Legends of Remnant. The Magi.

Chapter 14. Blood Thick; Water Thin.

     After we made it to Snowhill, we geared ourselves up. Purchased more food supplies, more coats, blankets, tents; everything we needed for a near endless trek through the snowy wastes of Atlas. after we had everything we needed, I checked the time. "It's only 12," I say to the others. "We could sleep today, and be up and leave tonight," Gearalt suggests. "Or, we can stay all night and wait until tomorrow," I say, "what's the verdict?"
      It was unanimous that we stay all day and night and make way tomorrow morning. Due to our group size, and the Atlean Tournament beginning soon in Hierarchy, the hotel was all but filled. We all had to settle for a single room. "Alright, ground rules," I say setting my bag in the corner. "One, Shayla, keep your hands to yourself." "No promises," she laughs.
     "Two; Gearalt and Yesenia, keep it quiet tonight? I don't care what you do but if you wake me so help me, you're both going out the window," I say as they both laugh. "That goes double for me, by the way," Ryan interjects.
     We all sat and talked in the room; it was snowing hard outside, covering the ground in a new fluffy layer of snow. "So, how'd you guys all meet?" Shayla asks, breaking my concentration watching the snow fall. I look at my friends, wondering how they'd respond.
     "Well Topaz beat the tar outta me in a tournament," Gearalt smiles. "Best damn fighter I ever met, by the way." "Oh c'mon, I'm not that good," I say like he's a drunkard. "Bullshit, you call burying me neck deep in dirt 'not that good'?" He laughs. "It's all his mind powers," he says like he's telling a ghost story. "It's not 'mind powers' you fool," I say as he smiles.
     "Anyway, after that fight, he and I decided to travel together," Gearalt continues. "Couple handsome guys, traveling the world, fighting monsters, knocking off bandits and killers," he sighs laying back. "How long ago was this?" Shayla asks. "Bout, 5 years now?"Gearalt guesses. "Yeah, 5 years," I confirm.
     "After a while," I continue, "we were traveling between cities in Vale, and we found Yesenia," I say as she tries to make herself small. I can only guess what she went through with Slavers. "Yesenia, do you want me to tell the story?" I ask softly. "No, no it's okay Topaz... I'll tell it," she sighs.
     "I was a slave for a long time; ever since I was born. All because I was able to use Dust, because I was born a Huntress," she says softly as we all sit in closer to listen to her, her short bobby blonde hair moving over her eyes. "Then, after I was sure that I'd never be able to make it away from them, I met Topaz and Gearalt," she says with a smile. "They set me free, and I begged to join them," she says bashfully. "A proposition I was all to quick to accept, I might add," I say trying to lift up Yesenia's spirits.
      "So, I joined them. Got to kill those bastards who imprisoned me, and I got to travel and see the world with two of the best guys I've ever met," Yesenia says happily. "And it was a few months after that, I remember we picked up Ryan," she says looking at her. "Yeah, picked me up," Ryan repeats distantly.
     "You're not gonna tell us how you met?" Shayla asks Ryan. Ryan looks up at Shayla, "well there's not much to tell." We all sit patiently as Ryan shifts uncomfortably. "Ryan you don't have to talk if you don't want to," I say softly, "we can change the subject." She sighs softly, finally looking up, her brown hair sitting neat upon her head.
     "I was born a Huntress too," she starts. "People said I was one of the strongest they'd ever seen; so they must have never met Topaz," she says with a small genuine smile as she looks at me before continuing. "From when I was old enough to walk; and assumed old enough to hold a weapon and wield my Dust, I was trained to hunt," she said but paused. We waited for a few long moments before Yesenia finally asked, "hunt what?"
     Ryan shuddered softly. Her memories must have been flooding back, and she was hesitant to speak. "Ryan..." I ask gently, "you know you can tell us," I say, trying my hardest not to pressure her.
     "I wasn't trained like a regular Huntress; I wasn't taught to fight. My Dust, my Magics, weren't meant for people. I was a particular Hunter for a particular game," she says before sighing again. We waited; I think she was expecting one of us to ask what, but we were patient and waited for her answer.
     "I was trained to exclusively hunt..." She said but hesitated. "Grimm..." She whispered, barely audible. I felt every hair on my body stand on end and felt a cold shiver wash over me. "No..." I say sadly, "a child? Fighting a mans war?"
     Gearalt sits up and we all focus on Ryan. "How many have you killed?" Gearalt asks. "Um..." Ryan starts, "I never really kept count. All I know is that I'm scared of them." An uncomfortable silence fills the room; it felt like it was swelling and would blow the room apart.
     "Fear is your enemy Ryan," I say softly. "It's all of our enemy. Face the fear," I say. Ryan, and everyone in the room turned their eyes to me. "What do you mean?" Gearalt asks. "The hardest thing to do is face that which puts you in fear," I say looking into their eyes.
Fear was prevalent. Even talking about the Grimm; just mere legends used to spook children. And yet here was a Huntress who could give valid and vivid accounts of them. Deny her that; I dare anyone to.
"Face your fear; and fear will lose," I say as their faces relax. "You're a smart man Topaz," Yesenia says laying back. "I didn't get where I am by being a fool, I'll tell you that," I say with a smile. "Hear hear," Gearalt smiles and lays back also.
* * *
After that conversation, we all decided to sleep. We were all exhausted from the fighting the previous day, and sleep was all too necessary.
