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elfcow · 6 years

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A Christmas Gift for Team MTAL: Two Questions, One Answer

This is my Secret Santa Christmas gift for @team-mtal. They’re a pretty cool RWBY oc blog, check them out!

I had a lot of fun writing this - as soon as I learned about Corax and Viridian, I had to write about them. I only listened to two songs on repeat while writing this: Rey’s theme from Star Wars and Marceline’s “Slow Dance with You.” It shouldn’t be hard to guess at which parts.

In any case, enjoy!

Two Questions, One Answer

By Elfcow

Red leaves fell in endless spirals, scribbling out hasty messages in a script too long and slow for mortals to know. Viridian Amidala passed through the crimson partition, a grin breaking out on her face. The noble trees of Forever Fall watched sternly as she traipsed through the grove, scowling at her, a bright burst of green amidst all the reds and yellows. She knew the forest stretched out for hundreds of kilometers, but the canopy just felt so cozy overhead! With every step she felt the forest cradling her, the leaves underfoot softening her every step, the wind’s slender fingers sliding through her hair. And on the wind rode the faintest of notes; sounds that were not native to these woods, sounds not born from the throats of beast or Grimm. Deep within a sea of red Viridian heard music, and she knew she had found her quarry.

“Not, you know, the pile of rocks kind of quarry,” Viridian said, to no one in particular. “Well, it’s a hole in rock, really, but nevermind! I mean the kind of quarry that you hunt.” The looming trees frowned at her, their crimson foreheads crinkling. “It’s a friendly kind of hunting! ‘Cause that’s what she is. A friend.” Viridian adjusted her belt, feeling a heat in her cheeks. “That’s all she is. A really good friend. Even though we haven’t talked since the dance, and it’s been like a whole week. So I’m going to talk to her if have to tie her down for it. Well, you know, not like that, but you know.” She patted Navitas where it hung from her belt three times for good luck and pressed on. The music grew louder.

Viridian stopped at the edge of a small clearing. There she was, sitting in the fork of a great tree’s limb, utterly unaware of Viridian’s presence. Corax Branwen. Also known as the the most absolutely, positively stunning drop-dead beautiful Huntress-in-training in the entire world who was definitely worth getting lost in a Grimm-infested forest for, but Corax was shorter, so hey. Corax curled against the trunk of her tree, her wings hanging dark and lustrous around her. Everything about her was black and red; red shirt, black jacket, red glasses, black boots, red eyes, black hair. Misericordiam, her double-ended scythe, lay heavy and black on her back. Even her guitar was blood-red. Corax cradled the instrument to her with a fearsome tenderness, her calloused fingers wringing pure melancholy from the strings. The music reached Viridian in her hiding place, brushed aside her every defense like autumn leaves, piercing to that deep and secret place inside of her where no words were needed. Tears welled in Viridian’s eyes, but then Corax changed chords and the moment passed. Viridian wiped her eyes and took a step forward, but paused. She had planned to jump up to her friend right away, but something told her to wait.

Corax teased one mournful note from her guitar, and she began to sing.

Her words were aching, haunting. They raised goosebumps on Viridian’s arms and kindled a fire in her bones. Corax was singing so softly that Viridian had to strain to hear the words, but still she felt the intensity of longing that resonated in between the words. She felt weightless, as though she might drift out of her skin at any moment. The passion in Corax’s voice struck her, and she shivered.

Corax missed a note, her fingers fumbling to recover, and she stopped, her freckled face creasing with frustration. The spell was broken. And as cute as Corax’s expression was, this was the perfect chance to hop in.

“Hey, Corey!” Viridian popped out into the clearing. “Who are you singing about?”

“AAAH!” Corax sprang right off of the branch, her wings flaring, her arms flailing in surprise, her cheeks shot full of scarlet. Corax’s wings kept her aloft, but her guitar was tumbling, spinning, falling towards the ground. Viridian shot out her hand, her hair stirring as her power surged within her. The guitar jerked to a halt a meter from the ground, before floating lazily back up, freed from the embrace of gravity.

“Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry!” Viridian said. She focused her Semblance, gripping invisible strings of gravity to lift the guitar gently towards to its owner. Corax settled back on the branch, her wings folding in as she snatched her guitar to her chest.

“Don’t do that!” Corax said.

Viridian giggled, then clapped her hand to her mouth, which only made her laugh harder.

“It’s not funny. You scared the daylights out of me! You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.”

Viridian tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I’m not exactly the stealthiest person, you know.”

“Stealthy, no. Sneaky, yes.”

“I’ll take that.” Viridian flashed a cheeky grin at Corax. “Your song is beautiful! Who is it about?”

Corax bit her lip. “It wasn’t that good.”

“Oh come on, that was magical. It made me feel like I was floating.”

Corax blushed and pushed her glasses up her nose. “That’s very kind of you.” Her eyes darted away. “But it’s not for anyone yet. It’s not even finished.”

“I can tell when you’re lying, you know.” Viridian crossed her arms. “You always look up and to the left when you do it.”

Worry flashed in Corax’s face. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“No, it’s ok!” Viridian raised her hands, the fearful voices in her head subsiding at the care in Corax’s voice. “I just loved your song, and I wanted to know more about it.”

Corax smiled, and Viridian melted a little at the warmth in those burning red eyes. Corax leaned back against the trunk and strummed a bold chord.

“I’ll tell you who—what the song’s about, if you answer my question. What are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to you! We haven’t talked since...well, we haven’t talked! You and I, we’re best friends, it’s ridiculous that we haven’t talked, or done friend things…” Viridian decided to stop talking while she was still ahead.

“And that’s the only reason you came? Nothing else?”

“I…” Viridian stamped her foot. “That’s not fair! You know I can’t lie!” Was Corax smirking at her?

“Well, I guess you’ll have to meet me halfway if you want to learn about my song.” Corax shrugged at Viridian’s outrage and leaned back against the tree trunk, her one boot propped against the bark somehow making her stance immeasurably cooler. “A question for a question, that’s how it goes.”

“Or…” Viridian unclipped Navitas from her belt, twirling the silver hilt in her fingers. “We could settle whose question gets answered the old-fashioned way.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“C’mon, it will be fun! You, me, some life or death stakes.”

“And the inevitable Grimm that show up.”

“Yeah! You in?”

“Oh, absolutely not,” Corax turned and stretched nonchalantly, confidence radiating from every line of her body. Corax looked relaxed, but Viridian knew better; she could see the tension in Corax’s muscles, the hair-trigger readiness in the quivering of her feathers. Corax hung her guitar on a nearby branch and turned, her knees bending ever so slightly. “I guess you’re just doomed to be disappointed, V.”

Viridian braced herself, her thumb tense on the trigger. “What a shame, I was looking FORWARD TO IT!” She leapt mid-sentence, blasting off in a shower of leaves at a speed only a Huntress could attain. She thumbed the trigger, and with a snap-hiss Navitas ignited. She swung, but Corax slid away in a blur as a pale green blade scorched the air where Corax had existed only a moment prior.

Corax skidded to a halt further out on the tree limb, her wings flaring for balance. smirking as Viridian struggled to regain her footing. Viridian severed the branch with a shower of sparks, forcing Corax to fling herself backwards and land in another tree.

“You can’t win if you can’t catch me.”

“And you can’t win if you won’t stand and fight!” Viridian closed the distance in a bound, her energy sword plunging into the tree’s heart as Corax sprang away. Viridian hollered and gave chase, her heart thundering in her ears.

Corax bounced from tree to tree like a ping pong ball, Viridian following as though yanked on the end of a string. Corax hit each tree trunk the same way, boot-boot hand, one-two pap, the model of smooth efficiency. Viridian landed and launched off of each tree with one foot, drawing deep on her Aura to power through each step. Tunnel vision crept in as Viridian passed over, under, through branches, Corax’s black outline and red streaks becoming her entire world. Viridian twirled Navitas, cutting bright green slashes through the world, slicing branches out of her way. She focused on Corax’s bobbing black ponytail, drawing closer with every leap.

