Episode Bovia: Chapter 4: Tempest

Chapter 4 of Bovia's Adventure

Three Years Later

Bovia Brown: Age 15

Ilia’s Training Dojo

 

 

 

            Bovia blocked an attack from one of Lacerta’s spikes, spinning around and hitting her on the back of the head with the weight of her weapon.  Lacerta quickly recovered and began to push back with a few quick strikes.  Bovia simply blocked them and then smiled.  As Lacerta went in for another strike, Bovia created a small wall of water in front of her, causing Lacerta to fall though it and be slightly caught of guard, leading to Bovia placing her weapon at the back of Lacerta’s neck with a smile on her face.

            “I thought we said no Semblance’s!” Lacerta said with an annoyed tone.

            “Hey, you have to learn how to counter me someday” Bovia said with a smile as she helped Lacerta back onto her feet.

            “That doesn’t change the fact you cheated” Lacerta said with a pouty face.

            “So would you rather I slice off one of your arms?  Let you grow a new one, make it even?”

            “I think I’m still cleaning the blood out from the training mats last time that happened,” Ilia said as she stepped forward, “so please refrain from doing that.”

            “But still….” Lacerta started to interject.

            “Yes yes, Bovia you were supposed to abstain from using your Semblance during this battle.  Blood is one thing but I’m almost certain that given how many times water has seeped into my floors I might need to get them replaced once every six months instead of six years at this point.”

            “Sorry Master Ilia” Bovia said scratching her head embarrassingly.  I just thought of a new defensive technique during class today and really wanted to test it out.”

            “Then maybe try doing it outside instead of indoors?”

            “Will do.  Do we have time for another round?”

            “I think our transport is only five minutes away actually” Lacerta said looking up at the time.

            “WHAT?” Bovia yelled in surprise.  “Do we even have enough time to get our things together?”

            “We can try!”  Lacerta said with a smile.  As she did, the two of them quickly ran into the back to change their clothes and get their things together.

            “We can do it!” Lacerta said excitedly.

 

 

 

Bovia and Lacerta watched defeatedly as the streetcar continued to roll down the road away from them.  They had missed their ride.

“Just great…..” Bovia said with a sigh.  “That’s what I get for wanting to go another round.”

“At least it’s a nice night” Lacerta said with a smile.  “My foster home isn’t too far.  And by the time we get there, I think the streetcar will pass by and get you back to your place.”

“Might as well” Bovia said pulling out her Scroll.  “I just wish I had remembered tonight was noodle night.”

“I need to come over again sometime, your mom’s ramen is to die for.”

“I’ll text Canini, we should have a get together like last year before we head off for the academies!”

“That’d be fun!  Has Canini decided on an academy yet?”

“Her family has history in Mistral, so I think she’s planning on Haven.  How about you?”

“Well, I haven’t decided.  Maybe I’ll go to Atlas, maybe Shade….”

“Oh my gosh, you’re just waiting for Videl to determine which academy she’s going to aren’t you?” Bovia said laughing.

“NO!” Lacerta snapped back blushing.  “I mean….but I just….shut up!”

“Ask her out already girl” Bovia said with a smile.  “You’ll just keep sitting around waiting for something to happen and then it’ll be too late.”

“I know I know.  I just wish I was as confident as Canini.  She and Kido have been going steady for what, a year now?”

“Roughly.  But we won’t be kids forever.  I say just live kid.”

“Fine whatever.  What about you?  Decided where you’ll be going for Academy?”

“Ok, bear with me on this one, but I think I want to go to Beacon.”

“Really?” Lacerta said with a chuckle.  “I know you have an obsession with the heroes of Vytal but even this seems a stretch.  Why not Mistral?  You always talked about how much you enjoy being close to your parents, Haven is a lot closer to here than Beacon is.”

            “I know, but I really want to go out beyond what I’m somewhat already aware of.  A lot of Mistrilian culture found its way here to Menagerie because of how close it is, and I want to see the rest of the world.”

            “Not Atlas though?”

            “My parents have some bad memories of Atlas, specifically the slums in the crater of Mantle.  I could never convince them to visit me up there.  And Shade is just too far away.  Beacon seems to be the best place for me to really experience something new while improving every single day.”

            “Beacon isn’t the easiest school to get into though.  How’re your grades?”

