Episode Natalie: Chapter 4: Grow Up

Chapter 4 of Natalie's story.

            Natalie stood almost petrified as Roman towered over her in the control booth.  Smiling like a crocodile that had captured its prey.  Natalie was about to panic and run for it, but then realized that she was still invisible. Maybe this was just something Roman was doing to try and catch her but he didn’t really know she was there? Natalie decided to test this theory and started to slowly start cutting the ropes around her brother’s legs.

            “You know, when I first ran into you back at the reservoir,” Roman started to say, “I had thought I had hit a gold mine of opportunity!  But then after I found out your brother was not allowed to die, I thought, oh no there goes my chance to really start expanding my network, but then low and behold!  Not only do I get promised more money by killing you, but I don’t even have to trouble myself with looking for you!  You just came crawling back to me like a good little street rat!”  Natalie tried to tune out Roman’s words as she finally got through the last few strands of rope that were binding Nathan’s legs. 

            “Look, cut him free all you want kid, but the fact remains that you are in a world of trouble!”  Natalie paused, but tried to continue cutting Nathan free.  But just as soon as she had cut the last bit of rope free, Roman fired a shot from his cane shattering the glass leading up to the control booth, and the explosive charge landed just inches away from where Natalie was standing, causing her to jump backwards a short distance.

            “I’ve got infrared cameras all over the room kiddo!” Roman scoffed as he twirled his cane around.  “Stay hidden all you want, I’ve been meaning to get some target practice in.  Or better yet, I shot your brother some more!  Granted I can’t kill him without signing my own death warrant, but hey, he’s held up so far maybe he’ll actually manage to take some bullets in his chest.”  Natalie started to hyperventilate a little bit as Roman started to say these things.  She tried to slowly sneak towards the side of the room while still invisible, but Roman fired a shot once again just inches away from Natalie’s feet.

            “I can do this all day” Roman said with a sick smile.  “So why not make this easier on yourself and just make yourself visible?  Wait, not easier for you, easier for me.”

            “If you’re going to kill me then kill me” Natalie said trying to hide the shaking in her voice.

            “Oh, in due time my invisible friend,” Roman said as he lowered his cane, “but first I want to actually see you.  It’s not as fun to stab and kill thin air.  Neo!  If you would be so kind?”  In that moment, Natalie felt a sharp pain in her back and looked down to see a thin blade right below her.  She could feel the blood from her wound flowing out of her body as it became visible on the blade as it left the strength of the invisibility.  Natalie slowly started to turn visible again, and looked behind her to not see anybody there at first.  But then, with what sounded like softly breaking glass, a woman with pink hair on her right and brown hair on her left.  She was not much taller than Natalie even though her face clearly showed that she was much older than Natalie.  Her eyes were also pink and brown respectively.  In her right hand she held a thin blade attached to an umbrella handle, and in her left hand she held a pink parasol missing a handle.  The person Roman addressed as Neo pulled the blade out of Natalie’s body, causing her to fall onto her knees in pain.  She grabbed her wound fighting to stay conscious while Roman slowly descended the steps while twirling his cane while whistling.  Neo simply continued to stand over Natalie with a sick smile on her face.

            “Look kid,” Roman said as he got to the floor of the hangar, “I really hate getting involved with kids.  But if there’s one thing I value over my own moral compass, it’s the fact that I break that compass on regular occasion if it means I get paid the big bucks.  And to top it off, I’ve had a real headache this past day just trying to get paid, and you and your stupid brother didn’t help with that.  So I’m going to have a little fun!  I won’t kill your idiot of a brother, but I will toughen him up!  Maybe he’ll learn to be kinder to his next sister.  Oh wait, that’s right, you’re all he has left.”  As soon as Roman said that, something inside Natalie snapped.  She started feeling anger well up inside of her, but she didn’t have the strength to push through it just yet.  She started slowly backing away from Roman, causing him to laugh.

