Summary: Choices; sometimes, the responsibility of difficult decisions falls on the people least qualified to carry them. But refusing to carry them at all comes at an even higher cost.
xXx
"Time to go," Russell said to his teammate, Sky Lark, who heard him but didn't respond.
His music had already reached its climax; suddenly bringing it to a halt would harm the melody. He had to slowly decrescendo, following the rhythm of the arrangement slowly as though he were riding a wave.
His solo symphony gently reached a conclusion and the entire forest which had been thrilling alongside it paused for a moment before being quaked into life once more by the approaching Black Wave.
The blue-haired boy nodded towards his friends and the group vanished after Russell placed his hands on both of them. The trio materialised in the midst of Mrs. Goodwitch and the evacuating students and began strolling unto the bullhead.
"Do you know where the others are?"
Goodwitch asked after getting over the surprise and relief of their sudden arrival.
"No," Dove responded, his head turned down, "We were separated from Cardin and the others, we're not sure where they could be, but they were awfully close to the Wave."
This statement had Mrs. Goodwitch wringing her crop even more anxiously.
"Time to take off!" she shouted to the pilot who ignited the engines immediately in response, propelling the airship into the air.
xXx
"Didn't expect it to be this bad," Russell stated referring to the disarray the students of Beacon had been thrown into.
"It's difficult to factor that into calculations, but yes, it is much worse than expected."
"I wonder why they're so calm," Nora mused from team JNPR's seat on the bullhead, "They're not affected by this wave of hysteria that seems to have caught every other student. Even the cool team AMEN seems to be affected."
Her statement brought her teammates' attention once more to Mercury, who had been bound to the floor by Goodwitch's Semblance alongside some other students whose outbursts had been too violent, Emerald, who was sobbing silently and Neo, who was silent and restrained in the corner she had folded herself into, as though trying to be as small as possible.
"It's a jarring experience," Pyrrha said solemnly, "Which begs the question of why we aren't affected by it."
"It is likely due to Ren's semblanc... which I'm not supposed to talk about."
Ren simply shook his head at Nora's ditsy slip. "It's okay, Pyrrha's a friend, there's no reason she shouldn't know."
"My Semblance, Tranquillity, enables me to hide my emotions and the emotions of those in my proximity from Grimm. I also have control over my emotions as well as a resistance to mood-altering Semblances and drugs. The serenity of my Aura is very likely the reason the effects didn't go farther than that small spat between Nora and me earlier. As to the means by which team CRDL can remain composed, I have no idea."
"That would mean that the six of us are the only ones who can assist Goodwitch in defending the bullhead."
"Assuming we can trust them."
"They've given no reason for us to do otherwise," Ren added, although he was not disagreeing with Nora's statement.
"Okay then," Pyrrha said as she approached team CRDL, having decided to ignore her teammates' pessimism.
Her cool gait was interrupted by the sudden jolt of the airship, which sent many a student flying across the aircraft.
They were under attack.
xXx
Meanwhile, team SYBR was freaking out; despite the cacophonous cries of the approaching Black Wave, they were still able to hear the roar of the bullhead which signified that they had been left behind.
"I don't believe this!"
Yang shed her usually cool demeanour with her exclamation, clearly distraught at the fact that they had been abandoned.
"They just left us!"
"No shit!"
"We'd have made it in time if not for those detours."
The comment was clearly an accusation levied against Adam, who had instructed said detours and they made everyone else steal glances at their class rep.
"Had we not taken those 'detours', we should have run right into parts of the hoard, and those off us who wouldn't have died would still be fighting against them."
"Perhaps she thinks she'd be able to bribe her way through the Grimm."
"There's no reason to be tense," said Cardin, stopping Weiss' inflammatory response, he was seemingly in a lax mood, unaffected by the discord among the group.
"Says the person who put us in this mess."
"Hey," Weiss cut in, "You're the one who led us towards him. How did you even know what was going on?"
The raucous conversation was put to an end by small projectiles that struck each and every single member of the group except the culprit, Adam.
"That was in case any of you had forgotten that negativity attracts the Grimm," he said, calmer than he had been a minute ago, "Fall in line, all of you."
"What are we going to do?" Blake asked, perhaps the familiarity of the situation calming her down enough to respond.
"We need to find some sort of enclosure to weather the Wave in."
"I might know somewhere we could go," Weiss offered, drawing the attention of the party.
"I'm not sure we can get there with the Wave and everything, but there are some temple ruins that are fairly defensible although decrepit. We could possibly weather the Wave there if we can find one sturdy enough."
"Hmm, that sounds like a plan," he said after a second of contemplation, "We'll need someone to scout it out first though; someone with good eyes and who's slick enough to escape without too much trouble."
His eyes were trained on Blake throughout his suggestion. The cat faunus had been an excellent scout during their time in the White Fang, and unless her skills were kept in a shelf together with her courage and allegiance to the Fang, she was the best fit for it in the group.