            “They’re……” Bovia trailed off, lowering her head.  “They’re passable.”

            “But good enough for Beacon?”

            “I’ve always excelled more in the field Lacerta; we both know this.”

            “And that’s why Canini and I have been trying to do more study sessions with you.  I know all three of us aren’t probably going to end up at the same academy, but I want to make sure each of us does get to study at one.”

            “I hear you.  So how about a study and hangout session sometime next week then?”

            “Only if your mom provides those delicious noodles and soups” Lacerta said with a smile which got Bovia to laugh.  As they continued, they finally reached Lacerta’s foster home.

            “I guess this is my stop” Lacerta said with a smile.  As she did so, the bell of the streetcar rang signaling its arrival.  “And this is yours as well.”

            “Good timing” Bovia grinned as she got ready to catch her ride.

            “Oh I almost forgot!” Lacerta called out.  “Did you finish your introductory paper?”

            “Still working on it!”  Bovia called back.  “Pretty hard to stretch out why I want to help people when helping people is the entire point.”

            “Right, well let me know if you get any further!  We can add it to our list of tasks during our study session!”

            “Sounds good!  See you in class tomorrow!”  With that, Bovia jumped onto the streetcar and watched the stars begin to light up the night sky as she reached her own house.  As she walked in, she saw her mother stirring the pot of broth to keep it from burning.  Looking around she noticed her father was not around.

            “How did I beat dad when I missed my ride?” Bovia said with a smile.

            “Your father’s been busy lately” Armena said as she took a sip of the broth.  “Apparently there are a few folks from Vale and Mistral visiting that is giving extra work and headaches.  Not sure if or when he’ll be able to return tonight.”

            “Well that’s a bummer.  Is there anything I can do to help to make sure dinner stays warm until he gets back?”

            “You’ve had a long day already young lady, why don’t I just pour you a bowl of noodles and let you eat now?  I can keep the broth warm.”

            “I’m young, I can hold off for a while.  Besides, not quite the same if I’m just sitting around awkwardly while dad is just eating.”

            “Fair enough.  Why don’t you….” But as she said this Pecor came crashing through the door, his face frantic as he made a beeline for his home office.  Bovia and Armena both looked shocked as Pecor charged through. Bovia ran after her father and saw him going through every single file he had in his cabinets.

            “Where’s the fire dad?” Bovia said jokingly.

            “No fire,” Pecor said with what little breath he still had, “only a storm.”

            “A storm?”

            “A tropical storm has been forming in the southern seas for a week now, and officials from the Four Kingdoms are afraid it’s going to be one of the worst in the history of Menagerie.”  Bovia’s eyes widened when she heard her father say this.  “I’ve got files on structural analysis on buildings that survived the last tropical storm here somewhere because we wanted to reference them when we built the CCTS Tower for situations like this.  But given the fact that Beanie and other top officials are here, I have great reason for concern.”

            “What can I do to help dad?”

            “Nothing right now, just tell your mother I’ll have some food when I get a moment.”  Pecor continued to scour through his notes while Bovia slowly backed away into the kitchen, nervous as to what was going to happen with this storm.  Several hours passed, and Pecor finally emerged from the office with the documents he was looking for.

            “Are you sure there’s nothing I can do to help dad?”

            “No, this is an engineering project, but I do recommend you get some rest these next few days.”

            “Why’s that?”

            “Your fellow Faunus may need you and your friends help when this storm does arrive.”  With that, Pecor headed out the door and made his way back towards the CCTS Tower.  Bovia simply sat down in shock, realizing she was more than likely getting drafted into a war with nature itself.  Armena simply placed a bowl of ramen in front of your daughter.

            “Better you fed and ready at this point” she said with a nervous smile.  Bovia returned the nervous smile, and ate the meal, worry still racking her brain.

