AN: My plan for this story is to start with an origin story of sorts to show my OC's past, this means it will be quite a while before we get up to the time of the prologue. This doesn't mean that we won't see any of the main characters from RWBY throughout this first length of the story; he will have interactions with at least a couple before he arrives at the city of Vale.
Also just ordered a Blake figurine from the Roosterteeth store as well as a Flynt Coal shirt, so I'm feelin' pretty good right now.
Lastly I decided to rename the story as the original title just seemed far too depressing to me and I already have way too much gloomy stuff planned to occur as the fic progresses.
Chapter 1: Family
"Aero!" An elegant voice called out to a young boy with short brown hair. He was wearing a plain white tunic, tan khakis and a simple pair of hiking shoes. While sitting next to him was a brown leather rucksack. He looked over his shoulder to the one calling his name as he sat in a grass field with a mountain range in the background.
Aero got up and turned to his mother who was calling his name from a gentle slope leading up to the field. "Over here!" He called back.
"Come on, we got a full day ahead of us." She said whilst waving him over. As he got closer he could see she was wearing her normal attire, (Same as in the vision in the previous chapter.) along with a small satchel at her hip. But the most noticeable thing was that she had her sword with her. He made a mental note to query her on this when they had a free moment but right now they had to get back to town.
He quickly ran up to her and joined her at her side. After a short walk through a field and down a dirt path a short ways they veered off and crested a hill. As they crested this hill they were welcomed with the site of their hometown, Verbist.
The town of Verbist was fairly isolated. With the only means of reaching it other travelling on foot was an unkempt dirt road and a sleepy train station amongst a dense forest that lies to the south and reaching around to the east and west of Verbist. Even then these means of getting to the town in their entirety were only available during the warmer seasons. The winters were short in the province but when they hit, they hit hard; making the train the only access available to the town and even then the journey was reduced to a snail's pace.
The town itself covered a little less than nine acres and had a cobblestone wall encompassing the entirety of Verbist, with the wall standing at a height of 12ft. Grimm weren't a big threat to the town as they mainly hunted around the denser, deeper parts of the forest; but occasionally a couple of Beowulf's or an Ursa would wander closer to the town. At which point the town's prefecture would dispatch them despite their small numbers, limited resources and training.
Over the centuries this town has certainly played its parts in history from being the site of a turning point in a civil war with the neighbouring province of Lenista; to sheltering Faunus that were fleeing the conflicts of the Human-Faunus war. When the war came to a close, many of the Faunus returned to their own hometowns. But a large handful of them chose to stay and were welcomed with open arms to lay down roots of their own.
When Aero and his mother came up to the gate he could see the town's crest emblazoned on the archway of the main gate. It was a knight's helmet on a field of blue surrounded by oak leaves. He always admired the humble escutcheon; he believed it showed that this was a town of heroes and he was right to think so. As they passed under the gatehouse a young and sleepy prefect in a guardhouse snapped to attention and saluted.
"G-g-good morning M-Mrs. Gainsborough." He blurted out nervously, not expecting her to pass through the gate this early in the day.
"At ease there, soldier." She said in a mock authoritative tone with her signature salute and putting the young trooper at ease.
Aero's mother was not in the prefecture, nor did she hold any rank or office of power in the town itself. The reason for the prefect's skittish behaviour was because she was Zafina Gainsborough, a highly skilled and accomplished huntress; but when she was at Beacon she simply went by 'Zee' as her teammates and friends called her. Due to her past experiences and training, the towns council often looked to her for some form of insight; usually regarding public relations or when the prefects ran into snags involving the Grimm becoming too aggressive.
As they walked through town, every so often one of the townsfolk or shopkeepers would express a greeting of some sorts or another and strike up a conversation with Zafina and Aero. Verbist, despite its larger than normal size, was still a close knit community with virtually everyone knowing everyone or having some kind of family tie to one another.
They didn't stay to talk to each and every townsperson that came up to them however, as they were running late as it is.
You see today was Aero's tenth birthday and he was going on a camping trip with his family and a couple of his friends from town. After picking up a few fresh provisions from the market stalls in the centre of town and storing them in Zee's satchel, they made their way to the northern gate. This exit would lead to the foot of Mt. Haine that towered over Verbist; the path would also take them to the Gainsborough household that was nestled amongst the woods at the base of the mountainside.
