Diluation:Back from finals with this chapter, Merry Christmas all! We hope this gets to you before it is time for bed, wherever you may be, and that you Santa got you the gift you wanted.
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Today was another day of Port's class. The students were awake, and watching with a little attention for a change, watching as the Port started the class. Some of them chuckled at the irony before them, while others simply didn't even bother to reminiscence about the past
Before-hand, sleeping in this class used to be a blessing to all. Beacon was, and still is one of the most prestigious academies. It also made it only available to those with a true passion in their hearts to protect humanity.
Now, they were worried Vex clouds were going to pop out of nowhere.
Despite this, most of the students were still worried about what they were going to be doing in the future. And Port noticed this, even as he mindlessly droned through a repeat of a past introduction he hadn't done in a while. Normally, a man such as himself would not dare to keep things stale. But he knew students tended to struggle in class. And now more than ever, he'd need to teach them better.
So he brought a little extra help.
"And so may I finally introduce, Fireteam Trinity!"
Three guardians then walked into the classroom, the students quickly getting hyped up for someone other than Port to come in and lecture them. The three guardians took it in stride, as they waved everyone down.
Once they all settled down, the leader, a titan, took the introduction. "It is truly a blessing from the Traveler to be here with you today and share with you our knowledge, future huntsmen and huntresses of Remnant."
"And while we cannot guarantee that you will be able to comprehend the intricacies of Hive arcana or the Vex algorithms-" The warlock started, but was cut off by the hunter.
"AKA, space zombies and those robots you fought earlier." The hunter said, ignoring the glare from the warlock for having gone off script. "We feel as if though we oughta explain ourselves first. Background and stuff like that, y'know? And, after we teach you some of our tricks, we'll leave you all some guardian-grade gear to play around with, considering the holidays."
The hunter motioned to the titan, as the students became excited at the prospect of guardian-grade equipment. "'O fearless leader?"
The titan sighed at the hunter's antics, while the warlock struggled to keep herself from going on a tirade against the hunter. He cleared his throat "We battled from planet to planet. To fend for the light, and stomp out the darkness. And we did this not out of self preservation." The titan lightly stomped the floor, as he hit his chest with his fist. "We did this for justice! For glory! For-"
"Loot?" One student asked, causing the titan to stop. A silence fell, everyone looking for the speaker as the titan and warlock scrambled for a comeback.
"I mean," The hunter spoke up before anyone could do anything. "He's not wrong. Plus all that fighting helps hone my dance moves!"
And thus began the students' series of questions regarding the loot they've found, the team quickly trying to deflect the questions and backtrack to their background.
They didn't want them finding out that most of their loot is stuff you could find in a cave within some random chest. Or in the holiday events. Or in public events that are incredibly easy to do if you have the gear and knowledge.
...They all collectively agreed that guardians need a pay-raise of loot.
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"I can't believe it's almost CHRISTMAS TIME!" Ruby shouted to the world, leaping up into the air in the middle of school grounds out of Christmas cheer, getting a few odd looks from students who didn't quite get why she needed to shout that to everyone around her. "Oooooh, I wonder what dad is going to send us this time?! Ooh! Maybe some weapon mods! Or-" She then began to prattle off about the potential possibilities of their gifts.
"I wonder if they even celebrate Christmas?" Blake idly pondered as she looked through some of the copied texts talking about what life before the collapse was like. It was fairly interesting to her how far they had come, especially since the black humans had the same problem as them in the past."It seems all they do now is shoot aliens."
She also had to wonder if this 'Elon Musk' had anything to do with the faunas as a whole, as the golden age book before her talked about him making cat girls. Which Blake knows people like her are sometimes called. Maybe the faunas did come from humans?
"Well, Summer DID do that Dawning thing a while back, even though it wasn't the official time for it." Yang offered as she read the book over Blake's shoulder. "Maybe their version of Christmas is them getting a visit from some big ol' titan named Saint... something, probably some exo number."
Her team looked at her, causing Yang to shrug. "Never been much for making up names."
"They did celebrate all the old holidays once a long time ago." RWBY looked behind them to see a rather old woman with yellow garbs and grey hair. With if not a very cheery smile. "Many still do."
"The team just looked at her, unsure of how to react to her sudden appearance.
"Goodness me. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Eva Levante. I'm the one who plans celebrations in the Last City." The old woman replied
"I'm sorry, I've never heard of you?" Yang asked as she looked the woman over. "Why haven't the guardians been talking about you lately if you plan them all?"
The woman paused for a moment, before chuckling. "Ah yes, it seems your mother had forgotten to mention of me when they met you. Little rascals her and them other guardians, always out there fighting the next battle." Eva cleared her throat. "I decided to come to Remnant as to help set it up for Beacon… and the world as well due to the Vex attack that happened a while ago. Guardians are still at large focused on grimm and Vex stragglers." Eva stated, rubbing her temples in exhaustion as she kept her practiced smile up.
"But didn't that already happen?" Weiss pointed out. "Summer did the event for us some time ago. I thought it was done over on Earth?"
"As the news report said back then, it was ahead of schedule. Summer actually did it two months before it was time to." She smiled at the thought Summer had for her. "She's nice, doing that for little ol' me. But she needs to be more aware of the time nowadays."
"Oh then ah…." Weiss stopped she noticed that it was starting to snow. "What in the…"
"Oh my. It's snowing already!" Eva said, as she looked up at the sky in wonder. "It seems as if the Traveler wants to pitch in here."
"Did those snowballs just rise out of the snow?" Blake asked, as she started to see small mounds of snow puff up into snowballs and rise into the air from the snow on the ground, like balls of ice. "Wait, there are giant snowballs the size of spheres coming out of the snow."
"Well ladies, allow me to introduce to you," Eva was about to continue, until a titan swept in and grabbed a couple snowballs, rushing past the huntresses and vendor.
"THAT WEAPON'S MINE!" The titan shouted down a corner, before throwing the two snowballs.
