Chapter 9: Remnant's Strongest

TEN MONTHS LATER

Patch Island

The voices still haunted her dreams.

"Well, well, if it isn't Summer."

"The biggest wimp in the kingdom shows her ugly face again!"

"Why do I bother teaching you? Just face it - you'll never be a Huntress."

Those voices, cruel and condescending, rang like scratches on metal through her ears. She remembered those times, clear as day. Back then, she had no one to believe in her. She had nothing, no purpose to fight for. So when people told her that she was worthless, she'd believed them.

"No matter what - just remember, all of you have the potential to be great Huntsmen."

But when those memories came, one voice would always wash away the venom, and soothe her like a beautiful spring breeze. And with it came the image of a young blond woman, full of youthful vigor and compassion, as she spoke confidently.

"You might think you're weak, and worthless, but I promise that isn't the case. And you don't have to stay that way. Why do you think Huntsmen were created? To protect those people who can't protect themselves, so that one day they can repay the world in kind. Even the best warriors you've known have been where you are right now. So if you ever hate feeling helpless, remember that and it's your duty to become stronger, so that one day you can make sure no one else ever feels the same way."

Those were the words that had started her on her path - it was the moment that nine-year old Summer Rose had been reborn. When she felt her will faltering in the coming years, she always thought of the girl who had given the speech.

Obviously, the girl hadn't addressed Summer directly, or had even been aware she'd existed. She was just some representative who'd been invited to give a speech - probably for some extra community hours. Summer couldn't even remember what her name was anymore. None of that mattered. The girl had inspired her, and since that day Summer had carried a bright flame of hope in her heart.

To protect those people who can't protect themselves.

She made it sound so easy. But people who followed such an ideal always discovered that the truth wasn't so simple, or as beautifully heroic.

The dream was ending now, and light was entering through Summer Rose's eyelids. "Urghh…" she muttered, waking up in her bed.

She wasn't at Beacon. She was back home in Patch, and outside her window she could see the white snow battering against the windowpanes. Yawning, she agonizingly pulled herself out of bed and changed into her winter clothes. Still drowsy, the young woman staggered slowly out of her room and down the staircase for breakfast.

After a few minutes, she was staring blankly at her omelette, not eating a bite. Hunger was not the first thing on her mind right now.

The months after the fall of Mountain Glenn had been, by all accounts, perfectly normal. Once Summer got out of the infirmary, she continued attending classes with her team. They laughed together at the cafeteria, trained and studied together, and life went on, as if nothing had happened.

Summer had kept her promise to Raven. She hadn't told anyone about her story. She couldn't help but notice that as the year went on she'd spoken less and less to Qrow. Back in first year, it would've been impossible to believe that she'd miss the company of her grumpy partner.

Tai would often try to cheer her up, and while it hadn't done much to help her frustration, Summer had forced a smile and tried her best to convince everyone, including herself, that everything was fine.

"Morning mom!" Summer looked up to see Autumn skipping cheerfully into the room. "Hope you slept well for your first night back home!" the girl chirped.

"I'm not your-" Summer sighed. "I slept fine, Autumn. Really. I hope you weren't too lonely without me around."

Autumn shook her head. "Nah, it was great! Tremina bought me video games and took me into the city all the time! I mean, sure, I'd have liked to play with you, mom..."

Summer smiled. "Maybe someday, Autumn."

"So-oooo...how was Beacon?" Autumn tilted her head to the side, a frown forming on her delicate face. "Umm...are you still thinking about...the city that fell…?"

Summer nodded slowly. "I...yeah. I - we were supposed to be Huntsmen. We were supposed to be heroes, but we couldn't...er. I mean, I shouldn't talk about it to a child like you-"

"N-no! Please!" the little girl insisted. "I know it's bothering you, s-so...you should talk to people about it...right…?"

Summer considered it for a moment, but ultimately shook her head firmly. "No," she said. "You're just too young to know about things like these. I know you said you wanted to be like me someday, but you should know that being a Huntress...well, it's not as romantic as it sounds." Without waiting for Autumn's reaction, she walked out of the room, her breakfast still untouched.

I almost sounded a bit like Raven just now, didn't I? She thought to herself, feeling slightly amused.

She took her white hood out of the closet and hastily put it on. Fumbling around the messily organized compartment for a moment, she drew out Phoenix Heart and looked over the bow. Well, just to be safe I guess, she thought to herself. She was going out to the grocery store in town, which meant going through the forest. There shouldn't be any Grimm wandering around at this time of day, but it was best to be careful.

