Chapter 80 - Kuroyuri - Ride of the Valkyrie

Year 72VE, May

Cover Art by Mi Chumi


Nora Valkyrie was starting to get frustrated.

Not because her supposed teacher, Vernal, was kinda prickly.

Okay she was a lot prickly.

And really, prickly wasn't the right word for her teacher. But she'd used the word that she thought best described Vernal one time, around Mrs. An Ren, and she'd been scolded in the most gentle way she'd ever imagined for what felt like forever, until she'd felt like absolute dirt. So, she wasn't gonna use that word ever ever again. Never ever. Like not even if she thought it at least six times a week.

No. Vernal wasn't the source of Nora's problem, even if she was foul-mouthed and 'prickly' and had no patience and drove them mercilessly. Heck, Nora loved the training. Every time she picked up the hefty blacksmith's hammer that Mr. Li Ren had bought for her, she felt… incredible. And when she was allowed to use it in a spar against Vernal and Huntress Dania, and she was sure that Dania was a Huntress, no matter what the woman said, and Ren agreed with her, well she felt powerful. Incredible. Her entire existence shifted from… what it used to be… into that fantastical world where everything was possible. Everything was real. She just had to imagine it, and it happened.

When she'd been a terrified orphan living off scraps, over two years ago, her fantasy world had been her refuge, though she'd had to be careful not to fall too far into it when other people were around, or she could get hurt. She'd kinda known, then, that her fantasies were just that. Fantasies. Not real. Not something that could actually happen.

And then parts of that world had come true! She'd found her knight in shining armor or at least green clothing, and he'd saved her from both Grimm and hopelessness. And then the King and Queen, his parents, had taken her into their castle, and made her a maid-in-waiting for the Queen.

It all came true. Which meant other things could come true!

And she'd found that instead of being satisfied with all that, her fantasies had shifted. Now she wanted to be the knight in shining armor, too! Or at least in pink!

And Vernal and Huntress Dania were the key to that.

Except they kept coddling her!

Her! Nora Valkyrie! Warrior-Maiden from the Legends of Olde!

All because she didn't have her Aura unlocked.

Sure, she'd gotten a few bumps and bruises, because Vernal forgot a couple times that she didn't have Aura.

Ok, a lot of bumps and bruises.

And a dislocated shoulder once.

And a broken finger. Okay… two broken fingers and a sprained wrist.

That last one had caused a screaming match between Dania and Vernal, which would have been terrifying except that those two had one of those at least once a week, but this one ended up being awesome even if her hand hurt something wicked, because she got to watch Dania and Vernal spar in order to, according to Dania, 'teach Vernal how it felt when you forgot to hold back'.

Well, Dania had called it a spar, but it was more like a thrashing, and Vernal had ended up on the ground, Aura completely broken and cursing even more than normal and holding her arm. Dania hadn't seemed happy about that either, but had told them all that it was a lesson to be learned. "Huntresses… that is, Aura Users, had an obligation to be mindful of those weaker than them."

Vernal hadn't appreciated that at all, but it had reduced the number of injuries Nora suffered in the months afterward.

Dania… now she was incredible. She knew how to fight, people and Grimm both though Vernal said she'd refused to volunteer for any Grimm hunts, some reason. And she was really patient most of the time. And she had a Semblance she called Ghost that was freaking awesome.

And Renny… her best friend in the whole world… was awesome too. Sure, he was only ten years old, like her, but he had learned to fight with his father's hunting knife, and had rejected all attempts to get him to use something with a longer reach. Oh, he'd accepted the need for some ranged fighting ability, and Vernal had started training him on how to use a firearm, which the Tribe had plenty extra of. And he had his Semblance, Tranquility, which she was sure he used more than once when Vernal went off on one of her cursing rants. It also helped around Grimm.

And that left Nora Valkyrie.

She was holding them back.

She was holding them all back, because they had to hold back with her. Because she didn't have her Aura unlocked. And that did not fit with her vision of Nora Valkyrie, Warrior Maiden! She'd worked on Ren, and he'd asked his parents for permission to unlock her Aura, and they'd said no. And she'd asked Vernal, who'd looked at Dania.

And Dania had said it was too early.

"But Ren has his Aura unlocked!"

"That was by accident, and under duress," Dania had replied. "And he's had issues controlling his Aura because of his age. It's better to wait a couple more years, Nora, and just work on your fighting style in the meantime. Trust me."

Which was truuuuuuuee, Nora hated to admit. Ren had used his Semblance that horrible day when the Nuckelavee had attacked, and it had worked then, but it didn't always work. And sometimes when he was sparring with Vernal, his control of Aura slipped, and he got hurt (though Dania didn't yell at Vernal when that happened, just took Ren aside, and consoled him, and coached him some more).

