#rwby fall

I awoke with the usual, recurring niggling at the back of my mind--it was time to find a new student. It had been time for ten years, actually, but after the first five years came and went with little to no success, I had mostly given up. Which was what led me to the shack, and the five years of isolation.

Shoving the nigglings to the back of my mind, as I usually did, I pushed my old frame up out of my bed and trudged over to the fireplace to brew a warm draught for the morning. As I was waiting for the pot to boil, however, I heard something at my door.

Rap-tap-tap

I paused, and glanced up from my seat at the fireplace with a frown on my brow. After a quick moment, however, I merely shook my head and sighed. Must’ve been my imagination.

Rap-tap-tap

It came again, and I found myself standing. My brow was knit closely, now, and I gazed wearily at the door. Now, who in their right minds would be out in the forest at this time of the year?

Rap-tap-tap

Getting annoyed by the sounds and the incessantness of the whole ordeal, I marched myself up to the door. Whoever it was that was disturbing my peace, they would soon learn to regret it. With a scowl on my face, I tore the door open and growled out a few short words.

“Whoever you are, begone...?”

But the growl slowly left my voice, and a look of perplexity spread across my face. Standing before me, crowded together on the small rickety porch out front of the shack, were four young women, each burdened down with rucksacks and the signs of several long nights of stress.

“Please sir,” the first, a young woman with bright white hair and crystalline blue eyes, respectfully spoke, “my sisters and I have been travelling this land for several days now, trying to find a place to rest. Yours is the first home we’ve come across in almost a fortnight. Please, sir, if it isn’t too much, would you--”

“Would you please let us in, sir?”

I frowned, and cast my gaze on the second girl, standing just beside the first. Unlike her sister, this second girl had chestnut hair and eyes the color of emeralds.

“And why should I offer the four of you my home? I’m not too keen on drifters and vagabonds,” I asked, gaze narrowing on the four young women. The brunette quickly piped up, once again.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that, sir!” The girl beamed up at me, causing my frown to grow. “We’re willing to work for you, to pay for our stay.”

I raised an eyebrow, surprised by the offer, then quickly glanced at the other three around the brunette. Neither the redhead to her left nor the blonde at the end seemed surprised by suggestion, nor had the snow-haired woman, so clearly they had spoken of this beforehand.

“Work?” I finally asked.

“Yessir!” the redhead replied, resting her hands on her hips and casting a gaze about the land around the shack. “Seems your home might be in need of some repairs and renovations--and we’d be more than ready to lend a hand!”

“My sisters and I might not look like much, sir,” the blonde at the end added, “but trust me when I say we can do whatever you need of us.”

I frowned, casting my gaze upon the four girls once more. They each, in turn, gazed back at me--not in a way that was unnerving or bothersome, like others had stared at me in the past, but in a way that was actually...humbling, in a way. Finally, after a moment of silence, I shook my head and sighed.

“Against my better judgement, you may stay here.”

The sisters--who I later learned to be named Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn, respectively--ended up staying with me until the late fall of that year. And, true to their word, they did much work to pay off their stay at my humble abode.

By the time their service to me had ended, the simple shack that I had sequestered myself in for five years had been rebuilt into a cozy and handsome two-story cabin. The land out front of the cabin had been cultivated into a farm, and a wall of stone had been set up along the edge of the clearing.

The land, which for so long had been barren and overgrown with weeds and shrubs, was now growing crops and fruits. It was alive and well, better than I had ever seen it before. It was actually rather remarkable.

Even more remarkable, however, was the relationship I had formed with these four girls.

It was no secret, even to myself, that I could be standoffish, aloof, and troublesome. Even in my youth, I had dealt with those problems, and as I’d grown older they’d only grown worse, especially with the more I saw humanity fall and fade away from the old ways.

I had grown bitter, but in the time I’d spent with Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn, I’d slowly opened myself back up, and allowed myself to feel more emotions than just bitterness and spite.

And then, just as suddenly as it had all started, it all came to an end. The autumn for that year was nearing an end, and soon the four would be on their way again. Though I was saddened, I wasn’t bothered by it. Besides, my time on the world would soon be over, anyways.

