Continent of Anima: The Abandoned Village of Oniyuri
The opening exchange between Link and Tyrian Callows immediately proves to be no contest and it begins where they last left off, with both teenager and faunus sprinting at each other. The latter is tasked with a mission to take Ruby back to Salem so she can meet her brutal demise in the most painful way possible, while the former simply wants revenge for his fallen friends who continue to be taken away at the hands of the enemy. Tyrian increases his intensity to max capacity as he throws many wild and unorthodox attacks. But despite his agile movement, awkward but powerful wrist blade strikes and occasional gunshots mixed in with every other strike, everything is read perfectly by Link. Despite his anger, the blond intelligently slows down and runs at Tyrian half speed, which helps him anticipate the attacks, as he precisely evades and blocks everything throwing at him with an even greater display of power. The first attempt from Tyrian comes in the form of his footwork, non-stop shuffling around his opponent to keep them guessing. It has been used to perfection many times to make enemies miss, get confused, become frustrated, and eventually make mistakes. Followed by tactical crouching to attack low, but these attempts are countered by Link. The former Beacon student keeps track of Tyrian's footwork perfectly, having dealt with many agile and crafty opponents in the past such as Winter Schnee, Skylar Harrison, Violet Lilac, Ruby Rose, Neopolitan, and so on. Link keeps his shield low while raising his sword, covering every angle and direction at which he can be attacked. Next are the attacks meant primarily for the body and head, Tyrian spins in place and throws out a variety of different attacks with his bizarre looking wrist blades that perfectly keep his hands and forearms protected while being a convenient weapon for close range combat. With his wrist blades, the faunus throws spinning backfists, overhands, jabs, straight punches and even his stinger enters the fray as it occasionally lunges forward. These attacks are thrown consecutively but never in the same sequence to keep his opponent on edge by throwing so many strikes that one of them will eventually land and hurt the silent boy. However, Link quickly proves to be different than any enemy Tyrian has faced up until this point. The former Beacon student deflects the spinning backfist with a sword slash, dodges the overhands and jabs with his improved agility, kicks away the straight punches with good footwork and fast stationary sidekicks. The stinger on the other hand, is a completely different anomaly to deal with. Link switches his stance completely to lean away from the stinger and extends his arm, using his shield and distance created to block it. Having seen what it did to Qrow, no chances are taken, despite his absolute confidence to dodge or block it with his weapons
"Grrr! What are you?! Another true huntsman?" Tyrian's eyes are fully dilated, frustration growing immensely. "But it can't be, I've never heard of you and you look like a worthless brat! If I'm to assume correctly… you also come from Beacon. And those Beacon runts behind me weren't even that fun to play around with."
"Hey!" Nora growls, tightly grips her mallet, and gets in an offensive attack stance
"Don't do it!" Jaune extends his arm in front of his teammate, motioning her not to get baited by Tyrian's remarks. "He's just trying to get a rise out of you. If we attack with pure anger, we play right into his game."
"Well what can we do? Just watch Link fight that guy alone?"
"That might be what is necessary." Ren mumbles to his orange haired friend
Seconds later, Tyrian leaps in the air and aims a flying side kick for the boy interfering with his mission, but Link takes his chances in order to catch the serial killer with a direct hit. Thinking fast, he allows Tyrian to get close with his flying kick, but in return counters with an attack of his own, and one perfect for striking an incoming opponent: Link plants his feet, right foot forward, left leg extended back and left foot arched, torso twisted to the right, the swordsman's right arm grips his shield behind him, and his left arm holds his sword is across his body. He tenses up and shakes violently, channeling all his pent up hate and aggression before unleashing a powerful spinning slash!
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
Successfully, Link spins in place five times and slashes, picking up more speed while each slash becomes even stronger as Tyrian is hit with every single spin
"Ahhh!" Tyrian shouts whilst being sent crashing to the ground side first, with his right shoulder violently skidding against the concrete and shredding skin in the process. "This little shit… he's going to pay!"
Link stands up straight, breaking his stance, and not a single emotion is visible on his face as he walks towards the previously confident scorpion faunus. He takes off the green cloak the previously covered his back, lets it drop to the ground, and continues walking with his sword and shield drawn cautiously, aware that the fight is far from over
"I am going to kill you in front of the little flower and show her that NOBODY can prevent the world's destiny set by your Grace!" Tyrian's words are like spewing venom
Tyrian's tone now is much different than when he previously battled against team RNJR and Qrow. The scorpion faunus spins on his back, his legs twirl in the air for a second before he is back on his feet, taking a crouching stance with no signs of slowing down. He lunges forward and attacks with a straight right hand
THWACK!
"...!" Link raises his shield, blocking the punch and powerful blade strike from Tyrian Callows' weapon, 'The Queen's Servants', the wrist blades with hidden gun barrels lining up with his index and pinky fingers
"Grrrr..." Tyrian raises his other hand with the identical weapon and throws another powerful and fast punch, knowing this must be his first clean blow to the boy with an occupied shield hand
"Link no!" Ruby watches in complete shock, she wants to spring into action and help, but her confidence in Link's combat skills and worrying about her uncle's condition keeps her paralyzed and remain next to the latter
"...!"
A deadpan look remains on Link as he raises his left hand and blocks the same attack almost as well as his shield did, the metal in his leather gauntlets holds up strongly
"That's very bold to just take an attack like that." Qrow roughly mumbles whilst wincing in pain. "Then again... he has been watching us so he should have a good idea on how to fight this psycho."
"Yeah! That's the spirit uncle-!" Ruby raises an eyebrow. "Wait a second. What do you mean by following us?"
"GRRRR!" Tyrian's eyes flash purple at the same time while he struggles trying to break through the boy's defenses
Salem's loyal soldier then springs off his feet and thrusts them forward suddenly. The powerful two footed kick heads directly for Link's defenseless chest and despite it being a move already seen before, prior knowledge about it is not enough to avoid the rapid attack
THUMP!
The kick makes direct contact but does not severely damage his foe. It does however, highlight and disrupt Link's aura around his chest. Tyrian's lips curl into a sinister smirk and despite his first taste of success, his eyes go wide with rage. Link, on the other hand, is sent back a short distance from the powerful attack. The mute teenager rushes to make contact with the ground and skids his feet on the concrete to stop himself from traveling backwards any further, coming to a full stop shortly after
"..." Link makes direct eye contact with Tyrian but does not have the chance to attack first as within two seconds, Tyrian is directly behind him with both hands balled up into fists
"GRAHHHH!" Tyrian begins unleashing a series of sloppy but rapid punches, focusing on power more than technique. He smirks, feeling as if he finally has the upper hand on this new foe whilst throwing every punch to his knowledge
However, Link reacts even faster as he immediately whips around, confronts Tyrian face to face and blocks each strike with ease. His eyes carefully follow every punch and he predicts when to raise his shield, lower his shield, bring his sword across his body, lower his sword, block with his forearm, fist, dodge and so on. Each defensive move repels or outright blocks Tyrian's punches, which are more powerful and stronger than the previous punch thrown. Ultimately, this sequence results in no bladed punches landing for the evil faunus and Link is completely unharmed. The only direct strike that lands is a straight right hand that connects with Link's shield. And it definitely packs a punch as Link does not hold his ground and is sent backwards again. The boy deploys the same strategy to slow himself down by making contact with the ground as soon as possible and skidding his feet on the concrete
"You've done it now, you little brat!" Tyrian's evil smirk remains but it is no longer one of psychotic overconfidence as it was a measly fifteen seconds ago. His eyes narrow and they flash purple again and he gets ready to lunge into another set of powerful attacks intended to kill. "COME HERE!"
