Chapter two: Left Blooming Alone
A/N: So I would like to thank everyone that followed, and favorited Petals of Time it means a lot to me as a new writer on this site. Author's notes will most likely not even make an appearance in any of the chapters unless I need to toss out a disclaimer, and if by chance I need to toss out a lengthy authors note it will usually be found at the bottom of the chapter. Nevertheless I present to you the Petals of Time.
Vale, Summer had almost forgotten how beautiful the city was. Everywhere she looked she would see people bustling about, and groups of kids spending their last day of freedom before school began for them. As she walked the area slowly began to change around her. Magma started to leak out from every open crevice possible from sewer grates to cracks in the sidewalk. Off to her right a deep furrow had began to carve itself into the ground, Summer closed her eyes in fright and shook her head. "No, it's not real, it can't be real this wasn't supposed to happen yet." She whispered to herself. When she opened her eyes the area had returned back to how it was, the magma had disappeared, and the deep scar in ground was gone replaced by a smooth road. Summer stopped walking, and leaned against a lamppost to recollect her thoughts.
She slid down the pole, and stared up at the blue sky she had oh so missed during those chaotic few hours before the world had ended. "Look at me," Summer thought to herself. "I must look like beggar all covered in ash, and grime sitting against this lamppost. To any passerby I must look like I am trying to panhandle for any loose Lien, though it wouldn't really be the first time I've actually had to do that." Summer looked at the hourglass laying on its side next to her, she noticed the Rose emblem engraved on the top bulb. The same emblem that Professor Rose wore on her belt, the same one that she had pinned to her cloak, the same one that her mentor had given her. With pretense that someone with the last name Rose should be able to carry their namesake wherever they may go. Engraved on the bottom of the hourglass was the symbol of a sideways figure eight with a golden finish. "Professor Rose said that if someone's cause is righteous enough, and if their cause is noble enough they can travel back in time; but will I be able to go back, and see her again? Will wanting to return home after this is all said, and done warrant a righteous enough cause? Or will I be stuck in the past for the rest of my life?"
"Focus on one problem at a time Summer," she murmured to herself. "First find a way to save the world, then you can worry about finding a way home." She stood up, and tucked the hourglass into her hood for safekeeping, and started walking aimlessly through the city of Vale.
A countless amount of people walked by her enjoying the clear, sunny day. Some traveled in pairs others traveled in large groups, carrying shopping bags in their hands, laughing at jokes their friends had told them, talking, and gossiping about the latest news in their group. Summer envied them to a degree. She wanted to go, and walk around Vale with the small group of friends that she had met on a day very much like today while aimlessly wandering Vale. She wanted to eat ice cream with them, and admire the view of the city like she had done, just a few days ago when she had gotten a rare break from training.
It might have been just a few some odd days ago, but to Summer it felt like a whole other lifetime had passed. It's amazing how fast things could change in only just one day. Three days ago she had been practicing with her scythe against training dummies that her mentor had set up in the clearing she had arrived in. While Professor Rose sat under the tree she had dubbed the tree of Roses. She gave hints on how to improve her form, even getting up, and fixing her form herself, from moving a misplaced foot to adjusting an arm that was out of place. Now today, the world had ended, and she was walking in Vale… Fifty years in the past without a shred of an idea of what to do. The more Summer began to think about, the more her head throbbed with the familiar pang of a headache.
Instead of focusing on such things, Summer focused on the scenery around her. Despite being fifty years in the past she recognized some of the buildings around her, and some she had never seen before, yet to Summer it was as if barely anything had changed. Past, and future Vale were similar, but they had some minor distinctions that allowed Summer to differentiate the two. The paved streets, and the structure around her remained the same, even some of the stores she had been to were around.
The people of Vale may have looked different to Summer, but they dressed similar with only the minute change in fashion over the years they even had the same carefree attitudes tinged with hints of fear about the Grimm, and terrorist attacks. The only problem Summer could see in this situation was that these peoples children, and even grandchildren were going to inherit the chaos of a doomed world if she didn't stop it in time.
She found herself standing in front of a fountain in the middle of a shopping plaza; with a quick glance down at the water she was finally able to see her reflection for the first time in a long while. She now truly appreciated how dirty she had become in the worlds final moments. Staring back at her were bloodshot silver eyes, her skin, and almost every inch of her clothing was covered in ash, and grime. She saw how crazy her hair looked, it poked out at odd angles, and she couldn't count how much of her hair was singed at its tips. Looking beyond her reflection she saw the stone the fountain was made with wishing that coins were still in Remnant's currency system. From these thoughts it was then that Summer realized a few things. One she was really hungry, another thing was that she had no Lien whatsoever.
