Breathe Chapter 84: Resonance

“As you can no doubt see behind me, Cyril, the Amity Coliseum has finally finished making its trip from Atlas to Vale, having braved harsh climate and yes, even a Grimm attack. This of course officially signals the start of the 40th Vytal Festival. Already, people have taken to the streets, celebrating the unity of our four Kingdoms.”

Panning over to a shirtless man with a familiar tattoo on his face, the video immediately cut when it became apparent that he was throwing up in a bin.

“Hah!” Maria laughed, shooting an amused grin my way.

Right… That was just… I didn’t need to see that so early in the morning. Other than seeing someone that’d obviously had too much to drink, it had been pretty informative.

The Vytal Festival was finally here. It’d only be a matter of time before the tournament started. Whether it would go off without a hitch or not was anyone’s best guess at this point.

Without Cinder scheming in the background, there shouldn’t technically be any problems, but I doubt it’d be that easy… I doubt Salem would make it that easy.

Unfortunately, aside from somehow finding Salem’s castle on the Dark Continent and locking her in one of the vaults, there wasn’t much I could do except wait and plan for the worst.

However, that wasn’t my only concern.

The mark on Pyrrha’s face had grown visibly darker, looking a lot like my own. She hadn’t said anything about it yet, but she was definitely aware of it, smiling every time she saw it in her reflection. I–

“Is everything alright?” Pyrrha asked curiously. Leaning forward on the couch, her bright green eyes stared inquisitively into my own. “You look like you have something on your mind.”

Noticing both Maria and Winter look our way, I sighed. “I suppose you could say that. There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.” Palming her face, I rubbed my thumb over the flame-like pattern under her eye. “This mark on your face.”

Tilting her head to the side, she smiled. “I have been rather curious about it, admittedly, but haven’t really known how to bring it up. It’s like the one you have, right?”

So she wanted to know about it, but she was too awkward to ask. That was honestly such a Pyrrha thing to do.

“A little,” I admitted. “This mark resonates from person to person when certain… Conditions are met. It forcefully increases the strength of all your breathing techniques while also giving access to a few more unique skills.”

Pyrrha’s eyes suddenly widened in realization. “So that’s what happened when I was fighting the Sum–erm, that Grimm…” She trailed off awkwardly. “I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening at the time, only that the Hound seemed a lot slower. You said that it could do other things as well?”

“I did,” I hummed. “In fact, why don’t I show you… This might be a little disorientating at first, but I need you to look at me... Really look at me.”

I was pretty sure I’d already told them about the transparent world, but now she had the chance to see it for herself.

“Okay.” Pyrrha nodded, narrowing her eyes in concentration. “What exactly am I supposed to be looking f– Oh…” Blinking, she looked down at her hands. “This is… I never imagined it’d look like this. Weird.”

Yeah, ‘weird’ was a pretty good description.

Coughing softly, Winter shifted a little close. “If I may interject… If it gives such a boost to a person, shouldn’t we all try to awaken it?”

Ah, that…

“It doesn’t come without its risks. I told you once before that mine almost killed me when I awakened it, but there’s something else I didn’t mention. Without Aura, the strain this mark causes would significantly shorten your life,” I explained. “I… Don’t want to see anyone I love die from this.”

Pulling back, Winter looked alarmed while Maria was equal parts disturbed and concerned. Pyrrha on the other hand appeared a little worried, but ultimately confident.

“You never mentioned anything like that before,” Maria noted softly.

“I didn’t want to worry you needlessly.” I shrugged. “A strong enough body would be able to survive this on its own… With Aura, there’s pretty much no issue and since I… We,” I corrected, grabbing Pyrrha’s hand. “Don’t have to deactivate it–“

“You don’t have to worry about the strain,” Winter finished, looking a little calmer. “I won’t say that this doesn’t somewhat worry me, but you haven’t led me astray yet. I trust you know what you’re doing.”

“Speak for yourself.” Maria crossed her arms. “This is really something you should have come to me with, Coal. I know you like to play things close to your chest, but we’re family, we’re supposed to talk about crap like this… I think.”

“Sorry.”

Staring at me with a hard look on her face, Maria sighed tiredly, nursing her temples. “You better be. I’m making a rule, you don’t get to die until at least fifty years after me… Got it?”