The walk through woods was uneventful and frankly it was starting to get uncomfortably quiet. Realising this Aero took this opportunity to ask his mother why she was armed.
"Hey, mom?" he timidly asked.
"What's up little man?" she said turning to him as they continued walking the dirt path.
"Why did you have your sword with you when you came and found me?" he asked now turning to her as well.
She stopped and put her finger to her chin in thought. "Hmm, honestly I didn't even realise I had it on me till now." She confessed as she reached back, drew her sword from her back, holding it out in front of her and pointed it skyward. "I guess it just becomes a force of habit whenever I leave town."
Aero took a moment to admire the sword and it's rather simple but elegant design. The best way to describe it would be an enormous broadsword. From tip to handle, it is approximately five to six feet long, with a single-edged large blade approximately one foot wide. On the blade itself near the handguard are two holes running lengthways up the blade and they are slightly raised and sectioned off from the rest of the blade. The handguard is the only part that has any distinguishing features with a gold colouring and a swirl designs etched into it. All of this being on the end of simple leather wrapped grip that, was nearly two foot long itself.
"Speaking of which, what were you doing all the way out in the fields anyway?" She questioned, breaking him out of his gawking towards her sword.
"I was looking at the sky." Aero muttered under his breath while looking away embarrassed.
"Pardon? I didn't quite catch that." She said as she returned the sword to the clip on her back.
"The sky, I was looking at the sky okay." He repeated turning back to face her.
"You know you can see the sky from anywhere right." His mother plainly stated with a confused and slightly concerned look. "I mean it's kinda all up there." she added motioning her hands upwards.
"I know but it's not the same when it's in town or something like that." He explains as he looks out amongst the trees. "Out there it's peaceful." He turns his gaze to the sky that was peeking through the tree canopy. "I can just look up, clear my mind and think things through without a care in the world." He concluded.
Without any warning whatsoever, Zee snatches Aero up in a spine crushing bear hug that she oh so loved to dish out.
"Now what exactly do you have to think through, huh?" She laughed out as his attempts to worm his way out proved futile.
"Stuff okay, just stuff!" He grunted out as the hug tightened.
Eventually she did release him from the death grip of an embrace. "Stuff like what?" she questioned with a grin as he gathered his breath from nearly having his lungs crushed.
"Like what I'm gonna do in the future, what I'm gonna do with my life; that kind of stuff, ya know what I mean?" he said finally getting his breath back as he sat on the ground.
Zafina shakes her head with a smile at her son's revelation. "You're ten years old, you got at least another four maybe five years before you even have to start thinking about what your gonna do with your life." She tells him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
As she comes and sits down next to him cross-legged, she notices that he is staring off down the path as he's unsatisfied with that answer. "But yes, I do know what you mean." This catches his attention as she continues.
"When I was your age, I lived in the city of Keats with my parents and I went to school there as well; now something you have to keep in mind is that people in Keats were shall we say obdurate and not as open…" "What does that mean?" Aero asks interrupting her.
"Huh?" she says not hearing what he said.
"That word, obdurate, what does it mean?" He asks again.
"Oh, it means stubborn." She clarifies for him.
"You were reading one of dads books again weren't you?" Aero inquired with a weary sigh.
"No I wasn't." She retorted while Aero only raised an eyebrow at this poor defence.
"You can't prove otherwise anyway." She added and he couldn't help but snicker at her reaction.
"Were getting a little off topic here aren't we, now do you want to hear the rest or not?" Zee said trying to steer the conversation back around.
Before continuing on she reached into her satchel, pulled out a small bag of trail mix and grabbing a handful before offering the bag to Aero.
"Now what was I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted?" she joked in a mock regal tone whilst she reached over and tussled his hair.
"Oh yeah, anyway the people in Keats were stubborn and not as open minded as we are out here in Verbist." She picks up where she left off before throwing the whole handful of trail mix into her mouth.
"Now, it's not like the schools didn't teach me anything useful; but I found it extreeeeemely boring and I didn't really see it pushing me towards a career that I genuinely wanted to do." She mumbled through a mouthful of trail mix.
"Don't talk with your mouth full mom." Aero told her whilst talking small pinches from his own handful.
