"Raven!" Summer called out as she led the team to the edge of the cliff and looked out over the landscape. She leapt up and down, waiting for the rest of them to reach her as she pointed out towards the forest below and smiled. "You guys are so slow, come take a look out here already, would you?"
"We're coming, Summer, give us a moment," Tai replied. Qrow brushed past him with his hands in his pockets, Tai was about to yell at him before seeing Qrow's smirk and calming down.
"You're too easy to get riled up Taiyang," Qrow told him. Summer looked back at Qrow who smiled at her, running towards the cliff before leaping off and becoming a bird, taking flight and circling the area. Raven and Tai reached her at last.
"This is where I go to think," Summer told them. "It's where I did a lot of my training before I came to Beacon, I wanted all of you to see it! Isn't the view just amazing?!" Qrow landed beside her and transformed back, wrapping an arm over her shoulder and studying her eyes as she looked up at him.
"It's the best view I've ever seen in my human form, short stuff," he told her as he drank in the sunset. Raven glanced at her teammates and sighed. Their father had sent them to Beacon to learn to kill huntsmen and huntresses, but Raven could never go back there now and lose what she had here with her team. Raven chuckled as she let go of Tai's hand and walked to the edge so that she stood beside Qrow.
"How about we have a race to see who can make it to that large tree down there and back?" She proposed to him. He grinned and nodded.
"You're on," Qrow replied. They both dove off in unison, falling for a few seconds before transforming and flying quickly towards the tree. As she rounded their destination and swept around, the scene changed instantly, the woods below her were dead and thunder filled the air as the cliff appeared before her, donning a headstone, and her teammates were nowhere to be found. She became human once more as she landed, and rushed to the grave, brushing the dirt and debris from it as she scrambled to her knees.
"Summer…" Raven said quietly as she stood up in shock, covering her mouth with her hand. Would she have lived if I had stayed?
"Funny how now you think that running caused the very thing you were trying to avoid," Qrow said as he emerged. She unsheathed her sword and pointed it at him.
"Father wanted you to come back too you know, but he figured that you were to weak to get the job done," Raven told him. "I don't want any part of the four of you anymore…"
"The pain won't go away until you let someone help carry it," Qrow told her.
"Is that why you drown yourself in whiskey?" She asked almost shouting at him. He sighed.
"You know why I'd rather be alone, Raven," Qrow told her.
"But it's wrong for me to do so?" She asked.
"I care about you, we're family," Qrow replied. She looked back down at the grave.
"Father seems to think you care too much," Raven told him. She sighed and swung her sword, opening her portal. "I won't be back."
"Don't do something that you're going to regret in the long run," Qrow warned her. Raven hesitated for a moment before leaving.
Raven stared hard at the grave which she'd wiped the snow off of, the first flowers of spring were blooming, blossoming through what remained of the snow and giving color to the barren meadow. Raven placed a white rose upon the stone, gazing at the words that burned her like a hot knife. Thus Kindly I Scatter. It was too late to avoid the regret that filled her, she had to live with the idea forever that her leaving is what caused Summer to die. Summer was the one that had opened her up in the first place, she had that effect on everyone that she met. She couldn't find the words.
"Summer," Raven began before stopping to think. "Summer, I don't think that I can fix what I've broken." Raven felt the tears that were gathering on her chin, brushing her face to confirm that she was crying. "Look what you did to me. To think that I was once the leader of a tribe of thieves, the most feared in all of Mistral, just to be reduced to this. Some of it is my fault too I guess, I've been cold for so long. I don't think that I deserve forgiveness.
The list of grievances against me is too long to even trouble you with, but I don't want to be alone anymore. Tai took me in out of pity, and Qrow won't have a sincere conversation with me anymore. And Yang… Yang will never forgive me and I'm not even sure that I want her too. What I put her through doesn't deserve forgiveness. I abandoned her, I avoided her, I acted like a bitch when she finally did find me, and we fought when I finally came to her for protection." Raven glanced away. "Has there ever been anyone more selfish?"