            “That’s right little Miss Disappear, run away!  That’s all you’ve been good for it seems!”  With that, Roman took his cane, held it from the bottom like a club, and started hitting Nathan as hard as he could with the handle of the cane.  Natalie’s anger only grew, but she continued to back away.  Neo was so preoccupied with watching Roman beat up Nathan, that she didn’t notice Natalie getting closer and closer.  By the time Neo looked down to realize that Natalie was practically beside her instead of in front of her, it was too late.  Natalie gathered all the strength she had, grabbed her scythe, and swung the blade right at Neo hitting her square in the chest.  Neo went flying into the wall of the hangar, her aura absorbing the damage.  But she landed amongst a bunch of old crates and boxes, making it difficult for her to recover quickly.  Roman saw this and stopped attacking Nathan and ran over to try and fight Natalie, but with every last ounce of rage in her body, she swung her scythe again and send Roman sprawling into the stairs.  He didn’t seem to have any form of Aura, so when his head hit the side-railing of the staircase, it knocked him out.  Natalie then started making her way towards her brother, when Neo leapt back in front of her, tauntingly waving her finger at Natalie.

            “Out of my way!” Natalie yelled charging forward.  She tried to use her scythe again by bringing it down on Neo, but just before the blade reached Neo’s head, she opened her parasol and redirected the attack into the ground.  Natalie didn’t expect this and given how she put all of her weight into that strike, she stumbled to the side following the momentum.  Neo then delivered a powerful kick to Natalie’s chin which caused her to stumble even more.  Neo, believing she had an opening, pressed a button on her parasol and the sharp end of her blade stuck out the tip of the parasol this time instead of being a full blade separate from the parasol.  Neo pulled back for the kill, but Natalie vanished right then and there.  Neo realizing what was happening panicked and started stabbing wildly hoping to hit either Natalie or her weapon to find out where she was.  But the moment Natalie turned herself invisible, she started running towards the far wall.  The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and Natalie was feeling the full force of her wound, but managed to twist her clothes in a way to keep the blood from dripping onto the floor until her Aura could mitigate the damage.  Once Neo realized that she didn’t get her, she started scowling and stomping her foot in anger.  But then, a sick smile came across her face, and she turned back towards Nathan’s still unconscious body.  She started dragging the sharp blade part of her parasol across the floor making a shrill scraping sound, and put the blade right on Nathan’s throat.  Natalie’s anger returned, and in one swift motion, she re-appeared, and started running full tilt towards Neo.  Neo saw her coming, and prepared for an attack of her own, but before she could even blink, Natalie was right in front of her, and took her scythe and swung up so hard that Neo was sent flying into the ceiling, had her aura break, then crash back down unconscious.  Natalie was gasping having used up so much energy in the last few minutes.  She cut her brother loose, carried him over to the main door of the dock and dragged him out into the open air.  Suddenly, a shot went off behind her, and she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder, causing her to fall to one knee, but still held up her brother.  Looking back, she saw Roman having woken up and had fired the shot.  He then pressed a small button on his coat and an alarm started going off throughout the entire base.

            “Why not….stick around….make this…..more fun….” he said fighting through his injuries.

            “Maybe next time” Natalie responded gritting her teeth fighting through the pain.  She then dragged her brother out of the door and started inching her way towards the river.  The dock doors was connected to a short canal that lead to the river as when the factory was active ships would need space to turn into before entering.  She could hear the sounds of the guards growing closer and closer, but they were too slow.  Natalie jumped into the river and started floating away.  She was never more thankful for the summers that her mother spent teaching her emergency water survival techniques all those years ago.  She kept herself afloat all the while making sure Nathan was afloat and had his head above water as well.  As the river’s current started to pick them up, several guards reached the docks and started firing at them, but it was too late.  They were well out of range.  As they drifted through the river, Natalie fought to keep conscious, her sole focus on making sure that Nathan remained above water.  They continued to float down the river for what felt like forever.  The sun went from hanging high to beginning to set.  And just as the light began to fade to twilight, Natalie felt a pair of hands grab her and saw another pair of hands grab her brother.  She couldn’t see who it was and every fiber of her being was telling her to fight, but her body was completely spent.  Her injuries had become too great, and her body was completely limp.  She tried to see who was pulling her and her brother out of the river, but her vision was becoming extremely blurry, and she finally passed out.

 

 

            A nice smell and a warm feeling was the first thing that Natalie could sense as she started to wake up.  She opened her eyes and saw a cup of warm tea sitting next to her.  She slowly sat up and took a sip of the tea.  As the warm drink filled her body, she began to regain her bearings and started taking in her surroundings.  She realized she was back in the back room of Ocha’s tea shop.  And to her side wrapped in bandages and a blanket was Nathan, who was still asleep.  Natalie sighed in relief and took another sip of tea.

