A/N" Okay, a few things.
First I'd like to thank Jawaswag Jenkins, noble4259, and MarcussMebadd for reviewing my last chapter.
Notes for improvement have been taken, and I'm trying to do a better job proof reading my chapters. But I'm sure you must know proof reading your own work isn't nearly as effective as having someone else do it. You mind just sort of fills in what you know as the writer you wanted there. This is one of my biggest weaknesses that I just can't seem to overcome on my own, I'm terrible at proof reading my own work. I try very hard to, but I've got some issues that compound the problem more than it would be normally.
I tried to make this chapter better, but I'm confident I still missed tones.
Still looking for a Beta Reader, if anyone knows anyone who'd be interested.
Didn't meant to ramble there, because issues I'm having with writing this aside, I'm breaking the 100k word count with this chapter, which I feel if a bit of an accomplishment.
Well here's the story, make sure to leave a review and tell me what you think.
Chapter 7
They were half way through the second week of travel when Thor realized that he had drastically underestimated the time this would take.
Under normal conditions, he thought he might have been close, but this was not normal conditions. Grimm activity had spiked considerably, and Bandits were far more brazen with their attacks. Roads were shut down, and services between towns were more or less cut off.
But the terrain was much harder to navigate than he had expected as well, and with no way to pass through the wilderness except on foot, this was proving to be a much harder trek than he had expected.
But he wasn't getting out of temper over it, it was unavoidable.
Yang, however, was getting irritated, even if she didn't say it out loud, he could see it in her mood, how she talked, and her general attitude.
He didn't think it was the ruffing it part that was agitating her, she had adapted to that like a fish to water. No, he suspected that it was more that she was going to be delayed in meeting up with her sister again.
He wanted to talk to her about it, but he had the feeling that wouldn't do any good. She was going to worry no matter what he said, and would probably just agitate her more if he did.
He felt somewhat responsible, having given her a time frame they were clearly not going to make now.
As they set down for the night to camp, Thor pulled out a can of chili, they hadn't found anything fresh to eat, so it was canned food again. It wasn't really all that bad, but it was certainly starting to lose its appeal.
The fire going, they both sat there in silence as their food cooked.
The silence was killing him, but this was how it had been for the past few nights, as it became more and more apparent they weren't going to make it to their destination on the schedule he predicted. He'd messed that up, but it couldn't be helped now, and he frankly didn't want this to be the rest of the journey.
"Yang, I'm sorry this is taking so long." Was all he could think to say, it was a weak start, but he didn't have anything else to say really.
She looked at him, a bit confused, and answered: "It's not your fault, I mean, all the chaos and hazards, of course, it's taking longer."
Well, at least she wasn't blaming him, but her attitude was still sour. "You've just been distant, you aren't talking…"
"I'm just worried, I worried about my sister, I'm worried about my friends, and I worried that what the hell is going on in the world."
He got that, but those feeling weren't new, she was still much more talkative before they'd departed the boat and into the first few days of the journey.
"You've still gotten really quiet over these past few days."
"I know, I'm sorry if it seemed like I was mad at you, I'm not, I promise, it's just. Well, I thought we were closer than we were, and finding out we're not…Just makes me think of how little we can control on this journey. I mean, I knew there be set backs, but with time frames shifting and things taking longer…I just worry more that's all, that if something were to happen to Ruby and I wasn't there because of something that slowed me down or stopped me. I don't know it just makes me dwell on what can go wrong."
"Well, they say anything that can go wrong, will. Or at least that's a good way to plan for any event. But it's not doing you any good dwelling on things you can't control."
Yang opened her mouth to respond, but Thor continued "I know it doesn't really help, you're still going to do it, and I'm still going to do it. But when you're overloaded with bad thoughts or what can go wrong, I find it helps to think of what will go right, or what I'll do when I see my friends again."
"You think that will fix this?"
"No, it won't, but it can help boost your mood, make you feel better, cope."
She rolled her shoulders at this suggestion. Thor knew it would in no way stop the concerns, but in his experience focusing on positive things helped to curb the melancholy that these types of thoughts brought on.
"Okay, so you tell me? What do you imagine doing once we see our friends again?" She asked her face impassive, even curious.
Thor smiled at the question because he had thought of it, quite a few times. "First I'm going to go up to Ruby and tell her I'm alive."
Yang's eye's bulged at this "Oh shit, that's right, she doesn't know you alive!" She smiled at this "She's gonna be thrilled to see you."
Thor laughed a little at this "If she can recognize me…"
"Thor…you might look…" She began before Thor spoke again.
"Without my hammer, I doubt she'll give me so much as a second glance." He finished smiling.
Yang felt a slight sense of relief at this, she didn't like the idea of Ruby not recognizing Thor, not only because it might hurt Thor, but Ruby may not handle the thought of someone she cared about being so badly hurt. She had lost an arm, and Ruby did not take that well at all.
"After that." Thor continued, I'm gonna have her show me around the city, to show me what she's managed to find while she's been there." He stopped and looked at her, "What about you, what do you plan on doing?"
She hadn't thought of it, and he knew it, but she felt the mood lightening "I'm gonna take her out to dinner, treat my little sister to a nice big dinner." She said, knowing it was sort of a vauge idea, but it felt right. "What about the others? Jaune, Ren and Nora?"
Thor smiled at this "Taking Nora to a Pancake house, and Ren…well he's always been more subdued, I think just catching up with him will be okay. Jaune…he's a special case."
She knew that, of everyone in their inner circle, he may of experience the most traumatic and personal loss with Pyrrha's death. They had been partners, and Yang knew Pyrrha had liked him much more than a friend. It hadn't gone anywhere, and now it never would. She didn't know if Jaune knew how she felt or not, but if he did, she imagined the idea of "What If" was probably haunting him.
"I'm going to talk to him first, then buy him a beer second. That much I know so far, I'll play the rest by ear with him."
Yang had felt like a knot in her stomach she didn't even know was there had loosened. Not disappeared, but the tension had eased.
She supposed this idea had merits. Keeping positive thoughts in your head helped keep your mood up. The idea of the look on Ruby's face when she saw them again, that was something to look forward to.
The thoughts of disasters still hung around the back of her mind, but she still was feeling much better.
"So…how long do you think now?" she asked, knowing he was still a bit sore over his own miscalculation.
"I honestly don't know. It could be another week, it could be a month." He said as he started to eat his food "If we could go straight there, uninterrupted by any sort of hostile activity, and get a few rides, I'd say a week. But that hasn't been our luck so far."
She'd expected he wouldn't be willing to make an outright statement, but she knew he could give a general estimate, and now that he was more familiar with the travel conditions, she thought it might be more accurate now.