"Not to mention I said a few things that I didn't mean about you, I'm not really sure what came over me. You were there for her when I wasn't. I don't think I could have even done half of the job that you did as a mother." Raven stopped herself and rubbed her arms. "My pride has finally taken the fall, I do need the help of others. At first, when I tried to make it better with Yang it was for the wrong reasons, I only wanted safety, I didn't truly have a desire to fix things with her. But after seeing Yang's daughter I remembered the feelings that had overcome me the first time that I'd held Yang. I can't place it, but it was warm and pleasant." Raven froze, removing her sword and swinging around, though there was no one there. She searched around, taking a few steps from the grave until she was satisfied, convinced that she was still alone.
"I want to try and fix things, but not just for me. For Yang and for Shadow…" Raven paused and stared out over the forest. "And for that Neela girl. I remember the last time I saw that much potential in a huntress. It was you, Summer. If I don't mentor her and she suffers the same fate as you, I don't think I'll be able to live with myself any longer. I'd leap off of this cliff and let gravity do the rest, hoping and praying that they bury me next to you up here." Raven walked past the headstone and stared out at the sprawling world below. "The view really is amazing, Summer."
"Hey, mom," came a voice from behind Raven. She turned to find Yang kneeling at the grave and touching her mechanical hand to the stone before looking up at Raven. "Hello, Raven." They stared at each other for a long moment, Raven's eyes searching Yang's, but they still seemed plain and unready to forgive. Raven felt her insides clawing at her, wishing that she could find the words that would let Yang forgive her, but she wasn't sure that they even existed. She was frozen as Yang stood, approaching her and standing beside her on the cliff's edge. "Mother took us up here a couple of times. The view only gets better, doesn't it?"
"Yang… I…" Raven began.
"Do you know the pain that you put me through?" Yang asked her. "Birthdays, firsts, milestones, they all just blend together in a childhood that I spent without a mother. When I was still young and naive I figured that maybe you'd come back after mom died to take care of us, but you never did. I cried myself to sleep more times than I can count, always asking Uncle Qrow where you'd gone and if you'd come back, he wouldn't ever answer either of my questions."
"Would you like me to leave?" Raven asked quietly. Yang's fists balled up before her eyes filled with tears.
"It'd be easier that way," Yang replied. "It'd hurt less if you just left us and never returned." Raven understood Yang's desire and despite wanting to save face and hold tightly to her pride, she restrained herself. She could have fought Yang, but it would only become the last stain on a tale that was destined to end in tragedy from the beginning. Raven gave a slight nod and prepared to leap off of the cliff before Yang gripped her arm stopping her. Raven's eyes grew wide and she looked at Yang.
"Yang…" Raven stammered.
"I'm not ready to forgive you, Raven. I'm not sure that I'll ever be ready to forgive you," Yang told her. Yang released her arm and looked back at the headstone. "But I heard what you were saying to mom." Raven stepped back towards the grave and glanced at Yang again. How much had she heard? Raven wondered if Yang had been there the whole time, but the more that she thought about it, the less she thought that it even mattered. Maybe it'd been for the best that Yang had been eavesdropping, though her ego slowly drew her nerves back up to the surface and put her on edge.
"How much did you hear?" Raven asked defensively.
"Enough," Yang answered. "I may not be ready to make amends entirely, but if you meant what you said, I'm willing to give you a chance for Neela and Shadow's sakes." Yang began walking towards the road and glanced back after a long moment. "Blake prepared the spare room for you but I told her that we should use a trial and error system." As Yang continued to walk away an overwhelming feeling of relief overcame her.
"Thank you, Yang," Raven called out. Yang stopped for a second before pressing on.
"Come on Neela!" Eliana called out as she scampered down the dirt pathway through the woods and looked back towards her friend. Coco had agreed to let Neela and Eliana go alone to Alex's grave, knowing how emotionally Eliana would react to the situation.
