Truth, Lies, and Silver Eyes (A Sequel to STRQ) [Book 2]

Chapter 29: Summer

I stared down at my cloak as it was soaking in the sink. It would take at least a few days for the blood stains to be removed...

"Summer?"

I jumped and whirled around. Deacon was standing in front of me, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Deke? What are you doing awake this early?" I asked him.

He looked at me, confused. "Um... the sun has been up for a while. And I always get up this early."

I turned my head to look out of the window. Sure enough, the sun had risen. I turned to Deke and did my best to smile.

"Of course. I must be a little tired today. Silly me," I said, laughing a little.

Deacon stared at me. "Where were you yesterday?"

The memory of Laurel's death came to mind. I gasped and staggered back, gripping the counter for support.

Deacon stepped forward slowly.
"Summer... are you okay?" he asked, sounding concerned.

Once my balance was back, I nodded and smiled reassuringly at him.
"I'm okay," I said, "I'm just... feeling a bit off today."

"You didn't answer my question," he said. "Where did you go yesterday?"

"I... went to check on someone."

Deacon cocked his head, curious. "Who?"

I gripped the counter tighter.
"She was... a close friend of mine," I said quietly.

"Oh. What happened to you last night? You seemed scared... and your cloak was covered in blood!"

"Well... things didn't go so well and... my friend was killed."

I watched as his eyes went wide and he became quiet. After a few seconds, I walked over to him and patted his shoulder lightly.

"Let's not get too down, okay? We have things to go over today. Since Qrow is resting right now, I'm going to have to teach you how to fight. But that'll be after we go over your spelling words and reading."

Deacon gazed up at me. "You're going to teach me how to fight? But you're a girl!"

I folded my arms. "So? Girls can fight, too."

He grinned mischievously. "Prove it."

I couldn't help but grin back. "Okay. After we finish your other work first."

He moaned in disappointment and I ruffled his hair.

"I'll go get your things. Why don't you have a seat at the table?"

Deacon walked over to the table and sat down while I went to one of the back rooms. They didn't really serve any purpose besides storing things. All of the education supplies was stored in the left back room. I rummaged through several books until I found the one that contained Deacon's current spelling words. I made my back to the kitchen and found Deacon waiting for me patiently. I smiled and sat across from him.

"Ready to begin?" I asked.

He sighed. "I guess so. What words are we going to go over today?"

We went over several words and how to spell them for a little while. Then Deacon insisted that he read something aloud to me.

"Please! I want to see if I've improved on my reading!" he begged.

"Well... alright," I told him. "What book would you like to—"

Before I could finish, he brought out the book filled with fairytales.

"This one!"

He opened the book to the story about silver eyes.

"You've been wanting to read that story a lot lately," I said.

He grinned. "I know. I can't help it. It's my favorite story now!"

I laughed and sat next to him as he attempted to read. He read a few fairy tales before he closed the book and gazed outside.

"It's nearly sundown already? Qrow usually trains me right about now," he said.

I stood to my feet. "Okay. Let's start training then."

Deacon stood up and followed me outside.
"So... what are you going to teach me?" he asked.

"That's depends... what has Qrow taught you so far?"

He was quiet before he answered.
"He's taught me the fighting stance he uses and some punches, but that's pretty much it."

I nodded. "Okay. I suppose I could teach you how to block some attacks. Does that sound like something you'd like to learn?"

Deacon nodded. "Yeah. I'll need to learn how to protect myself."

I smiled and got in my fighting stance. "Good. Read to get started?"

He nodded and charged towards me. I blocked his first attack with my left wrist.

"Nice attack," I told him. "If you're wanting to block, one way to do it is by using your wrist like I just did. Would you like to try?"

He grinned and nodded. This time, I was the one who charged at him. I sent my fist towards his throat and he quickly blocked it with his right wrist.

"Well done. I'm actually impressed you managed to get it down on your first try."

His eyes lit up. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah. It took me a few times to learn how to successfully block an attack like that. If you keep up this rate, you'll be as good as me. Maybe as good as Qrow, too."

He smiled widely. "You really think so?"

"I do think so. Did you want to continue to train?"

"Sure. You're pretty tough for a girl, you know."

I smiled at him. "Girls can fight too, Deke. I was going easy on you, too."

He rolled his eyes at me. "No way. I'd like to see you fight me for real."

"We'll see. Let's train a little while longer before it gets too dark."

I tried to catch him off guard by sending a punch towards him, but he managed to dodge the last second.

"Haha! You missed me!" he said, taunting me a little.

"That's not fair, you were supposed to block my attack!" I told him.

We both laughed for a few minutes before we started to train together again. This continued hours after the sun had gone down. Once we were finished, we went back into the house and found Qrow awake waiting for us.

"You two were out there for a long while," he said. "Did training go okay?"

Deacon ran to Qrow and hugged him. "It went great! Summer taught me something new that I can't wait to show off. I think I'll head to bed now, though."

Qrow smiled and ruffled his hair.
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow, kid."

"Goodnight, Summer. Night, Uncle Qrow!"

I watched as he curled up on one of the couches. He was asleep in minutes.

"Thanks for training him today," Qrow told me.

I smiled. "It's no problem. It keeps my mind off of... you know."

He smiled sadly. "I know. The fact that you're still teaching and training Deacon says a lot about you. You're stronger than you think, Summer."

I hugged him as tears filled my eyes. "Thank you, Qrow... That really means a lot."

He kissed my head gently. "You should get some sleep. I'm still feeling pretty tired myself."

I yawned and made myself comfortable on one of the larger couches. Qrow laid next to me and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. My eyes closed slowly and I drifted off to sleep.