"...The Dawning." Eva sighed with a sigh, as the titan went back, preparing to talk to her. Instead of talking with the titan, though, Eva decided that now wasn't the best time to talk to them, as if what had just happened was a signal to her.
The team stood there, confused at what just happened.
Then, out of nowhere, dozens upon dozens of Guardians who got their day off came rushing through like a swarm, shoving the girls out of the way. Many of them conversed among themselves about where she was, what kind of loot she was selling, and what kind of bounties or challenges she'd have for them, all the while even more came in, the tide of guardians seemingly never-ending as they all chatted about something that was intelligible to everyone but Blake.
"...Well that was extremely rude." Blake said with no hesitation or lack of annoyance as she dusted herself off, looking straight at the groups of guardians with a glare before getting back to her book.
"Everyone, please follow me!" Eva shouted to them, as she went off to a plaza in town.
"What do you think she has in mind?" Ruby asked her friends, .
"Who knows. I overheard some of the Guardians as they sped by. Some of them saying they wanted an exotic weapon of sorts." Blake replied as she re-opened her book, and as a result, immediately heard movement while she was trying to read again.
"Well, not like we have any choice in the matter now." Yang pointed to where Ruby was, or rather the lack of her, as she left a petal trail in her wake as she lead the charge, managing to stay ahead of several titans equipped with Twilight Garrison, who were practically moving at the speed of cars.
"It'd be interesting anyhow." Weiss said with a smile, as she looked on. "We still need to learn about how guardians manage to put such unique effects into their weapons."
The group chuckled at the sight of their leader, someone who at a glance looks like a little girl, staying ahead of such a group, as they joined the horde of warlocks and hunters who were not far behind, everyone making their way to the exact same person.
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At Eva Levante's stand she waited for everyone to gather around. Huntsman, Huntress's, Guardians, hopefuls in training. She smiled as everyone gathered together.
"Greetings from the Tower. My name is Eva Levante. And I will be helping host this wonderful event throughout the winter months." She said with a smile. "We on Earth celebrate different Winter holidays be it from differing Religions or traditions. Simply put we call this the "Season of Dawning", An amalgamation of many winter holidays where we give gifts, and celebrate while the winter months are harsh. We have spring, and new life to look forward to. And to celebrate this momentous occasion. I've asked an armorer from Lord Shaxx's many old students to forge something unique for this Dawning season. An exotic worthy to be the very weapon to be here today to keep the flames strong!"
Eva then turned to her left and a Titan with bulky armor with a helmet that looked like it was frowning that had a red Visor, a rather large knife on his right shoulder guard, and multiple Magazine pouches on the chest armor. He pushed up several crates he then got a small crowbar and stabbed the crate where there was a slight gap and opened it.
However, unknown to the excited guardians and people of Remnant, silent whispers of contempt from several Guardians over their personal comms. Mostly for the artisan that stood beside Eva. The Guardian pulled out a light machine gun that looked incomplete. Which then caused some confusion and excitement. He then held it up, as Eva spoke.
"This is the 'Weapon of Dawning' reward. An exotic quest fit for the season!" Eva said. "This will be given out to those whom complete several tasks before it is given. Made with Remnants own great Steels and Iron. Forged by Lord Shaxx's greatest student."
"IT'S INCOMPLETE! Why should we trust the craftsmanship of a neophyte!?" shouted a Warlock, who was none too pleased at the lack of an actual weapon to work with.
"Do you even know what a quest is, you nitwit kinderguardian?!" shouted another warlock in defense, moreover caring for the collection of the weapon itself rather than its functionality. "SIT DOWN AND LISTEN!"
And, just like that, the guardians broke out into complete and utter chaos as two sides quickly formed over such a detail. Within the next moment, guardians everywhere were insulting or belittling each other rather loudly, and after that, it became an unsolicited, highly illegal guardian firefight. Titans fought each other or beat the hunters and warlocks to a pulp, the warlocks slapping each other or trying to bring everyone back to reason, while the hunters kept going for low blows or shotgunning each other as they sporadically jumped around like apes. Huntsmen and huntresses tried to assist the few that were trying to keep the fighting down, as well as bringing citizens and children alike to safety.
All the while, RWBY just stood there in complete utter shock at how quickly things had turned for the guardians. What had once been naught but a professional group of guardians awaiting a debriefing of the quest, now became a bunch of immortal children with guns, fighting over a gun that they may or may not have wanted in the first place.
But to Eva, this was just another Tuesday, as she looked upon the crowd of mad guardians who continued their chaotic in-fighting, some dancing on another's corpse in glee. She had hoped that they would show some more maturity in the face of a new world with a new civilization seeing them as heroes, but it seems as if though things never change.
And the sad part was, this wasn't even war she was seeing here.
So, with but a quick text to all the huntsmen and huntresses to cover everyone's ears, and a snap of her fingers, two large boom speakers came out of the ground and blasted, at full volume, the sounds of pots and pans being banged together, instantly snapping the guardians out of it as they all instinctively covered their ears.
Eva Levante looked upon the crowd of once more peaceful guardians, before clearing her throat. "If you are still listening, you will not only discover more as to why we celebrate the winter holidays, but you will grow as a 'defender of humanity' through the weapon." She emphasized that with a tone that of which was a disappointed mother, causing all guardians involved to flinch in shame. "The weapon plans were found in a weapons factory that hasn't been touched by Fallen or Hive. One of the few remaining provinces that haven't been touched by the forces of Darkness. As you complete this weapon, you will hear an ancient hymn. Sung by its native people in languages once thought to be dead. As you listen to it, Take it to heart. For we were all like the natives of the land I have found these plans from, the place of which you'll learn as you go. Complete this weapon. And you will find no better ally."
"Now then, who wishes to be the first to want to complete this quest?" Eva asked among the crowd.