Soon Navitas’ fiery tongue was nicking Corax’s heels with every swipe, and there was an added desperation in her every jump. Corax lunged into open space, her wings unfurling, propelling her forward. She kept them tight to avoid snaring branches; at its full extension, her wingspan was wider than Viridian and Corax lying end to end. But even constrained, the beating of her wings shook the forest, and propelled her at a speed Viridian could never attain.

Viridian gasped, struggling even to keep Corax in sight now. How could she possibly ground her? Oh! Of course! She thrust out her hand, tugging at the strings of reality. Viridian reached deep, deep within herself, where words did not exist, and focused her Semblance like she never had before.

Gravity pulled heavier on Corax’s body, only a fraction more than normal, and only for a moment, but that fraction was enough. Corax dipped ever so slightly, and smashed face first through a tree limb, shattering it. She slammed into the ground and dug a furrow into the soil, her Aura flaring an angry scarlet at the indignity of it all. Viridian skidded to a stop before Corax in a shower of leaves, her blade buzzing excitedly.

“Ready to stand and fight, Craven Branwen?” Viridian had only a moment to laugh at her own joke before Corax interrupted her. Specifically, Corax’s boot interrupted her. Right in the face.

Viridian slammed back-first into a tree trunk before falling to her feet. Her Aura fizzled to match her blade for a moment before clearing.

“Ok, I kinda deserved that one.”

“Yeah, you did.” Corax settled into a stance, her hands loose and fluid in front of her. For a moment Viridian was worried that Corax was actually mad, but there was that secret smile again, twisting the corner of Corax’s mouth. Viridian grinned, and charged.

She drove at Corax, thrusting her blade like flashes of lightning, spinning and stabbing backwards and overhead for extra reach. Corax kept her spine straight and spiraled her upper body as she backpedaled, flowing around Viridian’s blade like water. Corax reached up and unclasped her double-ended scythe from her back as she ducked under the energy beam, using her body’s own momentum to spin the fearsome weapon. Corax twirled her scythe around her chest and neck, deflecting Viridian’s attacks in a whirlwind of black steel.

Viridian actually took a step back for the first time, struggling to keep the biting scythe blades at bay. Sweat glistened on her arms and her breath rasped in in her throat as now she was driven back.

Corax uncoupled her scythes, letting them swing on chains that she looped around her arms and hands. She spun faster and faster, her blades wailing as they cut the air, soon and Viridian found herself in a hurricane of steel.

There was no fighting back. She could only duck, dodge, jump, back handspring, chest to floor and back to feet again as the blades shrieked by. Viridian shut off her weapon, bobbing and weaving and flipping on instinct to escape the dervish. She had to go either in or out, or risk getting hit. A scythe took a chunk of her hair as it hurtled by, practically kissing her cheek. Out it was, then.

Viridian staggered backwards, still dodging, moving towards the edge of the clearing. Corax let more length into the chains, filling the entire clearing with her attack. Viridian contorted herself to pass over one scythe and bounced into one last back handspring over the other blade, landing at the edge of the clearing. On its next pass the scythe blade bit deep into a red tree with a solid thunk, passing mere millimeters in front of Viridian’s nose. The other scythe struck a tree on the opposite side of the clearing chain-first, wrapping around the trunk with terrifying velocity before embedding itself in the wood.

Corax tugged on the chains, but her own technique had been too powerful; her blades were bound, and there she sat, helplessly between them.

“Oh.” Whatever Corax was going to say next was lost; Viridian blasted her right out of the clearing with a flying double kick. Yet another storm of leaves and yet another furrow marked where the patented Amidala Two-Boot delivery system had sent her.

Corax lay sprawled in the leaves, her wings twisted awkwardly beneath her and her hair a leaf-filled mess. And somehow, still absolutely stunning. Viridian didn’t understand it. Corax tried to push herself to her feet, but Viridian was already there. Snap-hiss and Navitas sprung to life, its burning tip at Corax’s nose.

