Homeward Bound (Training/Solo)

It had taken some convincing to even get this far... both of himself and of the ferryman he had employed. It would be such a tedious task, just getting there was nigh impossible; having dragged his feet the entire way. But alas, he had finally taken the first step. He exited the rickety boat, the ferryman hardly giving him a wave before departing. The night was dark, the stars bright as they always had been here. Without a yawn the short man flipped the back of his scarf above his head, it acting as a hood which would completely conceal his face.

The island he had landed on was split into two halves. One side was a deep crater; as if the land had been mined out for generation after generation after generation. The other was a mix of black and green plant-life, a majority having been burned to cinders long ago. The air was rich with salty smell. With a sigh he began to trudge; down the crater's thick slopes and into the strange society that inhabited it. He was fortunate it was night, few men and women were active at this time. This side with their sun god... ugh, it was so tedious. And they took it so seriously; believing the moon would actually bring on grimm.

In hindsight his side's religion hadn't been much better... but at least theirs didn't get in the way of progress, let them live life to the full. The plus side to this village's religion however was that, as Gyro had learned and frequently abused (In fact, it was probably the only reason he stayed so long) they left grand offerings out to their gods to protect them on a nightly basis. Without so much as subtlety nor kindness the slothbear faunus scooped up as much fruit as he could carry, placing it in a prepared sack, before tightening the top. He then began to feast one what he could not carry, knowing he would need the energy reserves.

Hearing a commotion coming from one of the mud huts Richard chose not to linger for any period of time, not looking to be imprisoned once again by this tribe's poor judicial system. Twas a group of simple dust miners, brawn over brain as it were; unlike his own tribe. Philosophers of sorts, spending their time eating fruit in the shade and devising quite what life was and how this related to that.

He made his way up the far side of the crater, greeted by what little lush greenery remained on the island. The trees reached far above him, he knew where they would be staying. Only the very top would do, safe from all that lurked bellow. The short boy secured his hood and bag before pulling Keyll forth, it's chain glinting in the moonlight. The first part of his training, a feat of endurance.

The first sickle blade sunk deep into the tree, the second being thrown up and latching above. He unhooked the lower one, using his chain as a rope as he began to pull himself up; he had to trust that he had sunk the blade deep enough to support him. As he reached the high blade he reached down, grabbing a length of the chain, and threw it upward and into the tree... just two hundred more of these to go it would seem.

It took Richard around an hour to climb the massive tree, slightly more than he had anticipated but he hadn't exactly accounted for the weight of his bag. His weapon's blades were thick with sap as he finally pulled himself to the top; arriving at a large and well constructed tree house. He had to avert his eyes from the scene slightly, initially assuming the home to be covered with candles due to it's light... this was however not the case. Those who lived here would have no access to candles. Instead firefly were trapped within thin leaf enclosures; giving off a light with a slightly green tint.

He could hear sounds emanating from within, not voices... well, not in the traditional sense. He lowered kept his hood raised as he chapped the door, claws extended and weapon briskly reverted to it's smaller form. He attempted to look somewhat happy as the door open slightly, catching sight of a similar set of eyes to his own... well. One eye similar to his.

He raised his right hand, clicking the claws on his fore and index fingers together. The door open fully, revealing the person within. From the right side of her face down to her right leg it was clear she had been through some serious pain. Nasty burns waged all the way down her right side.

"Yo..." He lowered his hood.

She frowned as her brother spoke. He sighed.

"Hello," He clicked his claws, to communicate.

She drew her own; "What do you want little brother?" She clicked.

Richard yawned at the woman, who was surprisingly shorter than him; "Must you be so blunt?"

"..."

He sighed once more, drawing the weapon; "The handles are worn... you said you'd make me some last time I came right?"

She frowned; "That was three years ago..."

The short boy sighed, tossing the bag to her. She caught it in her unburned hand, examining the contents. She rolled her eyes, gestured for him to sit at the low table and made her way to the other room; taking Keyll. Richard couldn't help but smile, despite how long it had been and how far they had grown apart family was still family. And hunger ran deep in this one.

A meal in silence. Of course their meals would have to be silent. Communication by hands left little room for them to make conversation as the feasted upon fruits and baked goods. As the duo tore through garlic bread and ripe grapes the table slowly but surely became empty, eventually leading to some relative awkwardness... sitting in silence with their stomachs full. Part of Richard wanted to just grab his weapon and go... the other half tended toward never leaving.

He quickly signed to her; "Where is my weapon?"

She sighed, producing it from behind her and tossing it toward him with her unmarked side. He caught it, expanding the handles. His eyes lit up a little. The handles were seemingly made of a soft yet durable wood and shaped to cover the front of his knuckle, but that wasn't quite what made them so amazing as great as it was. The handle had engraved maple leaves all over it's main section, giving it an almost Autumn vibe.

He looked to her only to see she wasn't returning his gaze, short blonde hair low and looking down toward the table in front of her. Richard sighed, it was somewhat difficult dealing with his big sister. Her devotion to the tribe's religion was admirable... but it held her back so much. He wondered if he should really do what he had planned... With a groan he rose, leaving Keyll on the table and hugging his little big sister.

She seemed a little surprised at this... but slowly accepted the embrace. Eventually he pulled back from it, making sure his claws were on eye level and promised;

"I'm going to get it soon, Little brother Hunter will get you what you want soon... okay?"

She nodded.

With a pat on her head and not another word Richard left, jumping from from the treetop house with his weapon in hand. He sunk Keyll deep into the oak parallel, finding that with his new handles he had somewhat more control over how he moved. Testing this, he found that rather than come straight down he was able to spiral around the whole trunk and control his lowering.

Reaching the ground he found that was not only due to the handles; but the whole blades had been replaced. The Sickle like blades were as dark as night, forged from some sort of black metal... Richard had no idea where she would have got such a metal but it reflected the moonlight with a blue tinge.

A little walk later he came to the wall; a massive concrete structure that did not seem as awful as it had been... but was still at least ten feet tall. Not a gross overestimation on his child self's part. He took the newly repaired weapon and prepared to make a door.

He lept and sliced right, making a deep and clean 30cm line along the top. He jumped and sliced down either side, the new blades cut marvelously. With a simple push he found the blades had cut all the way through; the piece fell to the ground with a crash. Quickly, fearing for the grimm that would come, he cut a segment from the center of a tree; the segment remaining standing. Jumping and knocking the larger top of the tree off with a colossal thud he got in the doorway and switched places with the tree segment. It fit perfectly, a decent push at it couldn't even move it.

He looked up to the treetop... seeing a brown eye gleaming down. He felt the pitter patter of rain and sighed, he could call the ferryman in the morning... one night wouldn't hurt. It had been three years since his last visit... couldn't have the broad worrying too much. Emotions clouded ones thoughts.

He sighed, beginning to once more scale the tree.

[End]