Hey guys and gals, I'm back for the first chapter of "Remnants of a Friend" and would like to say thank-you to anyone who took the time to read my story.
IMPORTANT – Please read the author note at the bottom of page when done reading.
-][- = Line/Scene Break
(Italics means dream or flashback)
Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the story except for my character Davian Kadar.
After Yang and Ruby left, promising to be back tomorrow morning, I went upstairs to check my room. Not a thing had changed. Everything in my room is, for the most part, how I left it. Excluding the thick layer of dust on everything of course. I walk over to my desk and just took in how much I've changed. My complete weapon blueprints, a sword sharpener and cleaning kit, school-work, and other odds n' ends.
I sigh, not even sure if the life of a Hunter was for me anymore. As I'm in deep thought, my eyes wonder a picture that reminded me of why I was training to become a Huntsman. The photo showed Yang, Ruby, and I standing in the clearing one year prior to my disappearance. Yang and I were standing shoulder to shoulder with Ruby sitting in between our heads with big smile on all of our faces. That's the biggest change, while Ruby and Yang may not be any different, I sure have.
Shaking my head, I turn around and walk back downstairs to sleep due to my room not being ready for use. As I passed into the living room, I saw a pile of clothes and toiletries on the couch with a blanket and two pillows. I grab the toiletries and the sleeping clothes and get ready for bed.
Before I can crawl into bed I hear someone on the back porch through the glass door in the living room. Glancing out, I find my father sitting there just, staring into the forest. As I turn around to give my father some privacy, I hear him call out, "Davian." I turn back around at the sound of my name I see my father looking at me with a look of regret, "can we talk for a few minuets?" Stepping out into the cool night air, I close the sliding door behind me and sit down next to him. We just sit their staring off into the distance, "I'm sorry." Turning my head to look at my father in the eyes, all I see are tears, "It's our fault you were taken by the Fang, if we had just stood our ground-"
"No" I say in a firm voice, "it's not your fault and you and mom did the right thing. The Fang would of executed both of you and would of come for me anyways." I sighed as I leaned back into my chair, "Everyone in the Fang were angry and looking for a fight. And while many would of saw you standing your ground as brave, many more would not care and even would've taken glee in the punishment you two would revive. I don't blame you and mom for anything and I'm not angry and anyone except for the Fang. Alright, I..don't..blame..you," reaching over I give him a firm hug. He hugs back and we stay like that for a few minuets.
Unlatching himself from the hug, my father looks at me with a smile and a look of relief, "You should go get some sleep, if I know Yang and Ruby you're going to need it tomorrow with what they have planned, good-night." Nodding my head, I say night and we head back inside to go to bed.
I lay down on the couch and try to sleep, emphasis on the try. By the time I had been held for a week, I never slept for more than three hours a night at most. Now whether that was do to being woken up by the captors or by nightmares was a coin toss. At least now I don't jump up in a panic, I just wake up sweating and breathing heavy. After an hour or so of starring at the ceiling, I felt my eyes droop as sleep over took me.
-][-
Pain; Pain from burns, stabs, cuts, and punches, that's all I felt anymore. Any other feelings had been beaten out of me by now. At first I fought, but that had been taken from me as well. After watching two of the most important people in my life being taken from me, I could no longer fight. It was all gone. Probably what they wanted – Waking quickly, I take in my surroundings in a process I'd perfected over the years. Threat assessment, escape rout, then chances of success, in that order. I sigh as I remember I was safe. Rubbing my face, I get up and get dressed before walking out onto the front porch to sit the rest of the morning hours. With the sun barely rising I think about the coming hours. "Probably going to involve a lot of walking around town so I can see whats changed. Humph, definitely doesn't sound so bad. Though with Ruby and Yang, I guess they could have anything planned from getting ice cream to sky diving, you could never tell with those two." As I was trying to prepare myself for whatever was coming, I looked up at the sound of a engine approaching the house. When it comes into view, I see Yang on a motorcycle she didn't have when I was still here. She pulls into the driveway not seeing me sitting there and hops off to check something on her bike. While she distracted I walk up behind her and lean in close to her ear "When did you get that death trap" I say, deciding to give humor a try after so long, putting on a small grin.
Yang yelped in surprise, not expecting me to be right there. Quickly hopping to her feet, she gives me a grin gave me a hug. She looks up smirking, "Ready for today? We're going to wear you out." I nod my head and lead her back to the couch on the porch to sit.
"As ready as I'll ever be" I say chuckling, turning towards her bike, "though if I remember you and Ruby correctly, then it won't matter if I'm ready or not. I'm going to be exhausted after doing what you to might have planned." Nodding towards her bike, "So like I said, when did you get that deathtrap?" I wait a few seconds for an answer, but when I don't hear one I look back at Yang to see her starring at my face, or more specifically, the scar marring it. Realizing that she was caught starring, Yang quickly looked away with a look of shame. Putting a hand on her shoulder I get her attention, "Yang, Yang please look at me."
She finally looked up at me guiltily and runs her finger over the scar, "It's my fault," she says on the verge of tears, "If I was wasn't such a go-happy brawler you wouldn't of had to take that hit for me, and because of my mistake you were captured." Finally breaking down into tears, she let out what had been eating away at her for years.
