There are moments in time that are simply fated to happen. Moments that change everything around them and everything to be. And the day twelve year old Midori met a broken and drunk Blaire is one of those fateful encounters. No one knew it then, and nobody knows it now, but this single second in time carved the way for the future to come.
On the lowest level of Mistral, Blaire sat on the street while leaning against a worn building. With her left knee up, she rested her left arm across her thigh. Her right sleeve hung loosely beside her. The large mass of pink hair that she had was tangled and knotted. Her eyes were bloodshot with dark bags underneath them.
Slowly breathing in, her nostrils flared as she tightly gripped the neck of the glass bottle she held. It was cheap sake. The cheapest actually. It was all she could afford. She had spent the last bit of lien she had to get this bottle and still needed to haggle the shopkeeper to let her have it.
It had been eight years since she lost her arm. She honestly didn't know how she lasted that long. Once she returned to the kingdom and her injuries were healed, she had given up. She didn't even try. She spent her days on the streets watching low life thugs pickpocketing tourists and Yin and Yang Clan members struggling for power and territory. Occasionally someone foolish enough would try to mess with her, but she didn't even need to try and defend herself with her semblance keeping her protected from everything.
Taking a swig from her bottle of alcohol, she exhaled and leaned her head back. Watching an endless array of people passing by her, her gaze slowly trailed to a female Faunus with a squirrel tail. It was an oddity to see a Faunus walking about the streets of Mistral. Especially with how hated they were here. Seeing a group of delinquents heading towards her, she shook her head and took another drink. It was all too normal here.
"Well what do we have here?" At the front of the group, a boy with a purple mohawk and a sleeveless black leather jacket with purple spikes chuckled. "Whacha doing out here all alone without your owner? I don't see no collar, you a stray?" His head cocked.
Flinching, she withdrew a bit while tightly gripping her brown skirt. "I'm just heading to work. So if you could get out of my way, I'd appreciate-"
"Hah!" A boy in a purple shirt let out. "Where do you work then? The cub down the road? I bet no one would even want to pay to look at you. I hardly want to do it for free."
"I'll have you know I work a few levels up at the electric company." She straightened her spine. "I just can't afford to live anywhere else."
"Oh of course. Right, right." The leader of the pack rubbed his nose while stepping closer. "Well how about we give you a little extra lien since you're clearly running yourself thin. Hm?" He raised an eyebrow while reaching his arm out. "We'll be gentle. Promise." He snickered.
Before he could say or do anymore, a glass bottle struck the side of his head and shattered. The sake inside covering his face and drenching his mohawk. "Hey!" A young female voice shouted.
Snapping his head to the side, he glared over where the voice came from.
Standing beside Blaire, a girl with her green hair in a bun narrowed her eyes at him. Glancing over her shoulder, she eyed the one armed woman. "Sorry. I'll buy you a new bottle." She then looked forward while approaching the group. "You Spiders are all the same!" She raised her voice while pointing. "You're nothing but a bunch of wannabe gangsters picking on civilians! No pride or honor at all!"
Behind the boy with a mohawk a quiet snicker broke out. Growling a little, he waved the Faunus off while taking a step towards the little girl. "Tch. And who the hell do you think you are?" He wiped his face off.
"Monomane Midori!" She clenched her jaw while placing her hands on her hips. "Daughter of the former head of the Black Family Clan!"
"Heh, you mean daughter of a coward." He crossed his arms. "The Dragon of Mistral is nothing but a weak mindless fool for retiring."
"Or he just knows that sometimes there's something more important than the high life and fighting." She corrected him. "But that's something you would never understand even if you managed to find a woman that liked you."
Inhaling, he squared his shoulders at the comment. With a small growl, he lunged towards her. He went to grab her by the neck only for his fingers to catch nothing but air.
Slipping behind him, Midori gained a much more serious expression. Glancing over her shoulder, she ducked underneath a swing before casually stepping to the side. "All of you need to leave." She mumbled quietly. "You have no business here." Standing upright, she dodged a few strikes from a boy with a knife.
"You're gonna pay for this, kid!" The boy with the mohawk shouted while reaching for her again.
Glancing at him, she calmly stepped around him as he stumbled. Reaching out, she grabbed him to save him from falling onto the ground. "You should be more careful." She stepped away.
"And you oughta watch your back more closely." One of them spoke behind her followed by the soft clicking of a pistol.
Blinking a few times, the young girl let out a quiet sigh while lowering her shoulders. "Not even you idiots are stupid enough to shoot me. You know what would happen. And it's not my dad you would need to be afraid of."
"Tch." The boy with the gun shook his head. "Like I'm afraid of that old hag of yours. Your parents are pathetic and you're no better." He took better aim. "Why don't I put you out of your misery?"
"You don't scare me." She raised her arms up and adjusted the sleeves of her green hoodie.
"You should be." He snarled back before squeezing the trigger and firing a single round.
Bracing herself, Midori didn't even flinch as the sound echoed throughout the street. She was ready even though she didn't need to be.
In a blink of an eye, a blur of pink shot between the two of them. Swaying a bit and with heavy breathing, Blaire kept one eye closed as she held out a fist. Slowly opening her hand, a smoking bullet fell from her grasp and clattered onto the ground. If anyone had asked, she couldn't say why she did it. She had seen countless robberies and violent attacks on these streets, this one was no different. But this girl, there was something about her. The green hair and pride to fight and protect others that couldn't do it themselves. She missed that.