Summer opened the front door and stepped out, flinching slightly at the rush of snow fitting her in the face. Pulling her hood further down her head, she closed the door, before pausing with her hand on the knob. Something's wrong. Her instincts were acting up, telling her something - or someone was approaching.

She caught a sound coming from somewhere behind her. "Hrahhh!" She turned around quickly, detaching Phoenix Heart's blades, preparing to block her enemy's strike. Clang! There was the sound of two swords colliding, before her assailant leapt back and let out a small chuckle.

"Heh. Not bad, partner," he said.

Summer lowered her weapon. "Wait, Qrow?" she asked disbelievingly. "Wh - why are you here?"

"I just wanted to - well, uh, Raven wanted me to check up on you," her partner said hastily. "Guess I could've picked a better time than the one day hell decides to freeze over, huh? Well, point is, here I am, so uh...you doin' alright?"

Summer didn't answer. "Where...where did you even come from?"

"Hm? Uh, somewhere up there." Qrow pointed vaguely into the snowy sky. "Our house is actually not that far from Patch, y'know? Airships were delayed because of the snow, so I had to fly all the way here myself for once, but turns out it only takes about an hour. Pretty convenient."

"An hour?" Summer was in disbelief. "In this weather? Are you serious?"

"I'm used to the cold," Qrow replied bluntly.

Oh, that's right. Summer remembered that the Branwen twins had been raised in Mantle. A sudden burst of resentment rushed through her veins. Without thinking, she blurted out, "Why did you never tell me?"

Qrow stared at her. "What're you...oh." He stared down at the snow-covered ground. "So Sis told you, huh?"

"Yeah, she did!" said Summer, more angrily than she'd intended. "About Valhalla, and your uncle, and the real reason you two came to Beacon - all of it! Did the two of you just decide that I - or Tai for that matter - weren't trustworthy enough to know about it?"

Qrow did not look up. "Wasn't much point in getting you guys involved," he muttered. "It was our...duty."

"Raven said basically the same thing. But it's a lot less convincing coming from you!" Summer retorted. "We could have helped you! Remember how we all worked together to stop Harriet and Buck? We would have done the same thing - help each other out! How can we be a real team if we can't even be honest with each other?" She realized she was letting out all the pent-up anger she'd felt over the past months.

"Alright, alright, I get it!" Qrow raised his hands in a mock surrender. "You're right, ok? Look, think of it this way. Deep down, I know Sis really wants to do this herself. She'll sometimes get other people's help, but only if it's on her terms. Especially when it's a family matter." He sighed. "If I'd told anyone, or asked for help, well...I guess it would have hurt her feelings."

Summer could not believe what he'd just said. "Hurt...her...feelings?!"

Qrow grinned wearily. "Raven's weaker than you think, y'know. I don't mean that as in she can't break your legs and rip you in half with her bare hands. I mean that she's not very, well, accommodating. Once she's convinced herself of something, anyone tries to challenge that belief, she'll take it as a personal insult. Trust me, I'd know."

Seeing that Summer wasn't responding, Qrow shuffled awkwardly on the spot before continuing. "Well, that's what Uncle Luka thinks, anyway. He says our old man was pretty much the same. Dad and Sis were pretty alike from what I remember."

"Your uncle," said Summer quietly. "Is it true that he destroyed your village?"

"Honestly? I don't know," Qrow shrugged. He casually stuck his greatsword in a nearby tree as his expression turned serious. "I can't deny that I don't like the idea. Uncle Luka's probably the first person who really believed in me. And even now, I can't believe he's the type of person to do shitty things like that. But the fact is...no matter what, I trust Raven. That's all."

He smiled. "Oh yeah, and what was it you said a minute ago? About being honest with each other? That's a bit hypocritical, don't you think?"

"Huh?" Summer asked.

"You think I didn't notice?" Qrow sighed. "All those months after Mountain Glenn, you clearly never got over it, but you just pretended everything was fine. Tai tried to help, but that clearly didn't work. Keeping all that stuff inside doesn't really help anyone, y'know?"

"If you knew, why didn't you say anything?"

"Well, because I figured you were tough enough to get over it yourself! Or that maybe, you'd actually come to your senses and talk to us about it!" Qrow snapped. "But clearly I was wrong about you!"