Taking a moment, she quickly chewed the dried fruit and nuts concoction and swallowed before turning towards him.
"Myaaaah." She opened her mouth wide as a child would to show that it was indeed empty.
"That's charming that is." He said in a deadpan manner.
"Hehe, you love it." She smiled beamingly.
"You were saying?" He smiled as well.
"Right, right." She took a moment and placed her hands on her lap.
"One day I finally figured out what I wanted be, and believe me that is a story in itself." She said softly as Aero only looked on in intrigue.
"Sometime during one of the breaks in the day I was walking around the playground which was relatively empty as it was, except for a couple of boys bullying a little Faunus girl with rabbit ears and from what I could gather it was simply because of those traits that they were harassing her." A small smile crept its way onto her face. "I wasn't gonna stand for that, I think I said something along the lines of 'Stop in the name of justice!' or something dorky like that; either way it got their attention." Aero had a look of bewilderment at the prospect of his mother saying something that corny.
"Now I bet your expecting me to say that I fought them off with ease and I lived happily ever after with the rabbit girl as my lover." She said casually only to receive a very disturbed look from her son.
"Ok… maybe not that last part." She quickly added with a nervous laugh.
"So what did happen then?" He eagerly asked in an attempt to sidestep a landmine of a conversation arc.
"Well I got it into my head that this was just like a story book, you know the hero standing up against far greater odds, standing up for the weak, fighting for what was right, and that's not a bad thing; it's just I prooooobably could have gonna about it in a much better way." She told him as she scratched the back of her neck. "Eventually they started to beat her and that's what set me off; I clocked one around the side of the head with a rock only to receive a swift punch from the other knocking me to the ground and dazing me." she told him as she took a sip of water from a hip canteen.
"With me being me, this only made me angrier and I didn't stay down for long; Now the odds weren't great to begin with so I didn't exactly look very dignified by the end of with a swollen face and bruises all over." She glided a hand over her face. "But I wasn't about to let that Faunus girl face them alone and besides you know how I can't resist a good ol' fashioned brawl." Aero smiled at the retelling of his mother's actions.
She pulls a sleeve back to look at her watch. "Come on, I'll tell the rest of the story as we walk." She suggests as she packs away the trail mix and continues down the path with Aero in tow close behind.
Zee looked back over her shoulder at him. "I won in case you were wondering."
He shot her a smile and jogged up alongside her. "I never doubted you for a second."
"Anyway I took my self and the Faunus to the school nurse to get the once over, she was seen to first at my insistence and sent on her way. However as I was being treated this scrawny little kid came running in complaining about a paper cut on his finger and was a nervous jabbering wreck because of it." She said with a large smile on her face.
"From the sounds of it this was a regular occurrence for the boy and the nurse's expression showed that each incident was as frivolous as the last. Turns out he had been in the library all day just reading book after book, and this had been his third trip to the nurses office that day!" she added with a hearty laugh.
"It doesn't sound like he was the smartest tool in the shed." Aero stated, voicing his opinion.
"Oh no he was smart, it just that he didn't have a lot of common sense; it was almost adorable in a way." she briefly pauses. "And that's probably why I married him." She added nonchalantly.
"Wait, what?" Aero said in disbelief. "That wreck you just described was dad!?" he questioned still flustered by this sudden realisation.
"You better believe it baby!" Zee exclaimed happily.
"But…but, but how?" He asked still having trouble comprehending this new information.
"He wasn't always the calm and capable huntsman he is today, in fact your father's first interaction with me was a horrific attempt at being suave and that was just plain cute." She stated matter-of-factly.
"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not hear dad's attempts to woo you at this point in time and especially in the twisted version you'd give." Aero almost pleaded.
"Eh, fine by me. I'll just let your father tell it and that will be even more awkward and twisted let me tell you." She warned.
"Oh great." He grumbled out. "Can we get back to how you discovered what you wanted be now?" he whined.
She chuckled as his discomfort. "Alright, alright. So when my parents, your grandparents found out they asked why I got involved and why I didn't let someone else handle it. This really irked me. How could they suggest that I just stand aside when someone else needed help? As a result they kept trying to push me towards a quiet and safe job, something in an office or something stupid like that. But throughout all their efforts I kept thinking back to that Faunus and how relieved she was at being rescued and I won't lie it did feel good being the hero." After she says this a brief silence sets in.