I mean, it’s not like I was planning on dying anytime soon anyway. I had far too much to live for… Far too many people I couldn’t let down.

“…Sure?”

“Good.” Maria nodded, seemingly satisfied. “So, got anything else you want to get off your chest while we’re at it?”

I don’t think now was the right time to admit that I was heavily considering going to kill the Wyvern at Mt. Glenn.

“Nope. That pretty much covers everything,” I hummed.

I did need to talk to them about the Six Powers, but it’d probably be best if I gave Pyrrha a crash course in using the Demon Slayer Mark. It’d also help gauge how strong she’d become since awakening it.

Good thing we had an entire day ahead of us…

Hoping to tell her my plan, I found Pyrrha looking down, appearing a little dazed as her face slowly turned red. Following her gaze, I found myself staring at my own lap.

…Wait a minute.

Pyrrha now had access to the Transparent world…

“Pyrrha, are you staring at my–“

“I’m sorry,” she squeaked loudly, covering her face.

...Breathe...

Sitting at her desk with Crescent Rose partially unfolded in front of her, Ruby carefully looked over everything, taking note of anything that might need replacing.

So far, everything seemed fine... Well, there were still a few droplets of pool water in the barrel, but a few minutes with a hairdryer would fix that. Fortunately, there didn’t appear to be any corrosion, only a few smudges that could easily be wiped away.

Taking a moment to stretch, she slumped in her seat with a quiet yawn.

It’d been a few days since they’d completed their mission. Things had mostly been quiet, despite everything that was no doubt going on in the background. Professor Goodwitch always seemed stressed when she was visiting the infirmary, although that could be because of Sum... Her mom’s condition.

Over the days, Blake had taken to pouring herself into her books, although her ears were almost constantly twitching towards every little sound in their dorm.

Weiss on the other hand... She was a little... Easily startled. She even flinched whenever she got a call, something that was happening more and more often... The calls, not the flinching... Although they did lead to her flinching more frequently.

Funnily enough, she never seemed to want to answer them.

Since this was the first time they’d seen Salem, it was understandable. She did have a creepy way of leaving an impression, it was even worse when her attention was drawn directly to you.

It wasn’t just the way she looked either, it was the way she looked at you, as if you were a bug she hadn’t decided to crush just yet.

As for her and Yang, they’d been a little busy spending their time in the infirmary, checking in on their mom.

Summer had improved a lot over the last few days. She no longer looked like, well... Like she was dead. It would be a while before she made a full recovery, if that was even possible, but that didn’t seem to bother her whatsoever... Not with the way she smiled whenever she saw them.

Ruby wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it herself. On one hand, both she and Yang had their mom back and they both loved her, but... She just didn’t know what to feel. Her mom disappeared when she was young, leaving Ruby with only a few memories of her.

Groaning, she anxiously ran her hands through her hair.

The only thing she really remembered was a few sensations. Her warm hugs, the smell of freshly baked cookies in the kitchen, being tucked into a cozy bed with a warm cup of cocoa and a fairytale on a cold, rainy night.

Nothing specific, though. Yang... Yang pretty much remembered everything. Heck, she probably even remembered the brand of chocolate chips used in her cookies.

What if her mom asked her something about when she was younger and she couldn’t answer? What if she thought she wasn’t a good Huntress? What if she decided to replace her with something else? Like a cookie or even a–

“Ruby?”

“RADISH!” Lurching up in her chair, Ruby blinked, before slowly looking over at Weiss who’d jumped back in surprise with a hand held over her heart. “Um... I was just... Thinking about what to have for supper,” She finished lamely. “What’s up, buddy?”

Peeking over her book, Blake stared at her curiously while Yang just shot a quick glance her way, before going back to brushing her hair.

“I see,” Weiss said slowly. “That’s... Interesting. I’m glad you’re taking your health seriously. You could use a few more vegetables in your diet.” Coughing lightly, Weiss stepped closer. “I was just checking if you would like some coffee.”

“Oh, uh... Sure,” Ruby hummed. “But don’t we have to go meet Coal in a few minutes?”

“Half an hour,” Weiss corrected, heading towards the door. “More than enough time for me to head to the cafeteria and back. You and Yang aren’t the only quick ones on our team.” Swinging the door open, she took a confident step forward. “I’ll be right ba–AGH!” And promptly fell over. “Why is it always me?”