 

 

 

Two Days Later

The Shores of Menagerie

 

 

            The winds were some of the strongest Bovia had ever seen in her life on the island.  Trees were bending to nearly a perfect ninety degrees, the waves almost looked as big as the mountains themselves.  But Bovia kept her focus in front of her.  Her teachers and a few of her classmates with applicable abilities or Semblance’s were on hand to help in whatever way they could.  Canini was in feral mode helping dig trenches to deter the incoming deluge.  Lacerta was sacrificing scales to try and help reinforce crude barriers.  Hard Light Dust shields were an option, but most of them were being deactivated due to the sheer strength of the waves.  This battle was going to have to be won through traditional methods.  As work continued to be done keeping everything together, Bovia was tasked with focusing on keeping everybody healed up.  Through studying her own Semblance further, she found that since the water she created came from Aura, if another were to absorb that water, their own Aura would be replenished, a form of pseudo healing.  And the rain meant that Bovia wasn’t running out of Aura anytime soon.  As the storms continued to crash down, the work seemed to keep getting harder and harder to keep up with.  For each trench they seemed to dig, more waves seemed to breach the barrier wall and begin to flood the town.  Bovia quickly tried to deal with this by taking her weapon, tossing it into the new forming pools of water, and then channeling her Semblance into the pools to be almost magnetized to the weapon itself which she then in turn used to fling the water back over the barrier wall.  But then suddenly, a massive wave came up and broke through one of the walls, causing tons of flood water to start pouring in.  Those in the vicinity were knocked back instantly, some nearly crushed by the debris.  Including her friends.  She quickly helped Lacerta and Canini to their feet, but saw that the water was starting to crash through the barrier.

“Lacerta!” Bovia yelled, “get some extra spikes made to help reinforce a new wall!  Cannini!  How strong is Feral Mode?”

“Why?”

“Can you life up the broken piece of the wall?”

“Probably?  But with the waves…”

“I’ll handle it!  Just go!”  Having said that, Bovia ran forward as fast as she could, and without even thinking, jumped up through the hole in the barrier and poured all of her energy into her hands.  What happened next seemed to defy all logic, but Bovia seemed to suddenly stop the wall of water from advancing.  Waves crashed around her still into barriers that were still intact, but the area of water surrounding her stopped in place as if it had it an invisible wall of Bovia’s making.  She then started walking out to sea, trying to force the water back.  She could hear her friends and teachers yelling for her to come back, but she felt she couldn’t do that during this moment in time.  She kept walking, and the water around her seemed to start to give way.  As she was now farther away from the barrier, it looked as if she was creating an invisible circle that she used to keep trying to push the water back, but some was starting to leak in from behind as the water now had space to reach around behind her and reach her feet.  And when the ocean water did reach her body, she tried to use the water to replenish her Aura so she could keep fighting back.  But as soon as she tried, she felt like her brain was on fire.  There was so much power flowing into her it was too painful to contain.  She screamed in pain, but as she did, she saw something she couldn’t truly explain.  A man in a black coat stepped out from within the water, staring at her.  Bovia’s mind was all over the place, she couldn’t think straight.  But just as quickly as he appeared, the figure in black disappeared back into the waves.  And as he did so, Bovia felt even greater pain as the ocean seemed to finally be breaking through her defenses.  But just then, a black ribbon wrapped around her gut, and pulled her out of the waters.  As she looked back, she saw that her friends had rebuilt the barrier, and there were even more people now helping out.  As she landed, she felt her body convulsing, she started puking up water, the pain still refusing to subside.  And then, despite the vomit spell passing, she passed out in the rain.

 

 

 

            The monsters were plentiful, but they were only so powerful compared to the strength and ability of the Huntsmen and Huntresses.  As her parents continued to run, Bovia watched as she saw a woman with a black outfit and a sword with a ribbon on it tear through the monsters that had ravaged her home not moments ago.  The waves of creatures were near endless, but still she stood there, to make sure Bovia and her family could keep going.  But as the fight went on, Bovia now saw a new visage, her grown up self.  Fighting back against the waves that battered her home, her friends.  She held back the waves so her friends could be safe.  The fight raged, and now it almost seemed as if both the woman in Black and Bovia were fighting side by side, the woman in black looking at Bovia…..

 

 

 

            Bovia awoke with a start, coughing up some more as she did so.  The rain was still coming down, but it was clear the worst of the storm had passed.

            “You did good out there today kid” a voice Bovia didn’t recognize at first said.  She looked over and almost passed out again as she realized she was talking to Blake Belladonna.

            “Thank…thank you” Bovia said blushing a bit.  “That means a lot coming from you.”

