Hello! Im bock!
Its weird being on a semi consistent schedule for once, but hey once school rolls around, dont expect much. Dont think ima do anything crazy this year, shoot depending on my classes i might just resort to writing for most of school. If im lucky.
Regardless, new deadpool coming out, if it saves marvel then shit i'll be, if it dont…then godspeed spiderman, thats all ima say, hesitantly looking forward to seeing it this weekend. I also got invited by one of my college friends to watch this short movie, dont have any idea what its called but im very curious regardless.
Besides that and an upcoming banquet, hopefully i wont be too worn out. Hopefully.
Anyhow onto the story!
Chapter 7: Final Straw
The group had momentarily situated themselves by a large tree near the remains of the Branwen camp.
Ray and Pot looked over their weapons, Ray held a shadow over his features while Pot seemed to be aggressive with some of the supplies. Or what was left of them.
They had salvaged a world map, a few scrolls, and some drinkable water, as well as a few weapons, none of them too noteworthy in her eyes.
Raven was leaning against a nearby tree, looking down with closed eyes with a contemplative look. Her hair slightly raddled more than it already had been before, her hands shook as she tried desperately to maintain herself.
"Raven…" the female voice walked up to her from where the former chieftain swayed, her ruby eyes glaring at the voice.
"Vernal." she met her eyes. Vernal stared her down, before Raven stood up completely to meet her gaze. The two looked at each other with a deadlocked expression.
The silence stretched, Raven anticipated this and weathered her expression accordingly. Vernal was her subordinate, how she held a stoic blank look to her features.
"Why did you leave?" she uttered with a soft sort of tone, but firm enough for Raven to realize its hints.
"If I didn't…" she didn't dare glance in the direction of Toneri's departure to ruins, as she assessed her words. "The tribe would've been in danger of-"
"Of who? Salem? Is that why you brought him? If it was to protect us, why did you both leave at the almost perfect time for a Grimm attack. An alpha attack at that!" she urged violently.
"It decimated us, if it weren't for me, Ray and Pot would probably be dead. And everyone else is dead."
Raven closed her eyes. "I did what I felt was right."
"How do you know he isn't working with her?"
"Because this is his first time ever arriving on Remnant."
Vernal's eyes widened at this.
"So he's an alien now?" She replied half dubiously despite her own personal theories. Before Raven continued.
"Perhaps so, he's more powerful than me and maybe even her, we need him."
"And we needed you too."
Raven sighed again.
"I had faith you could take care of them. Clearly I was wrong, you weren't ready-"
"No, that's not what I was talking about. you said you wanted to stay out of all this…with Salem and Ozpin. Yet you killed the spring maiden and took her power, painting a target on not just yours, but my back also, and now you have this…alien god?"
"This will make us formidable, a chance to defeat her." Raven replied back with the same confident and authoritative tone. Vernal eyes darted into a glare as the second passed them.
"A chance for you to defeat her…but what about the rest of us mortal beings, I can't command the elements…you know it was an alpha class Ursa that attacked us? How do you think she did it?"
"I know the fuck how it did."
Pot chimed in, walking over to the duo with slow steps, anger painted on his face.
"Pot come on don't do this now-" Ray attempted to calm him to no avail.
"No no no. Fuck that. I trusted you. WE trusted YOU. And you just…abandoned us!"
"I did no such thing."
"But you fucking did! For what? A power advantage over…someone who's been alive for apparently thousands of years?"
"Pot that's enough." Vernal placed her hand on his shoulder tightly. He shook under her grip.
"Get off of me!" He pushed her away. Vernal looked back at him with an annoyed glare.
"You never even had a plan did you? What's the point in surviving when when we have a death goddess actually riding after us?"
"It was only a matter of time, and look what happened! You weren't going to stay away…shit…I thought it could stay the same…well i guess was a fucking idiot for that." Pot calmed down, but he remained panting as he let go of his balled up fist, leaving them to dangle by his sides in defeat.
"I take full responsibility…perhaps I should have stayed…but right now I'm intent on getting you all to safety so you can get some proper rest."
Vernal looked at her, bracing herself as her mouth opened, her eyes steeled and poised as her hands gripped their leather pants. Ray saw the look.
"Raven-" suddenly Ray came between both of them.