"Okay then," she accepted, feeling the weight of his silent order.
xXx
Both three-quarters of team CRDL and JNPR were exhausted; they had just finished fighting off the murder of Nevermore interspersed with clouds of the smaller, bat-like Cauldrons that were hindering the progress of the aircraft.
Immediately the Grimm attacked the bullhead, Glynda had rushed to the top of the airship to battle them, and with the exception of Ren, who was busy trying to bring order to the students within the bullhead and Russell, who was exhausted after transporting his friends over the distance he did, the two teams followed, ready to back her up.
"That's one wicked weapon," Nora complimented, taking advantage of the short reprieve they had-judging from the clouds of Grimm that were on the horizon, to let a little loose.
Sky Lark, the object of this compliment simply nodded in response, before walking past her.
"Uh," she said as she tilted towards Pyrrha, "Ever notice he doesn't talk much?"
"Nora!" Pyrrha said by way of rebuke at Nora's crass question.
Sky was apparently unbothered though as he simply lay down the roof beneath him, prepared to get whatever rest he could before the Grimm reached once more.
"What are you lazing about for?" joked Dove as he plopped down beside his teammate. He didn't usually joke; perhaps he did so because he hoped his light demeanour would take attention away from the dents on his armour and the scratches on everywhere uncovered by it.
It didn't.
The guilt in Sky's eyes made it evident that it didn't.
"Get off it man, this isn't your fault."
Sky didn't need words to express his disbelief, he was also too tired to sign it out, so he pretended to agree with his friend and closed his eyes.
It was his fault, all of it was.
Him and that damned ability.
Mellifluid Madness, it had always been more of a curse than a Semblance.
xXx
Many years ago, in a small town in Vale, an even smaller blue-haired boy ran through the narrow and rough streets grinning widely as he rushed to his destination. The name of the town was Elapharos, and it was middle of celebrating one of its most important and sacred festivals, An-Harus.
An-Harus was a religious festival celebrated by annually by the followers of the god Harus, a well renowned deity of fertility in Vale.
This year, Sky Lark had a major part to play in the festival, well it was sort of major; it was a role in a play. It was a small role, really small, but that did nothing to dampen his excitement; his mom was going to be there, so there wasn't anything that could stop him from giving a hundred and ten percent.
Nothing except that, he thought with dread.
"There's no way I'm wearing that," Sky said as he looked at the costume he was given; it was a girl's. He couldn't wear that; Russell and Dove would have a field day.
"Come on," responded Pacifica, the Priest's daughter, who seemed to enjoy torturing Sky, "This is the only costume left."
"Not to mention," she continued with a wicked grin, winking at the blue-haired boy, "You have the legs for it."
"W-what?" he responded with a startled blush, "No way."
It was one thing being a background character, but being a background character in a dress (like Jaune in Volume 2) was just too much.
"If you aren't going to do it," she said with a shrug as though unconcerned, "There are tons of guys willing to wear it."
That was a lie; the play was more of a kid's project than anything else, a rendition of the same Scripture taught every other week. The children used old costumes or asked their parents help in sewing newer ones, and the effects were done by one or two older kids who had unlocked their Semblance and wanted to earn some change.
In fact, the only thing sparser than the cast and crew would be the audience; everyone would rather be watching the actual play held and sponsored by the Winchester family. The Priest had entreated all the members to attend, because it would encourage children to be active in their faith, and his daughter could be another person's problem temporarily. Some would stop by, but many would try to get as much work done and catch the actual play in the evening.
"Wait," despite knowing that she was lying, he recalled his mother's words and decided that he would do it, no matter what.
Had he known what was coming though, he would have burned that dress.
xXx
Blake jumped swiftly from one tree to another, wearing Ruby's hood as that served as camouflage in the russet landscape. Scouting in the middle of a Wave was dangerous work, suicidal even but itwas much safer than staying still without a shelter or walking and hoping not to run into the Creatures.
The brunette was still a little miffed that Adam was throwing orders around as though he was still her superior. Although he technically was, since he was the class rep.
Does that make Ruby my superior then too? She asked silently with a small smile.
As she scanned the area using the information Weiss had tensely given her, he eyes caught something else.
That's... interesting, she thought calmly despite her shock, doesn't seem to be a temple though. Should still work.
xXx
"My hood!" Ruby shouted when Blake returned, forgetting the girl who was attached to it.
"I'm okay too, thanks."
"What did you find?"
"It wasn't a temple, but it was a ruin either way, and it seemed to be fairly sturdy, narrow openings we can use to limit the number of Grimm that enter and most interestingly…" the cat Faunus paused for a moment for suspense, "… The Grimm seem to be actively avoiding it."
Adam was shocked by her statement, a place where even the Grimm were avoiding? That could only be trouble, but there was nothing as essential as a place where the Grimm avoided during a Wave.
"Somewhere the Grimm avoid? That seems like more trouble than a group of students should even be in the general area of," said Weiss, voicing part of Adam's worries.
"We've managed to avoid the brunt of the wave for now," Yang inputted, "But we've drained ourselves just fending off the few strays, there's no guarantee we can keep this up or avoid the Wave for as long as it takes to send a rescue."
The group all looked towards the bull Faunus, apparently holding him to the responsibility of making a decision since he had already started barking out orders.
SCREECH!
The decision would have to be put on hold; the screeches came from a small cloud of Cauldrons who seemed to have noticed them and were diving towards them rapidly.
"Dang it!" cursed Adam.
Cauldrons were some of the worst Grimm that could attack at this moment; the bat-like Grimm were about the size of a human and could manoeuvre the forest easily despite the density of trees.
SCREECH!
They could also do that.
The Cauldron's shriek made every member of the group's step falter, some more than others as both Ruby and Shouter fell to the ground. The two closest Cauldrons rushed at the fallen members, ready to grab them in their bone-crushing claws.
Adam halted and turned around to grab the girl before she was grabbed by one of the beasts, and at the same time, Cardin ran towards the Cauldron approaching Shouter and struck it with an explosive attack from Executioner, crippling the flying Grimm.
Despite his successful hit, the momentum of the Grimm was too great, and the collision of their bodies sent him hurling into the rest of the group. The chaos was sufficient to allow one of the beasts to grab the dog faunus and make away with the screaming student.
Other Grimm attempted to get lucky, but a streak of blood red Aura scattered them and caused them to retreat.
"We just lost Shouter," Weiss said in horror, collapsing to the floor. The Ice Queen was having the most difficult time adjusting because she had come face-to-face with the least Grimm out of any of them since Atlesian combat schools relied heavily on simulations, so facing a Creature she had never faced before in such hazardous circumstances was proving to be overwhelming for the heiress.
"We did," Adam said mildly, stretching his arm out and pulling her up.
"Don't all cry about it at once," Yang bit sarcastically.
"Hysterical reactions won't help," Cardin said, apparently attempting to help diffuse the situation.
"That's exactly what you wanted isn't it?" Blake asked furiously.
"I'm not hearing that from someone who ran while I at least made an attempt to save him."
"Ruby has a plan," Adam interrupted, while pushing the small girl forward, "Tell them Ruby."
Ruby, who had whispered the plan to Adam to avoid being put on the spot, glared at the treacherous class rep as she tried to explain her plan.
"Remember our fight against the Nevermore in the Emerald Forest?"
"Uhm... yeah," Weiss responded, distractedly, "What about it?"
"We used your Glyphs to take it down; they made me a lot faster than I usually am."
"If we can combine that with my Blossom Burst, we can move across the forest and to the ruins extremely quickly. I've never carried that many people before, but Yang is pretty hea… hearty and I've carried her, so maybe I could carry all of us."
"Nice save," Cardin said with a chuckle.
"Good plan, you guys hide out in the ruins while Cardin and I go get Shouter. We're the heaviest, barring Yang, so without us, the plan is more likely to work."
"Not to mention that I feel terrible for my prank earlier and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't go and help my pal Shouter out."
"Shouter isn't gone?"
"You probably don't know this since you're always asleep in Grimm Studies, but Cauldrons are fairly intelligent and cruel, they like to… 'play with their food'."
"I'm not sure if that's good news or bad."
"It's hope," Adam said, "I'm trusting you to be okay while we go save him. All of you are capable future Huntresses... and Ruby's here too."
His joke earned him a small punch from the affronted girl.
"Be careful."
"You too," Weiss said to Cardin, hugging the boy, "I won't forgive you if you don't come back."
"You got it," he said, taking a serious demeanour for the first time as he hugged her back.
xXx
"We're up!" Nora said for the umpteenth time, ready to fight off even more Grimm.
"I'm really tired of this," Emerald grumbled as Thief's Respite nailed a few flying Grimm in their wings, slowing down and injuring them enough to dissuade them or for other students to finish them off.
Glynda only let a few get past her, but the over a dozen students were still exhausted.
They had always heard from alumni and seniors to 'not let the name Goodwitch fool you.' They'd never understood it till the lady herself ordered the bullhead to stay hovering as she would use the Black Wave as a lesson. Therefore, the students of Beacon Academy had been fighting all the Grimm that Glynda let through fervently. This was only possible because they were at the very fringe of the forest, and only stragglers from the Wave were attacking them but it was still a tall order for a group of freshmen.
"Class dismissed," she said, as she cleared away the last of the creatures of Grimm, "Although some were unable to fight with their partners due to… circumstances, I hope that you've all learned a lot from your first Black Wave. You guys are really lucky; most sets don't get such an opportunity until the next semester. Don't worry though; you'll probably get another opportunity sometime after the Vytal Festival."