            “Glad to see you awake” Caer said as she entered the back room.  “We weren’t sure if either of you were going to wake up.  You were pretty banged up.”

            “How’d you find us?”

            “We do have teams who go outside from time to time and do some fishing for the community, and they saw you and brought you back here.  They didn’t even know you were here last night until Ocha saw them drag you in.  He let me know and we’ve been taking care of you and I assume your brother since then.”

            “How long have I been out?”

            “About two days.  We bandaged both your wounds, and your aura took care of the rest.  You might have some lasting scars, but you can at least still walk.”  As Caer said this, Nathan started groaning and twisting and turning.

            “Looks like your brother is about to wake up” Caer said as she picked up a small cup and filled it with tea from a nearby teapot.

            “Would you mind giving us a few minutes?” Natalie asked as she shifted herself to face Nathan.  Caer nodded and gave the cup of tea to Natalie and stepped out of the room.  Nathan then shot up panting and sweating, looking around frantically.

            “It’s okay” Natalie said calmingly.  Nathan jumped back a little bit when he heard his sister’s voice, grabbing his blanket as if he was trying to hide and protect himself.

            “Just take a deep breath big brother.  Here, drink this.”  Nathan hesitated, but then took the cup and took a sip.  He finally started to calm down and began to take in his surroundings.

            “Where are we?”

            “We’re safe” Natalie said with a sigh.  “This is a hidden village near the city.  Some good people took care of me after Torchwick attacked us, and then they patched us up after I saved you.”

            “How long was I out?”

            “Two days according to Caer.”

            “Two days?!”  Nathan yelled jumping to his feet.  “Crud!  I need to get back out there!”  He started walking to exit the shack.  “Ember isn’t going to avenge herself!  I’ve rested long enough!  I….” but before he took five steps, Natalie grabbed his sleeve, stopping him in his tracks.”

            “No”

            “What?”
            “I said no Nathan.  We have been going non-stop since we lost our home, and I have stuck by you because you are all I have left.  But you are running head-first into this mission of yours and you are paying the price for it.  I almost lost you the other day.  And I almost killed myself just trying to get you back.  I get why you want to avenge Aequo, but going this hard and this fast is going to kill us before we even get close to finding anybody related to what happened to our home.  You might be just about a legal adult and I’m almost there myself, but at the end of the day, we’re both still just kids.  We aren’t ready.  And if there are people out there looking for us, looking to kill us, then we can’t keep throwing ourselves in front of their guns.  We have to slow down.”

            “But….”

            “You almost died Nathan.  I had to watch our parents, our brother and our teacher die.  I’m not going to lose you to.  And I refuse to let you kill yourself.”  Nathan was about to protest, but then saw that Natalie was fighting back against tears.  He sat back down, and sighed.

            “All right sis.  I’ll slow down.  But what can we do in the meantime?”

            “We can help here” Natalie said standing up and parting the veil to show Nathan more of the village.  “This is a good community that might not have people who could defend it very well.”

            “We do have a few Huntsmen and Huntresses,” Caer said smiling as she stepped  inside to join them. “But they do have a bit more turnover than we would like.  Especially with the growing Grimm threat on the Western Wall, and with idiots trying to disturb the peace in this place.  We could use your help.”

            “What do you say Nathan?” Natalie asked turning back towards her brother.

            “I don’t know.  Even if we do slow down, I doubt this place could help us find Ember’s killer.”

            “Lots of information floats though here like leaves on the wind” Ocha said pouring Nathan another cup of tea.  “It stands to reason that you will find answers for what you are searching for by staying here.”

            “All right” Nathan said with a reluctant sigh.  “We’ll stay here for a while.”

            “Thanks bro” Natalie said with a smile.  Nathan weakly smiled back, and stepped back into the back room in the shack.

            “I heard a bit of his outburst” Caer said with a sigh.  “I think headstrong is an understatement for his personality.”

            “That’s my brother” Natalie said with a weak laugh.  “He’ll fight for what he believes is right, sadly to the point that it might hurt him.”