"too bad, we can't just fly there. You used to be able to do it, but I guess that went with your hammer huh?"
He nodded "Even then, it wouldn't have carried us both that far, it would have burned out before we reached our destination."
"Ehh, still, would be nice to cut the journey short by a bit."
He nodded as he took in another mouth full of chili.
They sat in silence again, but this time it lacked the tension of the previous one. It was comfortable, and she felt no need to speak at the moment, just deciding to eat and watch Thor.
The light of the fire made the scars on his face look much deeper and more pronounced, and frankly, he looked much older now than he did before the fall of Beacon.
His beard had grown out again, and while he wasn't shaving it off, he was attempting to keep it trimmed. His hair had grown out a bit as well from the start of this journey. It was fairly long, although not as long as he had kept it before, and he kept it swept back.
The scarring on the right side of his face had kept hair and heard from fully growing on that side, and a few patched were missing from the rest of his beard where laceration scars crisscrossed his face.
The only thing that hadn't changed drastically was his one remaining eye. His personality still shined through it, his kindness, his courage, and his compassion. But it had taken on a sad look now, no wonder given the past few months.
His appearance had been the most drastically changed of anyone's she knew personally from the fall. He probably beat out anyone she knew in general or had even heard of from life altering injuries. He did look like a different person, and he even acted differently.
He had come close to what he was at school, but he'd lost a lot of the flare and confidence he used to carry himself with. This had made her wonder how much of that was a show to begin with.
He certainly put on a show for Ruby when she was scared, but even that had broken near the end. The second night of visions he hadn't bothered to brag or boast to comfort her. He did promise to look after her and protect them all.
He hadn't managed that, but he'd done his best, and she wasn't going to hold that against him, especially what he'd lost trying to even the score.
As she thought of this, her mind wandered back to Adam, and how she wanted to get even with him for everything he'd done to her, Thor and Blake.
"Thor…" she said finally breaking the silence.
"Hmmm?"
"When we find Adam, and I know we will, do you want to take him or should I?"
Thor didn't answer right away but thought for a moment "If we find him, we should take him together, give how we both faired against him last time. At full strength, I think I could take him, but I'm far from that. You are much better than you were, but he was on my level at the time, and I don't believe your there yet."
"So what, you want to double team him?"
"Exactly, he's too dangerous to fight him like it's a sport or competition, we need to be able to take him down quickly because if we don't, I think he's going to just drag the fight out until he can finish it."
"Why would you say that?"
"I think his semblance is like yours, I think he can absorb attack damage and send it back out, but he focuses it into his weapon, not his body, so he doesn't get hurt."
"Hmmmp, copycat." She muttered, "But how did you figure this out?"
"I had a lot of time to dwell on my fight with him, and I've realized he was blocking attacks he shouldn't have been able to, like my lighting, it shouldn't have mattered that he blocked it, it should have conducted down the blade."
"Okay, that makes sense, but how do you know he absorbed the damage?"
"When he cut my leg and my vest. He shouldn't have been able to do that with just one swing, he had to amplify it somehow."
Yang nodded at this and thought about. "So…we need to hit him hard and end it quickly, right."
Thor pointed to her and said "Exactly."
That evening, Yang woke up in the middle of the night. At first, in his waking haze, thought she was being woken up again to deal with an attack. But it was evident after a few seconds that wasn't the case.
Looking around, she was trying to find what had woken her up, because she was sure something had done it. She didn't have to go to the bathroom, and the fire was still burning. It was low, mostly embers now, but still producing warmth.
A sudden thrashing sound made her turn around quickly, weapons ready, only to see Thor in his sleeping bag.
Lowering her gauntlets, a confused look dawned on her face. 'What was he doing?' she thought, he was clearly still asleep. Walking closer to his side, she looked closer, and yes, he was clearly still sleeping.
But his face was twisted in pain and terror. He was letting out gasps, and whimpers. A bad dream, that was evident. But was it a vision? She didn't think so, given as far she knew when ever he had one, everyone sleeping around him had them as well.
But was that right? Three instances wasn't precisely a lot of data for a pattern from. And she didn't know if he was having them without telling her or anyone else.
But she also knew he'd had stress-dreams in the past as well. He hadn't had them in weeks now, and she had honestly thought he'd moved past them. But as she the thought it, she knew that wasn't how these things worked. One the things all combat school's covered was reactions to combat, and PTSD was one of those syndromes people developed.
Dreams were part of that, and even if the individual suffering from it seemed to be over it, the dreams could come back at seemingly random points.
She reached down to wake him up but stopped. She remembered that waking someone up in the middle of a stress-dream could result in the person, not immediately realizing they were awake. In the case of a Hunter, especially one as strong as Thor, he might try and attack her. He could hurt her, or she could hurt him.
So instead, she sat next to him and put his head in her lap. She gently ran her finger through his hair and hummed a melody to him.
She didn't know if this would work, but she didn't want to risk waking him up. But this seemed to calm him down a bit, his face was relaxing, and his body wasn't as tense. In a way, it reminded her of how Ruby used to have bad dreams when she was younger.
She'd done this for Thor once before, but he was awake when they came to the agreement for her to sleep next to him, and that had kept him from slipping back into the dreams. She wasn't sure if doing it this way would work, and if it did she wasn't sure if it would work as well.
But Thor was starting to sleep more soundly, and much more calmly. She had actually been surprised that he didn't wake up when she'd moved his head, given how distressed he was. But he'd always been a sound sleeper for as long as she had known him, and he was clearly deep in the throws of the dreams.
She wasn't sure, but she thought she might of read somewhere that when a person was dreaming, that was when they were at the deepest point of sleep. That was probably why he didn't wake up so quickly.
Looking down into his face, she should see that he was much more relaxed, and his breathing had become slow and even.
Taking one hand, she lifted his sleeping bag to see if he'd wet himself this time. With a sigh of relief, she saw that he hadn't. They had never talked about it the few times it had happened, it was too embarrassing, for both of them. She didn't think less of him for it, but it scared her that someone could be so terribly scared that it could happen, especially someone like Thor who gave off the impression of being so fearless and tough.
She'd had it happen to herself a few times after her fight with Adam, but she'd been in place to care of herself, and no one knew about it, not even her father.
It was stupid to be ashamed of it, it wasn't like they were little kids who couldn't control themselves, they were being terrorized in their sleep by a traumatic event.
She somehow felt that if they could find Adam, and beat him, these episodes might stop. She still had a few episodes, but they weren't at the frequency or magnitude of what Thor was experiencing now, or had been before his recovery.
