Ch. 58 Reconnected
Weiss thought back to everything that led her here. It would be so easy to blame everything on her father, but truthfully the leg wasn't his fault. Not entirely anyway. Leaving Atlas for Vale was her choice, though he was the reason behind it. Becoming a huntress was her choice, though how much of that choice was inspired by her need to spite the man would be forever in question. That she lost her leg while fighting side by side with her team leader, with her friend… that one was on her.
The aftermath however… the aftermath was solely his fault, his decision, his stupid fucking attempt at keeping her caged like a songbird.
"You seem upset?" spoke Winter, currently in the process of shaving the right side of Weisses head.
"It's nothing just thinking…"
"Weiss it's okay, I've seen grown men more upset about losing half their hair…"
"It's not that. Hair grows back, legs don't."
That wasn't the entire truth. Of course Weiss was upset that she needed to shave half her hair. Though that was mostly because Doctor Polendina only told her last minute. In order to properly calibrate the nerve interface to the correct functions they'd need to tape sensors to her head to map her brain's reaction as they connect individual nerves.
It gave her a little comfort that Jaune volunteered himself to teach her how to braid her remaining hair. The man's seven sisters being his main qualification for the job.
Weiss couldn't help but wonder if Jaune had always been this eccentric. His ideas for some design facets of her new leg were… strange. If he didn't prove to her that Myrtenaster held an imprint of her aura she'd never accept some of them. Especially the litany of ancient Valean inscriptions that now covered every inner surface of the prosthetic.
Though she had to accept the fact that even if they didn't play a part in its functionality, they probably couldn't hurt. According to Ruby, one of their working theories for why Lunatum Cor Rosae could channel her semblance so well was its name and the very nature of ancient Valean. It was a fringe theory, even Ruby admitted that, but it could only improve the odds of all this working.
Weiss spent the rest of her surgery preparations in silence. Her contemplation slowly turned to focus o. the procedure itself. There was nothing to look forward to really and Weiss was painfully aware of it.
When she got wheeled into the operating room she was met with Doctor Polendina sat in an unfamiliar white mobility chair complete with a headset and haptic controllers wired directly into a large surgery robot.
Both Ruby and Jaune were in the room as well, wearing turquoise scrubs and facemasks, standing by a table with all the parts neatly laid out.
Winter was the only other person in the room, serving as the only nurse, though there was little chance of being needed in that capacity. Doctor Polendina was one of the best in this field and would be able to complete the operation on his own with the use of the many cybernetic limbs.
The operating theatre featured a large one way window where others could observe the procedure. In this case however Weiss was told only General Ironwood would be in the observation deck.
Though the procedure would be recorded, there was every chance the file would be sealed under secrecy. The procedure was experimental and Weiss was a high profile person.
Weiss was brought out of her thoughts when Winter offered her a bit. Once she bit down on it Doctor Polendina officially commenced the procedure.
The moment the first incision was made Weiss hissed in pain. The scar tissue was mostly healed over but still sensitive enough for this to hurt a lot. Of course she knew this was just the beginning.
When the drill came out Weiss honestly thought she might pass out. She barely noticed the change when drilling stopped and the femur extension got inserted into the drilled holes.
"WEISS!" her eyes focused on the person speaking. It was Jaune. "I need you to flood your leg with Aura!"
As she did she could feel the pain subside as her Aura flooded the open wound. Her breathing slowed and she allowed herself a sigh of relief.
"The script is glowing… that's a good thing right?" asked Winter.
"Should be. Doctor, please check the Aura in the metal.." replied Jaune as he lowered his hand barely above the new metal bone. He could feel it, but he'd rather Pietro confirmed his findings.
Pietro Polendina laid his gloved hand over the slightly glowing black metal.
"Confirmed, her Aura propagated through the bone extension." said the Doctor "Femur reestablished, commencing nerve connection."
As bad as drilling into her bone without anaesthesia was, Weiss knew that the next part would be worse. Dozens of hypodermic needles machined from a medical titanium platinum alloy, ready to be inserted into an individual nerve. Each needle was connected to a wire, which in turn was going to be permanently connected to a part of her new prosthesis.
The Doctor put on a headset and started the long process of finding each individual nerve, skewering it with the needle and recording her brain activity to map its function. Weiss clinged to consciousness throughout the procedure and cursed her father through the rubber bit.