"So, I applied to a combat school in Keats despite my parents protests. However your grandparents on your father's side, once he introduced me to them that is, were very supportive as they themselves upheld justice. Not as hunters or police mind you, but as a more secretive organisation but by no means any less noble." She explained as she picked up the walking pace ever so slightly.
"What kind of organisation?" Aero inquired as he matched his mother's pace.
"You're gonna have to ask your grandparents on that one, it wouldn't be my place to say." She responded.
"Umm, okay. So what were dad's thoughts on your decision?" he tried asking instead.
"He agreed with it wholeheartedly, even going so far as to apply along with me. Admittedly he did need some training and conditioning which I helped him with, but I didn't mind as it helped him open up and express himself. Once we were seventeen we applied to Beacon academy, managed to wind up partners on the same team and graduated with full honours. And the rest as they say is history." She concluded.
"I suppose what I'm trying to say is that even if you don't know what you wanna do with your life, life may find something for you to do." She summarised. "That made sense didn't it?" she asked with doubt in her voice.
"Yeah, I think I understood it. Basically, I can't just decide what I want to do, I also have to find something to do and then decide if I want to do that thing." He answered trying to make sense of it.
"More or less; but at the end of it all it is your choice and yours alone. Always keep that in mind." She told him.
"Ok, I will." He stated with a determined face. This was quickly broken however by his mother pinching his cheek.
"And remember to have fun ok. Because if you don't enjoy what you do; then there's really no point in doing it." She said with a smile as she let go of his face.
After that they continued walking and yet another silence set in and Aero was once again the one to break it.
"Hey, what was your emblem?" Aero asked with a hint of excitement in his voice.
"My emblem?" she responded with slight confusion.
"Yeah, I heard that each huntsman and huntress has their own unique emblem or sigil that can be used to identify that particular huntsman or huntress." He clarified with the excitement clearly present in his voice.
"Oh that, I didn't really bother with one initially. But my team kept nagging me to think of one or at least adopt one so I chose this." She says as she removes a ring from her middle finger and passes it to Aero.
The ring itself was made of silver and had an extra broad band in a cigar band style. The crest on the ring was a white heraldic shield with a pair of silver wings overlaying it.
After looking it over for a moment he handed it back. "What about dad's symbol?" He asked her as she put the ring back on.
"You know that necklace he always wears?" she answered.
"You mean the one with the lion on top of a cross?" he responded
"That's the one, that's his emblem. He always did admire lions for their bravery." She pondered.
They continued walking in silence for moment longer until Aero broke the silence.
"What about when you were gone all those times when you worked for that company, you haven't mentioned anything on that?" Aero challenged with a solemn expression.
Zee stopped and stood still for a moment.
"Oh…that, that wasn't a good time in my life, I thought I was gonna be part of something bigger ya know; help people on a grander scale. But as it turns the people that employed me had a hidden agenda and I wasn't gonna be a part of it nor was I gonna let 'em get away with it either." At this she went silent and her eyes showed sadness.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you, I swear. It's just that when you were gone on company business I worried about you, so did Ishara." Aero interjected in a panic, afraid that he overstepped a boundary as he looked away.
Zafina walks up to him, quickly puts her hands on his shoulders and he looks up at her. "You could never upset me, ever ok. It's just, I lost a lot of friends to that company and they would have killed me as well if it wasn't for one good friend I made amongst the enemy." She tells him as she cups his cheek. "I'll tell you and your sister all about it one day, promise. But for now enough of all this serious stuff, we're supposed to be celebrating you birthday remember." She reminded him as she adjusted her sword on her back and turned back towards the path.
Forcing a smile onto his face Aero lead the way down the path. "Right. Oh and I'm gonna hold you to that promise!" He called back to her as he turned around and walked backwards a short distance before turning back forwards.
"I'm sure you will!" Zee said as she caught up to him. "And if it's any consolation. When I was out in the field before going on an assignment or something like that, I looked up at the sky a lot as well and you're right; nothing compares to when you're out in the country." She informed him coming alongside him and he could only smile in return.