The guardians seemed to quickly lose interest after all of that, some muttering in disappointment and blindly flung anger over having to do another grind for a weapon that they may not even want, while the huntsmen and huntresses stayed interested, but conversed over whether or not they had the time for it. Ruby looked at her teammates to see if they would like to join her on this weapon's quest. Yang gave a thumbs up while Blake shrugged. Weiss didn't show any sign of such, and once her eyes were on her, she raised her peace.
"As long as we have time to do so, or the school will allow us as much time as we need to get the weapon, I'm fine with it."
Yang groaned at the thought, seemingly put down by the ice princess's attitude as Ruby scratched the back of her head. "Right, thanks for the reminder Weiss."
With bated breath, she raised her hand. Eva looked over the sea of people and smiled.
"Just like her mother… always wanting the gun before anyone else." Eva muttered to herself with a smile, before motioning her to come up.
Ruby looked around with her peripheral vision and saw a lot of surprised faces. And a lot of raised eyebrows, with the ones in question having some suspicion. The Titan took the weapon from the stand it was on and walked down the steps from Eva's stand, passing it to Ruby. It looked like a rustic piece of equipment. Ruby walked forward a little more and placed her hands one the forward and pistol grip of the weapon taking it from the Titan.
"May you succeed in completing the weapon. The steps to do so will go to your scroll." The titan said.
Ruby held it up and smiled as she felt like the weapon brought peace of mind. She then turned around to walk away. But she looked at the Titan and smiled at him.
"Thank you. And Merry Christmas." Ruby stated.
"And Merry Christmas to you to little one." The titan replied as he then returned to Eva's side.
"Now then, LET THE DAWNING BEGIN!" Eva shouted, as the guardians came upon her for bounties, and with gifts in hand for her being the one to prepare and host this event like always.
Ruby returned to her friends who looked at the weapon skeptically.
"You sure you wanna do it Rubes?" Yang asked.
"Of course I want all of us to do it!" Ruby smiled.
Three scrolls then went off, causing all of her teammates to check their phones.
Weiss sighs in annoyance. "Sorry Ruby, change of plans. Dad's been at it again."
"And I forgot I promised Sun that I would help with planning something today, sorry." Blake replied and they both left.
"Sorry Rubes. I gotta go to Shaxx. One if moms upgrades decided not work and this is the only time he's available." Yang said as she left to the new armory built into the school.
"Oh….." Ruby let out with a sigh, feeling lonely as her teammates currently had other stuff planned for the day. It was then that Summer had transmatted out of her ship, eager to catch the exotic weapon that Eva was offering.
She frowned, having only found her daughter being all alone and with an incomplete machine gun. The sight was quite horrifying. She'd never want her daughter to hold a broken gun.
So she asked even though she knew the problem, deciding to help her get rid of such a saddening sight of a weapon by whatever means necessary. "Why so glum, Ruby?"
She jumped, having not spotted Summer transmatting out of her ship. "Oh everyone's so busy with their own things. I wanted to do this weapon quest with them that Eva gave me, but everyone had things they needed to go to..." Ruby shuffled a little nervously, her eyes anywhere but Summer at that very moment.
...Well, ok, not the problem I expected there to be.
Summer looked at the weapon for a while, now having realized that this is what Eva put out for the Dawning. Seeing as it would be unfair to Ruby to get the quest done without help, or tools like hers, she smiled and looked at her. It was a fair exchange, after all, and it'd also count as her getting the gun too since the completed weapon could be reversed for the schematic.
Plus, family bonding! This could help deal with those nightmares Ruby had definitely been having, so it was practically a triple down since she'd get to keep her record!
Deciding to be casual in her approach as to not scare Ruby out of not letting her help, she asked. "Would you like me to help with that?"
Her eyes lit up in hope as they flicked over to Summer. She stared at her for a moment in doubt, as if she was expecting her to suddenly take back her word. And while she didn't outright show it, Summer was nervous as well, hoping that what happened wouldn't cause the two to be unable to work together. That maybe helping her make the weapon was bringing the memories back of Crescent Rose going through her too much.
Eventually, she ended up giving her a big ol' bear hug, launching herself at her in a flurry of red petals. Though since Ruby was bigger than her, the two ended up tumbling onto the ground, Summer's smaller frame not having been prepared for the surprise hug.
"Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes!"
"H-hey! Easy, easy Ruby!" Summer said with a chuckle as she forced her and Ruby up. Ruby realized this, and attempted to pull back and apologize, but Summer returned the hug before she could. With a smile, the mother and daughter hugged each other, savoring their embrace for a moment.
That was, until Summer spotted the vast amount of blood, ash, bullet casings, scorch marks and dead bodies behind Ruby.
Summer had to pause completely at the sight for a moment, before almost shouting. "Was Xur selling Gjallarhorn here or something?! What happened here, Ruby?"
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Eva Levante sighed in exasperation after several hours of setting up guardians with quests and bounties. Her legs ached for having to stand up straight for so long, her fingers cramping from having to constantly use her datapad just to give guardians their bounties, and a couple burns from guardians improperly using the ovens.
But on the plus side… she has an absolute overflow of treats from helping guardians learn how to cook certain treats for others. Things like the Gjallardoodles, Strange Cookies, and… Dark Chocolate Motes?
Sometimes, she had to wonder why people make dark chocolate in the form of motes of light. She never understood why so many guardians love chocolate so much, frankly it was overrated to her.
"You holding up well Eva?" Frederick asked
He had just given the second Quest weapon away to a different Guardian. But only the second model of the first quest step.
"Oh, I'm doing fine old friend." She sighed as she took a seat at a table, munching on some of the delicacies. "Just a long day's work is all."
"Don't push yourself too hard." Fred replied as he noticed four individuals coming. With a warm smile he greeted them. "Hello there."
Coco looked at him up and down, and with a slight tilt of her sunglasses.
"So; what's this stuff the guardians got all crazy about over here?" The leader of Team CFVY asked
"Coco be a little nicer! They're guardians!" Velvet let out with a little whine, before clearing her throat. "We're team CFVY sir."
