RWBY: Parabellum - Male Reader x Harem (Complete)

Part 70

Sangria wasn't sure what to think of Iris at the moment. She was young, both in mind and spirit yet showed wisdom only dying people showed.

She'd caught them a nice pair of rabbits for dinner. All with a lengthy bit of wire and a good pair of eyes to spot their tracks.

"It should just be a few more hours from here." Her traveling companion muttered while looking over a map. "We'll take the boat the next town over and see how it goes. That should be another few hours."

"Hmm..."

Iris was resourceful in a world full of resources. Nothing seemed to hold her back because there was no wall to stop her, yet with that in mind she rarely ever left home.

She was brave in a land of peace, but Sangria wouldn't judge her for that. She'd taken time out of her day to cook her a good meal and seek out a lost family.

She was good people, she realized. Both a good soul and heart she had a hard time trusting after the whole dying conundrum.

That night, they lied under the stars beside a fire Iris insisted on making. And with a belly full of rabbit and water, Sangria was sure to fall asleep fast. But not after her long gaze at the lights dotting the sky, and wondering if her love did the same.

Despite the soul-crushing situation she found herself in, Sangria continued forward. The weight of Y/N was heavy on her mind, but so was the need to see others.

Iris was respectful in her actions. She hardly spoke even when forcing herself up to safely burn out the fire and gather their belongings before the sun even rose.

Continuing down the road was easy, simple. Besides a few traveling merchants, they never encountered a problem on this short journey.

But it was always hard to live by Y/N's words, his philosophy. She couldn't comprehend the fact that there was always something worth it down the line, like some sort of light in all the darkness. She hoped she just wasn't able to fully grasp the idea, not yet, anyway.

Unknown to them was within all the traveling traders were two old souls. Alerted by Sangria's presence, they arrived on horseback after a whole day and night of riding.

Sangria wasn't all that sure who she was looking for. Maybe her old man was just that, old. Or maybe he'd kept an image of youth like the many faces she'd seen on the street.

No, what she found instead was a grizzled face under the shadow of a wide-brimmed hat.

His eyes were soft, yet piercing when the time called for it. And as much as he liked a clean, shaven face, he let a stubble form from a recent decision.

Sangria wasn't one to stare, so he recognized her first. Uttering her name in surprise was her father, the once sheriff and Ranger, Flint.

"Guin?"

Guin. It was something hardly anyone called her, let alone knew of. The last to say her real name was Y/N, who did so in their most private moments.

To hear her name shortened and so suddenly, Sangria turned around just as the horse did the same.

Flint, both wide-eyed and slack-jawed, gave the arm wrapped around his stomach a good shake, earning a grumble from a sleeping woman.

"Vel." He called out to the woman, shaking her arm vigorously. "Vel!"

Iris could see it in their eyes when they dismounted, the recognition and disbelief. It was the conclusion to years of waiting and intense yearning.