"I'm coming!" Neela shouted back with a laugh as she finally managed to catch up. The trees loomed large, much larger than Eliana remembered as she laughed and smiled with her best friend beside her, pointing out different things about the path and listing countless stories of the memories that she shared with her father during their treks into the woods. The words blended together in Neela's ears as she'd heard these stories hundreds of times, letting the sights and sounds take her as she watched a younger Eliana run by the two of them, she glanced back at Alex, his image crystal clear from all of the recollections that Eliana had ever offered her.
"Dad, you're sooooo slow," Eliana groaned as she leapt up and down several feet down the path from him. "I'm going to be attending Haven by the time you get here at this rate." Alex laughed and stopped for a long couple of seconds, prompting Eliana to groan and run to him, grabbing his hand and pulling at him to follow. "Seriously, dad?"
"El, someday you are going to appreciate just taking a moment to notice the things around you," Alex told her.
"You say that every time, but lunch is waiting for us to eat it and I'm crazy hungry!" Eliana complained. Alex chuckled before walking with her once again and sighing.
"You say that every time too," Alexander noted. Eliana shrugged and smiled up at him.
"I guess I learn from the best, dad," Eliana replied. Alex laughed again, grinning at his daughter.
"I am pretty great, aren't I?" He asked.
"I was talking about mom," Eliana told him. He stopped a moment.
"Awww, come on!" He yelled. Eliana began skipping towards the picnic site as her father chased after her.
"Sorry dad, it's the truth," Eliana exclaimed.
"Neela!" Eliana shouted shaking Neela from the borrowed memory. "You're sooooo slow."
"What's the rush?" Neela asked. "Don't you want to take a moment to admire the scenery?"
"Coco said that she wanted us to hurry, and I've been waiting for almost a decade now to introduce you to dad!" Eliana declared. Neela stopped again, her heart stopping completely before jolting her back into awareness, though the pain lingered and she clutched her chest, holding back sudden tears in her eyes. Eliana wanted to introduce her to Alex? The thought sent an emotional shock through Neela's body and Eliana walked back to her, taking her hand. "Come on, Neela. I'm sure he'll love you!"
"You didn't want to bring Titus and Ilia with?" Neela asked as Eliana guided her along. Eliana stopped and grabbed her other hand. Silence filled the air as the wind stopped blowing through the trees and foliage, nothing moved, and nothing made a sound.
"I hope that this doesn't come out the wrong way, but they'll never mean as much to me as you do," Eliana told Neela. "You've been my everything since I met you Neela. I won't ever be able to say that about Titus and Ilia. We have a special bond and I feel like you're the only one that my dad needs to meet." Neela trembled in her shoes as she wanted to tell Eliana now how she felt, but this was normal Eliana behavior, wasn't it? This wasn't actually a confession of love. "You mean that much to me, Neela. We'll be together forever, right?"
"Of course, Elli," Neela told the girl drawing her in for a hug. "We'll never be separated." Neela released her and dragged her along towards the clearing. "I want to meet him too." Eliana's eyes lit up before welling with tears and she choked out a laugh.
"Good, I'm glad!" Eliana replied. The earthen walkway opened up into a large dirt clearing with a crudely constructed picnic bench standing in the middle, nothing else of note was there with the exception of a few targets that had been attached to the surrounding trees, though they were faded and worn beyond recognition. Eliana smiled as a memory returned to her, her flashback self stood on the picnic table as her father aimed his gun at the target to his right and pulled the trigger. The bullet veered right suddenly, hitting another target entirely and drawing a gasp from Eliana as she shook him by the shoulder.
"Tada," Alexander said as he chuckled under his breath.
"How did you do that?" Eliana asked.
"A magician never reveals his secrets," Alexander replied. His daughter beat on his shoulders.
"You're not a magician," Eliana griped.
"Fine, then a huntsman never reveals his secrets," he told her. He helped her off of the table and she sat, folding her arms as he opened the picnic basket.
"You'll have to tell me someday," she told him.