            “You’d better keep an eye on him” Ocha said setting the pot of tea down.  “A heart that driven and strong can have a tendency to drive itself down the wrong path without realizing it.  They would rationalize it in the heat of the moment, not realizing what they leave behind.”

            “I trust him” Natalie said.  “And I’ll always be there to try and help him if he does go down the wrong path.”

 

 

 

Present Day

Roman Torchwick’s Boat

 

 

 

            Natalie quickly got her breathing under control, and slapped her face to refocus herself.  She then got back up on the railing and looked down to survey her opposition.  Roman was busy monologuing around Ruby, Weiss and Oscar who were surrounded by what Natalie counted as twenty goons with guns aimed right at them.  Natalie then figured out her plan on how to save her friends.  She quietly made her way towards them on the main deck while remaining invisible.  Roman continued to gloat about his success while still refusing to attack his prisoners.  Natalie reached the ring of goons, and slipped into one of the open gaps.  She then took out her scythe, and had each of the two blades hovering near but not touching two of the goons.

            “I’m getting impatient here kid!” Roman yelled at the top of his lungs.  “Come on out and fight fair!  I’ve been wanting to add a matching scar to your shoulder since the last time we fought!”

            “Maybe next time” Natalie said as she reappeared.  She then took her scythe and spun it around, catching Roman’s goons in its path.  She then spun the scythe in a way that caused the goons to fly out of the curve of the blade and into two other goons besides them.  Roman and the other goons quickly reacted and started firing where Natalie was standing, but she spun her scythe around to deflect the attacks, and then rushed forwards and started doing the same to the rest of the goons.  She would hook one or two goons in each of the two blades of her scythe, and would use the goons as projectiles to knock them either unconscious or overboard.  The goons started to panic, and Weiss took this opportunity to summon a tiny Arma Gigas to cut herself free, and then she quickly grabbed the weapons that Roman had tossed to the side and helped free Oscar and Ruby before giving them back their weapons.  From there, the three of them joined Natalie in taking down the remaining goons, who were now panicking because they had too many people to fight.  Roman kept firing at Natalie despite the escaped prisoners, but each attempt resulted in the shot either being deflected or Natalie tanking it with her aura.

            “What the heck…” Roman started to panic.  He started looking around and realized he was down to the himself and his final goon, who Natalie was already starting to dispatch easily.  Roman quickly ran towards the side of the ship to try and leap overboard and escape, but Ruby appeared right in front of him using her speed, cutting of his escape.  He tried to run towards the bridge, but Weiss was standing there with a now full-sized Arma Gigas at her side.  Oscar was already covering the path to the other side, and now Roman stood face to face with Natalie staring him down.

            “I should have killed you when I had the chance” Roman snarled.

            “Stinks to be you” Natalie said as she punched Roman unconscious.

 

After tying everybody up that was still on board, Weiss took command of the boat and started to guide the ship along the river adjusting the course away from Roman’s original path.  As they started to fall out of the eye of the city, they began to pass the hills of the different slums and villages.  Suddenly, an Atlas dropship landed on the deck and a few soldiers popped out as well as General Ironwood.  All four of them made their way to the General on the deck.

“Well done” Ironwood said giving the four a round of applause.  “We’ll take if from here.  You’ve done us all a great service.”

“Thank you general” Natalie said with a smile.

“We are more than happy to give you a lift to wherever it is you need to go” Ironwood said motioning towards the dropship.  “Be it back to the city to collect anything you may have left there, or back home.  Whatever you need.”

“Actually,” Natalie said looking out at the hills on the shore, “there is a place that you could drop me off at really quick.”

 

 

 

The Underground

Two Weeks before Nathan and Natalie met Ruby and Yang

 

 

 

“Are you sure you need to leave” Caer said handing Natalie her backpack.

“If the reports are true,” Nathan said placing his clubs in a backpack of his own, “then the White Fang and Roman Torchwick had connections leading into that attack on Vale.  And that mugshot of their leader?  He’s the one.  That’s Adam Taurus.  He’s the one who killed Ember.  So we need to go now.  If what that traveler said is true, then he’s in Vale now.”

“I suppose it was foolish to think you would stay here forever” Ocha said with a smile.  “Be safe young one.”

“We will” Nathan said making his way towards the exit.

