Chapter 6: Brunswick Farms
Brunswick Farmhouse, 18:30 pm…
Nathan's bad feeling about Brunswick was only getting worse.
Such a complete set of buildings usually wouldn't be completely abandoned. It reminded him eerily of some of the houses left abandoned on campaign during the Clone Wars, their occupants either having been killed during the fighting or having fled.
Whatever the case, he sensed a darkness about the house which he couldn't quite place. And it was starting to seriously worry him.
Dismounting Bumblebee, Nathan hobbled onto the front porch of the main house, where the rest of the group was now huddled.
"I don't get it. Ruby said with a sigh. "The empty towns I've passed through were all damaged or unfinished. But this place looks... fine."
"Maybe everyone left in a hurry." Weiss suggested, shivering from the cold as she wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to remain warm.
"Whatever the case, I still have a bad feeling about this place." Nathan added. "I sense a darkness here which I can't quite place."
He spotted Yang and Kanan share a nervous look at that, before Qrow's voice directed their attention:
"Stay on guard."
Nathan drew Phoenix's Breath, checking he had ammo chambered.
At which Qrow then violently kicked the door open.
Gathering the energy he had left, Nathan rushed into the house, clearing the ground floor within a matter of seconds, military instinct and muscle memory overtaking the pain from his wounds.
Which began flaring up once he rejoined the others in what appeared to be the lounge, and he found himself nearly collapsing onto the stairs, only for a glyph to help ease him into a sitting position.
"Easy, Nathan."
Nathan looked to see Weiss at his side, and nodded his thanks. "Don't think I'll be able to take it easy while we're here, Weiss."
Weiss smiled softly, before Kanan spoke up:
"I saw a chimney from the outside. Maybe we could get a fire going?"
"Please." Weiss replied. "I'll look for some blankets. And a medical kit to redress Nathan's wounds."
"Kanan, Yang, go with her." Qrow ordered.
At that, Kanan, Yang and Weiss headed upstairs, and everyone else sort of started mingling.
Nathan spotted Ruby looking at a photograph hanging on a nearby wall, and despite the protests of his wounds, stood back up and hobbled over. "What do you think?" He asked the leader of Team RWBY.
"You were right." Ruby replied. "Something doesn't feel right about this."
"Well; we're here now, for better or worse." Nathan said. "Let's go look for some-"
He was interrupted by the sound of a familiar high-pitched scream from upstairs.
His eyes met Ruby's and they immediately knew who it was:
"Weiss!"
Feeling a fresh surge of adrenaline, Nathan drew his lightsaber and dashed upstairs, his injuries forgotten momentarily in an effort to make sure his friends were okay.
Him, Ruby and Qrow found Weiss, Kanan and Yang all stood in a doorway with wide, horrified eyes.
Nathan wasn't sure he wanted to know what they had seen, but knew he would have to; and dared a glance.
And if the overall appearance of Brunswick was enough to give him a bad feeling, the sight of two decomposing corpses lying in bed was enough to sent his anxiety shooting through the roof.
Backing away, Nathan could only wonder: "What the fuck?!"
Later, the library/lounge…
The alcohol stung slightly with every touch of the cloth, but Nathan wasn't bothered.
The excitement of the past hour or so had caused his leg wound to reopen slightly, and so Yang had taken it upon herself to properly treat Nathan's wounds.
"Ow…" Nathan said after a slightly more painful sting from the alcohol.
Yang offered Nathan an amused smile. "It's a good thing this medkit was still usable." She said. "Now you won't need to worry about losing your leg."
"Hey; at least if I lose my leg; I'll get a cool prosthetic like your arm." Nathan responded.
Yang smiled at that before grabbing a needle and thread and starting to properly stitch up Nathan's wounds.
Grimacing as the needle entered his skin, Nathan commented: "Never knew you were such a good medic, Yang."
"Ruby got hurt a lot when she was little." Yang elaborated. "With Dad sometimes busy; I had to get good at this sort of thing."
Nathan nodded, glancing over to where Kanan had placed a blanket over Weiss, who still looked rather shaken after seeing the corpses upstairs.
Nathan admittedly couldn't blame her. The sight was enough to make him actively feel unsafe in this house. So far; the only two good things they had found were the blankets and the medkit Yang was using to tend to Nathan.
Kanan soon joined them just as Yang was about to start on Nathan's head wound, which was when the door outside swung open and Qrow re-entered the house.