"Okay!…I think that's not so bad." he glared at both of them to shut their mouths. Pot seemed especially agitated but Ray calmed him down with just a look.
"We have a lot to talk about…but not here."
A small silence descended upon them, the sounds of the foliage as the wind came through. Raven couldn't help but take a glance at Toneri as he returned, a scarred woman's body in his arms.
"I suggest we leave now. Nothing but death remains here."
He walked over to the three remaining tribe members. Raven eyeing the body he held.
"She's not from the tribe, is she alive?"
"No, she's not from the tribe. Yes, she's alive, I believe her friends deserve closure."
In his mind he thought of flying them there, but upon registering the way their faces moved and shifted, and some of the sound from before. Even as a blind god, he saw the need for a long trodden road back to safety.
As such, he chose to say nothing, raising his hand and raising the various bags they had collected to store the things they need and have, from food to spare scrolls, and walked ahead.
Vernal walked forward first, Pot following soon after, Ray moved to walk but stopped to look back at the camp he had stayed at for years, before turning around.
Raven glanced back, seeing fleeting spirits of the past, before tearing her sight away and flanking the group.
Leaving the god covering the front, and the maiden Branwen in the back.
A commanding voice shook them out of their mental haze.
"We're here." He announced the familiar broken gates of Tsuki village. Walking forward the debris and past the ash, Raven looked onto it with a glint, while Toneri just walked ahead, the trio of the Branwen survivors not far behind.
The journey to Tsuki village was wrought with nothing more than boredom. With each step, the tension remained palpable as Raven remained behind everyone, mostly to look out for Grimm, but to also just think.
Even at the gates, the ash and stench of the end seemed ever pungent in air, even as the sun began to set. It's darkish hue painting the sky as if the great depths of the ocean began reflecting the cosmos. Toneri could tell the sun has begun setting as the temperature took a slight yet ever noticeable dip from pale skin.
Raven walked forward in an effort to catch up to Toneri. "Good now-"
"Raven." Vernal cut her off, stepping forward, Pot looked up with an intrigued sort of look, like an eager child. While Ray seemed to look sick by comparison, yet he still maintained a disciplined look.
She stopped. She looked back to her, meeting her eyes. "Vernal."
Toneri didn't need to look, he just continued looking forward with shut eyes, making sure the body he was toting was comfortable in his arm, as he admired the wind as it rustled against his body gently.
"What of the tribe?" Her voice seemed to stretch out eerily as she kept her tone neutral, even as her voice shook.
Raven looked at her in silence…Toneri found himself slightly confused at the question.
"Toneri, I'll catch up with you…"
He looked towards the direction of her voice contemplatively, his face unyielding.
He fixed the body over him as he began floating, before zooming over the destroyed buildings at a recognizable pace, not too fast where the body would be harmed. Leaving Branwen and her subordinates.
She let the silence stew, the stare intensified as her eyes remained unwavering.
Pot looked at Ray, Ray was making a gesture to be quiet, before Pot looked back to Raven.
…
"I wish it weren't so, as would any leader, I know I've failed, failed you all." She let her words linger, her eyes shadowing over the three people.
"But I did what I felt was right for the tribe…even if it was it's undoing…but instead of looking to the past for answers, i'll look to the future for a new-"
"No." she cut her off.
"Excuse me?" she replied slightly offended.
Vernal just looked at her. Her hands twitched ever so slightly before she sighed.
"No. If you truly cared about the Branwen tribe, you would've come back as soon as Grimm attacked…you would've buried their bodies. Instead you just left them out there. To rot."
….
"...so this is it then?"
"You're going to stay with him right?"
"You know. As well as I, he is the future of humanity."
Vernal held a blank expression at that, but Raven could see past it, it gave its way to what she considered her family, and when a child does something inexplicable.
"So be it." She approached a bag, checking it to make sure it had the necessary resources, she took out the scroll, and booted up, looking at the screen before turning it off and sliding it into her butt pocket.
The young adult picked up the bag and turned her back to Raven. Looking at Ray and Pot, both looking towards her now with varying expressions.
"The Branwen tribe is dead, you can choose to stay with her, but I'm done running, I'm done killing for the sake of living." her feet carried her away and past the duo.
"Vernal. Where do you think you're going?"
Vernal ignored Raven.