Yastuashi and Fox stood behind the girls just simply being quiet and minding their own business.
Eva gasped at the sight of Coco's attire. "My word!" She then stood up and walked over to her, scanning her all over. "You have such great taste in fashion. Truly give off a powerful, rich feeling with those clothes!"
"She's just wearing a brown sweater with black skinny jeans and a Hand bag with 7.62 Nato Belt links for an actual belt. Not to mention that hat is just an old military cover." Frederick stated as if the whole thing was no big deal.
"Just black jeans and a brown sweater?" Eva looked to Frederick with wide eyes. "Oh my dear friend, you simply do not understand! Look at how the colors compliment each other, the long, cocoa-colored shirt with the cincher! The black jeans certainly give off a sense of power, energy and mystery combined with the brown. And the way she just brazenly carries her ammo around in such a fashionable manner!"
"Never saw why women where into fashion. waste of money if you ask me. She just looks like one of those pictures my granddaughter made when she was 3." The titan replied.
"Heh," Coco said with a smirk, as she looked at Frederick. "Clearly you don't army boy."
The holiday planner and Remnant fashionista then went away from the fashion-insensitive titan to chat about each other's clothing, shaders, and other combinations that they could potentially add, both sides interested to know of the other's culture and arts styles. Velvet looked at them with a little concern on her face, as they walked away.
"Oh good grief this is gonna take forever." Frederick sighs
Barloc then came in, about to ask Eva something, before realising she's gone. "Hm? Where's the holiday planner?"
"Busy Barloc. And it's probably going to be a while." Frederick replied
"Ah," Barloc said in realization, before deciding to sit down at the table. "Well, it's a holiday. Which means no work for me, and Cayde had already ditched me to go kill of hordes of grimm with the other guardians…" He then pulled out a chess game called 'Game Of Remnant' before smiling. The game itself was not a up-to-date one, having being a previous edition where the guardians weren't suddenly included in the mix.
"Any of you interested in a game? Though I doubt you'll compare to my wits."
"Why the hell not?" Frederick said with a shrug, as he took a seat, getting ready to play.
Barloc looked at Frederick with a raised eyebrow, before shrugging. "Ehhh, you'd just be a time killer. Why not?" Barloc witlessly gauged Frederick's capabilities over, seeing as he was just a titan. "Velvet, yes? Serve as the ref, ensure all the moves we make are perfectly legal via reading the instruction manual."
That estimation of Frederick would quickly prove to be his biggest mistake in the first game against him, while Fox and Yastuashi decided to see how the two guardians would handle the game itself, since it only exists on Remnant.
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After a brief, awkward explanation of what exactly seemed to have taken place, Summer came to the conclusion that veteran guardians are very weird. She was usually a little late to all the events, but she had never seen such a mess happen out of the blue.
Then again, this is probably why the Vanguard was formed. To stop guardians from causing these sort of messes and accidental public endangerment.
"Well that was an odd event anyways what's the first step Ruby?" Summer asked, eager to get the show on the road.
Ruby then looked at her scroll and was about to read aloud but Drei spoke up, uncloaking before the two.
"How about I read them aloud?" Drei stated. "I've already downloaded it after all. And I've already fully translated the harder to understand bits."
"Oh well I guess that takes care of one problem. Go ahead." Ruby replied
"Hum...that's odd there's that Language thing that Frederick mentioned. Here I'll l play it. It's apparently from something I can't remember the name of." Drei said
"Wait you know who that titan is, Drei?"
"His craftsmanship often involves dead languages as his motif when he makes exotics. Summer here has them all." Drei replied, not being subtle with that last fact.
"Totally earned them all legitimately." Summer added on oh-so innocently.
"Summer, you brought a cup of Nova Bolts from that vending machine you made to the guy that wasn't giving you Icebreaker back then, threatening to blow both him and the weapon up."
"I still earned it legitimately!"
He rolled his eye, before then playing the audio file.
"ya 'ayuha tati 'iimanuil , wa'iisrayiyl al'asirat alfidiyat , alty taneaa fi almanfaa wahidaan huna hataa yuzhir abn allah , nafrah 'iimanuil , yjb 'an yati 'iilayk ya 'iisrayiyl."
"That sounded weird yet… still very warm." Ruby stated noting the odd language
"It says "Hope in a hundred years Winter", Kill 100 Beowolves from the Emerald forests." Drei began. "There's a bit of flavor text Here. It says that this is an pre-golden age IWI Negev V1 SF model."
"IWI? What's that?"
"It's a shorter way of saying 'Israeli Weapons Industries'. Frederick must have been back to his old hunting grounds if he managed to get this old piece of tech." Drei said aloud, before turning to Summer. "Remember when he gave you the quest to make a Micro Tavor to get you to leave his shop?"
Drei was all too smug to see Summer's face blush so red that she quickly put on her helmet for a change.
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Barloc was surprised at the sudden display of intellect from Frederick. He didn't expect what he first thought to be a simple meathead being completely able to play a game of both dice and chess against him.
Moreover prove a viable challenge, as he then learned too late that Frederick wasn't simply an adrenaline junkie titan, that ate literal concrete for the sole purpose of trying to become stronger. He always found it odd how some titans would try that. Then again, it falls in line with typical titan behavior.
"You're not as dumb as you look." Barloc couldn't help but say, as his kingdom was swiftly reduced to naught but ashes by Frederick's plays and little luck, making the score 0-1. "Normally your kind is all muscle but little brain."
"Not every titan is a crayon eating meathead, master of chess… or so you claim~." Frederick replied back playfully.
In the background, a warlock was chewing out a local cryptarch for giving him a blue armband. The armband in question was about 15 grades lower than his already high-end gear, as he preached about how he risks life and limb to protect humanity, which included him.