But still!

Nora Valkyrie, Warrior Maiden, Slayer of Beowolves, and Breaker of Legs Extraordinaire, needed her Aura unlocked if she was going to keep up with her best friend. She needed it.

And if they weren't going to do it for her… well Dania had given her the clue she needed.

. . .

"What do you mean, Nora isn't here?" Ren asked upon arriving at their sparring area in Branwen Camp, eyes wide and face paling.

Vernal spat on the ground. "Did I fucking stutter? She ain't here!" his teacher retorted.

"Ren," Dania said quietly, kneeling down in front of him, "tell me exactly what she told you." Like Vernal, Dania had taken her cue from Nora to call him by his surname. It had become a habit, and he didn't see the point in fighting it anymore.

Especially not now.

"She said that… because of the weather," he nodded at the dark clouds to the south of Branwen Camp, "that she wished to come early for some special training, in case it rained later." He gave them both a pleading look, wanting it to be true. "That was two hours ago."

Vernal and Dania traded looks. "We didn't plan on any special training, Ren," Dania said carefully. "I only arrived thirty minutes ago, and she wasn't here."

"And I was in my tent, trying to enjoy a few minutes of peace and quiet," Vernal complained. She shook her head, hands on hips. "Someone would have come and gotten me if she'd shown up here early."

Ren felt his stomach drop.

Nora was missing.

. . .

Things were not going according to plan.

It had been an awesome, perfect, plan. One straight out of those fairy tale books that Mrs. An had given her to read.

Gear up with padded sparring armor and trusty Maggie in hand? Check.

Sneak out of Kuroyuri early with an excuse? Check.

Make her way out into the woods that surrounded Kuroyuri and Branwen Camp? Check.

Attract the attention of some minor Grimm, putting herself in slight danger? Check Check.

Creating a situation of… that word Dania had used… duress? Major Check!

Becoming slightly terrified! Ummm… Check?

Attracting more Grimm because she was now absolutely, pants-wetting, terrified!?

Ye gods… Check!

No seriously, it had started out perfect. She'd passed by a couple of woodcutters on the way out, and they'd given her a strange look, but since she was dressed in Tribe-loaned gear, they probably assumed she was part of Branwen and hadn't said anything. And she'd asked them if there'd been any minor Grimm sightings in the area, and they'd said just some smaller juvenile Grimm had been sighted a couple days ago, and they weren't worried.

And then a half hour later and a bit further out, she'd finally found a few small Grimm herself, a pair of juvenile Boarbatusk. They'd charged her, and she'd felt her adrenaline ramp up. She'd even managed to kill the first one almost immediately! Her plan had been foolproof! The second had been a bit tougher, and had scared her a bit, but she'd dealt with it too.

But her Aura still refused to unlock.

She just needed something a little more scary. Might take a bit. The regular patrols in this area kept the numbers of truly dangerous Grimm down to a minimum.

A minimum, Nora discovered, was not zero.

And a stressed-out girl with no Aura? That had turned out to be a magnet that was far more effective at drawing Grimm from further away than she had anticipated.

Which is how she found herself perched in the top of a tall fir tree, surrounded by a dozen or so Beowolves, an entire freaking pack!

And silently having a bit of an argy-bargy with herself.

Listen here, Aura. I know you're in there! And I'm about as duressed as I can get without looking at my internal organs! So… pretty please?! Come out come out wherever you are?

The silence she received in return was a big, fat, "Nuh-uh. Not interested."

Stupid Aura! Stupid Nora! Gah!

Plan B, her Scroll, given to her on her most recent birthday by the Ren family, was unfortunately on the ground a dozen yards from the tree, where she'd tried desperately to use it before realizing that was a really stupid bad idea and bolting for the tree. And unfortunately she'd been so distracted that she hadn't had time or brain available to stow it properly and it had flown out of her pack as she scrambled toward the tree.

. . .

The fir tree shuddered, yet again, as a Beowolf threw itself at the trunk. The larger ones had discovered that the lower limbs weren't strong enough to hold their weight, early on. A smaller one had managed to scale it, and had met Maggie up close and personal when it stuck it's toothy jaw up within arms-reach.

That had given her a flash of hope, especially when it had fallen howling and impaled itself on a broken branch halfway down, and then dissolved to the howls of its brethren.

But as the remaining Beowolves prowled below, she began to fear that she was actually going to end up in one of those fairy tales. But not the ones she'd enjoyed. More like the ones like The Chill where the heroes didn't live, but instead served as a warning to others.

