Act V - Life's Pieces
Chapter 39 - Black Skies
We now passed the majority of the village's homes now, their more sophisticated structures looking far more colorful than the ones upon our arrival to the town. But as we made our way through the town, gathering supplies we lost on the trip here, I couldn't help but overhear some speaking about 'Strange Grimm' hunting in the area, but avoiding the town completely.
"I don't like this," Do you like anything, Iota? "You joke now but when something bad happens, I'll be the one laughing..."
"But...you don't laugh..." Eric responded in confusion, as Iota sighed at Eric's incompetence
"What I mean, is that something about this seems out of place like someone was tracking us, but I can't locate them," If so then keep on high alert I guess. "Hmph, not so humorous now, is it?"
"Yeah... I guess you have a point. Summer?" She turned to me, mask on. "Iota says to watch our backs, someone might be tracking us."
"Hmm, yes, I thought as much, they may have been doing so since we docked." So she was aware too? If that's the case I'll just prep Cognitum beforehand...
"Well then, let's prepare for a fight just encase," I stated calmly while we approached a large, concrete wall, the gate shut tight ahead of us for only a moment
"Noted." Iota mumbled
Summer hummed amusingly "You all remind me alot of my old team... long ago. Well... much like any team, we never got along at the beginning, Tai liked to show off, Qrow was rather laid back, Raven was... Raven and I was a nervous wreck since I never really handled social situations well, and while I'd never say it to Qrow's face, I was... kind of a brat, hehehe." Summer sheepishly rubbed the side of her neck
"Hmph, sounds like Ruby when we met, though like you, she was too honest, both a good and a bad thing." That made Summer laugh
"I can imagine, she was always a bundle of energy, she still is to a degree from what I've seen from afar. Even so, my team was... disorganized at times, but the more we fought, the more we grew to knew each other, the closer we eventually allowed ourselves to get to one another, some of us... even closer."
"That's what kept back all the feelings of anxiety and guilt when I viewed your team, my daughter, seeing you all grow and learn with each other, the stronger you got through strife, it brought back the memories that I had forgotten, and it gave me hope again," Summer then put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. "You saved me, even if you never knew it." Summer spoke with care and warmth, to know this was touching
"Then I'll be sure you're there next time, to share in the same experiences I was fortunate enough to have."
*Rumble... Rumble...*
"Sad... it's beginning to rain, but on a bright day?" I questioned the forest around me, staring up at the dark sky, drops of clear water beginning to trickle down onto my face as I blinked. Before long, I turned my head back to the road ahead of me. "I guess we should head back and-"
Summer's hand stopped me, the two of us weren't that far from the village but alone enough for someone to have put her on alert. I followed her gaze and I was now unnerved by the appearance of a strange, cloaked figure a few feet ahead of us, clearly staring back at me specifically. At his stare, I felt a shiver run up my spine at not only the sudden rainfall but because the man had an aura of uneasiness washing over him, like a plague waiting to break out.
"It can't be..." Iota? "It's him, that Horseman." As if on cue, the cloak unfolded, revealing familiar black feathers and arm clutching a scythe, Its mask had changed, resembling a large beak now, while a smaller pair of wings hugged his lower sides, he made no motion at all, say for the slow swings of his blade
I activated Iron Regalia, making his grip tighten while Summer raised her arm, clutching onto her axes. "You just don't give up, do you?"
That made Morana growl, eyes narrowed as the rain continued to pour, a crash of thunder raged above us, all was still, as my purple eyes awaited his next move. The tension was thick and my heart started to pound away.
"Sky-"
*SCREECH!*
A sonic blast struck the ground, Morana prioritizing me with his body rotating vertically like a buzzsaw, carving silver strokes through the concrete and dirt, slamming into my arms, my left swiping back to push him back, but he spun in the air, screaming again with enough force to throw me through the tree behind me, showering me in splinters.