I don't say anything as I let her cry on my shoulder and let it all out. After a few minutes, her crying had diminished into small, dry sobs. Pushing her back so I could look her in the eyes, I make sure my face is one of softness, "Yang, I don't blame you for what happened at all. It wouldn't of mattered if you were grabbed or not, it's probably better you were. If you weren't grabbed and we had continued fighting, they would of overwhelmed us eventually. That would only of ended up with you dead and me being taken anyways. The leader of the group was no
push-over and was way above our skill level at the time."
By now Yang was looking at her feet, processing what I said. I, fully knowing she would still blame herself no matter what I said, lightly pulled her chin so she'd look at me again, "Last night, I was about to go bed when I heard someone on the back porch. When I looked out I found my dad just sitting their staring at the forest." Yang, with full attention, dried her eyes to listen, "He and mom had done the same thing you're doing now. Blaming themselves for something they couldn't control. It's the worst thing anyone can do in this situation, what happened happened, nothing is going to change that. There's only one group of people I blame for what I went through and that's the current White Fang, no one else, and no one else but them hold that blame. Okay?" She stares at me for several seconds before nodding her head. Once her eyes were dried, Yang gets up and hugs me again. Once I was sure she was better, I walked us over to her motorcycle, "Now, why don't you show me your bike," I say with a small smile.
With a smile splitting her face, Yang pats her "baby" and commences to fan girl over every detail of the thing ranging from the parts she used to the name she gave it, "Bumblebee". "It's my favorite possession minus my hair" she exclaims. We continue to talk about this and that until the rest of Yang's and my family shows up.
Ruby, ever excited, rushes over and jumps into a hyper-speed run down of what they had planned for today. "Wearegoingtohavesomuchfun! Wearegoingtogoshoppingandeatandjustseewhatthereistodoaroundtown!" With the biggest smile I've ever seen her make ,she continues on with her explanation.
I look up at Taiyang with raised eyebrows while he shrugged, "She's literally been bouncing off the walls the entire morning. If fact I'm surprised she didn't use her semblance to get her faster."
Ruffling her hair, I put a hand over her mouth to stop her motormouth. "I'm sure it's going to be fun Ruby, why don't we get going before you pass out from lack of oxygen." Literally shaking with excitement, she uses her speed to drag everyone over to the car her family brought that could hold all of us and practically throws everyone in before they could figure out what was going on. Sitting in the back seat with Ruby next to me and Yang next to her, I just sat there, trying to figure out how I got inside the car so fast while everyone is completely calm, acting as if it was completely normal for a fourteen year old girl to be able to move people twice her size at such a great speed.
Stepping out of the car, I find myself in the middle of downtown Vale. Taking a few seconds to take it all in, I just stand there and look at how everything compares to how I saw it last. Besides some new buildings and stories, it's exactly how I remember it. People bustling to and fro, moving on with their day of shopping, working, or playing. Ruby, with an air of pure energy, announces that it's time to go. We all start walking toward a department store so we could do "a little clothes shopping". Needless to say, we were their awhile. I got what I needed pretty quickly while the girls rush back and forth, asking what I thought, then completely dismissing the opinion, as girls do when they as a boy for fashion opinions. After two and a half hours of shopping, we drop our bags off at the car and go to find a restaurant.
After looking at a few options, Tai offers to let me pick since it's been awhile since I had the ability to. Thinking back to the foods I used to love, I pick a Italian restaurant that looks relatively new and we all walk in to eat. Or at least try to, not three feet into the restaurant we're being yelled at by the staff, "We don't serve faunus, you're going to have to leave." While everyone else is appalled by the staff, as well as a few of the customers, I just shrug, turn around and walk out.
After a block or so, I glanced ahead of me and saw the adults with a look of guilt while Yang and Ruby looked like they were seconds away from running back and beating the crap out of the staff. While it did hurt, I'm used to being looked down upon as a result of the last couple years, "I'm sorry, bad choice I guess. You guys go ahead and choose something, I really don't care and I'm sure it'll all taste good." My parents, unsure if I was really unaffected or not, just suggest another Italian restaurant down the block.
When we get about half way there, Yang falls back to where I'm am, "You sure you're ok?"
I look over at her and nod my head, "It's fine Yang, faunus were always treated like that even before I disappeared and I didn't expect that to change in this short of time. I'm used to it, don't worry about me." By now we've reached the restaurant and for the next hour and a half we all eat and laugh, the previous incident forgotten. During dessert, I ask something that I've been wondering since I got back. "Hey Yang, did you continue at Signal afterwords?"
Swallowing her bite, she nods her head, "Yeah, after what happened I just thought it would have been a good way to remember you ya know. After all the work we put into it, I just didn't think it would've been a good idea to quit." Nodding my head in understanding, she continued, "I'm in my last year at Signal now and I'm waiting to hear back if I got into Beacon or not."
"Appreciate it," looking over to my right "what about you Ruby? You said you wanted to go to Signal as well." Looking up from the cookies she'd been inhaling with a twinkle in her eye, I brace myself for another speedy explanation.
