Adam Taurus

"Don't worry about me too much," He said. "I've got some stuff I've been saving for a rainy day—some gifts from Raven."

I glanced down to his side, looking at where Wilt and Blush hung beside the sword I'd given him.

"I see," I answered. "I was going to talk to Raven about her blades, anyway—if there was ever a time to go wild with Dust, I'd say it's now."

"Seems like it," Adam agreed with a drawl.

___

But the blade I drew was mine. Wilt and Blush, the weapons I’d made years ago, under Raven’s watchful eye. The weapons I’d trained with for endless days and nights, even before Jaune’s inhuman training regime led to restless nights of practice and combat. It bore the scars of it, too, and I’d had to reforge it more than once, sometimes with Raven’s help and sometimes on my own. I didn’t consider that a mark against it, but a matter of pride; maybe the sword I wielded now wasn’t the same as the one I’d first picked up years ago, but I wasn’t the same, either. We’d both changed. We’d both gotten stronger. That was life for you.

And their most recent change was something I was especially proud of. Part of it was a gift from Raven, supposedly a graduation present of sorts. Part of it was Jaune’s inability to do things by halves when it came to anything he thought was important. And a good chunk of it was just me, remaking my weapon with the people I cared about for the sake of protecting and helping them.

This was the result.

What cut through the air was something like a ripple in space, if ripples could cut.