            “Quite the powerful Semblance you’ve got there” she said with a smile.  “But you did make us nervous with your apparent episode near the end there.  I haven’t seen a Semblance harm a person for using it outside of my husband’s.  Is this normal for you?”

            “No,” Bovia said as she ran her fingers across her body, “the last time my Semblance was pushed to its limits, it pulled water from my own body drying me out.  But this, this was different.  I think I got overloaded with stimulation by the ocean.”

            “How does your Semblance work if I may ask?”  Bovia went on to explain her history of using her Semblance to help her teammates three years ago as well as the techniques she had learned over the years.

            “….so this was the first time my Semblance had this much access to water.  And I think like a cup, I ended up filling it up too much.  The water needed to escape, I can’t be an infinite wall of power, this Semblance has limits.  It’s broken to a degree, but not limitless.”

            “At least you are willing to push yourself to those limits for those you care about” Blake said with a smile.  Very few people have that kind of resolve.”

            “I learned from the best” Bovia said with a smile.

            “I’m glad to see Ilia found a good one to train.  You do her proud.”

            “You should stop by sometime, I’m sure she would love to see you.”

            “Only if she’s ready to see me” Blake said with a sigh.  “In the meantime, let’s get you back to your family. I’m sure they’ll be glad to see you alive and well.”

            “Just trying to emulate what I saw from you all those years ago” Bovia said as Blake helped her to her feat.

 

 

 

 

Two Days Later

Ilia’s Training Dojo

 

 

 

            Bovia took another sip of tea watching the sun set with Lacerta and Canini while Ilia sat in the back of the dojo talking to Blake, laughing and just catching up.

            “…I still don’t know how you ended up hitched with a human!” Ilia said with a laugh.

            “I’d be lying if that thought crossed my mind once or twice back at Beacon, but I’m really happy with him” Blake said laughing as well.  “And you, anybody you’re seeing currently here in town?”

            “Well there is this cute girl down by the marketplace….” Bovia smiled as she tuned out her master and her old friend and focused back on the sunset.

            “So on a scale of one to ten,” Canini said looking over at her two friends, “how bad was the other night?”

            “I’d say a ten” Lacerta said with a sigh.  “Especially with you going out there trying to fight the ocean itself Bovia.”

            “I’d give it a five” Bovia said with a smile.

            “Five?” Canini said tilting her head in confusion.  “How?  You almost destroyed yourself, you literally vomited up water, and almost died.  How is this only a five?”

            “Because you guys were safe behind me” Bovia said with a smile.  “I might not always be able to do much in certain situations, but I’ll always do my best to make sure my friends are taken care of.  And if that means I must go forwards towards the breach, so be it.”  Lacerta chuckled a little bit at Bovia’s remarks.

            “You’re just going to keep charging forwards to Hell, aren’t you little devil?”

            “So long as you two are safe, yes” Bovia said with a smile.  However, Canini leaned over and punched Bovia in the shoulder.

            “You’re dumber than you look if you think we’re just going to let you charge forward without us behind you” she said with a smile.  Bovia smiled back and nodded her head.

            “I prefer I be the only one going to Hell, but if you two are willing to protect others with me, who am I to say no?”

            “Darn tootin” Lacerta said raising her cup of tea, which her friends did as well as the sun set and gave way to the starry sky.  Bovia watched as the starts lit up and smiled.

            “Ever forward” she said with a grin.

 

 

 

 

 

The Defeat of the Order

And the End of the War

Set In Motion the Path

To Retribution.

But Time Must Pass

And the Time Between the End of the War

And Ozpin’s Reawakening

Is Known As,

 

 

 

 

ZERO YEAR

Day 23

 

 

 

            Bovia looked out the window as the airship began its final descent into Menagerie.  Most of the old buildings looked the same, but the expansion into the desert was going well as the new skyscrapers and buildings were noticeable behind the mighty mountains.  But she was glad her parents still lived in the traditional old village, it was a far more comforting feeling of home compared to buildings she was used to seeing in Vale and other parts of the world.  As the airship touched down, she waited as Miles, Blake and Aurora all got out before stepping out herself.

            “Thanks for the ride” Bovia said as she stretched her legs.

            “Not at all” Blake said with a smile.  “I’m just sorry we couldn’t drop you off closer to your home.”