"Maybe after I've retired," he joked. "If I tell you before then you'll end up replacing me and I'll be without a job." He sat across from her and looked off into the distance. "On second thought, maybe I will show you now and just retire early. Then you can provide for mom and me." Eliana tried hitting him from her seat but couldn't reach.
"That's not funny, I'm too young to work!" Eliana shouted.
"I don't know if we lived on a farm you'd already be working all the time, being a huntsman or huntress can't be that much different, can it?" He asked her.
"That's not true, only the best become hunstmen!" Eliana yelled at him.
"I guess you're right about that but you've got to stop saying that or someday I might actually start believing it," Alexander said as he handed her a juice box.
"But it's true," Eliana shouted. "You're the best ever!"
"Someday I think that torch might just get passed onto you," Alex said reaching over the table and patting her on the head. The scene faded and Eliana smiled at Neela, showing her to the headstone and sitting next to it. Neela read the text. Alexander Latherus. Beloved Husband and Father. It was followed up with the dates of his birth and death, and an emblem that Neela recognized that Ruby often displayed on official documents for the Council. Had Alexander done more than just police work? Neela crossed her legs and planted herself next to Eliana, the girl stared out into the forest.
"Hey dad, it's been a couple of years now," Eliana said as she spoke out loud. "Things are going really well. We're the top of our class in Beacon! We've done too many crazy things for me to even hope to list all of them, but it's really been a great time. I'm doing my best for you, dad, but I've had Neela's help. She's here with me. She's done a great job of guiding me."
"I couldn't do it if you hadn't guided her so well, to begin with," Neela said. As she spoke Eliana glanced at her with a signature smile, holding back tears. "She's the best friend that I could've asked for. We've already stopped some villains, snuck out of school late the first night, had fun at the street fair, and went to Eliana's Dust cave."
"Hey!" Eliana yelled as she leapt to her feet. "I told you that no one could be told about that place!"
"Not even your dad?" Neela asked as she found her feet. Eliana covered the sides of the headstone with her hands.
"He's the worst at keeping secrets, he tells mom everything!" Eliana informed her. Neela laughed, watching Eliana take a knee at the grave and kissing the top of the stone. "I love you, dad. I miss you a lot, mom does too." Eliana threw herself against it, lingering for a couple of minutes as Neela waited silently for Eliana to finish. She found her feet clumsily and sniffed, wiping her eyes as she stood. Eliana brushed past Neela who reached out and ran her hand across the top of the stone.
"Thank you," Neela said. She rejoined her friend and they moved back down the path, meeting the rest of their team and friends with Coco on the main street.
"Where to now, tour guide?" Titus asked.
"Depends on how much time we have left," Eliana exclaimed. Coco laughed.
"As I said before when we dropped Zilla off with the Mistral Military back in Shion, Neo can pick us up where ever we need her to, just as long as it's before the end of the day," Coco reminded her. Eliana grabbed Neela's arm, dragging her down the road quickly, hardly giving her time to find her feet.
"There's a great restaurant to the east of here that we just have to go to!" Eliana exclaimed. They walked along and Titus kept close to Coco.
"Did you finish your report yet?" Coco asked him.
"That's a joke, right?" Titus asked. "We've been a tad busy for the last couple of days, so I'm not sure when you would have expected me to finish it."
"I mean, I asked for an extension from Winter and Kitsune, but seeing as how I work for them indirectly, if they decide to decline it in an email that I won't be able to check until we get back tomorrow morning, then you'll need to have had it done before the end of today," Coco told him.
"Wait, did you say Kitsune?" Titus asked.
"Is the fox Faunus of interest to you?" Coco asked. Titus looked at her shaking his head.
"Don't be ridiculous..." Titus replied. "I'm just shocked that they would promote her to Winter's second when she's been a lieutenant general for less time than I have."
"Jealous?" Ilia asked.
"Who asked you?" Titus said shoving her away.
"Military man has a girlfriend?" Honey inquired. "Lueur was wondering." Lueur hit Honey in the arm.
"No, I do not!" Titus replied.
"It's okay to have a crush on someone," Ilia told him. "Kitsune was cute and she did kiss you, didn't she?"