As if to mock her for her plight her stomach began to groan. Staring back at her reflection she was tempted to dive into the fountain in order to wash off all of the grime, but she had no wishes to be arrested during her first day in the past or ever really. Summer walked away from the fountain, still not really sure where she was going. She passed many restaurants that tantalized her with very delicious smells coming from them. Her stomach rumbled in displeasure as she passed a sandwich shop that she, and the Professor used to frequent from time to time from the looks of it the shop had recently just opened.
Summer kept walking away from the plaza, and all of the restaurants in order to escape the wonderful aromas surrounding her. As she walked down the streets she could see people walking by give her looks of contempt or just looked away from her in general as she walked by so that their consciences wouldn't hang heavy with the guilt that they didn't help what they perceived to be a dirty, runaway vagrant child that was lost wandering the streets of Vale. Summer wasn't really surprised at their reactions she knew she looked terrible. The buildings around her began to recede as she walked into Vale central park. The park itself was fairly large, a large pond sat in the middle of the park, and out of the way of all the walking trails sat an old birch tree on a small hill. Deciding to take a break from her mindless journey she walked over to the tree, finding shade beneath it.
She set the hourglass down before sprawling onto her back staring up at the sky. She inhaled slowly, and the scent of freshly bloomed flowers, and cut grass greeted her. "Everything here is just so… so peaceful," She closed her eyes, and was greeted with the sight of a burning city, and a malevolent laugh echoing through her head "I will do anything in my power to stop that from ever happening no matter the cost, even if I have to sacrifice my life to do so."
She yawned, the events of the past day catching up with her. Maybe a quick nap would help, when she woke up maybe should would have a better idea of what to do. Right when she closed her eyes she heard footsteps approaching her. She tried to ignore it, but she feel someone's stare burning into her.
She cracked open one eye, and saw a little boy no older than the age of seven wearing a white shirt, and a blue pair of shorts, his amber eyes staring at her inquisitively, she noticed the adorable little dog ears poking above his hair. He continued to stare at her unblinking for a few moments, before Summer worked up the nerve to ask him, "May I help you with anything?"
"What are ya doin?" he asked his voice was squeaky, and loud, but Summer found it adorable nonetheless.
While she really wanted him to leave so she could sleep she answered only to be polite "I'm trying to sleep." hoping the kid would leave with his question answered.
It wasn't good enough "So why are ya sleepin here miss?" he asked
"Because it's really nice, and comfortable right here."
"Why don't you go, and sleep at home then?"
Summer took a deep slow breath in to hold onto her wild feelings "Because it's comfortable right here."
He tilted his head, and asked "Are you a Hobo lady?"
Her head shot up in surprise "What, no I'm not a Hobo! "
"But why are ya so dirty then?"
"Because I've been a little busy with something."
"Busy with what?"
Summer took another deep breath in wondering when she would be able to sleep, and when the volley would end. Unfortunately he jumped to his next question turning his attention towards the hourglass "What's that miss?" pointing to the referred to item.
This time it was Summer's turn to be confused "Wait, you have never seen an hourglass before?"
The boy shook his head as a no "No, what does it do miss?"
Summer looked at it, and said "It helps keep track of time."
"Well why do ya have it miss"
"I like to keep track of time I am a busy person you know."
"Really what kind of person are you that you're so busy?" He asked
"Me?" Summer said pointing to herself, before grinning from ear to ear "I am a huntress."
The boy looked at her with wide eyes "Whoa! Your a huntress, that is so cool!" he exclaimed "I want to be a hunter when I grow up! Oh! Oh! Can you tell me a story?" The kid asked suddenly.
Summer shrugged then enthusiastically nodded "Okay, just one story, I have to go after this." Sitting up she quickly thought of a story that would entertain her young audience. "Once upon a time, there was a small child who lived in the wonderful city of Vale." She turned, and gestured to the entire city with a flourish of her cloak, before resuming her story. "She decided she wanted to be a huntress, like the ones she had read about in all of the stories about heroes. So she grabbed her trusty stick, but if anyone asked it was her trusty training sword." Summer picked up a stick, and brandished it like a knight riding off to battle. "And she decided to go, and vanquish a creature of Grimm so she would be known as a hero like all of the hunters, and huntresses." She stopped her story, and glanced up to the sky, a small wry smile pulled at her lips. "Why she thought that was a good idea I'll never know."
