RWBY is property of Roosterteeth! I only own my characters.
CHAPTER 11
Ignis coughed, laying on his back. He felt a moist cloth laid across his forehead. He wasn't in the desert anymore. As he cracked his eyes open, he became aware of how colorful his surroundings were, as opposed to the sandy tan that he had been drowning in. He sat himself up slowly, noticing he was in a simple, but comfortable, bed.
"Take it easy. You passed out in the desert." Ignis turned to find the voice's source, quickly spotting a young woman with braided crimson hair and soft earthy green eyes. The woman offered the Bloodline a glass of water, which he accepted gladly.
"Thank you." the ex-Lord nodded his head appreciatively.
"For the water or saving you from the desert?" she quipped, tilting her head playfully.
"Both, I suppose." Ignis chuckled, feeling his parched lungs give a painful twinge as he did. The woman seemed to notice.
"Drink up." she commanded. "Let's make sure you're out of danger before we keep talking." Ignis nodded and downed the water, taking in his surroundings in further detail. The room where he was being kept was decently large, over twenty feet in both length and width. The walls had been painted a soft cream color, but had additional images of flowers of every hue covering the base. The building was quiet aside from any sound made by himself or the woman. Several large pots filled with real plants were scattered about the room, as well as in the hallway visible through the doorway he spotted.
Ignis began planning possible escape routes. The Reaper might've chastised him for it, but trust was not a commodity the ex-Lord had in ample supply. Only his wife and daughter had that honor. The woman eyed him oddly as he scanned the room.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. I probably couldn't even if I wanted to." She smiled warmly. "My name is Cherri. Welcome to my little home beyond the edge of civilization."
"Ignis." the ex-Lord replied shortly.
"That's clearly not your real name. Come on, I gave you mine."
"... Ryan... Ryan Aedus."
"That's better." Cherri nodded. "Nice to meet you, Ryan."
"...Likewise." he replied. The two of them stayed where there were for a few moments before Cherri seemed to have an idea.
"Hey, think you can stand?" she asked.
"Yes. Why?" Ignis raised an eyebrow at her.
"Because I want to show you around the rest of my house." she answered promptly. "Here, come on." Cherri reached out her hand to help Ryan to his feet. He hesitantly reached out and accepted the offer, A cool sensation traveled down his arm as their palms touched, and he suddenly noticed the small aches of pain across his body vanish.
Cherri quickly dragged him out of the room, animatedly gesturing as she showed the ex-Lord the rest of her home. It was decorated in much the same way as the room he had been in. The building was two stories in height and approximately seventy feet in its other two dimensions.
"So, why all the plants?" Ignis noted the abundance of potted foliage-bearing life. Flowers and small trees were everywhere.
"Oh, that's how I keep myself occupied out here." Cherri explained. "Making things grow in the middle of a desert will eat up more than enough free time. Plus, it keeps me fed, so there's that." She continued to guide Ignis through the house, showing him the various amenities therein. She then led him to the front entryway, a set of thick oaken double doors.
As Cherri led him outside, Ryan became aware of the desert in the distance in every direction. However, for over a hundred meters around the house, there was nothing but green vegetation. Cherri smiled pridefully at the ex-Lord's surprised expression.
"Impressive, huh?" she inquired.
"How did you manage this?" Ryan asked. No single person could have possibly done this.
"Well, if we're exchanging questions, let's make this an even trade. Where are you from, Ryan? What's your world called?" Ignis flinched and took a leap back from the woman, putting some distance between them. His right palm glowed as he gathered heat in it in preparation for a fight. "Nonono!" Cherri waved her hands defensively. "I was genuinely asking!"
"How do you know?" the ex-Lord growled.
"I can sense that you have a lot of power, but since you're a guy, you can't be like me. So I assumed you weren't from Remnant." the red-haired woman quickly explained. She let out a sigh of relief as Ignis' glowing palm subsided.
"Explain."
"Well, you have an aura... but it's different than any normal person's. I mean, it didn't heal you, for one, since I could still sense it when I rescued you."
"That's not how it works."
"Not where you're from maybe. But aura is supposed to heal its owner here." Cherri explained. "So, can you answer my question, please? What's your home called?"
"... Earth." Ryan relented. "You said this world was called 'Remnant'?"
"Yup." the woman nodded. "... I guess reintroductions are in order... how about you go first? Who are you?"
"... I am Ryan Aedus, as I said. But I am also Ignis, Bloodline of Flame."
"I'm gonna have to ask you to explain that later, but anyway... My name is Cherri Aithley... and as for how I got all these plants to grow... I am the current Maiden of Spring."
Blake sat nervously in the common area in the dormitory at Beacon, a heavy book open in her lap. The tome's pages were covered in small letters, greatly detailing the extensive history of Remnant and its kingdoms. She raised her eyes from the book as the room's door creaked open and Dimitri and Firo entered.
"Blake? What's wrong?" Firo asked. "Your message sounded urgent." The two adults sat across from the student.
"It's... I found something... but I'm not sure what to make of it..." Blake replied solemnly, lifting the book in her lap and presenting it to her friends.
"Is this about the stars?"
"... Yes..." Blake nodded slowly. "... I don't know... it's stupid."
"Blake," Dimitri reached out and took the student's hand reassuringly. "what did you find?"
"I found... recorded instances of those particular four stars acting like they are now... they've historically coincided with... calamities of unimaginable scale... but... it was usually only one star that would act up..." Blake shifted uneasily.