"She did?" Coco blurted out.
"Ilia!" Titus snapped.
"You don't actually expect someone who can see inside of other people's heads to be the best at maintaining confidentiality, do you?" Ilia questioned.
"I really hate you sometimes…" Titus groaned.
"No room for hate in Team NITE!" Eliana shouted back at him. "You'll have your day at the top eventually!"
"Thanks, Elli," Titus answered back.
"You work for the council?" Apophis asked. Coco nodded.
"You see, there's the council itself which normally hands down orders to whichever executive body acts beneath it, but each kingdom has one or two, 'agents', for a lack of a better word, that carries out the jobs that the council more or less don't want to talk about or don't want people finding out about," Coco told them. "I'll be holding an impromptu meeting with them in a couple of days in lieu of the events that took place yesterday."
"Is that your normal job?" Honey asked. "Lueur asking again." Lueur hit her harder this time.
"No, I'm a teacher at Beacon Academy," Coco informed them. "It's the safest and most effective way to provide for my family at this point in my life."
"I saw you back there, you've still got a lot of fight left in you!" Honey exclaimed.
"I'm flattered but fighting isn't everything," Coco told her.
"You could have fooled me," Honey said. "You were kicking some major ass back there!"
"Hey, we kicked some ass too!" Eliana exclaimed. "Did you see Neela go right after that psycho?" Lueur signed something and Honey chuckled. "What did she say?"
"She said that she was never more scared but alive at the same time than when we went into that cave," Honey said. Neela looked off into the distance. Her mind drifted to the different pieces of Faunus that the woman had adhered to herself, sickened at the idea that someone would do that to themselves. How many Faunus had she slaughtered to try and make a point that had been heard by no one but the people living in the immediate area? Did she really think that she was going to teach the Faunus a lesson? That her actions would stop the radical actions of the White Fang?
"Are you okay?" Eliana asked. Neela nodded.
"Yeah, it's just been a stressful few days, you know?" Neela replied.
"You don't have to worry about that now," Eliana said. "We made some new friends, we're about to go enjoy some of the best food that was ever existed, and we got to stop by and talk to my dad! I'd like to think of this week as just one big success."
"You think Team CBLT misses us?" Ilia asked jokingly as she checked her phone and texted Vin.
"What makes you say that?" Titus asked.
"Have you read Scrollbook yet today?" Ilia asked.
"No, why?" Eliana asked.
"Oh you know, the usual angst by Tawney saying that she's going to take Neela down as soon as she gets back, and Cobalt being… Cobalt I guess, his page said something about them discovering a new Grimm but it didn't really make any sense," Ilia told them.
"What?!" Eliana exclaimed as she dropped her scroll onto the ground as she removed it from her bag. She scooped it up and loaded the page, finding Cobalt's pictures and showing Neela. "A Camazotz huh? Looks like a really big, freaky, bat, dragon thing."
"That was, incredibly descriptive," Titus offered. "I can picture it now…" Ilia stopped him by putting her scroll in front of his face and he bit his lip. "Oh, it is a really big, freaky…"
"Bat, dragon thing," Coco said as she grabbed the scroll away and read the post over, dialing a number on her own as she handed it back to Ilia. "Oobleck? Yeah, it's Adel. Listen, have you contacted the council yet, because I think that the two of us could probably meet with them together after I debrief the students. I'd love to talk about it, but it'd take longer than I have available right now. I'll meet with you once we get back. Goodbye."
"That was short for an Oobleck call," Neela replied. Coco laughed.
"The trick is to just constantly cut him off while he tries to speak," Coco replied.
"Bold," Neela chuckled.
"It worked, didn't it?" Coco asked.
"Enough talk! Let's pick up the pace, I've got a monster hunger that only the taste of the Mistral Monster Burger from The Inferno can satisfy!" Eliana yelled.
Yang's ready to let Raven back in for Neela and Shadow, but will she ever forgive her? Next Week, Chapter 84 - Soya's Revenge!
A big thank you to Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy!