#so I���m trying to do art and stuff before it wears off and I revert to being a brainless blob

[evanaaml]

EVGN Ch. 8

Chapter 8: Return to Vale

The car ride had remained uneventful since they left the farm house. Though conversation broke out occasionally, it always ended abruptly and turned into minutes of silence. This, however, didn’t seem to bother the hunters. They wanted to take advantage of the quiet; choosing to soak it in before they would inevitably be thrust into battle once more.

Eallgréne spent the trip thus far checking over his equipment, making sure his arrows were primed and ready should something occur. Nickel decided to try and relax, laying back and allowing the sun’s rays to keep him warm while he rested his eyes. He was afraid of falling asleep entirely, should the truck hit a pot hole and bounce him around the cab, and so remained at least somewhat attentive.

Gael looked out the window in front of her, trying to keep to herself. Sitting in the middle made sense for her compared to the heavily-armored Violette, but it did make for an awkward trip. She couldn’t stretch out, and kept her hands on her lap like a child. Luckily, both door windows and the back window being down allowed a nice breeze into the cab, which at least kept her cool. Her hair blew around from the wind and the fur on her upper ears swayed.

Suddenly, she was smacked in the face with long blonde hair. She wiped her face instinctively and turned to Violette. Wearing her helm, only the lower half of her long blonde hair was affected by the wind, though it did tend to fly around wildly. Violette had immediately noticed what had happened.

“Oh! Sorry, Gael!”, Violette said apologetically, trying to keep her hair tamed.

“Oh, it’s fine. I know what it must be like to keep it from blowing around in this breeze”, Gael replied. It was then she noticed Violette’s project. The knight was widdling at a dust crystal; much like she had done the night prior, when they were at the saloon. This crystal was a dark green in color, and was barely worked on. “Working on that secret project of yours again?”, Gael asked with a smile. Violette looked to her crystal, then back to her with a smile of her own.

“M-hmm, suuuuper secret, shhhh!”, Violette replied, putting a finger to her mouth. Gael giggled.

“I’m excited to see what this turns into. Hope it comes out as well as you hope!”, Gael said with genuine enthusiasm. She loved seeing people follow through their creativity with things like crafts and writing. Always a fan of the arts, seeing someone’s imagination come to life, in a way, really made her happy.

Violette was an easy example of this, as she always had something stirring with that mind of hers. Violette was also a skilled artist in her own right, and often showed Gael her work, which she always appreciated.

“I hope so too. It’s not something that’s going to be a work of art, but it’s personal, so I intend to make sure it’s done right”, Violette explained.

“Not to slow down your progress, but do you mind?“, Nickel asked suddenly, his hand sticking out through the back window. Violette took a moment before realizing what he wanted.

“Oh! Yeah, of course”, Violette said, handing him the knife. Nickel took it and spun it around in his hand. The knife opened and the blade swung around. Before long, it turned into his cigar cutter. Nickel pulled out a fresh cigar from his suit jacket pocket and cut the tip off. He spun the cutter around some more before it reverted back to the knife and handed it back to Violette.

“Men and their toys”, Gael said with a giggle. Nickel scoffed.

“Don’t hate because you’re jealous”, Nickel replied, lighting the cigar with a match. Violette immediately began widdling the crystal again. Terra, who had for the most part remained quiet for the trip, glanced briefly at the crystal.

“Isn’t that dangerous? I always thought dust crystals were pretty, well, explosive”, Terra said.

“They can be, depending on what you do to them. It typically requires a source of heat or electricity for them to react. They’re inert in this state”, Gael explained. It wasn’t uncommon for people other than hunters or scientists to be confused on how dust worked in its different forms. In their defense, understanding something so powerful and diverse was tricky for anyone.

“I guess those hunter schools teach a lot more than just fighting then, huh?”, Terra said.

“The schools teach the same curriculums as any other school, really. They just have the added classes for being a hunter included. You can theoretically send someone who’s not a hunter to one of the hunstmen academies and they’d get about the same education anyway, it’s just impractical”, Eallgréne explained.

“Impractical? How so?”, Terra asked.

“Cause those academies are a real bitch to get into”, Nickel replied. With Acqua no longer in their presence, he was no longer worried about his language.

“Not only do they have a difficult exam you have to pass, but generally you have to have at least some fighting experience. It’s technically not required, but unless you have connections, odds are you wouldn’t make it if you weren’t serious about being a fighter”, Gael detailed. Terra thought of all of this for a moment and chuckled to himself.

