Beacon Academy: The Courtyard

The group of huntsmen and huntresses in training continues their ongoing silence after being told some horrific information. Link's trauma that he has been breaking down for his friends is leading up to this next part of his story, a small village that was ruthlessly wiped out and the culprits are none other than Atlas military, the most powerful military in all of Remnant. Tensions are at their highest and nobody can find words to say immediately the moment Link uttered the words 'Atlas' and it does not even easier as Weiss Schnee is sitting right next to him

"S-So, you're telling us, the people responsible for 'the village' one of the worst moments in your life, was because of Atlas?" Weiss' already pale skin somehow gets even more pale as the color drains from her face. "W-What are you talking about? You have your facts wrong, Link."

"I want to believe you Link, but..." Ruby shakes her head in disappointment, "I'm torn. On one hand, I have experienced first hand how the Atlas military can abuse their power. On the other hand however, there's no way Atlas could do something like that. I don't know..."

"You can choose not to believe him but I will." Blake nods

"Of course you would!" Weiss frowns. "You've always been-!"

"This has nothing to do with bias, Weiss!" Blake shuts her down with a shout. "Nobody just makes up information like that, no matter how good of a liar. And Link has no reason to lie to any of us, he said this was almost the reason he left Vale all together, we should hear his story."

"Thanks, Blake." Link looks at her and smiles

"Of course." She nods at him

Weiss says nothing and considers Blake's words in silence as Link opens his mouth to speak once more

"Nothing and nobody is perfect." Link shakes his head, "Atlas seems perfect, yes. Their army is the best: the most investment, best technology, highly trained soldiers, elite commanding officers, a general who rules with an iron fist, you name it." He rolls his eyes at complimenting James Ironwood. "It goes beyond their military too. The students coming out of their academies fight and train like experienced huntsmen and huntresses despite being novices, but I personally know what it's like to have Atlas come in and take something special away from you. It's not like the Atlesian military to hunt down specific people, but in this case... I have a feeling they either employ other mercenaries to keep their own hands clean or they have their own mercenaries behind the scenes."

"If you feel so strongly about it, how come you have different theories?" Weiss rolls her eyes. "You think it's one thing or the other but you aren't sure? That does not make any sense."

"Fair enough but trust me, nobody else except Atlas has that specific look: gray body armor, the helmets they wore covered their faces entirely apart from their mouths, guns on their sides, etc. Can I make myself clearer? Do I need to mention the obvious Atlesian military ships or the toasters they deployed into the village as well?"

"That is what soldiers wear and-! H-Hey, Atlesian Knights are not toasters! They protect our people! Maybe it was another ship you saw!" Weiss shakes her head. "What you're saying can't be true, you are a filthy liar!"

"I understand this is hard to take in Weiss." Link turns back to her. "But I'm being honest when I tell you-!"

"Stop it!" Weiss turns to face Link, the two are now meeting each other's eyes. "Your honesty is questionable right now!"

"How can I lie about an entire village being murdered?!"

Link looks away from the Schnee Dust Company heiress and reaches into his pouch, he digs all the way to the very bottom. His search for an items takes long enough to point where an entire minute passes but in the end, he pulls out a small pink gemstone attached to old, worn down string, with the intention for it to be worn as a pendant

"You see this? This was-!" Link stops himself and looks at the gemstone, admiring the stone attached to the string. "This was just like the situation with Amber, when you said I made her up."

"Link, I apologized for that." Weiss' frown falls completely

"Yes, I know. I am only saying that none of this is made up... In fact, I wish it was all made up and nothing but lies, at least that way nobody would have gotten hurt." Link hesitantly and painfully extends his arm to Weiss. "Do you want to hold it?"

"I probably shouldn't..." Weiss shakes her head initially but when the blonde boy does not pull his arm back, she changes her mind, gently grabs it and inspects it diligently. "It's beautiful. This isn't fake jewelry or plastic either, this is real. It looks so beautiful and mystical, where did Link get something like this?"

"There are so many questions to ask." Pyrrha thinks. "Why do you think Atlas did such a thing? And why a small village?"

"My group and I were framed, big time. Failing that mission had more consequences than I thought." Link reaches into the pouch again and like the gemstone, he reaches towards the very bottom until he pulls out a patch, it has the design of a black hawk with red eyes in a striking position. "This is the reason. The Black Hawks were no more but for some reason the name was still prominent. And a few of 'their' mercenaries came after me."

"I thought you were their leader?" Pyrrha gasps. "Why would they attack you?"

"Take a guess Pyrrha." Link chuckles. "Why would they not recognize me and attack me without asking any questions?"

"My best guess is that they were not the original members of your group?" Pyrrha raises an eyebrow. "Is that right?"

"You are correct." Link nods, "The original Black Hawk members... I don't know what happened to any of them, to be completely honest with you. But I'm here so not all of the originals are dead. Regardless, enough about the new and old Black Hawks." He turns to Weiss. "May I have that back please?"

"These are important details we need to know about, you can't just cut the conversation off." Weiss shoots daggers at Link but carefully hands him back the pink gemstone-pendant.

"I'm not cutting the conversation off but more like pausing it for now, we will get back to it later as it's all going to come back to my group being framed. After all..." Link shrugs and shakes his head, then hands the Black Hawks patch to Ruby while hesitantly letting Velvet grab the gemstone. "I need to tell all of you about the village incident so that you, Weiss, will believe me."

"Wow. It really means that much to him if he wants me to believe him." Weiss does not respond to the blonde boy sitting next to her, but does nod at him

"Link." Velvet's eyes widen in amazement, "It's so beautiful." She carefully raises it in the air, allowing the bright sun to hit the piece of jewelry

"Thank you." Link weakly smiles. "I'm sure Ray would've appreciated that."

"Ray? Would have? " Velvet's beaming expression quickly drops when she understands his wording. "O-Oh..."

"The girl who gave me the pendant, Ray. She would have appreciated those sweet words." Link nods and glances around the courtyard, noticing Atlas ships landing at the landing docks, (Just great, perfect timing. My emotions are already on the brink) He glares at the ships as they land and thinks of violent actions

"L-link, what are you planning?" Velvet leans forward and touches his knee. "Are you okay?"

"N-Nothing..." Link sighs and looks away from the ships. "Sorry."

"Good." Pyrrha extends her hand, it glows with her faint black aura and the next thing everyone sees is Link's sword emerging from its sheath and floating over to her

"H-Hey!" Link frowns. "What was that for?"

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha jumps in shock and makes quick work of hiding the sword by placing it behind her

"No worries, it is probably for the best that you do that." Link sighs again and blankly looks up into the sky. "I was already the Atlas military radar when my group was operating normally. Chances are after our group unofficially disbanded, we were all added on their most wanted list and I'll tell you why later. However, they never had a clear image of me, just a picture of me with my mask on and dark clothes, not my current outfit. Unfortunately, all of the relentless running away and being unable to set down anywhere was beginning to take its toll on me mentally, it got to the point where I was done trying to escape and wanted them to kill me. Anywhere I went, mercenaries, assassins, or White Fang soldiers would come and terrorize innocent homes and villages, they didn't kill anyone but they would hurt the people enough until I stepped in."

"That's terrible." Coco frowns and furiously shakes her head

"I know." Link sighs. "And I am only one person, I can't defend entire villages... Back then at least, I wasn't as strong as I am now. The Grimm attracted to all the negativity from all those men and women trying to hunt me down didn't help either and it was their turn to terrorize villages. So I tried isolating myself from everything and everyone, but at the time it never once crossed my mind that Atlas was still after me despite them having done so in the past after my very first encounter with Ironwood that ended with me escaping him due to some clever trickery. The possible threat of Atlas escaped my head for some reason... Maybe that's how much Adam's threats stuck in my head."

"And that woman too?" Sun asks

"Yeah it seemed like she threatened more than the Adam guy." Neptune scratches his head

"Yes, her too." Link nods," Where was I?" He thinks momentarily. "Oh yes, I wanted to be done with everything, I selfishly considered ending my own life too. I was so down on myself, assuming all my mercenary friends were dead. Thinking I was next, and never finding my mother and brother, everything added up and I basically gave up. I never followed up on these thoughts, something always kept me going but... Having lost all hope in yourself can drive you to such thoughts, ya know?"

"Y-Yeah..." Yang speaks up. "I get what you mean there."

"Yang?" Ruby mumbles

"Sorry." Yang shakes her head. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's okay." Link nods, "When I abandoned ship from the Black Hawks as I hope every other member did as well, I ended up heading east, technically towards Vale but it was really unknown and unclaimed territory if you look at a map of Remnant. It sounds like I'm traveling the entire world, but that comes after what happened in the village. To be precise and specific, around this time I was on foot and 'exploring' the continent of Sanus... But back on topic. The certain day I happened to stumble in 'the village' was a very long day, more Grimm than ever before, a group of three really strong mercenaries were doing their best to hunt me down, and mentally I was checked out."


Flashback: Forests of Sanus

DASH!

The scene is bright and sunny as it appears to be early in the day but regardless of the time, there is an ongoing chose between Link, who is completely on his own after losing his mercenary groups the Black Hawks due to a forced disbandment at the hands of Cinder Fall threatening death to him and all his friends and members. Despite her threats, it has been Adam Taurus sending his own White Fang soldiers and mercenaries to hunt down Link, seeing 'revenge' for the boy's 'betrayal'. Unfortunately for the crazed masked man with a red sword, none of his attempts have worked and he has gotten as desperate as to hire outside mercenaries and assassins, who only accept his offer at a high price

"Damn it... These guys are tougher than any other mercenaries or assassins I've faced before. And they are very persistent too"

Link breathes heavily as he scales a tree and tries to create space by jumping from branch to branch onto different trees. Attempting to confuse them, the masked boy goes in a straight line, then to the left, straight, left again, right, straight, and so on

(You did just take on two Ursa you fool. These idiots aren't stronger, they chose to attack you when you're vulnerable!)

"True that." Link whispers out loud, his panting increases as his legs begin to weaken, he does not take notice that his scaling and jumping across trees is leading to an upwards path

"You won't escape us kid!"

(They're n-not wrong.) Link stops, turns around, and crouches, he takes four seconds to grab his bow along with three arrows, loading and readying to fire away at his chasers

(You fool! Keep going up the hill!)

"Up the hill?" Link rises up and notices the tree he is on is slightly below another one. When lifts his head up higher, the masked boy notices a much bigger 'hill' up ahead, (Looks more like a mountain but you're not wrong about the second part. Time to go!) He shrugs, puts his bow away and continues to scale the terrain from tree branch to tree branch

After a long and seemingly endless chase, Link manages to battle through his fatigue and makes it all the way to the top, where he hits a dead end, soon realizing he was a couple of steps away from running and falling off a cliff

"We got you now!"

"Nowhere to run, kid."

"Just give it up now."