Not long into the continuation of the journey, Zee looked down at her watch. "Hmm, we're gonna burn too much daylight at this rate." She deduced in her head.
"Hey Aero." She proclaimed. "Yeah?" he replied. "Race ya home!" she yelled as she grabbed his collar, yanked him back and then took off running. After recovering from the sudden action he immediately followed after her in a full on sprint down the path and straight on to home.
At the foot of Mt. Haine, stood a modest two story manor house with a copse of trees separating it from the base of the mountain.
On the house' porch sat a nine year old girl with porcelain skin and she was resting her head in her hand that was propped up on her knee. She has short black hair that frames her face; her hair has an almost blue tinge to it that matches her eyes. She's wearing a beige shawl with a helix pattern running along a tasselled hem at the bottom. Under this she wore a simple blue T-shirt and a thigh length pleated skirt with a belt to go with it. Below she also wore thigh high socks, again blue; with a pair black fur lined boots.
However her face portrayed one of annoyance. "Where is he?" she thought in frustration.
All she wanted to do was spend a weekend of fun with her brother and their parents, but of course he had to go and disappear like he always did every now and again. You see he was more than just her brother; he was also probably one of the best friends she could ever ask for, and it wasn't one those you're my sibling so I have to sort of relationships. No, they actually enjoyed each other's company immensely and one could always come to the other if there was ever anything wrong. There wasn't a thing she wouldn't trust him with and she was sure it was the same with him. In short they were each others best friend and nigh inseparable...most of the time.
Of course he did all the regular older brother stuff you'd expect, such as looking out for her when she was getting bullied and tending to her when she was sick or something of that nature. The bullying usually tended to revolve around her shawl and its tattiness, which was in a way was Aero's fault and was actually a result of when she was ill.
She thought back to that day, about two years ago she came down with a cold after she stayed out in the snow too long during one of Verbist's harshest winters and she was bedridden for days. She was well tended to but her fever just wouldn't break. With their mother out working for a company abroad and their father out to get specialist medicine from the clinic in the next town over; Aero was left to take care of her.
He did everything to make her as comfortable as possible, even if it was just being there and keeping her company. But with the constant fever she was sweating through sheets and blankets at an alarming rate and to get them washed and dried was a slow process. But as Aero was looking high and low for any fresh sheets, he came across something he had completely forgotten about. It was an old blanket from when he was her age and besides being a bit dusty was still in good condition. He quickly got it to her before she got too cold and she clung onto like her life depended on it, and as far as Aero knew in his young mind it might well have done.
Their father soon returned with a prescription of powerful antibiotics and the drugs had broken her fever by the end of night. When she woke up the next morning, Aero was huddle up in a chair next to her bed, he had stayed there the whole night and most of every other night. After this she carried the blanket everywhere and soon it was turned into the shawl she wears today. Aero always asked her why she held onto the 'tatty' thing as he called it and she always replied with that it showed how strong their bond was as brother and sister, plus there was the sentimental value of course.
She idly stroked the soft material of the shawl he gave her as a gift that day as she reminisced on their past.
"No sign of them yet Ishara?" a voice said from the doorway to her back.
"Nothing yet dad." She replied to her father as he made his way over to her.
"Well, don't worry." He told her as he sat down next to her on the porch. "I'm sure he's fine, your mother's with him anyway."
Her father had slightly shaggy brown hair, brown eyes to match, slight stubble on his face and he had a slightly skinny build. He was wearing an olive green dress shirt, white jeans and a pair of umber dress shoes. He was Ulrich Gainsborough and despite his somewhat city look he was actually born and raised in Verbist. He was also a very capable and deadly huntsman when he needed to be, a complete contradictory to his rather passive attitude.
"I wasn't worried, it's just that this is supposed to be his day and he should be here with us to celebrate it." She responded.
After a while Ishara reached into a small pouch on her belt and pulled out a brass pocket watch. She popped off the back panel and began fiddling with the inner mechanics of the watch.
"How's that thing coming?" he asked his daughter.
Ishara had always loved to tinker with anything mechanical from a young age and she took any opportunity she could to fix and or modify something. Whether it's the family car or her father's pocket watch in her hands, which she may or may not have broken herself; she wanted to know the ins and outs of it and how it worked. Her family showed nothing but encouragement for this hobby that she clearly had an undying passion for. The only time she was noticeably happy when she wasn't with her brother, was when she was in her room/workshop covered in grease or something of the like as she worked on her next creation or repairing something that may or may not have needed it in the first place.