She missed Wuile.
"Don't..." She very quietly let out.
"And what the hell is some drunk old wrench gonna do about it?" The boy with a mohawk stepped towards her. "Especially when you only got yourself one arm. You're a stupid bi-" He grunted as his shirt was grabbed.
With a quiet and low groan, Blaire tossed him at the boy with a gun. As they both fell, she turned around to grab another one of the delinquents by the neck. The boy desperately tried to stab her shoulder with a knife to no avail. Ignoring his feeble attacks, she twisted around and threw him at two others.
As they all got back to their feet, they eyed their leader who eyed the one armed warrior. Groaning, he scrambled on his feet for a moment before running off. His boys followed after him.
"You didn't have to do that." Midori crossed her arms. For such a young age, she held herself high. "But thank you." She slightly bowed her head. "Now, I owe you a new drink. I'm out to buy my uncle a six pack anyway." She waved her hand as she began to walk down the street.
"You're... buying beer?" Blaire swayed a little before slowly following after her. "You're like six." She squinted her eyes.
"I'm twelve." She corrected her. "And the shop owner knows me. He knows if I'm ever in there it's for my dad or uncle. Sometimes my mom if she's making something with it."
"Uh... uh huh..." She slowly nodded while eyeing her. Judging her every movement, she very faintly smiled. If she could have a daughter, she would want her to be like this girl. "Um, uh, hey." She coughed a little. "You probably shouldn't walk home by yourself. I can follow you home. Just in case. It's the least I can do since you're getting me a new bottle of sake."
Glancing up at her, the young girl raised an eyebrow before shrugging. "I mean, sure. If you want." She shrugged again before pointing at her. "But I'm combing your hair if you are. It's a mess. Your hair is pretty and you shouldn't let that happen."
The one armed warrior was at a loss for words for once. This little girl had the heart and soul of a Huntress with years of experience. It was a nice change from the usual criminals in the kingdom.
Following her to the shore of Lake Matsu, Blaire raised an eyebrow with a very confused expression as they approached a section of the lake that had chunks of ground floating from crystals of gravity Dust. Spotting a house built on one of the large floating rocks, she shook her head a bit. "You're joking... yeah? You don't live there."
"I do." Midori nodded. In one hand she held a six pack of beer cans and in the other a bottle of fancy sake. "My dad built it when he retired. Said no one would have the guts to attack him or mom if he lived here." Stopping, she eyed the smaller floating rocks before jumping from one to another while gaining height. Eventually, she jumped and landed on the one her home was built on. "Do you need help getting up here?"
"I'm not that drunk." She grumbled a bit before following her bath. Upon making it to the top, she stumbled a bit and barely managed to catch her balance.
"Well you're definitely not sober." She shook her head and walked towards the door. Pushing it open, she stepped inside. "Uncle M! I'm back! I got that sakura beer you like!" She set the cans down on a table.
A trashcan by the counter shifted a bit before a man in a jacket with facial hair and no shirt popped out. "Ooh, you did?" He grinned with the lid balancing on his head. "I was waiting for your father to return so I could get the jump on him, but I do really like those." He jumped out as the lid fell back into place.
"Mom and dad aren't going to be back from their mission for a few days though?" Midori's brow furrowed.
"You can never be too prepared." He waved a finger while snatching a beer. Popping the tab, he blinked and leaned over to look at the open door and the woman standing in it. "Who's that?"
"Um, a friend?" She raised her shoulders.
"Mhmm..." He stepped towards her while chugging his drink. Exhaling as he finished it, he took the can and crushed it against his bare abs with a small burp. "Hi." He nodded.
"Hello?" She nodded back with a raised eyebrow.
"Bye!" He suddenly grinned with a small salute before running straight out the door and disappearing.
"Don't mind him." Midori smiled while picking up the pack of beer and moving towards the couch. "Come on. Your hair needs to be combed." She set the beer cans and sake bottle down on the coffee table.
"Um, right..." Blaire slowly walked over and sat on the floor in front of the couch as the girl rushed off to get a brush. Grabbing the bottle of sake, she stared at it for a bit while reading over the label.
"Okay!" Coming back with a brush, the little girl jumped on the couch behind her. "Let's fix this mess. And maybe braid it." She reached over to grab a can of beer. Opening it up, she held it behind the couch as a hand reached up and took it.
"Thanks." Her uncle mumbled.
Still staring at the bottle in her hands, the pinkette took a deep breath. Very slowly, she placed the unopened bottle back on the low table. "You're a strange girl, you know."
"Maybe." She shrugged while beginning to untangle her hair. "You're a Huntress, right?" She paused. "Or used to be? My parents and uncle have been training me instead of sending me to a combat school but..." She trailed off.
"But what?" She shifted to glance at her.
Biting her lip, she pulled back a little. "I want to duel wield. If I have two katanas I can protect twice as many people." She eyed her one arm before her gaze trailed to her sheathed weapon.
Smiling a little, she shook her head and looked away. "Strange and ambitious." She exhaled. "I'll think about it showing you how I fight. Maybe."
With her face lighting up, Midori went back to combing her pink hair. "So... what's your name?"
The one armed warrior paused at that. Thinking quietly for what felt like forever, she glanced at the bottle of sake before closing her eyes. "Baren." She uttered. "My name is Baren."