Tyrian charges after Link once more, but this time Link does not stand still, waiting to anticipate an attack. Instead, the swordsman moves as well and shuffles backwards, not allowing his opponent a chance to hit a perfectly still target. Link even manages to almost be as fast taking quick backward steps as Tyrian is running forward
"You cannot escape your inevitable death boy!" Tyrian raises his weapons, hands in fists, and begins to fire rapid fire shots with the speed of a machine gun while continuing to run full speed at nuisance standing in his way
Link continues shuffling back with the same impressive speed and with little effort he swats away and destroys every shot coming his way with the most basic but powerful sword swings in every direction imaginable. After a short period of time, Link plants his feet and with a rapid but powerful sword swing, puts an end to this sequence definitively. He swings the blade in a perfect circular motion, beginning with his arm extended behind him and in a split second, his sword travels over his head and down to his legs to wipe out a flurry of bullets
CLANG!
(...I m-messed… up!...)
Link's eyes widened upon realizing he did not deflect all the gunfire. He feels the aftereffects of one bullet that hits his upper left leg, in the outer thigh region
"WATCH OUT!" Jaune calls out as he tries to jump in the action but Ren and Nora hold him back, at least two of them now obey Qrow's words to get back and stay away
"GOTCHA!" Tyrian laughs even harder when he gets in range and crouches down, his stinger goes completely unnoticed and surges forward to slice through Link's aura-less chest
A collision occurs but not the intended poison-filled stringer through a green tunic, flesh, muscles, and bones as the evil faunus had in mind. What does happen is the razor sharp stinger colliding and bouncing off of Link's shield, leaving behind trickles of poison that trail down the defensive metal weapon and drip on the ground
(...my... turn!) Link charges forward, and luckily does not have to travel far as now he unleashes his own offense
The blond swordsman's attacks start as direct forward sword slashes from predictable directions but at different angles, each strike ending with a straightforward jab. Each attempt falls short as despite Tyrian's failure to land anything significant, the faunus is still a fast and dangerous opponent after all. He dodges most of the slashes with his impressive agility and parries the rest of the strikes with his wrist blades and stinger
(...lets…go!) Link's eyebrows crease in anger
He picks up the pace and closes the distance between the two, noticeably becoming faster and stronger with each one of his movements. After a few more direct strikes with his sword that are blocked or narrowly dodged, Link successfully gets in Tyrian's face, with the two only inches apart now
"But how?!" Tyrian raises his hands and braces for the incoming swing
When Link raises and drops his sword with a mighty swing! A clash of metal to metal ensues in the form of the swordsman's blade versus Tyrian's wrist blades. There is no test of strength this time, as Link pushes down on his sword with all his force and easily overpowers the grown man. Even with Tyrian's last ditch attempt to kneel for more stability, his efforts are futile when both of his wrist blades are suddenly pushed down, nearly making contact and slicing up his face. The next thing that meets the scorpion faunus is Link slightly leaping off the ground. The former beacon one man team extends his left leg, executes a perfect sidekick, and makes contact with the bottom of his boot colliding into Tyrian's face! The impact knows the scorpion off his feet and sends him crashing to the ground
"Hell yeah, kick his butt some more!" Nora chants
"How is Link doing all that?" Ren looks on in disbelief. "We could not even land anything or avoid any of his attacks."
(...I have… only landed… a few… attacks… fools…) Link says to himself but remains focused
With his right hand, Link reaches into his brown pouch in order to carefully grab a couple of items
"Whatever tricks you have… you can shove them up your-!"
Oddly cutting himself off, Tyrian does not even finish his own vulgar sentence before quickly getting up to his feet and springing up high in the air. He lands on a completed rooftop and fires off the machine guns on his wrist blades. The faunus also begins sprinting around from rooftop to rooftop to keep the direction of each shot different
"Kid…" Qrow grumbles before giving up his attempt to stand
"Stop talking and save your strength uncle Qrow!" Ruby snaps at him while constantly looking down and up to tend to her uncle and continue watching the ensuing battle. "He's doing just fine. You can trust him... I know I do."
BOOM!
Rather than dodging or blocking bullets as he has done before, the items in Link's hand are quickly revealed to be his signature smoke bombs used for many mercenary missions and academy regulated combat battles. The amount he grabbed is up in the air for everyone to assume as the smoke cloud is ginormous and nearly enough to cover nearly the entire part of the abandoned village they are in
"Think you can hide, boy?!" Tyrian angrily shouts and begins firing more shots, knowing one of them has to hit as it did earlier
Unfortunately for him, his frustration grows when all he hears is the clanging of two different metals, followed by the collision of bullets with the ground. This tells everyone that plenty of blocking with a shield and destroying with a sword is taking place
"Very well then, you want to be a pesky creature? I will just have to give you a slow and painful death…" Tyrian speaks with a maniacal tone as his eyes glow purple yet again. "Rather than an instant one!"
The smoke begins to fade away slowly, but the faunus unwisely jumps down from the high ground he has and sprints into the smoke, feeling enough time has passed, but what he does not expect is to fight blind, smoke thicker than he anticipated. The faunus stops moving and hears the sound of a bow being pulled, followed by the release of arrows and heaps of them are fired consecutively. Tyrian's stinger does most of the work to deflect each arrow and the same sequence occurs when his opponent attempts the same approach but with the crossbow variation of his secondary weapon. To no avail for Link either, the faunus' tail is too fast and strong for anything to deal damage
"Your aim is good but you are rather… disappointing." Tyrian replies with a snarky tone as confidence returns to him. "When are you really going to entertain me?!"
(...who said… that was… it?!) Link frowns and promptly moves on to the semi automatic rifle version of his secondary weapon
The former one person team blasts shots of his own, using Tyrian's voice to give him a better idea of where he is. Where as before, he was shooting arrows blindly and yet, nearly landing almost every single arrow
"What the-!" Tyrian growls as he deflects shots with his stinger and wrist blades with success. "HA!"
…But makes a grave mistake when the smoke fully goes away as the faunus is not prepared for a clear line of sight, having adjusted the best he could to the smoke, and expecting to continue the fight in the same environment
(...got you…) Link repeats the same words Tyrian said to Qrow earlier for a second time as he fires a shot
BANG!