"Anyways," she continued "The young girl left the safety of the city, and ventured into the dreaded Emerald forest." She acted as if she were walking to the forest herself, the stick still brandished in the air. She heard a few gasps along with the young child before her, looking around she noticed she had gathered a small crowd of children, and adults who had been drawn to her storytelling. Summer smiled, and continued her story with even more enthusiasm.
"The young girl had heard the rumors, about the forest of course. Creatures of Grimm big enough to gobble her up in one bite, but the girl was not afraid; she believed she could handle anything the creatures of Grimm could throw at her. As she silently told herself that would always come out on top because she was the hero of her story." She leaned towards the little boy and whispered "She was pretty dumb back then." Causing the boy to burst out into a fit of laughter. "So, deep into the forest she went, jumping over fallen logs, and crossing perilous rivers…" With each new scene in the story Summer would act like she was the one in the story jumping over the logs, and crossing the rivers. Drawing in more audience members with her vivid storytelling.
"The little girl wondered how she was supposed to cross the river, for it was to fast for her to swim across, and she was not the strongest of swimmers. If asked when she was swimming why she is flailing around like a fish out of water she would say she had a cramp. Luckily the little girl was a quick thinker, and she broke off a large branch from a nearby tree, and walked back quite a distance before she ran full speed, and vaulted over the river with the branch. Finally she reached a large clearing where the dreaded beowolves were said to reside." She made a few growling noises to symbolize a beowolf.
"Seeing a lone Beowolf invigorated our young heroes plan. She decided to try, and sneak up on the vile creature in order to catch it off guard with the element of surprise, but as she drew closer to Beowolf our young hero stepped on a small branch that was hidden beneath a pile of fallen leaves which made a loud snap that resounded throughout the clearing. This caught the Beolwolf's attention alright, and can you guess what our young hero did?" She asked the crowd in order to build up suspense.
"Ummm did she run away crying?"
Summer laughed "Nope our young hero fell," The audience gasped. "And as the Beowolf drew closer to her, sensing its prey wouldn't be able to put up much a fight. Our young hero hit it hard in the side of the head with her trusty stick, the stick smashed apart against its head which caused the fell beast to stumble back in surprise. This gave our young hero a chance to run to the edge of the clearing where she ran straight into another figure, this figure was not another creature of Grimm; however, no the figure was none other than the most heroic huntresses ever of all time. She was garbed in a red cloak similar to this one, behind her a large scythe began to unfurl." Summer acted as if she was watching the figure herself in awe.
"As the Beowolf lunged for its attack the huntress moved at inhuman speeds, and the Beowolf was cut in two, and rose petals floated away carried aloft by the wind as the fell creature faded into oblivion. Upon turning to face her the huntress had a very angry look on her face, and she scolded our young hero for her stupidity. The huntress then asked why a child her age is out and attacking creatures of Grimm, and our young hero told the red clad woman that she wanted to be a huntress just like her. Before our hero could leave, the huntress, despite being angry told her that she was very courageous, and asked her if she wanted training to become a real huntress. Ecstatic our young hero jumped with glee, and began to skip around the huntress. She took our young hero under her wing, and as the years passed by she always looked up to her hero the huntress that had saved her from the Beowolf. From this our young hero has lived happily ever after." Summer said concluding her story,
The people around her began to clap wildly which caused Summer to blush in embarrassment. One of her audience members walked up, and handed her a few Lien cards, thanking her for the entertaining tale. Another man tipped his hat, in thanks for her performance, followed by him the mother of the little Faunus boy dragged both he, and a little girl that seemed to be a few years younger than the boy over to her. The woman smiled as she handed her a Lien card, the boy next to her flashed her a large smile, and hugged her. "Miss I would like to thank you for the story, if you're a huntress then when I grow up I'm going to nice, and kind just like you." He said cheerily.
Summer blushed again, and ruffled the boy's hair "I look forward to seeing how great a huntsman you turn out to be kiddo, and you don't need to call me miss. When you say that it makes me feel all old, and stuff I'm only fourteen for pete's sake. The names Summer Rose kiddo." She said before walking away from the smiling boy looking at her in awe, the same way she had looked at Professor Rose all those years ago, and even to this day.
If Summer had stayed for just a moment longer she would have noticed a bespectacled grey haired man with green shirt overlaid by a black overcoat staring at her in surprise, and wonder.
Summer sat at a table on the front patio of Pun In The Oven a sandwich shop that she, and Professor Rose would eat at from time to time. A half eaten turkey sandwich sat in front of her, a plate of strawberries sat off to the side, along with a glass water. The hourglass sat in front of her on the other side of the table. She was glad that she was finally able to eat something for the first time in hours, years really if you want to get technical. When she first walked in the owner had tried to shoo her off calling her a street rat. His tone changed when she had showed him the Lien that she had on her.
Summer took a sip of her water, as she thought about the story she had told the boy. Yeah, the little girl had it drilled into her mind that if she killed a creature of Grimm she would be seen as a hero, and finally people would acknowledge her instead of brushing her off as a street rat that would amount to nothing. Sure the Professor had given her a tongue lashing that she could still hear to this day, but in her mind it was all worth it she had gotten to become the personal student under her hero the greatest huntress ever of all time Ruby Rose.
Yeah she lived happily ever after alright… Until today that is. Summer sighed and resumed eating her lunch. Pondering to herself on what she was going to do next. She needed to gather more information on the White Fang, and find out what they did in order to cause what happened in her time to occur. She also needed to find out what the Professor meant by protect the seasons, she knew the Schnee's had an older daughter by the name of Winter around this time is that what she meant. No I feel like it's not going to be that easy, but what could she possibly mean. She pondered if she could break into Beacon, and use the library there, but she threw that idea away as quickly as it had come, and decided that she would use the Vale public library.
Summer looked around the plaza admiring the beauty of the fountain, and the sculptures that dotted the plaza. "Amaranthe plaza..." Summer said slowly as a thought crossed her mind. Professor Rose said something big went down here sometime during her first year at Beacon, and that the plaza was never really the same after it happened. "Hm I wonder if From Dust Till Dawn is around? I could always stock up on some dust or buy a copy of Weapons Weekly whichever one comes first."
Summer quickly scarfed down the rest of her meal only savoring the wonderful strawberries. She was glad the she hadn't spent all of her Lien on food, and that she will still have some left over to shop at Dust Till Dawn. She jumped up like a spring, and grabbed the hourglass before running off.
She bobbed, and weaved through the angry pedestrians ignoring the angry shouts of good for nothing hoodlum, and even the strange call of rapscallion. 'Who even says that anymore?' as she sped off towards the dust shop. Eager to reach her favorite store. Next to the one that sold weapon parts that is.
By the time she had reached the shop night had fallen over the city of Vale. When she entered a little bell rang out signaling the clerk a new customer had walked in, upon seeing the clerk she stopped in her tracks in surprise. No way he looked that old now, he still hasn't changed. Is there some ancient remedy to never aging that we don't know about? he looks almost the exact same as he does in my time or what if he has a son that looks just like him? Summer never realized that she had continued to walk too caught up in her revelation, until she accidentally bumped into a girl wearing a red cloak "Sorry." Summer mumbled to the girl before walking off. Summer couldn't help, but have the feeling like she should know that girl from somewhere.
Summer flicked her hood up out of an old habit she had developed when she was younger, and had first received her cloak. She looked at the most recent issue of Weapons Weekly, and saw the latest model of an Atlesian Knight well the newest model for this time any way in her time they were newer, and better ever since they combined the paladins with them. She also saw some featured weapons people have sent it to be showcased. One weapon or weapons in this case that had caught her attention were dual swords that transformed into heavy pistols. For some reason Summer felt drawn to the swords, a small melancholic smile pulled at her lips as she gazed upon them. Deep within herself summer felt a sense of wistfulness as if she were remembering an old friend that she had parted ways with many years ago. What caught her attention was a sentence in the article. "Pictures of these swords were submitted anonymously to Weapons Weekly in order to showcase the weapons of the fallen huntress Summer Rose." 'Huh, so there was person with my name in the past? I wonder if she has any relations to Ruby? She never really did like to talk about her family except her sister Yang, and her uncle Qrow really.'