"Hmph. A simple mis-underestimation." Barloc replied back, before resetting the board. "Same rules, same time counter of 30 seconds. You do well to play as seriously as I do this time, because I'm not just going to be played like a fool again. This time I shall start actually doing the math and starting trying to sense patterns here."
Frederick shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't mind losing. warlock. It just helps me study you better."
"On the contrary, you will not be able to understand my in-person battle tactics. Chess and battle are completely different scenarios, as one is about strategy, while the other is the same, but with physical factors present."
"Still. Even if I only come close to beating you. You wouldn't understand how I come so close by simple observations of the board."
Barloc chuckled at the childish thought of him not being able to figure out how he got close. "All things are simply but numbers and data… now-" Barloc then rolls for initiative, now taking the battle of strategic minds seriously as he rolls the dice in an extremely calculated way to practically guarantee him the first move.
Then, the warlock in the background tackled the cryptarch, beating him with a rare engram. Barloc looked over quickly, only to pause at the robes and familiar blue skin.
"...Should we really stop this to help Master Rahool?"
Frederick paused as well to look at what Barloc was looking at. "...Nah, that guy's not worth the trouble for someone like him."
A titan teammate whispered something to a friend of his, which got said warlock to throw a fusion grenade at his face. The titan cursed before getting blown up.
"Fair point. A million gifts would never be enough for him to give an exotic anyhow. Master Ives, though..." Barloc fondly remembered the reef cryptarch's generosity, and the small collection of exotics he got from him.
It was then Lux came in, seeing the scenario before her. Seeing that Eva wasn't around, she took a seat. "Mind if I join in?"
The titan and warlock allowed Lux to join in without a second thought, seeing as the game was early enough for more to join and make a 4-player game.
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In the wilds of the Emerald forests, a peaceful Beowolf sniffed the air, thinking it smelled a human. Shrugging it off it continues to try finding prey to rip and tear to shreds, as it begins to stalk away. Only to make the most basic mistake of low-level grimm. Not looking up. Then a round pierced its Bone like skull. Dropping it like it was nothing.
"And that should be the last kill." Drei said, updating the objectives list as he sorted into the next thing to do to complete the gun. "Parts are coming into my data storage right now since we've linked her quest with us. I'll transmat it onto the weapon since it comes with the manual, and is also able to be straight up attached onto it."
"Nice shot Ruby!" Summer cheered with a thumbs up, looking at Ruby with a smile on her face.
"Ok, weapon's done upgrading... with a different model?" Drei slowly let out the last part in surprise, as he detected something emanating from the weapon.
The weapon glowed in Ruby's hands changing to a different shade of black and steel. And it felt a bit heavier. Drei scanned it and is just put off by it.
"Its now a IWI NG 7 V2. There's two Audio files playing them now."
"Ó, cóng sādàn de bàozhèng zhōng jiětuō chūlái de jié xī gǎn, cóng nín de bǎixìng suǒ zhěngjiù dì dìyù shēn chù lái, shǐ tāmen zài fénmù shàng huòshèng. Huānxǐ, huānxǐ, yǐ mǎ nèi lì, yǐsèliè rén yīng lái zhǎo nǐ."
"It's strange…. it's like this hymn was purposely placed here. Playing the other file now."
"Did you know there was once a holiday called Christmas back in the golden age? My village celebrated it with a passion. I will never forget the joy I had as a child in that life... they may have taken everything from me. My family, my friends, all I hold dearest to me. But even then, we still had hope. Hope that this eternal winter would end on our world."
Summer and Ruby recognized the voice.
"That's definitely Frederick. I never knew him to be so open about his past though..." Summer said aloud.
Ruby nodded. "And Christmas came from Earth as well? I thought we just invented it, since here the grimm are kinda tied into it."
"The Quest step is updating now. It's called… that's rather dark, it's called 'the other side'". It says that only Ruby can tell her biggest secret. And regrets. Alone. Then to kill 50 Alphas anywhere on the planet. I guess it's Fred's way of letting people know that it's ok to tell someone something that seems like it's important or something." Drei replied.
Summer, of course, already knew of Ruby's biggest regret. But admittedly for her, she wanted to know the former a lot more, as she doesn't really know of her daughter much, other that she knows she's most definitely her's. With the exception of the height difference, one could practically say it was like a mirror had appeared in her day to day life. A mirror of herself.
Except it wasn't.
But that never got in the way of caring for her newfound family. And hey, maybe one day she could get Yang to like her a little more!
She hummed in thought as she looked to Drei. "That apply to both the deepest regret and secrets?"
"Ummm…" Ruby fidgeted a bit. "I-I don't think you should listen in on the latter. No, actually both, don't listen to-"
Summer held a hand up. "Sweetie, I already know you deeply regret having killed me back there. I may be a guardian, but that doesn't mean we don't see non-guardians go through similar things."
Ruby blinked owlishly. "You mean you saw someone else get stabbed by their own daughter?"
Summer rubbed the back of her head at the miscommunication. "I mean, I've seen people suffer loss. It's- pretty much a no-brainer that you've probably got that on your mind, especially since I've been gone for so long..." She mentally cursed herself. Dang it… that came out so awkward...
Ruby sighs in a saddened manner. But she nods. She looks at the weapon. But she then heard whispers... whispers where of comfort rather than persecution. With a renewed heart she looks dead in Summer's eyes.
Summer smiled back. "I know a hundred times saying it may never make it go away… but I just want you to know, there was no hard feelings about it. I didn't expect it. You didn't expect me to be fighting Qrow, or knew it was me. And everything is still ok."
And while on the inside of Summer's mind, she desperately wished she had practiced this before-hand. She found it amazing how, after all this time, she never properly confronted the issue.
She nodded at that, as she readied herself for the next part. "I'm ready for this next step alone." Ruby stated, ready to tackle the next challenge head-on.
Summer nodded, and looked to Drei. "So again, this for both parts, or just the regrets bit?"
