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

Chapter 9: Summer

I walked back to where I found Deacon. He was still in the same place.

"Hello," I greeted him.

He glared at me. "What do you want? I told you to leave me alone!"

I smiled warmly. "I want to help you. I know you're a bit frightened right now, but I promise you can trust me. I won't harm you."

"Where are my parents? I've been hiding here even since those... things attacked."

"You mean Grimm?"

He nodded. "Yeah. My mom had me hide here until they came back. Where are they?"

I took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be an easy topic...

"Deacon... do you know what huntsmen and huntresses are?"

He looked confused. "I... think so. They're the ones who fight monsters and stuff, right?"

I smiled a little. "That's right. Well... I'm a huntress. My name is Summer. I came here with my partner to rescue your mother and father from some Grimm. But... things don't go so well and..."

My voice trailed off. I couldn't seem to finish.

Deacon stared at me. "But what? Something happened... didn't it?"

I nodded slowly. "...Yes. My partner and I didn't make it in time and... your parents died."

His eyes widened and filled with tears. "Wh... What?"

"Deacon... I'm so sorry. I know this is a lot to take in right now. But... I'm here to take care of you. My partner and I will teach you everything you'll need to know about the Grimm and how to fight them off."

He looked up at me. "You... You're going to teach me to fight?"

"If you come with me, yes," I replied.

I extended my hand out to him. He hesitated for a moment before taking my hand and pulling himself to his feet.

"Okay, I'll come with you," he said.

I smiled. "Thank you. You'll be meeting my partner, Qrow. Don't worry, you can trust him."

Deacon looked doubtful. "If you say so..."

I lead him back to where Qrow was earlier. I was relieved to see that the bodies had been removed.

"I see he finally came out of his hiding place," Qrow said, stepping forward towards Deacon.

He hid behind me, only taking a peek at Qrow.

Qrow held his hands up. "Hey, I'm not here to hurt you, kid. I'm here to help. The name's Qrow."

"My name is Deacon," he said quietly.

I turned to Qrow. "I would like to stay here and train Deacon for a while. Would that be okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I found an abandoned bookstore not too far from here. It even has a small kitchen near the back so we should be able to fix meals or whatever we'll need."

I smiled. "That's great! We should really start thinking about dinner anyway."

"I also fortified the building in order to keep out the Grimm. You might want to double check everything to see if it's secure enough."

"What are you going to be doing?" I asked.

"I'll be heading to the market and getting more supplies. I'll be back later this evening. Look after Deacon."

I nodded. "Of course. I'll see you later then."

I lead Deacon to the abandoned bookstore Qrow mentioned. He seemed to have done a good job fortifying it. I had Deacon sit on one of the couches as I checked the oven and faucet to see if they still worked. To my surprise, they worked fine from what I could tell. I didn't want to keep Deacon alone for too long, so I walked back to where he was and noticed he was sleeping.

I smiled at his peaceful face and went to sit across from him. It was an unfortunate situation. Having a child lose both of his parents in a day. I couldn't do much for him other than care for him and try to give him what his parent couldn't anymore. Granted, I didn't know much about being a mother or having children, but I couldn't just leave this child now. Not after what he's been through. Unlike most people, I knew what it was like to grow up alone without anyone. I didn't want young Deacon to experience that too...

"Summer? Are you here? I'm back," I heard Qrow say.

I quickly sprinted to meet him.
"Shhh... Deke just fell asleep," I whispered.

Qrow smiled a little. "That's a cute nickname for him."

I blushed. I hadn't realized I had said that out loud.
"Really? It just came to my mind just now. I don't think Deacon will like it, though..."

Qrow smiled more. "We'll just use it to embarrass him then. That's what parents are for, right?"

I punched his arm and couldn't help but laugh. "So, what did you get at the market today?"

He held up a few bags. "Not much I'm afraid. But I got the ingredients to make ramen. That should last us a few days, I think."

I took the bags from him and kissed his lips gently. "Thanks. I'll get started on dinner. I want you to keep a close eye on Deke."

He nodded. "Sure. Just let me know when it's ready."

"Will do," I said, carrying the bags to the kitchen.