Summer took the vanguard, slicing in rapid succession, deflecting each swipe of the scythe, followed by a backflip to strike his beak, Morana swiped upward, whitish-red petals splitting between the blade, forming again to dropkick Morana backward. He tumbled, flying high into the air with his wings fanned out.
He effortlessly avoided Summer's arrows, flicking them away while sending another sonic blast toward her, so she turned into petals and flew up onto a branch, while Morana's gaze fell on me, widening as I tackled him from the air, slamming us both into several trees, myself hanging from one while he recovered on another.
I rolled away onto a lower branch, the scythe slamming into the branch, followed by several plunges toward me, those scythe swipes grazing the spots I previously knelt by. At this rate, he'd deforest the region. Slowing down, Morana poised his right arm back, slicing diagonally across my forearms, with my right I swiped his chest, quickly I twirled past him, slicing along his side as I landed. Stepping down onto another branch all while his sonic scream toppled another tree.
I rolled back to avoid his scythe swinging in a pincer motion. Behind him, Summer skipped to her left, sliding under one of Morana's arms that attempted to sweep her legs out. Now under the Harpy, her ax crackled with a blue tinge. I couldn't hear her, but her shoulder slammed against his back, slicing in a zigzag with arcs of lightning, followed with a powerful upheave of both axes, bringing Morana back down to earth.
Clearly agitated he screamed again, taking out the branches above him, while I flew down, Summer used her axes to corkscrew slide around a trunk, landing on another branch and reassembling her bow. I came crashing down, my right leg raised, if brute force was the only method to beat him, then I'll put him in the ground with one strike! Ice froze around my heel and shin, adding to the weight of my fall, while Morana only noticed at the last second.
"HYAH!" My ax-kick cracked the back of his head, a shockwave of ice creating a ring around us, droplets froze solid while the ground webbed. My eyes remained fixated on the spot I struck, to my horror, he dodged it, scythe flicked around to point at me
With a single stroke it lunged up, slicing straight through my left arm, leaving my aura in a critical state, despite Cognitum's power, his blade was forged to cut it too. With the momentum I still had, I curved my wings, spinning my body around rapidly and so with a powerful, bladed fist I sunk my right arm into his left, throwing Morana back and into a hail of lightning arrows, all of which reacted well with the rain, making him scream in legitimate agony.
"E-e-enou-u-u-gh!" Morana finally spoke up, sounding enthralled by mania, his eyes were like pins, while his maw was wide to the sky. "RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Myself and Summer clamped our ears, the single, screaming death that he released completely tore apart the ground, throwing rock and dirt everywhere while nearby trees were torn apart in the shockwave of constant screaming. I never felt so much rage, it was making me sick just even being near him. What the hell did Salem do to him!?
My thoughts, ears, and body were completely shut down by the bleeding scream from Morana, as a blast of pure white noise ruptured my stance, Iron Regalia sparking along with my blurry vision, I couldn't hear the rain as clearly now, it was all just a dull ring in my ears. But the echoed footsteps weren't, and my vision could easily see the silver sheen of the blade dancing towards me.
"M-my t-t-trick..."
[Spirit Seal]
"S-sonic blast... wea-a-ken you b-both..." His arm lifted the scythe high, my head barely adjusting to meet his eyes. "Die."
Down came a blade in a blinding, red glare. From deep within, Morana screamed, slash, gaged at the deep wound in his throat, cutting off that scream completely. It was the person from my fight with Mars, at first I thought it was Summer, but it was another person entirely, standing with a grasp on a black straight sword, the only thing that stood out was that below the straight, rounded guard was the red leather-bound handle, a gloved hand holding it tightly.
"Okay, just going to put a lid on that," Whoever it was, spoke calmly, even while Morana struck wildly with his scythe. He parried them all, curving his sword around and sinking it down, locking the scythe briefly to spin around his pommel, left leg striking Morana's face with a shuddering 'crack', followed by a helix spin and a swipe across Morana's beak. "Switch."