"Vernal!"
She stopped, not even daring to look back at her former leader. "It's not safe around you. Not as you are. I'm done. Thank you for everything." She turned away for the last time and continued walking.
"Yeah… I think I like the sound of that." Pot said, picking up another bag and without thinking, following her.
Ray looked between Pot and Raven, alarmed. "This…" He steadied his breathing, as Raven had taught him. "Sure…I guess…" He turned away but paused to look at Raven.
"Thanks for taking care of us. As kids, we couldn't have survived without you…So thank you, I will never forget about you."
"..." Raven remained silent, before nodding at him. After that, he turned his back as well, joining the others.
They too began behind Vernal. The three seemed like brilliant lights before they flicker and die.
Raven looked at their fleeting forms, the imperceptible glint of her memories with it. She saw vestiges of a rose and a mighty man, along with someone she had grown up with. She wanted to say something, but at that point there was no reason to. They had made their decision, and she was proud of them for it…even if it hurt as much as it did all those years ago.
She, too, didn't enter the city.
The wires sparked on the table as he pressed a metal rod to them, carefully connecting it to the scroll. A single rubber glove covered his hand as he worked, sweat glistening down his neck. He had been sitting there for the past hour, trying to hack the last functional scroll using parts from a broken one belonging to the bedridden huntress.
He had gotten it and decided to try and fix it, despite his absolute inexperience.
"Please for the love of the heavens and the seas, let this thing work."
He went to turn the scroll on, waiting for a minute as it went through its boot up sequence. The scroll lighting up the tent.
"Okay okay okay okay okay okay!" He got to the app screen and after waiting a few seconds.
'No data detected'
"Motherfucker! Welp, I tried." He slapped his forehead so loud it made an impact sound. A girl walked into the room steadily, her sword up and ready in a professional style befitting a huntress, her face as serious as when he met her. "What's wrong?"
"No. It's the scroll." He stood up, rubbing his eyes. "Tried to hotwire the data from the busted one to this one so I could get its data and try to shoot off something to the nearest radio wave and hopefully piggyback it all the way to Mistral CCT tower..or something like that."
"No luck I suppose?" she mused with a soft yet forced smile, glad it's nothing too serious.
"Nothing, ugh, you suppose you weren't taught how to hot wire a scroll." he looked towards her.
"Unfortunately, no...I'm sure my teammate remembered though." she replied with a hint of pain in her voice.
He sighed loudly, too tired to truly take it all in.
"I need a break anyway, I've been sitting for too long." He felt something enter his hand, a plum.
"Food." she started off towards the opening.
"Uhh thanks…." He put the fruit on the table, but away from the electronics, before looking at her.
"….hey…huntress?"
She looked back at him and stopped.
"Can I be like you someday?"
The huntress looked at the wall curiously, like it was the most entertaining thing at that moment.
"A huntsman?" Dawn scanned him up and down.
"No. Hell no I value my life thank you, I meant like...become strong."
"You already are."
"Huh?"
"You said you didn't think you could do it, yet here you are still. That's real strength, kid."
"The most experience I have is fixing a power outage one time, and turning computers on and off. Not much of a strength."
She gave him a curious glance, before scoffing.
"I wouldn't lie to you like that kid. It's the fact you haven't given up, is why i think your strong"
"...I kinda don't get it." He muttered as he looked back at the scroll in progress. "That feels too narcissistic to just say, especially when I've never really worked out before."
"Perhaps." she mutters before looking down, a more contemplative look coming over her face.
"The Mistral CCT tower has people that keep track of villages like this each day. If they don't respond they'll send out a highly rated huntsman group or the military within the week to check on them."
The teenager rubbed his eyes. "What are you…Wait…so we're alright actually? As long as we don't attract more grimm? Does everyone else know?"
"Probably. Why do you think they haven't been panicking? They know someone will come for them, besides, Tsuki village is fairly big, I doubt its disappearance will go unnoticed, honestly I'm surprised the Branwen tribe attacked a place with this many people."
She finished her speech as he looked at her as if shes grown a second head.
"...you didn't know did you." she giggled.
"O-Of course i did!"
"Hmm okay." She held a nostalgic look in her face as she looked at Price, but to him it seemed so sorrowful by comparison.