She was ripped out of her own little world when a hand tapped her on the shoulder, and tore her hood off of her head. She turned around thinking it was the clerk trying to forcibly remove her from the store. Though she was surprised when she saw a man decked out in a black suit wearing a fedora, and red sunglasses carrying what looked to be a sword with a red blade. "E-excuse me? A-are you robbing me?" Summer stuttered out in false fear.
The man seemed to grow angry after hearing her rather foolish question "Yes! Now if you don't want your body floating face up somewhere in the harbor then you'll do as I say!" The man barked out.
Summer narrowed her eyes and flashed the man a look that caused him to tighten his grip on the hilt of his sword. "Okay just let me grab my Lien for you." she said, every trace of the scared little girl facade disappearing.
Almost as if a signal went off Summer broke into action as she quickly yanked her scythe off of the clip at the small of her back before quickly extending it into its rifle configuration. Faster than he could react Summer rammed her "Baby" into his stomach causing the man to double over in pain. She twirled the makeshift club in her hands before bringing it up and catching the man beneath his chin sending him flying as her aura boosted strength helped to propel the man across the Dust shop. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that the red clad figure further down the aisle had done the same to her opponent.
As one, the two of them began to sprint towards their respective opponents, and before the thug in front her could react Summer jumped up into the air and gave an aura infused sidekick to the man's head. Which sent the two of them flying as the man clutched onto her outstretched foot, the sound of shattering glass was her only warning before she was sent tumbling across the hard concrete. A maneuver that her mentor had shown her in the past popped into her head as she quickly unfurled the blade of her scythe and threw her beloved weapon in front of her. The scythe stuck in the ground, and her cloak billowed around her as she caught herself between the shaft and the curved heel of her scythe. Next to her Summer could hear the familiar sound of another scythe unfurling, she glanced over at her new comrade only to nearly stumble and fall off of her perch in shock. For standing beside her was the younger version of her mentor. An old memory seemed to spark as the whispers of a conversation between her and Professor Rose rushed to forefront of her mind.
Looking up from her book that was about Grimm anatomy a young Summer asked her mentor "Professor Rose what happened the day you were accepted into Beacon?
Ruby laughed at her inquisitive student's question "Well it's a funny story really, do you remember that dust shop I brought you to last week? Well I was in there reading an issue of Weapons Weekly, and restocking my supply of dust that I had used up during my test to be brought back into signal."
Tilting her head Summer interrupted her mentor "Wait Professor there's a test after the first year initiation? At this rate I'm doomed!" Summer yelled in frustration.
Ruby once again laughed at her young students antics "You're fine Summer you have only been training for a month now, I mean you haven't even picked out what kind of weapon you want to use yet. Or are you going to go, and be a barbaric savage like my sister, and punch everything you don't like?" She chuckled a bit at her jab towards her sister. "Anyways Summer you are going to be a fantastic huntress when you grow up, you don't need to be worrying about things that are so far into your future. Focus on the present Summer; enjoy being a child for just a bit longer, it's not a role you'll be able to play forever. You have plenty of time before then to become the best huntress ever of all time, and besides by the time you actually do take that test. You will be so amazing that the instructors will be forced to pick their jaws up from off the floor after they see you in action." Ruby said ruffling Summer's hair towards the end of her little speech.
"Now on to the story I was telling before being abruptly interrupted by my little audience member. Now where was I? Oh right. I was reading a weapons magazine, and some goon thought he could rob me. Well I showed him, his friends, and his girly looking boss Roman not to mess with a huntress, but things went downhill from there so let's leave it at that. Now that's enough story time for right now you have a book you need to be reading." Summer pouted at this, but looked back to her book nonetheless. Should she have kept looking for just a bit longer she would have noticed Ruby steal away the last strawberry in the dish between them.
She was snapped out of her memory when young Ruby twirled her scythe around, and jammed it into the ground. Summer gently hopped off of her perch and with a flourish of her cloak she latched onto the shaft of her scythe before mirroring Ruby's actions as she twirled it around in a similar fashion. The blade of her scythe bit deep into the cement, and cracks began to spider web around it. She winced for a brief moment afterwards. 'Oh no now I'm going to be fined for property damage.'
The man in the white coat who Summer could only assume to be the Roman. Professor Rose was talking about in her story, turned around along with his goons to see what all the commotion was about. "Okaaay that's not something you see everyday, get them." He ordered.