            “I like walking through the town and market” Bovia said with a smile.  With that, she waved goodbye and started walking towards her parent’s house.  As she did, she came across the place where she had fought the storm all those years ago.  As she looked out at the crashing waves, her mind began to wander.

 

 

 

            A man in a black coat stepped out of the water, staring at her.  They both looked at each other, the only sound being that of the waves.  As Bovia continued to try and focus, the man in the black coat waved his hands and strange bands of green light appeared out of thin air.

            “That was too close” he said with a chuckle.  “Not sure why you’re so important, figured all that is needed is A leader of Tenebris’ daughter,  but if you living ensures that what needs to happen happens, then you will not take another step forward.”

            “I’m sorry,” Bovia said tilting her head in confusion, “who are you?”

            “I’m not important to you, but I am important to everything.”

            “Strange way to say you’re a ghost.”

            “Why do you think that?”

            “You just walked out of the ocean talking as if you were in an anime, the water and the storm don’t bother you, and the only reason I can think that is the case is because you’re already dead and can’t die.”  The figure in the black coat laughed at this.

            “Let me ask you,” he said looking straight at Bovia, “why do you want to keep fighting?”

            “What?”

            “You’ve had a decent life up until this point, you don’t really have any regrets, so why keep fighting?  Why keep pushing for a tomorrow for yourself?”

            “I’m not” Bovia said as she planted her foot down to try and keep herself upright as a wave crashed over her invisible wall.  “I’m fighting to protect those I care about.  They gave so much for me, so I will give back for them.”

            “And what if what they give you does not match what you have given them?”

            “That doesn’t matter.  I will give a thousandfold more than they ever will if it means I keep them safe.”  The stranger chuckled at this again.

            “Ah, the innocence of youth.”

            “I’m fifteen.”

            “I said what I said.  Such a passionate fool, wanting to give more to others when all they do is take.  I wonder what will happen when you find yourself giving everything you have and receiving only contempt and demands for even more from you?” 

            “Then I will keep giving if it means they are safe.  People are not as jaded as you believe, what do you know about people?”

            “I know more than you ever will child.  I have seen the results of jaded desires and misguided dreams.  But that is for you to witness on your own.”  With that, the stranger disappeared back into the water, leaving Bovia to continue fighting the waves, when suddenly, a ribbon wrapped around her gut.

 

 

 

            Bovia snapped back to the present, as the sound of a market stall dropping a few plates snapped her out of her trance.  She looked out at the water, and held her head.

            “Why did I remember that now?” she wondered aloud.

 

 

 

 

 

A Leader

Stands Tall

Takes Charge

Defends Others

Sacrifices

So What Happens

When the Willing

Faces the Jaded?

 

 

Retribution.

SAGA OF SEASONS

 

 

 

Episode: Bovia

END

 

 

 

Authors Note:

 

 

            This was the first time I’ve written an anthology for a character that is not based on one of my actual friends nor directly related to the overarching story I’ve been building towards over these last few years like Ember Act I was.  Because of this, for a time, while I have ideas of where I want to take the stories of some of the members of Team BEAT and GASH respectively, I had a hard time figuring out where to take Bovia’s character, especially because she’s not particularly a character I utilized that much in War outside of plot convenience with her Semblance to gain access to the Relic of Life.  So I tried to make it simple, an origin story that focused on an element of the World of Remnant that neither I or even the original show has touched upon much, Menagerie.  Whether or not I succeeded is up to the reader, but I did enjoy working in a part of Remnant that wasn’t just one of the Four Kingdoms or Aequo.  As for the final “battle”, I actually got inspiration from the real world, like actual artists do.  I was at a soccer game between the Columbus Crew and St. Louis City, and while it was a beautiful day leading up to almost kickoff, a massive storm rolled in and just poured down rain.  I’ve seen several deluges in my time, including a beautiful one in Rehoboth Beach Delaware that I used for a good portion of visual inspiration for this, but this storm really impressed me.  And since I was brainstorming ideas for this story at the time, I wanted to try my hand at an idea: how does one fight a storm?  And Bovia was the one character I felt could potentially do that.  Now that I have cleared this first hurdle, I look forward to the ideas I will cook up next that I get to experiment with.  I hope you enjoyed.

May your heart be your guiding key.

Author's Note

Please read/review/enjoy!