Abandoning her desk, Ruby rushed over to find Weiss lying flat on the floor with what looked to be a bright pink sleeping bag resting by her feet. Tilting her head to the side, she looked over at Team ACRN’s dorm when she heard a muffled ‘Aha,’ come from the room.

“I knew it!” Throwing her door open, Nora stood with her finger pointed dramatically to Ruby and Weiss, the latter of which just groaned. “I knew you guys were here. They all laughed at me for setting up a sleeping bag in front of your dorm. Well look who’s laughing now!”

“Uh... What?”

“Nora, I told you, we weren’t laughing. Jaune was choking and I was trying to help,” Ren said, appearing in the doorway beside her. “You didn’t actually leave your sleeping bag out here, did you?”

“Someone had to.” Nora grinned. “Besides, I was right. They’re here. Now we can all hang out.”

Looking down at Weiss, Ren sighed tiredly. “I’m sorry. We managed to convince Nora to come back to our dorm, but I didn’t realize she left her sleeping bag behind.”

“If someone decided to help, maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation.” Helping Weiss up, Nora smiled apologetically. “Sorry about that, by the way. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Are you okay?”

“Yes, just...” Weiss murmured absentmindedly. “Contemplating all of the choices in my life that led to this moment.”

Nora nodded sagely. “Been there, done that.”

“So, uh,” Ruby hummed. “Is there anything we can help you with?”

“Well, I was hoping to see if you guys wanted to hang out,” Nora replied. “I tried messaging Yang, but the messages didn’t go through and Weiss wasn’t reading them. I don’t have your or Blake’s number, so...”

“Wait, are you saying all of this could have been avoided if I’d just checked my messages?” Weiss asked incredulously. At Nora’s nod, she hung her head low. “I don’t... I...”

That explained Weiss, but what about–

Poking her head out of the door, Yang grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I turned my Scroll off a few days ago... Sorry.”

“Eh, water under the bridge... Or Weiss over the sleeping bag,” Nora waved her off. “So, are you guys free to hang out now, cause I’m just dying to know how your mission went. What kind of Grimm was it, did it try and steal your bones, or was it actually a cult building a throne out of skulls? I need to know.”

Ruby and Yang shared a look while Weiss was still staring at the floor dejectedly.

“We kind of have a thing we need to do,” Yang said. “But we could probably hang out on the weekend.”

“Aw, I was hoping we could do it now,” Nora sulked. “Our mission sucked. There was literally nothing to do. I got so bored that I almost decided to be the Grimm instead... See the world from their perspective, you know.”

“We had to patrol a wall for three days, nothing happened,” Ren explained tiredly. “Nora didn’t take to it very well. It was easily one of the most stressful times of my life.”

Ruby winced. Yeah, that... Knowing Nora, that was probably putting it lightly.

“See, that’s why my only option is to live vicariously through you guys,” Nora said. “I bet it was a really awesome mission too, full of action and awesome fights.”

It had been pretty awesome, up until the end, that is… Although they probably wouldn’t be able to talk about that part anyway.

“You’re just going to have to wait until the weekend,” Yang said, grinning at Nora’s forlorn look.

“Can’t you give me something to hold me over until then?” Nora begged.

Humming, Yang tapped a finger to her chin. “That’s kind of difficult, because we split up, so there’s a lot to go through. One thing I can say… It came from underground.”

“Well that just makes me even more curious,” Nora complained.

…Breathe…

You know…

"Flame Breathing: Unknown Fire."

When I said it was a good thing we had all day…

"Flame Breathing: Blooming Flame Undulation."

I didn’t actually mean all day…

"Flame Breathing: Rising Scorching Sun."

Taking a breath, I brought my sword down. A loud metallic clang sounded through the Amphitheatre as our blades met in the middle.

“Sun Breathing: Dance”
 -500 AP

Using both hands, Pyrrha’s arms shook as she pushed up against my sword, straining heavily as sweat poured down her face, although given the excited grin splitting her face, you wouldn’t say she was struggling.

“Enjoying yourself?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Pyrrha replied, leaning forward so that our faces were only a few short inches apart

Shifting her position, she stepped forward, grinding her blade against my own causing sparks to shoot off as sheer friction turned them both a dull red.