"I just have to replace the stem and the crown, and then it should be good to go." She says as she retrieves a pin vise from the same pouch that held the watch; While Ulrich could only look on in awe at his daughter's intelligence and at such a young age.
She then proceeds to break the seal between the crown and the stem, and unscrews the crown slowly from the metal pin. She then takes a brand new crown from the pouch and replaces it before reassembling the watch with practised ease.
"That should do it, here." She says, handing the watch to her father with a proud smile.
He looks over the watch; flips open the lid and he sets it to the correct time before tucking it into one of his pockets.
"Thanks sweetie." He turns to her with a big smile and kisses her on the forehead as she returned her tools and parts to her belt.
"Hey you best start getting your pack ready, I'm sure Aero and your mother won't be gone much longer." He suggested. "Plus his friends will be here soon and you know that blonde one still has a crush on you." He teased her.
"urgh gross, don't remind me." She said as she adjusted her belt under her shawl.
A short while later Zafina came running out of the woods into the clearing at the front of the house with a breathless Aero close behind her. At this sight Ishara jumped up from the porch and ran towards them.
"Aero!" she yelled out.
"Found him!" Zee exclaimed before picking up Aero by the strap of his rucksack and waggling him from side to side.
She quickly put him down just as Ishara had reached them and tightly hugged Aero. "Hey Ish." He softly said to her using her nickname and wrapping his arms around her.
The use of the affectionate nickname that pretty much only he used always brought a smile to her face. "You were looking at the sky again weren't you?" she asked him in that cute way she always did as they broke off from the embrace.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He defended only to receive a knowing smirk from her. "Ok, maybe I was, maybe I wasn't." he half admitted as his face turned beet red from embarrassment.
His mother and Ishara both giggled at his reaction as Ulrich was strolling up to them. "Wasn't what?" Ulrich asked all three of them as he gave his wife a peck on the cheek.
Letting out a defeated sigh, Aero decided he might as well tell him himself. "I was out in the fields and I was thinking some things through. And to help clear my head I just look up at the sky." he explained to his father.
"You know you can see..." Ulrich began to say before Zee covered his mouth.
"I'll explain it to him." She told Aero with a smile. "Now go get yourself showered, changed and packed. We'll be leaving soon."
"Thanks mom!" He said before making his way to the house with Ishara following close behind him.
"What exactly were you thinking through?" Ishara asked Aero with a tug on his sleeve to get his attention.
"Just stuuuuuuff." He said dragging out the sentence and with a smirk.
"What kind of stuuuuuuff?" She said mimicking him in both phrasing and expression.
"seeeecret stuff." He replied.
"Seriously now." She said giving him a playful slam on the arm as they both laughed.
"Ok, ok. I was just thinking what I wanted to do with my life when I'm older." He answered her.
"You could've talked to me, I'm sure we could have thought it through together." She told him with a hint of frustration in her voice.
"You're right, I'm sorry." He apologized, seeing that his unexplained absence and that he didn't confide in her had upset her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Tell you what, we'll have this whole weekend to think and talk about it, how about that?" he suggested.
She returned his embrace and leaned into him. "Sounds great, and I'm sure whatever you decide to do you'll be great at It." she said with a smile.
"You really think so?" he questioned.
"Mhmm, I know so." She responded with a nod.
"Thanks Ish." He said as they separated.
"By the way Aero." She said with a mischievous grin. "Happy birthday big brother." She lovingly said to him as she quickly reengaged the hug.
"Hehe, thanks again sis." He praised as he tightly hugged her back.
"Hey if I asked you what you wanted to be when you're older what would you say?" He added after breaking the hug but with her still hugging onto an arm.
After a moment of thought while they got inside the house and took of their shoes, she finally answered him. "Well, I love fixing and creating things. So I don't know maybe an inventor or a mechanic of sorts." At this he patted her on the head. "That sounds right up your alley." he said as she swatted his had away.
"Now go get ready, Luz and Andy should be here any minute." She sternly ordered him.