Because they had dropped off, even appearing to stop after she'd taken him to the hot spring. In fact, she thought this was the first time he'd had one since then.
She decided to think of this as an improvement because they weren't as common now, and his reaction wasn't nearly as bad.
Running the back of her hand over his forehead, she felt that he was sweating like before, but it wasn't as bad as before either.
But she knew that some sort of professional help would be needed at some point. Not just for him, but her as well, she didn't really understand the human mind, but she knew that trauma just didn't go away, it could dull with time, but if left unchecked, even if it seemed to go away, it could come back, just like now.
She doubted for either them that it would ever go away, but they needed to find healthy ways to cope. She'd caught a glimpse of Thor developing poor coping mechanisms when he was in the deepest parts of his depression, his drinking, even at the hot spring it had shown up.
She still didn't know where he was getting his alcohol when he'd been recovering in their home, but she was glad to see he didn't need it now. He wasn't drinking, except the one beer she'd brought on the first night, and didn't seem to have any real desire for it.
He wasn't addicted to the booze but had he continued on the path he'd been on, she had no doubt he would be eventually.
She didn't want him to go down that path, and she didn't want to end up that way herself. Instead of drinking, she'd thrown herself into taking care of him while he was with them, but if he hadn't been there as a distraction, she didn't know what she might have done.
She didn't want either of them to go down that path, and she didn't think they were at that point, and it didn't seem like they were on they way down it either.
Still, it worried her. It was in her nature to worry about others, and what she might turn into. She knew about her family history, and she didn't want to repeat some of their mistakes. Her Uncle Qrow, she loved him very much, but he had a drinking problem, and she didn't want that. Her mother had floated out of her life before she could even remember her. Two-thirds of her biological family had some serious issue, and her dad was sometimes known to have bouts of depression.
Personal issues of some kind or another seemed to run in her family.
Everyone had hangups, but her family appeared to have a bit more than normal.
Or maybe she was overly sensitive to the idea, and she was just worrying for no reason.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to relax, worrying about these things weren't things she could deal with right now. She'd address them at some point, but out here in the woods, in the middle of the night with her boyfriend having a night terror, was not the time to handle it.
Thor woke up feeling distinctly unrested and worn out. He felt thirsty too, and he sat up with that thought. Reaching over to his canteen, he popped the top off and took a long drink.
He'd had a nightmare last night, he knew it, the general sense of terror had lingered on when he'd woken up, but he couldn't remember the content. Less of a nightmare, this was more of a night terror.
But he hadn't woken up in the night, and he hadn't sweated through his cloaths this time. He felt damp, but it wasn't as bad as it had been in the past.
Getting up, he looked around and noticed Yang was gone. Her sleeping bag and end roll were still by the fire, but she wasn't anywhere to be found.
His blood started to run cold. He'd experienced this before, waking up with no one around.
"Good, you're up." He heard a voice call from behind him and turned to see Yang coming out of the woods. "There a stream over there if you want to clean up a bit, it's cold, but it clean."
Looking her over, he noticed her hair and face were wet, indicating he'd taken the morning to refreshen up.
"Yeah, sounds like a good idea." He knelt down and picked up his canteen, intending to fill it while he was there.
Just seeing her made his heart rate slow down. The dreams of wandering around in an abandoned world had scared him, he thought they had come back, given the night terror he had the night before. But it was just that she'd taken the chance to clean up, not that he'd been left alone.
The feeling of loneliness he'd been experiencing had waned considerably in the past few weeks. In part, because he felt he had someone to share his life with right now. But he also was of the opinion that he felt he knew why he was here, to be a mortal. The more he made peace with that, the more he felt he could relate to the humans he encountered.
He didn't think he'd ever totally shake the feeling of isolation, not completely because he couldn't undo his previous life, he'd live too long to ever really been able to think like a normal person, not entirely. But he'd curb the feeling considerably.
But he wondered about something that had floated at the back of his mind for years now, that he'd never really given much attention to until recently. Would he tell anyone his past? Could he, may have been a better question. He'd never thought it would be an issue, that he'd just be able to prove it when he reclaimed his power. But that possibility seemed to be less and less likely, and without that proof, who would believe him?
He's tried going that route before, and if he couldn't show who and what he was, people tended to think he was crazy. He hadn't realized why until he'd spent time with them, but mortal did not usually have gods come down from the heavens stroll among thm. They'd believe it if there was some sort of show of power, but human claiming to be the god of thunder, with nothing to indicate it was true, was generally written off as someone who was mentally unstable. If he couldn't show his power, then they wouldn't believe him, well most wouldn't believe him.
But this issue was compounded by the idea that he was likely going to live out his days here in a normal human body. That would mean, more or less, lying to anyone he was close to, because he'd have to hide his whole previous life, and as far as they were concerned, the first fourteen or fifteen years of his life.
His friends may not have inquired yet to any significant degree, but if he stayed longer, eventually they'd get curious. They couldn't find anything, but they would ask him, and he'd with have to stay quiet, tell them a lie, or tell them the truth.
None of those were good options to him. Lying may be easiest, but he didn't want to lie. He'd given partial information in the past out of necessity, but out right lying didn't sit well with him. Keeping quiet would work in the short term, but eventually, they'd get tired of it and push him.
The truth, which he wanted to do, but would risk them committing him to an insane asylum.
He'd have to figure this out eventually, but right now, he'd leave the issue be.
As they moved out for the day, they talked, but both could feel it was being forced out. Neither thought the other was mad or upset, but both could feel the mood was heavy with thoughts weighing on their minds.
"Whats bothering you?" Yang finally asked, deciding to cut straight to the point.
Thor looked surprised, but didn't try to divert the question "Just…Been thinking about those dreams." Which was true.
"Which one? The Vision or the Nightmares?"
"Both, I suppose. I can't get the vision out of my mind but know I don't have the ability to figure out what's going with it." He took a deep breath "The Nightmares are…different. Sometimes it's about the…Fall of Beacon. But other times they're vaguer…"
"Like what?"
He rolled his shoulders and rocked his head from side to side before answering "Usually I'm alone, the world seemingly devoid of any person or animal, and no matter how much I shout and search, I can't find anyone."
That didn't sound good, but it didn't sound like it should be causing the reactions he was having either. She assumed that the time he was having a partially bad night, he was dreaming of the fall of Beacon.
"What about you?" He asked, "What's on your mind?"
"Oh." She sighed "Same old same old, I keep worrying, I'm trying not to let it get to me as much. Like you said, I'm trying focus on the good, but I still can't push the thoughts out of my mind."
He put his hand on her shoulder and massaged it with his thumb. "I know, it's normal to worry, I worry too, but it isn't going to do us any good. I know we won't stop, but we need to keep out spirits up and can't let the worry control our lives."