"... and we saw all four stars acting up..." Firo finished, catching onto what the black-haired girl was saying.
"... Yeah..." Blake confirmed. "... I can only hope that it's just a superstition..." She took a deep breath to try to calm her nerves. "I'm sorry... this must really seem like a dumb thing to call you both about..."
"No." Dimitri shook his head. "Blake, you know both Albi and I are here for you if you need to talk about something. It's better than you trying to face impending doom all on your own."
"... Thank you... both of you..." Blake sniffed. She got up and hugged both of her companions, letting herself calm down before returning to her seat. "... I'm going to keep an eye out for anything that might be related to this... can I count on both of you to help me?"
"Of course." the Russian answered. Firo nodded her own affirmation. "We'll be with you every step of the way."
"So, 'Chaos' can't be your real name... right?" Melody asked as she still adamantly followed the white-haired Bloodline through the woods. He remained silent. "Hey, come on, tell me!" She said, happily grabbing Chaos' arm to get his attention.
"... Did you forget that I slaughtered a room full of people literally moments before you found me?" He asked, still biding his time until his powers returned. His ability to plan was also hindered by the constant ranting of the voice in his head. He was doing his best to drown that one out completely. At least Melody wasn't screaming at him.
"... Well... no, but... I mean, we can work on that..."
"What do you mean?" Chaos quirked an eyebrow at her.
"... Um..." She started. "Well... killing people is wrong, right? So, we'll just work on getting you to stop that."
"...You're now clearly forgetting the part where I, one, enjoyed ripping those fools apart, and two, where I tried to do the same to you..."
"We can work on it!" Melody repeated stoically.
"... Sure..." Chaos rolled his eyes.
"I mean, we have plenty of time, right?" the girl continued.
"You seem to think this arrangement is permanent." Chaos replied. "It's not. As soon as my power returns, I'm gone." KILL HER! LEAVE NO TRACE! "Shut up." Melody's footsteps stopped, and since she still had a grip on his arm, Chaos also came to a halt. "What?"
"...Please don't go..." She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to be alone anymore..." A different voice suddenly spoke in Chaos' mind as he saw the mixture of fear, desperation, and loneliness on the girl's face.
Don't... Leave... Me... Please... I... Don't... Want... To be... Alone... A child's voice spoke instead of the ranting woman's that had plagued him. Chaos felt something twinge in his chest. What on Earth was happening to him? He was Chaos, the very embodiment of complete anarchy. He had slaughtered hundreds of men, women, and children. What was this girl doing to him? The woman's voice returned to answer him.
She is making you weak. She must die.
Taiyang watched his daughters sitting on the couch, playing games with Luna and Ryland. Their evening thus far had been quite activity-filled. Yang and Ryland had subjected all of them to a series of horror films in quick succession, but had called it off once Ruby started looking nervously over her shoulder and squeezing Zwei so tightly that the poor dog was lucky his head hadn't popped off.
So, instead, the four current occupants of the couch squared off in some sort of racing game. Taiyang hadn't really kept up with the gaming trends, so all he could tell is that the racers took inspiration from different types of Grimm.
Qrow had once again emptied the house of any sort of liquor he could get his hands on. He had started when the movie marathon had begun, but passed out about halfway through the third film. Now the dark-haired Huntsman was laid out on the rug behind the couch, snoring lightly despite the occasional yells of victory coming from nearby.
Taiyang spotted Alex sitting off to the side of the others. Ever since he and Ryland had recounted their origins, Taiyang had found himself watching them to discern more about their characters. To his eyes, they really were just normal people put through a series of horrible ordeals. They hadn't shared too much in terms of gritty details about the war they had fought in, but Taiyang couldn't hold that against them. He'd had plenty of friends unwilling to talk about their past battles.
Not wanting to continue awkwardly standing off on his own, Taiyang pulled a chair up next to Alex. He might as well try to learn more about one of the men responsible for keeping his children safe.
"Hey, Alex. You settling in alright?"
"Oh?" Alex tore his own gaze away from the four occupants of the couch. "Yeah. It's very nice. Thanks for letting us stay for a while."
"Nah. It's no trouble." Taiyang waved a hand dismissively. "It's actually nice to have some company around here that isn't drunk." He pointed at Qrow, who made a loud snoring sound.
"Glad to be of service." Alex joked.
"... I've been wondering something..." Taiyang began, his voice becoming low and serious. "Earlier... you mentioned that wish granting temple..." He took a deep breath. "When you said that it let you talk to the dead... did Ruby..." Alex picked up on what he was asking.
"Yes." the blond soldier nodded. "She talked to her mother."
"Good. At least that gives her and I a little closure..." Taiyang sighed, closing his eyes. "there was always a part of me that hoped she was still out there... but at least... now I know she isn't suffering alone somewhere..."
"I'm sorry... I know how you feel..."
"Who did you see?" Taiyang asked.
"My brother." Alex answered. "He made sure to kick my ass in gear though..." Taiyang and the soldier both chuckled.
"Alex. Thank you for keeping my girls alive."
"It wasn't just me. Ryland and many others helped us, and they didn't get this far without their own immense amounts of skill. You should be proud to have kids like them."
"Believe me. I am."
A/N: So, Ignis met somebody interesting, didn't he? In other news, my lungs are still inside my body... so there's that.
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REVIEW REPLIES:
ItzABlueWulf: That reveal is coming eventually. Not for a while, but eventually.
Stevealio: Oh no. It's started.
Welcometodalolz: True, but I think I got the coal of early gifts.