Chapter Thirteen
For some people, creating or conceptualizing a weapon was easy. For some, hard but not maddeningly so. Unfortunately for Lune, it felt beyond hard. So hard, she'd kick the shins of anyone who told her it was brain dead easy.
Remnant weapons just felt so complicated to her. Hell, weapons were complicated in general, because she had to build one from scratch and certainly based from her own ideas. Just thinking of what form it would take was pressuring, and on a bad day, maddeningly so. This was the weapon she was to own for the decades to come, after all. Maybe even her entire life. She knew she couldn't screw this up.
It was like, how could the others just decide what they wanted so naturally? It was as if they've known it all their lives. A long, distant dream they could reach with their hands the moment they were given the opportunity to do so. They've probably only spent an hour or two thinking about it while she'd spent days hunched over her desk, scribbling notes and comparing one weapon's feature to another. Her trash can was never empty of discarded ideas, and one time she was even close to tearing her hair off her scalp because she just couldn't find what really fit her to a T.
And to learn that her classmates were already gathering their own materials, if not already forging them with or without the help of Signal's resident smith? It was practically injustice.
Especially when it was an established fact that in Remnant, any object could be a weapon.
Yep. Anything, if you knew you could kill a Grimm with it. Signal Academy taught its students for the first few years the usage of more conventional weaponry. That was true; you learned to crawl before you walked. But once the weapons crafting portion was out of the way, the rest of the time left was spent specializing. "Getting to know and trust what would be your lifetime companion," as some would put it.
More specifically, as Ruby Rose would put it.
Lune chuckled at the idea of the energetic, red-haired girl practically marrying her weapon. The girl probably would, given the chance and the right weapon that described love at first sight. But… that was enough of that. She still had work to do.
She shook her head, tucking a stray, white lock of hair behind her ear afterward and refocusing on the sketchbook laid out in front of her. She was currently in the comforts of her room in the Beryl household, lying tummy-first on her bed with a pencil on her ear and a hand supporting her chin. Her elbow was planted firmly on the mattress. Her legs were bent, swinging back and forth, and she hummed as she grabbed her pencil once more. She scribbled a new idea on the open notebook right beside the sketchbook, and the sound of pencil lead scraping over the rough sheet sounded strangely loud to her rabbit ears.
A thank-god-this-was-over sort of smile stretched across her lips. She'd accomplished the task of narrowing her options down to a more manageable size so far. Anything heavy was struck off the list, and everything light was fair game. Speed over strength, she'd decided. Not that she couldn't hit worth a damn. Plus, her current size made sure that anything larger than her would just make things look ridiculous. Manageable, possibly, but still ridiculous. And many things were larger than her. She suddenly frowned. Where the hell was her growth spurt?
There was a particularly embarrassing memory regarding one of the more heavier weapons she'd wielded before. One that she wouldn't mind forgetting forever, because she was fairly certain Yang was never going to live down the way Lune sent herself flying when she tried swinging a dust-infused zweihander. Neither would Ruby, now that she thought about it, judging from the wide-eyed stare and her open mouth when it had happened. Something told Lune the redhead was more concerned for the weapon, for some reason. That's the last time I'm trying out gravity Dust.
Anywho, there were some basic principles to follow in regards to crafting a weapon in Signal: one, her weapon had to be something she could comfortably work with. Two, it had to be something that aligned with her fighting style. And three, it had to be something that made sense the moment it got all the bells and whistles it needed. Practical, that was the word. They weren't necessarily followed down to the last letter because there was always a prodigy and they made weapons that worked surprisingly well (see: Crescent Rose) but looked utterly impractical or absurd. But to Lune, they were enough for her to go by as she went along.
She absently scratched one of her fuzzy rabbit ears. Now, back to the original question: what kind of weapon did she want? Should she go for something cool, something more practical, or something that was both? Hmm, definitely both, so her creation wouldn't suck compared to what her classmates already have. She could ask Ruby for help, but what would that make her if she couldn't come up with something all by herself—
The door suddenly swung open with a bang.
Lune screamed. She'd jerked back so hard, she went over the edge of her bed and sent her pencil spinning in the air. Basically, she fell. She was pretty sure her life flashed before her eyes as she did so. But then all that happened was her hitting the floor hard enough to see stars, and a groan escaped her lips as she wondered what the hell just happened. Ow. Merde. She gingerly rubbed the back of her head as she pulled herself up, using her bed as support.
She cautiously peered over the edge of the mattress. There could be an attack happening. Or worse.
But then, apparently, that wasn't the case.
"It's just us, silly," said Yang Xiao Long, who was visibly resisting the urge to burst into laughter as she stood there in the doorway. It was a futile attempt. The stupid smile on her face and her shaking shoulders wouldn't go away.
"Bothersome," Lune murmured. In a louder voice, she flatly said, "Just laugh it all out and be done with it."