This sucks. Nora is supposed to be a Warrior Maiden! Not Beowolf chow!

And then one of the Beowolves started to use its jaws to tear chunks out of the outer wood at the base of the tree. The entire thing shuddered slightly.

Come on Aura! Ha ha I'm in danger! Nora needs you!

And then, it started to rain.

Nora Valkyrie whimpered.

. . .

Branwen Tribe had been mobilized.

They'd muttered a lot, but Vernal had gone to Raven, and Raven had told them it was a priority, and part of the job, and that the town would pay a fee for the search and rescue.

They'd damn-well better.

Venturing out in small groups, each with an Aura user, they began combing the woods between and around Branwen Camp and Kuroyuri first. That had required Dania and Vernal to split up to lead separate groups, and Dania had taken Ren with her.

"I can't believe Nora would run away," Dania said, shaking her head.

"She wouldn't," Ren replied. "It has to be something else. Something…" he sighed. "Nora gets big ideas. Sometimes they aren't good ideas." He eyed his mentor. "Usually, I get the chance to talk her out of them."

Dania was quiet for a moment, then spoke to him in an even voice. "You're awfully calm there, Ren." Lie Ren flinched. "You shouldn't overuse Tranquility. You might need it more, later."

"I can't… help it. I'd be a wreck right now," the ten-year-old answered honestly. That was a side-effect of Tranquility. When you didn't feel stressed, or worried, the idea of lying seemed a bit worthless. The truth was much more efficient.

"I get you. I really do. Just… keep an eye on your Aura levels. Got me? Otherwise, I'll have to send you back to town." A distant flash of lightning and roll of thunder announced that the threatened storm was no longer just threatening. Dania cursed quietly as they made their way southeast.

A few minutes later, they met the woodcutters, a half-dozen burly men with sharp axes. Men who were used to risking their lives out in the woods with Grimm and wild animals. But men who saw no point in standing under trees with metal and wood tools in what promised to be a thunderstorm. They were heading back in.

And yes, they'd seen Nora. They'd assumed she was part of the Tribe, doing Tribe things. They pointed the direction they'd come from. "She passed us about an hour and a half ago, maybe two."

Dania nodded, noting the look of relief on Ren's face, but also the fact that he looked a bit tired. He'd dropped Tranquility, but he'd also used it longer than he should have. "Thanks. Come on, Ren, now we move fast." She considered using Ghost, but it would have meant leaving Ren behind, and she wasn't sure how far they had to go. Using Ghost burned up Aura quickly, and she needed to heed her own advice here as well.

She also considered sending Ren back with the woodcutters, and one look at his face told her that wouldn't work.

Crap.

So, the duo took off at a jog, leaving the woodcutters to head back to Kuroyuri alone.

It started to rain, and thunder rolled again in the distance, but closer now. The only other sounds their rapid footfalls and steady breathing.

Then, far ahead, Dania heard the sound of distant howls.

Grimm. Beowolves.

Her gut clinched, and she looked back at her companion. She weighed risks. A Nora without Aura, alone in the woods and possibly injured versus a Ren following in her wake, with Aura. Arriving in time, Aura depleted, versus arriving too late.

"Ren, catch up as fast as you can!" She barked, drew her Falchion, and Ghosted.

For minutes, the vaporous outlines of tree trunks flew past and in some cases through her as she Ghosted forward, moving at top speed in a straight line, toward the sounds of her mortal enemies. Toward Grimm.

Flashbacks ate at her guts the entire time. The screams of Tyree. The yells of Hickory. The howls of Grimm. So many Grimm. The knowledge that she'd never see Urchin, her Teammate, ever again.

The feeling of her stomach dropping in a Bullhead. Impending death.

The fact that there was a Demon-Grimm, a Thing, still out there somewhere. Maybe ahead of her right this very minute.

It was almost enough to paralyze her, to turn her into a weeping wreck.

Except that this time, there was someone alive at the end of Ghost's path. Someone to save instead of making sure the world knew of their killers. She had to believe that.

And that was enough to drive her through her terror, through the acid trying to climb up her throat.

She prayed it was enough to save Nora.

. . .

Nora was soaked to the skin, and the tree was starting to creak and crack. The Beowolves had torn though a lot of the trunk, and they had started throwing themselves against the tree again.

Nora felt a sob crawling up her throat, her heart quailing, eyes closing.

It's not fair… not fair at all. I didn't want this. Ren, I'm sorry. I kinda screwed up.

And then things below her stilled and went quiet.

Nora opened her eyes to see all the Beowolves had paused, sniffing the air. Then, with a chorus of howls, most of them turned and charged away from her tree.

