Fate's Sacrifice

The day had started off like any other.

Destiny and Jin had bid their parents farewell before heading to the City of Vale in order to visit one of the dust shops. They were between semesters at the moment so none of them were required to be at Sigil for classes.

“So, Destiny, have you been working on getting faster?” Jin asked, glancing at his sister with a teasing grin.

“Oh you know it bro! Pretty soon I’ll be able to outrun you!” Destiny replied cheerfully.

“Then let us test that, shall we? Last one to the shop buys lunch!” Jin asked before taking off running.

Destiny laughed before taking off after him, trying her hardest to catch up to the Faunus. Their playful race to From Dust Til Dawn was normal for the two siblings. This was their way of encouraging one another to improve in areas they were weakest in.

However, this particular encouraging challenge would not have the same result as it normally would.

The two continued to race each other, blissfully unaware of what was to occur. Jin was still ahead of Destiny, in the lead by a few feet. Destiny kept pushing herself, trying to close the gap between them.

“I’m going to beat you yet again, little sis!” Jin called over his shoulder just as the shop came into view.

Destiny laughed and was just about to comment when she suddenly gasped as a cold feeling coursed through her veins. Her muscles tensing as her vision blurred, her silver eyes widening as a glassy look glazed over them. A few moments later, her vision turned black before changing completely.

She now stood in the Emerald Forest with Jiin, their weapons drawn as Grimm slowly began to surround them. They were both worn out from battle, as evident by their labored breathing, and had taken a few hits, scratches covering their body, a large gash going diagonally over her face. She lifted Fate Weaver up to block the attack of an Ursa only to catch the glimpses of a Beowolf attacking Jin, catching her brother by surprise as he dealt with another Ursa, her eyes going wide as she watched her brother desperately try to fend them both off with his weakening state, only to fail as the Beowolf delivered a finishing blow.

A voice began to ring around her, calling her name as her body began to tremble. The voice grew louder and louder as the trembling turned into shaking. Suddenly, her vision turned white as she heard Jin calling her name. She was could hear the worry in his voice as she slowly began to reopen her eyes, finding herself in his arms as he knelt beside her, cradling her close as onlookers surrounded them, seeming concerned.

“What...What happened?” Destiny asked weakly, her mind fuzzy as her body seemed to ache.

“You just collapsed all of a sudden. Are you alright, Dest?” Jin asked, looking her over in case she had received any injuries from her fall.

“I’m fine, Cheshire. I guess I just over did it.” She said reassuringly as she booped his nose with her left index finger.

This was her way of discreetly telling him that she had witnessed his fate, or at least one of them. Jin nodded his head as he carefully helped his sister to her feet, still seeming concerned.

“If you say so. But you should probably take it easy. Lets walk the rest of the way and I’ll buy lunch.” He said as he supported Destiny’s weight before they began to walk.

For a few minutes, they walked in complete silence before Jin decided to bring up the topic.

“What did you see?” He asked softly, glancing at his sister as they walked side by side.

Destiny looked at him and gave a playful smile. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth so she figured she should say something to ease his worry.

“Well, lets just say, you finally get a lover.” She teased, playfully nudging him.

Jin gave a soft chuckle as he shook his head.

“Me? Have a lover? You’re really funny sis. Are you sure that was my fate?” He asked teasingly in return.

The two of them both laughed as they entered the store. Waving at the shopkeep, they wandered around the shop, looking at the different types of dust and the various magazines. Destiny glanced at Jin while he had his back to her, skimming through one of the magazines as she silently put away the one she had been looking at. She couldn’t stop thinking about the fate she had seen. Jin had always been there for her, had always protected her. Now, she figured it was her turn to protect him.

She turned to face his back, gently biting her bottom lip as she reached out, gently tapping his back with her right index finger, but not hard enough to really get his attention. As she pulled her finger away, a small octahedron-shaped crystal came from Jin’s body and followed her finger, floating in the air. It was goldenrod in color, resembling the same color as his aura. She gently tapped the crystal and an opened book created from aura appeared above it. Gently flipping through the pages, she found the specific fate she had seen right on the final page. Taking a small deep breath, she reached up with her right hand, holding to over the book as if she she was holding a pen as her own aura filled in the space of her fingers and took the shape of the required object. She glanced at the pages, rereading the words that described the event she had witnessed, taking note of what had a silver shine and what did not. She felt relief as she noticed that his death was one of the words with a silver shine, meaning that she could change it.

Rereading the words, she thought of what she could do in order to prevent what she saw. Sadly, avoiding the Emerald Forest was out of the question, as was avoiding any confrontation with any Grimm. So, with only one idea in mind, she began to write and edit in what she called Jin’s Book of Fate.

She knew that what she was doing would affect her own fate, but she did not care. The only thing she cared about was ensuring her brother’s safety.