"You pretty smart when you want to be huh?" She smiled and punched him lightly, which was becoming a habit of her to show affection. "You know what's funny?"
"What's that?"
"I didn't know your name till, after initiation, I didn't even realize it until we thought you weren't going to make it past the first day."
"Oh really? And here I thought I was known far and wide for the student body. I'm not sure if my ego will ever recover." He smiled as he spoke in a falsely hurt tone.
"Smart ass." She muttered but grinned none the less.
"So what else don't I know about our shared time at Beacon?" He said as they continued to hike.
"Oh tons, we girls keep plenty of secrets from the boys."
"Yeah yeah, like what?"
"Oh, crushes, weapon secrets, stuff like that."
"That second one sounds like Ruby more than the 'other girls.'"
"Well, more or less. Sometimes we'd talk about the weapon, more for Ruby's sake though because it was one of the only things she really liked and we didn't want to box her out. She didn't like any boy's though, so we never got into those talks with her."
"Well, if she liked girls-"
"Not what I meant Thor, I mean she didn't like anyone like that, it's weird. She's almost sixteen, but as far as I know, she's never had any sort of crush on anyone, boy or girl." She sighed in an exasperated tone "That's another thing I worry about with her, she doesn't take to people as quickly as I do, I worry if she's going to be alone."
They continued on for a while before she continued "You know I thought she had a crush on you for a while?"
"Did you know? Why would you think that?"
She laughed "Well, after her first runs in with you, she didn't shut up with 'How mean' you were, you know after you scared her the first day."
Thor nodded "Yes, I remember that incident, but I wasn't aware she was that upset with me."
"Yeah, well you wouldn't, given how she talked about you after the initiation, she wouldn't shut up about how 'awesome' you were, after seeing what you could do." She laughed again "I thought she was just being a kid and being mad at the guy she had a crush on for being mean to her or something like that."
They were both laughing at this now "How did you figure out that wasn't the case?"
"She told me she was trying to get you to go out with me. I told her I thought she liked you, but she just went on about how you're her 'Big Brother' with the 'Coolest Weapon ever.'"
They both had a good laugh at this "I should have know that little weapons nerd was just obsessing over your hammer."
"Well, from what I've seen of you, you'd like to get a hold of my hammer as well."
"Not at all, I'm fine with…." She trailed off and looked at him, eyes wide, not quite sure if he'd actually gone there. His big stupid grin told her that he had. She laughed and punched him again "A dick joke, real classy Thor."
He pretended to flinch away but was laughing "What, I thought you'd appreciate it!"
"Yeah, I do, doesn't make it classy." She was still smiling. "But I got to admit that 'Mole-near' or "Moo-jar,' or what you called it was something else, Ruby was right to be impressed." She said as she continued to walk.
She had gone several steps before she realized that Thor wasn't keeping pace with her.
She turned to see he had stopped and was looking at her, eye wide and mouth hanging open."
"What?"
Thor just stared at her, how did she know that name? She hadn't managed to say it correctly, but he's never named his weapon system, or even mentioned his real hammer.
"What did you call my hammer?"
"Did I not say it right? Sorry, didn't know it was a big deal, but it's hard to pronounce."
"My weapon didn't have a name." he said coolly.
"What, sure it did, it…." Yang trailed off as she tried to think of when he's told them what his weapon was called. But she couldn't remember him ever doing it, but he must have, all Hunters and Huntresses named their weapons. Thor must have told her at some point, it was such a weird name she couldn't have confused it with something else…
The book, she'd read the name in that book Blake had found. That was the name of the Thunder gods weapons, and he and Thor had such similarities, that she was sure he'd based himself off him, that she had thought his weapon shared the same name.
That wasn't what concerned her, but more the fact she let slip that she and the rest of her team had found something that very likely related to him, and hadn't talked to him about it at all.
"How do you know that name?" he asked coolly.
Well, time to come clean, hopefully, he wouldn't be upset that they hadn't ever told him about it.
"Thor, back when we were at Beacon, well, your past was sort of mystery to us, and well, Blake and Weiss started digging around to find out information on you. But they couldn't find anything, not really anyway, just some of the stuff you told us." She paused to examine his face for signs of anger, but he just looked like he was concentrating on her story. He took a deep breath and continued "But Blake found this book and ancient one. It was about an extinct group of people called Vikings. In there we found their god of thunder "Thor," and…well it just seemed to match to many points, and we figured, you know…Adopted the persona, and guess I just assumed you'd name your hammer after his."
She thought his face fell a bit at this, although she wasn't sure why it would if anything she thought he'd be mad they found something about him and didn't tell him they had.
"I see." He said and started to walk towards and past her.
"Thor!" She yelled after him, only to realize that may not have been his real name "I'm sorry, we just didn't want to assume anything or make you upset!"
He was angry, but not for the reason she thought. When she mentioned his hammer, he thought his father may have told her in some way who he was. But it was just a book…A book that had no business being in a world where his people had never been worshipped.
The realization of this made him stop and turn to Yang. "Where is this book now?"
"I don't know, probably with Blake." She said, confused by the sudden shifts between his moods. "You want to tell what this is about?"
Thor looked suddenly like he'd been poleaxed like he'd gotten ahead of himself and now realized he'd been caught at something.
"I'm afraid I can't, not without that book." He needed to word his next few words very carefully."Yang, the reason I didn't tell all of you more is…I really can't, I don't know the whole story." Which was true, he didn't know it, why he was here "But that book, it might hold the answers I need."
Not a lie strictly speaking, but certainly misleading, and he hated himself for doing it. But the alternative was to make those he'd formed a bond with think he was crazy, and either drives them away, for forever be pitied by them for a perceived mental state.
"Well, if that's the case, we're going to have to find Blake, he had it. But I don't know where she is…" she trailed off with a note of sadness in her voice.
Thor knew she and Blake had been close, much closer than she was to any of the person other than her sister. Her disappearance had hurt her badly. They had been so close Thor wondered at times if they were more than friends, but aside from Ruby, he hadn't close enough to anyone in Team RWBY at the time to really know. If they had been together, Yang apparently considered it over now.
But that point aside, he needed to find her, but he had a job to do first "We're going to find your sister before anything else Yang, then we'll get your team back together, when that happens, I'll have the book." Placing his hand on her shoulder, he massaged it gently " I'm not going to die from not having a book, it can wait a little while longer."
She smiled sadly at this, but her mind was clearly on her broken team. He could relate, not that he could tell her, but he'd been on shattered teams before, and it hurt, it hurt almost like you'd lost a family member.