“Yield, O noble Huntress.” Viridian chuckled at her own joke, her sword wavering slightly. Corax’s eyes surged with a deeper flame, a flash of terrifying will shining through. That was all the warning that Viridian got. Corax slapped the blade away with her forearm, crimson ripples dispersing the energy across her body. Before Viridian could breathe strong hands had seized her wrist and collar, and there was a boot somewhere, her stomach maybe, and her world was turning over and over like a dropped snowglobe, until everything righted itself she slammed onto her back, with Corax firmly on top.

Corax moved into a straddle, pinning Viridian’s wrists to the ground with practiced ease. Her wings flared overhead like a raptor claiming its prey. Corax’s glasses lay askew, her hair was completely out of its ponytail, and the remnants of battle still tightened her face into fierce beauty. Viridian felt her breath leave her, which was completely unfair considering she was still winded from the fight.

“It looks like it is you must yield.” Corax leaned in, her hair draping over Viridian’s face. Viridian blushed with her entire body and broke eye contact, wishing she could disappear into the earth. Why must Corax always say things like that, when she would never follow through on it, when she would not even talk to her after what happened?

Corax finally let her go and sat up straight, sweeping her hair back and adjusting her glasses. Viridian decided to interpret this as permission to breath again. She gulped in air in a way that was not altogether cool, and in fact more closely resembled a fish exploring dry land.

Corax glanced down at Viridian. “Are you comfortable?”

“I mean, this wasn’t how I imagined being in this position, but—eeeep!” Viridian clapped her hand to her mouth, far, far too late. Corax only gave a throaty chuckle and shook out her hair, looking up at the sky in what must be disbelief. Viridian wondered if her own Semblance was strong enough to push herself underground. To the center of the planet, preferably.

“So, do I get the answer to my question now?” Corax fluttered her wings. “Since I won?”

“Our Auras are both still intact. How about a draw? We both get our questions answered.”

“Fine. But you go first, since I’m on top.”

Viridian shook her head and focused. She could not mess this up. Not one bit.

“I came out here to talk to you—”

“You already said that—”

“—because you’ve been avoiding me.” For a moment there was stillness, and then a twittering as birds began to return to the clearing. “We were doing great. You and your team were hanging out with us, we were chatting on our scrolls every night, we were fine. And then, at the ball, we, we danced. You danced with me. And then you said you were going to get us punch, but you ducked out, and you haven’t talked to me at all since. At all.

“I don’t even know if something bad happened to you, or if it was something I said, or if you didn’t want to be friends anymore...because you wouldn’t talk to me. So I came out here not only because I was hurt, but because I care about you. And I want to know what’s going on.”

Corax was silent, and her lip quivered, her eyes soft. Was that sadness, pity? If it was pity Viridian just might die of embarrassment. She braced herself for the worst.

“Viridian, I am so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt your feelings. I just…”

Yep, here it comes.

“I needed time to find a way to express how I felt, even to me.”

Wait, what?

“You see, that dance made me feel something I’ve never felt before. I didn’t know how to handle it, so I left. I feel terrible about that now. I didn’t even think of what you must have thought. I just needed to understand.”

“Understand what?” Viridian could not, could not dare to hope…

“To understand how you made me feel.” That secret smile again. “I didn’t know what to do with myself, and I was too embarrassed to talk to you about it, so I did what I always do when I’m confused; I make music about it.”

“What...I, I don’t understand.” Viridian’s mind was racing, and her eyes kept darting back and forth between Corax’s, searching for some explanation. She couldn’t possibly…

“I am sorry for how I acted. But, I hope you will understand.”

“Please, help me understand.” Viridian’s heart pounded in her ears, her whole world shrinking down to Corax’s face.

“In short, I could tell you who my song is about.” The tiniest of smiles bloomed on Corax’s face. “Or I could show you.”

And there, sitting astride Viridian in a forest where it was always fall, always red, always trapped in the moment of the very spark of change, Corax looked her full in the eyes, and she began to sing.

“Oh.” And then, “OH.”

Then Viridian let the music take her, and bear her up, weightless, towards Corax’s waiting smile.

#rwby #rwby oc #viridian amidala #corax branwen #rwby secret santa #team mtal #I love writing rwby fights #so much room for fun

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