“You know, I never really thought much of any of that behind the scenes stuff. It’s amazing what you learn when you actually listen to someone and think it over”, Terra said.

“There’s a lot that people don’t put into perspective when it comes to being a hunter. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it does lead to a lot of unintentional ignorance”, Eallgréne said, screwing on one last arrowhead before putting his quiver away.

“Guess you got a point there. I only ever met a handful of hunters before you all, and they weren’t nearly as, well…”, Terra said, trailing off.

“Friendly?”, Gael asked with a hopeful smile. Terra smirked.

“Well, I was thinking “talkative”, but friendly works too”, Terra said. Gael’s faunus ears lowered and she looked disappointed. Nickel laughed out loud. Before any reply could be made, Terra noticed something before them and smiled. “Well, any of this look familiar to you?”.

The hunters looked ahead of them to see that the farming fields had expanded, with more buildings dotting the landscape. The fields were worked on by many farmers, some independently, others in large groups. Large farming machines were driven on and around the fields. Several buildings appeared to be mills or animal pens, showing that these were upscale farms. “We’re going through Vale’s farming district. Guess that means we made it”, Eallgréne pointed out.

“Yep! Not gonna lie, as much as I love working my own little fields, it’d sure be nice to have a few of these machines to make work easier”, Terra said, eyeing some of the large tractors. Gael turned to Violette.

“Like I said, men and their toys”, Gael remarked. The girls giggled.

“We should be hitting the commercial district shortly. That’s where I’ll be setting up my stand. Is there any place in particular in the city you’d like me to drop you off at?”, Terra asked.

“No, no. That will do just fine. You’ve already done enough for us, no need to make more work for yourself when you have all this cargo. Besides, my sister’s in that district anyway, so that works out well for us”, Eallgréne explained.

Driving through the farming district took little time. The road cut through the fields and led directly to the city of Vale itself. As the fields and barns gave way to upscale buildings and shops, the group of hunters found themselves feeling antsy. It had been a long time since any of them had been back to the city. There was a lot that they wanted to see and check up on. But they couldn’t forget, they were there for a mission, and that took priority over everything.

Well, mostly everything.

Terra stopped the truck when they had reached a open lot in the middle of the commercial district. Already, many other kiosks and stands were being set up, selling all matter of goods. The hunters hopped out of the truck and looked around. They had made it.

“Vale…we made it”, Gael said, spinning around slowly to take in the sights. It was like stepping out of a dream to her. Something she hadn’t seen in years, experiencing it all again. It was a lot to take in, but it felt good. This was a second home to her. And for someone always on the road, that meant something.

“It certainly hasn’t changed much, has it?”, Eallgréne said with a smile. Nickel shrugged.

“Ehh, let’s see…”, Nickel said. He then looked around before spotting a passerby walking passed. “Hey!”. The passerby stopped and looked to Nickel. “Ozpin’s a terrible headmaster!”. The passerby looked confused and continued to walk on, faster this time. Nickel scoffed. “People are still wimps…yep, Vale hasn’t changed at all”. The others shook their heads and sighed.

“Good job Nickel. Make headlines immediately when we make it into the city, that’s what we need right now”, Eallgréne said with heavy sarcasm. He turned to Terra, trying to change the subject before Nickel retorted and made matters worse. “Need any help with the stand?”

“Oh no. I do everything out of the truck, so little to actually set up. I’ve done this loads of time. If you all have anything you need to do, you go right ahead”, Terra explained. Eallgréne nodded and approached the farmer.

“If that’s the case, then I guess it’s goodbye. Thank you for all you’ve done for us. May you and your family be blessed in your future endeavors”, Eallgréne said, holding out his hand. Gael appeared impressed at his unprompted gesture, but kept it to herself. Terra replied by holding out his own hand and the two shook.

“It’s I who should be thanking you all for what you’ve done. Hope you all have a good stay in Vale. And if you’re ever in the neighborhood again, don’t be strangers, come say hi!”, Terra replied.

“Absolutely; we’d love to, and look forward to that day. Thanks again!”, Gael said, giving Terra a quick hug. Violette curtsied and Nickel gave a little head bob. The hunters waved goodbye one final time and walked off.

“I’ll sure miss them”, Gael said to the others.

“Yeah, they’re good people. We’ll have to see them again sometime”, Nickel remarked through gritted teeth as the smoke from his cigar lightly billowed in the air.