All three mercenaries or assassins speak as they soon catch up, essentially trapping and cornering Link

"You sure got me." Link sighs and turns to face the three men and notices something odd about them. They match clothes and weapons, black and red masks, and a patch on their left shoulders... The Black Hawks patch, "Who are you guys? You sure look ridiculous." He draws out his sword and grabs his shield. "I know you're not with the Black Hawks, the group disbanded about one to two months ago."

"W-what?" One of the men flinches. "How do you know about us? Stop lying kid, we are the Black Hawks!"

"Us?" Link shakes his head. "Stop playing games you frauds. Who are you working for? The Black Hawks never matched clothes, masks or weapons so we can skip past the pretending part. Why are you and whoever hired you using MY former group's name?!"

"Looks like the information given us was correct." One of them smirks

"So you really are Link."

"And you really are alive."

"You have been following me after all!" Link looks around in disbelief. "I had a feeling I was being followed earlier but I figured it was paranoia but from being chased by a bunch of you scum the day before. What do you want?"

"Simple, we were tasked with finding and killing you, but you're a slippery one. We have only been able to see your back and even then we can only identify you because your shield stands out big time. Your instincts are something else too, we trailed you without getting too close and you still ran... But now it's over, we finally have you."

"Great." Link nods. "Now tell me. Who is using the Black Hawks name and why? What's their intention?"

"Why should we? You're lucky we revived your group, we have done more in this time than you guys ever did!"

"Huh?" Link shakes his head. "What are you talking about? We never cared about the glory, we completed jobs that benefited everyone and hurt people who deserved it. Doing 'more' doesn't always mean you're benefiting. For all you know you're just setting a bigger target on your back." He slowly steps back as they close in on him

"Oh well, it won't be our problem. Our boss told us some pretty cool stuff, turns out we can do WHATEVER we want. The backlash from our actions falls on you and the rest of the former Black Hawks members."

"Pfft! Yeah I hope you enjoy being on the run kid. Pretty soon, you'll have the authorities on your ass."

"What?!" Link frowns. (What is their intention with that? Do they want to bait us out once we hear about our reputation getting tarnished... N-No, it has to be something even bigger.)

"Yup, think about it, kid. They don't have any leads on the 'newer' members, and the ones on wanted lists with bounties on their heads are you guys. So if the Black Hawks are still a name that's getting business done, the target on your back gets bigger and bigger... AND BIGGER! Us impersonators on the other hand, we are free to do whatever we want."

"Your boss, huh?" Link mumbles. "Is his name Adam Taurus?"

"W-What?"

"I'm not just a stupid kid." The boy's breathing slows down as he is calmer. "Only someone like him would be able to figure that out."

"B-But we didn't even give anything away! How did you-!"

"You heard me." Link shakes his head and points his sword at them, "You being new members and pretending to be MY group to destroy our reputation and get us killed by other forces, this is all Adam's plan, isn't it? Who else would do something like this? Definitely not any other ordinary mercenary, but a group we fell out with... Led by an insecure man who promised our demise from within. Instead of just killing us, he's turning anyone else against us." He frowns. (That damn coward, I knew he would not have the guts to come after us himself.)

"What a shame that you decided to change your career path; You are just a kid but already so wise. You and brother Adam would have made an excellent duo."

"Sure, what a shame." Link rolls his eyes as he continues to back away, until stopping at the very end, the moment he steps foot on the ledge, he can feel the earth slowly cracking. "I would rather die than ever work with Adam again."

"You just might go through with the first option!"

"Exactly! Fight us kid! Or fall to your death."

"I'm so done with all of this." Link puts his sword and shield away, ensuring that they are tightly strapped to his back. (Ever since I found Amber and abandoned this crap I've had white fang members and mercenaries come after me and destroy everything around me just to drive me out.) He exhales sharply one last time before opening his mouth again. "Why can't you people just leave me be?!" The boy closes his eyes "Leave. Me. Alone."

(Ooh is it my turn?!)

(NO! Go away!)

Link opens his eyes and to the surprise of his adversaries, he does not grab his weapons or display any sign of fighting, but instead continues to take steps backwards. The next thing that occurs is Link eventually runs out of ground and falls down the cliff, dropping head first into the unknown. Showing no concern or care of what was at the bottom, whether earth or water


Present Time

"Ooooh, did you die?" Coco chuckles

"Y-You're not serious right?" Link frowns. "I'm right here, Coco."

"I'm just messing with ya, kid." Her chuckles turn into slight giggles

"Good, I am very much alive." Link smirks

"Ooooh, do you have a giant scar? Is that why you wear a hat?"

"No! No! No!" Link sighs whilst shaking his head. "Even if I did, that's not why I wear a hat. I think my hair would cover it anyway."

"Way to abruptly ruin everything." Yang laughs. "I must say though, it was worth it. That was funny."

"Hey I just wanted to know." Coco smirks and leans over to softly punch Link in the arm

"Soooo!" Yang raises both eyebrows in anticipation. "What happened next?"

"I think you guys can guess." Link chuckles. "After I was rudely interrupted, I will stay quiet until one of you gets it right."

"Aw, c'mon kid." Coco shakes her head

"I have spoken." He nods and leans back, waiting for a response

"Pyrrha help!" Ruby calls out to her.

"Oh!" Pyrrha jumps from the sudden question asked. "Yes?"

"You seem to be on a roll, how did Link survive?" She looks away from Link and glances at her,

"Well, if I take in the situation he was in and what he is capable of. I think I have an idea, it is how he has protected himself and others in the past. That shield that looks like a layer of thick aura but I am not really what it is entirely? The one you used to protect yourself in the food fight..." Pyrrha smiles. "And the one that saved Ruby's life."

"What?!" Ruby's jaw drops as she gasps. "B-But I didn't even-!"

"Wow." Velvet nods. "Even Coco and I were not aware of that and we saw everything unfold."

Link does not reply but does nod in approval of Pyrrha's discovery

"You really are the smartest." Ruby smiles at her. "Wooowww."

"I really just took my best guess, it was mere luck." Pyrrha laughs and chuckles nervously

"You are two for two Pyrrha, based on guesses none of us could or would have gotten correct." Weiss shrugs

"So kid, did you destroy your body?" Coco lowers her sunglasses to showcase her eyes to the one person team. "If it was the ground, you would be dead. Even if you hit water you must have been hurting. But like Nikos said, you protected yourself."

"I sure did." Link nods. "What happened next was a blessing in disguise at the time, but soon turned out to be one of the worst moments of my life."


Flashback

"Will I ever see you again?"

(Why did I have to see her again? In that condition s-she looked... Near death.)

BOOM!

"I'm sure it is, but I don't care how long it takes, days, weeks, months, years, you name it. While you do your thing and shed your wisdom across every village, city or kingdom you come across. I will be getting stronger in the meantime."

(I should've stayed on my own path. I never should have let the White Fang force us to work for them, I was weak.)

"I wish you luck on your journey."

(What on earth happened in your journey amber?)

BOOM!

"A-Amber?"

"N-no, you're not my target! This can't be happening!"

"You're better off here Amber, with someone who is actually looking out for you. And if this is really the end of you, I'm so sorry. I don't know why this happened to you, an innocent young woman like you did not deserve this. And those cowards are going to pay for what they did to you, it may not be today or tomorrow but I will make sure they do not harm anyone special to me again!"

(I'm so sorry, you deserved better.)

BOOM!

"N-No!" Link sits up and wildly swings his arms around him, assuming the mercenaries followed him, "W-what the, where am I?" He wipes his eyes viciously, it only affects his vision more, but does not stop him from taking in his surroundings. "I'm in a t-tent? My gear is gone, there's no lighting coming in through the tent, it has to be nighttime. Some person un-dressed and then re-dressed me." The boy looks at his arms, they are covered all the way down to his wrist with fabric, a black long-sleeved shirt to be specific

"Just a second mother!"

(Someone's approaching!) Link frowns and attempts to get up, but his body is slow to react due to the pain

"I have to go check on that guy before I head back home to sleep-!" A teenage girl opens the tent and immediately drops some items in her hand when she sees Link sitting up, the items are a bucket of water and a dry cloth

"Crap." Link throws the perfectly draped blanket off him and scoots away, searching around the dark tent for a weapon. (She looks harmless but I can never be too safe.)

"Y-You're awake!" She kicks the bucket towards Link and runs off, making sure to exit the tent before screaming for help. "Help!"

"Wait!" Link attempts to swipe the bucket, but then moment he lifts his arm a shot of pain courses throughout his body, and the bucket collides with his head. Despite the setback, he slowly gets up to his feet and walks after the girl, but then stops as he reaches the exit, "I need a weapon." He looks around and only sees the wooden bucket. "Damn. Hand to hand it is."

(Yes because a weak malnourished kid can take on an entire village? A town? An army?)

(Malnourished? How long have I been out?) Link's stomach rumbles but he shrugs and aggressively opens the tent, only to be met by two weapons pointed in his face, by the same girl from before along with another woman

"Wait a minute... Those are mine!" Link frowns at the girl who aims his sword and the woman who has an arrow drawn back with his bow

"Tough luck." The girl smirks

"Ray, just because we have the upper hand does not mean you should act overconfident." The woman shakes her head

"Sorry mother." Ray nods

"Not another step, child." She maintains her focus on Link

(It's not in my nature to hit women, but if they are trying to kill me, it looks like I have no choice.)

Link cracks his neck and knuckles, he audibly winces through the pain, then plants his bare feet into the dirt. The fatigued boy gets into a defensive stance and eyes his opponents. First he glances at Ray, who looks out of her element, standing straight and barely holding the sword, needing both hands and all of her strength to hold it pointing upwards. Second is the older woman, who looks more confident when aiming her bow, she doesn't shake and her stance is firm and sturdy

"Eyes over here kid." The woman nods at her daughter to step back. "If you even lay a finger on her, you're finished."

"What are you waiting for then? Take the shot." Link coldly mumbles

"..." She says nothing and despite Link's demands, the woman hesitates

"Ahhh!" Ray recklessly charges forward

"NO RAY! DONT-!"

Ray makes it to him in no time and swings wildly with a straightforward and quick jab, but Link dodges the attack with ease, simply by ducking and letting her stumble forward

"Not bad." Link mumbles, then looks back and looks at Ray, who has stabbed a hole through the tent, "But not good enough!" He gets up and runs at Ray, with no intent to hurt her, despite his cold and heartless words from moments ago

"I said don't lay a finger on her!" The woman follows through with Link's request and fires a shot

The boy frowns and backsteps while slumping his body over to avoid an arrow that was seconds away from piercing his midsection in the ribcage. Meanwhile, this entire time, the inexperienced girl is struggling to get the sword out of the tent as she tries to not damage the tent any further. Unfortunately for her, Link grabs her arm with one hand and gives her a stiff shove with the other. Ray loses her balance and Link takes advantage of this moment to grab the handle of the sword and yank it away from her with his left hand, while also helping Ray stay on her feet by continuing to grab her with his right hand

"W-What?" Ray blinks rapidly. "H-How did you do that so fast?"