Thor couldn't know how guilty she felt at the dissolving of her team. Some of it had been beyond her control, but she still felt more responsibility for the breakup of Team RWBY than any of the others.
"It's my fault, Thor, why were scattered to the winds like this." She felt tears coming on as she talked about it.
"What are you talking about, you-"
She cut him off "Maybe not Weiss, but I'm the one Adam hurt and made Blake feel like she needed to leave, Ruby went off looking for answers, and I was too wrapped up in my own issues to go with her. I was the one who hurt Mercury and started this chain of events. If I was just smarter, Stronger, tougher none of this…"
Suddenly she found herself in his embrace, hugging her tightly. "You are strong and smart but most of all brave." He whispered in her ear. "You can't wonder 'what if' that way leads madness and despair. You have to focus on the future." He broke the embrace looked into her eye's with his one startling blue one.
It was times like this when he surprised her most when he showed a particular insight into the moment. It was so easy to overlook this trait of his. Again he reminded her of her sister, with hidden depths often overlooked.
He placed his hand, his real one, behind her head, and tilted it forward and kissed her on the forehead.
That was another thing, he could be so tender when he wanted.
"We can't dwell on these things, we need to focus on the task at hand."
She wiped the tears out of her eyes, laughing a bit "You're right, you're right, it's just, I can't help it sometimes."
"Well, you can't help it." He said smiling "You're the team mom."
"What!" She near shouted, pushing him away and punching him in the shoulder. "I am not!"
"You worry about everyone, make sure everyone is eating right, you take care of everyone, you're the team mom."
"Pfft, I'm the team party girl! If anything Weiss was the team mom!"
"I didn't say you were a responsible parent."
They stared at each other for a moment, their faces stern. But Yang saw the corner of his mouth crack a shadow of a grin, and that was all it took before they started breaking out in laughter.
"Let's keep up the pace." Yang said, " If we want to catch up to Ruby, we gotta keep moving."
They started walking again, the occasional laugh still slipping out before either of them really spoke again.
Yang spoke first "That book." She began solely, not wanting to touch on any sore spots, but still wanting to know more "what do you think it will tell you?"
Thor glanced sideways at her, but the ghost of his laughter was still on his face, and he didn't seem upset. "I don't know, to be honest, but… I can't imagine it doesn't hold something about my past. The connections you mentioned, it can't be a coincidence."
"So, your name really is Thor Odinson? You didn't adopt it?"
Thor knew he'd have answered this question carefully "Yes, that's what my father named me, that much at least I know is true."
Yang's shoulder's relaxed a tension she didn't even know she had. She was happy to know he wasn't lying to them, or more specifically to her. "So, are you saying that you don't actually remember your life before the orphanage."
"Well, not exactly, You know I have memories of my father and my life before. More like I can't remember some amount of time between when I was sent away, and when I found and brought to the orphanage."
"Yeah, that's right." She said out loud, remembering that he'd given them some information. "So, it's more like you missing a block of time?"
He shrugged at this "More or less."
"Well, at least you can remember your dad, I don't even know my mom."
"Well, you're not that far off from me in that regard. I found out, not so long ago, that the woman I had thought my whole life was my mother, wasn't. The woman who gave birth to me, I've never meet."
"Ohh…guess we have something else in common too, but I kind of wish we didn't."
He got understood her meaning, not that she wished they didn't have something in common, but rather it wasn't a pleasant experience for either of them.
"I don't want to stay on these downer topics too long," Yang said as they walked on. "I get that we have to talk about this stuff, but if we just talk about the bad things in our life, well, it can't be good for morale."
"No, it's not, so let's try for a change of subject." Thor rubbed his bearded chin with his real hand, trying to think of a topic for discussion. "Okay, how's this for a new topic. What was your first impression of me? Not second or third impressions, The first time you saw me, what did you think."
"Ohhh, that's not gonna be a pretty discussion." She said in a tone somewhere between a laugh and a groan. "Honestly? I thought you were just another one of those muscle bound meat heads who was good athletically, but not good for much else. Really, when I saw you and Cardin on the first day, I thought 'O God, there's two of them!', but as I got to know you, I saw that wasn't totally correct. I mean yeah, you were a loud and pretty cocky guy, but it wasn't all talk, and I saw that you were more than that anyway." She finished grinning sheepishly but was relieved to notice he didn't look remotely angry, just amused. "Okay, you turn now, what was your first impression of me big guy?"
"Well, to be honest, I didn't take much notice of you at first, at least on the first day." He said, and she looked a little confused and maybe slightly offended at this "By that, I mean, there was so much going on around me, and you didn't cause any sort of spectacle to draw my attention, like I know I did when I arrived. But I did think 'That there is a gorgeous girl,' and the little bit I saw of you told me you might be more than a little bit of an extrovert."
"That's it?" She said, a bit disappointed.
"Like I said, you didn't make a spectacle of yourself or say anything like Ruby blowing herself and Weiss up, or Jaune wearing an onesie to bed. But, If we count the first time I actually interacted with you, I'll say that was a much more impressive impression, then I thought "Wow, she's a ball of fire." After seeing you fight."
"Well, that's better." She said, seeming slightly mollified. "Guess a quiet first impression is better than a bad one."
"That's one way to look at it." He said with a shrug, and they continued on their way.
As they came over the top of another hill, they were surprised to see a village in the valley beneath them. What's more this one looked occupied.
"Strange, I didn't think there were any settlements in this area," Yang said as she pulled out a map to check again.
"Look there," Thor said pointing at one of the building, the scaffolding still surrounding it. "That's why this place is still being built."
"Weird, I would think of thought all new settlements would have pulled back to the cities."
"Most probably did, but I'm going guess the people here are motivated by something fairly strong to stay," Thor said as trekked towards it, thinking it would be nice to have a bed for a change.
"Like what?"
Thor shrugged "Money if it's a mining town, sense of freedom maybe, stubbornness is likely as well. We can find out once were in the town."
As they approached the town, the noticed the walls were unusually high, and the automated gun turrets on top spoke of a settlement started with a fairly large amount of money invested.
As they got the main gate, they were surprised to see heavy steel doors closed, barring there a way in.
"So what, do we knock?" Yang asked, but instead was greeted by a call from the top of the wall.
"Who goes there?" the voice called.
Thor responded, "Travelers, looking for a place to stay for the night!"
"Are you hunters?" the faceless voice called.
Thor and Yang exchanged glances before answering "Yes!", making to shout loud enough to be heard.
"Good!" was all they heard, then the steel doors started to open.
This wasn't an ordinary town, that much was clear, whether this was because of recent events or that was how it was meant to be, they'd probably find out soon, and walked over the threshold to the town.