And sends a powerful shot directly into Tyrian's left knee, the immediate impact shatters the aura around the faunus' entire entire leg
"Ahhhh! Damn it! Fuck!" Tyrian clutches his knee as he foolishly attempts to stand up straight. "How many tricks can a pony have?!"
The frustrated serial killer gets no response, the same as none of his remarks have this entire fight. What the faunus does in fact get in response that he does not expect, is a throwing knife with surging speed so fast that nobody saw when Link even had it in his possession. It connects and digs into Tyrian's right shoulder, and when he takes a step back from the impact, is it visible to everyone witnessing the fight. The projectile weapon is golden, glowing and made of dust, not a physical knife
"Agh!" Tyrian closes one eye in pain as the yellow dust knife sends electricity jolting all over his body
On the outside, a small area on the faunus' shoulder, where the knife entered, crackles with visible electricity as well
"It's that knife we saw in the forest! The knife that killed the grimm that I was aiming for!" Ruby smiles as tears fall down her cheeks with joy. "Now I see what you meant by following us, uncle Qrow."
"Heh… that's nice kiddo." Qrow grunts as he nods at his niece
(...how many… tricks?... more than… one!) Link closes his eyes and exhales
When he re-opens his eyes, they are glowing with a brief vibrant golden color as the back of his left hand rises and is aimed at Tyrian. A faint beam of light shoots forward and next comes a familiar sight for Link and team RNJR, those who have seen this familiar sequence before
Two large triforces appear in front and behind Tyrian. One is faded and glistening, while the other is bright and glittering. The psychotic faunus attempts to break out of them with two powerful wrist blade strikes to each triforce, but absolutely nothing happens to the two magical forces concealing him in the tight space. Link narrows his eyes and sprints at Tyrian but rather than attack him head on, the boy disappears, leaving another afterimage behind. Seconds later, Link appears behind his opposition and begins with a two handed slash to the back. The latter plants his feet into the ground and rapidly moves again with incredible speed. Next, he is in front of Tyrian, striking his body with multiple spinning slashes and sword jabs before disappearing again. Following this, are attacks from each side as Tyrian is met with swift one handed strikes to his right side, with no time to react before Link is at his left side, this time delivering a more powerful strike to the stomach. Each strike is so fast and powerful, Tyrian is in even more pain than the previous attack. Even the spectators could not keep up as Link repeated this sequence two more times before appearing in front of the dangerous faunus one more time… To deliver the final blow
(...this fight… is… over!)
Link promptly gets in the same pose as he was in earlier, a twisted stance with his right foot forward, left leg extended back, torso twisted to the right, this time the difference is both left and right hands hold his sword across his body, shield inactive on his back for a change. Link focuses and thinks about what Tyrian would do to Ruby had Qrow or himself not been here to interfere. Next, reminds himself about the Atlas soldier who murdered Ray in cold blood, how he found Amber in her nearly deceased state and lastly, the way Cinder brutally incinerated Pyrrha into ashes for the purpose of power. Link frowns, his eyebrows furrowed like nobody has ever seen before as he brings his arms forward and strikes Tyrian across the midsection with the last horizontal slash!
SLASH!... Crash!
Additionally, the moment the final slash lands, the ground rumbles and a powerful gust of wind is felt throughout the unfinished village, blowing over into the forest behind the abandoned village. The triforces shatter into micro shards of energy, like dust being blown into the air, and Tyrian is launched from them, flying away and traveling until he lands back first into a building. He smashes into the building with speed great enough to cave in the wall but not break entirely, seemingly trapping Tyrian in the rubble. Conveniently, it was the same structure the scorpion faunus and Qrow crashed out of during their earlier fight, which also puts him only a few feet away from the injured Branwen and Ruby
"Wow…" Ruby blinks and wants to say more, but all she can do is continue watching Link, who walks toward Tyrian once again with the angry look on his face remaining and barely any damage done to him. "L-Link… you really don't want me to get captured, heh."
The throwing knife made of dust shatters into many pieces, but the wound remains on Tyrian's shoulder, and the next thing that occurs is Link grabbing Tyrian by the collar and aggressively pulling him out of the wall he was just launched into. Qrow begins to stand and grabs his weapon as Tyrian is unpredictable, could slip away from Link and attack him or Ruby at any moment. Ruby rises as well and follows suit by grabbing Crescent rose and getting ready for a fight to come her way
(...Why... do… you… want… her?!) Link opens his mouth but knows it is futile attempting to speak, instead he continues with his furrowed brows and seething anger
"It is not too late, boy. Her grace could use such a good soldier like you, bring the little flower with me and we can say we both captured her." Tyrian laughs maniacally. "Don't you dare tell me you care about her deeply. You will merely be an insect that will be squashed if you continue on your path. Look at you, so much hate, so much power… LET US TAKE RUBY ROSE AND GET RID OF THE CANNON FODDER, they are destined to be a pile of ashes while I serve and rule the world under our divine savior!"
"...!"
Link tunes out Tyrian and stops listening as the words 'pile of ashes' cuts all the way down to his heart. Tyrian continues to ramble on and on, but his words fall on deaf ears. Sadly, instead of silence, it is loud ringing and screams from his fallen friend Pyrrha Nikos as the person who could easily end Tyrian's life is stunned and surprisingly lets the faunus go. The distraught blond shuts his eyes and all that comes to mind next is a flashing images of Pyrrha smiling and laughing before she screams, incinerates into ashes and is blown away by a strong gust of wind
"Hehehehe, you fell asleep!" Tyrian's eyes turn purple for a fifth time as his stinger has an opening to strike Link!
Salem's loyal servant sets his sights on the head, going back on his earlier words to make sure Link suffers a slow and painful death, rather than an instant one. Qrow, Ruby, Jaune, Ren, and Nora's eyes go wide as Link is defenseless. And nobody is close enough to step in and help in the split second that Tyrian's stinger rapidly springs forward
(...NO!) Link's eyes shoot open as he snaps back to reality when Pyrrha's scream grows so loud that his head is in excruciating pain
Tyrian's stinger is close to making contact, but Link catches the tail with his right hand and displays an impressive showing of strength to immobilize the stinger and tail from retracting or flailing around. With his other hand, Link grabs Tyrian by the throat and tightly squeezes
"W-What?!" Tyrian grits his teeth in disbelief while his windpipes are constricted
(...you... seem to… value… this… a lot…) Link turns his head to meet Ruby's eyes and gives her a firm nod while moving his gaze towards the stinger
"What is he trying to say…!"
Ruby gasps, but does not say a word to not give away the element of surprise. She does drop Crescent Rose while it is in its scythe form down to angle the barrel of her sniper rifle correctly. She does not take long to aim and confidently fires a shot…
BOOM!
…That pierces and severs the stinger from the rest of Tyrian's tail! While successfully avoiding Link's hand
"Gahhh! You bitch!"