"Just the regrets and secrets, of which she still has to do. Killing Alphas are what you both can do together. But this part she needs to do alone." Drei replied.
Summer nods as she looks back to Ruby.
"I'm only a call away. I'll still be close, but far enough for you to have sufficient space." Summer said.
Ruby just smiles and nods.
"Thanks mom." Ruby replied
Summer smiles and nods before leaving to her ship just above the forests. Ruby sighs as she looks at the weapon.
"Ok…..how do I do this?" Ruby thought to herself, as she sat down, holding the weapon.
But then the weapon glowed; and light engulfed her.
00000
Ruby opened her eyes and found herself in a white open space. She heard gunshots shots behind her and when she turned around. She saw it again. That blasted night replaying in front of her. She reacted. She ran to stop herself from delivering the killing blow. But instead she only made the blade of Crescent Rose slice Summer in half rather than impale her.
Ruby looked at her hands in horror. Blood stained them again. This always happens. Again and again and again. Looking up she saw Summer's dead eyes look at her. Her mouth moved ever so slowly. But she could always tell what they said.
"Why?"
That question always made her think. Why did she attack her own mother? She then heard Summer's voice.
"Ruby?"
She turned around, not expecting Summer to suddenly be behind her. "Mom?"
Summer just looked at her with dead eyes like that from the previous corpse. She held up a knife from nowhere and handed to Ruby with a twisted smile.
"Its ok Ruby… you can kill as many times as you like." She then started to lead Ruby's hand to her, the knife still in her grasp
"No!" She tried to let go of the knife, but it was like her hand was glued to it, and when she tried to pull, Summer just proved to be too strong, as she calmly kept leading it to her chest, all she kept crying for it to stop. "I don't want to do it again! STOP!"
She closed her eyes again. Keeping them shut. But for the moment. When she opened them up. She was on a sandy beach. The sounds of birds sung in her ears and the crashing waves in front of her seemed...peaceful. like this was supposed to be. She just felt heavy just having to relive those nightmares again. She then heard a growl.
Turning around she saw a lion with a rather beautiful mane looking at her ever so closely. She, as if on instinct, bowed before it. As if its presence was meant to be respected like a True king of the woods. The Lion looked like it was smiling… well, as well as a lion could.
"Ruby. Why do you doubt that your mother hasn't forgiven you for your actions that night?" The lion spoke.
Ruby was surprised by the talking animal. But she felt its presence rather being warmly.
"It's just ...it's just hard…..why would she forgive me?"
The Lions smile grew ever bigger.
"Because she's your mother. And a mother always loves her cubs. No matter the fault in there stars. Walk with me." The Lion said.
Ruby got up and walked beside the Lion.
"Ruby. There is a deeper light more powerful and more potent to the creatures of Darkness that only a few of your kind know exist. Do you know what it is?" The Lion asked.
"My silver eyes?" Ruby replied.
The lion seems to be amused at that. "No, young one. It is love. Take for example of the Dawning. It's meant to spread love in the foggy mist of darkest times. It is love that binds everyone together. And it's because of love, that your mother has forgiven you of your fault. It is not easily broken by a simple act or a word."
"But…" Ruby started but she choked on her words.
"You doubt your value?" The lion asked, though its intentions were not meant to belittle her..
"Its just… I still can't believe she forgave me so quickly." Ruby replied.
"Remember Ruby. It takes more then the weight of Atlas's sore shoulders to make you unloved. For you we're blessed with a mother who can and will forgive others. While others only hide in there self made chains of bitterness and demons." The Lion replied. "Never forget who you are."
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"Ruby? Ruby!" Summer's voice called out, as she shook her.
Ruby woke up from her mother's shaking.
"Ruby!? Oh thank the Traveler I thought you were gone!" Summer sighed with relief.
"How long was I out?" Ruby asked rubbing her eyes.
"Nearly an hour." Summer stated, and a small silence fell before them, before she narrowed her eyes in worry. "Now, what exactly happened? Did anything get inside your head? Are you-" Summer began to put out a stream of questions one would expect from a concerned mother.
Ruby could only smile.
"I'm fine… and mom?"
"Yes Ruby?"
"Thank you...and...I'm happy you forgave me."
Summer smiled as well.
00000
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ! #$ING HAVE A FLOCK OF NEVERMORES, YOU & $%^MN C^%#?!" Lux practically screeched out in a rage, after having been demolished by it again for the 3rd time in a row.
"This is an outrage!" Barloc accused Frederick, who had simply kicked back and relaxed. "You must be cheating to keep getting such a consistent result on her!"
"Actually I've been keeping track. He's done this fair and square." Velvet said in a calm and very polite way as to not agitate the two warlocks
"Oh don't mind me. I love the praising insults. Mind telling me how I'm a titan who eats Crayons again? Einsteins?" Frederick replied with a playful smug look under his helmet, he's never really had a poker face when having fun destroying arrogant Warlocks.
Barloc merely grit his teeth and brought his focus back to the game, while Lux streamed a series of censored curse words at Frederick. Velvet only sighs with a poker smile of embarrassment having to ref the group of Guardians. Of which two were acting like children.
The game which was first 1-0, was now 6-6-4, with the last number being Lux ever since she joined in. At first the games were going heavily in the warlocks favors, but it then took a sharp turn for Frederick, who was managing to get even more wins, with Lux time and time again getting swept away by nevermores. Since the score limit was 7, the game came down to the wire. Frederick's armies weren't in good shape, and neither was Barloc's, his army having taken a decent hit as well. It was all coming down to pure strategy and crucial thinking at this point.
Tensions ran high. The heat so intense that it was even hotter than Yang's hair when she was angry. Heat so powerful one could swear something was turning to toast somewhere in the area.
And the tension was stabbed at, as Summer and Ruby came in expecting to see Eva Levante. They certainly didn't expect Barloc, Lux, and Frederick to all be in an intense chess game.