Before they left, however, we had one last dinner together. Sometime, over the summer, I can’t exactly recall when, we’d started having dinners together, almost like a family. It only felt right, then, to do the same one last time.

As we gathered together, and Winter began to pass the food around, I felt the niggling once again at the back of my mind.

Now, though, I smiled.

“My dears,” I said, glancing each of the four in the eyes before speaking again, “before you go, there are somethings I must tell you--things about myself that I have not told you before, and which I wish to tell you now.”

“Long ago, when I was simply a young boy with little more than the name Montolio to my name, a man much like myself now came to me. I know not what he saw in me, but he offered to take me in, off the streets, if I be his assistant and aid him in his work.”

“The man was a wizard, it turned out--a powerful sorcerer, greater than any other in the land. Unlike those who wandered our world seeking tomes and relics for power, this man received his power straight from the Old Gods themselves.”

“After years of aiding him, the wizard fell ill. One night, he called me to his bed. He told me that, since the day when the Old Gods left this world, there had been men gifted with the powers of the Gods to act as their hands on the mortal plane, and keep this world safe.”

“He told me that his time was near over, and as such, he would pass the powers of the Gods on to me, as in the years I had served with him, I had learned much, and had truly been his apprentice.”

“And now,” I said in a slow, raspy voice, “it is my turn to pass the torch, so to speak.”

I cast my gaze upon the girls once more, each staring at me with varying degrees of shock and confusion written upon their faces. I smiled a tired smile at them, and continued.

“I spent many years searching for an apprentice to take over this work after I have gone and left this world behind. But no matter where I looked, those I found were too selfish, too arrogant, too slothful, too greedy.”

“That is,” I added, “until I met the four of you.”

I stood from my seat and held my hands out towards the four young women seated around the table. “As my time grows short upon the land, my dears, I offer you my powers--the powers of the Gods. A final gift, as a thank you for the love and kindness you’ve shown this old soul these several months.”

The girls stared at me, stunned, for a few moments. Eventually, one of the four spoke--Spring, the brunette who had offered the plan to work the land for me all those months ago.

“Monty,” she said, “this...this is too much.”

“No,” I smiled, “it’s just enough. Please,” I quickly added, staring at the four, my gaze old and tired, “I’ve been at this for far too long. I’ve seen enough of the darkness in this world--it’s time I left. But I can’t leave without knowing it will be safe for the generations to follow.”

“Please,” I let my hands drift to the table, “this is all I ask of you.”

After a moment of silence, Winter stepped forward, nodding slowly. I smiled at her, a smile that grew wider as the other three tentatively made their way towards me. A silent ‘thank you’ slipped off my lips as I held out my hands, letting the power of the Gods fill me one last time.

Passing the power to more than one person had never been done before--but in that moment, I did it. To Winter went the Power of Creation, to Spring the Power of Knowledge, to Summer the Power of Destruction, and to Autumn the Power of Choice.

And as the power left my body, and I felt my spirit finally leave this mortal world behind, a smile slipped across my lips. Certain, I was, that I had made the right decision.

Oh how wrong I was.

It was a few years later when I experienced my first rebirth. I was disoriented, confused, and wondered why I hadn’t passed on to the higher plane, finally met the Gods, or at least been reunited with all my friends from my old life.

Eventually, though, I gained cognizance of the situation I was in. I was in another man’s body, his mind still in control though I was hidden in the far back of his subconscious. Still, I was able to see his thoughts, and learn what had happened in the world.

And what happened shocked me.

A scourge had fallen upon the world--vile creatures and aberrations of pure darkness now terrorized the land, the likes of which I’d never seen before. Mankind lived in fear, and hid from the darkness after seeing the few brave souls fight against it, only to be swept away and torn asunder.

Only a few fought against the scourge now, including my new vessel...and three of the sisters I’d gifted my powers to. It was from these thoughts, and memories, that I’d also learned what had happened to the fourth and final sister.

She had died using her powers.

Using her powers to create a force to protect the world.

A force that was very quickly corrupted and turned into a terrifying force of evil.