"Years of practice, kid." Link smirks, but then immediately whips his head at Ray's mother as the sound of a bow firing catches his attention again. He raises the sword above his head and then swings downwards, cutting off the arrow mere inches away from striking his leg

"I-I'm fourteen." Ray stutters. "D-Don't call me kid."

"Hm..." Link turns to her. "I'm fifteen, small world." He nods before looking at Ray's mother once more, she pulls back another arrow without hesitation

(She's not going to stop unless I do something that'll force her to stand down.)

"Nothing personal Ray!" Link sheaths his sword and utilizes both arms to first pull Ray towards him with his right hand and when her back is against his front, wrap his left arm under her chin and directly squeezing on her neck. "Shoot me and chances are you'll hit her!"

"R-Ray!" The woman draws an arrow and aims at him

"Damn it!" Ray struggles to break free, she grabs Link's forearm with both of her hands, trying her hardest to pull it down

"What do you want?!" She asks

"Me?! I was threatened with my own weapons!" Link narrows his eyes

"H-He's not wrong." Ray chokes. "A-After all, I m-may have e-exaggerated t-that... You... Were... Attacking."

"W-what?!" Link releases pressure on the choke hold and sighs. "Why would you do that?"

"I panicked and I said you had dangerous intentions." Ray giggles in embarrassment

"Ray!" The woman shakes her head in disappointment before putting the bow down. "Okay, it was a misunderstanding. Now let go of my daughter please."

"It's not that simple." Link shakes his head. "Put the bow down and kick it over here first. Then toss me my arrows."

"No way!" She shakes her head

"D-do it." Ray stutters. "This guy doesn't seem so bad."

"Huh?" Her mother raises an eyebrow

"Do it mother... Let's go with our gut and trust him, he already stopped choking me hard, clearly he doesn't want to hurt us." Ray chuckles regardless of her current situation

"Okay fine." The woman nods at both of them. "On my count, young man."

"You got it ma'am." Link nods

"One. Two. Three!" She drops the bow to the ground, along with the quiver of arrows, then lightly kicks both items towards their rightful owner

"Alright, a deal is a deal." Link slowly walks towards her with Ray still in his grasp and after a few steps, he lets her go before quickly running over and retrieving his long range weapons. "Where am I?"

Ray's mother does not respond, instead she narrows her eyes at Link and is unsure what to make of this stranger

"You're in-!" Ray begins to speak, though it does not last long

"I'll answer Ray, you've done enough." Her mother sighs and slides in front of Ray to shield her daughter. "Before we can tell you anything about our village, how can we be sure about trusting you?"

"You can't be sure." Link shrugs. "I will be completely honest with you and I will not sugar coat it either. I've done bad things and hurt a lot of people in the process all for the sake of surviving. Then I was turning it all around, I implemented high standards and morals in a group of paid criminals. However, all of that blew up in my face because bad people screwed me and my group over big time, it all became too much and I tried to end my suffering."

"You tried to end your life?!" Ray shouts. "Why?"

"Trying wasn't the plan but I failed, so yes." Link nods, "The guilt rose higher and higher to the point where it broke through the ceiling and zipped up to the sky, all the emotions I had to express got bottled up. When I tried to leave it all behind to find new pastures, I was hunted down and you can imagine how that sends up for anyone I got near: villages destroyed and innocent people hurt. I figured why not just end it all? It would stop everyone else's suffering by giving up your own life, one that I did not deserve after getting so many people hurt. It sounded like a no-brainer."

"I have so many questions." Ray mumbles. (He's been really hurt, I wonder if he's beyond damaged? I hope not, he appears to have a heart of gold but nothing is going right.)

"Sure, I can answer any questions later." Link nods

"Later?"

Another voice enters the picture, this time from a boy who slowly reveals himself when coming out from behind a tree, with a large knife in his hand but he wields this weapon confidently, therefore showing he has experience with it

"You can't be serious about letting him stick around right?"

"Liam? How long have you been there?!" Ray frowns

"Long enough for me to shake my head in disgust." Liam chuckles. "At one, how easily you were defeated, sister. And two, confused as to why you're trusting him?"

"So you watched and refused to help, sounds about right. Big brother Liam, the tough guy hiding from a fight." Ray rolls her eyes. "You're nothing more than a coward brother, I could have gotten hurt!"

"Excuse me?" Liam marches towards the three of them. "Call me a coward one more time and I swear I'll-!"

"HEY!" Link crosses his arms and walks forward to step in front of Ray and her mother. "You don't scream at a girl like that, let alone your own sister. I never threatened my sibling with violence and neither should you."

"Who do you think you are?!" Liam charges at Link. "Coming into our village, telling ME what to do?!"

"Here we go again." Link sighs and grips his sword tightly, but again another jolt shoots up and ricochets throughout his body

"Liam no!" Ray shouts. "He's too strong for you!"

"Die!"

Liam swings the knife in his hand and although Link manages to take many steps backward, he endures a slight cut. The big swing is executed across his chest, although there is no blood as his aura is activated

(Damn!) Link feels his chest but smirks when he realizes that his aura has dealt with the damage. "Are you going to keep attacking me or will you let your mother speak?"

"Shut up!"

Liam rushes forward at Link again, but this time the latter is ready to defend and quickly figures out Liam's attack pattern, which consists of non stop slashes with the long sharp blade

"Quit it already!" Link continues to block, and notices Liam continue as his aggressiveness increases, which angers the former even more, "STOP!"

He buries his heels into the soft dirt and with one and one spinning slash, the injured boy's sword smashes it into the knife, which knocks it out of his hand. Link then follows this up with a weak and sloppy front kick right to the midsection, but the kick is fast enough to connect and knock Liam to the ground backside first

"Link!" The older woman shouts as her son is easily disarmed

"Oof!" Liam crawls towards his weapon while holding his gut. "W-We're not done, intruder!"

Yes, we are." Link turns his head towards Ray. "Is there anyone else who will come out of nowhere to attack me?"

"Hm? No, my father is at a meeting, so I think Liam is your only other 'challenger' for tonight." Ray giggles

"Good, because I'm tired." Link falls to one knee and starts to pant. "Maybe now I can get an answer. Where am I?"

"Our village is a very secluded and hidden one." The woman mumbles. "We are not even on the map of Remnant or have an 'official' name, but our little village is called Garanda."

"You're right." Link nods after letting out a grunt of pain before falling back and sitting on the ground. "I have never heard of it. But it must be nice that way I would imagine."

"Are you okay?" Ray asks as she runs over and kneels in front of him

"I'm fine, just very tired and hurt, how long was I out?" Link asks

"We found you, a week ago, but we don't know how long you were there." Ray mumbles. "We fed you soup and water so you wouldn't die of starvation or dehydration."

"Thank you." Link smiles at her. "But what do you mean by 'how long you were there'? Where was I?"

"You were at the bottom of a lake, sir?" Ray leans over and slides her arm behind Link's back to help him sit up. "What's your name?"

"My name is Link. Nice to meet you, I know your name already but let's pretend we just met right now." Link offers his hand. "Your name is?"

"Ray." She smiles, rolls her eyes and shakes Link's hand, "I was helping my father scout the outskirts of our village. There were rumors going around that we were being spied on, so the council sent my father alone. I refused to let him leave alone, so eventually he agreed to let me tag along. Long story short, we didn't find anyone or anything that looked suspicious. Then, as we took a break before heading back, I decided to go for a swim in the lake. I saw a strange looking green hat, and a metallic mask floating on the top of the water and in the middle of the lake."

(A lake huh? Lucky me.) Link chuckles

"After swimming deeper, I was able to find you at the bottom, you were unconscious, and looked dead. I couldn't pull you up myself since I'm a bit weak..." Ray giggles shamefully. "I also could not hold my breath long enough, plus my father found it weird that I suddenly decided to swim deeply and in one specific area, when not too long before I only swam along the surface." She sighs. "After trying a few times myself, I told him what-! More like who I found, then he went deep in the lake and brought you out. I wanted to bring you back to the village and our home. I could tell my father wanted to as well but of course, like anyone would, he suspected many things about you."

"So who knows about me then? Am I a secret?" Link asks. "I would understand if I am. I don't imagine many people accidentally discover your village, especially with the way I got here in the first place."

"Just us four." Ray nods. "My brother, mother, father and myself. You should thank me, I begged for my father not to just leave you in the middle of the forest. Then I had to beg my mother to set up some form of shelter around you."

"I would..." Link chuckles and notices Ray frowning. "But I should apologize first. For the choke hold."

"O-Oh that?" Ray feels her neck, "I-It's okay, you were only defending yourself." She leans forward to whisper. "And you stopped applying pressure almost immediately so clearly you didn't want to hurt me."

"That's right." Link snickers before he raises his voice. "So are we in the village right now?" He looks around the dark area, it was clearly nighttime but he can only see trees, grass and dirt

"Somewhat, we're on the outskirts of the village." Ray's mother approaches the pair and kneels down in front of them, "I'm Ray's mother but you already know that, call me Morgan." She extends her hand

"Good to meet you ma'am, you know, without the fighting and all." Link smiles and happily shakes Morgan's hand

"You can't trust him!" Liam slashes at a bush in his path out of frustration, "You heard him right? He has enemies, people want to kill him, 'villages destroyed' and 'innocent people hurt' unless I'm the only one who heard all of that? Does that mean nothing to you?!" He shakes his head in disgust once more before pointing his knife at Link. "Get your things and leave immediately."

"Liam!" Ray shouts

"What Ray?!" He shouts back. "I am not wrong."

"You're not wrong." Link mumbles. "In fact, I myself will say that you're right. People do want to kill me and they'll hurt and destroy everything around me until I disintegrate, get baited out or kill my enemies only there are no more of them. So I'll listen to you if you do me a favor, tell me where my items, clothes and other weapons are. Then I'll get out of your lives."

"Finally, something I can get behind." Liam nods

"N-no!" Ray shakes her head. "You can lay low here! This village is very secluded and you have been the only one to even come close to finding us on your own. Plus, you didn't even intend to find us. Stay here Link, settle down and you can live a peaceful life-!"

"I can't Ray." Link shakes his head, "There is no settling down for me, I have nowhere to go that will remain safe if I permanently live there. Your brother is right, I have to leave as soon as I can. Then I'll just continue moving, with no stop in mind. Not until I stop whoever is doing this, but that will probably take years and I don't want to put you guys through anything unnecessarily dangerous."

"Mhm." Liam says nothing more but he does nod in approval

"We can protect ourselves." Ray mumbles. "I promise."

"Are you joking?!" Liam looks around with a smirk on his face. "We saw how you reacted when he fought back, you broke down and were defeated like you didn't even know what to do. When mother and I know you were taught better than to just give up."