I was first to rise again. It was sometime in the evening; torches lit the ground from high on their posts as gentle flurries of snow brushed past. I sat up from the floor, Shayla's arm falling from me, she was still heavy in sleep. Yesenia and Gearalt had their arms wrapped around one another, also lying on the floor, snoring softly. Ryan got the bed; we all thought it appropriate as she had no one to share her sleep with.
I stood and quietly left the room and and made my way outside. It was cold, I pulled my coat close to myself as I walked. I was careful to tread softly; the snow crunching no matter weather I did or not. I made my way to the center of town, now quiet and all but lifeless in the cold.
I sat on a bench and dug around in my coat pocket. I felt my hand on my pipe and matches. I sat and lit the pipe, sucking in the smoke from the herb. I felt warmth wash over me, and I exhaled softly, my breath looking like I had fire in my stomach.
     I turned and looked around, seeing the town was still empty. I took another hit from the pipe, and felt relaxed for the first time since I'd killed that Reacher. I heard footsteps crunching behind me, and turned sharply. I looked and saw Ryan, her hood pulled up as she walked slowly toward me.
     "Ryan?" I ask as smoke pours from my mouth; I turn my head and try to hide it. "What're you doing out here? It's freezing," I say. She keeps walking forward, quiet and straight. "Ryan?" I ask softly and stand up. "Ryan what's wrong?"
     She looks up at me, lines of tears etched in her face. Her cheeks are rosy and her mouth is shuddering. "Topaz... I-I-I...." She stammers before she buries her face in her hands. I walk to her and wrap my arms around her as she cries in my arms.
     "Shhhh..." I whisper as I rub her head. "It's okay Ryan..." I say as she whimpers and heaves in my chest. I knew this cry. It was what I felt every time I ever woke up from a nightmare.
     "What happened Ryan?" I ask as I look into her eyes. She wipes away tears from her eyes and looks up at me. "I had a dream... A nightmare..." She says distantly. "Grimm?" I ask plainly. She nods slowly. "I thought I was strong enough... I thought I could..." She starts.
     "Enough of that," I say patting her shoulders. "Do you have any idea how strong you are?" I ask. "You've saved my life on multiple occasions Ryan Tulpa," I smile. She looks at me dumbly. "What do you mean?" She asks. "I mean, don't doubt yourself," I say as I return to my seat on the bench, now covered again in snow. "I don't doubt you; I believe in you," I say.
     "You do...?" She says as she sits next to me. "I do," I say proudly, "and not you, or Shayla, or even The Caretaker can make me not believe in you." She looked at me and smiled weakly. "I'd die for you Ryan; I would throw my life on the line for you," I say looking at her. "I'm worth that?" She asks bluntly.
      I smile softly before responding. "You are. Gearalt is. Yesenia is. Everyone is; that's the difference between The Caretaker and I. She wants to kill. I want to defend," I say putting my hand in my pocket, feeling my pipe. "Sounds like two sides of a coin," Ryan says. "Smart kid," I chuckle as I take out the pipe and matches.
     "Want some?" I say offering her the pipe. "What is it?" She asks. "Something to take off the edge. Maybe let you get back to sleep," I say. She looks at the pipe, then up to me. "It's not gonna make me freak out or anything right?" She asks worriedly.
     "If it does, I'm right here," I reassure her. "It threw me on a bad trip my first few times, but eventually you just relax and the smoke will calm your nerves," I say still holding the pipe.
     She reaches for it and wraps her hand around mine and holds it for a moment. "Thank you Topaz," she whispers. I smile softly before replying," of course, my dear friend."
*                              *                       *
     In the night, shortly after Ryan left the room, Shayla was next to wake. She looked around cautiously, seeing only Yesenia and Gearalt, arms wrapped tightly around each other on the cold floor.
     She quietly made her way out of the room, and instead of searching for Topaz, made her way on to the roof. She peered in the dark of night; around the torches and searching for Topaz's form in the cold.
     She found him, with Ryan, sitting on a bench in the middle of town, taking turns smoking from a pipe and billowing smoke from their mouths. "Good, he's busy," she sighs. She stands up and puts her hands at her sides, palms up. She births fire from her hands, and it envelops her.
     As she breathes in and closes her eyes, she is taken apart and whisked away. When she opens her eyes, she sees she is surrounded by rocks and dead sticks. The place is radiating death and despair. As Shayla looks around, she feels no fear, nor despair. After a few moments, she finds what she came here for.
     "Silver," Obsidian says almost happily, "come to give yourself over to me?" Shayla stares at Obsidian for a moment, her fists balled and her body tense. "No," Shayla says simply, "I came to ask you a few questions..." She says distantly.
     "You can't stop me by giving yourself up to me," Obsidian says evilly. "What about him?" Shayla says. Obsidian's eyes widen in intrigue. "Who?" Obsidian asks, but knows who Shayla meant. "You know who," Shayla snarls.
     "You'd give him up? Knowing what I'd..." She pauses, "do... To him?" Shayla bows her head in shame. "Would that stave your hunger?" Shayla asks, "If I gave him to you?" Obsidian studies these words; this proposal. "A kind offer... But what makes you think he'd allow this?" She asks.
     Shalya looks at Obsidian, her once sister. "I know you love him," Obsidian says, "and you would give that which you cherish most?" After a moment, Shayla nods. "Yes... I would..." She says softly.