The veteran Huntsman closed the door once again before entering the area the rest of the gang was; brushing off snow.
"It's the same in every house." Were the first words out of Qrow's mouth.
"What?" Yang asked, momentarily distracted from stitching up Nathan's head wound.
"Bodies." Qrow elaborated. "Every bed in every home. It's like the whole estate just went to sleep and never woke up."
So we're in a fucking ghost town then, Nathan thought to himself as Weiss voiced his precise thoughts:
"Then we're not staying here, right?"
"We don't have a choice." Qrow stated, walking over to the fireplace to warm up. "Storm outside's only getting worse. We'd freeze to death before we made it anywhere."
"Fuck…" Nathan groaned. He'd hoped the storm would let up soon so that they could continue on the path to Argus.
And to Blake.
A hand found his shoulder, and Nathan looked to see Kanan looking at him:
"Blake will be okay for one night, Nathan." The former heir to the White Fang said gently. "Just have faith we can head there tomorrow."
Nathan sighed. He wasn't sure if he felt better at that.
"Well, might as well get comfortable." Maria piped up, walking over to a nearby bookshelf.
"Yeah, fat chance." Yang replied before she finished stitching Nathan up.
"Okay, then, let's do something." Ruby suggested. "If this place wasn't abandoned it might still have supplies we could use."
"Hey, yeah. Maybe even a car." Oscar agreed.
"I'll do another sweep of the grounds." Qrow said, moving to leave. "No one else goes anywhere alone." He added before taking his leave.
"Yang and I can search the other buildings for vehicles." Kanan then said, looking to his girlfriend.
Yang looked annoyed, but nodded. "Fine, whatever gets me out of this house."
With that, Kanan and Yang got up and left.
Ruby moved to shut the door after them, and Weiss went to join her, leaving Nathan by himself with Maria and Oscar.
Nathan sighed and reached into his pocket, withdrawing a photo of himself and Blake.
It was a newer photo; taken shortly after Blake had told him she was pregnant.
He was holding Blake close in the photo, hands over Blake's soon to be swollen belly whilst Blake herself held up one of the several positive pregnancy tests that had been in that little box she had used to help tell Nathan he was to be a father.
Nathan brushed a finger over Blake's face. He prayed his girlfriend was alright.
Argus, 19:45 pm…
Blake brushed a finger over Nathan's face, praying her boyfriend was alright.
Saphron had Blake set up in one of the several guest rooms in her house, complete with a bed that would also house Nathan as and when he and the others joined them in Argus.
Blake sighed as her left hand found her belly, where her and Nathan's child was growing. She hadn't been sure earlier, but she felt what could be the first few signs of her baby bump starting to form.
A small smile found her face as she imagined Nathan's reaction when he felt the bump there.
But then with the thought of Nathan came that feeling of emptiness she felt whenever Nathan wasn't around. That feeling that part of her was missing; which she knew would stop once Nathan was there with her.
A knock on the door drew Blake's attention, and she set the photo of Nathan aside, calling out: "Come in!"
The door swung open, and in walked Ghost.
The Mandalorian warrior took a quick look around the room before settling his gaze on Blake.
"You alright, Blake?" Ghost asked.
Blake nodded. "More or less." She replied. "I… I just feel like part of myself is missing."
Ghost nodded. "Being apart from someone you love does that to you." He replied, eyes lowered sympathetically.
His gaze then fixed on Blake's belly, and the hand subconsciously covering it. "Feeling a bump forming yet?" Ghost then asked.
Blake frowned. "I… don't know."
Ghost chuckled before saying: "You know… my wife could already feel her baby bump when she was around as far along as you."
Blake perked up in surprise. Ghost had never mentioned being married, much less having a family. "Your wife?" She dared ask.
"Yeah…" Ghost replied, his expression now sad and his tone even more so.
Blake could sense what might have happened but kept it short: "I… wasn't aware you had a wife. Or a family, for that matter."
Ghost took a deep, shaky breath, as if remembering something deeply upsetting. "Wife, yes." He admitted. "Had a chance for a family, but… fate had other ideas."
Blake bowed her head, asking: "If… if it's alright to ask… what happened?"
Another deep, shaky breath exited Ghost's mouth before he shut the door behind him, staying silent for a moment.
"My wife was in labour." He began. "She'd been pushing for the better part of half an hour, but the baby wasn't coming out. The medics soon realised our baby was in the breech position, and so… they tried to turn him around. Only to then discover the umbilical cord was wrapped around our son's neck."