=O=O=O=
Ren was the only one awake when the sun rose. They had a bit more time before they needed to get back on the road but he pulled the last watch so he had spent the last few hours tending the fire and keeping vigil for both the Grimm and the madman that attacked them.
Qrow had a long discussion with Yang and Pyrrha yesterday evening. Ren and Nora weren't privy to the contents but they knew it had something to do with why Tyrian targeted Yang.
Ren stood up to stretch his legs out. He looked over to where Yang and Pyrrha slept. Pyrrha was hugging Yang's head to her chest. Neither of them was in the right state of mind to keep watch last night so whatever it was that was happening hit them hard.
Qrow was the one who took the first watch and Nora took the middle one. From what Nora said when they switched, Qrow looked a little drunk when she took over for him. From what Ruby told them of her uncle though that was normal.
Nora was sound asleep, though the way she clutched onto her weapons in her sleep spoke of restless sleep.
"Ugggh, hey kid…" Qrow's gruff voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Mister Branwen…" Ren replied.
"How's the night? Anything to report?"
"No, all quiet."
As Qrow sat up he visibly winced "...gods, my arm hurts." He raised his bandaged forearm into view.
The moment Ren saw it he knew it was bad. The bandage was seeped through, but instead of blood red it was sickly purple. Ren connected the dots almost immediately and cursed himself quietly for not realising sooner. Tyrian was a scorpion faunus, of course his tail was venomous.
"Wait, don't move." Ren spoke with uncharacteristic urgency. He went over to his pack, pulling out a spare leather belt. "Let me take a look."
To Qrow's credit he quickly caught on to what the younger man was getting at, quickly taking off the sleeve of his grey dress shirt.
"Ah shit…"
Ren thought it was an apt assessment of the situation. The sickly purple was no longer contained underneath the bandage, snaking its way through Qrows veins giving them a black spider web look. The poison went all the way up to Qrows bicep, prompting Ren to fasten the belt above it.
"Thanks kid."
Ren looked pensive. The fact that Qrow lasted this long without adverse effect was a good indication that the poison was slow acting. On the other hand the spread was bad news. If they didn't manage to slow it down it would reach the heart in a day, maybe two. With the belt they bought maybe two days of extra time.
"This won't stop the spread, just slow it down."
"I know, but now we have some time. Do me a favour and wake the others. I'd rather reach civilization before I lose the ability to move. It's disrupting my Aura too so the longer we spread the slower I'll get."
As Ren went to wake up Nora he thought back to Beacon and team CFVY. They said things always got worse for them when Qrow was around and Ren prayed that they wouldn't be proven right.
=O=O=O=
"So? You've never been to Menagerie, right? What do you think?"
Sun walked through the main street with Blake. Looking around at the tropical panorama. Many street vendors dotted the street, families with children filled the bustling street and the kids were running around with no care in the world.
"It's like Vacuo but more humid…" that assessment earned him a punch in the arm. "I'm kidding Blake. Truthfully except for the heat and sand, it's nothing like Vacuo. Just the lack of crime is an obvious difference."
Blake's eyes softened as she too looked at the many faunus children playing it the street.
"With everyone here being faunus people have an innate sense of camaraderie. Menagerie is a safe haven for many that moved here and there is no reason to ruin that for us."
"That's sad in its own way though…" Sun immediately regretted saying that as Blake's face fell. She knew it all too well that the need for a safe haven from humans was a problem.
Sun immediately tried to change the topic.
"So your folks live somewhere around here, right?"
"You can see it from here actually."
"Really!? Oh, let me guess. That one? Or that one?" Sun pointed out excitedly.
"Actually… It's that one…" Blake pointed to the biggest estate in view. The manor stood in the middle of Kuo Kuana.
Sun once again got reminded that Blake was basically a princess, being the daughter of the chieftain. For once though he managed to keep his mouth shut and not voice his thoughts.
As he stood still in stunned silence, Blake continued to walk ahead. That was when Sun had a brilliant idea.
Blake yelped in surprise as she was suddenly lifted up on Sun's shoulders. "SUN! PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW!"
"We better hurry up and meet your folks!"
"SUN I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T PUT… YEEP!" before she could finish her sentence Sun sped up eliciting another undignified yelp from her.
By the time they reached the front door of the Belladonna estate Sun was tangled up in the ribbon of Gambol Shroud, which Blake used both to try and make Sun stop as well as make sure she didn't fall off.
It was then that Sun finally tripped up, falling face first to the ground. Of course Blake being entangled with him prevented her (through her own actions) from dismounting with any amount of grace.
As both of them tried to untangle themselves, the reason for Sun's abrupt stop spoke up…
"Blake?"
Blake froze at the sound, looking up at the familiar face. The black hair and amber eyes that mirrored her own staring at her in surprise.
"...mom, uh…Hi?"
=O=O=O=
Weiss felt that the surgery has been going on for days now. In reality it has only been a few hours but the torturous agony skewed her perception of time.
Luckily the worst of it was over, truthfully the operation part was mostly over and it was just a matter of letting Ruby build the leg around the femur extension and the neural connection socket.
This was done solely by Ruby's hand but Jaune was calling out part numbers and pointing towards each one as Ruby put them in place.
As Weiss requested, the leg was designed to be impossible to take off. This included the use of rivets in place of screws, solder in place of connectors and circuitry printed directly onto the inside of some parts. That meant many of the connections made were permanent and needed to be done while the neural socket was being built. That in connection with many of the materials being rather brittle without aura meant that the leg needed to be assembled all in one go.
Weiss was ecstatic when Ruby told her to test out the knee joint articulation for the first time. It felt so natural… it felt like it was an extension of herself… it just felt like her leg.
Now that she wasn't in horrible pain it dawned on Weiss how strange the whole process was. Combining the medical field with mechanics was already jarring enough but with the prosthesis nature as a dustcaster it was necessary to consider things from that angle as well. That in addition to the experimental methods that were meant to make sure that the leg would be a true part of her and her Aura gave the whole procedure a strangely magical aesthetic.
"We're nearly finished." said Jaune while Ruby went through a checklist of parts and tested if everything moved as it should. "Do you need to go over the last part or do you have it down?"
Weiss centred herself before shaking her head "No, it's fine. Just tell me when." It felt a little silly, but much like the inscriptions on the leg itself it couldn't hurt. She came up with most of it herself, though Jaune helped her smooth out the translation.
When Ruby gave them a thumbs up Jaune spoke one last time "Just flood your leg with Aura and focus on the meaning of the words. Begin when you're ready."
Weiss did as he instructed, filling every individual part of the whole with her Aura. It felt so natural, somehow feeling both like her leg and how she remembered Myrtenaster. In a sense it was both.
"Ex fracto telum, telum nuvea resurget."
Weiss spoke the words focusing on their meaning. "From a broken blade a new weapon will rise."
"Factum est ad me a servitute liberet."
"Made to free me from servitude." she would be free of her father's gilded cage.
"Nullae catenae, nullae caveae."
As she spoke those words their inscription on the metal glowed softly with her Aura. "No chains, no cages."
"Te nomino Avis Libera in lingua antiqua."
She was a caged songbird no more. "I name you Free Bird in the ancient language."
"Nulli dii, nulli dominis."
"No gods, no masters."
=O=O=O=
Author's note:
So, let me get the obvious out of the way first. Yes, Free Bird is a meme. I'll have you know I consulted with multiple people on whether Free Bird was too much and they said it was fitting and funny. If you don't like it, well lucky for you Weiss doesn't yell out the name of her leg in every fight, unlike Jaune.
As for the other two plot-lines in this chapter; Qrow is poisoned, though it is going slower than cannon, and Sun and Blake get to deal with the mess Adam's ideology left behind. Oh and I suppose this is your first confirmation since Beacon fell that yes, Adam is dead, very much so. In fact I'd wager that as powerful as Jaune is, a fully powered up Nora is deadlier. Of course we'll se if that holds true by the time their paths cross again.
As for real world matters, I've had a productive week. The ideas flowed really well, and although not all of them went into the projects they should, it still feels nice to write. I actually have the next chapter nearly finalized and Ch. 60 is in the works too.
But hey if you want to support me you can do so on P a treon . com (slash) OlympianScribe
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to the next chapter: Ch. 59 No more chains, no more cages