Despite having spent most of the day sparring with only brief breaks in between, she was still pretty energetic, being almost completely unbothered by her obvious growing fatigue.

Although Pyrrha regenerated more than enough Aura to repair her muscles, there were still basic things her body required, food and water being the most important aside from air. At the rate she was going, she was quickly burning through those stores.

The rate at which she was picking it up was, however, pretty impressive. She was somewhat comparable to when Winter used her Semblance on herself… Although, I couldn’t say for sure which one was stronger, having only fought Winter once in that state.

Hearing the door to the Amphitheatre open, I shot a quick glance towards it, giving Pyrrha the perfect opportunity to break our stalemate.

“Flame Breathing: Blooming–“

“Sun Breathing: Flash, One Step”
 -50AP

Tensing my legs, I launched myself backwards at high speed, avoiding Pyrrha’s next attack, only to find her still right in front of me, having matched followed the moment I left.

“–Flame Undiluted.”

Feeling excitement beat in my chest at the unexpected attack, I brought my blade down in a circular motion, matching Pyrrha’s move perfectly.

“Sun Breathing: Burning Bones, Summer Sun.”
 -500AP

Our weapons met in several loud cracks as we skidded to a stop on the other end of the Amphitheatre. Separating, we stood a few short feet opposite one another, just out of range.

Shifting her sword into its spear form, Pyrrha stabbed it into the ground in front of her, using it to help steady herself. Although her Aura was still firmly in the yellow, she was beginning to grow exhausted.

Once she grew more accustomed to the Demon Slayer Mark, it’d be a different story, but until then, this was her limit.

“Why don’t we end things here for today?” I suggested, taking several slow breaths. “We can continue this tomorrow.”

Forcing herself to stand on her own, she shifted her weapon back into its sword form. “One last move… Whoever’s still standing is the winner.”

It really wasn’t that kind of spar, but okay.

Sheathing my sword, I took a low stance. “Ready.”

Nodding, Pyrrha took a focused breath, gripping her sword tightly. “Ready.”

Using Shave in place of my usual breathing technique to augment my speed, I appeared directly in front of Pyrrha, catching her off guard.

“Flame Breathing: Blazing Universe.”

Watching as Pyrrha’s blade came down towards me, almost in slow motion, I did something different than what I’d usually do and reached up, grabbing her arm, pulling her forward.

Contorting my body a little with the Paper Arts, I tangled my legs with hers, keeping her from being able to regain her balance. The end result being her falling lightly on her back with me catching myself just above her.

“Looks like a draw,” I murmured, staring down at her. “Since neither of us is standing.”

“It could also mean we both win,” Pyrrha breathed.

Chuckling, I pushed myself up, pulling Pyrrha along with me. “Sure.”

Back by the main entrance, Winter stood next to team RWBY with her arms folded, from the looks on their… Well, mainly Ruby’s face, they’d been there for a while.

Making my way over, I bumped my shoulder against Pyrrha’s getting a soft smile in return.

“What the heck was that?” Ruby asked, no longer able to contain herself. “Do you guys literally wait for us not to be here before you have the awesome spar’s because stuff like that never happens when we’re around?!”

“Not really,” I hummed. “This was mostly to help Pyrrha get used to her mark. We’ve been training since this morning, but that’s not why I called you all here.”

Whining at the missed opportunity, Ruby almost seemed to deflate.

“So we’re not going to be discussing mysterious tattoos?” Yang smirking. “Shame. Guess I’m just going to have to make my dad angry another way… Like dating someone with a tattoo on their face and a h–”

“Why did you call us here?” Blake asked suddenly, cutting Yang off.

Straight to the point it is then...

“With the Vytal Tournament right around the corner and Salem more active than ever, it’s about time that the four of you finally master Total Concentration Constant.”

“Yeah, about that,” Yang hummed. “How the heck are we supposed to do that? I mean, keeping Total Concentration Breathing active the entire day is one thing, but while asleep is impossible.”

“That’s why we’re going to be helping you.”

“How?”

“By waking you up whenever you slip into your regular breathing habits,” Winter replied. “It took Pyrrha and I around a week, but I’m certain we can halve that if given the proper incentive.”

Shivering, Yang took a cautious step back, dragging Ruby in front of her while Blake simply rolled her eyes. Weiss on the other hand didn’t react at all.