Sounds like everything that went wrong, did go wrong, Blake mused, listening to Ghost take another brief, shaky breath.
"So… they gave me a choice." He continued. "Either let both my wife and unborn son die… or… or they could cut open my wife and bring out the baby that way… even though my wife would die as a result."
Ghost's eyes began brimming with tears, and he shut his eyes to hold back the tide. "I chose the latter. And watched my wife bleed to death giving life to our son." Choking back a sob, Ghost added: "Only to find… he… he was already dead."
Blake felt her heart shatter as Ghost; formerly only known to her as the silent, veteran warrior Nathan deeply respected, began to openly cry, and so stepped forward to hug him. "I… I'm so sorry, Ghost…" She said gently.
She wasn't sure whether her words would grant Ghost any comfort, but she wanted him to know she was there for him.
They remained there for what felt like hours, but Blake refused to relinquish her hold of Ghost. He needed someone there, and she was determined to be that person for now.
After a while though; Ghost calmed down, and took a step back from Blake, drying his eyes. "For the longest time… I had no family. My clan disowned me; I absconded from Death Watch, and so… I was alone. But then Jason and Nathan came along… and became that family. And now… I will walk through whatever hell they command me to in order to fulfil whatever task they have for me."
Placing a hand over Blake's shoulder, Ghost added: "This task though… this is personal. I lost my family, Blake… I will die a thousand painful deaths before I allow the same to happen to yours and Nathan's."
Blake smiled, and hugged Ghost once again. "Thank you, Ghost…" She said.
"For what?" Ghost inquired.
"For letting me know my baby will be safe with you." Blake replied.
"No problem, Blake…" Ghost said. "And… for what it's worth; I think you'll be a great mother."
Blake perked up and stepped back. "You think so?" She asked, meeting Ghost's gaze.
Ghost smiled. "I know so Blake. Much like I know Nathan will be a great father. And I know my wife would agree with me; if she was here to say as much."
With that, Ghost took his leave.
Blake's hands returned to her belly, and she sighed happily. Her baby was safe. And now all that remained was to hope that her family would be safe as well.
Brunswick Farms' shed…
Qrow hadn't been lying; the storm had only gotten worse.
Kanan felt as though he'd freeze the moment he and Yang stepped out of the house.
Thankfully, him and Yang could hold one another closely, using their natural body heat to warm one another.
Once they'd stepped inside the barn, things rapidly felt much warmer.
And they were pleased to see row upon row of supplies they could use.
To their right though was a worn out tractor which had very clearly seen its use.
"Something tells me that's not street legal." Kanan commented to Yang, who giggled a little bit as they resumed their search.
"What do you think happened here?" Yang asked after some time.
"There's that well in the main square." Kanan offered. "Maybe water contamination?"
"Yeah, maybe." Yang replied, before stopping and pressing a hand to her head.
"Hey, are you okay?" Kanan asked, eyes narrowing with concern for Yang.
"Yeah... I mean, no. But, I don't know." Yang replied. "I'm just tired."
"You and me both." Kanan agreed. Kissing his girlfriend on the cheek, Kanan added: "Come on; let's keep looking."
The couple soon broke off from each other to cover more of the barn in their search.
Upon looking at the supplies on the shelves, Kanan took back his happiness at finding so many supplies.
Most of them were either outdated or otherwise useless. Just how long had Brunswick been abandoned for?
"Hey, I found something."
Kanan perked up and began to move towards Yang's location; only for Yang to then suddenly gasp fearfully. Kanan rushed over to his girlfriend, finding her looking outside a window, eyes wide with fear. "Yang; what is it?" He asked worriedly.
"I…" Yang made to reply, before sighing. "I was just seeing things. I'm sorry. I still get flashes from that night."
Noticing Yang's hand begin shaking uncontrollably, Kanan took it in his own, planting a soft kiss there before pulling Yang closer. "You don't need to be scared to tell me, Yang…" He said, planting a kiss on Yang's head. Taking a deep breath, Kanan added: "Admittedly… I have been having nightmares about… about my mom's death…"
"Is that why you've not gotten much sleep recently?" Yang inquired.
Kanan met Yang's gaze, blinking back tears as he nodded. "I just… didn't want to bother you about them." He confessed.
"Kanan…" Yang said. "You're my boyfriend… if anything… I'd be so much more worried if you didn't tell me."
Kanan sighed, feeling more tears threaten to fall, the pain of his mother's loss still fresh and raw in his heart.
