Stronger Together chapter 184

We buried Fenrir near the beach. Not on the beach, because of the  tides and because digging in sand is literally the most frustrating  thing you can do, but pretty close to the waterline. I wasn't sure if he  would have liked that, I hadn't known him that well, but something  about the freedom just seemed to suit him, so that's where we did it. It  was a strange feeling, burying someone who tried to kill you with  honors, but in some ways he'd been kind of a teacher to us. He was the  whetstone that pushed us to become more.

It  helped that we knew there was no malice in it. In fact, I truly believe  if he had won after the fight we'd had he would have done the same for  us. He was a worthy opponent who gave his life in pursuit of doing what  he loved, and I couldn't think of anything in the world more honorable  than that. Yang was standing next to me, staring down at the grave.  Everyone else was back at the cottage, I hadn't expected Yang to be the  one who came with me. Her perfect face looked sad as she stared down at  the hole in the ground.

I  cocked my head as I looked over at her "I was surprised that you wanted  to come with me out here. Most of the others don't really get why I was  so sad to see him die. He tried to kill all of us and had almost  definitely killed thousands if not tens of thousands of other people."  It was a hard sentiment to put into words, the appreciation for ones  enemy, I had actually figured Cinder was the most likely to get it, but  in the end she had only really formed bonds with people recently, it  would be strange if she didn't feel a bit protective.

Yang  gave a sad smile. "He reminded me of me. When I was a kid I got into a  ton of trouble, always starting fights and breaking stuff. In Remnant  that wasn't a huge deal because huntsmen and huntresses are a pretty  rowdy bunch, but even for Signal I was a bit over the top. I already  told you girls didn't like me too much because I had big tits, but guys  weren't exactly gentlemen either. I put a lot of boys and even one or  two men on their asses for letting their fingers do some walking when  they liked what they saw."

She  sighed "I made a lot of friends once the girls grew out of being  jealous, but before that my only real option was fighting. When you feel  like all you're good at is violence it becomes the only way you can  talk other people. He reminded me a lot of that time. Sure he loved to  fight, but people didn't help by seeing him as this wild animal that was  going to tear them apart. His value was always in violence so he got  good at it, let it define him. I had Ruby and my Dad and Uncle Qrow, but  I think maybe if I hadn't I would have become the same kind of person."

I  put my arm around her in a friendly gesture of solidarity. "Maybe so, I  didn't know you back then, but you didn't end up that way. You had your  family before and now you have us. Honestly I feel bad for him too.  Even Odin wanted him dead, and the old man was his grandfather. Whoever  made that Ragnarok prophecy really fucked up his life. Who knows if he  would have even ended up the way he was without it. Self fulfilling  bullshit. The path he was on was lonely from the very start, but at  least he reached the top. It's not enough, but it's something."

Yang  rested her head on my shoulder and stared down at the grave. "It was  weird, I felt kind of a connection between my semblance and his power.  He was a berserker too I think. I think I want to learn to fight like he  did. Klurkor is good for training, but that style is a better fit for  me I think. I know you remember basically everything with that metal  brain of yours and you fought him for like ten minutes. With how fast  you were going I bet you learned a lot about his fighting style, you  think you could teach me?"

I  chuckled a bit "So the shoe is on the other foot now huh, the student  has become the master." She rolled her eyes and elbowed me in the ribs,  which I took with a grunt. "Stop that, fine, I don't mind showing you  his moves. I think he might even have liked that. He talked a lot of  shit about wanting a challenge but I think deep down part of him wanted  Connor to be his legacy in some ways. He wanted the person who beat him  to be someone who could carry on his way of thinking and that's why he  tried to train his own executioner, at least that's what I think."

She  laughed along with me, but I could tell her heart wasn't in it. "I like  that idea. Regardless of good or bad he was a hell of a fighter,  carrying on a legacy like that isn't such a bad thing." She pulled away  "Anyway we should probably head back to rejoin the others. We buried him  a while ago, and despite Harry having trained this place a bit it's  still a huge island full of concentrated essence of asshole. Though I  guess he can check on us anywhere. He would be able to see if we were  about to get eaten by a devil bear."

I  sputtered out a cackle as we turned to head back "What the actual fuck  is a devil bear? In my head I'm just picturing a red bear with horns a  tail and a mustache." We continued to talk about random nonsense animals  that might result from the dark magic aura around the island as we  walked. We ended up getting into a competition to see who could invent  the most terrifying beastie. Personally I thought that a panther with  invisibility powers was peak tier nightmare fuel, but when Yang decided  to bust out the winged velocibougar (a mixture of a velociraptor, a  bear, and a cougar) I was forced to admit defeat.

When  we got back to the cottage everyone was outside. The girls were playing  with Connor again, and this time he was riding piggy back on Kara as  she floated slowly (for her) around the yard. Tera was sitting in a  chair next to Harry and River and looked as relaxed as I'd ever seen  her. It was just a pleasant and peaceful scene. It was so at odds with  the creepy atmosphere of the island it almost made me laugh, but Harry  was able to work with Alfred to isolate the hill from the bad vibes.

As  we came into the clearing Connor noticed us and squealed with joy,  darting off of Kara's back and rolling as he scrambled over to fling  himself into Yang's arms. Kara seemed a bit annoyed at being abandoned  but she didn't take it to heart too much, floating back over to where  Inari was waiting having been chasing the flying girl around to amuse  the little werewolf boy. With my enhanced senses I just barely heard  Kara muttering about how "All men are the same" as she cast a suspicious  look at Yang's low cut top and had to desperately clamp down to keep  myself from laughing.

I  trekked over to sit with the adults and dropped onto my butt on the  grass next to Tera and Harry. "Hey boss, Tera, hope we didn't miss too  much. Is that meat I smell? because I have to admit I am starving." Tera  was a pretty awesome cook and that had been with minimal resources when  she had been living in the woods. With an actual house full of actual  supplies we had brought her I was betting the food would be out of this  world. Plus I hadn't eaten in like ten hours. The further I got from my  base humanity the easier it was to ignore things like hunger until they  were overwhelming.

Tera  smiled gently "Yes, I'm cooking venison. I made sure to make plenty  since there were so many people here so eat as much as you like." Her  smile faded and she regarded me seriously "I just want to say thank you  Cameron. Harry told me how much you all did, you especially, and I've  already thanked everyone else but I can't tell you what it means to me  to know that my son and I are truly free. Staying her to be the steward  of this place is much less stifling knowing I'm not confined to the  island at all times."

I  smiled and leaned up to hug her, which seemed to surprise but not upset  her, and she squeezed me back tightly, patting my back a bit awkwardly  until I pulled back. "Of course, you and the kid are part of the family.  We weren't going to leave you stuck out here. Besides Charity loved  having you over for the family dinner and if we didn't bring you back we  would never hear the end of it." Especially with Bea and Gabby around  no, Conner needed kids his own age to play with, even puppies needed to  be socialized.

Tera's  face split into another smile, but this one made her look much younger.  I could tell she had been worried about this for a while. It was nice  to see that weight off her shoulders, even back when I first met her she  had this tension about her. I'd thought it was just how she was, but  clearly she could relax too. "I'd love that. Connor needs some time off  the island. This exclusion zone is nice and his constitution is up for  hunting in the woods for a while, but I want him to have time around  other children and do normal things. MacFinn would have wanted that for  him. He often spoke fondly of movies."

It  was hard to imagine the reserved, ethereal Tera West sitting in a movie  theater snacking on popcorn. "I could take the kids to a movie sometime  if you want, I know Raven loves the theater, she enjoys getting to  experience the movie along with so many other people. Says it makes it  more immersive." I didn't mention that we usually went to movies that  had been out for a while so there weren't too many people to overwhelm  her. In retrospect though she was much less sensitive empathically now  so maybe a recent release wouldn't be a problem. I'd have to ask her  about it.

Before  she could respond though, Harry's head snapped up like a bloodhound  catching a scent. "Shit." I was going to ask him what he was talking  about, but I didn't end up needing to. A woman with pitch black hair  pale skin and a black suit was standing at the edge of the clearing. Her  eyes were bright and intelligent but darkly colored and she was staring  intently at me. Harry sighed "Might as well go talk to her. Those bird  brains never go anywhere without a mission from their boss and they  aren't big on failing their jobs."

The  off the cuff comment finally triggered something in my brain and I  realized who this was. Either Hugin or Munin, one of Odin's ravens.  Thought and memory were the old gods constant companions, and if one of  them were here it meant he wanted me for something. I walked to the edge  of the clearing, not going out in case she had bad intentions but she  seemed to take no offense. She bowed slightly to me before removing a  smooth white envelope from under her jacket and presenting it to me with  both hands. "Cameron Beddows. You have been summoned to appear before  the lords of the Unseelie Accords."