The now stinger-less Tyrian reels and cries out from the pain he is enduring. He immediately experiences an adrenaline rush that gives him plenty of energy and enough strength to push Link and break the grip on his neck. Tyrian stumbles around off balance, his tail and severed stinger spews out purple liquid, presumably very lethal poison
(...now… is my… chance!...)
Link rushes forward, attempting to finish what he started, but the purple liquid makes him think twice. Instead he, along with Ruby and Qrow watch Tyrian writhe away from them. The injured faunus takes multiple steps back, forward, side to side, and then ultimately turns around and stares daggers at Ruby. However, the second Tyrian lays eyes on Ruby, Link walks forward and protectively steps in front of her and Qrow. In support, Jaune, Nora and Ren run towards them and get in front of Link, putting the scorpion faunus in a difficult situation. In front of him are one huntsman and five students with their weapons drawn, some physically injured, others mentally damaged but nevertheless it is now six versus one and Tyrian is clearly disoriented and too injured. Carrying on any longer will result in further injuries or even worse, death
"She… s-she'll-!" Tyrian speaks while looking at Ruby but talking to himself and taking awkward steps backward. "She'll forgive you."
The faunus' wrist blades are completely retracted as he squirms and curls up, his hands shake and he struggles to even stand up straight. Suddenly, he turns around and runs, seemingly without issue. He does not run at his full speed, but it is fast enough to be considered a sprint and with a quick leap over a village wall, he lands on a hill and takes off. Seconds later, Tyrian Callows returns the same way he arrives, and is soon long gone. His mission to capture Ruby Rose ends in failure, due to unexpected interference from Qrow and Link
"Ugh!" Qrow, who is standing upright with aid from his weapon, suddenly collapses to one knee and clutches at his wounded midsection, "G-Great…" He pants heavily and tries to smirk in victory. "At least we're all alive."
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby falls to her knees and puts a hand on her uncle's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine kiddo." Qrow pulls his shaking hand away to show the blood on his hand and the severity of his wound. "He just grazed me a little bit, that's all."
On paper, it only looks like just a deep cut that can heal fairly quickly once the huntsman's aura returns after he has rested and recovered properly
"Who was that guy?" Nora asks
"And how did you get here?" Ren follows up
"HELLO? A better question is why are people after Ruby?" Jaune shouts
"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby weakly shakes him. "What's going on?"
"You want to know what's going on? It's a lonnng story, kiddo." Qrow breathes heavily and clutches his midsection again. "But we have to start somewhere. What's your favorite fairy tale?"
"Huh? How does that answer anything?" Jaune angrily shakes his head, annoyed at Qrow's vagueness
"Look, I will tell you everything, but first we need to get out of here. I mean this village to be specific, Grimm will be here soon after all the fighting that just took place. I'm looking at you kid." Qrow sets his sights on Link, who has his back turned and is staring at the grassy hill used by the scorpion faunus to escape moments ago. "And as skilled as all of you are, we have all had enough fighting for one day."
The only person not joining the conversation is Link for obvious reasons, he cannot speak and contemplates going after Tyrian. Knowing the serial killer could not have gotten too far and assuming the poison leaking out of his tail would stop soon. Link draws his sword and slowly jogs away, only half heartedly committed to chasing after Tyrian
"HEYYY!"
Ruby calls out, but rather than being at a fair distance… She is right behind Link. With her impressive speed, Ruby sneaks up and tightly hugs Link's free right arm, like a child hugging their favorite stuffed animal
"Aren't you going to say hi?!" She giggles. "Oh Link… It's so good to see you again. Where are you headed off to so soon?"
(...after… that… w-weird guy…) Link points his sword in the direction where the 'weird guy' ran as Ruby called the scorpion faunus
"Are you crazy?" Ruby shakes her head, then urgently attempts to drag Link back to her new team and uncle. "You can't go after him alone!"
"She's right, the last thing we need is to split up right now." Jaune speaks firmly. "If that guy knows what's good for him, we won't be seeing him anymore."
(...we?) Link physically cringes when he hears Jaune's voice, but Ruby's persuasion is enough to make him give up his chase. (...o-okay…)
The pair walk back to Qrow and the rest of team RNJR, but Link still trails off and everyone watches him carefully. Luckily, he does not run away or attempt to leave but does go out of his way to pick up two items and bring them back as he returns to the group. The two items in question are the metal and wooden masks both he and Ruby were wearing during their respective fights with Tyrian. Link extends his arm and motions for Ruby to take her mask, whilst effortlessly twirling his sword with his left hand before sliding it back into its scabbard in slick fashion
"Oh no, it's your mask silly. I was just holding onto it until now." Ruby smiles. "I kept it nice and warm for you."
"..." Link says nothing and keeps his hand outstretched for Ruby, using nods to gesture at his 'friend' to take her mask that he left her as a parting gift. (...i-it's… y-yours…)
"So persistent, okay fineee." Ruby takes back the metal mask and attaches it to her belt
Meanwhile, Link puts his wooden mask on and gives her a nod along with giving Qrow a look of assurance before walking away, in the direction they have to go next on the eventual path to Haven
"H-Hey, where are you going now? We can all travel together, doesn't that sound better?" Ruby asks. "R-Right?"
"..." Link says nothing and shakes his head, which is unexpected to both Qrow and RNJR
"Why? Wait a second. Link… why aren't you speaking?" The eyes of the silver eyed girl well up, but she shuts them so nobody can see her on the verge of tears. "Say something please."
However, before she begins to cry, Ruby is pulled into a cold hug by Link, who has turned back and is now standing in front of Ruby in no time. The cold hug is his arms effortlessly around Ruby without any real strength or comfort. Despite this, Ruby happily hugs her friend back and just like that, her sadness and tears go away in an instant
"Good, now that he's with us." Qrow struggles to get up to his feet. "Let's get out of here shall we?"
City of Atlas: The Schnee Residence
Though not a physical battle, the aftermath of Weiss and her father Jacques Schnee's heated argument which is intensified tenfold when Weiss' own father goes out of his way to slap his daughter hard on the cheek… While feeling absolutely no remorse when doing so
"You cannot stop me from pursuing my dreams and following my destiny to be a huntress. All I have done my entire life is fight for the honor of my family and my family's name." She angrily shakes whilst holding her reddening cheek. "I can leave it if I wish. A very dear friend of mine once told me that they don't just see me as a Schnee, they see me as WEISS. They saw me for who I was as a person, not for my family's name or wealth, success or fame. I think it is time that I really apply what he said to every single action I do following this day. I'm sorry father but-!"
"No... you won't." Jacques has his back turned and cannot stand to continue listening to his daughter ramble. "You're not leaving Atlas. You're not to even step out of your room unless I specifically allow it. You are going to remain here, out of trouble. That is, until we come to an agreement on your future."
"WHAT?!" Weiss' eyes widen. "That is only going to make things worse. People will ask questions! They WILL want to know why the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company is suddenly nowhere to be found. Haven't you given that any thought?"