"I'm sorry if i-"
"No, you're fine, it's just…you remind me of a dear friend…"
"..."
"Keep doing your best, and you'll get strong in your own way, not everyone can be like Pyrrha." She looked into his eyes.
"Okay-wait-why am I getting communications up if help will come on its own?"
"So they can come faster?" she replied with sass.
"Ah."
"Were lucky Toneri was here…we definitely wouldn't have stood a chance without him."
"...True…" he yawned. "Fine…okay I understand." his eyes landed on hers.
The eye contact stunned him a bit as he stared right back. Only to look away with a slight blush.
She walked back to the door, with a small giggle. "Also! Have a little more faith in yourself!" with that, she left the tent.
"Hmph. Stupid huntress." He went and took a bite out of the plum. "Guess I don't really have anything better to do really…but what's the point if…"
A memory came to his mind as he looked at the scroll in progress.
"Price was it? My name is Toneri. I heard you were adequate in sending messages, I need you to send a message to a city or another town for support." Toneri had said to him when he first met him, with his unkempt bleached hair and a stoic, yet firm look to him that gave off a sense of regal nobility, unlike which seen from videos of the Schnee's, but from something that operated on a different level.
….
After a few minutes, he looked at the scroll in progress.
"I can do this."
He finished the plum, cracked his fingers, his neck, his jaw, his feet, his hips, and his legs. "I can do this…"
As he moved to sit down, sound obscured his senses. "Huh?"
He peeked out the entrance, seeing Dawn, her hand resting gently on the weapon on her hip. Ready for an altercation.
"Oh shit."
"Stay behind me." he nodded along with her words.
Looking at the broken door to the miniature camp set up in the hall, was Toneri, numerous bags floating behind him as he floated in.
Dawn seemed to settle down at that, so did Lycoris. Toneri however looked in her direction.
"Why are you walking? You should be resting."
"I am, you restored my aura and my body, I heal the rest."
"Don't be modest. Please, rest."
"No. My aura is fine, I don't need to rest anymore."
"...what do you mean you don't need to rest anymore?"
The sun had completely set, with the shattered moon adorning the sky—a sight she could never get enough of, a reminder of the blind god's existence.
That such a being was real, that such a being needed her assistance, despite being so much stronger. He hadn't sought to force her either, instead prioritizing the civilians.
The fire cackled before her as she rested, a blank look on her face as she stared blankly at the dancing flames.
'Those Grimm were far too powerful for just that town… and Vernal described an alpha Ursa attacking the camp. Not even a group, just one…'
She felt a pang, a shiver, like a breath of frosty air, run through her spine as she gripped the marks of her sword. It was all too familiar, similar yet different from when she left them.
Stirred up old feelings.
She got up with a vengeance, unsheathing Omen with a ferocity she hadn't felt since she was a child. Glaring into the darkness, her eyes seemed to glow with a foreboding power as each breath remained heaved.
Before she let go of her sword.
The man seemed to glow in the darkness, his face with perfect clarity, it was like looking at the moon, like marble from a mountainside, the same stoic look plastered as if nothing ever happened.
"Toneri."
"Raven," his hands were up in a surrender position from behind the tree before he politely moved out of the shadows and closer to the camp. "I come in peace."
Putting her weapon back into its sheath.
"Hmm," she kept her sword at her side, knelt down, and crossed her legs as she closed her eyes.
He felt the heat of the dancing flames, his knees bent gently as he placed himself against the ground, his ninja footwear gracing the ground with little to no wasted movement.
The final posture took on as he looked at the fire, his hands resting on his thighs respectfully with his poised out, like he was some sort of priest. Like a creature out of myth, every move he made, every gesture, felt practiced, thought, and realized to an almost astral extent.
All the while, Raven stared at him with an unwelcoming expression, but at this moment she truly got the chance to give him a proper look over. He looked human enough, but she noticed the black sash around his hips despite the robe and the pale greenish sash, beneath the robes from where his hands sat. She could see black fingerless gloves underneath from where the robe would otherwise conceal it, and the ninja sandals as well.
Such footwear…she couldn't imagine such a thing on such a being, yet here he was…
Then she glanced at his exposed skin, strange symbols that looked almost tattooed on his transparently pale skin, shaped like an upside-down number six. Adorned just underneath the clavicle.