"You're one to talk, brother. You actually attend the combat school in our village! I don't! So what's your excuse?!" Ray snaps back

(Ouch. That's cold but funny.) Link smirks and resists the urge to laugh

"All of us could use more training." Ray shakes her head, "Father is the only real warrior we have, the rest of our 'soldiers' are impostors who hide behind him and let him do all the heavy lifting." She then narrows her eyes at her brother. "You arguably looked worse against Link too."

"I-I-!" Liam turns around and crosses his arms. "We barely fought! It would be silly to call that an official fight."

"Sure." Ray smiles and rolls her eyes

"Sooo, was the only one at the bottom of the lake? Nobody else?" Link asks

"No. Why?" Ray looks over at him. "Did you have a companion with you?"

"A companion? No. But... Before I dramatically stepped off the cliff, three men were hunting me down. They were using the name of the group I used to lead and be a part of."

"Former group?" Liam turns his back to them. "What kind of group? Assassins?"

"No, not assassins. Mercenaries." Link nods. "We weren't your typical mercenary group either, our goal was not to take the highest paying jobs and cause havoc. We wanted to take the highest paying mission that benefited everyone around us... I'll leave at that. We were forced to disband after some major blackmailing from the White Fang and that was the end of us. I told my most trusted comrade to warn everyone and to just get away, lay low, escape any dangerous people, and survive."

"Just like what you are doing right now?" Morgan rises to her feet and offers Link a hand

"Y-Yes." Link nods again. "You are absolutely right, ma'am."

"Come on, we can discuss you leaving or staying later." Morgan sweetly smiles, "For now, we can't let you leave fatigued, injured, and underfed. Besides, we still have your gear." She winks. "Looks like you have to come with us."

"Well..." Link groans as he tries to get up on his own. "I cannot argue with that."

"Come on!" Ray stands and extends her hand too. "Unless you insist on acting tough and getting up yourself."

"Fine." Link smiles and takes both of their hands. The mother and daughter use all their strength to lift him up to his feet. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, young man." Morgan nods

"Fine. I just hope you know what you're doing." Liam shrugs and storms away

"Where is the rest of my stuff anyway?" Link asks

"At our home." Ray nods, "Which you'll be staying in... R-Right?" She looks over at her mother

"Of course, we can't have him sleeping on the streets." Morgan smiles

"Yay!" She cheers

"Thank you." Link nods gratefully at both of them


Present Time

"Almost everyone you fight with seems to end up becoming your good friend? What's up with that?" Yang chuckles. "It's pretty cool, don't get me wrong."

"Your guess is as good as mine, Yang." Link shrugs. "But yes it is cool and I'm lucky to have met a lot of nice people who are understanding."

"That Ray chick reminds me a lot like Ruby..." Coco smirks and then glances over at her teammate, "Annnd a bit of Velvet too."

"Stubborn but sweet and shy?" Yang thinks. "Yeah that sounds about right."

"W-What?!" Velvet shakes her head. "No no no."

"YEAH like Velvet said! Shut up!" Ruby frowns

"But..." Velvet's eyes widen. "I didn't say-!"

"Hahaha!" Yang cuts off Velvet to laugh at Ruby. "You're just mad we're right." She sticks out her tongue and winks at her sister

"Link." Weiss mumbles. "What did she look like again?"

"C'mon Weiss, you don't remember? Ruby already told us" Sun chuckles

"Of course I remember what Ruby said but none of you realize that Link never confirmed or denied that Ruby's description was accurate." Weiss frowns at the monkey faunus

"Nice brain you got there." Neptune smirk

"Shut up, nobody else questioned it either, it wasn't just me who missed it." Sun shrugs

"Shhh!" Blake raises an index finger to her lips and audibly shushes the two goofy boys

"Hm?" Link rubs his chin and thinks back to Ruby's description

"Take your time Link." Pyrrha smiles

"She's right, no pressure." Velvet nods

"I think Ruby nailed it. In terms of height she was about five foot two or five foot one, light skin, long and straight brown hair, green eyes, average build." Link thinks deep, "That's about it in terms of just her physical appearance. Her everyday clothes were similar to Blake and Coco, like a mixture of both but much more worn down."

"Sorry for the interruption, go on." Yang gives him a thumbs up

"Will do." Link nods and takes a deep breath before continuing


Flashback: Garanda, Unknown House

Link opens his eyes, sits up, and looks around carefully. He is sleeping in an unknown room and in a comfortable bed. The boy is also slow with taking in his surroundings as his vision is blurry and not completely recuperated

"Ugh. Who's room am I in?"

"Mine." Ray chipperly mumbles, she is sitting next to the bed and watching Link closely. "Hi!"

"W-What?!" Link jumps in shock, but smiles when he sees Ray. "You need to stop s-!"

"Scaring you? Big tough Link is scared by little me?" Ray smiles

"Surprised would be a better word to use." Link's smile fades as he nods

"Suuure."

"Anyway. What happened? I don't even remember entering your home." Link asks

"You may have passed out as soon as we entered the village, I convinced my family to let you take my room. They thought the floor would have been fine for you, but in my opinion, you needed a comfortable bed and not a cold, wooden floor." Ray sighs

"Did you sleep on the floor?" Link raises an eyebrow. "Because if you did then... You didn't have to Ray."

"Oh, I didn't sleep on the floor, sorry if I worried you." She giggles. "My bed is large and you surprisingly only took one half rather than lay out over the entire thing, probably because you were so tired and remained still all night. I slept next to you."

"Oh, okay." Link nods, "So um, where are my clothes and weapons? I'm still in this same torn long-sleeve, thanks to your brother for that."

"Y-Yeah I'm sure my brother's ego went through the roof when he barely touched you. Here I'll get your clothes." Ray claps her hands, springs up to her feet, hurries over to a wardrobe, pulls out Link's now washed clothes, and the rest of his weapons. "Change quickly, my father still thinks you are asleep. I'm hoping he will leave before getting to see you."

"How come?" Link slowly rises up off the bed and throws his clean clothes over the black long-sleeve and pants he currently wears to avoid undressing in front of Ray

"Liam gets his stubbornness somewhere, and it is not from my mother." She nervously giggles. "And I figured my father won't have the most positive things to say to you."

"I see." Link sits back down on the bed to put on his boots, one of the last parts of his attire. "Is there anything else I should know about?"

"Well..." Ray sighs. "Liam did not keep his mouth shut, he has already informed the village about you and your temporary or potentially permanent stay."

"Already? Wow, he moves fast." Link shrugs

"Shhh." Ray runs over and presses her hand over Link's lips, she carefully listens to another door slam shut. "Ooooh, he's gone."

"What about your mother and Liam?"

"Liam is at the school or what everyone calls an academy but it's more of a school. Mother is at work, she is the reason my father is a huge influence over the village. She works for the... What would you call them? They are very important to our village?"

"The higher ups? Village leaders? Village rulers?" Link looks around Ray's room, he spots a bookshelf with notebooks and a wide selection of books

"Higher ups sounds good. Leaders could work too, but rulers? No, everyone in the village has about as much equal input as you'd expect."

"Oh yeah? How big or should I say small, is the village?" Link stands again to grabs his belt and quickly puts it on, whilst feeling his pouch just in case anyone went through it

"About two-hundred fifty or less." Ray nods. "I have always been told over two-hundred fifty but I suspect it is a lot less."

"Wow." Link paces over to the window. "When you said small, you really meant it. Let's go back a minute or two in our conversation. You said your brother was in school? What about you? Don't you attend school as well?"

"O-Oh..." Ray sighs again, "I chose never to attend. Usually you begin at an early age, and back then we were not doing as well as we are now. It got to the point where we reached our lowest, so Liam and I decided somebody would stay and help our parents while the other went to school. We argued for days, but ultimately it was our parents who helped us make the decision. They wanted us both to learn but my brother and I... We didn't hold back, we called them out on our struggles, and eventually told them about our plant. We both wanted to go to school but one of us had to stay back at the same time. Liam was chosen, being a boy and all, they figured he would hold up better in a tough environment."

"Tough environment?" Link frowns. "You people are already a small village, why not be united and uplift one another? Rather than make it a 'tough environment' like you said."

"That's really cute, Link. More people should have your optimistic mentality." Ray smile's but it only lasts about a millisecond. "No matter where you go, there will always be an arrogant bunch of people, that's what my father told us at least. And we definitely have them here in Garanda as well. My parents saw me as the smarter of the two despite being two years younger... They also didn't see me as a fighter."

"Fighter?" Link sits back down on the bed and glances back at Ray. "What exactly is that school-academy all about then?"

"Nothing complex: You attend, learn, your intelligence is tested and nurtured, those who wish to fight can choose to learn how to fight as well; a school but optional academy basically. With our village being small, our protectors or should I say our army is a small group of thirty to fifty soldiers which... It's great that we have people who protect us but they don't allow women to join." Ray rolls her eyes

"No women? I barely saw your mother in action, but she would make a great soldier. Firing an arrow seems simple but with the amount of pressure she was in, I expected her to miss that shot last night or worse, not even fire it correctly." Link scoffs. "In my short experience as a mercenary, the smartest and most clever people are women. Letting them join your village's army would be beneficial."

"Please stay permanently and convince the council to change them." Ray giggles. "But... As smart as the village elders think we are, we are far from perfect and I will tell you why." She shrugs, "It's not even that women are put down for being women, but most of the women in the village choose NOT to try their luck, they'd rather pick easy and safe jobs."

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't they want to try?" Link sighs

"Because..." Ray shakes her head in disappointment. "There is no because, it's pathetic really. Now any aspiring girl who wants to be a soldier or wants to fight is discouraged from doing so because nobody else does it. It's rare to find any woman who wants to do it. One of the professors at the academy and my mother are probably our best female warriors."

"Wait a second." Link chuckles. "A woman is training the future soldiers of this village and yet there's a lack of women fighting to protect the village."

"Y-Yeah, quite ridiculous I know." Ray laughs. "Sometimes I do regret not going to school. I want to be a fighter desperately but sparring with Liam for a few minutes doesn't help. He offers me longer sparring sessions but I say no to save his own time. Minimal light contact sparring is not going to help me, I actually want to learn to fight." She stops herself and looks up almost as if she were daydreaming. "I want to be a huntress."

"Huntress?" Link raises both eyebrows as the last word catches his attention. "So your village isn't behind on knowledge regarding modern day warriors."

"Well I don't know about the rest of the village, but I am not, with my spare time I always find myself reading and I love it. I know all about the pristine academies, the brave huntsmen and huntresses who choose to put their lives at stake in order to slay monsters and help those who can't help themselves. If I were even close to being one of them, it would require me to branch out of the village, but I don't think I'll ever be ready for that."