"Of course. Clearly, the trauma you endured at the fall of Beacon was too much for you." Jacques nods. "Which is why you've generously revoked your claim to the company, along with its earnings, and passed it on to your brother." He scoffs as the older man walks Weiss' door, then turns to face her. "In other words, you are no longer the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."
"Excuse me?" Weiss takes a step back, clearly stunned and almost falls back onto her bed from the shocking news. "What are you saying?!"
Weiss stares at her father in disbelief, she breathes heavily as she digests the news and does not know how to feel. Unsure, she panics while experiencing a mixture of emotions with anger and sadness being the main ones
"It's time to wake up Weiss. This is not just about you. Think about who you choose to trust, compare that friend who told you such idiocy to someone like Whitley. One is a bottom feeder with no grasp of reality, while your brother will lead the Schnee name to greater heights than I ever could have. Your friend was from Beacon, yes? Well look at how that ended."
"..." Weiss balls up her hands into fists, angrily shaking at how her father refers to her 'dear friend'
Jacques Schnee turns and leaves. As he opens the door to leave and shuts it on his way out, Weiss sees her brother Whitley, who is waiting and clearly has been eavesdropping with a big present smirk. The head of the Schnee Dust Company turns away to continue walking without acknowledging his son
"Whitley!"
Weiss calls out after taking a few seconds to deal with her emotions, before stepping out into the hall with her fists clenched, knowing that she must call out to her brother who is moving down the hallway as if he were just casually strolling by
"Yes, sister?" Whitley turns around with a small smile, but more of a devious smirk. "What can I do for you?"
"You knew about this…" Weiss says with anger seething through her teeth. "Didn't you?"
"About what?"
"Don't play dumb now. You never liked Winter. You never liked me. But you've been nothing but supportive since the moment I came back." Weiss shakes her head as her eyes widen, realizing her own brother has been nothing disingenuous. "You wanted this to happen and now you get what you want."
"Oh sister… It's foolish not to do as father asks. It's time you listen to your family rather than lowlife parasites… like your friend Link." Whitley leans forward, his innocent smile with a hint of an evil smirk changes into a threatening expression with widened eyes and furrowed brows, like a psychopath. "That's who you were talking about right?"
"Shut up." Weiss stares at him with a look of betrayal, her fists ball up even tighter as her anger is on the brink of boiling over. "I can't believe you."
"Don't worry, Weiss. The Schnee family name is in good hands." Whitley turns and walks away with the most pompous and egotistical expression. "Since you want to leave so bad, maybe Link can join you if you're ever living on the streets and down on your luck."
"Not another word about Link. You keep his name out of your mouth brother. Talk about me all you want but do not talk about any of my friends." Weiss stomps her foot on the ground. "You might be my blood but do not test me."
And with that action, the ex-heiress gets a reaction from Whiley, who jumps when the heel collides into the ground and hearing the last words
"..." The younger Schnee does not say another word, choosing to continue walking away while knowing he made a mistake with his words
Weiss growls but does not retaliate any further and returns to her room. She collapses face down on her bed and cries. However, for the strong willed Schnee, after only ten seconds pass, Weiss lifts her head and has a determined look in her eyes. Knowing she won't be allowed to leave peacefully, she has to formulate her own plan to escape the place she once called home, where she is now being kept prisoner, but first she must shake off any rust from not having to fight, spar, or go to class anymore
Continent of Anima: The Forests
Later in the night, Qrow Branwen, Link, and team RNJR are sitting on logs while gathered around a fire. The former is explaining the entire story and history of the Maidens, not sparing a single detail and letting team RNJR and Link know everything he, Ironwood, Glynda Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin told Pyrrha. The newly formed team looks stunned and does not know what to say, to the point where Qrow is confused about them not having a single question immediately after his story. On the other hand, Link does not listen at all nor does he have any intention to pitch his two cents in the conversation with questions or comments. The only thing going through his head and ears is a combination of distorted white noise and loud ringing that both amplify with each passing second. The ear piercing sounds grow when Qrow speaks and get even louder when Jaune, Ruby and Nora speak. But to the silent young man, he already knows what he does about the Fall maiden and assumes the rest is similar to the other maidens. To Link, this information is practically useless
"...And that's what you were trying to do to Pyrrha... the night the tower fell." Jaune frowns. "You were trying to turn her into one of them."
"Yeah but not the way you think. The previous Fall Maiden, Amber, had been attacked."
The mention of Amber's name instantly snaps Link out of his deep trance. He looks up like he has been out for the count. Link's head then snaps towards Qrow, who knew that was bound to have some effect on him
"Good to have you finally listening, kid." Qrow chuckles, "As I was saying, Amber was young, inexperienced. And her assailant, who we now know is Cinder, somehow managed to steal some of her power, but not all of it. We were afraid that if we didn't do something, the rest would go to her as well." He sighs. "The pod keeping Amber alive wasn't going to carry on forever, she was barely hanging on."
(...Cinder…) Link angrily balls up his hands, flexing his arm muscles as tightly as he can in the process. (...that… e-evil… woman!...)
"So you forced it on Pyrrha is what I'm waiting for you to admit." Jaune angrily looks at Qrow. "Hurry up."
"Jaune!" Nora shakes her head
"None of us forced anything. We explained the situation, gave her the choice, and she chose. You were there, you heard her." Qrow rolls his eyes. "Stop pretending like you're the only affected party out of everyone here."
Jaune drops his head for a brief moment, thinking of what to say before getting up and walking away from the group, but not far enough to be out of the conversation
"That guy… Tyrian." Ruby raises her hand to get her uncle's attention. "Why was he after me?"
"Well kiddo, you definitely painted a target on your back with what you did at Beacon. I told you having silver eyes is a rare trait." Qrow looks directly into his niece's eyes. "And the fact that you were able to use them seems to have upset some very powerful people. Not many people know about silver eyes. Those that do aren't very happy that one has surfaced." He nods. "That's why I've been keeping an eye on you in order to make sure you all were safe. Well to make sure all of you were safe as a matter of fact, I couldn't exactly be on the lookout for just you when you brought three buddies. Either way, you had two safety nets if anything went wrong back there or if it was worse than a guy like Tyrian."
Qrow nods at Link as the second safety net. Ren and Nora turn to him with nods of gratitude. Meanwhile, Ruby who is sitting next to the silent young man, leans over and softly presses her shoulder into his
"You're absolutely right and I have questions for you Link so don't you dare run off on us, I will catch you this time." Ruby smiles, though it almost instantly vanishes. "But back to what you said uncle Qrow. Why not just travel with us? It seems like that would've been way easier."
"He was using you as bait, Ruby." Jaune speaks loudly enough to be heard, but with his back still turned to everyone. "He KNEW someone like that Tyrian guy would attack."