"Got it!" Someone else descended from the trees, performing the same ax-kick I once tried, only this time it struck true, Morana's face smothered into the ground, and yet he spun around, firing off a multitude of his feathers that struck the girl, while the hooded figure deflected the feathers, some landing next to me, and I could that their edges were razor-sharp
In a flash of gold, heat erupted from the girl, burning across her body fiercely despite the pouring rain, her left hand raising a large handgun made of molten flames, dripping magma - Like a sun in the palm of her hand. Pulling the trigger a beam of light sunk through Morana's shoulder, burning a hole through him and several trees, causing his grip on the scythe to falter.
With a final cry of defeat, his wings pounded against the ground, lifting him high into the air along with his scythe, it didn't take him long to vanish as quickly as he arrived, his air superiority was far greater than mine, that was clear. The girl lowered her molten gun, the power of the sun suddenly vanished, while her own pair of wings nearly took flight, if not for the hooded man holding her back.
"Not now, we need to get these two out of here - I've got Summer, you get Sky,"
"Mmm... right." The girl reluctantly folded her leathery wings, approaching me as I felt the effects of Morana's ability start to wear off
"...Heh, quite the perfect timing there, could have used you like... before that?" I humored, the girl staring back at me, bemused
She had soft, emerald eyes with blonde hair reaching down to just below her shoulders, the bangs clipped to the sides of her face as to not block her line of sight, but I could see fangs among her teeth, while the pupils of her eyes were sharp, like a predator. She had dark, leathery wings too with a scaly tail the length of her leg. A Dragon Faunus!
She sported a very similar style to a Destiny Hunter. Her style was whites, reds, and yellows for a royal scheme. She wore combat boots, along with light padding up her legs and thighs. Her belt held a few dust-tipped knives, whilst a holster sat by her side with a rifle with Ace of Hearts on either side of the barrel and magazine.
Her stomach was covered by a skin-tight fabric, with an armored chest piece, complete with a black opal in the center. Her shoulders also had round pauldrons and gauntlets, whilst the rest was simple padding again. Last, her scarf that shimmered a little was like silver dragon scales.
"We were meant to meet you along the way until we heard the screams, we never anticipated an attack from a Horseman," So she and that guy were Summer's allies? Helping me to my feet again, she dusted me off, Cognitum offline for now. "You are lucky to be alive, but I can see that Summer was not wrong to trust you."
"I... don't know if that was a compliment?" My head tilted at her wording, but she remained stoic, offering a hand to me
"Amber Char." I reciprocated the shake
"Sky Zaffre, and thank you - That was an awesome semblance why the way, can we swap?" My response had her finally dawn a small smile
"No, but thank you."
"Formalities aside, we should probably save it until we're back at the Hideout, as much as I'd love to rid us of another problem Morana could easily pick you or Summer off if your auras are low." The hooded man informed us, Summer's arm around his shoulder for support
"I'm fine, I can - ngh, walk... okay I'm not okay." Summer gave up on trying to be tough, while I finally saw who was under the hood. His hair was like mine, a warm black with white locks, the only difference was the tattoo down his left eye, purple and styled like an arrow, that, and his eyes were a hazel-red tone. "But he's right, for now, let me quickly introduce you, Sky, to my two closest allies."
"Amber." The Faunus bowed her head. "And, Albatross." He sheepishly grinned
"Still... not my name... but she did say it was better to keep it confidential - Still, nice to finally meet you, Sky," He offered me a quick, easygoing smile with his eyes shut. "Pleasure to be workin' with you!"
To Be Continued...
Like promised, another crazy chapter with both tension and happy moments, and the introduction of a very persistent foe, Morana, Horseman of Death and Summer's two allies! Amber and Albatross. But where will Sky end up next? Well, seeya in the next chapter, and I hope you enjoyed!
Next Chapter: Who You Are
Arriving at their destination, Sky, Iota, Eric, and Penny are introduced to their new allies and home for a lengthy period of time, where Sky must learn a hard truth discovered by Mars, and of the weight now resting on his shoulders.