"Yes ma'am." He said with an exaggerated salute. "Luz still have that crush on you Ish?" he asked from halfway up the stairs.
"Shut up!" she yelled back as she threw one her boots at him and narrowly missing. With that satisfactory answer he left her and made his way upstairs to prepare for the weekend.
Aero quickly jumped in the shower and washed his hair and after the mad dash against his mother through the woods he needed it. A few minutes later he emerged and he could hear talking coming from outside through his window. Obviously his friends Luz and Andy had showed up and were having a conversation with his parents. Not wanting to keep them waiting, he quickly got dressed into a fresh set of clothes which consisted of a brown button up shirt and fresh pair of khakis.
Moving to his bed and going through the drawers built into it, he pulled out a pair of swimming trunks as well as a pair of gray cargo shorts and threw them onto the bed next to his rucksack. Walking across the room to a dresser and going into the middle and bottom drawers he took out fresh underwear and socks, a couple pairs of each. Finally going to his wardrobe next to the dresser he retrieved a maroon shirt with string tassel at the collar and two plain t-shirts. With all this assembled he began stuffing the clothing into his rucksack along with a few other essentials.
Satisfied that he had everything he would need, he grabbed his backpack and made his way downstairs. Coming down the stairs he could see Ishara waiting by the door with a rucksack of her own and ready to go. "You all set birthday boy?" she asked him.
"Give me a second." He told her as he put on his hiking boots. "And I'm good." He said making his way to the door.
They quickly joined their parents and newly arrived friends down the path a ways from the house.
"About time you two goofs got here." Aero excalimed cheerily to his friends.
"Sorry we got a tad lost." Luz replied.
Luz McCole was a somewhat skinny boy with short blonde hair and a tanned complexion. He was wearing cargo shorts and a yellow shirt with an open vest over the top. He also had a backpack that looked like he just bought it.
"Your house was never easy to find ya know." Andy added.
Andrew or Andy Drummer was a short and slightly pudgy lad which was a stark contrast to Luz's slim frame. Andy had wavy black hair that just about covered his ears especially when coupled with the baseball cap he was wearing. Apart from that he wore a pair of camouflage pants and a simple black tunic.
Apart from Ishara, Luz and Andy were Aero's friends. They both lived in the town, with Luz's Father being on the prefecture and his mother owned a small linen shop. While Andy's parents owned the best bakery in town in Aero's opinion, this would also explain for Andy's slight paunch.
"One of its many benefits alongside the natural beauty this place offers." Ulrich Proudly proclaimed referring to the house' isolated location.
"I can't fault you there sir." Luz respectfully agreed.
"Now if you're all ready we can this trip started." Ulrich suggested as he threw on a hiking pack and was now donned in more suitable hiking boots. "Lead on dear." He said turning to Zafina who now had a camping bag holding her families tents, it was secured over her sword still clipped on her back; while her own supplies were stowed in the satchel still hanging by her hip.
"Follow me!" she cheered before setting off down the path at a brisk pace.
"This is going to be a birthday to remember."Aero thought as he followed after his parents with his sister and friends alongside him.
With that they set off into the woods and the hills beyond running along the base of the mountain, not knowing what would befall all of them by the end of this journey.
AN: Feels so much better now that I can refer to Aero by his name, it was a huge weight off my shoulders. So a lot of exposition and background here, there will probably be some action in the next chapter but not a lot of it mind you; after all he is still just a kid. Also as you may have noticed Zafina isn't the most conventional mother as she is more of a child than her own kids, but that only adds to her charm I think.
And what nice bit of bonding there we had, both with his sister and mother. There will probably be a bit of bonding with his father in the next chapter as well learning a tiny bit more about Luz and Andy. All in all, it's gonna be a pretty pleasant scene...I just might have to ruin it with something disastrous, because I certainly didn't drop any hints with the last paragraph oh no sir not me.
Now I don't have a sister, I have 2 older brothers. So I don't really have any experience on what a relationship with a sister is like, let alone one where the sibling is younger. So tell me if I portrayed the relationship between Aero and Ishara well or not.
Also a Trivia Question: Can anyone guess what Zee's sword, her ring, Ishara's Shawl, and Ulrich's necklace are each individual references to from their descriptions? Answers in the comments if you think you know.