"Look, I wouldn't put it like that. It's complicated. In a way, you're right kid. But the purpose of me following you guys was not only to lure out dangerous foes. You ever wonder why there's hardly been any Grimm in your path? That was me. Guys like Tyrian are part of the reason I followed you and didn't simply accompany you, if they see me with you four, nobody would attack. Instead, they inform their bosses and then we'd have even more trouble than we will have on this current path. Hell, if they saw me with you when your journey started, Haven would be destroyed long before we ever got there."
"So what is all of this?" Jaune turns in disbelief. "Ruby's being hunted, the schools are being attacked, all for what?! What is the point of all of this?! Will you just tell us what's going on?!"
"Would you sit down? You're stressing me out, kid." Qrow stares at him, then slouches over with a sigh
Despite the weak plea, Jaune listens and promptly sits down on a log, carefully listening to Qrow
"Look, not many people are religious these days and this world has been around for a long time, long enough that people have created dozens of gods. But if you believe Ozpin, two of them are actually real."
Team RNJR listens intently but Link does not yet again. He tries his best, but all he can make out is some words here and there
"Two brothers… The God of Light, joy in creating life… The God of Darkness, creating forces of destruction… The older… created water, plants, wildlife. The God of Darkness… drought, fire, famine. Life… returned. The younger brother… desired… destroy anything and everything."
"...Grimm." Ruby's voice is heard at the end of her short sentence, but all Link hears is 'Grimm'
"...One final creation…" Qrow looks up and notices Link staring directly at him, but does not notice that the blond is not paying attention. "Together… last great creation… power to create and destroy... gift of knowledge… power to choose… free will… decide which path… light or darkness…"
"What does… to do with us?" Ren speaks up
(...What is… wrong… with me?) Link shakes his head vigorously, hoping that would change his fortune and allow him to listen better
"...four gifts… knowledge, creation, destruction and choice… exists... physically… by the Gods… each… is powerful…if someone… collects all four… change the world… the enemy wants… Huntsman Academies… Humanity's protectors… guarding the Relics… Ozpin's predecessor… built them… the Relics… fortress… easier to defend… surrounded by trained warriors… keeping them out... her reach…"
Qrow says one more thing but the ringing grows so loud, it drowns out the white noise. Link grasps his head tightly and it feels like an entire hour passes. However,when he looks up, he realizes it has only been seconds as Qrow finishes his last sentence as fast he starts it
"Her. You mean Salem?" Ruby's voice comes in clearly. "Uncle Qrow?"
"That's right. Not much is known about her. Quite frankly, that's not what matters. What matters right now is that she wants the Relics, and if she gets them, it's not going to end well for us. No matter how weak, strong, involved or disconnected… everyone will be included in her idea of changing the world."
(...too... much… to… take... in… right… now.)
With one more head shake, Link stands up, and to show everybody that does not plan on running away, he takes off his belt which has his pouch containing weapons and two very valuable and personal items to him that he wouldn't dare to leave behind: Ray's canteen and lastly Pyrrha's circlet
"T-That's Pyrrha's!" Jaune's eyes shoot open
"But h-how?! How does he have that?" Nora gasps
"Don't worry kid." Qrow calls out to Link. "I know this is a lot and I know you are going through your own stuff, I'll pause the story."
"No, don't." Jaune shakes his head. "I've had enough of waiting for answers. If you have anything more to say, you can tell us and we will relay the information to Link… however much he happens to miss."
(...we?) Link shrugs, not acknowledging the presence of Jaune before he briskly walks away
"I'm coming with you." Ruby stands up and follows her friend
"B-But Ruby! You can't just-!" Jaune stammers
"Let them go." Qrow lowers his head again. "You can relay the information back to them when they get back, besides. I need a couple of seconds, this little paper cut is actually taking a lot more out of me than I thought it would."
…
Minutes later, Link travels deeper in the forest, eventually deciding to stop in between two trees that have enough space in between to let him get a full glance at the shattered moon shining brightly. Ruby follows him the entire time, her hands tugging at her skirt as she thinks about what to say
"Ahem." Ruby clears her throat, "Thank you by the way. For helping us out against that Tyrian guy. He was really dangerous and I didn't understand half of what he said, but I did grasp that he wanted to kidnap me." She chuckles nervously. "Uncle Qrow did enough to stop him but you… you were incredible to watch."
"..." Link nods as he takes off his mask in front of Ruby
The swordsman wants to raise the corners of his mouth to give her a soft smile, but nothing comes of his efforts and all the girl sees is a deadpan expression
"I'm sorry I didn't say thank you sooner, all of this has just been a lot to take in. First that weird guy attacked us, declaring he wanted ME. My uncle Qrow showed up and then of course you. Before then it was just Jaune, Nora, Ren and myself on our own journey to Haven. Now we have the best company possible and I don't mean my uncle." She looks up at him and smiles warmly. "I'm glad you're here with us."
(...us?... I… am…) Link attempts to smile once more but when he predictably fails yet again, he gets frustrated and shakes his head, maintaining his focus on the moon instead. (...H-Here… f-for you…)
"What's wrong Link? If something is bothering you, I'm here if you want to talk." Ruby reaches up and with her hand she grabs Link's chin carefully to move his face and guide his eyes from the moon to hers
The silver eyed huntress expects him to be cold and rough like he was earlier in the abandoned village of Oniyuri after Tyrian left. But to her surprise, he does not stiffer up and lets her do as she wishes, much to her delight
(...plenty… is wrong…) Link shuts his eyes when Ruby brings his chin down and the two friends are face to face
"Hey." Ruby's eyes well up but she remains strong and does not let the tears flow, "I'm sorry about everything that happened at Beacon. I should have trusted you sooner and I know you're probably really mad at me, but I believe you now and I will believe anything and everything you say going forward… I promise you that with all my heart. I'm just really sorry for not trusting you when everything happened the way it did. Everything that happened in the tournament, that match with Pyrrha and Jaune, plus the way all the students, media and General Ironwood portrayed you…" She sighs and drops her head. "I'm sorry that I bought into it, you're my best friend and that should have overruled everything being said about you. Your wishes and wellbeing matters to me more than the opinions of strangers… I hope you can forgive me one day."
(...oh Ruby… you are… forgiven… but…) Link musters up everything he can and at last makes a prominent sound
Although it does only turn out to be a sigh, it is a sign of progress and significantly better than complete silence
"Link?" Ruby watches him as Link's eyes open and he too has tears in his eyes that do not flow
Sadly there is a massive difference as well. Link's tears not flowing are due to him being cold and full of hate, not trying to hold them back purposely. The former Beacon one person team pulls his once dear best friend Ruby into another hug. Although this one is no different than the one in Oniyuri, it is cold and feels lifeless, but it is a gesture of kindness and love from someone who now only feels resentment and anger towards nearly everybody. Though thankfully, there are exceptions, with those being a few living people scattered throughout Remnant, and of course the dead young women he sees come to life as ghosts more often than he'd like
"What happened that day at the top of Beacon tower… it affected you badly, didn't it? Is that why…" Ruby loudly gasps, then quickly raises her hand up to her mouth, "Is that w-why you-!" She moves her hand away and brings it back to rest on Link's face, whilst placing a finger on his lips with major concern. "I think I finally figured it out. It's not that you don't want to speak, is it? Link please tell me I'm wrong right now but… you CAN'T speak, right?"