Yang sighed herself before pulling Kanan into a warm, loving hug.
At which Kanan allowed himself to cry, his entire body shaking with every sob as he buried his head into Yang's shoulder, soaking it with freshly cried tears.
Yang held him close as she always did, letting Kanan vent his grief and simply being there for him until he calmed down.
Eventually, Kanan stepped away from Yang with a deep breath, wiping away his tears.
Looking up, Kanan saw Yang giving him a supportive smile.
"I'm here for you, Kanan." She said gently. "No matter how tired I am or whatever's going on."
Kanan nodded with a smile, before leaning in.
Yang reciprocated, and their lips soon met for a passionate kiss.
The kiss rapidly grew heated, and Kanan found himself pushing Yang towards a nearby flatbed, pinning her against it.
A soft gasp escaped Yang in that moment, as their kiss broke, and she glanced behind her towards the flatbed itself.
Their eyes met, and it suddenly occurred to Kanan that him and Yang had not been intimate once since their 'break' three weeks earlier.
A smirk crossed Yang's face as she asked: "Think anybody's going to care if we have a little fun on here?"
Lust ate at Kanan's restraint like acid, weeks of pent up passion and desire for Yang threatening to boil over as he imagined stripping Yang of her clothes and making love to her on that flatbed, their naked bodies pressed tightly against each other as he made Yang scream with every thrust.
But alas, Kanan's self-control won over as he chuckled. "You are aware we're in what's essentially a haunted house, right?" He asked. "And I'm pretty sure the couple that goes off to have sex winds up being one of the first to die in horror movies."
Yang giggled, reaching behind her and taking one of Kanan's arms. "Maybe… we could be the couple that breaks that trend…"
Kanan felt Yang moving his arm down so that his hand cupped her ass, and in that moment, Kanan felt a little bit of his desire for Yang break through; at which he gave Yang's buttocks a squeeze.
A soft gasp escaped Yang, now facing Kanan completely. "Kanan…" she said softly. Her eyes were wide; pleading. She wanted him. Needed him. She'd needed him for three whole weeks.
Moving his other hand down to her ass, Kanan groped and squeezed Yang's ass even harder, eliciting a soft moan from Yang.
Their lips met once again, and with another squeeze of Yang's ass, Kanan lifted Yang up and pinned her to the nearest wall, grinding his pelvis against Yang's as he felt himself stiffening down below.
Yang's soft moans spurred him on, eating at his self-control and feeding his desire to just rip off her clothes and take her right then and there.
Again though; his restraint stopped him, and he broke his lips away from Yang.
Their eyes met, as did their foreheads.
"I want to continue so badly…" Kanan said softly.
"I can tell…" Yang replied, gesturing with her eyes down towards Kanan's crotch, where a small tent had been pitched in his pants. "At the same time… we should rejoin the others."
Kanan nodded. "Once we reach Argus though…"
Yang smiled. "Took the words right out of my mouth, tiger…" She replied as their lips met once again, far more softly but no less passionately.
Breaking the kiss, Kanan set his buxom blonde girlfriend down, but not before running his hands up and down her body, reminding himself that he was the luckiest man on Remnant to have Yang at his side.
Yang smirked, asking: "Done copping a feel, handsome?"
Kanan lowered his hands, nodding. "Am now…" He replied.
Yang giggled and leaned in, kissing Kanan before moving past him towards the exit. "We can hook that flatbed up to Bumblebee in the morning. Should carry everyone. Mission accomplished."
Kanan didn't respond, eyes firmly set on the sway of Yang's hips as well as her backside, before shaking his head and rushing to join her.
Later that evening, 21:30 pm…
Most of the gang were turning in for the night.
But not Nathan.
He sat alone on the stairs, deep in thought.
His mobility had returned somewhat, courtesy of the medical treatment he'd received from Yang earlier, but he wouldn't be fully mobile again until the morning.
"Nathan?"
Nathan looked up at the sudden voice to see Ruby stood a few feet away.
Her silver eyes shone in the moonlight as she asked: "Are you okay?"
Nathan nodded. "Yeah…" He replied. "Just… just feel weird. That bad feeling I've had about this place has only gotten worse since we found those bodies upstairs, and I doubt it'll go way until we're all as far away from here as humanly possible." Pausing, Nathan sighed. "All I want is to be able to hold Blake and our unborn baby close."
A small smile found Ruby's face as she joined Nathan on the stairs. "You'll get the chance, Nate. Uncle Qrow just said he'd wake us all up at sunrise."