"I forgot to tell you! I'm two years behind Yang now and I'm one of the best in my class and - I FORGOT TO SHOW YOU HER!" After yelling that to the heavens, she quickly pulled out her scroll and brought up some blueprints of her "sweetheart" and hands the scroll to me. Three seconds is all it takes before my eyes widen at the thought of this little speed demon having a six foot high impact sniper scythe.
Looking up at Yang in mock horror, "How could you let her build something like that!?" Yang burst into snickers while Ruby giggles behind a hand. Letting a smile settle on my face, I suddenly think of something. Looking over to my parents, "Speaking of weapons, was my sword recovered or was it taken to?"
Looking at each other with a odd look, my mother look back to me, "It's back at the house in your closet, but why do you want it.?"
Guessing at what I was thinking, my father got worried, "You want to continue at being a Huntsman, don't you" he posed it as a statement, not as a question. I bite my lower lip as I stare into the checkered tablecloth. I eventually look up and can see the worry Mom, Tai, Ruby, and especially Yang showed on their faces. Dad, oddly enough, just looked...resigned.
"Davian, after what happened, you have every right in the world to take as much time as you need to...just, you don't have to do anything like that anymore" mom says, almost pleading.
I sigh, realizing my bad timing, "Mom, can we just...talk about it later. Please." After a few seconds, she nods her head, we return to our food for a few awkward minutes.
"I apologize, but Ruby and Yang need to get back home to finish their school work" Taiyang says, startling us.
"Awwwww" Ruby wines, wanting to spend more time with me before the weekend was up.
Ruffling her hair, "Don't worry Ruby, I'll see if I can stop by tomorrow after you get home and you can show me your weapon" I say to reassure her, already feeling Yang's worried stare.
Ruby gives me a pout with crossed arms "Fine...you promise?"
"Promise" I say, giving her a small smile.
Standing in my room, I look at the weapon that I spent weeks planning with Yang. "Never did finish it, only got the sword done." Alone, it didn't look like much. The blade had a double edge that was twenty-eight inches with a blood channel running down the entire length. The hilt wasn't anything extravagant. The grip was rapped in black leather with not hand guard due to another extendable blade that can come out of the bottom of handle that extends another twenty-eight inches, but it's not designed to extend unless it's sheathed. Like I said, never got around to finishing the last two parts of my weapon.
"Davian, can we talk to you?" Turning around, I find mom and dad standing in my doorway. Remembering the silent drive on the way back home, I nod my head and head down to the living room, steeling myself for a heated conversation. Sitting down on a chair across from my parents on the couch, I keep my gaze on the carpet.
"Davian...why do you want to continue on that path after what happened?" Looking up to my mother and father at the question, I see them with worried and anxious looks. Looking back down, I just continue to stare at the floor. "Davian please, we just want you to be safe and-"
"Being safe isn't my priority anymore." I say flatly, still looking down. My parents are silent, allowing me to continue. "I don't care if I deserve to be safe because of the last three years. I don't...I don't want the knowledge of what I went through to automatically make it so I can take the easy path whenever I want. I blame VERY few people for what happened to me. I don't blame you, Yang, even the Fang. I saw the disgust on the faces of the common member, not directed at me, but to my captors." By now, my parents are in tears, and I haven't even said what was done to me. I look up and meet their gaze as I continued, "You don't know what they did to me, and I'm not talking about physically. I cannot allow Ruby and Yang to go off as Huntresses alone, I have to be there to protect them. If I'm not, and they're hurt...I'd never be able to live with myself, knowing that if I hadn't of chosen the comfortable path, then they might have been alright." My parents just sit their in silence. Getting up, I walk over and hug them tight. We just kneel their for who knows how long.
After a long silence, my father pushes me to arms length, and looks at me with sadness and regret, but also respect, "While I will always worry for you, I can't be upset at you for your reasons. While I know you are going to protect not only Ruby and Yang, but all of Remnant, just promise your mother and I that you will be careful and will do your best to come back to us. If you are gone, you will be mourned by not only us, but by Yang and Ruby as well. They both care for you as much as we do, especially Yang."
Pulling them into a hug again, "I promise you, I will do all in my power to come home."
Hey guys, sorry for the week-long wait on the first chapter of my story. So the important message I wanted to tell you guys is about the length of the chapters as well as the update rate on the story.
Upload Rate - While I am finding that I love to write these stories, I must say that school comes first for me. As a result, the rate at which I post is going to vary. I do hand write the story while I'm at school and type for and hour or two at home if I have a exponential amount of free-time, so I am writing. But there are going to be periods of time like the past week when I don't have much time at all. So when that happens, I must ingrain myself into my school-work, at which the uploads are going to slow.
Length of Chapters – As to the length of the chapters, that's going to vary as well. I will try to make them as long as I can, but if I feel like I found a good ending, I'll cut it there. So this will also affect the upload of the next chapter, the shorter the chapter, the faster I'll have the next one out and vise versa.
Anyways, thanks for reading guys, hope you enjoyed and I'll get the next chapter to you guys as soon as possible.
Archangel Out...