(...N-Now… you… know…)
Link's breathing rapidly increases when Ruby mutters the words 'that day', but having one of his closest friends directly in front of him helps him not spiral into a meltdown, panic attack, or worse. The blond sighs again and nods at Ruby's discovery that he is mute due to trauma because of those horrible events that transpired during the Fall of Beacon
"Oh no…" Ruby quietly whimpers as tears spill down her cheeks, the flow from her eyes so grand that it trails all the way down to her jaw, and each droplet falls like a sprinkling sky. "I had no idea… I'm so sorry."
(...not… your… fault…) Link shakes his head and strives to be the stronger one by not crying with her
Instead, Link wipes away Ruby's tears to the best of his abilities with his hands, unaware of how comforting this is to his friend. The silver eyed girl experiences a surge of warmth and calms down after approximately a half minute of crying
"This is nice. To have some alone time after not having seen each other in… forever. We probably have to go back now, don't we?"
Link immediately nods to Ruby's question, an action that draws out giggles from the silver eyed girl
(...probably… but…) The boy in green glances back up into the sky and admires the moon some more. (...it is… nicer… here…)
"I know you didn't answer but I think I know what you want to say. We should go back but we don't have to just yet." Ruby joins in the moon gazing with her friend. "So um, I formed a new team with Jaune, Nora and Ren; we call ourselves RNJR. Well, except for Nora she... is adamant that we call the team JNNR. But three versus one ya know, democracy prevails!" She continues giggling. "Our mission is… well I think you know what it is. What else? Ummm, Yang wasn't looking too good when I left home to start my journey. She is healthy physically, but she is going through her own struggles too. But if anyone can get Yang out of her slump it's my dad and Zwei, they are the best."
(...sure…) Link feels almost nothing hearing about Yang unfortunate circumstances, but he closes his eyes and laments the loss of her arm
In spite of this, Link's sympathy does not last long, as he remembers Adam Taurus is the reason her arm is gone, which only infuriates him as the high ranking White Fang member has killed, terrorized, and wrong so many people close to Link and him directly
"I don't have a lot to say about Blake unfortunately. Yang told me she just ran away and I don't know why she would do that." Ruby glances over and nudges Link to make sure he is still paying attention. "Weiss on the other hand was forcefully taken to Atlas by her dad. I have no clue if I will ever see them again, but something in me says that team RWBY will be reunited one day. No promises, only gut feelings."
(...Weiss…) Link mumbles her name internally and suddenly he feels warm again, but only momentarily. (...yeah... I... hope... so)
"Annnnd." She beams. "I hope when you get your voice back the first thing you do is say hi to me, okay?"
Ruby extends her hand and it is curled up into a fist, she smiles at her friend, eagerly waiting for his response
(...fine…) Link returns the gesture and the two friends fist bump as a way to seal Ruby's words as a promise
"Great. Now we should probably head back, you lead the way? You did kind of lead us here annnd you did try to run off on us earlier, can't have you do that again." Ruby snickers. "Although, I will not hesitate to catch you and lead you back to our group, with our friends and my uncle."
(...our friends?...) Link wants to laugh at Ruby's politeness, sincerity and naivety in a sarcastic way but he does not retort.
Rather, he starts to walk back the way he came from, with Ruby following closely behind
…
In a shorter amount of time than they left for the odd spot in the forest, Ruby and Link return to the campfire, where the rest of team RNJR and Qrow are sitting silently, with the latter giving his voice a rest after speaking for a prolonged period
"Look who's back." Qrow motions Jaune, Nora and Ren to look in their direction as the injured huntsman takes a swig from his flask. "That was fairly quick."
"Hey guys." Ruby nods. "Yeah, we just needed a bit of time to ourselves, where did you leave off? Or are the stories over?"
"I had just asked your uncle to officially explain why he was trailing behind us rather than just following us." Jaune mumbles. "Something tells me he either doesn't want to say or waited for you to hear it yourself."
"Excellent point Jaune." Ruby's eyes widen and she turns to face Qrow. "Well? Explain yourself. Why couldn't you trust me at the very least? We are family. Why couldn't you just travel with us, instead of this secrecy and-!"
"I'm going to stop you right there Ruby." Qrow's voice is stern and everybody stops what they are doing
Ren was staring at the fire, Nora at Qrow, Jaune at the ground, Link at the moon, and Ruby glancing at her uncle and the mute blond in the group. Everyone turns to face Qrow as he normally calls his niece kiddo and not by her name, meaning this must be very serious
"This has nothing to do with trust. I… It's a long story, okay?"
"Seriously?" Nora raises an eyebrow. "After everything you've told us. Now you're tired of telling us stories?"
"Okay fine. Damn you kids are annoying." Qrow glances at the fire, "Did you know that crows are a sign of bad luck? It's an old superstition, but it's how I got my name. See, some people can absorb electricity." He looks at Nora, "And some people can burst into rose petals." He turns his gaze to Ruby. "And some people are just born unlucky. My semblance is just that, bad luck. It's always there, whether I like it or not, I bring misfortune. It comes in real handy when I'm fighting an enemy because no matter what strategy, counters, or ideas on the fly they come up with, they can't combat the misfortune I bring to them since they don't know what exactly is coming their way. But it makes it a little hard on friends and especially family. There… now I'm done telling stories and three of you already had the chance to take a walk, now it's my turn."
Qrow quickly stands up, but immediately pays the price and winces. His brash decision to not take his time proves to be a foolish mistake. The unlucky huntsman still holds his side and inhales deeply while taking in the scene around him
"Well." Jaune snorts and rolls his eyes. "You are just a real bundle of help, aren't you?"
The former leader of team JNPR gets nasty looks from Nora and Ren, Ruby shakes her head and even Link marches towards him but Ruby grabs his arms and desperately pulls him back
"Don't bother fighting each other, we need to be united now more than ever. Besides, he isn't exactly wrong." Qrow glares at Link, Nora, Ren, and Ruby before turning to Jaune. "Yeah. I sure am."
"O-Oh…" Jaune looks down at the ground once again as everyone else watches Qrow limp away
"There's nothing else you want to tell us uncle?" Ruby asks. "If anything is on your mind, please tell us."
"Not tonight, no." Qrow shrugs, but his focus is not entirely present
Rather, the older huntsman continues walking until he is out of sight, his sights are set on a red eyed raven that flies by
"Well that's just great. We got answers but didn't really get a solution." Jaune shakes his head. "This sucks."