“I’m sure we will soon enough. We kinda have to”, Eallgréne stated.

“How so?”, Gael asked.

“We make connections with everyone we meet, for better or worse. They become a part of us and help make us who we are. Connections that strong can’t be ignored for long. We’ll see them again at some point in our lives; likely sooner than we think”, Eallgréne explained. Gael smiled at the wording. Nickel scoffed.

“Eallgréne once again being the poet”, Nickel remarked. Violette playfully bumped into him in response.

“So where to first?”, Violette asked, changing the subject.

“At some point I wanna see if I can find that contact, see what they know on Amber and this mysterious group; if anything”, Nickel said.

“I assume you’ll want to see your sister first. She may know something herself, and she’ll have a phone for Nickel to contact his connection”, Gael explained. Eallgréne remained quiet during the team’s discussion. They noticed that he seemed to be in deep thought over something. And whatever it was he was thinking about, it wasn’t a light subject. “…Eallgréne?”, Gael asked.

“…Yeah, we’ll see my sister soon…but there’s somewheres I want to stop by first”, Eallgréne replied.

“Really? Is this place about the mission?”, Gael asked. Eallgréne shook his head. “Then…”. Eallgréne looked down at the ground. The others didn’t understand why the question made him feel so solemn.

“…I want to check out the spires”, Eallgréne answered. The other hunters kept quiet. They simply nodded in understanding and left the subject at that.

They knew the importance behind the visit.

The walk to their destination was short and quiet. They knew exactly where it was, and didn’t waste their time getting there. In the middle of an open plaza, away from any buildings and surrounded instead by park benches, open grass, and flower gardens, were 4 tall spires. They were arranged in a diamond shape, and were made of shined marble. Each were colored differently; white, blue, green, and orange. In the center of the diamond was a smaller, black column, with a plaque on the top. The words on the plaque were written in gold lettering:

“These spires, erected by the 4 Hunstman Academies of Remnant, are dedicated to the huntsman and huntresses who lost their lives protecting the world we live in. May their names and memories never fade or be forgotten”.

Team Evergreen approached the spires, looking over the names etched in them. Each color corresponded to a hunstman academy; listing the names of the deceased huntsmen from that region. Names of deceased individuals were placed near the names of their team and the date of their death. Gael sighed.

“…The lists have gotten a lot longer since the last time I saw this”, Gael remarked.

“…Before long, they’ll need to add new spires”, Violette added solemnly. Nickel approached the blue spire, which represented Mistral and Haven Academy. He read the names in his head. Some he recognized and knew already of their passing. Others he didn’t know at all. As he bent down to read the names lower on the spire, one name he spotted suddenly caused his heart to sink in his chest.

“Oh no…Beryl passed away". There was a brief pause of silence before he continued. “Beryl Morgan was a friend of mine from when I went to Sanctum Academy. We were pretty tight…I hadn’t seen him in a long time…never got the chance to catch up when I should have”, Nickel explained. He covered his mouth, trying to hold back emotion. Expressing sorrow was something he wasn’t used to doing, at least not publicly. Violette, understanding what it meant to him to show this in front of the others, approached him; bending down to his level and hugging him in support.

Nickel looked down at the ground, his eyes closed. The others didn’t know if he was praying, or just recalling past memories of his fallen friend. Eventually, he pulled out his flask from his pocket and unscrewed the top.

“Beryl always did appreciate a good drink, like me…here’s to you, buddy”, Nickel exclaimed, holding the flask out to the sky briefly. He then poured a small amount on the ground, the whiskey splashing on the concrete and blue spire, before taking a swig for himself. With Violette’s help, he stood back up.

“Are you going to be ok?”, Gael asked, concerned for her friend. Nickel nodded.

“Yeah…yeah, I’ll be fine”, Nickel replied. The unfortunate truth of their job was that this was common. Losing friends and loved ones who were huntsmen was something almost everyone dealt with. Because of this, grief periods often felt short. Gael continued to watch as Nickel stood and looked at the name. She then approached Eallgréne.

He stood in front of the green spire, which represented Vale and Beacon Academy. This spire had the biggest impact on the group, as it was littered with the names of former classmates, teachers, and friends they had known attending the school and growing up. Eallgréne, hailing from Vale himself, likely knew more of the names than the others.

“…Azul from Team WATR, Onyx from Team OXYD, all of Team BRAZ, Cinna and Piperi from Team SPCE…we’ve lost a lot of friends over the years”, Eallgréne said solemnly.