“I’ll catch up and meet you outside bro” Natalie said as she finished packing the last of her things into her backpack.  Nathan nodded and made his way towards the exit.  Natalie slowly stood up and shook Caer’s hand.

“Thank you for your help with everything” Natalie said with a smile.

“It’s what we do” Caer said with a smirk.  “I hope I see you back here one day.”

            “I’ll make a nice pot of your favorite tea when you do” Ocha said with a smile.

            “I look forward to it” Natalie said with a chuckle.  With that, she ran up through the tunnels and out into the open where her brother was waiting.  She took one last look at the entrance to the Underground, then turned and joined her brother as they made their way towards Vale.

 

 

 

Present Day

The Entrance to the Underground

 

 

            Natalie looked at the entrance as all the memories came back to her.  She smiled and made her way towards the entrance.  She did the special knock that Caer taught her, and the door was opened for her.  She smiled at the gatekeeper and made her way through the tunnels.  As she reached the opening, she saw that the place had improved drastically since she had left.  Most of the houses and shacks now had proper building supplies and were sustainable.  There were new rows of buildings with nice new amenities and other small things like livestock now grazing out in the farm section of the Underground.  New shops and homes were all over the place with young children running through the streets and folks traveling the small streets transporting goods with bicycles and carts instead of just carrying everything.  Natalie smiled and made her way to the corner that she knew so well.  The building itself had expanded, now offering seats and tables for people to sit at and enjoy their tea instead of just a small counter by a tea kettle.  She was happy to see that even with some shiny new building parts and walls, it still looked virtually the same.  She stepped inside the new sitting area for customers and saw Ocha pouring tea into three cups.  One for himself, one for an empty seat, and one for a person Natalie then realized was Caer.

            “Word travels fast around these parts” Caer said lifting her cup in greeting without turning around to face Natalie.  “Especially given your reputation now.”

            “I’m just glad I had the time” Natalie said sitting down and joining them.  “I thought for sure I would be stuck with my current job until we got to the coast.”

            “Your brother couldn’t make it?” Caer asked taking a sip of her tea.

            “He’s been taking care of his new daughter with his wife.  So, sadly I’m about as good as you’re going to get.”

            “He’s married now?” Ocha said with a smile as he put down the teapot and joined them both with his own cup.  “Good for him.  Now he has even more people that will help him stay true to himself.  It was the same when he was here and like I told you before.  So long as he surrounds himself with people who care about him and he listens to them, he will be fine.”

            “Well, Yang certainly does that for him.  I’m happy I get to call her my sister-in law.”

            “You seem a lot more vibrant than when we last saw you kiddo” Caer said with a chuckle.  “What have you been up to all this time?  All we’ve got are rumors and news reports out here.”

            “I had heard you’d died” Ocha said raising an eyebrow.  Natalie laughed and took a sip of her tea.

            “Well, if you’ve got time, I’ve got quite a story to tell you.”

 

 

The Past

Can Manipulate the Future

But Stay True to Yourself

And Your Friends

And You Will Never Lose Yourself

In the Storm of Life.

 

 

 

Episode: Natalie

END

 

 

 

Authors Note:

 

 

 

In this series, I have written that Natalie was about 2 years younger than the rest of us.  Well, in reality, the age gap is quite more significant.  At the time of writing this, all of us are in our mid-20’s, while Natalie has just started her freshman year of college.  I changed around her age to make it much more plausible that we would be in the same class together in-universe.  Natalie has been an amazing friend over the years.  Over time, most of us in our group have come to see her as a younger sister, and she too has expressed her feelings of seeing us as older siblings.  She is a hard worker and showcases her creativity however she can.  Back when I was originally writing “Order”, she offered to create simple drawings of each of our characters for the story, and they turned out great.  And she did this while juggling her schoolwork and her personal life as a freshman in high school.  As the years have passed, we sadly don’t see or talk to her as often as we used to, but we do stay in touch.  When I recently asked her about her experience with college, she said, “school is kicking my butt, but it’s worth it.”  She has one of the biggest and kindest hearts I know, and I am proud to call her my friend.  I do hope that in writing not just this short story, but also the other stories in this series over the years, I have done justice to her kindness and who she is as a person and a friend.  And that she has enjoyed the stories along the way.  I look forward to seeing where she goes from here.  And knowing her determination, I’d say the sky’s the limit.

Author's Note

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