The importance of such a thing fleeted her, but considering his divine nature, it was something gravely important to Toneri. Or potentially related to her and Ozpin, to the gods that created Remnant.
It was as if he was carved out of marble directly, there were no cuts, bruises, abnormalities, or even acne. Like he was ripped straight out of a cartoon or comic book. Despite everything she'd seen out of him, he didn't look like a warrior.
She wondered how such a being learned to fight, how he operated, how he even lived.
A reminder of his words, about beings such as The Sage of the Six Paths, or The Sage of the Heavenly Vearth, how they might be related to the brother gods…but with her own information, she was hard pressed to assume such a thing.
It made her think…
…
….The two sat in retrospective silence, before Toneri punctured the silence.
"How do you feel?"
"I'm fine."
"That's obviously a lie."
"How do you know?"
"Because I know what it's like to lose them. To fail at protecting something so sacred, so close."
"I'm sure you do," she replied sarcastically.
"Thank you," he replied innocently.
…the fire continued.
"...so you had a family…what were they like?" she asked curiously, she hadn't realized someone like him knew such an earthly ideal.
"They fought a lot, all the time even. I now see that it was a mistake as it ultimately led to their demise…but I remember my father the most, as a patient person. However, he was so stubborn it led to his end."
"He was killed?" Raven asked curiously with a piercing look.
"No, he passed away, leaving me as the last survivor of the clan."
Raven sat in silence; she wanted to ask what happened to the rest of them, 'A clan of people like him? Maybe his people were the ones to leave the moon as it is now...'
"I…should I ask?"
"If you want to…" Toneri waved his hands.
Raven looked back at the fire for a minute…the silence stricken with the sound of the jumping flames.
"I won't pry. It's none of my business."
Toneri couldn't help but let out a small smile at the comment. "Thank you, and….pry?"
"Raven just stared at him for a few seconds in thought "Think of it as a door, one I won't pry open."
"Ah." he replied. The understanding washed over him. "...how simple."
"If only it were…"
The fire began to die down ever so slightly, Toneri motioned to grab more wood however he stopped as he observed Raven's form. Her head was still like rock, but her body gesture had noticeably relaxed.
"My own old man was stubborn as well, you know?"
"Really now?"
"Indeed, he was the former head of the tribe."
"May I ask what happened to him?"
"He was killed."
"I see. May he find peace in-"
"No need for all that." She leaned forward a bit. "When old age befell him, he was killed by the previous leader before me. Then when I returned and learned of what had happened, I killed him in turn. Such as it was, the strong thrive, and the weak perish," she finished.
"And you believe that?"
"...I used to." she looked back at the dimmed fire with .
"Then I won't pry. It's none of my business."
Raven looked at Toneri, who was now looking at her.
She chuckled softly, she placed a hand over her mouth as she fought back a yawn. "I appreciate that."
"You should get some rest."
"No. I need to be alert."
"No need. I'll cover for you, I do not require as much sleep as you do."
"Really now?"
"Indeed. Just be prepared to tell me all about this death goddess when you wake up."
Her blood ran cold at the mention. "I…suppose I will have to…"
"I suppose so." he reached into his robe and pulled out an apple before tossing it to her.
She promptly caught it and eyed it for a second.
"Was that just in your robe?"
"Yeah. The village folk wouldn't let me leave without some sort of food."
"How generous."
"Indeed…good night. Raven."
She laid against the tree. "Good night. Toneri."
Raven finally took Omen off her lap, her muscles relaxing. She blew the fire away with an icy breeze before laying down at the base of the tree, resting her head against the bark and keeping her sword at her side in case of anything or anyone.
Toneri simply laid on the branch and motioned his head upwards. Thinking about the final reincarnation of Asura and his squabbles with Indra's future lives, about Hinata's words…
'I was prepared to muse you as to why you adopted such a frail worldview, but I see you're already starting to move past that. Perhaps I was a little harsh on you, Spring Maiden…even humans of your caliber can exhibit honorable traits and growth. And then some….'
Despite the death and the failure, a small part of him felt genuine freedom, excitement at everything he had seen. Humanity, even when it reverts to their baser tendencies, evolves regardless. It makes no sense…but then again neither did Naruto.
