Episode Arri: Chapter 4: Sisters

Chapter 4 of Arri's adventure.

            Tyrian charged right towards Arri while laughing manically, his pincer weapons at the ready.  Arri took a deep breath and took one step backwards while spinning her scythe in preparation.  Tyrian lunged forward with the blades on his bracers that looked like scorpion claws, which Arri blocked with one swing, then used the momentum of her pendulum scythe to bring it back around and hit him in the shoulder, causing him to slide back a short distance.

            “I’ll give you this” she said with a slight eye roll, “you’re at least consistent with the scorpion theme.”

            “All the better to kill you my dear!” Tyrian said with another cackle.  He charged forward again, and Arri prepared for another counterattack on her part.  But as Tyrian grew closer, he folded his blades and started firing projectiles from his bracers.  Arri had to quickly adjust the spin of her weapon to block the bullets, but it wasn’t before a few managed to sneak through and chip away at her aura levels.  And since she had to switch to defensive mode rather than counterattack, this gave Tyrian the chance to unfold his blades, and time his strike to the point where he stopped the spin of Arri’s scythe.  She tried to pull back and reset herself, but before she could, while her scythe was still trapped, Tyrian’s tail struck her in the shoulder.  Arri yelped in pain, shockingly her Aura didn’t block the attack.  She quickly fell back and regained her composure and prepared to go on the offensive.  She started spinning her scythe even faster now, and rushed forward, the force of the swings almost being the force that moved her.  Tyrian parried most of the blows that came, and then saw an opening.  Arri believed that despite the previous glitch, she had plenty of Aura despite the small opening, and prepared to take the hit as a collateral for landing what she saw was a powerful strike.  But as she began to lower her scythe for the attack, she felt the sharp blades of her opponent slice into the skin of her abdomen, causing her to keel over in pain.  Tyrian laughed and kicked her, sending her sliding across the room near the shores of the dark pool.  She quickly regrouped and felt her Aura seemingly come back like water filling a crevice in the area where she was hit.  The cut began to heal, but she was starting to see that all her opponent needed was a single window.  He could cut right through Aura.

            “Still have that bravado you were parading about moments ago child?” Tyrian asked as he slowly started walking around her.  Arri didn’t respond, she know she needed a moment to catch her breath and let her Aura heal the wounds she had sustained, but thankfully this guy seemed more than happy to monologue.

            “Such arrogance gets children like yourself killed” Tyrian said as he continued to laugh.  “This is why my goddess wanted to destroy your pathetic world and the institutions Ozpin created.  They are all lies, attempts to recreate a better world.  And yet despite the promises he makes, he still lets children go out and die for the world he helped create.”

            “You know you’re not the first crazy person with a vendetta against Ozpin and the way the world works” Arri said with a slight chuckle of her own.

            “Perhaps, but unlike the fools in the Order, I took the sermons of our goddess to heart.  Cinder saw the light, and she joined my crusade.  But then the Order and their dedication to science stopped her, and summoned our goddess instead!  And they destroyed her!  But this pool means her spirit lives!  And I will do everything in my power to ensure she will return and bathe this world in red as it was meant to be!”

            “Maybe next time” Arri said as she summoned several vines out from beneath Tyrian’s feet and attempted to hold him in place.  Tyrian fought back for a moment, but then the vines wrapped around his entire body, trapping him in place.  Arri got up and had the vines bring him to her face.

            “Maybe if you attended one of Ozpin’s schools,”Arri said with a smile, “You’d know one of the most important rules is if your enemy is talking instead of fighting, let them.”

            “A shame your vines are not able to relay exact information to you” Tyrian said with a sick smile.

            “That has nothing to do with what I said…” but as Arri said this, she felt a sharp pain in her chest.  She had missed Tyrian’s tail.  And now it was embedded in her chest.  Arri ripped it out while Tyrian continued to laugh.  She stumbled backwards, hoping she had enough Aura left to both heal herself but also keep Tyrian trapped.  But then she felt something else.  The tail had injected her with something.  The world around her began to spin, and she fell backwards into the dark pool, the thick slime beginning to coat her body.

 

 

 

            Arri’s eyes shot open, and she sat up super quick.  She looked around.  She didn’t see Tyrian, she was apparently back outside, she could see the sun in the distance.  But as she slowly got up, she realized she was still in the nook where the dark pool was.  She looked at her own hands and did not recognize them.

            “I’m sorry that I almost did something terrible” a voice cut in.  Arri looked to her left and saw the woman with white skin she saw in her vision earlier.  She tried to say something, but her voice was not there.  Suddenly, without any guidance, she started moving in front of the woman in white, and another voice came out of her mouth.

            “I know humans haven’t exactly given you a good reason to trust them Lady Salem” the voice said from Arri’s lips, “but something like this seems a bit much.  A pool of pure energy seems like a recipe for disaster.  What were you planning to do with this thing?”

            “I poured my entire being into this pool” Salem said looking back at the dark pool.  “If anything happened to me, I would be reborn here with all of my power.  And if not, well I can command this pool to expand and begin to blanket the world with my energy.”

            “And what would happen to the trees we planted back home?  What would become of my sisters?  Your brother?  Your father?  Our friends?”

            “I don’t have any friends” Salem said turning away from the woman, trying to hide tears.  “Everyone is afraid of me.  So maybe if I made the world more like me, then people wouldn’t hate me anymore.”  The woman sighed and then Arri felt her arms raise up and hug Salem.

            “I’m still here you brooding dummy.  I like you just the way you are.”  Salem seemed to cry even further as the woman seemingly controlling Arri’s body continued to hug her.