"What are you guys-"
"QUIET KINDERGUARDIANS!" Barloc curtly shouted at the two, as he focused on his cards and pieces. After a very long moment of deciding his move, he moves his Ace Ops armed with ships into a part of Vacuo, Frederick's Kingdom, hoping to end the game by catching him in a checkmate. He lays down a card, Geist, one of the strongest event cards in the game. "Check," He rolls. "And a 20."
"Good move, very good move." Frederick replied
He looked at his hand several sand illusion event cards that could help cover his base and assets, and hit Barloc with a surprise attack by also playing his base's trap card. Anti Aircraft turrets as well as his several unused power bonus Mortar men Cards for his Infantry units. He smiled, but seeing that Barloc and Lux had their ass's handed to him on a silver platter he decided to ultimately play a different role.
"Alright I play my Infantry power bonus Mortar men and.." Frederick purposefully rolled the dice to get a low number. "And a 10, you lost only two capital ships while your Carrier flies over my forces and decimates my base… good game warlock."
Still over his head with relief and mental exhaustion, he sighed victoriously before looking at Lux with a smile. "And you call yourself a warlock."
Lux glared at him. "#$%^& he totally gave you that!"
"What's that? All I hear is inferior intellect." He then turned to Frederick. "Good game. I did not anticipate such skill, but you were no match for my expert rolling of dice and intellect. A close one for certain." He then got up to talk to Summer and Ruby.
"So, what's this new exotic quest Eva made everyone freak out about?" He asked Ruby in particular. "I had dozens of calls coming through as I played this game with Frederick, and needed to call in a clean up crew as well as reprimand dozens of guardians for starting a firefight in a public space." He then crossed his arms, his irritation coming in full. "And that's not even counting having to talk with elected officials because of vast immaturity."
"Yeah they got mad because Frederick didn't complete the weapon. But we did!" Ruby replied.
"Intriguing… Drei, mind sending me the details?" Barloc asked Drei, curious as to the specifications.
"The last step requires Fred to Infuse his light into the completed frame." Drei said as he came out and placed the weapon on the table, while also sending the details to Barloc, who got it on his scroll.
"Ah I see. So how was it you two?" Frederick replied picking up the weapon and smiled.
Barloc squinted his eyes at a particular step for a moment, as if confused.
"Something wrong Barloc?" Frederick asked the warlock, as he walked over to him curious as to what Barloc got upset about.
"What kind of fairy tale garbage is this?" He pointed at the step that said 'reveal your deepest secrets and regrets'. "Am I suppose to tell it I've had anal or something?"
Ruby and Summer just stared slack jawed at Barloc that he would even say such a thing in the presence of virgin ears of the Roses.
Barloc merely looked at them. "What? You hear sex jokes all the time in cartoons and stuff similar to it. Sometimes even outright said in certain shows because the writing is sloppy, and the writers keep trying to get out of their audience's age rating."
"Not the ! #$ing Point you brain dead egghead." Lux stated crossing her arms while looking at Freds discarded hand of the game they had just played.
"Hold on a second, I wanna see how that works." Barloc suddenly took the gun and held it, as if expecting something to happen.
"Hey Barloc. Wanna hand back the gun? I can't do it if your fu- …holding it." Frederick stopped himself from cursing, remembering he's not supposed to do that around Summer.
"I just want to see this step for myself. Besides, how long could it possibly-" A bright light suddenly engulfed the area, blinding everyone for a moment as Barloc fell to the floor.
00000
Barloc stood, confused beyond words at what just happened. He checked himself for damage, finding he didn't have arc burns all over his own body, and he knew that he didn't hear the sound of a titan flying up next to him and popping a bubble, either. "Hmmm… so that wasn't a flashbang grenade." He then looked around, seeing nothing but burning buildings all around him and the lion.
The lion was staring at him, as if it expected him to say something. Barloc sensed this, and went straight ahead, thinking it was the step. "I regret not having the ability to perform my duty to the fullest."
The lion just kept staring at him.
Barloc paused, unsure of what else to say. "What? It's true, I don't have my light or ghost, so I can't go as far as I used to."
"And yet, you still lie."
Barloc once more paused at that. "...I beg your pardon?!" He let out in irritation and indignance, having just been called a liar by some strange entity he didn't even know.
The lion simply turned away. "It is not my place to say if one must take burdens out of obligation. But until you stay true to yourself, we have no further business."
"Now hold on just a-"
00000
Barloc awoke with a jolt, having been only out for a dozen seconds or so as he swiftly got up. He glared at the weapon for a bit, before handing it to Frederick. "Well that was something. Carry on." He then walked off.
"What the ! %# just happened?" Lux said out of confusion.
"Oh he probably just got rejected by the ... never mind. Now then. On to the last step." Frederick stated as he infused his light into the weapon.
Then another blinding light occurred. When the light died down. The weapon was Solid black with golden details of magnificent designs of roses. on the Magazine it had a Red Lion on it's hind legs Roaring as if pouncing on something. Frederick smiled as he then handed the gun to Ruby.
"Use it well little Rose. This weapon is your life." Frederick said smiling all the way underneath his helmet.
"Thank you sir. And thanks for being a good friend to my mother." Ruby replied excited to try out the new Gun she has.
"You're welcome." Frederick, happy at someone, his friend's daughter nonetheless, having completed a quest.
"And without further ado," Summer then pulled Ruby aside with a crazed grin. "Let's tear this thing apart so we could give this a MECHA-SHIFTING MODE!"
"OH MY GOD THAT SOUNDS AMAZING!"
The Roses then squealed in excitement as they bolted off, fully intent on adding a mecha-shift function. Probably something along the lines of a shield, sword combo.
Barloc sighed at their antics. "Kids these days…"
Lux just shrugs as she thrusts Fred's cards into his chest. Confused, Barloc looked at them. He looked at Frederick. Then back at the cards. Then back to Frederick.