The first two goons ran at them, and out of the corner of her eye Summer could could see Ruby latch onto the shaft of her scythe before spinning and kicking her opponent in the side of the head. With a flick of her wrist Summer ripped her scythe out of the ground, and angled it behind her as she held it like one would a bo staff. With a small pull of the trigger a shot rang out, and with the momentum from the recoil Summer spun and twirled her scythe around uppercutting the man with the heel of her scythe sending him flying as her beloved weapon made contact with the man's chin. With the remaining momentum Summer turned and twirled her scythe before she slammed it home on the next thug's back with an overhead strike drilling him into the ground. Summer glanced over to her left only to see Ruby sweep her opponent's feet off of the ground and into air. Before jamming her scythe into the cement, and using the momentum to launch herself above her opponent in order to slam her scythe into the final goon which knocked him down onto the street at Roman's feet
From where she stood Summer could see Roman look down at the thug in front of him in disdain, and mutter something to himself. With an air of nonchalance about him he sauntered forward a few feet, and dropped his cigar before crushing it beneath his cane. "Well this was a very unexpected and rather unfortunate event I never expected to run into two wannabe huntresses. Though despite this little set back ladies I can truly say that this has been an eventful night for us all, and as much as I would love to stick around with the two of you. I am afraid this, is where we are going to have to part ways." He said as he raised his cane, before he fired at the two.
Summer squeezed her eyes shut as she was blinded by a bright flash of light. A single discharge of Ruby's scythe, and a loud ear piercing whistle served to be her only warnings before what felt like a flaming drill ground itself into her chest, and launched her off of her feet. Flying back Summer bounced and rolled of her left shoulder, before coming to a stop on her back. She let out a small groan of pain as she slowly rose up into a standing position all while stumbling about in a daze as her vision cleared. Quickly shaking her head she could see both Ruby, and the shop keeper making their way towards her.
The first to arrive was Ruby, her bright iridescent silver eyes looked upon her with a mix of different emotions. Concern sat heavily in Ruby's gaze; however deep within the silver pools thinly veiled behind her concern, shock and sorrow swam dolefully in and out of focus. With that look directed towards her Summer couldn't help, but briefly replace Ruby with images of her mentor as memories of their first meeting in the Emerald Forest rushed to the forefront of her mind.
"A-are you okay?" Stuttered out Ruby as she frantically scanned Summer for any injuries.
Quickly dusting herself off Summer looked over at Ruby, and replied "Y-yeah I-I'm okay I am little shook up, but I should be fine." Glancing all around her Summer could not see a single speck of white bar her own cloak as she searched for Roman. "W-where did the guy with the cane go?"
With those words whatever spell that had held Ruby tightly within its thrall seemed to break as she quickly turned away from her, her eyes snapped away from Summer, as she moved to join her fellow scythe user in frantically searching for the missing thief.
Their search; however, came to an abrupt end when the shop keeper pointed and shouted out. "Look over there on the ladder!" Following his finger Summer could see a small speck of white disappear over the edge of the roof, quickly both she and Ruby broke out into a run. Without missing a beat Summer bent down, and picked up her scythe mid sprint before pointing it at the ground and firing a single round as she launched herself up into the air and onto the rooftop. A crisp discharge of Ruby's scythe, told her that she had done the same.
As the two of them ran towards the alabaster clad felon Ruby shouted "Stop right there, you have no where left to run!" Summer leveled her scythe towards the cornered crook, and pulled the bolt back to chamber a new round. Her eyes narrowed in intense concentration as a faint whirring sound began to resonate through the air.
The sound became more intense as a Bullhead shot up into the night sky from behind Roman. Both she and Ruby took a step back in surprise as they were blinded by the airship's spotlight, their cloaks billowed out behind them as they were frantically whipped back to and fro by the wind generated from the Bullhead's engines. Quickly reorienting herself Summer leveled her scythe towards the open hatch that Roman had climbed into, her instincts bristled as Roman turned back towards them with a look of sadistic glee spread across his face. "This has been quite the chase ladies, but I'm afraid to say that this is the end of the line!" before chucking a burn crystal at their feet.
Summer reacted quickly as she jumped in front of Ruby in an attempt to shield her from the blast. 'No I won't let you get hurt this time Professor I couldn't do anything before, but I can do something now!' Summer squeezed her eyes shut, and internally readied herself as she gathered up as much aura as she could afford in order to take the brunt of the blast. She winced when telltale ear piercing whistle of Roman's missile made itself known to the world, followed shortly by the sound of an explosion. Already she could feel the blazing heat tear at her skin; however, she could only let out a faint confused. "Huh?" When she wasn't enveloped by the searing heat of the explosion.