“I didn’t know that a lot of these people had passed. When you’re in the field, you just…don’t think to look it up”, Gael remarked. She felt guilt build up, and she resisted the urge to cry. The idea of not talking to these hunters, people she considered friends, before it was too late hurt her. It was taken for granted. She didn’t know why; she knew that it could easily have happened. But she did none the less, and now they were gone forever.

“You can’t blame yourself for that”, Eallgréne replied, sensing her emotions. “You know that the same thoughts crossed their minds too. Our jobs…our livelihoods, they’re time consuming. We’re rarely ever able to catch a breather and just talk. I haven’t talked to my own sister in months, I haven’t seen you all in about two years, and you’re all FAMILY. You can’t kill yourself with guilt over not talking to everyone you once knew. As awful as it may feel, you’ll just have to accept it”. He then turned his head towards the faunus. “Life’s too short to have that on your conscience”.

“You don’t think about it? The people you never got to say goodbye to?”, Gael asked. Eallgréne sighed.

“Everyday. But I don’t let it slow me down. I may not have gotten to say goodbye, but I’ll always remember them. So long as they’re not forgotten, then that should be enough”, Eallgréne explained. He put his right hand on the stone. It felt warm to the touch, even through his fingerless gloves; Eallgréne smiled. “They’re not truly gone anyway…they’re here with us, always”.

Gael stared at Eallgréne for a bit, then to the spire. Slowly, she put her left hand on the stone, right beside the archer’s. She felt the warm touch of the stone and closed her eyes. The huntress took a moment to think of those who died, and promised to herself to always remember them. A small breeze blew passed. Her ears, which were lowered for the time they were at the memorial, finally stood up. She smiled, Eallgréne was right.

They WERE there with them.

Gael turned to her partner and nodded. He smiled in response. He looked to the stone, seeing his hand close to hers. There was a moment’s pause before he pulled his hand away, his smile faded. Gael did not understand the motion, but didn’t think heavily on it.

“Are we ready to head out?”, Eallgréne asked the group. Nickel had recovered, (for the most part), and nodded. Violette, who had been looking over the white spire of Atlas, turned to them.

“I am, if you all are”, Violette declared. Eallgréne turned to Gael. She nodded.

“Yes…I’m ready”, Gael replied.

“Ok then. Let’s head out. When we’re at Steorra’s, we’ll contact Faramant, and Nickel and see if he can get a hold of his contact”, Eallgréne explained.

The group left the memorial and made their way back through to the commercial district. The group looked over the shops and stands, reflecting and recalling memories they had of the places, and how remarkable it was that little had changed in the years since. They watched as adults led their kids through the shops, looking at clothes and produce. Young hunters and huntresses, likely new to Beacon Academy, browsed the stands. It made the group think of their first year at Beacon as well.

Before long, they finally reached the all-too-familiar street they were looking for. It was relatively close to the school, which was a good location for the shop they were walking to. The street had a brick path down the middle, with large potted plants of small trees and shrubs on either side of it, separated several feet from one-another. All the shops were connected, with some buildings having a few stories on top of them.

Eallgréne stopped in front of one shop in particular, followed shortly by the others. The shop was two stories tall, and made of cobblestone and wood. Large windows in the front revealed an array of different weapons. Swords, pistols, axes, bows, and the like were on display. Long, wooden flower boxes hung under the windows, filled with pansies, marigolds, and hyacinths of orange, red, blue, yellow, and other colors. Hanging on the second story was a large wooden sign, which read “The Armory”.

“Well, shop’s still standing. At least we know she’s still in business”, Nickel remarked. The girls turned to him. He looked back. “…What!?”.

Eallgréne ignored Nickel and approached the door. It was wooden and thick, with a small window in the front and a gold-colored handle. He opened the door, which rung a bell on the inside. He sighed.

He hoped she wouldn’t be too upset with him.

Quick short update before 4th of July. Maybe another chapter out before then, who knows? Wanna do a quick shout-out to @gaelfox for promoting EVGN on her profile, and for showing me the names of other authors/artists who worked on their own stories/interpretations of RWBY Gael, so cool to see! Thanks also to the anonymous person who asked her the question to begin with! Hope you’re all enjoying the read as much as I am writing it! If you have any questions, about the characters or lore or whatever, feel free to write a note or send me a message! Have a good day! :D