Glynda's statement was punctuated by several students collapsing, exhausted from even thinking about the ordeal she predicted.
"Team JNPR and AMEN," she said, "You both have the same problem of being paired with people who aren't your partners. Nora, sometimes you get in Pyrrha's way and Emerald, although you're clearly capable of fighting by yourself, it's okay to be supported by your classmates when your teammates are out of it."
"Team CRDL, I'm impressed by the fluidity of your teamwork even without your team leader, the others could stand to learn from that."
Almost every team was missing at least a member; although the hysteria had worn off, there was still backlash from an emotional overdraft, nothing a little sleep and therapy wouldn't fix.
Emerald got the worst of it, as both Mercury and Neo were out of it, so she had to fight on her own. It wasn't all that bad, she was used to it after all... but she hoped that Mercury and Neo would be okay; couldn't have them getting hurt before they executed Cinder's plan.
"I'm so hungry I could eat Ren," said Nora in her over the top manner as the students descended back into the aircraft.
"I'm not sure that you'd get much out of it," Ren joked exhaustedly as he welcomed the girls back.
"We'll just wait and see."
"Either w-" he started, until he was interrupted by an obviously distracted Sky Lark bumping into him, "Sorry about that."
"Why're you apologising?" Nora asked, "He ran into you."
"Nora don't… do anything stupid," Ren's warning was rather ineffective as the target had already skipped towards her own target.
"Listen buster," she said as she placed her hand on his shoulder, trying out a line she saw in an old movie, "You just bumped into my friend, and I didn't hear an apology."
It took Sky a while to leave his contemplation and concentrate on Nora's words, it then took a longer while for him to decide if it was a dumb joke or if she was just dumb. Luckily, Pyrrha rushed to her side before he could decide, apologising, while trying to keep Nora quiet despite the shorter girl's protests.
"Listen," Russell cut in, "I know you're not supposed to be smart, but that was pretty stupid, even for you."
This ended the conversation, as team CRDL left, and Pyrrha kept restraining Nora.
"What the heck, Pyrrha?" she said angrily.
"He's mute, Nora," Pyrrha responded tiredly, officially giving up on looking for euphemisms as she apparently couldn't find any proper ones while she struggled to restrain her friend.
It took Nora a minute to get out of her fit and concentrate on Pyrrha's words, and then another one to decide if she should kill herself or ask Pyrrha to do it.
Maybe that Nevermore that retreated will swallow me whole if I ask nicely.
Sky looked back on the pair of redheads, the stupid mute jokes weren't new to him, but a stupid person who accidentally made mute jokes was a rarer sight than most.
It amused him, then annoyed him all of a sudden; she would come back to apologise later and probably create an even more awkward situation. He was always making things inconvenient for others, wasn't he? From awkward situations to downright ruining their lives.
xXx
Sky was in the dress, he was on stage, in a dress. It was only for a short scene, before he went back behind the curtain and waited for the closing scene. It was just for a short scene, but it was accompanied by catcalls and whistles from Dove and Russell.
Peeking from behind the curtain, he could see that they were waving a sign that read: "Nice legs!" Sky was tickled pink by this, but when he saw his mom seated in the bleachers, excitedly scanning for him although she knew he wasn't on again till the end, he stood a little straighter.
She was his biggest cheerleader; it was almost childlike at times how excited she was over such little things; from spelling tests to dumb plays. But it made everything completely worth it... even the dress.
The play described the war between man and the gods, the lead was Pexis; a man who led rebellion against the Divine, believing that humanity was too great to be ruled over by gods.
Over the course of his journey, he observes the wonders of creation; the details that had he created the world, he would have certainly neglected. His journey sees him move through different feelings; from realisation, to amazement and- surprising even him- gratitude. But his conclusion remains no different; subservience to the gods was not an option.
Despite the full manifestation of Human might, the pantheon is easily victorious, but Harus is heartbroken that his very children would take up arms against him and leaves the world that has now been scarred by the Humans. Pexis stood alone, in a world devastated by his own actions, with a heart humbled by his mistakes.
The lights dimmed, it was Sky's cue.
Sky alongside other background characters crawled unto the stage; they represented the fallen humanity, they all sang a mournful tune, a penitent tune, a requiem for mankind-part sombre apology and part desperate request for mercy.
This was Sky's moment; although he didn't have a significant role, he still felt that he had to put his all in. He wanted to impress his mother and everyone else watching.
The bluenette's voice rose in volume slowly, trying his best to stand out but at the same time, not disrupt the others by being too loud. His other struggle was embodying the emotion of the scene; he was a foreigner to sorrow. Of course, he had been sad before but he'd never felt what Pexis must have felt in that moment, he didn't understand the scene, but he was intimate with the music and he knew what it was trying to say, so he trusted it and put his all into that.
For a moment, his voice eclipsed everything; from the sounds of fireworks to the songs being played, his voice had become the centre of Elapharos.
AARGH!
Then a scream broke through the harmony and snapped the boy out of his reverie. Sky's eyes opened to a terrible scene; it was chaos, people were strewn all over the floor, crying to the point of convulsing and vomiting and dragging their hair out in a grotesque display.
Worse still were the violent ones; people tackled and choked one another, throttling themselves till they foamed at the mouth and their pupils receded into their skulls. A particular instance held his horror and shock: a man held his daughter by her shoulders- a lass of no more than six- and shook her violently while screaming in her face. The girl didn't scream and bawl like the other children, she just looked emptily at her father's face as her brown hair was whipped around violently due to the shaking.
Where's my mom?
The thought struck him like thunder, allowing him to somehow escape the compulsion of the horrific scene he was witnessing.
He tried to navigate the sea of bodies (the crowd had been small, but a more sizeable one had been drawn in by his singing), but he couldn't see so much as two feet ahead of him. So chaotic was the entire scene, that the boy didn't even notice that he had been stuck from behind until his legs gave in under him and he collapsed.
Mom...
xXx
"Do you think they'll be able to find Shouter?"
"I hope so," Weiss responded, trying yet failing to allay Ruby's concern, seeing Ruby being able to compose herself enough to form a plan when she (the very one who had claimed the sickle user was not suited for the role) was a wreck, she decided that she had to act more like a leader.
Blake exercised self control and didn't deliver the doubtful remark she had in mind, deciding instead to focus herself on watching for Grimm from atop a tree, once again wearing Ruby's hood to blend in better.
Her mind went back to what Adam had whispered to her before he left.
Blake, you're by far the most experienced member of this team. You may not like them, but they're your responsibility, treat them that way.
She was annoyed by his order, but took it silently because he was right; she didn't like any of them here, but she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she let anything bad happen to them.
Most of them at least, she thought as she eyed the heiress once more discreetly before facing her charge intently once more.
"Petal Burst negates my mass and the mass of whoever I'm carrying along. This means that I can travel much faster, but I don't really have any force behind me, so my advance can be halted by any obstacles, it's kinda like... a ray of light."
"I see, that'll be a problem in such a thick forest, and flying too high will attract too many Grimm."
Weiss knew she was stating the obvious, but she could scarcely do anything better.
And the award for worst leader goes to...
"It would," Ruby responded, "But Yang and I experimented, and if we combine our Semblances together, her Aura will take the damage and effect of any obstacles and convert them. I call it... Burning Blossom."
Combinations?
Both Blake and Weiss said, thankfully internally, as they'd both likely be repulsed by the idea of having the exact same thought simultaneously.
"Hey, I just followed Ruby's lead," Yang said in response to Blake and Weiss' questioning looks, "Just for fun and 'Burning Blossom' happened."
They had both been aware that Ruby was talented; she was in Remnant's very best Huntsman Academy after all, but Combinations (utilising your Semblance in tandem with another's) especially with such complicated and rapid application, made them re-evaluate her greatly.
"I see," Weiss said, overcoming her surprise and making sure she was keeping up with the scarlet speedster, "So, using an Acceleration Glyph, I can energise your 'ray of light' so that you can get that far while carrying all of us, while Yang's Aura absorbs the impact from Grimm or any other obstacles so that our movement is not halted."
"Exactly!" Ruby responded in her bubbly manner.
"It's a brilliant plan," Blake said from her perch, her eyes never wavering from their watch, "But you've only done this a few times with varying success when it was just two of you."
"Let me finish," she said, sensing the rebuttals her teammates were planning without looking, "I know that it's our only shot, but if it works, it'll be very dangerous for both of you; Weiss is just powering it, but it'll be both of your Auras taking the impacts and strain of this plan."
"We don't have much of a choice, do we?"
"We don't, but Ruby should still know what she's in for, she shouldn't have to be the one who risks herself for our sake."
Ruby became the centre of attention once those words were spoken; she was a kid, that's how everyone here saw her. She didn't need to make such a big decision, it was too much for her to decide.
It was certainly unfair for her to be put in such a situation, but there was no other choice; they'd been able to avoid majority of the Grimm so far, but if they didn't reach that safe haven soon, all of them would die, without a doubt. At the end of the day, it really wasn't a hard decision.
"If I don't take responsibility now, I'll take responsibility for it down the line. "
"I'm ready, so let's go."
xXx
"Sure you want a racist as your partner?"
Cardin asked with a slightly provoking tone as he and Adam walked through the forest, attempting to track their taken classmate.
"You were by far the calmest member during all of this, so of course I'd favour you. Besides, I wanted to talk to you more than anyone else in the group."
"Really?" Cardin asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at his class rep.
"You're smarter than one would think at first glance; if I hadn't been watching every student, I wouldn't have noticed you make away with poor Dylan."
"Well, it's typical prankster instinct. You don't want everyone around now do you?"
"Also, while the others ran, you made sure to make an effort to help Shouter. That way, any belief that you had nefarious intentions towards him would evaporate, after all, why would you risk your life to save him if you wanted to actually harm him? I'm sure that when Russell disappeared, they got rid of the venom you were with and now you have a harmless solution in a bottle that would easily prove that it was just a prank."
The more Adam spoke, the less tense Cardin became until he was now wearing an amused grin.
"I wish I was half as smart as the character you've drawn up so far. Planning on writing a play? I can help with that, the Winchester family got a sizeable amount of income from theatre back in the day."
The arts had always been and remained lucrative in Remnant. Negativity was abhorred, and any medium that could properly dispel it was embraced and elevated. The Winchester's had realised this many years ago, and had even been able to gain merits during times of war for it was believed that their performances prevented Grimm attacks and kept the men's morale high.
Adam smiled at him, he had never taken any special notice to the Winchester heir before this encounter, but he now found him very interesting for some reason.
"Yeah, I would like help with that," he responded slyly, gesturing with his hands as he spoke, "So, I have this character, and he hates this certain race, and I'm looking for a solid motivation, something not cliché, what do you think?"
Clap, clap.
Cardin had caught onto the redhead's game almost as soon as he began his sentence, but he still found it amusing and gave the appropriate praise.
"Well firstly," he began with a small smile, "You're placing too much emphasis on it not being cliché, that doesn't much matter; not nearly as much as whether it's real to them. Because people never think originally, they think emotionally, with provably stupid convictions, but that's what makes us who we are."
Adam's smile bloomed even more brilliantly, he liked this one; he had a soldier's bearing.
"You're writing yourself quite an interesting plot," Cardin responded coolly to his string of accusations, "I actually know a bit about that, you know, the Winchester family first got its wealth from theatre."
"My question again," Cardin said, "How're we ever going to find that scrawny boy?"
"Good question," Adam said, "If you don't mind, Qrow, could you help us with that?"
Annoyed mumbles sounded from the trees above, alerting the pair to the presence of someone else.
The lanky swordsman descended from the treetops and stood with a bizarre tilt, glaring at the redhead.
"How were you able to find me?" he asked.
"Luck," Adam responded, his tone clearly sating he'd give no more details. He was being honest though; he had only noticed him around when the Cauldrons attacked, because the veteran Huntsman had made a beeline to save Ruby, but receded back into the shadows when he saw she wouldn't need him.
Even now, he called his name because he knew that he wouldn't be close to the girls due to his Semblance causing bad luck; SYBR needed luck more than anything else at the moment, if they wanted to survive.
"I'm sure you know where the Cauldrons took Shouter."
"Of course," he grumbled- an apparent habit of his, "Let's go".
"How long have you been here? Why didn't you reveal yourself earlier?" Cardin asked, controlling his surprise at seeing what seemed to be a veteran Huntsman drop from the sky.
"This is a Huntsman Academy," he responded gruffly, "We assist when we need to, but never more than that. I was watching to see your progress, but since you've sniffed me out, I'll help you out on this last leg as a reward. When we're done, I'll take you all back with my ship."
"What about the girls?"
"Well, let's just say they're in the right hands… or rather, talons."
A chill ran through the General's spine on hearing Qrow's words, he couldn't possibly mean…
xXx
At this time, the students had all arrived back in Beacon, bruised, exhausted and sore for whatever treatment they needed.
Pyrrha wasn't nearly that dramatic; a warm shower would suffice for her, although Jaune was having a hard time understanding that as he kept fussing over her.
"Jaune," she said, grabbing the blonde warrior by his shoulders, "I'm okay, and I'll be even better if you let me get into the shower."
"Oh... sorry about that," Pyrrha should have been able to tell that Jaune was just a little too depressed by her rebuke, she probably could, but now, she was simply too tired to even care.
xXx
The jet of hot water was so relaxing; she had made sure to go last so that she could hoard the shower as much as possible.
She had been done for a while, but she was enjoying the bath she had drawn for herself after her shower. At the risk of smelling like Lavender Essence all week, she planned on staying in there as long as she could; she was too tired.
Perhaps the craze had affected her despite the effect of Ren's Semblance, but she was drained emotionally, she certainly couldn't smile like she did normally, it'd be impossible to put on the Invincible Girl facade. Still, if she stayed in too long, the rest might get worried so she ultimately decided to leave her paradise.
Inuwa, give me strength.
Immediately she stepped out, she was struck by a pillow to the face.
Please be a joking, she thought in near despair as she surveyed the room.
Nora and Ren were arguing, this was new, and she was in no condition to handle it now.
Jaune was gone too, seems she needn't have been bothered about them worrying.
Now, if I could just slip back into the b-
"Don't you agree, Pyrrha?"
The question dashed any hopes of the Invincible Girl's escape, causing her to sigh internally and force a smile.
"About? I wasn't really paying attention earlier."
"Ren wants me to go apologise to Sky," Nora ranted.
"I think that's fair," Pyrrha answered, her fake smile nearly succumbing to the pressure of such a stupid argument, her lips twitching rather noticeably.
"Of course it's fair," Nora responded, "But he's refusing to come with." At least noticeably to anyone with awareness higher than Nora's.
"You said it yourself," Ren responded calmly, "You aren't a kid. I'm sure that entails being able to apologise to someone without me holding your hand the whole way."
"I knew it," Nora shouted, "You are mad about our argument earlier."
"I'm not mad about anything," Ren answered, "But I'm still not following you to apologise."
The argument dragged on for a while, and eventually, somehow, Ren was able to go alone and that put an end to the senseless quarrel.
Finally, she thought, delighted that she could pretend to fall asleep now; Ren and her hardly ever talked, she didn't see a reason they would start now.
"You seem really tired," Ren said.
If you can tell, shouldn't you let me rest then?!
"Want to talk about it?" he asked as he plopped onto his own bed.
It wasn't a bad idea, Ren seemed like a good person to talk to, but Pyrrha didn't want to go through her baggage, she wasn't sure she'd ever be tired enough for that.
"I have a question then," Pyrrha asked, not bothering to lace her sentence with her signature sweetness.
"Fire away," Ren asked, either not noticing or not caring.
"You let Nora approach Sky when you could have stopped her. Why?"
"You're a lot more observant that you let on, Invincible Girl," Ren answered with a laugh, "Either way, it's because Nora was right; she isn't a kid, and I don't have to baby her all the time. She'll make mistakes, and then she'll come up with solutions, besides, she was trying to overcompensate because she thought I was mad about earlier. Apologies are better than grand gestures. Can you relate?"
"I know more about caring for siblings than you'd think," Pyrrha responded.
"Is that the case?" Ren asked amusedly, clearly piqued, "Well don't stop now that you've piqued my curiosity."
"Another time," Pyrrha responded tiredly, as she stretched herself unto her bed, "I'm too tired, and the readers will get bored if there's only backstories in this chapter."
"Fair enough, sleep tight."
xXx
Nora was walking all by herself, all by herself to go apologise to Sky, Ren was such a jerk. The redhead arrived quickly and shyly knocked on team CRDL's door, waiting for someone to answer.
"Shawarma?" came a voice from within the room, it wasn't Sky, it was the one with a mohawk, Russell, if she wasn't mistaken.
"It's Nora from team JNPR," she whispered.
"Can I help you?" he said, as he peeked out the door, clearly disappointed that it wasn't their order.
"Uhm, could I please talk to Sky Lark?"
"Check out the training rooms."
"Oh, thanks, which-" her sentence was cut off by the door slamming on her.
"Jerk."
xXx
"Hey, Sky," Nora said, finding him training alongside Dove after a few minutes of searching,
"Could I talk to you?"
The blue-haired youth simply nodded and rested Feather's Edge across his shoulders, watching her silently, as she hemmed and hawed under his serious gaze.
"I-I'm really sorry about what I said earlier," she said meekly, "It was really crass and dumb."
Sky started signing in response to Nora's apology, Russell was paying attention, apparently prepared to serve as a translator.
"He says you're really cute," Dove said, before getting a punch in the arm from his teammate, "Just kidding."
"He said he was actually at fault since he ran into your friend, and that the only reason you're apologising is because he's handicapped and you asking for an apology from a mute person is apparently some type of social travesty."
"I didn't mean it like that," she said, before waiting for him to finish signing once more.
"He says that he understands that you weren't trying to offend, but that he doesn't like special treatment or inconveniencing others just because he's dumb. You needn't have come to apologise is what he's trying to say. He did say you're cute this time though."
The hammer-wielder couldn't tell if he was joking or not; Sky's lack of reaction didn't help any either. There was something resembling the shadow of a smile on his face.
"Well, if we're all good then see you later."
She skipped out of the room humming a tune, she had never been so happy to give an apology.
xXx
"You're clearly thinking about that day again," Dove stated once the hammer-wielder had left their company, "Need time alone?"
Sky simply nodded his assent, talking was really a wasted talent when he had friends as attentive as his were.
"Okay then," he said, "Don't stay too long now."
"That day", that's how everyone who knew him referred to it, not creative, but impossible to mistake.
Damn that day.
xXx
Sky woke up, starting violently as though he was resuming the motion that had been interrupted by his unconsciousness.
"Mom!"
"Sky," called a voice in response to the ruckus he was making, it came from the side of the bed he had just leapt out from.
The grave and gruff yet fluid voice wasn't his mother's, but rather the compelling voice of the Priest of Elapharos, Father Mikaela.
