Chapter 27: Ticket to Strength
[A/N:
So, you may be wondering where the hell I disappeared to out of nowhere like that, and while I would like to say I have been busy with life and school I can't, so I won't.
A big problem with this portion of the story is that I hadn't thought it out beforehand, and without doing so I had no clue what I was going to do with it. The mix of the unknown and wanting to do this story justice overran my will to write and I just left it.
Granted, I have thought often about picking this story back up, but until now I had no drive to do so or even any ideas about how to move the story forward. Even now, I'm mostly satisfied with this chapter because I finally did it, and it at least seems cohesive enough.
On an easier note, I have moved back home. Situations and desires came about and in the end, home was where I needed to be, so I got back to my old job and plan to get some cash flowing before going back to school.
I will try to make uploads regular, or at least not several months in between (sorry again for that, but if it were me I'd prefer a good story to a fast story).
That's all I can think of. I hope my vision for this story can be fulfilled, and I do hope you all enjoy it. Once again, constructive criticism is appreciated as long as it is CONSTRUCTIVE. Any ideas you have about things you would like to see in the story (such as people, items, semblances, etc) I would be happy to listen to, but I cannot promise they will be used.]
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It was difficult to place just how I was feeling once I learned that Summer had left that night, especially as it took longer to learn anything about where she went or what she was doing. Part of me was calm, understanding that being a Huntress was her job so this was to be expected eventually, but another part of me was just as terrified at the prospect of this being the moment she doesn't come back.
For the first week I was mostly peeved at her leaving without saying she was doing so, but that was the same for everyone else in the house so that gave way to the next week's feeling of fear. By the beginning of the third week, the lack of any communication caused a spreading fear that led to Taiyang getting in contact with Ozpin, but that was just the final nail in her nonexistent coffin.
It was by the end of the month that we were gathered at the top of a very familiar hill that I had been visiting once every week, that it properly sank in. To my left was a broken-looking Taiyang, eyes puffy from extreme amounts of crying, and to my right was a quietly sobbing Yang and a tearful, confused Ruby who had not quite understood what was happening, and wouldn't for a while.
As I looked out to the slowly lowering sun, I realized a familiar blurriness that came with tears began appearing. Before I could begin to hold them back I glanced at the tombstone to commemorate Summer Rose and remembering her words I let the tears fall.
It was hard to place when she became so important to me, but as the first person I've opened up to, it wasn't easy to lose her. The only thing keeping me going now was the family I had been building around me, but even that seemed to be almost falling apart.
This was something I wasn't surprised was happening and it would take some time before the family structure would stabilize with such a loss, so I thankfully had all the time in the world to have my crisis of impact.
I mean, obviously, I impacted the story since Summer originally never came back when Yang was 6, but with her missing now it means I was just delaying the inevitable. Does that mean that I won't have a lasting impact on the story? Does my presence mean nothing?
My following days kept passing in a haze, and unless I actively tried to keep my attention on a memory or situation, I would drift to the ever-pressing question of my impact.
It was on such a day, continuously unable to focus, that I walked down from my room to the dining room table, forgetting that Taiyang had an errand to run and wouldn't be back until dinner. It took me a few minutes to realize this, leaving me to do the cooking for the three of us.
Not trusting myself with potentially dangerous things in my state I chose a simple breakfast of cereal, subconsciously choosing the kind the girls like more.
"Yang, Ruby, breakfast time!"
"..."
After waiting for a few minutes with no reply from the usually energetic Yang, I look over at the clock to notice it's closer to lunch than breakfast. So not only should she be up but one of them would've gotten me for breakfast when they realized Tai wasn't home.
Putting the pieces together embarrassingly slowly, my eyes slowly begin regaining their full luster as I begin remembering a small piece of RWBY lore that was introduced in Volume 2.
"Yang, Ruby, you up there?!" As I yell, I quickly go up the stairs three at a time, not even needing to knock to see through the open door of their shared bedroom. As my eyes begin widening, my head throbs, and I slip to my left knee, my vision going blurry as images start appearing.
As I begin focusing on the individual images, a memory that had laid dormant and fuzzy slowly begins coming into focus. Now with them playing as a video, it is Volume 2 Episode 6 when Yang describes the time she left home with Ruby in search of her birth mother Raven Branwen.