Summer slowly opened her eyes only to stare in awe as she was met nearly face to face with the sight of a large purple glyph covered in runic symbols. In front of her stood a blonde haired woman, her arm outstretched as she held aloft the very object conjuring the barrier, a simple yet effective riding crop. Summer blinked owlishly as she studied the woman, faintly out of the corner of her eye she registered that the glyph was slowly fading away. The woman dressed in her white blouse, high waist pencil skirt, and her tattered two toned cape vaguely reminded Summer of one of the old professors in some of the staff photos that her mentor proudly displayed on the wall behind her desk.
Summer's ruminations were cut short as the woman nonchalantly fixed her glasses before flicking her riding crop towards the Bullhead, and conjuring up a swarm of purple streaks of energy that barreled into the airship knocking it to and fro as the pilot struggled to compensate for the sudden shifts of momentum. Summer turned her gaze back towards Roman where she could see him stumble into the cockpit of the Bullhead, and out of her sight for good. Her attention; however, was reclaimed by the blonde huntress as she shot up a blast of energy into the sky above the Bullhead, from where the blast hit a swarm of ominous dark clouds began to blanket the sky. With one swift flick of her riding crop the huntress brought about one of the most awe inspiring sights that Summer had ever seen. As hundreds of ice crystals cascaded from out of the clouds like rain, and embedded themselves into the wings, and the cockpit of the airship.
Reluctantly Summer tore her attention away from the barrage of crystals, as she turned her gaze back towards the cargo hatch of the Bullhead. Where a woman wearing what seemed to be a dress covered in dust infused runes that glowed with a malevolent orange light slowly stalked her way into view, her features were veiled from sight by the shadows of the Bullhead that seemed to cover the upper half of her body like a second skin. With an air of nonchalance the woman summoned what Summer could only perceive to be fire before she outstretched her hand, and cast a fireball at the cape wearing huntress.
With reflexes born from many years of experience the huntress quickly conjured a barrier glyph to protect herself from the blast. Her efforts; however, were all for naught as the mysterious woman lifted her arm and the remnants of the fireball that had seemingly splattered like paint behind the huntress, flared out into a bright explosion forcing her to back flip her way safety and out of the blast radius.
"Th-this is both amazing and terrifying at the same time h-how can Professor Rose expect me to fight people like this, I would be slaughtered before I even had the chance to lift up my scythe." Summer shook her head in order to derail that train of thought, and glanced over towards Ruby who stared out upon the battle with a stupefied look adorned across her face. Summer returned her gaze back to the duel between the huntress and the mysterious woman. "That woman is entirely focused on heading off the huntress, and Roman is to occupied with keeping the Bullhead in the air to stop Ruby and I from interfering with the fight." With a short look towards Ruby her focus zeroed in on the red scythe that she wielded, and a plan began to formulate in front of her eyes.
Quickly turning towards her red clad comrade Summer quietly shouted out "H-hey Ru-Red I have an idea," The trance that Ruby had seemingly fallen into as her eyes traced every movement made by the two combatants broke, as her eyes shifted from the large spear made up of glass shards over to Summer. "While that woman is distracted by the huntress we should try and bring down the Bullhead. Focus your fire on one of the engines, and shoot as fast as you can."
Ruby's eyes narrowed as she gave an affirmative nod of her head she quicky twirled er scythe around before she trained it on the nearest engine of the Bullhead. Just as she was about to fire her movements halted as she turned her towards Summer and asked. "Why shoot the engines, and not the crazy fire lady? I mean wouldn't that help out the huntress if we diverted her attention towards us?"
Summer looked over towards Ruby before glancing at the Woman in the dress, and as their eyes seemingly locked for a just a split second, something deep within her stirred as if it yearned for something that only the woman in the dress could give her, and as she continued to stare at the mysterious woman a foreboding feeling began to slowly permeate the air between them. There was one thing that was very clear to Summer, something was wrong about that woman and she hoped that she would never get the pleasure to find out just what about the woman disturbed her so. With one final shudder Summer turned her gaze back to Ruby "I don't know Red something tells me that if we try to shoot her all we would be doing is wasting our ammo. Please... Just... Just trust me on this one."