There was a pause as the two of them glared at each other. Then a voice came from behind Summer. "Ummm...hello?" It was Autumn, glancing at them nervously. "Is everything ok?"

"Autumn! Y-you shouldn't be out when it's so cold!" Summer chastised the girl.

Qrow grinned awkwardly. "'Sup, Autumn. Hope Summer's been taking care of you."

"Uh-huh!" Autumn giggled, running right into the snow in her little dress. "Qrow, I didn't think you'd show up! Does this mean you really are mommy's boyfriend?"

"Absolutely not," said Summer firmly. Qrow just snorted. "Mommy? Does she still call you that?"

"W-well, why can't she?" Summer retorted halfheartedly. "Anyway, I was about to go into town when you came in out of nowhere, so if you'll excuse me…"

Qrow just shook his head. "Nope. There's something else you need to do first." He pointed Reaper's Gambit at her. "What do you say to a little duel, huh? The Vytal Tournament's coming again this year, and you bet your ass we're taking the number one spot this time! We gotta make sure we're up for it!"

"Since when did you care about winning the tournament?" Summer asked suspiciously.

"Since I learned about the grand prize of a hundred thousand Lien," said her partner. "Before the new term starts, we're gonna get the whole squad together -Tai, Heather, all the others - and train our asses off. But first - I wanna see if you're up for it."

Summer took a deep breath. She looked up at Qrow, strangely feeling much better. She wasn't sure why, but she suddenly felt more confident and at ease. She drew her bow steadily. "You bet I am," she said.

"Oooh, this is gonna be so good!" Autumn giggled. "I wanna see just how strong you two are!"

Focusing her mind, Summer aimed an arrow at Qrow, waiting for his move. The moment she saw a movement in his body, she fired the projectile and leapt into the air, splitting the bow into her blades. She landed a hit on Qrow's greatsword before he retaliated with a powerful swing. They parried several times before Summer leapt back.

"Hmph. Is that seriously the best you can do?" Qrow taunted, brandishing his blade at her. "In your dreams!" replied Summer, gritting her teeth.

They continued their duel for several minutes. Time seemed to fly for Summer, who was having more fun than she'd had in months. It came close, but ultimately it ended with her lying in the snow with Qrow's blade to her neck.

"Alright, that's enough. I guess I'll give you a pass," Qrow conceded, retracting his sword. "But you've still got a long way to go."

Autumn was clapping. "That was AWESOME!" she laughed , shaking uncontrollably with excitement.

Summer winced in pain as she tried to pull herself up. "Ugh...so much for going into town today." She glared up at her partner. "Isn't this the part where you pull me up?"

"What? You can't get up yourself?" Qrow retorted. But he held out his hand anyway, and Summer took it.

Bandit Hideout, Kingdom of Vacuo

The sides of the ancient building shook as the force of the explosion rang through the entire grim structure. Several loose bricks fell from their walls and collapsed to the ground in a heap. In the flames of what seconds ago had been a functioning hideout, several men were running around in a panic, struggling to comprehend what was happening. Some of them were screaming in pain.

The second blast quieted them nicely. After that, everything was quiet except for the flickering flames. Disoriented, ears ringing from the explosion, one of the bandits was scrambling around on the floor, his senses slowly numbing as blood seeped from his wounds.

Through his stupor, he could hear the sound of footsteps approaching. Instinct told him that they did not belong to any friend of his. Terror rose in his chest. No. Fear is unworthy of me. It is not the way of my people. Even so, he found himself desperately moving away from the sound, only to feel the sharp impact of a foot on his back.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" A female voice said mockingly, turning him over on his back. She was young, with long pink hair in a ponytail and sharp yellow eyes. "Looks like one of you's still alive, huh?"

The bandit struggled to choke out his words. "Who...are you…?"

"Heroes of justice, here to purge scum like you from the world," said someone else, moving into his view. It was a young brown-haired man, wielding a carbon steel blade with silver handles. He flashed an unfriendly smile at the bandit. "This is what you and your friends deserve for thinking evil could ever triumph over good."

"Y-you have no idea what you're doing!" the bandit hissed, fear finally overtaking him. "Master Fenrir will never forgi-"

His panicked rambling was interrupted by his head being severed from his shoulders by the young man's blade. "That will shut him up," he sighed, turning to his partner. "You don't think we went too harsh on them, do you Psycha?"