            “I know most people just see us as either friends or acquaintances” the woman continued, “but ever since your father showed kindness to us and I spent more time with you and your brother, I’ve come to see you just like my other sisters.”  The woman released Salem from the hug and let her turn around, chuckling a little bit at the evil queen’s tears.

            “Crying doesn’t suit you Salem” she said wiping some of them away.

            “I don’t know what to do” Salem said lowering her head.  “Even if I stop today, my rage may get the better of me once you’re gone from this world.  Or if your life is taken before its your time.”

            “The let’s leave something better behind” the woman said.  With that, she turned and stepped outside of the crevasse where the pool was.  She then waved her arms and a small sapling appeared in the ground above the pool.  And then, a small single pink petal sprouted.

            “This tree will grow and cover the darkness.  It will be a reminder of our sisterhood for the rest of time.”

            “You’ve been taking lessons from Ozpin’s book haven’t you” Salem said with a chuckle as she joined the woman outside.

            “Well I know you’d never hurt me” the woman said looking back at Salem.  “That’s why I was able to pull you out of the goop without issue.  And when this tree has fully grown long after I’m gone, it will remind you of my words here today.  And that I’ll always be your sister.  Now and for eternity.” The two hugged again, Salem’s tears still flowing down her face.

            “Thank you, Spring.”

 

 

 

            Arri’s eyes shot wide open again, and she realized she was lying in the dark pool, the ooze was keeping her trapped in there like tar.

            “How does it feel child?” Tyrian mocked as he started breaking free of the vines.  They appeared to be wilting from being injected with the poison from his stinger, allowing him to escape.  “The burning sensation, the fire in your bones?”

            “Have you ever actually taken a bath in one of these things?” Arri said as she summoned a vine beneath the pool to push her out of the muck.  “Feels more like a gross mud bath.”

            “What?” Tyrian exclaimed as he finally cut himself free.  “The great tomes speak of how the burning pools initiate the followers into the next world!  And yet you say you feel nothing?”

            “Yeah.  I even feel better than ever before.”  Looking down at her chest, Arri noticed her wound had healed and she no longer felt the poison in her body.

            “Then I will have to try harder to ensure that you….” But before Tyrian could do anything, a giant hand wrapped around his body, and then lifted him up off the ground.  Arri looked past the hand and was shocked.

            “Hera?” Arri exclaimed as she saw her younger sister lifting up Tyrian as if he weighed nothing.  Hera didn’t say a word, despite showing signs of struggling to properly hold Tyrian given her small child frame.  She then screamed and started slamming Tyrian on the ground over and over screaming,

            “DON’T HURT MY SISTER!”  Tyrian tried to break free, but within a few more hits, his aura broke and he passed out unconscious.  Hera let him go and collapsed on the ground.  Arri ran over and gave her a big hug.

            “How did you get here sis?” Arri said with surprise in her voice.

            “Little brat stowed away” a new voice cut in.  Arri looked up and saw her Great Uncle Qrow walking in.  “A few hours ago, she ran to your moms screaming bloody murder about how you were in trouble.  I happened to be visiting your parents so I volunteered to check on you to put your mind at ease.   But then when I land here with the airship, low and behold your sister runs out of the back like a girl possessed.  Not sure why.  I wanted to follow her immediately, but the villagers were still struggling with the Grimm, so I had to help them finish up first.”  Arri looked at Hera, who was crying a little bit now.

            “Don’t hurt my sister” Hera said again but much softer.  Arri smiled, and stood up, carrying her sister.

            “Thanks sis” Arri said.  “Glad to know you’ll always have my back.

            “How did you survive that goop by the way?” Qrow said as he walked over and brushed a little bit of goop that was still on her shoulder.  “Most humans can’t survive a normal Grimm pool, this one seems extra special.”

            “Not sure” Arri said as she quickly brushed off a little bit of goop that Hera seemed to be touching by accident.  “But the important thing is, we can’t let anybody get in here.”

            “Agreed.  I’ll work with the locals to set up some security for this place.  Maybe even get the tunnels the Grimm created filled back up again.”

            “Thanks uncle Qrow” Arri said with a smile.  Qrow smiled and made his way out, leaving Arri to carry Hera out.

            “And thank you sis” Arri said placing a small kiss on Hera’s forehead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zero Year

Day 158

 

 

 

            Arri and Hera stepped out of their airship just outside the village walls.  Arri waved at the guards on the ramparts and they excitedly opened the gates for her and her sister.  Walking towards the tree, Hera looked at the beautiful petals.

            “I kind of remember this place” Hera said with a smile.

            “Yeah,” Arri said with a chuckle.  “You saved me many years ago when I was just starting out.”

            “So why are you bringing me back here?”

            “Because back during the war, we realized that Salem was a part of your soul.  But she sacrificed a part of herself so that we could have an army to fight back against the Order in Aequo.”

            “What does that have to do with this place?”

            “I think there’s something here that might help wake her up.”

 

 

 

 

Sisters.

Across Eternity.

The Power and Soul of One

The Memory of the Other

Will Reawaken

One of the pieces.

 

 

 

Retribution.

SAGA OF SEASONS

 

 

 

 

Author’s Notes:

 

 

            I did take a bit of a longer hiatus before starting this chapter because I didn’t like the fact that I was running in head-first into some of these stories without properly setting up what I wanted to do for the story.  And to a degree when writing this episode I still didn’t.  I know I already have a character arc set up for Arri from the story of her struggling with her Semblance like I alluded to back in the Prelude to War, but that to me always felt like it was meant for a story about all of Team BEAT.  So I decided to go a different route with this story.  I will more than likely have to change the opening text of this episode to accommodate, but it’s part of the writing process.  Just continuing to get better and hopefully learning how to improve my craft with each story.

Author's Note

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