The first thing they noticed was that despite the fact the town looked occupied, people were not walking around, at least not in crowds.
The voice that had addressed them from the wall came from behind them now and turned to see a town watchman coming behind them. He was a small, slight man, who didn't look like he was ready to fight anyone or anything. "Glad you've finally come, we didn't know if our message had gotten to anyone."
Thor and Yang exchanged looks, both thinking the same thing, they'd been mistaken for the hunter or hunters this village had sent for.
"I'm sorry, but we weren't sent for or hired, we're just traveling to Mistral," Yang said, and as she did, the watchman's face fell. "But!" she began quickly "If you need help, we'll help you! Just tell us what you need!"
The watchman smiled at this "Wonderful! You'll want to head to the town hall, it's straight down the road." He said point "You can see it from here, you'll be able to find everything out there."
With that, he climbed back onto the wall.
They both looked down the road to the town hall, and looked at each other for a moment, and headed off.
"This will delay us you know." He said as they walked.
"I know, but we can't just leave them hanging, Ruby wouldn't."
"No, she wouldn't, I just want to make sure you were aware of it, I'm not against it, but I want you to know this will delay us at least two days."
"I know Thor, I know, but-"
"I know, I just want all the cards on the table." He said as they walked up the steps to the town hall. It was a simple building, only a single story, and nothing remarkable on the outside other than white walls.
Thor opened the door for Yang and let her walk in ahead of him, and then followed her in.
The inside was hardly more remarkable than the outside. It really did look like a building that was still being moved into.
"Welcome!" a voice came from the right, and they both turned to look as short, rather fat, a man with a bushy mustache and balding head came running forward. He gripped Thor's hand and shook it quickly, then moved to Yang. "Oliver radioed ahead, I'm grateful for you for agreeing to help us! I'm the provisional Mayor here, Terrence Green, and it's wonderful to meet you, please sit down." He said gesturing to a line of chairs behind them that lined the wall.
Compared to the oppressed nature of the watchman, and the quiet nature of the town, this man's energy was quite a surprise.
"What is the name of your town anyway?" Thor asked, "It's not on our map, so this must be a pretty new settlement."
"Oh! The name, don't have one yet I'm afraid, people can't agree on one yet, so we just call it "The Town." He laughed "Now, as I understand it, you aren't aware of our predicament, yes?"
Yang spoke this time "That's right, we just happened to find you on our way to Mistral."
"Well, here's the short version of it." Terrence said, his mood cooling slightly "There is a mine about half a days walk from here, and it's possibly the most valuable mine in all of Remanent!"
Both Thor and Yang were thinking he might be exaggerating that, but let him continue "But we can't get into it because there is a Grimm infestation in the area. Normally Hunters or Huntresses would be enough to deal with it, but ever since the CCT went down, we haven't been able to call for help, and we've tried to clear the area on our own, but with no success."
"So you want us to clear the area?" Yang asked, thinking this may not be too hard.
"Yes, that's exactly right!"
"Pardon me, but wouldn't it be easier to just…leave? I mean what could be so valuable that you stick around? I mean if it's a dust mine…"
"Oh, my dear boy this is no Dust mine, we mine this." With that, he pulled out a baseball sized hunk of what looked like iron ore, but it glittered "We call it 'Silver-Steel.'" He said proudly.
Thor looked at it, a bit confused "What's so special about it?" he asked.
"Well, we don't know exactly how, it has properties that drive Grimm off." He said proudly.
Thor and Yang both looked surprised at that "What do you mean "Drive them off?'" Yang said
"Well, in its refined form, something about causes significant discomfort to Grimm, and they won't come near it, and in the few times they've come in contact with it, it's actually burned them."
Thor and Yang went wide eye at this, a metal that hurt Grimm?
"Frankly, that's why our village is left alone by them, we've managed to put a piece of its refined form on the wall, they won't approach it anymore."
"Then why is the mine over run?" Yang asked, confused and astonished.
"It's only once we refine it, that it gains those properties, in the raw, it's not effective at all. But think of the uses? A Grimm repellant, a weapon lethal to them by touch, think of what we could achieve if we discovered it's secret!"
"The biggest game changer since Dust," Thor said as he handled the ore.
"Well, yes, we're still years away from developing a wide scale use for it, it's simply too rare, but we are trying to duplicate it affects, and if we do…"
"We get it, don't worry, we'll clear the area."
"Excellent!" Terrence shouted, clapping his hands together "You can head out tomorrow, till then, you can stay at the Tavern for free!"
As they got ready for bed, they both thought of what this discovery meant. If the mayor were to be believed it would be years before a wide spread use could be derived from it, but still, it repelled Grimm, that was a powerful thing.
Granted, it wouldn't keep the village safe from bandits, but that was one less thing to worry about.
"Thor," Yang spoke out to him as he climbed into his bed.
"Yes?"
"Did you ever hear of the 'Silver-eyed Warriors'?"
"In passing, why?"
"Well, their eyes were supposed to paralyze Grimm and scare them, now there's a metal call. 'Silver-Steel,' you think there's a connection?"
Truthfully, yes he did. Where he came from, Silver was the metal to harm unholy or demonic entities, here he saw that something similar may also be true. "I think there could be."
Yang looked like she wanted to continue the talk, but like she didn't know how, so she opted for a change of subject. "What type of Grimm do you think we'll encounter?"
Thor shrugged "Beowulf and Ursa most likely, but who knows really."
They'd inquired to this to the mayor, but no one left in town had been up to the area. Some had left, others had died, but none of what was left floating around the town as gossip had was really reliable.
"Guess you're right, better get some rest tonight, and work hard tomorrow."
With that, she climbed into her bed, and they both set in for the night.
The next morning they both rose and grabbed some quick supplies, and grabbed a quick breakfast before heading out. The Mayor had said it was a half a day walks to the mine, so they didn't want to wait until late in the day to head out, they wanted to get there with daylight left.
They had their directions and headed out, and it wasn't until they had been walking for some time that anyone brought up something they thought they might have wanted to discuss before leaving.
"Did we talk about payment?" Yang asked Thor as they trekked down the service road that leads to the mine.
Thor thought on this for a moment before answering "No, kind of an oversight now that we think about it, we didn't request payment."
"Well, that's okay, we're not doing this for the money."
"No we're not, but we are taking time and resources to deal with it, I hope we at least get a hot meal out of it."
"Yeah, a few supplies might be helpful too." She added.
Just as she finished speaking, a Haunting shriek rang in the distance, a very familiar one. As they came over the top of a hill, they found that a small valley beneath the hill was filled with fog.
They didn't need to say it, they both knew what this was.