Ruby and Link sit on the log where they were previously seated, next to each other as well. Link puts his belt back on, but notices something is different. Nothing was taken and yet his suspicions linger. Soon enough, he realizes somebody definitely touched his belt. Link's pouch and canteen look untouched, but Pyrrha's circlet is turned in another direction than before
"The questions aren't over yet." Jaune picks up his head and turns to Link. "Qrow had his strange reasons to follow us without directly joining us. So… what about you, Link?"
"Yeah. It's been on my mind this entire time but we needed answers from Ruby's uncle first." Nora turns her head to Link, as does Ren who does not say a word. "Start talking."
Link processes Jaune's question without any issue, but has no intention of answering it. An internal struggle brews as he is furiously processing who could have touched his belt while also not losing his head and snapping at someone, as these were his friends at one point. Although Link feels hatred for them now, he does not want to physically hurt anybody he wants to protect
"Guys." Ruby shakes her head. "Now isn't the time for this, it's late. How about we go to sleep?"
"No way! At least Qrow had his reasons. He said he would bring us misfortune right? So what's Link's reason for not traveling with us as soon as he found us?" Jaune stares daggers at Link, but his intense stare garners no fear. "Do you also bring us misfortune?"
(...you need… to stop… talking… to... me!) Link shakes his head and stands up, he promptly points to his belt whilst narrowing his eyes
"What?" Nora's eyes wander, she chooses to play dumb as Link continues to point. "What's up?"
"We don't know what you are implying, why don't you tell us what's wrong?" Jaune asks. "Maybe if you told us, we can help you."
"He can't." Ren shoots a partially sympathetic look at Link, but it was not a very friendly one either as he uncovers the same unfortunate circumstances as Ruby did. "T-That's why… he does not talk!"
"What's going on?" Ruby leans forward, her eyes darting to what Link is gesturing towards. "What did you guys do?"
"Us?" Nora nervously chuckles, almost instantly cracking under pressure. "Nothinnnng."
"Nora." Ren shakes his head
(...start… talking…) Link clenches his jaw due to the lack of answers
"Okay okay!" Jaune stands up and holds his hands in the air in defeat, "It was me, don't get mad at Nora. I just… couldn't believe you had that in your possession." He points at Pyrrha's circlet. "And I needed a closer look for myself so I grabbed your stuff. I… I-I'm-!"
(…what?!) Link closes his hands into tight fists, he wants to shout at Jaune and his JNPR teammates, but cannot bring himself to do so
"W-Whoa relax!" Jaune nervously backs down. "I didn't take anything I swear."
"You may as well tell him what we talked about Jaune." Nora mumbles. "The sooner he knows, the better."
The orange haired girl nods in approval, she smiles, which assures Link momentarily that they or at the very least Jaune will be apologetic
"Know what?" Ruby tilts her head in confusion
"I was going to give it a few days before politely asking but you might run away again and we won't see you for who knows how long." Jaune shakes his head, "And since you can detect things looking different even if it's by a millimeter, I cannot keep sneaking glances at Pyrrha's circlet. I need you to know-!"
"Ruby's uncle said it was a bad idea guys." Ren sighs in disapproval as he sternly interrupts his previous leader with no regret. "If we learned anything today, it should be to listen to Qrow more."
"Well Ruby's uncle doesn't get it." Jaune balls up his right hand. "How could he really?"
"Jaune is right. He didn't know Pyrrha like we did." Nora sighs
(...spit... it… out… already…) Link shifts his belt, nudging the circlet closer to his back and out of view from everybody
"I wanted you to know that after briefly talking with Nora and Ren. The three of us thought it would be best to ask you for a favor. I was wondering if you could give it to me." Jaune warmly smiles. "I would really appreciate it, I really lov-!"
"..." Link firmly shakes his head
His immediate response causes Jaune to stop speaking. On the inside, Link is still very angry with Jaune, Nora and Ren for what happened at Beacon. Now they want him to give up the last physical reminder he has of Pyrrha. The mute blond grits his teeth and shakes his head long enough for everyone to notice
"N-No? B-But…" Jaune is taken aback by the answer, as the previous team JNPR leader was expecting a gracious 'yes' or a head nod
"Hey." Nora speaks up. "You can't do-!"
Ren extends his arm in front of Nora and shakes his head for a third time, signaling her to say no more, having previously disapproved of asking the question as Qrow advised them not to follow through with the absurd request
"Guys." Ruby nervously laughs. "We should really go to sle-!"
"What do you mean no?!" Jaune asks, this time angrily. "And why haven't you answered any of our questions? Or anything with words for that matter. Do you think you're being cool with the silence and vague-!"
"Jaune!" Ren calls out
"Grrr…" Ruby this time balls up her fists as opposed to tightly grabbing at her skirt, and then finally, her attempt to be the friendly peacekeeper comes to an end. "HE CAN'T TALK JAUNE!"
"W-What?" Jaune takes a step back, unaware of how to take the new information. "What do you mean he can't talk? But how? Why? And when did this happen? How long have you known about it, Ruby?"
"Not that long. I only realized when we took our walk a bit ago. It's best that we don't talk about when and why as well." Ruby shakes her head. "It's a very personal topic to all of us."
"Huh?" Jaune raises an eyebrow. "What is the top-!"
"SHHH!"
Jaune almost finishes his question but Ruby quickly shushes him, desperate for her teammate not to poke and prod at Link
"It's the reason we are headed to Haven…" Ruby sighs and feels a tug at her heartstrings. "...If that isn't enough information for you."
"O-Oh." Jaune sighs and slumps down on the log in defeat
Being reminded of Pyrrha for a third time today makes him forget and drop the topic all together. Ren and Nora say nothing, they simply lower their head and think about their fallen friend
(...Pyrrha…) Link drops to the floor, backside first on the ground, using the trunk to lean and keep himself upright
He places both hands on his temples and internally battles to not think about the red haired angelic presence of Pyrrha, but like every other battle in his head, Link loses yet again. What comes to mind next are far too familiar visions, first are happy memories involving Pyrrha, like all the time they spent together talking, laughing, bonding, giving each other advice, and sparring. Sadly, this is followed by her brutal demise at the hands of a very evil woman, who happens to also be the fall maiden and someone who the former students sitting around a burning campfire were just informed serves an even more evil force that they will have to take head on
"H-Hey." Ruby leans over, rests her head on Link's shoulder and whispers in the ear of her distraught friend. "I'm sorry."
(Hello everyone, not gonna keep you here all day with boring life updates. Basically after I uploaded my last chapter, I decided to give new chapters a short break and re-write or edit/add on words to previous chapters starting from Chapter 1. I made progress in no time and updated the first 3 chapters but then stuff went down in real life. My work got shut down so I lost my job and life just took over. But no worries, writing in general and writing this story especially are always on my mind. I told myself I would never quit or go on another 3 year hiatus again and I am sticking to those words 110%. Sorry that it took almost 3 months and I hope to see you all in the next chapter whenever that is. Stay safe and enjoy the story.)