And Yang did. Man, she had one hell of a laugh. She slapped her knee as laugh like she'd never laughed before. Ruby, her younger sister, could only stand awkwardly and twiddle her fingers as if guilty of a heinous crime. Lune waited for her friend to recover. Eventually, like a minute or two, Yang did. That was when Lune shot the blonde an accusing look.
Yang raised her hands in front of her. "Hey, I didn't open the door. She did."
She, as in Ruby. The shorter girl looked guiltier by the minute.
"Yep, guilty as charged," Ruby said in a tiny voice, now nervously rubbing the back of her neck. She laughed awkwardly. "I got a little overexcited. Whoops?"
"Whoops," Lune echoed. Relieved that she wasn't under attack after all, she buried her face into the mattress. "I don't think I even want to ask why."
She didn't have to. The answer just scurried over to her as if by cue. She focused on her faunus hearing; the sound was faint, like many little feet moving at once across the floor, and her rabbit ears made a funny little twitch. It came closer… and closer… and then it was sniffing her leg. Or was it nuzzling it? From the feel of it, probably both.
…Wait.
What?
Blinking rapidly, Lune pulled herself away from her bed and lowered her head, gazing down at a…
Huh. It was a tiny puppy, with a black and white coat and a face that could make the most stoic person smile at the cuteness. It had short legs, small ears that would no doubt become pointy in time, and it was the most adorable thing she'd ever seen. The puppy sat on its hind legs and stared at her with its head tilted. Lune promptly melted.
"Aww," she cooed. She leaned towards the puppy to stroke its fuzzy head. "Hi there. Aren't you a precious little baby?"
The puppy, as if by cue, made a tiny bark of agreement. Lune melted anew. So cute.
"Told you she'd like him," she heard Ruby say to Yang.
"I don't think I've even seen her like this, ever," Yang said, amazed. She was staring at the faunus as she gently picked up the puppy and placed it on the bed where it wouldn't risk being accidentally stepped on. She watched how Lune quickly put away her things soon after, and her lilac eyes continued following the faunus as she walked towards a cabinet, pulled it open, and stuffed the notebooks inside. Lastly, she took note of how Lune shot a fond, fond smile at the tiny corgi.
Hey, better to have nothing to salvage from a puppy attack than salvage anything at all, right? Even if her current progress was crap compared to her classmates. With her sketchbook and notebook thus safely stuffed inside her bedside drawer, Lune sat on her bed. She turned to face her two friends and ignored the tickling feeling of having a snout sniff her curiously.
"What's this little guy's name?" she asked. Not that she didn't know, but technically speaking, she wasn't supposed to. Obviously.
"Zwei!" Ruby said with a bright smile, quickly crossing the distance between her and Lune in a red blur. By the time the faunus completely registered the presence of the younger girl, Ruby was already seated beside her and petting the puppy. "Dad got him from a friend of his. And it. Was. Awesome."
"His friend's dog gave birth to too many puppies. She couldn't keep all of them, so he offered to adopt one once they're old enough," Yang elaborated. She grinned. "So now we're taking care of Zwei when we're not too busy in Signal! Dad handles the weekdays. We mostly handle the weekends. And so far, nothing unusual has happened." Lune tried not to think of what 'unusual' would mean in regards to dog care. "Knowing Dad, though, that probably won't last long."
"Hey, at least it's not as ruff a change as you initially thought it would be, having a dog to take care of and all," Lune said as she handed Zwei to Ruby, who immediately started cuddling the precious thing. Puppy Zwei was enjoying every minute of it. So. Cute.
Lune smiled at Yang knowingly. Immediately catching on, her friend's face grew a thousand watts brighter. That was one hell of a proud look right there.
"I've trained you well. Keep going, and you might just be my protege," she said.
Lune stuck a tongue out. "No thanks. I'll just end up getting punched to the next year if I tried unseating you from your throne."
"Point."
"I try," Lune said with a shrug. "And while I like having you guys over, I distinctly remember saying I'll be busy finalizing my weapon plan." She gestured to the papers inside her drawer to prove her point. "Just paperwork, in a sense. Did you guys really go all the way from your house to my house just to show Zwei?" She petted the puppy. Zwei immediately started attacking her fingers with licks. She smiled again. "Even though he is such a darling and a legit enough reason."
"Yes and no," Yang said. She walked towards the two in a few large, confident strides, and Lune moved aside to make space for the blonde as she sat right in the middle of her and Ruby. She wrapped her arms around their shoulders and gave a friendly squeeze. "Ruby and I decided that we're totally going to celebrate your birthday—which is in three weeks—with a bang. Or in my case, with a Yang."
"Why?"
"Because you're being too serious lately and we thought you should have fun for once!" Ruby answered. Zwei barked in agreement.
Now that was something Lune didn't know what to say about. Not because she didn't appreciate what her friends wanted to do for her (she did), or that they were half-right that she was taking her combat training a bit more seriously (trying her best to, anyway), but rather… well, she just thought that birthday celebrations had kind of lost its charm on her.
Yes, it was true. Lune Beryl, previously Amelie Gauthier, didn't regard birthdays with as much enthusiasm as she had before.
Oh, sure, don't get her wrong, she loved how her parents celebrated it with her through dinners in Vale or through gigantic cakes with candles she'd go blue trying to blow out (see: her eight birthday). She loved how she got to celebrate the birthdays she'd taken for granted in her past life, and she loved getting a reminder of how it was like to be a kid again. It was a rare thing she'd never thought she'd experience. It was also a thing she thought other, better people should have experienced, but she was here now and she couldn't changed that.
But at the present, she wasn't necessarily unhappy about her birthdays. Birthdays were still a joyous affair. It was just that she'd realized that, for each year she celebrated, she was one year apart from her old life.
Strange, and stranger. What a thing to think about. Where she could have ended up if she didn't die, what she could have been doing. Her thoughts usually revolved around those whenever that time of the year swung by. Like, she could have found a guy to fall in love with and marry. And if he ended up being a cheating bastard, divorce with. She could have had a PhD or something if she tried hard enough, or hell, she could have won a lottery and be one of those millionaires who spent all the money in one go. The possibilities were endless.
But now, the most she could wish for was to even livethrough her twenties or thirties, what with Remnant's mortality rates and all. Funny how things were now.
She imagined herself shaking her head. She then put on her usual, lazy smile as she looked at Yang and bumped her shoulder against hers. "You guys are too sweet," Lune said. She meant it. "But if that involves surprises as bad as earlier, I'm not attending my own party."
"But she definitely will, because I'll be the one dragging her into it. Not attending your own party? Sacrilege. What kind of daughter did I raise?"
All heads turned towards the doorway—Zwei included.
Leaning against the frame was a smirking River Beryl, whose arms were crossed as she looked at them interestedly with those vibrant, blue eyes of hers. Her short, white hair was tied in a ponytail today, and she'd opted to wear a tank top and a pair of shorts. Wait. Huh. That was unusual. She usually wore dresses.
Lune decided to put away that realization. Maybe her mom just wanted to wear something different. Should be nothing to be concerned about. Anywho, somehow it didn't surprise her in the slightest that the woman hadn't rushed up the stairs the moment the door slammed against the wall, either. Mom was always aware of who entered and exited the household.
"The kind that hates bad surprises," Lune easily answered, standing up and walking over to her mother to give her kiss on the cheek. "Hi, Mom. As you can see, the room's still intact. We're good."
"Yep!" Ruby said. "And I didn't break the door, so there's that. Oh, and uh, yeah, that door slam? Totally my fault. Sorry."
Mom shook her head, patting Lune on the head and pushing herself away from the door. "It's fine, sweetie. If it broke, it's not difficult to get another one. Lune here would just have to suffer a lack of privacy for a few days." She smiled wryly. "She's a tough girl—she can handle people suddenly learning her deepest, darkest secrets."
Lune would very much like to say that she valued her privacy and would retreat to her dorm for the meantime so no person knew her "deepest, darkest secrets." But Mom was just joking, anyway. Casual disregard was pretty much a part of her character, though whether that was just a front or not was up in the air right now. Still, if River Beryl was being honest, she'd be looking a lot more severe and less motherly than what she was right now. And blunter. And scarier.
"Then it looks like I have a door to break," Yang said jokingly and pretended to crack her fist. Lune casually pointed two fingers at her own eyes before pointing them at Yang. I'm watching you, bub. The blonde merely grinned toothily.
Mom chuckled at the exchange. "Well, all talks of door breaking aside, we've got snacks downstairs if you're all hungry. I'd like to give Zwei something, too, but I'm not quite certain what kinds of food he could eat."
Ruby perked up like she'd just been told Christmas came early. The word "cookies!" could be practically read in her wide eyes, and coupled with that wider smile of hers, Lune knew that there was going to be a total cookie annihilation later. All that was missing was drool to complete the picture.
"That, is totally fine!" Ruby said in response. "We brought some snacks for Zwei just in case we stay long."
"Nice." River said in approval. She then turned to Lune. "And you, honey. You still busy fiddling with your weapon plan?"
"I'm taking five."
"Fantastic. Then you're going to train with me in the backyard. Right now."
Lune's eyebrows shot up. For the record, her mom had never involved herself in Lune's training before. River generally came to the rescue with the more academic aspects of her education. She'd go so far as to do shouting matches with any person that so much as discriminated her little girl. But offering to help kick butt better? That was one thing Mom never stepped forward to do. Until now. Sure, River Beryl certainly had the combat experience for that if the fact that she was a previous Beacon student was something to go by. But then she wasn't needed anyway, not when Vanilla or her dad was there already doing a lot of the legwork.
Something was up.
"I think I'd like to know why, first," Lune said. She was mindful of how Yang and Ruby's attention were now focused on the two of them; they didn't know Mom could fight. "Not that I don't want the help, but you usually don't bother with this aspect of Signal."
"Now I do. It's high time some things change around here," Mom said. Obviously, there was far more to it than that if the monotony was being broken. A lot of things were, these days. But whatever her mom was thinking, Lune could only hope it didn't mean bad things were coming. As if sensing some doubt from her daughter, the woman added, "Also, I've seen your report cards. They're not bad, but they don't fit my standards either."
"Ouch, but good point." Lune nodded. If her parent's standards were higher than her own, something told her this training was going to be hell. Well, whatever. She'll just deal with whatever her mom had in mind. "Okay, then. Training it is."
"Oh yeah!" Ruby then said, a thought suddenly occurring to her. When Lune looked at her with a questioning expression, Ruby's gray eyes shifted downward. She twiddled her fingers and asked, "You don't mind if I, uh, looked at your weapon plans while you go train, do you? I just want to take a peek and… maybe make some suggestions." She finally met Lune's eyes, lowered her hands, and smiled nervously. "If that's perfectly fine with you! You know how I'm like with weapons, right? I swear I won't mess around too much!"
Lune offered the girl a reassuring smile and a shrug. She didn't really have anything to hide in here. Her super secret notebook was stashed under her mattress, which shouldn't be of any interest to a weapons-crazy kid (Lune had even gone the extra mile and rewrote it to a more codified version), and… that was pretty much the only thing worth hiding. The rest were fair game. "Knock yourself out."
"Yes!" Ruby pumped a fist into the air. "Thanks, Lune!"
"I'll make sure she doesn't go overboard," Yang said. Ruby stuck a tongue out at Yang. Momentarily ignoring her little sister, she then smiled at River. "And thanks for the snacks, River! You're awesome."
"I know. But or a moment there, I thought I'll have to give you another tongue-lashing about how calling me Mrs. Beryl makes me sound too damn old," Mom said in a dry tone. "Smart of you to avoid disaster. In any case…" She turned away and gestured for her daughter. "Lune, let's get this game going." Then she walked away from the room and made her way downstairs. She didn't give the younger faunus so much as a backward glances as she left; she had the full expectation that her daughter would be following soon. And, well, Lune would. But first…
Thinking her mom was relatively out of earshot—if the fading footsteps were anything to go by—she asked the two remaining people in the room, "On a scale of one to screwed, how badly is this training going to go?"
"Screwed."
"Totally screwed."
Lune regretted asking.
She didn't really know what to expect the moment she swung open the door and stepped into the forest clearing also known as the Beryl household's backyard. All she knew was that she was going to see her mom in action for first time since forever, and the woman was going to be a merciless teacher considering the no-nonsense approach she took for the more serious matters. Lune's combat progress apparently fell into one of those, as of today. As she let her eyes adjust to the brightness the afternoon sun provided, she hoped that she still had any functioning body parts once this whole thing was over.
It wasn't difficult to locate her mother. Because there she was, just standing right there in the middle of the grassy area. She was waiting for Lune with a wicked-looking naginata in her hand.
She noticed where her daughter's eyes started wandering to. She smirked. Deciding to show off a bit, she then expertly spun the weapon with her hands before bringing the bladed part down for an imaginary slash. Nice. The green crystal stuck at the other end had shone as she did so. And, right before the naginata was completely brought down, the markings on its body had lit up like a Christmas tree and extended its glow towards the blade. It didn't take long for Lune to find out what happened after that.
"Really?" Lune could only say as she struggled to comb her now-messy hair using her fingers. The gust of wind that had blown at her wasn't strong enough to send her flying south for the winter, but it sure as hell resulted to one bad bed head.
"It's been a while since I got to handle this baby," Mom said as Lune walked over to her. She gestured to her weapon, which at closer inspection revealed that it had a certain mechanism that allowed it to shorten or extend. "Tempest, Lune. Lune, Tempest. I'd show you how it transforms into a gun, but we don't have any use for firearms right now."
"I wasn't really looking forward to being shot down anytime soon, anyway," Lune said lightly, causing her mother to stifle a chuckle. "So uh, why are we doing this again?"
"Like I've said, it's high time you started doing better in Signal," Mom said. "And, honestly, your training could use a bit more discipline. Much more than what your Professor Branwen instills on you students."
"Fair enough." Lune nodded. "So uh, now what?"
"We get to the fun part," Mom said. The smile she put on was anything but happy. It was bordering on sinister, the kind that brought to mind the image of storm clouds, flashing lightning, and torrential rain.
And because of that, Lune couldn't fault herself for fighting down an urge to swallow nervously. "Okay, then…"
But before her mom said anything more, she momentarily walked away to a spot where she squatted down to grab something lying in the grass. Something… brown? The grass covered it pretty neatly. When the older faunus returned, two fighting sticks were held in her hand. She tossed them over to Lune soon as she was near enough, and the younger faunus threw her hands forward to catch them in the air. She succeeded.
"So, here's the deal: if you manage to hit me just once, you won't have to do all the exercises I have in plan for you after this little evaluation test," she told Lune.
"Sounds simple enough," Lune said.
"Only because you didn't let me finish," Mom said with a wry smile. After a sheepish expression thrown her way, she then continued, "But if you fail, say goodbye to the rest of this afternoon because you're in for the ride of your life. And before you ask, failure includes you getting hit by me just once."