Or his father. He mused aloud with a smile on his face as he read the stars in the sky, his voice filled with a newfound wonder.
"Father, you were right, I should've come to this planet sooner."
The dark halls of the grim castle echoed with an unsettling silence, the only sound being the distant growl of various hellish monsters waiting for any living thing not sanctioned by the great one to emerge.
In the heart of this ominous fortress, her piercing red eyes reflected the flickering torchlight and stained church glass where echoes of various voices roamed within.
Her gaze sat at her seer as she mentally replayed the fight over and over again, observing each minute detail of the blind god. Each step he took with the fluid movement of a seasoned dancer, each attack calculated and executed with the force of a mountain.
He was the most skilled fighter she had ever seen, perhaps more so than Ozma in his prime. Appearing from the sky like some creature from myth, he had done more than momentarily pause her plans.
She looked, and her smirk remained.
She could see it…maybe that coward Raven had seen it too, but he was no god of light, no god of darkness. What did that make him? Perhaps he could be related to them, but if so, why send a messenger? Why seek out the Spring Maiden?
Is it the gods attempting to reclaim their lost energy? If so, what did that make Toneri exactly? Some sort of battery? No, a messenger…even that didn't line up with what they would do, what they did. Too many questions, too few answers.
"No matter."
Red mist piled out of the seer on the table in front of her, her hands clasping as her face remained ever lifeless.
"Tyrian. Hazel. Watts."
"My goddess!" the pale man bowed eagerly yet dramatically.
Hazel bowed in a great showing of his loyalty, kneeling down in a dutiful manner.
Watts placed a hand over his heart, revering his head in respect.
"The situation has changed," Salem began, her tone grave. "Tyrian, you no longer need to concern yourself with the hunt for the Spring Maiden. In fact, I have a new goal for you and Watts. Hazel will continue reducing the Huntsmen of Mistral."
"Of course." Hazel nodded.
"And what about me?" Tyrian replied with a reverent snarl.
"I too am curious about this new complication…" Watts interjected swiftly with intrigue as he stroked his mustache.
"It has come to my attention that Raven is the Spring Maiden, and she has a new ally, an unknown entity by the name of Toneri. He holds as much power, if not more, than a maiden. Do not attempt to fight him or her. Understood?"
Tyrian's eyes widened with manic glee. "Yes. But if the man is as powerful as you suspect then-"
"Suspect and knowing are two very different things, Callows. You will track them and nothing more."
"Yes…my queen."
The pieces were in motion, and the game had just become more complex. She would not let anything derail her plans. The Fall of Beacon was just the beginning, the world will follow, and so will this supposed god. As it is unlikely he will hear her out, if he's truly sided with Raven. Then he's sided with Ozma and his followers.
But if that were to be so, then both the knight and bishop will be at her heel in the new world. The ever-looming potential of the gods return weighing on her, they couldn't win, she knew they wouldn't come back unless all the relics were brought together, so that meant although divine. Toneri was not related to the god of darkness, nor the god of light.
Watts adjusted his glasses, a thoughtful expression crossing his face before asking curiously. "And me mistress?"
"I want you to meet with Spring maiden and that Blind God."
And that's that!
I hope the interactions would feel natural but at some point I realized that I'm thinking too hard about the whole thing, but I hope I made it interesting and engaging to read through.
The flight back home was just….oof, we nearly stayed the night at Louisiana, but we got very lucky, needless to say, were never flying on Spirit if we can help it. Might as well be con-air but hey.
I've been watching demon slayer again and once again the visuals are godly what are they feeding animators. Ive been watching ashoka too and yes i know, disney star wars sucks, this is a fact, but Ashoka and Mandalorian? Straight gas, shoot compared to how boring and mediocre book of boba was, how dumb Kenobi was, and whatever they were smoking with the Acolyte and sequal trilogy. Like I actually like it, even if Ashoka at times can be stupid or plot armor heavy, hopefully s2 doesnt kill the show. Hurts to see what they did to my goat star wars tho. Rest in peace.
Moving on to something more positive, Demon slayer remains gas, i dont know what their feeding their animators but god daaaaaaaamn. im getting back into AOT because it finally ended, and bleach is coming back too, i never read the manga so im actually really curious to see how it ends.
But anyhow thats all, hope yall have a blessed day or night and be safe.