Ruby gave a firm nod of her head, with one last remark she started firing upon the Bullhead's engines "Okay, I trust you."
Summer retracted the blade of her scythe as she joined Ruby in firing on the Bullhead.
Bang. Summer pulled the bolt back as fast as she possibly could, bang. She smirked as she saw the engine's chassis bend and warp as their bullets hammered into it, bang. She pulled the bolt back and readjusted her aim before firing, bang. Summer nearly whooped for joy when her bullet finally punched a hole in the Bullhead's engine, bang. Over the din of battle Summer could hear Ruby shout a faint "Yes!" As one of her bullets punched another hole in the engine, bang. Summer halted her barrage of bullets for just a brief moment as she noticed a thick plume of acrid black smoke billow out of the engine, bang. Summer fired again, and the Bullhead began to tilt wildly as Roman struggled to maintain the airship's steady hover. Summer couldn't help but grin wildly and mentally fist bump herself; for out of the corner of her eye she could see the mysterious woman in the Bullhead's cargo hold lose her composure as she struggled to maintain her footing in the out of control airship.
The woman in the Bullhead made a gesture with her arm which forced Summer to tear her gaze away from the airship as the ground at her feet became enveloped in a bright orange low that pulsated with a great intensity. She reacted quickly as she went to get Ruby out of the blast radius, only to have an invisible force latch itself on to her cloak and launch her far away from the danger zone. From where she once stood a series of explosions rang out which forced her to cover her head with her arms as rubble rained down on the rooftop. Summer let out a sigh of relief, and rolled over on to her back as the hail of brick and mortar finally tapered off. The raging swarm of hummingbirds that was her heartbeat began to slow as the adrenaline coursing through her veins gradually ebbed away, leaving only a muted form of serenity as she stared up at the haunting sight of Remnant's shattered moon.
She stared wistfully at the sight as she forlornly remembered times long past where both she and her mentor would relax beneath the trees in the Emerald Forest, and gaze out at the stars as Professor Rose regaled her with stories of her past. Slowly she reached up and gripped her hand as she silently vowed to herself "I won't fail you Professor I'll save everyone I promise."
With a doleful sigh Summer stood up, and dusted herself off, behind her she feel a pair of eyes glare daggers into her soul. Slowly she turned around only to be met with the sight of a narrowed pair of terrifying emerald green eyes. The stare down between she and the huntress was interrupted by a red blur that streaked passed her and plopped itself in front of the woman. Summer couldn't help but let a small smile pull at her lips at the sight of Ruby standing in front of the stoic huntress like an excited puppy as she all but begged for the woman's autograph. She let the smile drop as she walked over to the pair, and as soon as she took her place next to Ruby the atmosphere turned dour as the stern looking woman silently stared down at the two of them.
Summer shuffled from foot to foot as awkward silence began to permeate the space between the three of them. Summer took a hesitant step towards the huntress. "s-so do I s-speak first? O-or do you s-speak first?" Summer physically recoiled at the venomous glare the woman gave her.
"You two are in a lot trouble." and with that the woman turned with a flourish of her cloak and stalked off towards the ladder that led them down to street level.
Summer turned to Ruby only to see a look of panic adorned across her face no doubt worrying about the punishment she'll receive when she gets back home. She hesitantly placed her hand on Ruby's back and guided her to the awaiting huntress "Come on R-red we might as well get this over with its not l-like we c-can run."
"Ruby... my name is Ruby... not red."
"S-sorry I didn't really k-know what to call you, it's nice m-meeting you Ruby. M-my name i-is Summer."
With that the two of them smiled at each other as they trudged their way towards the irate huntress. Each step heralded the arrival of their immediate future, a future that involved a long car ride to the local police station where both she and Ruby were to report what happened during the robbery. A future rife with struggle, friendship, and the ever present will to always move forward.
What she really didn't expect to happen when they arrived at the police station. Was for her to be separated from Ruby, and thrown into an interrogation cell to sit by herself in a cold and dark room. Summer ambled over to a chair that sat at the end of the table far away from the door, and lowered herself into it. She put her hands into her face and wondered to herself 'how did I get into this mess', all she wanted to do was buy an issue of Weapons Weekly, and some dust. She sat there for what felt like hours thinking of ways to track the White Fang, and trying to find out what Professor Rose meant about protecting the seasons. When she heard the door on the other side of the room creak open.