Herald of the Sea (RWBY)

Chapter 6: Truth and Responsibility

Chapter 6

    Qrow and Triton sit on a log together, both of them bandaged from their wounds, they both pass sips from Qrow’s flask. Qrow had just finished telling everyone the story of what happened at Beacon, the stuff that went on in the shadows. Ozpin, Glynda, himself, Ironwood… and Pyrrha.

Qrow: “Really? No questions?”

Jaune: “Of course we have questions, this is just… a lot to take in.”

Qrow, sighs: “Course, sure.”

Ruby: “So these… maidens, they’re power fighters that don’t need dust to use magic.”

Qrow: “Yeah.”

Nora: “And there are four of them?”

Qrow: “Yep, always.”

Ren: “which means that when one of them dies, the power transfers to someone, a female, that they care about?”

Qrow: “Whoever was in their thoughts last, important distinction. Best option, it’s someone we can trust. Regardless, their souls become combined, in a way.”

Jaune: “And that’s what you were trying to do to Pyrhha, the night the tower fell. You were trying to turn her into them.”

Qrow: “The previous fall Maiden, Amber-”

Triten: “Amber, what?”

Qrow: “She didn’t have a last name, she was a traveler, dark skin, brown hair, brown eyes. She was the perfect maiden, as she didn’t have a very unique look.”

Triton: “I see…”

Qrow: “Well Amber, had been attacked, she was young, inexperienced. And her assailant, who we now know as 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.”

Jaune: “So you forced it on Pyrrha.”

Qrow: “We didn’t force anything, we explained the situation and gave her a choice, and she chose. You were there, you heard her.”

    Jaune gets up and walks into the forest line, presumably to take a deep breather.

Ruby: “That guy, Tyrian, why was he after me?”

Qrow, sighs again: “Well, it definitely painted a target on your back with what you did in Beacon. Shooting Cinder and having the Wyvern go away. I told you that silver eyes are a rare trait, and now you’ve made some very powerful people upset. Not many people know about the silver eyes, and most that do aren’t happy that one’s in the public view. That’s why I’ve been keeping an eye on ya, wanted to make sure you were safe, all of you.”

    Qrow glances back and says the last part loud enough for Jaune to hear. Triton grabs the flask and takes a large sip, and slides down the log, laying back on it.

Ruby: “Well why not just travel with us? It seems like that would’ve been way easier.”

Jaune: “He was using you as bait!”

Triton: “Watch your tongue before I make it gone! He was protecting all of you, didn’t you notice the lack of Grimm? That’s because he was drawing them to himself, and keeping them away from all of us, it wasn’t until I separated from the group that I noticed.”

Qrow: “Yeah, and it’s some complicated stuff.”

Jaune: “What is all of this? Ruby’s being hunted, the schools are being attacked, and all for what? What is the point of all of this, could you just tell us what is going on!?”

Qrow: “Could you just sit down, you’re stressing me out kid.”

    Jaune begrudgingly sits back on his log in the camp’s light. Triton holds up his emblem and rubs the thumb over the plating, a hole nearly pierced through it.

Qrow: “Not many people are super religious these days. This world has been around for a long time, long enough for people to make dozens of gods, but if you believe Ozpin, two of them are actually real. They were two brothers. The older sibling, the God of Light, found joy in creating forces of life. Meanwhile, the younger brother, the God of Darkness, spent his time creating forces of destruction. As you can imagine, they both had pretty different ideas about how things should go. The older one would spend his days creating water, plants, wildlife. And at night, his brother would wake to see all the things that the elder had made and become disgusted. To counteract his brother's creations, the God of Darkness brought drought, fire, famine, all he could do to rid Remnant of life. Life always returns. So one night, the younger brother went and made something - something that shared his innate desire to destroy anything and everything.”

Triton: “Hell.”

Ruby: “The grimm…”

Triton: “That too.”

Qrow: “You guessed it. The older brother finally had enough. Knowing that their feud couldn't last like this forever, he proposed that they make one final creation... together, something that they could both be proud of, their masterpiece. The younger brother agreed. This last great creation would be given the power to both create and destroy. It would be given the gift of knowledge, so that it could learn about itself and the world around it. And most importantly, it would be given the power to choose, to have free will to take everything it had learned and decide which path to follow - the path of light or the path of darkness. And that is how Humanity came to be.”

Ren: “But... what does that have to do with us?”

Qrow: “Well, that's the kicker. See, the four gifts to mankind - knowledge, creation, destruction and choice - aren't just metaphorical. Each of them exists in a physical form, left behind by the Gods before they abandoned Remnant, and each of them is extraordinarily powerful. If someone were to collect all four, they'd be able to change the world. That's exactly what the enemy wants. The Huntsman Academies were created to train generations of Humanity's protectors, but they also serve another purpose - guarding the Relics. When Ozpin's predecessor founded the schools, he built them around the Relics to act as a fortress. Not only would they be easier to defend, but they would constantly be surrounded by trained warriors. The hope was that hiding them would keep mankind from using them against itself... and, of course, keeping them out of her reach. So yeah, there's that.”

Ruby: “Her. You mean Salem?”

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.”

Triton: “Hmm… We need to train, especially Ruby and Jaune, you both are the furthest behind in this group.”

Jaune: “I know…”

Ruby: “What!? How!?”

Triton: “You may have the face of a selfless person, but you’re not.

Ren: “Triton…”

Triton: “When Qrow said to back out of a fight, you refused even after I impaled you into a wall, that doesn’t make you strong. It makes you stupid.”

Jaune: “T-Triton…!”

Triton: “You were outmatched in all categories, you can’t even work in a team correctly, and both Qrow and I got injured protecting you.”

Nora: “Woah!”

Triton: “You’re weak, if you want to fight so bad, then do what you’re best at. Fight the mindless Grimm!”

Qrow: “Triton!”

Triton comes back to his senses and takes a deep breath, his hair steaming and smelling burnt: “You need to face reality and take responsibility, everything has a price.”

    He gets up and jumps up the cliff behind him and Qrow. The remaining group looks to Ruby, tears falling out of her eyes. Qrow looks down and doesn’t say anything, just continuing drinking himself until sleep overtakes him. Jaune, Ren, and Nora comfort Ruby for the night.