"Lèi…"

"Hello again, Summer"

I waved my hand to the void, since I can only hear her voice.

"…Lèi."

"Are you going to keep saying my name?"

She would always haunt my dreams lately, saying nothing other than that. But hearing her voice always soothes my troubled heart.

"…"

Dead silence.

"I'm sorry for leaving so long… But please, say anything other than my name…"

"…Ruby."

"Huh?"

Well, that was a start.

"Please keep Ruby safe, Lèi."

I assumed Ruby was a name, so I asked: "Who is Ruby?"

"…I'm sorry, Lèi. I wish I can tell you more." I could hear her sobbing softly. "But I must be gone, I hope for just a while."

I tried to reply, but the abyss silenced my voice.

"I know you would tear Remnant apart to see me again, Lèi. I want to see you, too."

I could hear her sweet giggles between the sobbing tears.

"But please, keep Ruby safe from danger, until we all meet again."

"I promise."

I woke up from the slumber with warm, wet eyes. They were blurred with tears, but I smelled wet wood and fresh fragrance of showered pine trees. My cabin was standing near the edge of the forest, so I always love it when the rain comes and the forest refreshes. It reminded me of the green land of Vale.

I stayed in Mistral for a few years now. Before that I had stayed in the cold and freezing Atlas, the hot desert of Vacuo, sometimes on the sea on-board the ship or camping beside the roads and forests. Everywhere is my home now. But never a day I forget about Vale. It is my hometown, where most of my friends and fellow Huntsmen live.

I woke up from my single bed to the bathroom and decided to get a nice and cold shower. It was excruciatingly freezing, truly. But I needed to wake my brain cells, especially after the last dream I saw. I found it both weird and depressing, because I mostly forget about my dreams as soon as I fully awake. But this time, I could remember every little thing about it. The voice, the tears, and the words I heard; it was branded on my long-term memory. As if it was not dream, but a telepathic vision.

I turned off the shower and grabbed a thick towel from its hanger, and then I dried myself and wrapped everything but left the bare torso alone. I walked to the cabinet with mirrors attached to it and studied my reflection. There was almost no change to my face, thankfully. Oval, ashen eyes, firm jaw, smile wrinkles, and no facial hairs – because I cannot even grew a good moustache or beard. I smirked at myself. Who knows that being a nomad would keep you from aging? The only thing that showed my age was my hair. My once dark grey hair becomes silver, because two decades decided that it would look nice on me.

For a fifth of a century I had walked and explored Remnant, yet I did not have the chance to return to Vale. For some reason every time I booked a flight to Vale the authority always rejected my passport. Maybe the corrupt men who knew my 'insubordination' managed to become council members and decided to blacklist me from my homeland entirely.

In the meantime I sent postcards to all of my former team members, but mostly to team STRQ, Winter, Ozpin, and Glynda. Of course, Summer always get the most postcards from my journey. We communicated with that conventional method for the first year. However after 'email' got popular we decided to switch to it, where I can send digital postcards within seconds. Thank Gods for technology.

However, I cannot contact Summer either since the last few years. Taiyang and Raven never replied my emails, Qrow and Winter was not in Vale, Ozpin and Glynda lost contact with her, too. Every day my worry grew; not being able to go home and seek the answer made it worse.

"Ruby Rose…" I rehearse that name while cooking eggs and toasts after I clothed myself. I thought hard on her last message even when I finished my breakfast. Keep Ruby safe. Whoever Ruby is, I knew she – I thought Ruby was a feminine name – was someone important to Summer.

I sat at the working desk after I was finished with the dishes. As usual, I reread my list of freelance hunting assignments and bounty targets which were stacked on its smooth wooden surface before bed. They were filed into stapled papers. It was not that I did not know how to use computers to file them; it was just a hassle to re-input hard copies everyday just to be deleted half a day later. In fact, I did have a laptop for filing various intel important enough to be saved in its hard disk.

But I would not sit down at the desk all day. There are Grimms waiting to be rid of.

I stood up and donned my armour from its wardrobe – not forgetting my white cloak. This gift from her always made me feel warm, and I treasure it every second of my life. Then I opened the weapon locker and grabbed my old, trusty Rhongomyniad – already sharpened and polished. After I was battle ready, I took the top stack of my assignment papers and went outside.

"How is her condition?" Ozpin spoke to Glynda in an empty hall, far beneath the Beacon Academy. The hall was lit dimly; small neon lamps on the wall did not provide enough light to the large room.

"Stable, but she's still in coma." Glynda spoke softly while fixing her glasses. In front of them, at the end of the hall were some device and two metal boxes. One can see that it was incubators and life support machines. In one of the open box was a woman with red-brown hair, her beautiful face was scarred and her only indication of living is her steady breath and her health status on the monitor.

"I cannot believe the Fall Maiden can be defeated to this level." Glynda caressed her hair, her sad tone were full of sympathy and anger.

"Our enemy is strong, no doubt. But putting Lady Amber into a coma…" Ozpin sighed deeply and removed his glasses. "Then our enemy is not what we expected."

Glynda turned her head to see him, silently observing his expression. She knew him; she fought together for a long time. They ran a Hunter academy together for years, and yet she never saw him this disturbed before.

"Ozpin…"

The headmaster looked up from his deep thinking and realized that Glynda were staring at him; her eyes were softly calming him unknowingly.

"We will stop whoever threatens us and everyone," Glynda straighten herself and reassured him.

Ozpin smiled and nodded a little. She returned the gesture, then she closed the incubator and air-locked it. After that they silently walk back together to the elevator at the far end of the hall.

"We may need to call some backup to help defend Beacon." Ozpin spoke, breaking the silence.

"You mean Qrow?" Glynda raised an eyebrow.

"Everyone we can depend on, maybe Winter Schnee from Atlas would like to join."

"I heard her sister would apply here too."

"Well, what a coincidence." Ozpin remarked while putting his glasses back on. "This younger Schnee has a reason to choose here than Atlas, I presume?"

"I honestly had no idea." Glynda shrugged.

"Taiyang's daughter also applied, Qrow told me. Sadly Taiyang would be too busy to join us."

"This is like a reunion." Glynda commented.

"Speaking of reunion…" Ozpin stopped and turned to her. "I think there is one person left to invite."

"Here's your bounty." An old man in middle age clothed in a tailored suit happily said and gave me a thick envelope. "Thanks for keeping our town safe, Sir Lèi."

"Ah, what can I say? I am a Hunter, Mr. Mayor" I received the payment smilingly. "It is my job nonetheless."

"I am glad you are willing to stay here in this little town. Without any Huntsman this town would be overrun by Grimms already."

I only grinned to the mayor, and then I turned around to exit his house.

"That reminds me; you told me that you're from Vale right?"

That question stopped me in my tracks. Why all of the sudden? I asked myself.

"Sorry if I offend you but, you've been here for years." His tone is full of concern rather than judgemental. "If you wanted to return home or visit your family and friends there, please don't let us hold you."

"Mayor, I…" I began to speak but he interrupted.

"We are grateful for what you did, Sir Lèi. But you look weary." The mayor said. "Well not as weary as me – especially regarding your non-aging face. You know what I mean."

I chuckled at his remark while he laughed.

"My point is, if you have something to finish in your homeland, please don't hold yourself here."

"I wish I could, Mr. Mayor." I turned around and walked to the exit door, smiling rather sadly.

I wish I could.

It was 5 in the evening when I walked out from the house. The sun began to set, creating an orange sky above my head. I looked up and saw the moon and a few bright stars were already shining. The town was filled with people roaming the streets. The children were playing cheerfully on the open field nearby; the adults were either chatting happily or finishing their works before they got home for the rest of the night.

I may miss Vale, but I love to be here.

I greet a few townsfolk on my way to my cabin. Mostly they asked about how's my hunting goes today and thanked me for being here in this little settlement. I do not want to be treated as a hero or anything, but as the only Huntsman in that town, I can only smile to their praises.

When I finally enter my cabin, I realized that my laptop's light indicator was blinking in the dark. I accidentally put it in standby mode rather than turn it off, I thought to myself. I turned on the light switch nearby, removed my cloak, and put my spear on the wall before sitting on my desk. I opened the device and the screen turned on. On the bottom right side there was an email notification.

"I rarely got emails recently." I mumbled and then raised an eyebrow after I saw the sender's name. "Especially from Ozpin…" I clicked on the hyperlink and the email opened.

From: Ozpin, Beacon Academy

To: Lèi Cyrus

Subject: [none]

Greetings, Mr. Lèi, how have you been?

Before anything, I want to tell you that your passport has been cleared as I'm writing this email. I'm sorry that it took so long to process, because the council was so strict in letting a 'fugitive' re-enter the kingdom.

The reason I'm writing this is because we need to gather our forces. There are new enemies threatening not only Vale, but the rest of Remnant. So far they were successful in defeating Amber. She lost half of her power because of it.

Let's discuss more in person; I'm afraid this email might have been compromised.

I knocked hard on the mayor's house before he finally opened his door. His face showed his confusion, especially after he saw me in complete travelling gear – Rhongomyniad on my back, white cloak covered my armour, and a bag of supplies.

"What can I help you, Sir Lèi?" He finally asked. "Is there a problem?"

"I have to go, urgent calls. I need a transport to the nearest dock."

"No problem." He grabbed his phone from his pocket and dialled a number. Minutes later a jeep came in front of the house. "I hope this was sufficient enough."

"It is a luxury, Mr. Mayor." I smiled gratefully. "I hope you can find a better Hunter to protect this town."

"You're going to Vale, I presume?" The mayor asked knowingly. "And don't worry about us, we shall survive."

I offered a handshake, which he gladly accepted. Then I hopped on the open seat behind the driver. I tapped the driver on the shoulder, and the jeep went away. I could feel the evening wind on my face, but my cloak warmed the rest of my body. I sighed contently and held the white fabric close, slightly reminiscing about her.

All these words that you meant to say, held in silence day after day.

Words of kindness that our poor hearts crave, please don't keep them hidden away.

I'm coming home, Summer.

Author Notes:

So, even a chapter a month is not enough. I'm terribly, truly apologize that this went up very late. I'm on the brink on finishing my degree, and there are this virtual stacks of assignments and drafted papers waiting on my hard drive. Again, please forgive my disability in time management.

This chapter is served as some kind of "bridge" between 20 years ago and current canon timeline, retelling about Lèi's well-being in a short 2000+ word. It lacked any fight sequence (sorry again) because I have no idea about making solo Grimm fighting interesting. I tried at some point, but it's just plain boring. So I cut that part out. Expect the full fight experience next chapter :)

A little bit of trivia, I listened to "Hidden Away" by Josh Groban while I'm writing this and ended up searching for the lyric, then sing along. I realized that the lyrics were quite reflecting Lèi's feeling on our heroine, so I chose the title as the chapter title. What can I say? I love romantic songs. :D