"Father," he asked, wondering why he woke up in a strange room with the Priest, "Do you know where my mom is?"
"I do young man, but first, sit," he punctuated this by sitting on the bed, and patting the spot next to him.
As always, the compulsion of his voice seemed almost tangible, and Sky obeyed his command single-mindedly, his nervous energy surrounding the mystery of his mother melting away.
"Do you remember what happened?"
Sky remembered, he remembered people screaming, running about helter-skelter, he remembered singing... his singing.
"It seems that you do," Mikaela said, observing the boy's confusion and terror, while taking his white gloves, part of his holy vestments, off.
"Since you understand what has happened, what you have done, let me explain what will happen, or rather, what you must do to make it happen."
"Your singing was surely the cause of the uproar, there's no doubt that can be had about it," Mikaela said, "I've never witnessed anything as terrifying, or beautiful. Your voice captured the entire town, even I was under its effects for a while. It caused hysteria within the crowd, attracting Grimm to Elapharos."
"Luckily, no one died in this attack, partially thanks to the Winchester family militia. However,"
Mikaela paused, mumbling a tiny prayer under his breath, "Three people were crippled. Yes Sky, as a result of what I imagine is your Semblance, three whole people were crippled."
"Think, what happens when three people, devout of Harus, get crippled during a religious festival and specifically during a play meant to glorify Harus? People are scared, they are scared because they do not understand what happened, or rather, it's easier to justify wanting revenge and sating of villainous tendencies if they employ the guise of misunderstanding. I can clearly see that it was your Semblance that caused what happened, nothing more than some accident."
"The people hurt and confused by this however, will take it as some sort of omen, a machination forces that want to oppose our God. No manner of convincing will make them believe otherwise. Their conviction will lead them to take vengeance on you."
The Priest spoke quickly, but never in a manner that indicated hurry, and his words delivered blow after blow to the innocent boy who was now quivering like a leaf.
"Now, you can choose to run away; I have made preparations for that, but you must understand the consequences of this. Firstly, I will lose my position as Priest, which is a pity, but hardly worth the risk of keeping you here. Secondly, and most importantly, everyone who has a connection to you in this town will suffer the consequences in your stead. Pacifica, Russell, Dove and your mother, they'll all bear the consequences, the discrimination, hate and shame will be all theirs to bear, and I would be powerless to help since I would have been stripped of my rank as Priest."
"You do have a chance to avoid this," the Priest finally added, with visible hesitation, "But it'll come at a great cost to you. I sincerely pray that you go with the former option."
With this, silence descended like an iron curtain, refusing to leave for a while, apparently having found a new abode.
"T-this isn't fair," Sky said finally, breaking the age-long silence, his body had broken out into shivers that appeared more like an epileptic episode every few words.
"I-I-I-I was j-just trying to honour Harus, to make my mom proud. Wha-wh-w…"
He wanted to complete his sentence, he truly did, but the tears were too much, they overcame him, he was just a kid, why did he have to go through all this? He was just a kid.
"I know," Father Mikaela said as he pulled the boy into a hug, rubbing the back of his head and consoling him, "You shouldn't have to make a decision like this, but you have to."
"D-does Harus hate me? Did I do something wrong? I missed a service last week, i-is that why?"
"It isn't anything like that, right now, you are more loved than ever, simply because you need His love now. Even if you were at fault, (which you aren't in any way, I want you to remember that) the love Harus would shower would be more than ever, simply because you need it."
"Sometimes," he started again, now looking straight into his eyes with his murky grey ones which someone made his vision seem sharper than the average person's, "People misinterpret Harus' message, they are blinded by hate and fear, and they destroy others in their ignorance. We are bearers of Harus' light, it is our duty to guide the blinded, and many times, it is true self-sacrifice."
"I'm also a light-bearer?" Sky asked, having somehow calmed down enough to be embarrassed at his running nose and straining for a tissue.
"Yes, you are," the Priest said, handing him one, "Harus chooses people like us; normal people who have the responsibilities of hard decisions are thrust upon us suddenly."
"Okay then," Sky answered, determinedly.
He was going to do it, it wasn't right, it wasn't fair, but he was the only one who could, so he would.
"Okay then," Mikaela said, almost regretfully, as he stood up to leave the room, "Get some sleep,
there'll be quite the ordeal when you wake up."
Mikaela sighed after he left the room, it would seem that using such methods were best, or rather, it was the one that would bring the best results, Harus forgive him for all he did and all he didn't.
xXx
Sky bit his tongue in frustration at the memory, or would've; it was an abomination, the means through which an evil had possessed him to sabotage a festival meant to glorify Harus, it was common sense what had happened.
xXx
Notes: Cardin and Sky both have backstories, yay! Although you'd know that if you read the original draft of this terrible fic.
Still, I hope you all favourite and review this, it would mean a lot. See you later.