Marauders.
"I can't believe none of the villagers mentioned a fog or mist," Thor grumbled as they started towards the fog.
"None of them were actually here though, you know how things can change with each telling."
"Doesn't make me feel any better about it, I hate this things," Thor said as he walked into the mist, creating an opening with his semblance. "Remember last time, wait for them to make the attack."
She didn't need him to tell her that, as the shrieking came flying towards her, and as one of the little monster flew at her, and she blasted it out of the air.
Two more went after Thor, and he cut them cleanly in half with his axe. Just like last time, they came in slowly at first, but with more frequency and ferocity as time went on.
But this time was different, they just seem to keep coming in more and more numbers. Yang wasn't worried until one winger her leg, and two nearly took Thor's head off.
"I think we need to back out for a minute, get out Breath!" She shouted over the wild shrieking, blasting two more.
Thor nodded as he just managed to slip past one, and they started to retreat back to where they knew the mist had ended. They didn't bolt and run, knowing if they left themselves open they risked being overwhelmed. But fighting in a slow retreat.
But something was wrong, and they both knew it. They were now moving up hill, but the mist had been at the bottom of the hill when they arrived, yet here they were still in it.
"These little bastards moved it," Thor grunted as he impaled one with the spike of his axe.
"Well, what do we do now? Just keep fighting?" She asked, with a slight twinge of panic in her voice.
"I have something that might work, but you need to listen carefully." He said as they ducked and attacked the incoming Grimm.
"When I say 'down,' you need to hit the ground, alright?"
"Okay, what are you going to do?"
"You'll see…'DOWN'!" He shouted, and without a second thought she dropped on to her back.
What she saw next was Thor raising his axe in the air and shouting. Next thing she knew, a bolt of Lightning came crashing down and struck the axe, making Thor look like a human lightning rod.
Lighting branched and arced out, striking several of the Mauraders in the circle. But as it reached into the mist, she heard the shrieking multiply several folds.
As the electric current disappeared, Thor dropped to his knees. Yang jumped to her feet and stood guard, waiting for more to attack. But none came, and fog started to dissipate.
"Good job, their big guy! Why the hell didn't you do that from the start?" She said as she turned to look at him, and she felt her blood run cold.
He looked incredibly pale and sweating bullets. "Are you okay?!" she said kneeling down next to him.
"Mostly, but that little move wiped me, I didn't know it would work or not, and it looked like it did, but I'm not going anywhere for a bit."
"Why not? They're gone, we can head back."
"My arm and leg got shorted out from that little move, I need to wait for them to reboot."
"What? How can that even happen? Your semblance shouldn't hurt your prosthetics, even electrical ones,"
"It was too much power, I don't think they were ever designed to handle that kind of current. They shut down."
"You mean they're fried?"
"No, I just think they shut down to protect their circuits, look here." He pointed with his real hand to a flashing orange light on his prosthetic "That means it's rebooting itself, should take an hour, that's why I wasn't really ready to use it before."
"Okay, we can wait a bit, but you know that was reckless right? If that hadn't of worked, you'd be just about helpless right?"
He didn't respond verbally but nodded. "I won't do it again, I promise."
"Well, I got some canned beans, I thought we'd be spending the night out here, but looks like we'll be back tonight. So-" she said as she dug through her pack, and pulled two cans out. "Here, you'll need the energy." She said as she opened her can and his. They didn't bother to heat them up on fire, knowing that by the time they got one going, they'd be ready to go.
As they ate they didn't talk, and as time went on Thor felt the sensations start to come back to his artificial limbs.
He stood, and although it hadn't been quite an hour, the limbs were partially functional and began to walk. He insisted on heading out now, and Yang didn't feel like denying him that, she didn't want to be out here longer than they had to. The Mauraders made her uneasy, how they attacked with such intent and planned their attacks and developed tricks to confuse their prey.
They started off at a slow pace, but as they moved, he got better and better, and before long he'd regained his normal movement.
" I think." He began "We should ask for some of that metal they have, as payment."
"Yeah? Why's that?"
"Might come in use, I might be able to add it to my axe, your gauntlets too, make for better Grimm fighting weapons. Might even keep them away, save us some trouble in the future."
"Yeah, I get that, okay we'll ask them once we're back."
The return to the village was met with a small amount of fan fair, but nothing extravagant. The people were grateful, but we're already getting ready to go back to the mine and start pulling the precious metal out of the ground.
"Thank you mayor, but we were wondering if it was at all possible." Yang began "If we could have some of that metal, you know, refined? We think it might come in handy on our journey."
The Mayor only looked confused for a moment, but smiled and agreed to the request. He told them he wasn't thrilled to be parting with it because they were planning on using what they had to build vehicles and gear to keep Grimm away from the workers.
But, he confessed they didn't have enough for that anyway, and they had helped them greatly.
They were each given ten pounds of the refined metal and were given all the supplies they could carry.
They were also given another night in the Tavern before they would leave the next day.
That evening, Thor waited on his bed while Yang took a shower. He wanted to have one as well, given how they hadn't had a proper chance to bath for some time. They hadn't the night before because they knew they were going into the field again the next morning. But now, they wanted a chance to freshen up, tonight and tomorrow morning as well.
He heard the water turn off and a moment later, Yang came out, wearing nothing but a towel, and he'd probably of found it much more alluring if he hadn't seen her much more exposed.
Instead, he got up and went in to take his turn in the shower.
Stripping down, he climbed in and turned the water on. He wasn't a great lover of luxury, but he appreciated being clean, and he knew Yang liked it when he kept himself clean as well. She wasn't really very girly, but hygiene was something she valued.
He shampooed his hair and washed his body, but didn't take nearly as long as Yang. He supposed a large part of that was he didn't have nearly as much hair like her, which no doubt took a long time to clean.
But after about twenty minutes, a long time for him at any rate, he turned off the water and stepped out. He looked in the fogged mirror and wiped it clear with his hand. Looking at his beard, he thought it could be cleaned up.
Grabbing a trimmer, he edged it up and knocked it down a bit. Examining his work, he decided it was good enough, and put the trimmer down.
Drying his hair and body, he wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out into the room.
Looking into the room, he noticed Yang was lying in his bed.
"You know that's my bed right?"
"Really? Well, I guess I'm comfortable here. You can come in if you want."
He smiled at the invitation but didn't think he'd accept it. "No, I think I'll just take your bed." He said as he pulled the blankets back on her bed.
Yang's face fell at this, and he looked at her, and he thought she looked a little hurt.
"Is there something wrong with me?" She asked him.
He was taken aback this statement "Why would you think that?" He said sitting up in the bed.
"We've been 'official' for weeks now, and I've, let's be honest, been pretty forward with you. You've taken care of me a few times even, but you don't even want to go further." She paused at this " I don't get it, I mean, we could die any day now, and you don't want to go further than some making out and hand and mouth stuff."
Thor had realized he'd failed to see another facet to mortality, even if he was living it, he was still missing a great deal of context. Yang was young, but also in a scenario where her death could happen quietly suddenly, and her own near fatal experience had probably resulted in some more carnal desires coming forward.
He'd thought that when it had occurred, he'd dealt with it fine, but clearly, he hadn't. She wasn't just looking for physical release, but a deeper emotional connection to cling to. He'd been rebuffing that.
"Yang, it's nothing to do with you…" he began and trailed off because while that part he knew was true, he didn't know why he'd been resisting it.
There was no logical reason to not, they were in a relationship, they genuinely liked each other, and he found her attractive. So what was stopping him?
But he knew what it was, and he supposed he'd know for a while.
"I'm afraid." Was all he said.
Yang looked shocked at this, "Thor, I'm scared of it too, but I've never done it either, we're on the same page here…" she trailed off as he waved his hand.
"Not of the act." He said because although she didn't know it, he'd done it many, many time before, even if it wasn't in this body. "The idea of what comes from it. The idea of being intimate with someone, we have to be realistic here, leads to children, and I can't help but think…I'd be a horrible father, like mine, that I'd do something to hurt any child I might have."
"We'll use protection, I'm not planning on getting pregnant right now." She said almost indignantly.
"That isn't my concern, it's just…the thought, it scares me." He'd hadn't felt this way until very recently, with this current situation or test from his father, but he felt abandoned. He didn't know if that was the case or not, but the feeling was still there. "I don't think I'd get you pregnant, but damn it, I can't help but think of how bad a father I'd be."
Yang's expression softened considerably, and she stood up from the bed she was laying in, and sat next to him, and started rubbing his back. "Thor, that's…I mean I get it, I've got some parent issues too, as you know, but you couldn't possibly be a bad dad."
He had to turn much wider than he'd have to normally to look at her, because of his missing eye. "How can you know that?"
"Come on, they way you're around Ruby? Your general compassion? Your desire to protect, you'd be a great father some day." He smiled at this before she continued "But neither of us is going to be parents for a while yet, we're still young." She leaned in a kissed him quickly on the lips. "We're supposed to fool around a bit, so come on, let's have some fun, we don't know what tomorrow brings, so let's seize the day."
She kissed him again, more passionately this time. And he returned it, wrapping his arms around her, and she around him.
Next thing he knew he was on his back on the bed and Yang was on top of him.
"So." She said in a gasp as she broke the kiss "You up for it?"
He thought for a moment before thinking 'To hell with it,' and initiated another kiss with her before breaking it and saying "Alright."
The next morning Yang woke first, in Thor's arms as the sun peeked through the window. The previous night came back to her mind, and she couldn't help but smile at it.
It had been much better than she'd expected, given what she'd heard the first time couldn't be messy. But it had been a great night for her, and even though she had no point of comparison, he thought it had been wonderful.
She wanted to get a shower before they left, but she wanted Thor to be awake before she got in. He mentioned his dreams of being alone in an empty world. She didn't want to leave him alone when he woke up, she wanted to be there for him when that happened to ease his waking.
But as he started to stir, she sat up on the edge of the bed and waited for him to wake up.
It was a couple of minutes before he did, but he had a smile when he did. "Morning." Was all he said.
"Morning big guy, I'm gonna jump in the shower alright?"
"Sure, I'll take one after you, then we'll head out."
She nodded and headed into the shower. As she turned the water on and climbed in, she was glad she'd waited until they'd both had a proper bath before trying to really initiate their first time. As they had been traveling, they both would get a pretty strong smell of Body Oder, but the other thing was she hadn't been able to actually shave until last night. She remembered when she'd helped him shave back at her house that she'd done it more than him, which was true.
She didn't' think he'd care really if she hadn't shaved in a few days, but for her own self-image, she was glad she'd waited.
For their first time anyway, she felt that was sort of important, but if they got the urge on the road, well, she thought she'd live if she hadn't been as 'trimmed' as she'd like.
But she figured she take the chance now while she had it, and touched up everything she'd already done. And she cleaned herself as best she could, knowing that once they were on the road, it'd be at least a week before they hit the next town.
Thor got in and got cleaned much quicker than she did, and before much longer, they were packed and ready to go. Their "Silver-Steel" packed away with the supplies they have been given.
They got a quick breakfast from the tavern, and it wasn't two hours after sun up that they were on the road again. The few villagers who were up bid then farewell, and offered their thanks again, but they didn't stay longer than was needed to be polite to thank them before they were on their way.
They only were walking for a few minutes before Yang spoke: "What do you think Ruby is up too?"
"You've known her longer than me." Thor responded, "You'd have a better idea."
"Yeah, in some ways, but I think you know her in a way that's different from the way I do. Not better, I don't anyone other than my dad knows her better than I do, just…different."
"Well." He said pausing to take time to think "If she'd still traveling, she'd probably badgering the other's with a "How much longer" question, I never got the impression she really understood distance that well, and how long something like this would take." He said.
"Yeah, I can see that." Yang said smiling "But what if they're there?" Her tone becoming quieter and more somber.
"She's either looking at a foreign weapons shop or doing detective work." He said promptly. "She's not going to get sidetracked too much from her goal."
"No, no she's not," Yang muttered is a quiet, almost sad tone, her gaze cast towards the ground, apparently being drawn into deep thought.
"What about you, what do you think she's up to?" Thor asked, turning to look at her while he continued at his pace.
"Well, I think pretty much the same thing you do, she'd gonna be focused on her goal, not much is gonna distract her, expect maybe cookies." She said smiling.
They shared a small laugh at that, followed by silence.
"I miss her," Yang said suddenly, but not to Thor's surprise, he knew that, and he needs to voice it so often only cemented that fact in his mind.
"I know you do, I do too, but I know it's nothing compared to how much you do." He looked at her and saw the worry crossing her face again. "Don't worry, she strong, and she'd got friends to look after her. We'll find her before long, then you can go back to being the 'Team mom.'" He said smiling.
She smiled back and gave him a light shove before responding. "Well, if I'm the team mom, then I guess that makes you the team dad then."
He smiled back and gave her should a light nudge. They both started to laugh and continued on their way as the sun began to rise.
A/N: Okay, please leave a review and tell me what you think. They also help motivate me, positive or negative, to write quicker. I feel like I get some things to work on with each one and that makes me want to try and do them!