“Hey there,” I hummed softly, stepping in next to her. “Everything alright?”

“Hm?” Looking up, Weiss nodded. “Oh, yes. I was just thinking about something… You recall how my last conversation with my father went? Well, I’ve taken to ignoring his calls and messages ever since, but I checked his messages today and he said he’s coming to Vale… Apparently he wants to talk to you about a new business venture and our…” She swallowed audibly. “Our relationship.”

Taking a deep breath in, I exhaled slowly.

“You know, depending on where we meet him, there’s always a chance he could get eaten by a Nevermore,” I mused. “Although the poor thing might get a stomach ache. I do know some people in Vale that could help him trip down the stairs a few times… Possibly into a bathtub with a toaster.”

Blinking, Weiss stifled a giggle. “Sure, we wouldn’t want to hurt the Grimm.” Smiling a little more brightly, she had a curious look on her face. “You don’t actually know anyone like that, do you?”

“The bathtub and toaster thing? No. Everything else… Maybe?”

“Wait, really?” Weiss asked suddenly.

“Yep.”

I don’t think it’d take much to convince Neo to give someone a truly terrible day… It’d probably be tougher to get her to not kill them at the end of it though, especially if she thought they deserved it.

…Breathe…

Slowly coming to, Qrow slowly opened his eyes, wincing at the harsh light that hung overhead. Letting out a groan, he tried to prop himself up on his elbows, but gave up after a few moments of struggling. His body was heavy and unresponsive.

Feeling an uncomfortable pinching sensation in his arm, he didn’t even need to look to realize that it was a drip. He was in hospital.

Why was he in hospital?

“It’s about time that you woke up.”

Groggily looking towards Raven who was leaning against a wall with her arms crossed, Qrow let out a suffered groan. “And here I thought this was that dream with the sexy nurse that gives sponge baths... But if you’re here, this must be a nightmare.”

“Glad I can make your day just a little bit worse.” Raven smirked. “Now, if you can finish waking up... We have a lot to talk about.”

Having been on the receiving end of Raven’s ‘talks’ more than a few times in his life, Qrow normally would have told her exactly where she could shove it, only this time, it seemed different.

She was afraid of something... And ashamed?

That was new.

Unfortunately for her, with how sore his body was, he really wasn’t in the mood to listen to her. “Yeah, well, whatever you have to say to me can wait until after I get out.”

“That’s the problem.” Raven scowled. “It really can’t.”

Sighing, Qrow stared up at the ceiling blankly. She was really going to push this, wasn’t she? Given his current state, he probably wouldn’t be able to avoid her, but, at the same time, he also wasn’t drunk enough to put up with her crap. Now, if she could get the doctor to give him a little more morphine...

Come to think of it, how did he even end up in hospital? The last thing he could recall, he went to lock Tai’s house and then...

Qrow’s eyes snapped open. “Shit!” Sitting up in a panicked jolt, he tore the drip out of his arm and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Gotta let Oz know that thing’s after Ruby... There might still be time to send help. At the very least, we can warn them.”

Shakily standing up, he took a step towards the door, before falling back onto his bed.

“No, there really isn’t,” Raven said. “You’ve been kept sedated for a while now. Any time you might think there is, has long since passed.” Pushing off the wall, she made her way closer. “If it helps... The Hound has been taken care of. No one was killed.”

Qrow breathed a little more easily at that. If Ruby or Yang died... The thought alone filled him with dread. Finding out they were alive was a massive weight off his shoulders.

Hopefully they weren’t too broken up about it. Yang was probably taking it the hardest, she did have the most memories of Summer. He’d need to talk to her and Ruby once he got out.

Smiling sadly, he looked out of the hospital window. “I guess Summer can finally rest in peace.”

“You wouldn’t think so with how Tai is acting,” Raven murmured, dropping a Scroll on his lap.

She told him?!

Losing Summer had been the worst thing to happen to Tai... To any of them really, finding out that wife has been turned into a Grimm only to be killed again... That’d break almost anyone. Raven should have known better.

Staring down at the Scroll, Qrow froze when he saw a familiar, if somewhat emaciated woman sleeping in a bed with Tai at her side. “Summer?”

That was... She was alive?!

“You can thank your nieces mentor for that,” Raven muttered, falling into the seat next to his bed. “As I said earlier, we have a lot to talk about.”