But suddenly, when it reaches the point they were attacked, the image stops and begins cracking. As pieces begin falling off the image, it begins revealing one very injured child Yang and a tiny terrified Ruby, with no Qrow in sight.
As my vision starts returning to normal I sprint to my room, grab my parent's blades, and unceremoniously leap from the window. Speeding toward the broken shack I had once found while exploring the area around the house, I could only hope what I saw had just been all my recent loss acting up.
"Shit!"
<Yang POV>
'I'm tired, so very tired.' The wagon behind me holding my baby sister feels like it weighs the same as dad that one time I tried to roll him around, but I don't care.
It had just been an accident when I knocked over the old picture frame, but when I picked up the picture it unfolded both itself and my world. To suddenly learn I wasn't mom's - no, Summer's child had been a lot, but finding that picture fixed everything.
I have no clue when it was taken, but I know for sure it must be a sign, a clue; at least something to lead me to my mother. I have been dragging Ruby around for what must be hours, so surely it must be - "There!"
Though I said it excitedly, it barely came out in more than an exhausted whisper. 'It's cold, I can barely stand, but I made it. I am finally here! Just a little further and…'
My thoughts trailed off as my feet refused to budge. Deep inside the broken-down shack was a mass of black darker than its surroundings, as if it was sucking in all light around it.
Shifting my foot in nervousness, I stepped on a branch, causing a loud snap. In almost the same amount of time it took to blink, there were several pairs of red eyes staring at me from the dark abyss.
I was terrified, but because of how tired I was I couldn't even cry for help. As the bodies of creatures both big and small came prowling toward me, they made sounds that sent shivers through my chilled bones.
'No! But the picture - my clue to my mother, it led here. Is this really the end?' As a few stragglers came out of the surrounding woods, All I could do was take a single step back, trying my best to cover Ruby from the Grimm before me.
My final thoughts as the leading monster lept at me were not of myself, nor my father, nor Summer, or my mother. They were of the little girl behind me, who I stupidly brought along on this stupid quest following some random picture I thought held the solution to all my problems.
'I'm sorry Ruby!'
As the pungent tar approached, I could only shut my eyes as hard as possible in hopes it was all a nightmare and that I would wake up in my room next to Ruby. But as I kept them shut a loud thud sounded from in front of me, and there was no pain nor waking up from a nightmare.
Slowly opening my eyes and letting out a breath I didn't know I had been holding, the world around me had turned golden. No, not turned golden, but looked golden, because surrounding me and Ruby was a bubble of sparkling gold that made the Grimm rebound away from us.
As a few more Grimm tried to break through the bubble, I looked around in awe, before my eyes saw a glint that made me turn my head rapidly. When I saw who it was, I couldn't believe it for a second, but the voice was undoubtedly his.
"Don't you dare touch them!"
<Argento POV>
"Argento?"
Hearing the weak voice from behind me, I turned toward Yang to see she had fallen backward, now sitting on the ground and leaning against the wagon holding a slightly waking-up Ruby. If I could see through her eyes I would see an overlapping image of my father and mother due to my eyes glowing a gold brighter than they ever have, causing semi-flames to rise from the corners of my eyes.
"Everything will be okay Yang, I won't let them hurt you."
Flashing her the brightest smile I could, I turned back to the Grimm ahead of me and my face fell to focus on the fight ahead. After my entrance of killing the straggler behind the girls, and then beheading the one leading the pack forward, the rest of the Grimm took a step back to regroup, giving me the chance to think.
The excitement I would've had for finally unlocking my aura was overridden by the uselessness it held at this moment. Even if I did know what exactly I could do, I couldn't risk running out of aura while the girls were in the bubble I made; even now I was feeling a steady drain on this new source of energy just to keep them inside, let alone the chunks it took every time it was hit.
As the Grimm began advancing once again, I sheathed the katana at my side and decided to pull out my mother's chokuto blades from my back. The attacks I made earlier weren't just a decision made in the heat of the moment, the way I attacked was specific to figure out how strong I currently am.
I may know these are all half-star Grimm, all of which looked like grotesque, overgrown dogs and cats, but in order to properly pace myself and most effectively protect the girls and myself I needed to know where I stood. Because of how easy it had been to go kill the two I chose, I needed speed more than reach and damage.
As I was formulating my plan of defense, one of the more impatient Grimm lunged forward, reaching me in a few strides - too bad it was too slow and alone, allowing me to dash to its side and use both blades to cut off its head. 'One down, too many more to go.'
Now with three dead, the Grimm were enraged and began swarming by number. Thankfully I was a single and small target, so only a few could attack at once, but just those few proved to be too many.
"Agh!"
As I defended against two strikes from separate Grimm in front of me, another hit me from behind. Having seen it I pushed the other two forward, but with my strength, I could only get far enough to obtain a shallow scratch along my upper back.
The smell of blood seemed to aggravate the rest of them, as they became slightly unorganized without their leader giving minor pattern 'orders'. Fully pushing one of the two in front of me away, I twisted the other's claws enough to get a solid swing in, managing to cut off the limb I had trapped.
As I went for the killing blow, I had to swiftly twist my waist and back, slightly aggravating the wound I received earlier as I barely pushed a claw upwards and barely got my shoulder scratched. With my chance to kill the one lost as it retreated, I kicked forward and managed to knock the attacking one over, and swiftly shoving my blade into the underside of their head I pierced through where the brain would be, one of the weak spots of most Grimm.
As its weight began falling onto my outstretched hand, I had to awkwardly pull it out while raising my other blade to block a spiked tail coming straight for my head. As the shockwave of the blow ran through my arm, I barely crouched in time for another claw to swing through the space my head was just in.
Being this low, I managed to take advantage of my position to slide my right sword from the tail as it joined my left and double-pierced through the one that just tried to claw my head. Little did I know, as I killed it with my attack another was just behind it, happily swiping its tail through its 'comrade' to get to me.
I barely let go of my left sword in time, but even as I twisted my body out of the way one of the spikes managed to reach my arm and drag along it, leaving a shallow but painful gash along it. As I managed to pull out both swords with my right hand and kick the one that just swung its tail at me, I jumped back just in time to dodge a charge from one with a horn on its forehead.
Opting for a small breather, I continued my way backward, creating a small distance between the remaining Grimm and me. Now breathing somewhat heavily and holding my left arm, I stared at the mass of Grimm, knowing that this was going to be one hell of a fight.
As I dashed back in and continued to swing my blades, dodge the attacks, and get hit by even more of them, I could feel my stamina waning. But strangely enough, despite the dire situation I continued to find myself in, I couldn't help but smile.
Yes, Qrow was nowhere to be seen, and yes, I could potentially call this my grave, but the simple fact that Qrow wasn't here in time to save the girls showed me my answer to my recent dilemma; I can impact the story in meaningful ways.
If I hadn't left the house when I did, Yang would've probably been maimed, if not killed, and that means my very presence has already altered the world around me. Yes, it means some of my knowledge of the future may become irrelevant, but I never planned to stick to the story.
But as my steps faltered as I leaned on my katana, barely keeping myself upright with my numerous wounds bleeding, I did feel some regret. Regret for being unable to uphold my final promise to Summer, and as I hazily eyed the few Grimm that have withstood my attacks I could feel my aura reserves begin to fizzle.
Behind me, the bubble of gold began to crack and flicker, and surely if Grimm could feel happy the ones remaining definitely did. Forcing my body to move, I bent over and picked up my left chokuto blade from the ground, barely being able to even keep it in my hand.
"You… shall not… pass."
Giving myself a lazy grin for the well-timed, if not slightly cringe, reference, I watch as the Grimm hungrily jumped toward me. As I prepared to make my final stand, hoping to the Brother Gods above that I'm the only one who has to die, the Grimm's head that was closest to us exploded.
*Bang**Bang*
One after another, the heads of the half-star Grimm exploded, and as the final one began its descent toward me a tall, protective back landed in front of me. Recognizing the faint scent of alcohol and the signature red cape, my body finally relaxed and fell backward, only to be gently caught.
"The hell kid, do you have a death wish or somethin'?"
"Or somethin'. I can… tell you all about… it later. Are they safe?"
"Uncle Qrow!"
Looking over at the now fading bubble, I can see a starry-eyed, terrified Ruby and a very much crying Yang rush over to us.
"I'll take that as a yes."
And with that, I blacked out.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone