Back again with another update already. This one surprisingly easy to get out, only taking a few days to get properly figured out and typed up. I've wanted to get to this as early as chapter 6 of Year of the RDCP, but it was one of many ideas that was left on the cutting room floor because I couldn't find away to slip it into the scene with Dae and Nidhogg without ruining the flow of the story. Because I didn't want rely too heavily on a exposition thick narrative I left a few parts vague in here so let's see if you can fill in the blanks on this one. I have faith in you guys. Xp
Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth productions...if I owned it there'd be far more awkward family moments like this to look forward to.
It was a quite Sunday for Team JASN, Artemis was curled up in her bed with a new book, Jason was studying a book on military strategy he'd borrowed from Sergeant Rlee, and Nidhogg was helping Sigurd preform some routine maintenance on Gramm. The room was comfortably silent save for the occasional hum of electric tools and Nidhogg's sporadic yet helpful instructions to his partner until Sigurd's Scroll rang filling the room with orchestrated military tune. He put down his tools and checked the number on the screen only to let a hiss under his breath before answering. "Hello…yes…no, it won't be a problem…alright, I will be there shortly." He closed the scroll and made a beeline for his and Nidhogg's shared closet.
Jason and Artemis exchanged confused glances while Nidhogg simply took his partner's vacant seat and began quickly finishing the last bit of the repairs. Sigurd emerged from the closet a few moments later dressed in stylish blue-green suit with a dark green shirt and burgundy tie. Jason decided to speak up while he took a quick moment to check his hair and straighten his tie. "Whoa, what's up with the fancy get up? You have some kind of date?" He asked venturing a guess.
"It's none of your business." Sigurd answered tersely. "I will be back later. Nidhogg I…"
"Don't worry about it, I'm already putting the finishing touches on her." Nidhogg said, his smile reassuring yet somewhat less genuine than usual.
"Thank you, well I better get going." And with that Sigurd quickly made his way out the door.
The team was silent for a few seconds before Jason decided to speak up. "Okay, what was all of that about?"
"H-he seemed to be in a hurry. It must be something important." Artemis interjected.
"Don't worry about it." Nidhogg piped up as he finished the last of his repairs and sheathed Sigurd's sword. He suspiciously seemed to avoid his teammates' stares.
Jason rolled a little closer towards Nidhogg and fixed him with a stare. "You know what going on don't you." Nidhogg didn't meet Jason's gaze. His teammates weren't sure what they were looking at, instead of his usual carefree expression, Nidhogg had a kind of forlorn look in his eyes.
"It ain't my place to say. We all got our own baggage y'know." Nidhogg said in an uncertain tone. "Just give him his space on this one okay."
They sat in silence for a few tense moments before Jason sighed and wheeled himself back to his desk. "Fine, we'll let it go."
Nidhogg smiled at their leader. "Thanks man."
Later in Vale….
Sigurd stood outside the gates of his family's ancestral manor gathering his thoughts and trying to calm his nerves. Standing on the opposite side of the wrought iron gates it was hard to believe he'd only been gone a few months. Finally he managed to gather his nerves and buzz himself in. He made his way up the drive, a few of the gardener noticing him and muttering to one another under their breath. He stopped at the front steps, taking in the large imposing nature of the Sigmund family home, the gray stone building that had stood here for over a hundred years looming over him. It was almost too much for him to take in at once after being away from home so long. As he made his way up the stairs the door opened to reveal a tall skinny man with balding hair and a handle bar mustache. "Welcome home Master Sigurd, it is good to see you again."
Sigurd grinned happily and placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "Thank you, it's good to see you too Heston."
"Your father is waiting for you in his study sir."
"Thank you, I'll see myself there." Sigurd said before once more straightening his tie.
"Very good young master." Heston bowed before hurrying off, no doubt to some other task.
Sigurd made his way through the halls with a growing feeling of dread the closer he came to his father's study. He stopped for a second in the doorway to the living room, the old family portrait hanging high above the fireplace catching his eye. He remembered when his father commissioned the painting a few years ago, it was one of the few times they ever truly came together as one family. His father's stern frozen eyes seemed to bore into him, freezing him in place until an angry called pulled him from his thoughts. "What are you doing here!?"
"Mother, it's good to see you're doing well." Sigurd said turning and bowing in the direction of the voice. Standing in the hall was a beautiful woman with deep blue hair dressed elegant black and gold strapless dress glaring at him with deep venomous eyes.
"Don't you dare call me that. I put up with it in public, but I won't stand for it here." She growled glaring at him.
"I'm sorry ma'am." Sigurd apologized raising his head and trying to keep a calm demeanor in the face of the angry woman.
"Now answer my question. What are you doing back here, I thought you were off at your monster killing school." She barked closing some of the distance between them while pointing an accusatory finger at him.
"Father wished to see." Sigurd merely stated. This seemed to tame some of her anger.
"Fine, then hurry it up and be done with it." She barked before storming off leaving Sigurd alone in the hall once more. Sigurd continued on his way until he came to the doors to his father's study. No matter how long it had been those twin doors still held the same imposing aura they had since his childhood. Slowly he steeled his nerves before turning the knob and walking in.
His father's study was immaculate as always. The long walls lined with bookshelves and plush Vacuo imported furniture combined with the sunlight filtering in through the large bay window gave the room a deceptively inviting mood. Standing close to the far wall near the back of the room Sigurd's father stood engrossed in a book, Sigurd took the chance to cautiously approach his father's desk, once he was close enough he politely cleared his throat to get his attention. His father peered up from his book noticing he was no longer alone, he pulled his glasses from his suit's lapel pocket. "Ah, you're here." He stated flatly closing the book and moving behind his desk.
"Yes sir, you wished to speak with me." Sigurd said bowing slightly once more. His father was still as he remembered him, his sea-foam colored hair well-trimmed and combed back, dressed in a fine well-tailored suit, and the gleaming Sigmund Family signet ring on his finger, but most important were his steely gray eyes which seemed to bore straight into Sigurd like he was some kind of scolded child.
His father stood there for a moment, silently scrutinizing him as if he expected to find some glaring flaw only his eye could detect. Finally he turned towards the window and spoke. "Tell me, how's school?" He asked simply.
"It is going well. Just like at Signal I have consistently scored well on my exams and my training is going smoothly."
"I see, I hear you're part of a team with your…friend from Signal." His father seemed to find the word 'friend' distasteful which was no surprise since he'd never been fond of Sigurd's association with Nidhogg since the early days of their friendship.
"Yes sir, he is my partner on the team, the rest of my team is quite competent in their own ways." Sigurd tried to explain.
"That's good, though I was surprised to hear you were passed over for the position of leader." His father's word cut at Sigurd's pride causing him to take a sharp intake of breath.
"It was made clear that…" Sigurd began until his father put up a hand silencing him.
"Stop Sigurd, excuses are beneath us and I won't have you making them." His father said turning back to face him. "You know the Sigmund's have a long and illustrious history of proud and noble huntsmen. Over the years we've carried on this legacy, your uncle taking up the honor before you while I took on the challenges of preserving our noble heritage as head of this family. I was proud when you showed an inclination to carry on our family's legacy in the face of certain…detractors, but I will not abide the idea of you slipping into mediocrity!" He slammed his fist on the desk making Sigurd almost flinch. "Now I know there's not much we can do about it now, but I wanted to stress as always you carry the Sigmund name, a name of one of the noble houses of Vale, and as such your actions are a reflection on this house. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir, I understand." Sigurd said bowing once more.
"Good. I'm sure the time will come for you to prove yourself, be prepared to rise to the occasion. You can go now." His father said with a dismissive wave. Sigurd knew better than to linger and quickly made his way towards the door. "Oh, before I forget. How's that sword of yours? The one that won the award."
Sigurd halted himself but didn't turn around to meet his father's eyes. "It's doing well, I was hoping to spend some time working on the blade when I returned to school."
"Good, it's a fine sword." His father offered almost as an afterthought.
With that Sigurd left the room and let out a sigh of relief, slumping slightly against the study's doors. His father's speech had not surprised him, but he could not shake the sense of burden he felt bearing down him. He raised himself up and pushed the thoughts aside, he just wanted to get out of the house as fast as he could. He quickly made his way back to the entrance hall when a high pitched voice called to him from the top of the stairs.
"Siggy!" Sigurd looked up to see a small light green haired form hurdling at him from halfway up the curved staircase.
"Oomph!" Sigurd gasped as the young girl captured his waist in a flying hug. "Hilde! Careful!" Sigurd cried trying to maintain his balance while still in his young half-sister's vice like hug.
"You didn't me you'd be coming back today!" She gleefully squealed gleaming up at him.
"I didn't know myself." He explained finally prying the excited 10 year old from him. "Father wished to speak to me about school." He said as he began to straighten his suit.
"Ah, there you are Lady Brunnhilde!" Heston exclaimed from the top of the stairs causing the young girl to hide behind her older brother. "I'm terribly sorry young master, I let it slip you were here and she ran down here as fast as he could." Heston apologized rushing down the stairs as fast as his old legs could carry him.
"It's fine Heston, I have the situation well in hand." Sigurd assured the older man earning a wide missing tooth smile from Hilde.
"Alright Master Sigurd, but Lady Hilde is due back for her piano lesson and her mother will be quite perturbed if she misses it." Heston explained only to have Hilde peek her head out from behind Sigurd to stick her tongue out at the worried butler.
"I don't wanna go, 'specially since Siggy came back." Hilde whined tightening her grip on Sigurd's pants.
"I'll handle it Heston." Sigurd said turning and kneeling down to Hilde's level. "Now Hilde you shouldn't upset mother, especially on my account."
"But I've missed you!" Hilde cried, small tear welling up her eyes. "You've been away at school so long and mom only just keeps me cooped up inside and making me go to lessons." Sigurd just put a comforting hand on her head ruffling her aqua colored hair whilegiving her a warm smile.
"I know it's hard right now and I miss you too Hilde, but I left my teammates back at school and I'm afraid they'll miss me too if I'm gone too long." He said in a soft tone. "I wish I could stay longer, but we'll be having a break soon so if you're a good girl I'll be sure and come back and play with you then okay."
Hilde sniffled as she dried her tears. "You promise?"
"Promise." Sigurd said giving her another heartfelt smile before she captured him in another hug.
"Okay, you better not forget Siggy." She said letting go of her hug and pointing fiercely at him.
"I won't, now you should probably get going." Sigurd said standing up and letting Heston begin to usher her back up the stairs. He waved to her before she disappeared from sight before seeing himself out. As he made his way to the end of the drive he was not surprised to find Nidhogg leaning on the wall by the gate with his arms crossed humming to himself. "I hope you haven't been here long, one of the groundskeeper might report you to the guards." Sigurd said returning once more to his usual dry tone.
"Nah, I haven't been here that long. I just figured you might need some cheering up, I know they got a habit of putting you through the wringer in there." Nidhogg stated plainly catching up with Sigurd as he began walking back towards the city.
"That's completely unnecessary. Everything is fine." Sigurd said silently grateful for his partner's concern.
"Well I guess I was just worrying for nothing." Nidhogg grinned.
Sigurd let a small smile grace his features as they walked in silence for a few moments. "Nidhogg where did you put the whetstone back in the dorm, I feel like giving Gramm a good sharping when we get back."
"Are you kidding me?" Nidhogg exclaimed. "You just sharpened her last week, you keep this up you won't have a sword left to sharpen."
"Don't be foolish Nidhogg." Sigurd said wagging a mockingly disapproving finger at his larger teammate. "A sword is much like one's skills, they can never be too sharp."
And there you have it people, I answered the much unanswered (and unasked but who cares about that) question of what crawled up Sigurd's butt and died. I hope you were all able to catch the few subtle hints I left here and there so I didn't have to explain all the fine details of his past and were able to enjoy the story.
Like I said this one's been kicking around the old noggin for a while so I was glad to finally get it. I'm hoping to do a either a story about Team SPDN or maybe one of the teachers, so if you have a preference let your voices be heard by reviewing or voting the character poll on my page, Dae has taken the lead after finally breaking a five way tie, but it's still anyone's game.
Til next time.