…
Barloc promptly left the room, no longer caring about talking to Eva as she and Coco then came in, still talking about whether or not chroma should go and be removed since acquiring the materials was tedious.
00000
It was the dawn of Christmas that Remnant day. Cayde was still out shooting bad guys, Barloc had fallen asleep on his desk from overworking himself again, the students were getting up and ready for a day of holiday fun, and most importantly, the guardians were already back to slaying Grimm and Vex alike. Things were continuing to rise higher and higher for what was once a troubled world, with the grimm threat held back by those of the Traveler's light, as technology was slowly working its way up to Earth's standards.
And it was on this day, that she had planned something special. Something that would blow everyone out of the water. Months before the actual Dawning event, she'd heard about how everyone makes milk and cookies for 'Santa Claus' on Remnant, as a way of giving thanks to him for the gifts.
It was challenging and tedious, having to wait so long to even start it, flying her ship about in a way she couldn't have been spotted heading anywhere. Especially when she had to respond to distress calls on the way at times just so nobody would die. Those constantly left a trail to follow and hint at her motives. But in the end, she made it.
With her final target just a dozen feet away, she smiled and left a present behind the door. Just as the phone rang for him.
She teleported away as Barloc woke up, answering the phone. Before he could even get a word out, Cayde-6 spoke on the other side of the line. "Do you have cookies behind your door?"
Barloc blinked groggily, not entirely sure whether or not if Cayde had ingested some LSD during his travels. Regardless, he put the phone to the side and stood up. "I'll check." He said, not really caring for Cayde's reply as he went to the office door, opening it to find the present that was left behind. Confused, but not exactly worried, he brought it in. "Yeah, there was something behind the door alright."
Barloc idly opened it as he tried to continue, but when he opened the present, a cookie burst out of it and went into his mouth. Shocked, he was only able to think about chewing it, before eventually savoring the taste. When he was done, he smiled to himself. "I gather this is her doing?"
"She violated rule regarding cookies, and she didn't even include me on it!" Cayde said in exasperation. "Why didn't I get any? Literally the whole world but me?!"
"To be fair Cayde, this box of cookies IS at your office, so technically she gave them to you." Barloc idly said, as he took a bite out of another cookie. "And, you are a hard man to track down. Truthfully, this is all your fault. Perhaps if you were more of a man of work instead of action, you'd have these cookies."
"Oh you better not be thinking about-" Barloc promptly hung up, chuckled to himself for teasing Cayde in such a manner, and then put the cookies in a mini fridge… but not before taking a couple more for himself.
He wasn't surprised to have found out that Whitley and Jacques got Burnt Edge Transits, as they called him demanding to do something about Summer insulting them with such gifts. And he'd have to ask Summer later precisely what kind of cookies did she leave for Salem, who has lately been brushed off to the side as a lesser target.
Probably a literal food pun about grimm dogs, for all he knew.
00000
Diluation:And that's our Christmas special! Sorry for the lack of updates, math class was a huge pain in the butt as well as the finals. Normally after stuff like that I'd be a dead fish, but I didn't wanna leave you guys hanging for two more weeks before getting back into school. For reference on when this actually takes place, it takes place in some future chapters as an interlude that we will move up there later(since the Dawning takes place three months after the start of Rise of Iron.).
The last chapter I did not mean for Cayde to be thinking a Taken Queen Summer is starting up. I was actually aiming for a subtle mental health check, and probably should've restated some things that some of you may have missed since they were dozens of chapters back.
Summer, out of the blue, just got a family with her own daughter having recently killed her, which puts a lot of strain on anyone, especially if the thing is supposed to be impossible.
Had to deal with a whole Vex invasion alone until the very end of the first story.
Nearly lost her newfound daughter Ruby to said Vex.
Encounter with the dredgens.
And almost immediately being thrust into another war that could potentially affect Remnant, which in turn could affect Ruby and potentially doom the city again.
Which is a lot of pressure to put on a guardian that's only been around for 3 years now, and with the things that happened to her before-hand as well. It is an issue that needed to be raised, and as such I- ...actually y'know what? Onto the reviews, I'm rambling.
Miniatimat:An Idea that crossed my mind regarding the hub for Remnants of a Rose stories I talked about the last chapter. Maybe you could mark them as favourite on your profile?
Diluation:That is currently a WIP, thank you for the idea. I am currently trying to set it up as a top-bottom thing, with bottom being the ones that are more side-stories, like Mapping A Forgotten World, and Neo And The Wolves Of Mars, and top from where to start first. Some stories that are canon are still being thoroughly edited before being declared official, so there are some I'd rather you not see yet, but would definitely be worth a read when sorted through.
Timefreak:poor fallen. I believe that I now have a newfound respect for them. my suggestion to Summer (or now addressed as "Lady Rose" fancy by the way) is to go back to the tower and gather the most trustworthy and powerful Guardians that she knows. and on another note, seeing that Frederick showed up in this, will the possibility of Guardian Jack will make an appearance?
Diluation:We haven't really gotten into contact with the writer there(I hadn't sent him a Discord[we talk there], idk why I didn't think of him even now), but I'm fairly certain Guardian Jack would be too busy mapping the world with the other hunters than getting into affairs here… (make sure you check that story out btw, Mapping A Forgotten World is actually pretty good! Just a busy author whose life threw him 5 miles away from the story.)
The Unnamed: When describing Frederick I thought you guys were describing Emile from Reach
Anime Guy:I could kinda see the resemblance, but it is in fact not Emile's armor Frederick is wearing. The knife is what caused the confusion I suppose, as well as Halo armor and Destiny armor being similar in design to each other at times.
Diluation:Thank you all for being immensely patient with me. I would've written, hell, I've been itching to do the Sepiks Prime strike(I've had it in my head and how it'd go for a while now.), but math required my full attention, lest my GPA get hit hard(I ended up with a B, and just barely missed staying on the Dean's list.), and have to climb my way back up. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
~ In memory of Ptabs0101 ~