Finishing up the edits she felt were necessary, she lowered her right hand, the aura pen vanishing when she did, and closed the book with her left, causing the aura that created it to return to the crystal. She then carefully pushed it back towards Jin’s back and gently pressed it back in without alerting him.

Letting out a small sigh of relief, she put on a smile before tapping Jin on his shoulder to get his attention.

“Hey, about about we go get some food? I’m feeling a bit famished.” She asked when he glanced back at her.

Jin smiled as he put the magazine down and turned to fully face her.

“Alright sis. How about a picnic at the old ruins?” He asked.

“Sounds lovely, bro.” She said with a warm smile.

The two bid the shopkeep farewell as they left, heading for a nearby deli. As Jin went inside to purchase their lunch, Destiny remained outside, deciding to take a look at her fate. Tapping her chest, she drew out a crystal similar to Jin’s, the only difference being that it was silver in color, matching her aura. Tapping the crystal, she caused her own Book of Fate to form and she began to flip through it to find the exact event she had altered in Jin’s book. She read the words carefully, once again noting what had a shine and what didn’t. She let out a small sigh of relief, noticing that she would not die in the fight, but she did not take comfort in the fact that she would lose her memories. Lifting her right hand up to begin editing her book, she decided to do what she could, wanting to spare her brother too much pain. She began to added and editing what would occur afterwards. She quickly closed the book and returned the crystal back to her body just as Jin walked out of the deli.

He lifted an eyebrow as he looked at her questioningly before walking over to her, handing her the bag that had her food in it as he carried his own.

“And what were you doing just now?” He asked, his tone a mixture of curiosity and concern.

“I was checking to see if I was going to get as lucky as you. So far, it seems I have some time to remain single still. Bummer.” She answered playfully.

Jin gave her a look that told her that he didn’t buy her explanation but didn’t press the issue as they made their way towards the ruin in the Emerald Forest.

When they arrived, they sat down to enjoy their lunch together, just having small talk about what they were looking forward to next semester. Jin was about to take another bite of his sandwich when the cry of a bird filled the air. The two immediately reached for their weapons, Jin’s ears swiveling around as he tried to detect the source of the sound while his golden eyes scanned the sky. Destiny looked down at the abyss below the ruins in case the sound was from below them.

A large shadow suddenly flew over them as they both jumped to their feet and looked up, catching sight of the Nevermore that soared in the air.

“Run!” Jin shouted, grabbing Destiny’s hand as he began to run towards the forest, dragging her behind him.

Destiny’s heart began to race as she followed after her brother, her eyes wide as her free hand gripped the tsuka of Fate Weaver. The moment she had been anxious for was drawing near and she needed to prepare herself. There was no turning back and she needed to come to terms with it and fast.

The Nevermore flew above them, letting out another ear piercing cry as it followed them from above, alerting nearby Grimm of their presence. The horrible screeching of the Nevermore started to be accompanied by growls and roars.

They ran into a clearing, both of them out of breath as Jin looked around, using his senses to find a safe way for them to get away. However, the look of read upon his face told Destiny that there was no safe way out. They had become surrounded.

Gripping Fate Weaver’s tsuba, she pressed her thumb against seppa while her other hand gripped the tsuka, drawing the katana out of its saya as she got into a battle stance. Jin grabbed Tripwire and removed it from its holster, aiming the hand gun in front of him as he looked around.

The horde of Grimm slowly came out of the forest, circling and surrounding them, snarling and growling at the two. With one final prayer, the battle began.

Destiny sliced through several Grimm that game her way, ducking to dodge an attack only to get hit by another. Jin shot at the Grimm that were focused on him, using his senses to dodge a bit better than what Destiny was doing, but was still hit by a few Grimm that had managed to move faster than he could after he had just dodged two attacks.

The two continued to fight off the Grimm, two more coming in for each one they killed. Their bodies were running low on stamina, their endurance reaching it’s end.

Destiny glanced out of the corner of her eye, noticing a Beowolf that was starting to sneak up behind Jin as he continued to fire shots at the two Ursa that was in front of him. Pressing a button by the fuchi, the tsuka began to expand and bended along with the blade towards her as Fate Weaver transformed into a bow, a silver string shooting up from what was once the kashira to the kissaki and connected, completing the transformation.

What was once the mekugi turned red as dust traveled through the bottom of the bow when she placed her fingers at the tsuba, an arrow formed from fire dust as she went through the motion of drawing the arrow back, taking aim at the space between Jin and the Beowolf.

She fired the arrow at the Beowolf just as it leaped at Jin in order to attack, the explosion knocking it back and grabbing Jin’s attention. She gave a small apologetic smile when he looked her way out of surprise just before the Ursa she had been fighting slammed her back into a tree, her head hitting the trunk with enough force that her head ached before throbbing into numbness as her vision turned black. She heard Jin call out her name as the darkness began to embrace her. She had one final thought, praying Jin did not waste the chance she had given him.

This was the fate she had accepted. This, was her sacrifice.