The pleasant expression on Lune's face froze. This time, she couldn't help but swallow at whatever horrors her own mother had in plan for her, her only daughter.
"Aw, come on, kiddo. It won't be that bad," Mom said as she noticed Lune's nervousness. There was nothing remotely reassuring with her words. "Chin up. It'll be a valuable learning lesson all the same. After this I won't disturb you with your weapon planning any longer."
"But it's not a painless, valuable learning lesson."
"Nope." Scary how easy that answer came out of her mouth.
Was it too late to back out? Because she suddenly wished she was back in her room and pulling at her hair as she dismissed one weapon idea for another. She also wished that she didn't say she was free right now, but alas. Steeling herself for what was to come, she straightened herself up from her slump. "Fine… I'm ready."
Mom nodded. She readjusted her grip over Tempest and took several steps back. "Alright, then. Game on."
Lune returned the nod with one of her own and formed her battle stance.
Seconds passed without either of the two making the first move. They were just eyeing each other warily, knowing that the first move could be the difference between a fight in either fighter's favor or a fight towards their downfall. And since Lune didn't know what level of skill her mother possessed, making the first move might as well result to getting her own ass kicked. Patience was the name of the game. Let the opponent do the moving while she learned, and act accordingly.
"Well, we're not going anywhere with this," Mom finally said. She actually yawned before tightening her grip on her weapon. "If that's the case, fine, I'll start."
So she did.
Lune braced herself, reminding herself that her body was the main performer of this show, not her mind. Just like she'd been told a dozen times by both her teachers and her friends. She still wasn't that good, but she was learning. And she'll prove right now that she was built of sterner stuff—oh, gosh, dodge. Now.
The lunge came much, much faster than Lune anticipated. Thankfully, she managed to move aside just quickly enough to be a hair's width from an actual strike. Then when the weapon was about to slash sidewards, Lune flipped, doing yet another narrow dodge. She managed to catch a glimpse of her mother twirling the naginata expertly as she recovered from her own strike, ready to move once more. Lune ended up standing several feet away, ready for River's next moves.
"Lesson number one, kiddo," the woman said from afar. "You can't dodge everything. Learn to block."
"You're too fast."
"Then try to be faster."
Lune lamented the fact that today was a dry afternoon as she warily stood there, waiting. After an accident concerning a trampled flowerbed and a bully that tripped her, she somehow came out of it getting a better feel for the dew still stuck in the petals and leaves. She'd managed to form a ball of water after enough concentration, and she'd splashed them all on the bully's face. Of course, the lightheaded feeling she had after that made her incapable of responding to whatever taunt the bastard made before walking away, but there you go.
Lune tried focusing on the liquid that were inside the plants around her; she'd wanted to extract them so she had a second line of defense against her mother. But… she just couldn't grip them hard enough. The control slipped her fingers, and she had no choice but to cease the attempt lest she fainted from the effort.
"Well, then," Mom said, breaking Lune out of her trance. "Whatever you've been trying, it's not working. Was that a semblance? I'll help you out with that later. But for now… easy mode's over. En garde."
Her mother dashed forward with her naginata at the ready. The multiple, swift lunges she made only had Lune stepping back and barely parrying everything. There was a certain ferocity to those strikes—she just couldn't keep up.
She felt her back hit a tree. Crud. Cornered.
To River's mild disappointment and to Lune's not-so-mild horror, the "spar" was over before it truly began.
Several minutes later, Lune was suffering from her loss big time. It didn't help that the music being played by the scroll her mother brought with her was running at a tempo so fast she felt like a turtle. And she was forced to dance to it. Doubly worse was the fact that, in the background, Ruby and Yang were watching while simultaneously munching on some chocolate chip cookies. Zwei just sat there and looked cute. Lucky bastard.
I wanted some of those cookies, dammit. When is my big break?
"Are you"—she spun on her heel and made rapid footworks in accordance to the music—"sure this is completely necessary?"
"Faster," Mom simply said, nodding along to the tune. "And yes, honey. Your sense of rhythm is way off. You lack the energy, the drive, and you sure as hell don't recognize the patterns of combat enough. No wonder you lose more often than you win."
"Not my fault… everyone's better than me," Lune said in-between breaths. Christ, where did she get this track?
"Excuses. At least I'm here to help, and this should be doing just that. I did the same when I was younger." Mom clapped her hands twice. "Alright, keep moving. Just like that, and… good, good."
'What kind of stamina did my mom have?' was the question Lune had as she desperately followed the music the best she could. This was, like, the sixth time she was dancing to the same song after her mom demonstrated the movements. The muscles on her legs were burning. Her arms were already on fire, and she was pretty sure no amount of water was going to douse them. She was sweating enough as it was; she could fill a pool with her perspiration if she had to. Eww, maybe not. That's disgusting.
"Suddenly I miss Dad's training regimen." She moved her arms, spun again, and later made a clap before repeating the movements in the opposite way.
"You and I both know that your father had been too easy on you. And… okay, a bit eccentric. Dodging balls? Really?" Mom shook her head. "His 'training regimen' is too soft. As I've now realized, you need a stricter approach. We go hardcore or we go home."
The song finally ended, and Lune dropped to her knees, panting like Zwei and wiping her forehead that kept leaking sweat. No more. After taking a few seconds to recover, she looked up at River. "Was that good enough?"
There was a pregnant pause.
"Almost, but not quite," Mom finally concluded. "One more try."
"…Will that be the last for today?"
There went River Beryl's super sinister smile yet again. She crossed her arms. "Nope. We're just getting started."
Lune promptly fell face-forward to the grass. The girl gave no crap to the fact that she could practically taste the soil… or feel an earthworm squirming somewhere close to the surface. Wait. WHAT?
In the background, Yang and Ruby winced for Lune, who still remained prone on the grass but was letting out a groan reminiscent of a strangled cat.
Screwed, indeed. Hopefully the next exercise would be easier on her.
She was wrong.
"Mom," Lune said as she stared at what lay past the edge of the roof she stood on. Her legs were shaking and she could hardly move—but it wasn't fatigue she was suffering from. Oh, no, fatigue was suddenly at the back of her mind after what Mom wanted her to do next. "I'm going to die."
River scoffed from down below. In front of her was a large, blue mat that God knows where she'd taken that out of. Conveniently nearby was the only tree standing away from its friends, and it was going to be key for the next crazy activity her mother had in mind.
Like, really, she was twelve going thirteen. What did she need to practice a landing strategy for when her Beacon entrance exam wasn't anytime soon? Being ahead of her future schoolmates was fine and dandy, but this was just ridiculous. How did this happen again?
"Lune, this is barely even half the height you'll be falling from when the real thing happens," Mom said. She tilted her head to the side. "…You're scared of heights. Really."
"Yes!" It wasn't her fault this reminded her of some things she'd rather not be reminded of right now. Yes, really.
"Then this is one good opportunity for some fear conquering," she responded simply, stepping away from the mat. "You're lucky enough you've got a tree you can step on before you jump right down to here. Come on, it'll be over before you know it. You're not even going to break any bones with your Aura nice and intact. And trust me, when you're out there being launched into the air, you'll be thankful this happened."
"I'll be wondering why it's necessary that everyone be launched into the air in the first place!" Lune tried to make a shaky step, failed, and opted to stagger backward instead. Too high. Vertigo. Nasty vertigo. "Can't we just do something else? Can't I just control a bucket of water and whip it around until you're satisfied?"
"I've got cookies as a prize."
"Please?"
The woman seemed to consider the idea. Then she shook her head. "Nope."
Lune started wondering what she'd done wrong as Amelie to deserve this.
No, seriously, she really did wonder if she committed a heinous crime in her past that Karma decided to kick her butt.
"You do realize that there could be Grimm around…" Lune paused to take a couple shallow breaths as she ran laps around the vicinity of the household with her mother. The dreaded landing exercise had been finally dealt with and she was doing her level best to block it from her memory. "…Right?"
"Do any of us feel depressed or anything similar? No? Then we're fine. Those things only come after anyone remotely sad. And we are so not sad right now." Her mother looked barely winded as she easily kept pace, even managing to pat her daughter on the shoulder. Lune no longer wondered what her mom did when she and Dad were busy outside of the household. Christ, she had much more energy than Ruby on a sugar rush.
"So what's this segment for, then? We've been at this for… like, a dozen laps already."
"It's all part of the exercise, sweetie. We're almost back at the house."
She wouldn't know if the house she saw in the distance was hers or someone else's, too focused on her breathing and making sure her feet kept moving one step in front of the other. And did her vision just dim for a moment there? No, that was probably just her. Lune shook her head and tried to focus on the dirt path—and the surrounding trees—ahead of them. "I'm… guessing… this is going to be a normal thing?" She said between breaths.
"Along with the push-ups, the intense weapons practice… and some projectile-dodging practice that doesn't involve toys? Yup. Trust me… it's only hard the first time around."
What, a part of her almost asked out loud. Like sex? Well, gee. "Okay," Lune said. It was the only answer her brain could produce right now because oh, yes, that was definitely her vision dimming. And her consciousness, fading. Sort of. "…Weekly?"
"Weekly, but I'll be sure that you do some exercises while you're in Signal."
"But we're finally done now, right?"
Mom nodded. "Yes, we're done for the day."
When they finally reached the Beryl household, Lune nodded at her mother before dropping down like a sack of potatoes.
A moment of recovery later, Lune was finally done for the day—and maybe with life, as soon as she got the feeling in her arms and legs back. By the time she finally had a chance to lie down for a bit, the grass beneath her felt more blissful than ticklish when it brushed against her skin. She watched the sky slowly shift from an orange hue to a purplish one. Soon, the stars would be out. And soon, she'll somehow make her way back inside and sleep like the dead.
Yang and Ruby (and Zwei) had long since headed home, chaperoned by a horribly amused Qrow Branwen who'd caught a glimpse of Lune's dramatically collapsed form. The look on his face took on a drunken incredulity after he was greeted by an unusually cheerful River Beryl, who, on the other hand, seemed no worse for wear. Right before the family left, Yang had told Lune that she'll see her in class tomorrow and that she should totally look forward to the party. Ruby had excitedly stated that there was a surprise waiting for her inside her room.
And Lune? Well, she'd been too tired to be properly enthused.
But now, she felt like she'd managed to regain some of those lost energy. So with a count of three, she struggled to sit up, and then stood up on her own two feet.
It was during that moment that her mother came around to check up on her.
"So," Mom said. "Think you'll be doing better in Signal now?"
"I have no idea," Lune said. The tiredness dripped heavily in her voice. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "You're a terror, you know."
"Believe me, that's what I thought of my teacher when I was the one doing all of these," her mother wryly said. She chuckled softly. It was obvious that she was replaying a certain memory in her mind. "She, on the other hand, was downright nasty. And the best part? I can't even hate her for it."
"A person you can't even hate. Who is she, then?"
There was that familiar, distant look on her eyes again. Was it sorrow she was feeling? Wistfulness? Happiness? It was hard to tell.
"My sister," Mom merely said.
"Your sister," Lune echoed. The thought slowly sank in inside her mind. "…My aunt, then. How come I've never heard of her?"
"Well…" An uneasy smile. "She's… resting now. Unfortunately for us, she happens to be doing just that on the other side of Remnant. So, no visits from us. But obviously, we have reason to be scared shitless if she does."
"Oh." Sorry, Lune thought sluggishly. This was totally a different kind of territory she'd rather not walk into now. "Well, uh… so… moving on, why the sudden need for this? I know I'm not doing a good job as a Huntress-in-training, but I'm trying."
She felt a hand ruffle her hair. She was too tired to protest and simply let it blow over. Her mother pulled her hand back, clasped it with her other one behind her, and smiled a warm one.
Huh. A thought occurred to Lune. Maybe this hellish training was just her way of trying to help her out. Because, maybe, just maybe, the usual methods weren't working for her normally not-so-motivated self? Could be. If even the thought of the tournament and the class rankings did anything to pressure Lune into improving, then who was she to reject her offers of assistance?
"Well," she began, "I just wanted to prepare you better for the future ahead of us. The things we have won't last forever, so I thought, hey, when that change comes, I'm not allowing any of us to be blindsided by it."
Lune blinked. That was one kind of answer she didn't expect. "Are you expecting something to happen?"
"…No. But none of us knows what the next day has in store for us," Mom replied. At Lune's particularly unconvinced expression, she sighed. "Okay, fine, crappy answer. It's just—I'll admit this much. I'm involved in something that I might go back to working on someday. What it is, I'm not ready to specify. But it is… a job. My job. And I've been reminded of how I've been slacking off long enough."
"So you…" Lune slowly worked it through inside her mind. A part of her felt... strangely sad at this admission, but she didn't have it in her to acknowledge it. "Want to do as much as you can do to help me while you're here?"
"Yes. But as for the 'while I'm here' part, who knows? Maybe I don't have to move around. We'll see." The relief on River's at Lune's understanding tone was practically heartbreaking. "I hope you're not mad at me after all those things I just did earlier." She scoffed at herself. "On second thought, be mad at me. I know you won't want an encore."
No, I don't, a part of her wanted to say. And yet, another part of her thought that this whole thing meant something to her mother. It was the worst training regimen Lune had ever experienced in her entire life, sure. But then, if she didn't get used to any actual difficulty, how was she going to improve?
This was for the best, she decided. No omelets could be made without breaking a few eggs, or something like that. Lune couldn't fault her mom for wanting to be a big part of her life, could she?
"I'm not mad," Lune replied. She smiled. "Honestly, I think… you're helping. Even just a bit. I'll have to see first how this goes first. But I don't mind repeating this whenever."
Mom returned the smile with twice the liveliness and twice the warmth. "Then I'm glad. I only mean the best for you. You know that, right?"
"Yep. And even if this was the harshest exercise ever, you're still my mom and I still love you."
A quick hug. "And I you, sweetie. I always do." Mom then glanced skyward, noted the stars that were slowly filling up the darkening sky, and nodded to herself. "Okay, I hate to cut this moment short, but I think it's high time we stepped inside, kiddo."
"It is getting dark," Lune agreed. The two faunus made their way back towards the house. "If I don't pass out in my room, I still have to work on my weapons."
Mom grimaced. "Oh, right. Damn. I know I should have apologized for that too. If you still have the energy to work on it, you should." When they were finally standing in front of the back door, River held the door open for Lune, who headed towards the staircase stiffly. Like a zombie. "Go on and rest, sweetie. I'll call you when dinner's ready."
"Okay. Thanks."