And were met at the edge of the clearing by a figure that suddenly blurred into existence, Falchion flashing and voice screaming at them like a banshee.

"Dania!" Nora cried, and was answered by a peal of thunder. Below her, the two Beowolves that had stayed at her tree howled and resumed throwing themselves at her refuge.

. . .

A pack of Beowolves should have been short work for a trained Huntress. Tyree would have torn through them like paper. But Tyree had been better than Dania, and Dania was not exactly in top condition right now. Every moment, her body tried to lock up, her brain screaming at her to run. To Ghost. Go get help!

She had to fight that urge every second, and it was eating into her concentration.

And on top of that, she'd overused Ghost to get here. She'd done the thing she warned Ren not to do. She was drained.

That didn't mean she was useless. It didn't gods-be-damned make her prey. That was a lesson the first Beowolf to reach her learned as her falchion met it mid-leap and tore its throat out. She'd spun to the left, dodging it's corpse as it flew past her, dissolving in mid-air, and met the second's clawed swipe with her lepip in a block that rattled her arm. She ducked its second sweeping attack, and severed it's arm in return, leaving it flying backward and howling in pain.

The third managed to rake claws across her back, tearing a bit more Aura, Aura she couldn't really afford to lose, before she wheeled and separated its lower jaw from it's head.

And then she was surrounded. There was a moment, a pause, where the remaining Beowolves, a little over a half-dozen, halted and evaluated her, and then spread out to encircle her position.

That's fine. That's right. Come at me, you bastards.

Because every Beowolf that was attacking her, busy with her, was one that wasn't going after Nora. And Dania believed, really believed, that she could still take them. She wasn't sure what condition she'd be in afterward, but she could take them.

Seconds stretched out into minutes as the Beowolves prowled around her, looking for openings and taking them recklessly. As she parried and struck back. Claws against lepip and Aura. Falchion against Grimm flesh. Teeth seeking to pin her limbs or tear them off. Another fell back, howling. A fifth lay dissolving on the ground.

Dania's left arm had gone numb from a bone-crushing bite before she had blinded a sixth.

The urge to Ghost faded into the background.

She'd beat this, or she'd do what she should have done, years ago outside Argus.

Die with her team.

And then she heard a high-pitched yell to her right, and young Lie Ren came charging past her, emptying a pistol into one of the two Beowolves still circling Nora's tree. As her own Beowolves tried to take advantage of her momentary distraction, she saw him throw himself onto the back of the one he'd shot, that had been facing away from him, stabbing like a feral child gone mad.

Dania felt a mix of dread and pride as she heard that Beowolf's howl descend into a gurgle, even as she blocked another claw that sought her own life.

Victory or death!

Preferably victory.

. . .

This wasn't right.

This wasn't right at all.

Nora watched first in elated relief as Dania drew off most of the Beowolves, and then fought them. She was incredible! Nora was saved!

And then the Beowolves didn't die like they were supposed to. Dania looked worn out, and she wasn't fighting in top condition. And there were still two circling Nora's tree.

She stared between the two sets of Grimm: the two Beowolves below, one working on the trunk again, the other throwing itself against the tree, the battle of life and death taking place at the edge of the clearing.

Dania was winning! She had to be! But she was getting hurt, too.

It made Nora feel sick. Like the whole world was wrong and twisted.

This is my fault. All my fault. My stupid Aura's fault! You suck Aura! I needed you and you weren't there for me! Keep this up, and I'll… go find another Aura and then you'll be sorry!

And then she saw her beloved Ren come charging out of the woods, screaming like… like some berserker warrior. It was glorious! He was shouting her name, and he was shooting at the Beowolves by her tree and then he…

Holy cow.

She watched in rapt fascination as he pounced on top of and killed the first Beowolf.

And then horror as the second turned from her tree, and with one mighty swipe, struck him full across the torso and flung him bodily away. Her beloved Ren flew backward through the air, and slammed into the ground, digging a furrow into the soft earth as he slid.

No!

Thunder rolled as if the very skies themselves rejected what she'd just seen. Her body shook in disbelief and shock as she watched the Beowolf rear up and howl, and then advance on her friend. Her best and beloved friend, who blinked and began scrambling groggily for his blade.

Nora felt… something. A tingling sensation that seemed to draw up from the very ground itself, through the tree, and into her feet. Something that tickled across her skin, across her nerves. Something that ran up her spine.

Rejection. Absolute. Total. Rejection, of what was about to happen before her eyes.

No. No this can't happen.

Thunder rolled, and Nora Valkyrie felt every hair on her body begin to stand on end, goose-pimpling. The very air around her felt… like it was waiting for something.

