently. It certainly helped her odds that she was most likely a natural at aura control. Even untrained, she seemed aware of how it functioned.
Pink aura flared for a moment before fading away, nothing coming of it. She opened her eyes slowly, an air of disappointment on her face. Luna sighed silently, rubbing the topside of Aurora's hands with her thumbs in consolation.
Azura and Ren shared a look, silently debating who should approach first, then Azura stood up and made his way towards the girl in his care. He would offer whatever the girl needed to ensure that she was happy, and he had no intention of reprimanding her for failing once more. One step forward sometimes meant failing it a hundred times.
"Make sure to not hide your emotions. Something about it tells me she doesn't like it."
He stopped in front of Aurora, crouching down to be looking up at her. She smiled at him, but he knew her well enough to tell that there was an underlying disappointment in herself that she couldn't do it. Offering a smile of his own, Azura spoke.
"Frustrated with yourself?"
Aurora nods with a shrug, replying in her quiet voice. "I can't seem to do it again."
"And that's okay. Everyone struggles with something when it comes to aura, you know." He replies. "You seem to struggle with aura signatures and being able to pull at your own aura. And let me tell you, that is the same thing that I struggled with. Luna never really got to teach me it, so I learned here at Beacon."
"You did?"
"Definitely. It's really tough to get a hang of, but you are very close to having a good grasp of it."
"How did...you figure it out, then?"
Azura looks up at Luna, who was watching him with a smile on her face. She and Summer had been very integral in his ability to learn how to separate aura signatures from each other, especially discerning the lingering trails left by it. Even without real aura as ghosts, it was hard to keep track of it all.
He looks back at Aurora. "Well, let's say I had help from the people before me."
Aurora nods again, accepting his answer. "I find it hard to focus on aura. There's so many things going through because of my semblance."
"It's all part of the process, I'll admit." Azura says, unable to really offer anything else. "We all relate to you in one way or another. The hardest part about the work isn't doing it or starting it, but reaching the desired end."
"You reached it?"
He nods. "I did."
"Ruby did...too?"
This time, he smiles. "She did. And if we can do it…"
"So can I." Aurora says, trying the words. "I can too."
"Now that's the confidence you need." Azura says, placing a hand on the girl's arm. "How about you and I take a walk, you can clear your head away from people that way."
"Yes, please."
Azura stands up, looking over at Ren. Before he could even ask what he wanted to, the boy shook his head.
"I need to find Nora, Jaune, and Pyrrha. They were supposed to be back before we even did this."
"You think Jaune is being beaten up by them in some unfair fight?"
Ren sighs. "Well, I am now."
Azura laughs, hearing a hint of laughter from Aurora as Ren rubbed his forehead.
"He'll learn one way or another." Summer says dryly, sarcasm in her tone.
The moment made Azura wonder if this is what Pyrrha meant with her 'live in the moment' speech. He could only hope that they'd be able to have such moments as a full team instead of as separated groups. Or that everyone could be together and happy.
That was the future Huntsmen and Huntresses fought for, right? He could only hope.
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.(Line Break)
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Qrow sat down by the small fire, sighing and taking a drink from his flask once he was comfortable. As comfortable as he could get on the hard stone of the cliffside the camp was set up on. The hard liquid burned soothingly down his throat, complemented by the smell of the stew currently cooking over the fire. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine himself at Tai's house.
"You drink more than you should." A voice said, quiet and firm as it broke the man from his thoughts. "I haven't seen you not drink alcohol in all of our encounters."
"I haven't seen you fight since you last saw me drink, so I don't wanna hear it." He retorted dryly. "Should try it someday anyway."
"I am quite okay without that poison, but thank you for the offer." Was the response he received, not even phased by his passing counter-insult.
Qrow chuckles. "Nothing changes that demeanour, I see. If you weren't here, I'd think you never even cared."
"I could say the same about you."
"The difference is that you are not only a pacifist, but a terrible stealth fighter. Don't care what Ozpin says to the kid, stealth is not your specialty" He says, shrugging. "I am quite good at stealth and also a veteran fighter."
"We both know why we're here, why we accepted to do this in the first place." His companion says back. "And we call that being old.
"Whatever." He says, waving the words off. "Tell me what you've seen so far while you've been here. I just got here a few hours ago, and my individual sweep showed nothing beyond a forest being ripped up."
"I've evacuated everyone I could that was in the vicinity of the forest. Anyone who lived within it, though...seemingly missing, but I think dead."
"That because of anything you do?"
"No, there's nothing." His partner in this VIP watch said, stirring the stew as it finished. "No bodies, nothing. Only thing left behind to show that people lived in the forest are the small villages scattered within."
Qrow frowned at the words. "You think it's...what, absorbing the bodies? According to what we know, the Nightmare is not only able to control Grimm, but also can absorb Grimm. Think it could do the same to humans?"
He's given a bowl of stew before a response. "No, I don't. There's still traces of blood and signs of fighting back, if feebly, so my presumption is that it's using them for something."
Qrow was quiet as he looked at the person before him. The contortion of anger and familiarity found there was enough to make even the hardened man feel some compassion. The grizzled and snarky persona dropped as he grew more serious.
"You don't have to do this, you know. Could always leave it for me to do."
He wasn't serious very often, but he definitely was this time. They had encountered each other enough times to know each other decently well, having shared stories over campfire meals. It was something he typically skipped out on for several others, but there was a shared familiarity between them now. They both knew pain well, and the loneliness and bitterness it leaves people with.
As he looked into those deep green eyes, they looked different this time. There was a determination in them, a desire that he didn't quite fully understand. He smirks and chuckles, shaking his head as his normal humorous self returns.
"Alright, guess you'll be sticking around. Does the kid mean that much to you?"
He phrased the question purposely, wanting to see what kind of answer it would invoke. He very much did not expect a true answer to come from it, though. Even if he caught the lie, it'd leave him without an answer anyway.
"A Grimm this old wanting nothing but to attract only one person to kill them...just because they look exactly like another person they killed...such a vile creature cannot exist, even by my standards."
"Not even that, it was his mother. It specifically wants that family."
"Have you ever seen or heard of a Grimm wanting to kill so specifically before the Nightmare?"
"Only twice before, and I never even saw either. Once in Anima, and then on Vytal island all those decades ago."
"Hm." His partner hums. "The attack on Vytal was disastrous. A land of peace and the most important piece of history of the past century, now marred like a graveyard. Now it is also a place of mourning, a place to remember the past and to look towards the future with a new hope."
"You do love to be philosophical, don't you?"
"That's just what I feel the island represents now. The only things living there are the fallen and the nature of today and the blooming flowers of tomorrow."
"Whatever you say." Qrow says, placing a bowl near the fire that had started to dwindle since they started talking. "You know if it'll be moving tonight?"
"It'll stay right where it's been since this morning for now. It was quiet today...almost peaceful. Makes it hard to track it."
"We'll corner it sooner or later. Just hoping the old man gives the order to kill it." He replies.
"We both do. You can sleep, I'll take the first watch."
"Heh, appreciate it. Wake me after some hours, I can work on little sleep."
"I know, Qrow. Rest well."
He watched them walk towards the single tree that hung along the cliff for a moment before moving towards a place comfortable enough to sleep in. That woman would never make sense to him.
"Never change, Folina. Never change." He muttered to himself.
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.(Chapter End)
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And there she is, this mysterious Folina (insert spooky 'oooo' here). I'm not giving much of an appearance for a reason, so you'll have to hold on for that. And don't you worry, I'm not one-offing this or anything. Qrow is still very much an important figure in the story, I won't forget the dusty bird!
Have a good day/evening!