Even making just one step up the stairs was a challenge. She felt her leg shake from the effort; gosh, she knew she was going to be filled with regret tomorrow. And considering that there was combat class… well, maybe ol' Qrow would be a bit lenient then. He saw what happened. And, well, he was a bro, right? Maybe he won't let her do much. She hoped.
One way to find out, I guess. Lune started making her slow ascent towards her room. For now, she was going to check out what craziness Ruby had come up with, and decide whether she had the skill to actually craft what the girl had in mind. She reached the door to her room several seconds later. She held the knob, twisted it opened, and pushed.
On top of her bed were several sheets of paper and a few old sketchbooks that hadn't seen the light of day since forever. She used to draw a lot to pass the time, she suddenly remembered. She made her way to the papery mess to inspect what the redhead accomplished. She saw some drawings that were clearly Ruby's idea—and was that a note with the words 'From Ruby' in bold letters? Lune's eyebrows rose at that.
She leaned down to pick up the piece of paper and unfolded it.
Hi, Lune!
So uh… the stuff you told me I could look at didn't really have much stuff in there. I really wanted to help you out, so I thought of looking at your other notebooks in your other drawers for some ideas instead. Hope you don't mind—I asked Yang first and she's fine with it! I mean, if I liked coming up with weapons and drawing them on paper before, then you probably liked doing them too, right? Sorry about the mess. But several searches later, voila! I found what I'm looking for. You're welcome. (and you can reward me with some milk and cookies if you want)
I think you forgot you had it, but it was your drawing with what I think is labeled as an 'imaginary weapon?' I dunno, the pencil's blurred. But the drawing's still fine! I checked it out, thought it was cool, and set to work. The main thing's… mostly fine as it is and it's not a bad idea at all, but I wrote down some ideas that maybe you want to put in? You don't have to if you don't want to. But yeah! They're there. Just read 'em and you can tell me all about it the next day.
Looking forward to what you'll come up with!
A stupid smile had stretched across Lune's face as she lowered the note and glanced over the sheet of paper that came with the note. That Ruby. Gosh. She bent down to grab the other paper, unfolded it, looked at the contents, and the smile on her face grew wider.
How could she forget this? It was the weapon she'd drawn alongside the clothes she imagined herself wearing someday when she was going to take the Beacon test. Not the one she showed to her mom before, but a remade one on a different sketchbook. She hadn't given it much thought before because her focus had been on the clothes themselves and the weapons as an afterthought. But what if… after all this time, she was subconsciously following what she'd come up with when she was much younger and still trying to get a better grasp at everything Remnant? Who knew. At this point in time, it was up for interpretation.
She could definitely work something out of this. Note to self: bring some leftover cookies tomorrow.
The weapons were simple, elegant in design, and most definitely something she thought looked cool enough. They consisted of two war fans, with metallic ribs that were bladed at the edges. Nice. They were perfect for slashing and, when folded, perfect for stabbing. Lune nodded in approval. She wasn't sure she'll take up Ruby's suggestion of making the ribs dagger-shaped so it looked like one when folded, but as a gesture of appreciation, maybe she should. The fans would also make for a fine deflector of projectiles when spread open, too. Once her deflecting skills were up to snuff.
The sketch had some notes about how the ribs could also be infused with Dust. But not the cloth itself—if she was going to go with cloths instead of making the whole thing metallic—and that part was specifically labeled by Ruby as a no-no because there was a reason why weaving Dust into clothes was a thing of the past. It was very much a hassle. Dust-infused clothing had to be replaced and resown every time it was all used up. Now, unless it was a one-time use, then sure, fine, go on and make those Dust-infused clothing. But usually? One was better off going with Dust chambers and the like.
Still, back to the main point: a Dust-infused, bladed fan would be awesome. It would also be a good motivator for Lune to work on her skills with Dust usage, dammit.
Lune suddenly forgot that she was tired. She felt the strong itch to get to refine this plan, stat. And, she sure as hell was not going to be denied, because she was going with this. She was totally going to go with this. Moving on to grab a new sheet of paper and a pencil, Lune got to working on her weapons at once.
Man, oh man, she couldn't wait until this baby was finally made a reality.
A/N: Okaaaaay, I swear I didn't mean to make it horribly long again... but it happened. Yep, it happened. I guess I'm just incapable of going shorter with this story, haha. I'm just glad that nobody's been complaining about the length. I've originally planned to get the actual weapon dealt with, names and all, but I decided that'll be next chapter. I've written too much as it is, haha.
That said, I thought I'd go for something light this chapter. For a change and all. I sweaaar I'll do more semblance-related stuff in the future. I just couldn't fit it in right now with what I'm getting through before we finally hit Beacon. As for the latter, I think that's soon. Not very soon, but soon, like 3 or more chapters. Depends on what I end up writing in accordance to my mini-outline.
Hope this one's to everyone's satisfaction! I know I try my best to churn out relatively decent ones. xD Also, if there are any formatting errors (spacing, etc. as per usual), I blame the doc manager. It does funky stuff with the document I upload sometimes. I'll get to it after I get some sleep.