Nathan scoffed. "With how he was acting earlier… I'd be surprised if he's able to wake us up in the morning to begin with." He commented. Taking a breath, Nathan added: "But if he does… great. Sooner we're out of here, the better."
Ruby nodded, before saying: "We'd better join the others and get some sleep."
"You go on…" Nathan replied. "I think I'll stay up."
Ruby frowned. "Aren't you tired?" She asked.
Nathan shook his head. "Something about this place… it makes me feel unsafe. And I've made a point of avoiding sleeping anywhere I don't feel safe. Call it a carry-over from my days being on the run from the Empire following Order 66."
Ruby nodded before then hugging Nathan. "Goodnight, Nate."
"Goodnight, Rubes." Nathan replied, gently ruffling Ruby's hair before watching the young huntress in training join the others.
Nathan mulled over his thoughts some more before sighing. "Fuck it." Standing up, Nathan hobbled to where the others were all getting ready for bed, and grabbed one of the blankets and a pillow. Picking one of the sofas near Maria, who was still reading, Nathan sat down, and tried to get some sleep.
Later that night, 22:00 pm…
Sleep had not come as easily to Nathan as he would have hoped.
No matter how he tossed and turned, nothing could convince his body to let sleep overtake him.
With a resigned sigh, Nathan sat up in his 'bed', and pulled out that photo of himself and Blake.
Nathan once again traced his finger over Blake's face, that selfish wish to have her present still lingering.
"You've been staring at that picture every so often."
Nathan damn near leapt out of his 'bed' and drew his lightsaber, but relaxed when he saw it was Maria sat on her chair.
She'd been so quiet, Nathan had reckoned she was asleep.
Regardless, Nathan sighed. "Yeah." He replied quietly. It's a picture of me and my girlfriend."
"I see." Maria commented. "And how long have you two been together?"
"Nearly two years." Nathan responded. "We're expecting our first kid together in December?"
Judging by Maria's facial expression, Nathan imagined she was raising an eyebrow.
"Aren't you a little young to be having children?" She asked, her tone fraught with condescension.
Nathan's eyes narrowed. That'd been unnecessarily rude. Well; she asked for it, Nathan thought as he fired back: "Says the lady who likely failed to pop any out before her 'breed-by' date."
Maria visibly recoiled at the retort, quietly saying: "No need to be rude…"
"There is when you're being rude." Nathan countered. "Just because you're older doesn't entitle you to be rude to others just because."
Maria made to respond, but realisation seemed to dawn on her, before replying: "You're right. I apologise. It's just not often I see people your age settling down and starting families."
"Well; let's just say circumstances led to us agreeing now was a better time than later." Nathan responded.
He then sighed. "I just hope tomorrow gets me one step closer to reuniting with her."
"Well; you won't be doing much reuniting if you can't even lift your head off of the pillow." Maria said. "Get some sleep, child. Even a little sleep can go a long way in preparing your body for the next day."
Nathan nodded, before wordlessly laying back and closing his eyes.
Sleep finally came for Nathan; and he dreamed nothing but pleasant dreams of himself and Blake with a growing family.
I... deeply apologise for the long delay in updating. Between a long busy period at work and my excitement for Wrestlemania continuing to skyrocket, I've not really had much mind towards this story.
And of course; there's been the news about Rooster Teeth's shutdown.
I'm not going to lie, the news did leave me in quite a mental slump. And I admittedly was left with a strong sense of uncertainty over the future of RWBY.
However; I'm choosing to remain positive about the whole affair. We are all aware that Kerry is working damn hard to find a partner to produce Volume 10, and I have full faith in him that he will accomplish that goal.
As for where that leaves this story; I still fully plan on finishing it (Like Cody Rhodes will finish his at Wrestlemania). Right now; me and my friend are working on the future of this story, and how it'll reach its conclusion.
Anyway; let's answer some reviews:
keybladelight: I doubt Palpatine and Vader will be too pleased having a rival for the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith. As for Nathan using the last question from Jinn; I doubt he will. I also doubt anyone will let him.
Sharnorasian Empire: Carbonite is an option. But they'd first have to find a carbonite freezing chamber; and I doubt there's one lying around on Remnant.
With that said; thank you all so much for taking the time to read this chapter. If you liked it; y'all know what to do.
I shall see you next week with the next chapter, which will see the scariest Grimm Nathan has ever encountered.
T-Rock14