. . .

Dania fell backward below the weight of the final Beowolf. Her right leg wouldn't hold her weight anymore, though she didn't think it was broken. She struck upward with her blade at the thing's throat, growling ferally at it in a way that none of her former teammates would have recognized. Happy laughing Deedee wasn't home at the moment. Dania was here, and she was in pure instinctive survival mode.

Just one more, she thought distantly, and then I can help Ren and save Nora.

She knew Ren was off to her right somewhere, but she had to hope that he could hold his own for just a bit longer.

And then the world exploded. The noise wasn't so much something you heard, but something you felt. It was like getting hit with a hammer, all over your body at once. And the light. Ye gods the light. If it hadn't been for the fact that the Beowolf had blocked the majority of her line of sight, she would have been completely blinded. Even still, she found herself blinking against the splotches on the edges of her vision.

The Beowolf had been startled too, possibly more than she had, and she took the opportunity to use her good leg to throw it off, even as she nailed it, pinning it to the ground through its damned red glowing eye with her falchion.

She turned to see a thing.

Ren was on the ground, still, eyes blinking. He'd likely taken the full brunt of the white flash and couldn't see anything. She barely could. The Beowolf that had been about to tear into him had turned, confused by the sight and sound that had appeared in the air behind it.

It flew in a broad arc through the air, already halfway between the ruined and smoking top of the fir tree and the ground.

An impossibility.

An avenging apparition.

A Nora Valkyrie, wreathed in crackling energy. Her bright orange hair stood straight out from her head. Her body was arched, torso forward, legs curled backward behind her.

Her clothes were a smoking ruin, but there wasn't a visible mark on her skin.

Both hands held the oversized blacksmith's hammer, reared back behind her head, cocked to strike. Her aquamarine eyes were wide, nearly glowing, and her teeth bared in a soundless scream. Electricity arced off the hammer, crackling and writhing. Power swirled around the hammer, around her hands, around her body.

The Beowolf leapt.

And Nora Valkyrie met it in mid-air, hammer swinging downward with a force that would have been impossible mere hours ago.

The resulting explosion of light and sound was the original lightning strike wrought in miniature, but highly concentrated. One moment, there was a Beowolf, maw open and claws drawn back to strike. The next there was a smoking ruin where its head had been.

And Nora Valkyrie, bouncing roughly off its remains, flipped in midair.

And landed on her face, flatter than a pancake, next to her friend with a dirt-filled and muffled yelp and a flash of Aura, arms and legs splayed out.

"HHnnnggg…"

"Nora!" Ren cried.

Dania managed to drag herself up, checking to make sure her own Beowolf was well and truly dissolving, and scanned the woods for any others.

It looked clear. She sagged and began limping over, even as Nora managed to drag her face out of the dirt, spitting out twigs and moss.

"Anybody get the number of that Goliath?" Nora muttered, shaking her head, and then regretted it. "Oh my head… gah..."

"Nora…" Ren said, more softly, and managed to roll over so that he could reach her. A slight electric snap stung him for a moment before he was able to clasp her arm. "You saved me."

Nora's eyes widened. "I… I did? I mean… of course I did!" She managed to push herself up onto her hands and knees. "Urgh… saving people hurts a lot."

"You have no idea," Dania managed as she dragged herself to them, pulling out her Scroll. They were close enough to Kuroyuri's repeater that she had signal, and at this point, she'd appreciate reinforcements in case more Grimm showed up.

But all things considered, they'd done it. She scanned the still-dissolving Grimm bodies and the damaged trees and landscape. She'd done it. She'd saved them instead of running away. It felt like turning a page in her life. A new chapter.

A chapter that included making sure Nora Valkyrie got her sorry little ass grounded for this.

Kids suck. I should have stayed with Miss Malachite.

She eyed the ash-covered and wild-haired young girl before her as young Ren allowed Nora to pull him into a full-body hug.

Nahhh.


[A/N]And again, special thanks to Rookie80, Shadowstorm-Vash, and AtomicR4y for your kind reviews. I'm making tweaks here and there based on your reviews, including the names of some of the aquatic Faunus!

And another fun chapter to write, catching us up with Nora and Ren at age ten. I felt like I wanted to explore the exact circumstances of how Nora's Aura and Semblance were unlocked. Canon alluded to something like this, and I tried to fit it in with Nora's personality and the adjusted storyline. We also saw Ren's improvement in abilities (and limitations) after a year of training with Vernal and Dania (Deedee). I hope you enjoyed Nora and hope I portrayed her as you would expect a 10-year-old Nora to be.

I know I promised a chapter with Garek, Selene, and Cinder, and that's coming up next!