Psycha laughed. "Please. When you're the strongest Huntress in all of Remnant, what's wrong with showing off?" she said snobbily. "'Dangerous criminals', my ass. Headmaster Thane must really be going senile if he thought these morons could be a challenge for me."

She held her hand out to the side. Moments later, Bubble the robot bird came flying gracefully onto her shoulder, letting out a cheerful chirp. "This is good," she muttered as she petted her mechanical friend. "Don't you think so, Locke?"

"Heh." Locke Silverstein grinned as he kicked the bandit's head across the floor. "A beautiful lady as my partner and enough power to destroy all the evil in the world? What could possibly be better?" He casually flicked some blood off his sword.

Psycha glanced him in undisguised revulsion. "Ugh. You and your stupid 'hero' talk. Do people like you ever grow up?" she grumbled, before looking behind her at the open door. "Well. You guys finally showed up, huh?"

"Damn right! Y'really put in the work on this hole, didn't ya?" came a gruff voice from outside. Two young Huntsmen, a boy and a girl, walked into the room, joining their teammates.

"Storm. Moss. It's good to see you," Locke smiled at them.

"Ahhh-ha-ha...sure is a shit time to be a Huntsman, huh?" Storm Columbus was a tall man of bulky stature, his massive muscles bulging underneath his tattered vest. He cracked his knuckles gleefully, and tiny sparks of electricity flew from the Dust crystals embedded in his gauntlets, causing his bleach-white hair to stand up. "When y'have people like us as the competition, why should anyone else even bother, eh?" he chuckled.

"Indeed." His partner, Moss Creedo, was practically his complete opposite. A petite, perpetually quiet young girl with dark hair, carrying her sniper rifle, she was a full two heads shorter than Storm, even with the green beret placed neatly on her head. Thick bandages covering her left eye, she glanced without emotion over the violent scene. "...Another one down?"

Psycha nodded. "That's right. The headmaster wants all the crime rings in Vacuo gone by the time the Vytal Festival rolls around - wouldn't want killers and thieves messing up his fancy party! And that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"As long as our little friend keeps cooperating with us," said Locke.

"She will," insisted Psycha. "I don't care what stupid 'experiment' she says she's doing - that little rabbit works for me now, and I'll be the one ordering her around. She's a Faunus - it's not like she's new to the concept, is she?"

"...she's not a slave," Moss said angrily.

Storm spat on the ground. "Don't trust her one bit," he growled. "She showed us that gem that made ya super strong, but if she tries to turn her back on us we get to kill her, huh?"

"Obviously. Traitors are the worst type of scum in my book," Locke said agreeably. "But it won't come to that. A hero of justice would never fall prey to trickery."

Psycha appeared disinterested in her teammates' chatter. "Anyway, at this rate, there's no chance we'll lose the tournament this year," she said casually. "With Dad and the rabbit girl's help, we're gonna dominate the competition. Latte Adel, Heather Fox, and even that special little girl Thane seems so worried about - the one with the silver eyes. Everyone's gonna see that Team PLSM is Remnant's strongest team." A deranged smile formed across her face.

The sound of yelling could now be heard in the distance. Moss grabbed her rifle. "...Enemies," she muttered, barely a whisper.

"Well, looks like their bandit friends are finally showing up - too late," Locke smiled. "Time to get out and report our success to the academy." Psycha nodded in agreement.

A minute later, a small army of about a hundred men, glad in black-red garb wearing crude bone masks, arrived at the wrecked hideout with their weapons drawn. Though they searched every corner of the place, there was no sign of who - or what - had slaughtered their comrades.

It wasn't the first time something like this had happened. All around Vacuo, recent reports had come in about spontaneous and destructive attacks on suspected criminal and terrorist hotspots all around the Kingdom, with no one really knowing what was behind them. Some believed they were the work of expert Huntsmen, but no one ever came forward to claim credit for the attacks.

Others suggested the Vacuo council was testing a secret weapon - some device of such power that it could restore the Kingdom to its former glory. But without any proof, those rumours soon died down as well.

And so life went on as normal in the Kingdom of Vacuo, the thought of those incidents tucked safely away in the corners of the citizens' minds, none of them realizing just how deeply they would soon affect all of their lives...

A/N There will be no new chapters for about two weeks. Exams are coming up for me so I won't be able to focus on writing for a while. Hope you all understand.