"Well Ray, don't jump too far ahead, if your goal really is to join a Beacon, Haven, Shade, or Atlas. Chances are they'll expect more than JUST a warrior. But then again what do I know?" Link chuckles

"You know how to fight really well, Link. You know how to survive, if I can convince my family to let you stay, and if you say yes, I will go as far as to say you would be our best soldier, second best at minimum."

"Again, don't jump too far ahead, I don't have anywhere else to go, so I'm in no hurry to just ditch this place, so let's take it small steps at a time." Link looks around the room again, a portrait of Ray and her family catches his eye. "For helping me not end up in the middle of a forest, I want to help you in return. You mentioned sparring with your brother for only a few minutes, correct?"

"Yes." Ray nods. "I promise that I'm not as bad as I was yesterday, but by no means am I good either. Liam would totally crush me if we were to spar and make it a real fight."

"Well, not anymore." Link smirks as he turns away from the portrait and approaches Ray. "Do you have a preferred weapon on you or nearby right now?"

"No, I do not own a weapon so my style has been hand to hand. Mainly defending myself from Liam's knife."

"Your father is a soldier and your brother has access to weapons since he trains at school, what gives? Do you or your mother have weapons?" Link asks

"Nope, we do not." Ray shakes her head and embarrassingly laughs

"Is there a blacksmith or someone who sells weapons?" Link walks away from Ray whilst nodding his head, he heads straight for the portrait and looks at it closely, mostly for a closer look at Ray's father

"Yes! It's a husband and wife team and even though they don't look the part, they supply all of the village's weapons. They are the sweetest people and good at what they do... I believe they are only a few minutes away if you want to stop by."

"Fantastic news, lead me there please." Link smiles and walks to the door, but suddenly a hand locks around his as he plants it on the doorknob. "I want you to come with me because you are getting your own weapon and I will help you train."

"A-Are you serious?!" Ray cries out and rushes to him, eyes full of tears as she grabs his arm

"Yes? Why wouldn't I be serious?" Link looks down at her and notices her eyes. "Are you about to cry? Is something wrong?"

"Not at all, it's just... Nobody has ever agreed or wanted to help me out so quickly just by hearing me out." She sniffles and wipes her eyes. "I've begged my father for help and he agreed every time but he's always too busy."

"I see. Well, we got off to a rocky start, that's for sure. But hearing your words and how much you want to be a huntress, it makes me want to help you as much as I can. Besides, I like you. You're smart, sweet and humble. You don't get all of those elements in people nowadays, now come on Ray, you know your way around." Link smiles and opens the door

"H-He likes me?" Ray stays behind to feel her face and immediately senses the heat on her cheeks from blushing. "Damn it Ray pull it together, he only meant figuratively!"

"Ray?" Link looks back

"Coming!" She shakes her head and happily runs after Link

The teenage boy and girl exit the house and walk along the trail connecting their home to others homes and businesses. Within seconds, Link is noticed for all the wrong reasons: Shocked glares, disgusted looks and chatter that was kept under whispers ensues

"Maybe I should have asked for different clothes, I stand out don't I?" Link chuckles as he looks around, casually waving to other people in the village and being as polite as he can be

"You are the first outsider we have seen in over a year or possibly even two years. This village is VERY hidden, you would need some of that fancy Atlas or Vale technology to even spot us."

"Here you are talking about Atlas, Vale and their advanced technology, yet most of these people don't have the decency to even wave back." Link shrugs and eventually gives in with his constant waving

"They will warm up to you, just give it a week or two." Ray smiles then speeds in front of Link as they approach the blacksmith's open shop. "Helloooo, I am here-!"

"Ray! It's so good to see you." A woman behind a counter turns and greets the girl with a smile, but it fades when she sees Link. "Hmmm? Does your father need a replacement?"

"Oh n-no no no! I'm here to pick... My friend here a weapon." She giggles, runs behind Link, and slowly pushes him forward

(H-Huh? I'm getting a new weapon?) Link's head snaps towards Ray with a look of slight betrayal

"I see..." The woman eyes Link up and down. "What are you looking for, son?"

"No no no." Link shakes his head, stiffens his body to prevent Ray from pushing him and lowers his voice. "Come on Ray, be honest with her about your intentions. You were able to do it with me."

"It's different! You are easy to talk to, we barely know each other. They have known me since I was a baby." Ray nervously looks around. "You have to do this for me."

"I don't have to do anything. Come on Ray, they are going to find out eventually. Besides, look at me." Link spins completely and shows all of his gear. "Adding another weapon seems illogical and she is going to know that."

"Please Link?" Ray's hands start to shake uncontrollably and her breathing increases irrationally. "Pleaseee?"

(Ray? Oh no, she seems to be panicking badly... Looks like there's only one way to ease her worries.) Link sighs and approaches the blacksmith. "Hello ma'am, she's right I am here for a weapon but rather than her picking, I'm going to do something better."

"Okay? Did you change your mind?" The blacksmith asks

"I do have some doubts, but Ray told me your weapons can rival that of kingdoms outside of this village, so how could I resist?" Link turns back to Ray and winks at her

"Did she?" She smiles and waves at the girl. "Thank you for the high praise, sweety!"

"As for what I want." Link nods before grabbing his sword and sheath off his back and gently lays it against the counter. "I would like something like this. With a similar or identical design, length and strength."

"N-no way." Ray does not hold back her huge smile while she jumps for joy

"Oh my." The woman unsheathes the sword, picking it up and holds it above her head, admiring the shiny metal. "Wow, look at this beauty. Would you mind if I tested its strength and durability? I will warn you now, my methods are a bit... Rough."

"Sure!" Link nods. "Why not?"

"But what if it breaks?" Ray cuts him off. "I don't want to be the reason you have to get a new weapon!"

"Trust me, I'm sure." Link chuckles. (It will be fine.)

"If you're sure then let's get this show on the road!" The woman nods at Link, grabs another sword from behind the glass display, and without hesitating she swings Link's sword against her own

SMASH!

"Eep!" Ray shuts her eyes in fear of the worst

Metal collides against the ground, Ray opens her eyes and stands on her tiptoes, trying to see which sword made it through, that is if any of them survived the test

"I don't believe it." The woman laughs and holds up Link's sword to admire it more. "Your sword just broke the best one I've ever created."

"O-Oh, sorry." Link giggles nervously. "I can pay you back for the broken sword if you want."

"Don't even worry about it, son. Swords come and go, this lights a fire under to get better and make stronger weapons." The woman cheers. "This sword is amazing, where did you find such a masterpiece?"

"Personal secret." Link nods and sheds a small smile. (Yeah right, I don't even know where I got it.)

"I'll need some time, are you okay with me keeping your weapon for a bit or perhaps all day? And it will cost a lot too, do you have the money?"

"Of course! Anything for-!" Link freezes up and remembers the deal he made with Ray, "...Forrr reassuring that my new weapon comes out perfect." He nods and glances at his pouch. "Money won't be an issue."

"Come back later tonight." The woman smiles at Ray... and Link

"Great." Link reaches into his pouch and retrieves a couple of green lien cards, then walks out of the shop with Ray following closely behind

...

Moments later

"Tell me Ray." Link calls out. "Besides helping out at your home and making your brain bigger with constant reading, what do you do?"

"Good question." Ray looks up at the sky and thinks carefully, "I normally volunteer to do jobs anywhere in the village. For the experience and oftentimes I do get paid despite saying beforehand that I was not looking for money, it's nice that a lot of my village folk want to pay me regardless. When I'm not reading, I help around the house or village. I like to go on peaceful walks like these, just watch the world go by, sometimes I find myself staring enviously at the clouds above us, if that makes sense. They have no responsibilities and just flow along the sky." She lets out a sigh of relief. "I know this falls under the reading category buuuut, I like to go to the library as well. It's connected to the school and with me being related to Liam, getting in is no issue, the professors are really nice and don't question why I am there. I like to read a lot of fiction, but I also go out of my way to do as much research as I can on... Well anything outside of this village. Whether it is true or not is what I am really looking forward to."

"Do you ever plan on leaving one day?" Link raises an eyebrow and judges her shoulder with his elbow

"I think we should all strive for that, but when you live in one place for so long, you get comfortable and change is too much." Ray smiles weakly. "Living here is amazing but when the positive turns into smugness, it is sickening." She sighs, her smile fades in the process

"Where did that come from?" Link asks. "You can tell me if you want."

"O-Okay." Ray nods. "My father is one of the few soldiers who ACTUALLY takes pride in what he does. He protects our village but the rest of the soldiers just..." She stops and shakes her head, "Sorry that's not fair to say, not all of the soldiers but many of them are doing it for the attention and glory. Those soldiers' children, specifically their sons, may also be heading down the same path as well." The girl suddenly stops looking at the sky and looks down, spotting a crowd gathering around an area near the school. "What the? What's going on over there?"

"I don't know but we should check it out. Let's go." Link nods and sprints off

"Right!" Ray nods back and runs behind him

Approximately fifteen seconds later, Link and Ray approach the crowd and light move people to the side as they push through as gently as they can

"Liam!" Ray shouts when she sees her brother get punched to the ground by a boy in front of group of three

"G-Get out of here Ray!" Liam shouts back at her. "Jay and his cronies are dead once they stop this four on one crap!"

"Fat chance, wimp!" The boy in front of his three friends and presumably Jay, crosses his arm and scoffs

"Get away from him..." Link reaches behind him into his pouch, grabs a throwing knife and holds it like a combat knife. "Now!"

"Who are you?" One of them backs away from Liam and approaches Link

"Nobody you need to worry about, just leave him alone." Link growls. "I don't know what your guys' problem is but it does not need to result in violence, listen to me."

"Or what-!"

Link retracts his hand and suddenly launches the throwing knife low, it grazes the thigh of the foolish boy who approached him before the knife collides with the ground

"Ahh!" The boy holds his leg and notices his leg is cut open

"Baku!" Jay frowns. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"Me? I had no problem and now you four are assaulting my friend's brother." Link narrows his eyes. "Now I've made this my problem! I have a lot more of those knives if you want to keep testing me."

"You get out of here too!" Liam shakes his head at Link. "I don't need help with these cowards. They want to run their mouths, I'll show them otherwise."

"What are you talking about?" Link asks. "Someone explain what happened before anybody else gets hurt."

"They... Disrespected my family." Liam wipes blood off his lips as he rises up to his feet. "They said any success we have is because of mother and that if I ever join the warriors that protect this village, it will be because father got me in and not because I earned it!"

"Because it's true!" Another one of the four shouts

"Kami is right." Jay laughs but cautiously backs away as Link and Ray get closer to them. "You're nothing but a privileged brat Liam!"

"Shut up!" Liam charges forward

"No. You're not doing any fighting." Link extends his arm and effortlessly stops Liam from running into a four on one assault. "Ray." He looks over his shoulder at her, "Our training has not started yet, so you can sit this one out and watch me." The blonde boy pops his knuckles and does not reach for another throwing knife. "First you disrespect a guy's family, then like cowards you jump him four on one?"

"Cowards?" The fourth boy grunts and steps forward

"No Mason." Jay shakes his head. "We can't fight him one on one."

(Now I have all their names: Jay, Baku, Kami, and Mason. Good to know.) Link frowns but shows absolutely no fear. "Yes, you're all cowards and I did not stutter. You want to fight someone without catching them off guard, fight me."

The crowd gathered around all gasp in shock at the threatening words that were uttered

(I forgot... I'm still new here.) Link sighs. (It won't look good if the new outsider is fighting some of their own people.)

"Alright, you want to get beaten down so bad." Jay nods rapidly. "Boys, let's teach this loser a lesson."

All four of them suddenly get away from Liam to circle around Link, and each of them pull out their weapons. Jay wields a metal staff, Mason and Kami each have longswords, and Baku has a steel mallet in his hands

"Don't even try to be the lone hero." Ray sneaks up behind Link and snatches the bow off his back, then grabs an arrow from his quiver and takes aim. "I'm backing you up!"

"That definitely works with me." Link nods, grabs another throwing knife from his pouch and backs up against Ray. "These guys are all talk, so let's go easy on them."

"Sure thing." Ray nods. "So I should not shoot at all then?"

"Right, just aim at them." Link smiles

"SHUT UP!" Jay sprints and aims for the weaker opponent in Ray and swings his staff at her, but Link slides in front of her, grabs his shield, and blocks in the impact of the staff with it. He then charges forward, slams the shield into his chest and sends him back against the ground

"So they are not all talk, I was wrong." Link frowns at the rest of them, who remain frozen. (Not completely, anyway. This Jay is the only one with the guts to fight, the rest don't even want to be here anymore.)

Jay gets up and runs at both of them again. Link lightly barges his shoulder into Ray's to push her out of harm's way, stores his shield away and side steps the angry boy with the metal staff who is fully intending on taking his head off.

TWACK!

The same bully swings and misses as his staff collides into the ground and now Link is behind him with a simple side step, and now a vulnerable Jay is in front of him with his back turned. The blonde boy smirks and recalls a certain technique he used on Adam Taurus, also involving his throwing knives. Link plants his feet, twists his body, reaches into his pouch for more throwing knives, aims, and fires three throwing knives at Jay. The sharp weapons immediately shred through his skin as soon as they make contact and to make matters worse for the bully, each knife lands in a different part of his upper arm: the bicep, tricep and the side of his arm

"What the-! Ahh!" Jay screams and instinctively almost clutches his arm in the area where he is struck, but stops at the last second. His eyes widened in horror at the sight of the knives in his arm buried only slightly; but enough for him to lose partial feeling in his arm, starting with his hand. "What did you do? Why can't I feel my hand?!"

"You will be fine. Expect the feeling to return soon, but for now it is going to go completely numb soon enough." Link replies with a calm tone, "I learned that from some former associates of mine and don't think I won't do it again." He frowns at the bully. "The next time you want to fight someone, you do it with pride, honor, and you have a good reason to fight, not something stupid like this. And you certainly don't go at him with three other people? Got it?"

"Y-Yes!" Jay queasily removes the knives from his arm, drops them on the ground and takes off sprinting

"L-Let's get out of here." Mason stutters. "This is not over Liam!" He shouts as he, Baku, and Kami take off as well

As they leave, the crowd around them goes dead silent... But not for long as they erupt into cheers and applause

"Huh?" Link looks around as the crowd congratulates and shouts many compliments at and for him. "O-Oh wow!"

"All for you." Ray smiles and hugs him from behind. "That was so cool!"

"But I didn't even fight really?" Link chuckles. "How is that worthy of cheers when-!"

"Just shut up and take the glory. You earned it." Link shrugs as he picks up and hastily holds the used throwing knives that have blood on them

"Liam." Ray glares at him

"Right... Thank you." Liam nods and even shows a weak smile. "That means a lot considering you don't even know us."

"It was really nothing, I hate bullies and cowards. Combine the two and you have something worse than scum." Link smirks. "But your appreciation is nice. Just so you know, I would do it again if those same jerks tried to fight you tomorrow or any other day."

"W-Why?" Liam blinks in confusion

"Well..." Link is about deliver a speech but a big shadow coming his way ends that idea swiftly

"I agree, boy."

"N-No way!" Ray opens her eyes and quickly lets go of Link, she chooses to step in front of him, doing her absolutely best to shield him

"Father." Liam whispers and backs away, shaking in fear

"You must be Link." A man about a foot and a half taller than Link walks towards him, easily getting past Liam and gently brushing Ray to the side

"Yes sir, that is me." Link nods, speaks with no fear, and even extends his hand. "You are?"

"Hiroku." He shakes Link's hand and intentionally applies pressure

(Gah! What was that for?!) Link winces but goes not let the pain show

"Impressive. Good grip, most people fall to their knees or beg for me to let them go." Hiroku smiles. "Tell me Link, you were awake when I was still inside my house, weren't you?"

"Yes sir." Link nods again

"Of course." Hiroku chuckles and lets go of Link's hand, "My wife first told me about you. Then I did as much research and digging as I could. Normally, your association with a mercenary group that is now getting hunted down, I should be kicking your head off for even being near my family with a big target on your back." He crosses his arms confidently. "But you defend my son and I can tell you are going to become good friends with my daughter. For now all I can do is thank you while we figure out what to do next, Link. We don't want to turn away somebody in need, but if you could bring dangerous people in here-!"

"I understand." Link mumbles. "I will be sure to leave as soon as I can... Sir."

"Do not cut me off and let me finish." Hiroku shakes his head. "Liam told me about the encounter you two had and the fight you had with my wife and daughter, despite my desire to act with violence because you put your hands on my family... I will look past it because they attacked you first and you held your own, kid. Despite your injuries and fatigue, you won and held back too. When you are fully fit, we will discuss and figure things out."

"I did not say he held back!" Liam turns his head away in shame

"You didn't have to, I could tell." Hiroku shakes his head. "For the time being, I do want you to stay in our village, Link. Back at our home if you would like that as well."

"I don't get it. You're not forcing me out?" Link looks around in surprise. "Well that's a relief. I could tell the village folk were already not the biggest fans of-!"

"You are new to our village, it happens. Especially with a potentially dangerous stranger that we find unconscious at the bottom of a lake." Hiroku smirks and pats Link's shoulder. "Relax and try to not cause a scene next time. The crowd around you kids understood today that you were helping my boy Liam with a group of bullies. Next time they could have a different reaction for all I know."

"O-Oh." Link smirks as he turns his head to observe that the crowd is still around them, "Duly noted, sir."

The blonde teenager nods, walks away from Hiroku and Liam, then heads back towards Ray as the two of them instantaneously lower their voices to whisper

"That was amazing. How did you do that to his arm?" Ray asks

"I want to give you a simple explanation but it is really complicated and involves a lot of accuracy. Luckily for me, that kid was a sitting duck. It would have been harder to miss, than to actually hit my target." Link nods. "Thanks for the backup, I think it's really cool that you were willing to fight with me despite having no experience in combat."

"Don't sweat it. It was an honor to help." Ray smiles and nervously extends her arm to return the bow, "Thanks for standing up for my brother, you two may not be on the same page but I promise you he would do the same if you were in trouble."

"I... Believe you." Link smiles warmly and takes back his bow

"Let's head back home, I would show you the rest of the village today but I don't want to see you get into more fights." Ray playfully punches Link's arm jogs away

"As long as your brother isn't picking the fights!" Link rolls his eyes, but a big grin on his face is present as he follows her


Present Time

"That went better than I expected." Coco nods. "I thought they were going to treat you like... Well an outcast, but that status basically went away as soon as you helped one of their own. Love it."

"Mhm, I couldn't agree any more." Velvet beams. "That was a nice thing you did, Link."

"Thank you." Link smiles. "Things for the most part went smoothly at first, I was kept under the radar after that incident, as the days passed, Ray's parents went out of their way to put in a good word for me despite barely knowing me but I had Ray to thank for that."

"It's very bold of you to tell them the truth, especially when you needed a place to at least recover and regroup." Blake mutters. "But honesty is what helped you win them over in the end."

"Honesty is always the best way to go about things." Pyrrha glances up into the sky. "It may be hard to say the truth sometimes but when it comes out, it truly is for the best."

"Now it's hard to believe this story ends badly." Sun shakes his head. "So everyone accepted you after being officially part of the village for one day. What happened next?"

"Wellll..." Link shrugs. "Not everyone accepted me despite my good deed. There were some villagers that continued to treat me as an outsider, and I don't blame them since that is exactly what I was." He mumbles

"Let me guess." Weiss rolls her eyes. "Those four jerks had something to do with it? Or their families?"

"You got it." Link turns her and nods. "Not that I knew directly but Liam found out and told me those bullies made out their own versions of events. In these events, I attacked them unprovoked and purposely intended on sabotaging the Jay kid's future by trying to destroy his arm."

"Those little assholes!" Yang growls and furiously shakes her head. "Couldn't handle that you effortlessly shut them down so if they can't hurt you physically, they resort to mind games, pathetic."

"Agreed." Link chuckles. (I love how they are sticking up for me even if this is a story of the past.)

"Regarding you staying permanently, did that conversation occur soon after helping that boy?" Pyrrha asks

"Kind of, sort of, technically yes. The 'higher ups' as Ray called them, were okay with me staying as long as I could prove myself."

"What the heck does that mean?" Neptune raises an eyebrow. "You already proved yourself as a capable enough warrior in the sense that you could protect the village and were likely the strongest person there... Regardless of your age."

"Although you may not be wrong." Link nods at Neptune. "They wanted more than just a capable warrior. By 'prove myself' they meant looking out for the village, contributing, really fitting in with everyone and more. Don't get me wrong, the people were warming up... But I still had cold feet."

"Even with Ray around to cheer you up?" Ruby asks. "You two already got along so well, if you ever had a bad day in the village, you could just go to her right?"

"Correct." Link nods. "She was one of the only reasons I stuck around and did not just abandon the village. After all, I promised to train her and I fulfilled my promise and-!"

"WAIT!" Ruby shouts. "I have a very important question!"

Everyone gasps and look at one another, trying to figure out what Ruby is about to ask that could be very important

"Go on sis." Yang mumbles

"YES!" Ruby giggles. "Did Ray get her sword and was it exactly like yours?"

"WHAT?"

Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Coco groan at the simplicity of the question, while Sun, Neptune, Velvet and Pyrrha cannot resist laughing and giggling

"I'm going to strangle you sis!" Yang rolls her eyes

"Why?! It's important!" Ruby leans closer to Link and practically barges his shoulder with hers

"Yes, Ray got her sword and design wise it was perfect." Link playfully pushes Ruby back with his shoulder now. "The only difference was this, it had a yellow-gold plated handle, rather than my purple handle. That's where the similarities ended, it was not the same strength wise and felt a little lighter than mine but it's okay." He nods and smiles brightly. "The blacksmiths tried their best and Ray loved the sword so it was a win-win for everyone."

"Oooh and then training time! Did you turn her into a badass?!" Yang exclaims

"That was the goal but I'm not exactly a teacher so I was in the process of learning just as much as she was." Link chuckles. "Ray showed a lot of determination and worked extremely hard to improve and for someone who had zero combat experience, she picked up on it quickly. A couple of weeks passed and it was during one of our training sessions where I was convinced about something... Me staying forever was not going to be possible. My presence did indeed draw intruders."


Flashback: Outskirts of Garanda, Two Weeks Later

CLANG!

Two identical swords collide high in the high as Link and Ray spar together and by their heavy breathing and sloppy swings, they have been at this for quite some time. Ray wields her sword with both hands and puts all of her force into pushing back Link, who is combating her attack with arm and taunts her with a wink as he showcases his advantage in strength. Eventually, the latter steps forward and pushes to his right, which breaks the 'tense' colliding of swords, throws the former off balance and allows the blonde boy to jog forward behind her and lightly kick the back of her right knee to make her leg buckle, sending her to the ground on one knee

"That wasn't too bad." Link chuckles. "Last set, come on Ray." He keeps walking to create some distance and gets in a defensive stance, holding his shield tightly and loosely holding his sword

"O-Okay..." Ray breathes fast, desperately trying to catch her breath as she gets up to both feet

"Unless you want to call it a day, that's okay as well." Link looks at her with concern

"No way." Ray shakes her head and stands up firmly, she digs her feet into the ground like Link taught her to generate more power and speed. The brunette girl holds her sword with two hands, and is ready to strike. "I've learned more about fighting from you in a week and half than I did in fourteen years with my father and brother."

"Do not push yourself too much, you still have plenty of time to pick your preferred fighting style." Link says as he jogs towards her

Ray remains still and waits until Link is inches away to strike, an attempted spinning slash that is executed more as a swing due to her inability to keep her arm or the blade straight. Link backs away, easily avoiding the attack, but now Ray is the one who rushes at him with her own strikes, mostly vertical swings starting from above her head and then the sword comes down at 'full power', in reality the swings lack power and are all quick instead

"Come on, fight back!" Ray smirks as she continues to push back

"I already am." Link replies calmly and reads Ray's attack pattern, the constant swings and only slight changes in her angles make it too easy for the blonde boy, "My attacking style is to-!" He cuts himself off as he block's Ray's last swing with his shield, following this up is one lone swing from his sword, he puts enough power into the attack to knock it out of Ray's hands

"W-What?" She blinks wildly. "B-But... I was holding it tightly."

"My preferred style is to counter." Link smiles and raises his sword up to Ray's neck. "If I'm going to be a good 'teacher' then I suppose I should be honest about how you perform... That last set was your worst, you're clearly fatigued. If you want to continue, let's take a break."

"O-Okay!" Ray nods, walks to her weapon, picks up the sword, and carefully slots it back in its sheath, "I'll lead the way." She motions Link to follow

"Um, Ray? Your house is this way." Link aims his sword towards village

"I know but come on." Ray nods her head. "The place I have in mind is way more relaxing than my house."

"Okay, coming!" Link nods and follows her

Link looks around suspiciously as within a few minutes they are in a deeper part outside of the village, even walking past the original spot where he was kept in a tent after being rescued

"Are you okay?" Ray nudges his arm

"I'm fine, just on guard." Link nods

"Relax, we'll be fine. I've been outside the village before, I do know my way around and besides we're almost there." She playfully punches his arm and walks ahead of him

"Where are we going anyway?" Link asks. "Have you been here before?"

"Yeah but shhh..." Ray shakes her head, "We are... A-Almost... T-There!" She maneuvers through some trees with large thick branches

"Ray?" Link's eyes widened whilst his friend continues barreling through all the trees and soon loses her. (Uh oh, I better find her quickly.)

Right as he is about to take off sprinting and even consider climbing a tree for a better view, he suddenly hears leaves crunching behind him

(That's not good, we're being followed!) Link frowns and slowly draws his sword, he paces around a large tree, then swings as he hears more leaves crunching. (Gotcha!)

"Whoa!" Ray jumps and nearly falls backward to the ground

"R-Ray!" Link shakes his head and snaps at the girl. "What are you doing? Actually... Sorry, I thought someone was sneaking up on me."

"Yeah... That was me." She giggles, grabs his arm and drags him with her as she sprints now. "Sorry for getting so far ahead, I wanted to make sure this was the actual spot."

"What spot? Wait? You weren't completely sure where we were going?"

"Hehe, guilty." Ray continues her giggling

The duo sprint until they are out of the forest that momentarily separated them. Link immediately stops when they exit and takes in the view of a giant lake in their sight

"Whoa!" Link smiles. "Is this THE lake you found me in?"

"Mhm." Ray nods as she walks towards the lake, but stops and sits right near the edge, choosing to gaze at the body of water instead

"This is where I landed huh?" Link approaches the lake and sits down right next to Ray

"Sure did. From allllll the way up there." Ray points upwards, doing her best to aim her finger at the top of the cliff

"Wow." Link jaw drops as he lifts his head and continues lifting it until finally seeing the top. (D-Damn... If it wasn't for the water and my aura, I would be so dead.)

"It is a miracle that you're still alive." Ray sighs. "My father expected crushed bones and no life coming from you."

"Y-Yes... lucky me." Link nervous chuckles. (My guess is she does not know a lot about aura. Perhaps the bare minimum at best.)

"Enough about how you almost died. Tell me, has counter attacking always been your style? Was it just something natural? Or did you have to adapt to it yourself?"

"Nothing is natural when it comes to fighting, or at least for me it wasn't." Link nods. "When I started, I took the all offense approach like the way you are currently doing. Then I realized that I am only going to defeat myself if I continue that because I am still a beginner and if all I do is attack attack attack and rely on physicality, I am going to lose and potentially die. So many people are bigger and stronger than me, I had to learn to fight smarter. Maybe when I get bigger and stronger I will go back to the all out offense approach I originally started with."

"I see." Ray slowly rubs her chin. "Besides being honest with yourself, was there a certain moment or person that helped you understand that you needed to change your fighting style?"

"Well, some of the guys I used to work with embraced being all about offense, and they sacrificed all of their defense to achieve that and paid for it during missions a lot. Luckily none of them died in those missions but that helped push me towards being better myself. I figured that it shouldn't be my style of fighting, plus with this shield, it only made my life easier. I allow my opponent to attack first, figure out how to approach after watching them, I also make them think they have me on the brink of defeat. Because if they see me constantly back away and defending, it's only going to increase their confidence and turn it into arrogance and-!"

"Then bam!" Ray swings his fist in the air and nearly inches away from Link's chin. "You surprise them with your deceptive speed, strength, overall abilities and boom, a quick defeat, but for them instead."

"Something like that, nothing is ever quick though but if I get better then maybe." Link nods and teases putting his foot in the water

"I wouldn't do that." Ray kicks her foot out and slaps it into Link's. "Surprisingly the water is colder during the spring than it is during the winter."

"Here you are to save me again." Link smiles at her. "I'm used to cold water but thanks anyway."

"W-Well I... It's nothing really." Ray nervously laugh

"Saving someone is a very big deal and you're the reason I'm alive right-!" Link stops himself to turn his head and notice more leaves gently crashing against the ground from high points in trees

"L-Link? Are you okay?" Ray asks as she follow's Link's gaze, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm sorry." Link shakes his head and turns back. (I can't keep her out of it, somebody is definitely in the trees.)

"Y-You..." Ray lowers her voice. "...Saw something, didn't you?"

"I think I saw something, yes." Link looks around again, then leans closer to her and whispers. "Ever since you revealed yourself earlier in the woods, I thought we were in the clear. But I think somebody is following us."

"Okayyy? I'm following." Ray struggles to control her nerves but eventually manages to stay focused. "Should we go after him or her... Or it?"

"No. We do not have enough proof to know we were followed. If we go frantically looking, they will just sneak away and wait for a new day. Let's resume our conversation from 'before', but keep an eye out. Does that work for you?"

"Y-Yes." Ray nods and slowly backs away. "So, what fighting style do you see me mastering?"

"Personally, I don't think a sword is your thing." Link smirks. "I figured I would throw you in the deep end with a big sword as your first weapon, while taking your height and lack of reach into consideration but-!"

"W-What? Then why did you-!" Ray looks at him nervously, but notices him rapidly winking. "Oooh, we're supposed to fight!"

"I've never had a student, but so far you have been very mediocre. No wonder your parents chose to send Liam to learn how to become a warrior, he might never be good but with his physicality he could get by."

"Hmph!" Ray stands up and looks down at him. "You're not so great yourself, so what if you embarrassed some bullies. If you were to face a real warrior, they would destroy you and your ego would die so fast."

"You don't know me." Link rolls his eyes. "You don't know my full extent either. Even I don't know, for all I know I could be weak but with high expectations. You on the other hand? We already know your limits."

"Why you-!" Ray frowns and stomps away. "I hate you!"

"H-Hey where are you going?" Link looks around frantically. "Back to the village I hope."

"None of your business!" Ray snaps at him. "I'm going somewhere far away from here, and don't follow me because I don't need you!"

"Ray, wait up-!" Link looks at her, fearing he went too far with his and sees her winking back. (Phew, for a second I thought she took it personally. This is perfect, if someone is following us, they will think we split up.)

Link remains still at the shore of the lake and patiently taps his fingers against the ground, and slowly shredding grass as his nerves kick in, fearing the worst

(I don't get it. Are they after Ray or me? I wish they would just make a move already.) Link glances over his shoulder and sees a shadow quickly speed away from one tree to another, "No doubt about it now." He carefully looks at each tree, looking and expecting to see an accomplice. "No backup?... Interesting, whoever that is came alone, how foolish of them."

Link stands up starts walking the exact same way friend went, when suddenly Ray's voice is heard, a clear cry of resistance in the distance

"H-Hey! Get off me!"

"Ray?" Link frowns and takes off. (I should've taken off sooner, damn! I've barely taught you anything, you can't die on me Ray!)

After some running, Link draws out his sword and springs up in the air when he prominently hears Ray's struggling voice, then rapidly falls towards the ground, and drives his sword downwards, blade first into the ground

CRUNCH!

"A trap!" The masked assailant shoves Ray to the side and dodges right as Link's sword is about to pierce their skull. They escape by sheer luck and gulp as the sword is driven downwards, and a fourth of the blade enters the ground

"Not so smart are you?" Ray sits up and struggles to breathe, but smirks despite holding onto her bleeding left arm

"How are you holding up?" Link pulls his sword out of the ground and kneels down in front of Ray

"No biggie, just an arrow. You should look at her though." Ray chuckles and points at the masked woman, who has a slash going across her chest, "Serves YOU right for calling me mediocre."

"Oh we're still talking like that?" Link chuckles. "Ray... You have an arrow in your arm."

"S-Shut up." Ray smiles and lies back, "I can treat this with no problem, but while I do that I don't want another arrow coming at me." She glances back at the woman

"Don't talk, preserve your strength. I will handle her." Link stands and turns to face the masked woman. "Who are you working for? Why are you here, and why are you after Ray?"

"Grr..." The woman looks around, trying to take her focus off Link as she considers running off. "You're showing no fear, hesitation, and full confidence. So what they say about you is true, for someone so young... Your power is something else."

"I'd say it's more self confidence than power but thanks I suppose. For the compliment and for giving yourself away that you are after me." Link takes a step back and stands close to Ray, who carefully works around the arrow in her arm. "Then why target her?"

"I don't see myself getting out of this alive, so what the hell? I've already been paid anyway and sent the money to my family." The woman sighs. "My mission was to scout and then eliminate you. I was supposed to just scout you today but you found me out pretty quickly, so plans changed. I had to come up with a different one. In fact, during your sparring session, I heard you..." She glances at Ray, "...Mention some things about your family. With the little time I had, I went into the village, and despite standing out, nobody went out of their way to ask questions. Through questions and quick interrogations, I found out that your father plays a major influence in economical, financial and militaristic decisions of the village. When I heard you guys have that stupid fake fight, idiot me thought it was a perfect way to jump you, knock you out, and kidnap you."

(Yes, she sure is an idiot, that was never going to work.) Link mutters to himself

"I use the girl to lure YOU out." The woman looks back at Link. "I bleed out this little village for all their valuables. And that shouldn't be difficult if I have daddy's little princess in my grasp... But clearly that did not work out."

"Damn village folk, for how much flack they gave Link... They didn't even question your presence." Ray chuckles as she attempts to sit up again, "Now to address you, you little-!" She frowns and finally takes the arrow out of her arm, carelessly throws it to the side but then blinks rapidly, as she now fights to stay away, "What the-? What's happening to m-!" She lies back against the ground and quickly goes silent as her head hits the dirt hard.

"R-Ray?!" Link falls to one knee right beside her. However, the boy feels life in her when he grabs the wrist of the unconscious girl, "What the-!" He looks at the arrow, but is unable to make out the substance on the tip of the arrow with Ray's blood covering it. "That's your variation of knocking someone out and kidnapping them?"

"I'm not a violent person, I wouldn't dare beat her into unconsciousness, for I am not a degenerate." The woman chuckles, "I can tell you are not a violent person either, but when we are tasked to do certain things, we must do whatever it takes. You get where I come from, right? From one mercenary to another?"

"Hmph, I tried being a mercenary." Link frowns as he figures out who sent this woman when she says the word 'mercenary'. "And your boss now wants to kill me because of my history as a mercenary. Why doesn't he come after me himself?"

"You figured out who sent me too? Impressive." The woman nods. "It's simple, he doesn't know where you are, nor do any of his other associates, I was the first one to find you. My loyalty is not with the White Fang either so you could say I'm in no immediate hurry to tell Adam."

"You really came alone and aren't directly in the White Fang?" Link looks around and smiles when he spots more things out of the ordinary such as rumbling bushes and snapping branches. "Good. All I need to do is defeat you and stop you from leaving."

"Well great, now I'm in for a war with someone like you." She backs away but then slyly smirks and winks at the boy. "Just kidding! Sorry to disappoint you, kid. Regardless of the fact that you could defeat me, I'm confident that I can lose you if I run. Goodbye Link, expect Adam here soon to burn down this crummy little village once I drain his pockets of all the lien he can muster up for the information I have on you."

The woman turns around and makes a run for it but is almost promptly cut off by Hiroku and six other soldiers with bows as they come out of their hiding spots behind many trees. Hiroku grabs the woman by her throat and lifts her up in the air with only one arm

"Burn down our village? I'd like to see this 'Adam' try." He frowns and applies more pressure around her neck, "I should kill you for hurting my daughter." He glances over at Link, who carefully picks up Ray. "But something tells me the boy would have done it first if he got his hands on you."

"Sir?" One of the soldiers points at Link. "What about him?"

"He is..." Hiroku squints his eyes and thinks hard but then confidently nods. "A trusted and good pair of hands."

"What about your daughter sir?"

"That will be resolved later, for now we need to deal with this one." Hiroku lowers the woman to the ground and keeps a close eye on her as the soldiers with him remove her weapons and bound her hands together with steel shackles, "Now to address you." The tall man turns and walks towards Link

"Yes sir?" Link looks behind Hiroku but none of his soldiers follow

"What was my daughter doing with you outside of the village? And why was she attacked?"

"We were training and she wanted to take a break at a location of her choice. I recommended that we go back to your house but Ray insisted we go to the lake where you and her found me." Link nods. "Along the way, I could sense we were being followed, so Ray and I came up with a makeshift plan to lure out the spy, it was not a flawless plan but the best part is I discovered her motive."

"That is?" Hiroku raises an eyebrow

"O-Oh, right." Link chuckles and gently hands the unconscious Ray over to her father. "She wanted to use Ray to get me and anything valuable in Garanda."

"So she wanted you but then changed her mind when she demanded more money and power? Greed was her downfall. Regardless, I'm taking my daughter home. Men!" Hiroku looks to the soldiers behind him. "Take the woman to the village elders and councilmen. Make sure to keep an eye on her, if I even hear that she escaped-!"

"How about I take Ray home?" Link raises his hand. "That way you can keep an eye on that woman and lower her chances to escape."

"Hmm... Okay. But as soon as you drop her off, request directions from my son to the council building. I want you there with us when we decide what to do with this assassin or mercenary, whatever she may be." Hiroku nods and returns Ray to Link's arms

"M-Me?" Link asks. "What am I needed for?"

"Him?!" One of the soldiers runs up to Hiroku. "Sir, with all due respect. I know you're grateful he kept your daughter safe, but he's not-!"

"I know he's not a member of the village but this woman was after him, it only makes sense for him to throw in his thoughts about the whole situation." Hiroku does not look at Link and simply walks away with his soldiers and the captured woman. "We will definitely need to discuss other things as well, such as potential future attacks and his future here."

(Crap. I am absolutely getting kicked out of the village now.) Link sighs and gently holds Ray in his arms as he follows Hiroku and his soldiers


Present Time

"None of this is relevant to Atlas at all." Weiss shakes her head

"Weiss, if I were to just tell you what happened there would be no sentiment now would there?" Link rolls his eyes

"I suppose that's fair." Weiss frowns. "That was a surprisingly nice and fun story."

"Thank you... I think?" Link chuckles

"So what happened afterward? Did you take over the meeting and lay your foot down to all those dusty old farts and narrow minded councilmen?" Coco smirks

"No. Far from that actually." Link shrugs. "They debated for nearly an hour on whether or not they should release the mercenary or imprison her."

"Release her?!" Yang calls out. "Who had that idea? That person or those people are insane."

"The councilmen had that idea, but the elders were quick to counter their points with suggestions to use one of their two abandoned buildings as a prison. Since they didn't have an official one." Link mutters. "They were split, so it came down to Hiroku. He decided it would be best to make sure she didn't leave with sensitive information regarding me taking shelter in the village. A decision I wholeheartedly agreed with."

"Smart." Blake nods

"What happened to you?" Velvet asks. "Did you get blamed at all for her appearance and infiltration?"

"Yes." Link sighs and glances at Velvet. "They knew about my past, only partially. They knew I had enemies looking to hunt me. At first, they were fine with me staying in Garanda but after that woman tried to kidnap Ray, it was Hiroku who pushed for more military power. He was countered by the elders with the fair point that there aren't nearly enough people ready to become soldiers. The village elders suggested a larger barrier around the village but they were countered by the councilmen in stating that a barrier may only expose the village more. Which would lead to more people discovering them and open Garanda up to more potential attacks... And the councilmen-!" The one person team stops himself and shakes his head

"They suggested that you leave." Pyrrha whispers. "Didn't they?"

"Mhm." Link nods. "In fairness to them, they didn't demand it right away. In fact, they praised me for the things I did that positively affected the village in a short time span."

"You mean your braveness and courage by protecting Ray and her brother on different occasions?" Coco snickers

"They did use those words, yes. But at the same time, they also brought up that it was primarily my fault that the woman almost fulfilled her plan, she was hired by Adam Taurus to come find and then kill me. So when Ray and I discovered her following us, she changed her plan and tried to kidnap Ray to get me and the village of Garanda to give in to her demands. THEN that plan failed and she wanted to run away, go back to Adam and inform him of my whereabouts, so he could finish me off himself."

"Did you end up leaving?" Coco asks. "Did they forcefully kick you out? Maybe both of you came to some sort of agreement."

"Something like that, for the third option." Link nods, "I informed them that I started personally training Ray and also volunteered my services to help train the rest of their up and coming soldiers or in other words, all of their students attending the academy. They liked this arrangement and gave me one month to stay, enjoy the village and help as much as I could. After that I had to leave but hey." He smiles. "One month was better than an immediate exit so I accepted those terms."

"You didn't fight it?" Coco lowers her shades and squints at Link. "Weak."

"With what case? They were right, if that mercenary completed her job, the village would have been wiped by Adam and his sick White Fang soldiers."

"How did you break the news to Ray?" Ruby asks. "That must have been a tough conversation."

"There was no conversation initially. I decided it would be wise not to tell her." Link mutters. "Let's say I distanced myself a bit from her, mainly to avoid the topic of what happened at the council meeting. Her father chose not to tell her either, but she and I still conversed normally."

Link's facial expression is pure embarrassment when he gets overwhelming head shakes from everybody sitting around him, except Weiss who chooses to judge him harder with a nasty glare

"Y-yeah... I know." He sighs. "Anyway. The council meeting concluded and after that, I only had one more private session with Ray before the sessions became very public. I had to train the beginners from the village's academy and anyone who wanted lessons... That included some already established soldiers."

"You are such a fool!" Sun sighs. "Did you really think distancing yourself from her would make her do the same? Were you expecting a clean break with no push back."

"That was the idea." Link mumbles

"All it does is have the complete opposite effect." Neptune shakes his head. "That's cold."

"I know that now." Link shrugs. "Believe me, I learned that the hard way. The month went by very slowly and it was the beginning of the final week, where Ray confronted me about my strange behavior."

...

...

...

To Be Continued...


(Hey all, this chapter was already at 17k words originally, so I decided to split it, averaging 12k on this one and who knows how many words on the next one, which is still in the works. As I was working on it I noticed it was massive compared to previous updates, which at most reached only 9k)